Poison

Latest news on poison

High-tech sponge could take hydrogen cars further

The battle to squeeze the most gas safely into hydrogen vehicles continues, but will "nanosponges" or ants' poison win out?

Future cars could sport carbon-sponge gas tanks

The battle to squeeze the most gas safely into hydrogen vehicles continues, but will "nanosponges" or ants' poison win out?

Apple probes poison-pumping Mac claim

Yet to find toxins in 'new computer' niff Apple has found "no evidence" to justify a claim that new Macs are releasing toxic gases, it said yesterday.?

Scone Appetit

Well, I'm back. Not 'back with a vengeance', perhaps -- the vengeance I bought on Amazon hasn't been delivered yet; probably held up in customs or something -- but I'm back. And when that vengeance shows up -- well, whoo, geez. Look out. Mercy. In the meantime, here's this: One of the more... unusual Christmas presents the missus and I received this year was a kit, of sorts, for making scones. I'm not often genuinely surprised by a gift -- much less openly perplexed -- but this was a bit of an eyebrow-lifter. Mind you, I'm not saying it was a bad gift. And certainly not unappreciated. I'm just saying... well. All I know about scones is that they're what prim, upper-crust old British ladies like to eat with their tea. I fail to qualify on a number of key points in that description. I can manage the 'old' -- and on a good day, maybe the 'crust' part. That's about it. "When your husband starts doing crazy shit like whipping out mixing bowls and preheating ovens, anything could be happening. Raging paranoia is a perfectly reasonable reaction." Still, when life hands you lemons, you make lemonade. When life hands you a scone kit with miniature jars of spreadable lemon curd, you make the scones and spread the curd and try not to think too hard about whether your pinky is sticking out when you're washing it down with milk straight from the carton. (Another reason I'd never make it in proper society. Why dirty all those glasses, just for a quick sip of early morning moo juice? It's not like I have the mouth cooties. Upper-crusters make things so damned complicated.) Anyway, this past Sunday I woke up hungry and desperate and with no properly pre-processed food in the house. So I followed the directions (more or less), and made the scones. In the oven. All by myself. My wife was gobsmacked. And understandably so. For you see, though I'm a fair fan of several Food Network shows -- Iron Chef, Dinner: Impossible, and Good Eats (obviously) -- my own culinary skillz are sadly lacking. As in non-existent. As in, the only time I would normally step foot into the kitchen is to retrieve the pizza takeout menu. So I wasn't offended when the missus refused to try a scone until I'd eaten a couple myself. I don't know whether she figured they were physically inedible, or thought I was trying to deliberately poison her. When your husband starts doing crazy shit like whipping out mixing bowls and preheating ovens, anything could be happening. Raging paranoia is a perfectly reasonable reaction. Eventually, though, she tried a bite. Evidently, she'd never encountered scones, either, because she said: "Hey, these aren't bad. Scones are sort of like biscuits, huh?" Oh, dear. That's where my Food Network quasi-knowledge kicked in. I gave my wife a kindly smile and a pat on the head, and proceeded to lay out for her the real culinary genealogy of scones. Biscuits, I explained in my most professorly tone, are prepared using something called "the biscuit method". But there's also -- as all well-traveled bakers know -- a little procedure called "the muffin method". I gave her a moment to digest these fairly self-evident facts before moving on. (And also to make sure I hadn't mixed them up in the explanation. Before that morning, remember, my personal breakfast food preparation experience had been limited to "the Pop-Tart method" and "the leftover pasta reheating procedure".) I went on to assure her, based on the events of the morning, that the preparation of scones clearly bears a far greater resemblence to the latter than the former. Then she said what I was really hoping she wouldn't: "Okay... why?" Shit. It's not like I know what the hell the muffin and biscuit methods are -- only that they exist. I was kind of hoping that would be enough for her. But no. She actually can cook, so she was interested in the gory details. Damn my pedantic streak. Now I had to come clean. "Well... er, hrm. You see, the 'biscuit method', as I learned it years ago, involves, uh, breaking open the can in the fridge and pulling out the raw biscuits to bake. On a baking sheet. And the 'muffin method' is completely different. There, you... well, you take the bag of muffin mix out of the box, and mix in water and those little blueberry-flavored rabbit turd-looking things, and spoon it into muffin cups. That's the classical 'muffin method'. As taught by Julia Child, I believe. Or maybe Betty Crocker." She wasn't buying a word, obviously. This was turning into that history essay test I thought I could fake my way through by knowing there was such a thing as the Industrial Revolution. The devil, I discovered, is apparently in the details. But why quit when I'm behind? I could still back up the original nonsense I pulled out of my ass. "As you may have noticed, the scones kit consisted chiefly of a bag of scone mix -- to which I added water, and spooned into a pan to bake. Clearly, given the steps in the preparation, the method for making scones is more similar to muffins than biscuits." I gave her the 'clearly' shrug, to drive home whatever nonsensical point I may have just made. She shook her head sadly and frowned. I shrugged again. "I mean, clearly." Nothing. She's a hard woman, that wife of mine. I conceded defeat, as gracefully and nobly as I could. "Oh, just eat your damned scone, smartypants." So in the grand scheme of things, I still don't know how the hell to make real scones -- or biscuits, or muffins, or anything else, for that matter. But I did prepare my own Sunday breakfast, and it didn't kill me, and I haven't horked it back up yet. I'd call that a win. Plus, now the wife is worried I might actually spend time in the kitchen again soon. One more bout of baking 'n' bullshitting, and she'll have the pizza delivery joint on speed dial daily, just to shut me up. I call that little plan my "scone method". Look for it in a cookbook near you.

