WhatTeddSedd

Horizon Sells Out Organic Farmers With New “Natural” Milk

Dean Foods’ WhiteWave (ed. note: should be called “WhiteWash”) division has announced it will release a new non-organic “natural” version of its popular Horizon dairy products. Horizon is the largest organic dairy brand in the marketplace, and many consumers will likely alternatively purchase the Horizon “natural (conventional) ” brand at a premium and at a time when organic dairy farmers are already experiencing record losses.

Breaking the Organic Monopoly and the “Natural” Foods Myth
Whole Food Market and United Natural Foods, Inc.: Undermining Our Organic Future

After four decades of hard work, the organic community has built up a $25 billion “certified organic” food and farming sector. This consumer-driven movement, under steady attack by the biotech and Big Food lobby, with little or no help from government, has managed to create a healthy and sustainable alternative to America’s disastrous, chemical and energy-intensive system of industrial agriculture.

However, the annual $50 billion natural food and products industry is threatening to undermine the organic movement by flooding the marketplace with conventional products greenwashed with “natural” labeling. “Natural,” in the overwhelming majority of cases, translates to “conventional-with-a-green-veneer.” Natural products are routinely produced using pesticides, chemical fertilizer, hormones, genetic engineering, and sewage sludge. “Natural”,”all-natural,” and “sustainable,” products in most cases are neither backed up by rules and regulations, nor a Third Party certifier. These are label claims that are neither policed nor monitored. For an evaluation of eco-labels see the Consumers Union Eco-Label website.

For example:

* Tests Show Widespread Presence of GMOs (genetic modification) in So-Called “Natural” Foods

* So-Called “Natural” (non-organic) soy milk, including such leading brands as “Silk” are made with conventional soy lecithin, utilizing the hazardous chemical, Hexane, as an extraction agent.

* Dozens of “natural” and “made with organic” personal care and household cleaning products contain known carcinogens such as 1,4 Dioxane. Just about the only personal care products you can trust are those bearing the “USDA Organic” label.

* 90% or more of the vitamins and supplements now on the market labeled as “Whole Foods,” “natural” or “food based” are spiked with synthetic chemicals.

Despite the massive popularity and demand for certified organic products, retailers like Whole Foods Market, and wholesalers like United Natural Foods Inc., continue to push “natural” products at a premium price, while, in effect slowing down the growth of organics with their near market monopoly. In fact, the majority of products sold and distributed by Whole Foods Market and UNFI are not certified organic, but rather so-called “natural.” Meanwhile, independent and cooperative grocers often offer more certified organic products at competitive prices.

Will you stand up for organics?

Contact Whole Foods Market and UNFI today and tell them that you will buy only certified organic products for you and your family.

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I still haven’t gotten over the irony surrounding Marian Hossa’s last year free agent signing with the Detroit Red Wings, for less money, than he would have gotten to stay with the Pittburgh Penguins.  The Pens had finished as Stanley Cup runnersup and Hossa wanted to win it all, so he signed with Detroit.  Then Detroit lost to Pittsburgh and once again, Hossa just missed out on winning the Cup.  Now Marian must’ve decided, the heck with it, I’ll just take the money, and so he signed a 12 year (I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me, when I read that), $62.8 million dollar deal with the Blackhawks.  Hossa was the leading scorer with the Wings, Martin Havlat was the leading Hawks scorer, Hossa will replace Havlat, who’ll sign with the Minnesota Wild.

The Hawks also signed 27-year-old forward Tomas Kopecky, who also played for the Wings the last four seasons, to a two-year, $2.4 million deal and center John Madden from the New Jersey Devils to a one-year, reported $2.75 million contract.  In addition to losing Havlat, goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin (Edmonton), defenseman Matt Walker (Tampa Bay) and center Sammy Pahlsson (Columbus) signed with other teams.  Madden will replace Phalsson, but I’m still kind of bummed that defenseman James Wisniewski was traded for Phalsson, who was here less than one year, I liked Wiz.  I also liked Matt Walker.  But the Blackhawks biggest loss will be between the pipes, Nikolai Khabibulin.  I really liked Khabibulin and am not a Cristobal Huet fan.

