A]ny disclosure of information” that a covered employee “reasonably
believes” evidences “a violation of any law, rule, or regulation” or evidences “gross
mismanagement, a gross waste of funds, an abuse of authority, or a substantial and
specific danger to public health or safety” is protected on the condition that the
disclosure is not prohibited by law nor required to be kept secret by Executive
Order.

Every state also has its form of “No Fear or Whistleblowers Protection”…unfortunately, not enough brave souls take advantage of it.

How painful were the memories of the pet food crises!

Dr. Nestle’s description of that time were very accurate, naming all the sources of the tainted food and all the brands affected.

However, I remember the first moment of shock when I heard the news on the radio. All the deluxe brands I fed my beloved cats—recalled. All the ones I wanted to feed them—recalled.

Total nightmare it was, and so painful to remember. However, Dr. Nestle’s book shines a huge spotlight on the nightmarish betrayal of the trust I had before that these pet food companies knew the best nutritional elements.

Instead, my cats were heavily poisoned, as were so many other cats and dogs. I am still seething and it never goes away.

Go here:

http://change.gov/page/content.....s20081229/

and then go through the “Energy & Environment” section.

I agree with one of the questioners that “Agriculture” should have had its own heading, but at this point, we take what we can get.

It’s pretty easy to register and I had a fun time answering questions in about 1/2 of the categories.

Credit goes to Lou Dobbs for the attention to the issue. I was flipping news channels at the top of the hour and hit his just right when he was doing the teaser for this. Then I googled:

http://www.google.com/search?q.....=firefox-a

letter was sent 2 days ago and it took an off chance I heard about it?! Not good.

seems like this story could get legs if we give it a push ;) (pet sites, mommy sites) Especially since we have a wee bit of a salmonella issue right now (was this kept on the downlow because it followed the tomato/whatever issue so closely?) and they are still finding melamine in milk by-products. Get ready for Soy to get a headline soon . . .

Great image. Local news had a “just wash your hands before/after food” segment tonight in regards to salmonella. They did the pets/pet food issue, but also let us know our food was just as bad. YUM!

Timely aside for me . . . CSA mtg tomorrow at 2pm! Oh how I love my farmers!!! I may actually have to do that ol’ “walking through the snow to get there” routine. Not so bad usually in the city, but even if it is, I’ll do it happily! If anyone is looking for a CSA in your area for this harvest season, NOW is the time to sign up!! (mine already has a wait list!) Here’s a starting point for looking for local food/CSAs/farmers Markets/etc

http://www.localharvest.org/