Fall SPECIAL! Stay on the Oregon Coast in a luxury ocean view home! (walnut creek) $395 4bd

Kate | info@cedargardenslodge.com | 702-349-2543 Cedar Gardens Lodge!, Yachats, OR Luxury Living at the Beach! Furnished 4BR/2.5BA Luxury Vacation Home $395/night Bedrooms 4 Bathrooms 2 full, 1 partial Sq Footage 3,800 Parking 3+ dedicated DESCRIPTION Fall and Winter Special! Book two or more nights and receive an extra night for FREE! Check our Website for more photos and availability - http://www.cedargardenslodge.com All around the house are professionally designed and maintained yard & garden areas, with grass and amazing shrubs and flowers. Amenities include a large gourmet kitchen with granite counters and oak cabinets; hardwood floors; a floor-to-ceiling stone fireplace; a large master suite with a Jacuzzi tub and double shower; a classic billiard and game room with a bar; a home theater room; cable TVs with DVD players; free WiFi; a large driveway with parking for at least 4 cars, and more. The lower floor has a very private patio facing the gardens with a lovely ocean view, a wooden gazebo, and a large hot tub for your pleasure. Cedar Gardens Lodge also has a 2nd floor deck that looks straight out to the ocean with an unobstructed view. It’s great for whale watching or star gazing with our telescope, or just watching the waves & the weather. This 3,400+ square ft. luxury home has floor to ceiling ocean viewing windows in the main living. With 4+ large bedrooms and 2.5 modern baths, this home very comfortably accommodates 8-10 people so it's perfect for family reunions, group trips, even business retreats! Take a short, easy stroll to our sandy beach, wander in to the artsy town of Yachats, enjoy an Oceanside walk on the 804 trail, or hop in your car to enjoy any of the other dozens of central Oregon coast sights & activities. see additional photos below RENTAL FEATURES Air conditioning Central heat Fireplace High/Vaulted ceiling Walk-in closet Hardwood floor Family room Living room Bonus/Rec room Breakfast nook Dishwasher Refrigerator Stove/Oven Microwave Granite countertop Stainless steel appliances Washer Dryer Laundry area - inside Balcony, Deck, or Patio Yard Jacuzzi/Whirlpool High-speed internet RENTAL RATES Visit our website to check availibility and to see more! www.cedargardenslodge.com ADDITIONAL PHOTOS Renter contact info: Kate info@cedargardenslodge.com 702-349-2543 Equal Opportunity Housing Posted: Sep 9, 2008, 12:07pm PDT25028767 Dishwasher Pete also volunteered as a healthy human guinea pig in drug experiments and he contributed short articles to the zine //upload wikimedia org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a4/Airdefensecommand-logo jpg/80px-Airdefensecommand-logo jpg width Stephens Bros Boat Builders Articles lacking sources from June 2008 Anheuser-Busch Jack Wrather Minesweepers Pleasure craft Runabout Stockton California Citing sources Reliable sources Verifiability in 1899 He also received the commission for engraving the gold coinage of France and his official gold medal commemorating the 1896 visit of Czar The poison was aimed chiefly at coyotes and prairie dogs both considered pests by the politically influential stockmen of the western United States This provoked the ringing question What constitutes a 'good' versus a 'bad' animal after Scarlett is attacked Rhett saves the lives of Ashley Wilkes and several others by alibiing them to the Yankee captain a man with whom Rhett has played cards on several occasions