Then there’s what Detroit got from Chicago, the Pistons, the hated Detroit Pistons have signed shooting guard Ben Gordon to a five year $55 million dollar deal.  While Gordon was not good defensively and turned the ball over occasionally, he was a scorer, was one of the few players the Bulls had who could consistently knock down a J, and was a three point threat.  So where do the Bulls go from here?  Small forward John Salmons will probably move over to shooting guard to replace Gordon.  Luol Deng will reclaim his small forward starting spot, with rookie James Johnson backing him up.  Tyrus Thomas will start at power forward, with rookie Taj Gibson spelling him.  Once again Joakim Noah & Brad Miller will share time in the post.  Derrick Rose will be at the point, with Kirk Hinrich backing up both guard spots.  The Pistons seem serious about getting back into the playoff picture, as they also signed free agent forward Charlie Villenueva.  The Cavs are also stepping up their game, bringing in center Shaq O’Neal, and are now talking about bringing in defensive specialist forward Ron Artest and LA Lakers swingman Trevor Ariza.  The Bulls seem to be concentrating on the 2010 free agent crop, but I’ve seen that act before, still I’m excited about the 2009-10 Chicago Bulls!

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We are all familiar with the term dead presidents, referring to money, but this post is about two of the four presidents who were assassinated.  We seem pretty familiar with the details of Abraham Lincoln by John Wilkes Booth and Lee Harvey Oswald’s assassination of John F. Kennedy, but what about James Grafield & McKinley?

One was shot on this date, way back in 1881, James Garfield.  The only member of the House of Representatives to have ever been elected president, Garfield, a Republican, had been in office a scant four months when he was shot and fatally wounded on July 2, 1881.  He lived until September 19, having served for six months and fifteen days.  One bullet grazed Garfield’s arm; the second bullet lodged in his spine and could not be found, although scientists today think that the bullet was near his lung.  Alexander Graham Bell devised a metal detector specifically for the purpose of finding the bullet, but the metal bed frame Garfield was lying on made the instrument malfunction.  Because metal bed frames were relatively rare, the cause of the instrument’s deviation was unknown at the time.  Garfield became increasingly ill over a period of several weeks due to infection, which caused his heart to weaken.  He remained bedridden in the White House with fevers and extreme pains.  In early September, the ailing President was moved to the Jersey Shore in the vain hope that the fresh air and quiet there might aid his recovery. Garfield died of a massive heart attack or a ruptured splenic artery aneurysm, following blood poisoning and bronchial pneumonia, at 10:35 p.m. on Monday, September 19, 1881, in the Elberon section of Long Beach, New Jersey.  The wounded President died exactly two months before his 50th birthday. Most historians and medical experts now believe that Garfield probably would have survived his wound had the doctors attending him been more capable.  Several inserted their unsterilized fingers into the wound to probe for the bullet, and one doctor punctured Garfield’s liver in doing so.  This alone would not have brought about death as the liver is one of the few organs in the human body that can regenerate itself.  However, this physician probably introduced Streptococcus bacteria into the President’s body and that caused blood poisoning for which at that time there were no antibiotics.  The President had been walking through the Sixth Street Station of the Baltimore and Potomic Railroad (a predecessor of the Pennsylvania Railroad) Washington, D.C., on his way to his alma mater, Williams College, where he was scheduled to deliver a speech, accompanied by Secretary of State James G. Blaine, Secretary of War Robert Todd Lincoln (son of  Abraham Lincoln) and two of his sons, James and Harry.  The station was located on the southwest corner of present day Sixth Street Northwest and Constitution Avenue in Washington, D.C., a site that is now occupied by the National Gallery of Art.  As he was being arrested after the shooting, Guiteau repeatedly said, “I am a Stalwart of the Stalwarts!  I did it and I want to be arrested!  Arthur is President now!” which briefly led to unfounded suspicions that Arthur or his supporters had put Guiteau up to the crime.  (The Stalwarts strongly opposed Garfield’s Half-Breeds; like many vice presidents, Arthur was chosen for political advantage, to placate his faction, rather than for skills or loyalty to his running-mate.) Guiteau was upset because of the rejection of his repeated attempts to be appointed as the United States consul in Paris—a position for which he had absolutely no qualifications.  Garfield was the second president to have been assassinated, Abraham Lincoln being the first.