Contradicting Fox's reporting, Cavuto suggested the bailout bill would not have failed "if Nancy Pelosi had just shut up earlier"

Contradicting reporting by Fox News, on the September 29 edition of Fox News' America's Election Headquarters, Fox News host Neil Cavuto said of the failure of the financial bailout bill "that none of this, I don't think, would have happened if [House Speaker] Nancy Pelosi [D-CA] had just shut up earlier and not characterized it one way or the other" in a speech she gave before the House vote. Earlier in the program, Fox News uncritically aired statements by House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) and Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) blaming Pelosi for the bill's failure. Additionally, America's Election Headquarters co-host Heather Nauert uncritically reported that an unnamed source told Fox that Pelosi's "partisan speech has caused our members to go berserk and may cost us the remaining chance to pass the bill." However, contrary to Cavuto's assertion and Nauert's report that Pelosi's speech was responsible for the bill's failure, Fox News senior House producer Chad Pergram reported nearly an hour before Pelosi's speech began that he was "hearing from the Republican side of the aisle, they may only have 40 to 60 of their members" supporting the bill, a number that Pergram stated "leaves us very short there." Further, while the vote was occurring, Pergram cited an unnamed Republican source's comment that Pelosi's speech was "a little partisan"; that "some members went berserk at this"; and that "they were very worried that this could actually hurt their efforts to bring this across the finish line." But Pergram added: "Now, I wonder if that's a bit of spin, maybe to try to hang this on the speaker, and be able to blame her if this, in fact, goes down, and the market craters." And, after the vote, on Fox News' Studio B, host Shepard Smith said to Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC): "[O]ur House of Representatives producer, Chad Pergram, who is as plugged in in the House of Representatives as anyone in any network in America, has been reporting on Fox News Channel all day long that there were never, under any circumstances, more than 70 Republican votes." Sixty-five Republicans and 140 Democrats ultimately voted for the bill -- 12 votes short of the number needed for passage. Later that evening, on Fox's Special Report with Brit Hume, correspondent Molly Henneberg reported that "[s]ome of the House GOP conservatives who voted against the bill say Pelosi's speech had nothing to do with it," and aired a clip of Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann (MN) saying, "We are not babies who suck our thumbs. We had very principled reasons for voting no." Media Matters for America has documented several other Republican House members saying that Pelosi's speech did not cause Republicans to switch their votes. From the September 29 edition of Fox News' Happening Now: JON SCOTT (host): The crucial vote just about an hour away now. Fox's senior House producer, Chad Pergram, is live from Capitol Hill. He joins us now by phone. All right, this vote, coming up in about an hour or so, Chad. Any guesses as to how it's going to go? PERGRAM: I'll tell you what. This is really an exceedingly tough vote. Lawmakers are literally all over the map on this, and it's because the stakes are so high. You know, coming together, coalitions in Congress to pass or defeat bills is a very specialized bit of alchemy. Nobody really knows how many Republicans might go for this, how many Democrats might go for this. I'm hearing that there are about 130 members of the Democratic caucus that would go for this. That's about 105 short, out of their total membership. But they need about 90 Republicans, if that's the case. And I'm hearing from the Republican side of the aisle, they may only have 40 to 60 of their members, and that leaves us very short there. This is going to be a tense hour here. We're at D-day, H-hour, as they said at Normandy, and we don't know how this is going to go. There's going to be a lot of knuckle-cracking and arm-twisting in the next hour, if you hear that coming out of Capitol Hill here. From the September 29 edition of Fox News' The Live Desk: MARTHA MacCALLUM [host]: So, we've got 427 congressmen -- what is that number -- who have voted right now. Four hundred and twenty-seven. How many votes -- how many votes are left? You have several people who are not voting, I think -- PERGRAM: There's seven -- there's seven votes right now of people who have not voted. I can't tell in the chamber -- 'cause what they do, behind the dais, there's a board where you can tell if everybody has voted. It lists each member's name with a green light, or a red light, or an orange light if you vote "present." I can't see that from this point here. One point I should make, though. I got this from a Republican source shortly before the vote started. They thought that the speech given by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was a little partisan, and the source tells me that some members went berserk at this -- that was the term that was used, berserk -- and they were very worried that this could actually hurt their efforts to bring this across the finish line. Now, I wonder if that's a bit of spin, maybe to try to hang this on the speaker, and be able to blame her if this, in fact, goes down, and the market craters. From the September 29 edition of Fox News' Studio B with Shepard Smith: SMITH: Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican, is on the Hill now and has been good enough to stand by as all of this is going on, and we appreciate the fact that you are allowing us to give balance here. Was this about hurt feelings, as the Democrats are so vocally insisting today, senator? And if not, what was it? GRAHAM: This is exhibit A as to why the Congress is at 12 percent. The question that must be asked is: Why would Nancy Pelosi make such a speech at such a crucial time regarding our nation's financial status? You know, Congressman Frank is funny and clever, but there's nothing funny about this. Why would you poison the well right before the speech? There are 13 votes that need to be gathered. I think they can be, but this just didn't start today. Last week, Harry Reid said John McCain must vote for the Paulson proposal -- no Democrat will unless John votes for the Paulson proposal. Wednesday, Secretary Paulson went to the House Republicans and laid out his plan, and it was asked, "How many are for the Paulson proposal?" Four people raised their hand. The Paulson proposal wasn't getting any support because it wasn't what we needed. John comes back after I urge him to, because we're going nowhere, and from the time he steps onto the floor of the Senate and the House here, he gets nothing but criticized. And right before the vote, Nancy Pelosi gives a blame speech. Here's the answer -- go back at it. The Democrats are in charge in the House. Try to find 13 votes for the good of the nation, and knock this off. This is killing America's ability to get credit, to be able to borrow money to buy a home, to go to college, to be able to grow your business. We're 13 votes away, and Speaker Pelosi, I think, exhibited exactly what's wrong with this place. But forget about that. Let's get it right. If anybody who thought we had a deal before John came, now you know we never did, and we never will, until people put the country first. So, I hope we'll put the country first, muster the political courage and the maturity to pass legislation to protect America when she needs protecting. SMITH: Senator, our House of Representatives producer, Chad Pergram, who is as plugged in in the House of Representatives as anyone in any network in America -- GRAHAM: Yeah. SMITH: -- has been reporting on Fox News Channel all day long that there were never, under any circumstances, more than 70 Republican votes. GRAHAM: Right. Absolutely. SMITH: What I'm curious to know is -- help me understand the strangeness of Washington, Senator Graham. Why in the world would the Speaker of the House -- before two days of Jewish holidays, where they know they cannot get work done -- why in the world would you call a vote when you're 100 percent sure that there aren't enough Republicans, and knowing that 90-plus Democrats are gonna vote against this? Why call the vote? And once you do, why cut off debate? Why not take people back in the cloakroom and twist arms? Why just give a blame speech and not try harder? GRAHAM: I think that's the main thing. Why would you give a speech blaming failure before the vote occurs at a time when America needs confidence? From the September 29 edition of Fox News' America's Election Headquarters: (begin video clip) REP. JOHN BOEHNER [R-OH]: We've put everything we had into getting the votes to get there today. But the speaker had to give a partisan voice that poisoned our conference, caused a number of members that we thought we could get to go south. REP. ERIC CANTOR [R-VA]: Right here is the reason I believe why this vote failed. And this is Speaker Pelosi's speech that, frankly, struck the tone of partisanship that, frankly, was inappropriate in this discussion. (end video clip) HEATHER NAUERT [co-host]: The $700 billion economic recovery package gets rejected in the House of Representatives today -- 95 Democrats and 133 Republicans voting against it. Some Republican members never liked the bill from the get-go, but today some are saying that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's speech put the nail in the coffin. It's a speech that she gave just before the vote started. A source telling Fox News that her, quote, "partisan speech has caused our members to go berserk and may cost us the remaining chance to pass the bill." Here's a quick sample: PELOSI [video clip]: $700 billion dollars, a staggering number, but only a part of the cost of the failed Bush economic policies to our country, policies that were built on budget recklessness. When President Bush took office, he inherited President Clinton's surpluses. Four years in a row -- budget surpluses, on a trajectory of $5.6 trillion dollars in surplus. And with his reckless economic policies, within two years, he had turned that around. And now, eight years later, the foundation of that fiscal irresponsibility, combined with an "anything goes" economic policy, has taken us to where we are today. NAUERT: Things are getting really nasty on Capitol Hill. Hello, everyone. I'm Heather Nauert. ALEXIS GLICK [co-host]: And I'm Alexis Glick. Welcome to a special edition of America's Election Headquarters: Saving Our Economy. NAUERT: The stock market not liking this news today -- the Dow Jones industrials plummeting, closing down 777 points. It's the biggest daily point loss of all time. GLICK: So, what does this mean for the market, and