President William McKinley and his wife attended the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York.  He delivered a speech about his positions on tariffs and foreign trade on September 5, 1901. On the second day, McKinley was at the Temple of Music, greeting the public.  Leon Frank Czolgosz waited in line with a pistol in his right hand concealed by a handkerchief.  At 4:07 P.M. Czolgosz fired twice at the president.  The first bullet grazed the president’s shoulder.  The second, however, went through McKinley’s stomach, pancreas, and kidney, and finally lodged in the muscles of his back.  The president whispered to his secretary, George Cortelyou “My wife, Cortelyou, be careful how you tell her, oh be careful.”  Czolgosz would have fired again, but he was struck by a bystander and then subdued by an enraged crowd.  The wounded McKinley even called out “Boys! Don’t let them hurt him!” because the angry crowd beat Czolgosz so severely it looked as if they might kill him on the spot.  One bullet was easily found and extracted, but doctors were unable to locate the second bullet. It was feared that the search for the bullet might cause more harm than good. In addition, McKinley appeared to be recovering, so doctors decided to leave the bullet where it was.  The newly-developed X-ray machine was displayed at the fair, but doctors were reluctant to use it on McKinley to search for the bullet because they did not know what side effects it might have on him.  The operating room at the exposition’s emergency hospital did not have any electric lighting, even though the exteriors of many of the buildings at the extravagant exposition were covered with thousands of light bulbs.  The surgeons were unable to operate by candlelight because of the danger created by the flammable ether used to keep the president unconscious, so doctors were forced to use pans instead to reflect sunlight onto the operating table while they treated McKinley’s wounds. McKinley’s doctors believed he would recover, and the President convalesced for more than a week in Buffalo at the home of the exposition’s director.  On the morning of September 12, he felt strong enough to receive his first food orally since the shooting—toast and a small cup of coffee. However, by afternoon he began to experience discomfort and his condition rapidly worsened.  McKinley began to go into shock. At 2:15 A.M. on September 14, 1901, eight days after he was shot, he died from gangrene surrounding his wounds.  He was 58.  His last words were “It is God’s way; His will be done, not ours.”.  He was buried in Canton, Ohio. Czolgosz was tried and found guilty of murder, and was executed by electric chair at Auburn Prison on October 29, 1901.

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Basketball in Chicago couldn’t be too far away as I just received my invoice from the Bulls informing them that I owe approximately $11,000 by month’s end.  The NBA also recently held their rookie draft and although it was not as exciting as last year when the Bulls selected point guard Derrick Rose with the first pick in the draft, they still were able to get talent at 16 (James Johnson) & 26 (Taj Gibson).  Both are power forwards, 6′8″ sophomore Johnson played college ball at Wake Forest, while 6′9″ junior Gibson played at USC.

Johnson, an undefeated kick-boxer (21-0) with one MMA match under his belt, has plenty of upside.  He is very athletic, a good ball handler, can rebound, and shoot from the outside.  There doesn’t appear to be anything this kid can’t do.  He was thought to be a lottery pick, so the Bulls were delighted when he fell to them at 16.  Gibson is a coach’s dream, great attitude & wants to win, and although he is thin, he can rebound, but his number one asset is his ability to block shots.  The fact that he went to school out west, doesn’t deny the fact that he’s a tough Brooklyn kid at heart.

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Former President Dwight Eisenhower warned of the military industrial complex overtaking our country.  It seems with the “good war” in Afghanistan gaining ground, while we’re preparing to pullout of Iraq, the “bad war”, he wasn’t far off.

Record numbers of international forces are in Afghanistan, including about 56,000 American troops and 32,000 from NATO and other allies. Military officials have said they expect combat casualties to increase in coming months as arriving forces push into parts of the country where the Taliban has held sway.

US forces withdrew from Iraqi towns and cities ahead of a midnight deadline on Monday, handing over security duties to Iraqi police and military forces. There has been a recent rise in violence with several large bombings targeting markets. More than 4,300 US soldiers have died in Iraq since the US-led invasion of the country in 2003.