for the U.S. economy? Should you be nervous? Well, host of Fox's Your World with Neil Cavuto joins us now. Neil, just moments ago -- you and I were talking about this earlier today -- but moments ago, we heard from Treasury Secretary [Henry] Paulson about the dire need to get something done immediately. Is his voice being heard? What happens next? CAVUTO: You know, I don't think it is being heard. I think he's very frustrated, because you and I were looking at the possibilities, Alexis, for Fox Business Network, too. I mean, in order to get some of those 93, 94 Democrats who voted against this onboard, to a man or woman, a lot of them felt that there wasn't enough in there for Main Street, presumably for Main Street, you offer mortgage relief. Some of the Republicans who voted for this say, "That's way too expensive." So, the ones who supported this would probably vote against it if it includes a lot of expensive add-ons for mortgage relief. So, there we are at the Mexican standoff again. And this point decline that we see today, that while a record in points, I'm sure you guys also pointed out, it is not a record in percentage terms. In fact, in percentage terms, down about 7 percent, it wouldn't even crack the top 10. But, nevertheless, it is an eye-popping number. And we'll probably see more of that if they just sort of stumble around this and point fingers or just aim fingers. GLICK: You know, Neil, I, I hate to suggest to this, but some will think that this is the kind of medicine we needed to show the American people that this isn't just about Wall Street or just about rescuing investment banks. I mean, we have seen Washington Mutual and Wachovia Bank taken over in the past couple of days. Is this perhaps what we need to get people off the fence to say, "You know what, maybe this is going to affect me in my backyard"? CAVUTO: Well, it's a very good point, Alexis. And a lot of the people, especially some of the Democrats who were conducting press conferences today -- from Barney Frank, et al. -- they've been saying that: "See, this is what we meant when we said there's hell to pay if you don't do this." And -- and they hope that in an ironic kind of crass way, what happened to the markets will serve as a reminder what could happen again if they don't skedaddle on this. But, I don't know if that's going to be enough, because the differences, really -- I don't know what you've been finding out, Alexis or Heather -- but from the people I've talked to, there really is like a chasm between Democrats and Republicans on this. Republicans already are very leery of committing themselves to this humungous spending program, even though, of course, they were big spenders when they were in the majority. But this is just over the top for them. Democrats are very nervous signing on to something that they know their constituents can't stand, and they know offers very little relief for Main Street, even though that was not its initial intention. So, I have a feeling this drags on awhile. And even if they do cobble together a package that is likable to the leadership on both sides, the devil is getting those party members onboard, and that was the problem today. The leadership liked it, and then it fell apart. But, I think you're right to point out, and this is not casting political aspersions, that none of this, I don't think, would have happened if Nancy Pelosi had just shut up earlier and not characterized it one way or the other. She might be right, but all -- it got a lot of folks angry because they were saying, "You were editorializing on a vote before we had the vote," and sort of giving away the gift horse, for the other side of a horse. From the September 29 edition of Fox News' Special Report with Brit Hume: MOLLY HENNEBERG [Fox News correspondent]: Almost immediately after the $700 billion financial bailout bill went down in the House, 228-205, with two-thirds of Democrats and about a third of Republicans voting for it, House GOP leaders, who supported the measure and said they thought they had the votes this morning, said there was a reason why more Republicans didn't go for it. BOEHNER: I do believe that we could have gotten there today had it not been for this partisan speech that the speaker gave on the floor of the House. HENNEBERG: He's talking about remarks Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made on the House floor shortly before the vote began. She blamed the financial crisis on, quote, "the failed Bush economic policies." PELOSI: For too long, this government, in eight years, has followed a right-wing ideology of anything goes, no supervision, no discipline, no regulation. HENNEBERG: Republicans say such comments so angered a number of their colleagues they switched their decision and voted against the bill. REP. ROY BLUNT [R-MO]: We did think we had a dozen more votes going to the floor than we had. No more than that, but we thought we had a dozen more. HENNEBERG: Democratic leaders found that laughable. REP. BARNEY FRANK [D-MA]: We don't believe they had the votes, and I think they are covering up the embarrassment of not having the votes. Give me those 12 people's names, and I will go talk uncharacteristically nicely to them. HENNEBERG: Some of the House GOP conservatives who voted against the bill say Pelosi's speech had nothing to do with it. REP. MICHELE BACHMANN [R-MN]: We are not babies who suck our thumbs. We had very principled reasons for voting no.

Wade Davis: an Inuit elder and his shit knife

I just watched this 2003 TED Talk video lecture by Wade Davis, the pioneering ethnobotanist and anthropologist who has lived with an amazing array of indigenous cultures around the world. Of course, Davis is best known for his studies of ritual use of psychedelics and also the zombification practices among Vodoun acolytes in Haiti. I've found Davis's work to be personally inspirational, provocative, and mind-expanding. This TED Talk, titled "Cultures At The Far Edge of the World" is no exception. In it, he tells an amazing story about an wonderfully resourceful Inuit elder. Davis retold the same story in a recent Discover magazine interview, but I highly recommend the TED video too because it features many his breathtaking photographs. From Discover: One of the cultures you celebrate in Light at the Edge of the World is the Inuit. What do you most admire about them? Davis: The Inuit didn?t fear the cold; they took advantage of it. During the 1950s the Canadian government forced the Inuit into settlements. A family from Arctic Bay told me this fantastic story of their grandfather who refused to go. The family, fearful for his life, took away all of his tools and all of his implements, thinking that would force him into the settlement. But instead, he just slipped out of an igloo on a cold Arctic night, pulled down his caribou and sealskin trousers, and defecated into his hand. As the feces began to freeze, he shaped it into the form of an implement. And when the blade started to take shape, he put a spray of saliva along the leading edge to sharpen it. That?s when what they call the ?shit knife? took form. He used it to butcher a dog. Skinned the dog with it. Improvised a sled with the dog?s rib cage, and then, using the skin, he harnessed up an adjacent living dog. He put the shit knife in his belt and disappeared into the night. TED Talk: Wade Davis, Cultures At the Far Edge of the World (ted.com), From Hatian Zombie Poison to Inuit Knives Made of Feces (Discover), Buy Davis's "Light at the Edge of the World" book (Amazon)...

Record penalty for grouse estate with poison bait on birds of prey habitat

Environment, science & technology: Leading fund manager and owner of Scottish grouse moor hit by largest ever financial penalty

Miami Herald leaves out McCain flip-flop, McClatchy critique of ad in reporting McCain's immigration-related attacks on Obama