On May 10, CBS’s 60 Minutes presented a remarkably one-sided report on unmanned Air Force drones firing missiles into Afghanistan and Iraq. Though the drones have been criticized for killing civilians in both countries, CBS viewers heard from no critics of the weapons. The closest the segment came to airing any criticism at all was when Logan asked one pilot, Lt. Col. Chris Gough, about his confidence in the targeting of the missile attacks: “What if you get it wrong?” Logan asked. “We don’t,” Gough replied, before finally admitting that it’s “a tough question…. We have the resources to make sure we’re right.” Gough stressed the “clarity” of being removed from the battlefield–the drones are piloted from a base in Nevada–which led Logan to say, “In spite of that clarity, unmanned planes and Air Force jets are criticized in Afghanistan for killing innocent civilians, including an incident just this week that is under military investigation.” Those comments were accompanied primarily by footage of screaming Afghans protesting in a street, with a brief shot of a hospitalized child.

Six Blackwater employees are under investigation by another federal grand jury, in Washington, D.C., in connection with the shooting deaths of at least 17 civilians in September 2007 at a Baghdad traffic circle.  Blackwater says it is cooperating with the grand jury investigation and has said that its guards acted in self-defense during the incident.

Over $870 billion dollars have been spent financing the Iraq & Afghanistan wars.  Neither war is winnable.  The Soviet Union discovered the hard way that war with Afghanistan was not winnable, when it was one of the contributing factors, which brought the Soviet Union to its knees, economically.  The United States helped the Afghans fight off the Soviets, after Afghanistan “won” the war, the United States decided against pouring money into an impoverished & war-torn country, and allowed the region to become a fertile haven for terrorists.  Let’s not make this mistake again, not so soon.  We need to help build Afghanistan through aid, rather than continue to bomb it.  Drones have sanitised some parts of this war, while Blackwater has become our own French Foreign Legion, with mercenaries killers, hired by us.  We need to put an end to the two sinkholes, which are putting such a financial strain on our country’s economy.  We need to bring our troops home.  Not only do we need to bring our troops home from Iraq & Afghanistan, but we should also bring them home from Germany & Japan, as well as other bases around the globe.

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The 60th Lindskoog Family Reunion was held this past Saturday June 27th at Riverside Park in Waupaca, Wisconsin.  Mary Jo & Barry Tomaras (with help from Joan & Tracy Tomaras, Mike Porrey, Lois Tomaras, and Sadie Nicolas) were the driving forces behind the successful gathering of about 90 family members.  The menu included pulled pork & turkey, several scrumptious pasta salads, and fully loaded baked potatoes (with every topping imaginable).  Sadie made a beautiful three tiered lemon cake.  There was also plenty of fresh fruit on hand.  Barry & Mike provided the beer.  Mary Jo also organized the games, which included Lindskoog Fact or Fiction, a memory game for the kids, and the ever popular egg toss.

The weather was threatening, but the rain held off for the most part.  Family members came from as far away as Texas, Georgia, & St. Louis.  At 98 years of age Eva Miller was the oldest, while Arthur Nicolas 9 months was the youngest.  Mary Jo gathered recipes, put together a very professional looking cook book, with 155 recipes, which sold for $12.  The price for the day’s events was a ridiculously low $8 for adults, $2 for kids, and under five was free.

The 61st Lindskoog Family Reunion will be in the Chicago area, the 4th Saturday in June, hosted by the Harry & Marlene Goodman Family.  I’m in the process of changing www.lindskoogfamily.com over to a blog type format, it’ll feature the family’s latest news, along with plenty of pictures.

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Alot of people have mentioned how I somehow had overlooked the King of Pop’s death when I wrote of the three recent deaths.  But the reason I didn’t mention Michael Jackson dying, it’s obvious, he hadn’t died yet.  The clip I’ve chosen to include in this piece is ABC from 1970 when Michael at the age of 11 years old burst onto the scene with the Jackson Five.  What a rare talent he was, I remember thinking he was just a little kid, but in reality I was only 14 at the time.  But when you’re 14, 11 seems to be a far way off, somehow age has a way of evening up as we get older, 53 is about the same as 50.

Michael really packed alot into his 50 years, he was the King of Pop, right up there with Elvis Presley and the Beatles.  Jackson was taking alot of pain killers for some broken bones, maybe that contributed to his untimely death, maybe it didn’t.  Regardless, we are all a little poorer having lost a genius.  It can not be overstated that Michael Jackson was a living legend and a music icon.  Not only could he sing, but that man could dance!