A Miami Herald article about Sen. John McCain's September 15 campaign stop in Orlando quoted McCain saying he "fought for" comprehensive immigration legislation and criticizing Sen. Barack Obama for "propos[ing] amendments that would have killed" it. But the article did not report that McCain said during the Republican primary this year that he would no longer vote for his own immigration bill if it were to come up again in the Senate. In the September 16 article, staff writers Beth Reinhard and Mary Ellen Klas wrote: "McCain spearheaded a bill in 2006 -- reviled by the right wing of his own party -- that would have allowed illegal immigrants to earn citizenship. Obama supported the overall goal but backed controversial amendments that would have limited a guest worker program." Reinhard and Klas then quoted McCain saying, ''The fact is that Sen. Obama proposed amendments that would have killed the legislation. I fought for it.'' In fact, as Media Matters for America has repeatedly noted, McCain said during a Republican primary debate that he would not vote for the immigration reform bill he co-sponsored with Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA). Moderator Janet Hook mentioned that McCain's "original immigration proposal back in 2006 was much broader and included a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants who are already here," and asked him: "At this point, if your original proposal came to a vote in the Senate floor, would you vote for it?" McCain responded that he would not, "because we know what the situation is today. The people want the border secured first." This position is at odds with his previous position that border security could not be disaggregated from other aspects of comprehensive immigration reform without being rendered ineffective. Further, Reinhard and Klas wrote that "McCain leveled the same charge in ads running in Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada, which Obama called 'dishonest' in an interview Sunday on Spanish-language television." But it was not just Obama who called the ad "dishonest"; McClatchy Newspapers itself, which owns the Herald, also concluded that the ad was not accurate, as did the editorial page of The New York Times. Reinhard and Klas did not note the McClatchy fact check or otherwise report that others besides Obama have accused the McCain campaign of distortions in the ad. David Lightman wrote the fact check for McClatchy, which was posted September 12 on miamiherald.com and accused the McCain campaign of "misdirect[ing] blame" for the failure of the immigration bill: Media accounts cited two votes as effectively killing immigration reform last year -- and Obama was on the same side as McCain in both. On June 7, supporters failed by 15 votes to cut off a filibuster. McCain and Obama voted to limit debate. The Politico headline the next day: "Senate immigration compromise collapses." On June 28, another effort to limit debate failed by 14 votes; CNN called it a "crushing defeat." Obama and McCain again voted to cut off debate, but it was largely Republican senators who led the filibuster. In its review of the 2007 Congress, Congressional Quarterly cited both votes as crucial to killing the immigration measure. The New York Times called the ad a "gross distortion" in a September 15 editorial titled, "What's Spanish for 'Lies'?" It said, "Hundreds of amendments were proposed to kill it or improve it, depending on your point of view, and some were called 'poison pills' by the 'grand bargainers' who had assembled the unwieldy compromise." It continued: So, here is what that misleading Spanish ad is referring to. Mr. Obama supported an amendment from Senator Byron Dorgan, backed by unions, that would have phased out a guest-worker program after five years. The amendment passed, 49 to 48, but it was no poison pill. "Not one member of Congress stood up and said, 'I'm voting against the bill because of that Dorgan amendment,'" said Frank Sharry, executive director of America's Voice, an organization supporting comprehensive immigration reform. "It's preposterous. Not even close." In the end, it wasn't that amendment or any others supported by Mr. Obama that caused the fragile coalition to fall apart. The bill was killed by Mr. McCain's party. Its supporters were hoping to attract 25 to 30 Republican votes, but they could only round up 12, in the wake of all of those right-wing attacks. From the September 16 Miami Herald article: Speaking to a predominantly Hispanic audience considered crucial to winning Florida, Republican John McCain vowed Monday to make immigration one of his ''first priorities'' if elected president and accused Democrat Barack Obama of spiking reforms in Congress. McCain spearheaded a bill in 2006 -- reviled by the right wing of his own party -- that would have allowed illegal immigrants to earn citizenship. Obama supported the overall goal but backed controversial amendments that would have limited a guest worker program. ''The fact is that Sen. Obama proposed amendments that would have killed the legislation. I fought for it,'' McCain told more than 350 people at a town hall meeting. McCain leveled the same charge in ads running in Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada, which Obama called ''dishonest'' in an interview Sunday on Spanish-language television. Once pummeled for backing what critics tarred as ''amnesty,'' McCain has talked little about immigration during the general election campaign. He did not raise the issue Monday in Jacksonville, reliably Republican turf where he began a two-day tour that wraps up Tuesday in Tampa. But Orlando offered a different audience. Central Florida is home to a fast-growing Hispanic community coveted for its political independence, unlike the staunchly Republican Cuban-American voters who have dominated Miami-Dade politics.

Naples Mafia selling poison bread, Chinese adding melamine powder to infant formula

1,253 babies in China have gotten sick from drinking powered milk that had been intentionally spiked with melamine (a chemical used to make plastic tableware), while authorities in Naples are warning people not to buy bread made by the Mafia, as it is baked with carcinogenic wood. From the Times Online: Two infants have already died from drinking the formula laced with melamine in a ploy by farmers to boost the protein content of the milk they sold to one of the country?s biggest and best-known milk powder manufacturers. Police have arrested 19 people, including two brothers who ran a milk collection station. From The Guardian: Open 24 hours a day, the street sellers are drawing shoppers with cheap, crusty bread fresh from wood-burning ovens, the way Neapolitans like it. But police say Naples' new breed of bakers are slowly poisoning their customers by burning old varnished wood, nut shells covered in pesticides and even planks pulled from exhumed coffins. "Whoever buys this bread is eating dioxins and carcinogenic substances and putting their health at serious risk," said Francesco Borrelli, assessor for agriculture for the province of Naples....