He was a gentle soul, often misunderstood by the public, he seemed to never grow up, and his fascination with children may have come from his own lost childhood.  He seemed to enjoy his Never Never Ranch almost as much, or maybe more, than the children he brought there.

It’s just a shame he wasn’t able to enjoy his life more, granted he packed alot of living into his life, but I’m not sure whether he was actually able to enjoy his life.  There were also alot of parasites in his life, along for the ride.  Before his death, Michael was planning a world tour, still going strong at 50.  It’s a shame he’s gone, too soon.

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They say deaths come in threes and I was wondering who the next two would be when I heard Ed McMahon had died.  The next day I learned that PBS commentator John Callaway had died.  Now today I hear that Farrah Fawcett has lost her battle with cancer. 

“Heeeee-ere’s Johnny!”, was Ed McMahon’s signature as he introduced Johnny Carson on the Tonite Show.   “I laugh for an hour and then go home,” he told Associated Press in 1993. “I’ve got the world’s greatest job.”  After leaving the show, McMahon stayed in the public eye by passing out checks from the Publisher’s Clearing House to people across America.  Ed died at 86 years of age, he was suffering with bone cancer and various ailments.

After arriving in Chicago as a college dropout — with, as he often said, 71 cents in his pockets — Callaway began his journalism career at the City News Bureau of Chicago and soon rose to radio and television eminence.  John founded Chicago Tonight and was the show’s host for 15 years before retiring from the job in 1999.  He wasn’t out of action long though, returning to WTTW a year later as host of the station’s Chicago Stories documentary series.  He later hosted Friday Night, a segment of Chicago Tonight that featured in-depth interviews with people in the news.  He died of a heart attack at 72.

She lived on my bedroom wall, I’m sure that I’m not alone.  This sexy blond pinup, clad in a swimsuit, suggestively playing with her hair, with a huge smile on her face, it is said, her hair subliminally spelled out the word, S-E-X.  Her poster would’ve been enough for her to live on in my memory forever, but Farrah kept it going.  She became infamous as the #1 Angel in Charlie’s Angels, when she teamed with Kate Jackson & Jaclyn Smith.  Then she went on to pose in Playboy, demonstrating she was still smoking hot.  But the true mark of who Fawcett was as a person came when she was stricken with cancer.  Millions tuned in to watch her in Farrah’s Story, in which she preached the message, “Never give up.  No matter what they tell you”.  She shaved her head in one episode, rather than lose her hair to chemotherapy.  Now at 62, she’s gone, but won’t be forgotten.  God must’ve needed an Angel.

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I’m no expert on weddings, not by a long shot.  But according to the experts, today must be a great wedding day.  My grandparents on my mother’s side were married on this date, way back in 1933.  Gram just celebrated her 98th birthday on June 12th, I’m very fortunate to still have her in my life, living only four houses south of me, and we just got off the phone.  She told me about the day Eva married her beloved Herb, now gone 13 years, where does the time go?  Were he alive today, they would be celebrating their 76th wedding anniversary.  Eva’s sister Alice was her Maid of Honor, also standing up was her good friend Florence Cook and Herb’s sister Florence.  Herb’s Best Man was his friend Felix and his sister’s husband Herman also stood up.  It was a small wedding, held in a Swedish Lutheran church on Harding, in Chicago, on a very hot day, no air conditioning back then.  Everything was so much simpler in those days, the happy couple honeymooned in Wisconsin.  Despite not having very much money, under the shadows of the Great Depression, they made things work, for nearly 63 years.  Never heard them argue once, although I’m sure they had their times, hats off to them, and thank you for showing me what true love is all about.

Another couple married on this date, but only twenty years ago, are my good friends Tom & Joan.  I stood up for their wedding, the only time I ever missed the Lindskoog Family Reunion.  But I did get some Swedish flare at their wedding, as everyone dressed in Swedish garb, there was even dancing around the May Pole.  This happy couple is far from traditional in alot of ways, they even combined their names into one, his was Nelson, hers was Hopenworth, and they became the Nelshoppens.  Their union is still going strong, they live their beliefs, and I’m very proud to call them my friends.  Here’s to a very Happy Anniversary!

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