We've been seeing a great number of polling diaries of late as our candidates test each other for the nomination. Here is one poll that we can all get behind, regardless of our choice. Today, Gallup released a poll showing that Democrats have significant identification and image advantages over Republicans.  

The data reviewed here underscore the strong position of the Democratic Party at this point in the election year. A near-record number of Americans indicate that they currently identify as Democrats; the image of Democratic Party is much more favorable than that of the Republican Party; and Americans say the Democratic Party is better positioned to bring about change and is more likely to be able to manage the government effectively.

The blogosphere has been much abuzz of late with, stories about the mainstream media making asses out of themselves, whether it be Time getting owned by Greg Greenwald or the Washington Post frontpaging a story full of scurrilous rumors about Barrack Obama that had been debunked online months earlier.

By the West Pavilion, on a thousand feet of cliff,
Walking at midnight under my latticed window.
Flying stars pass white along the water,
Transparent beams of moonset flicker on the sand.
At home in its tree,notice the secret bird:
Safe beneath the waves,imagine the great fishes.
From kinsmen and friends at the bounds of heaven and earth
Between weapon and buffcoat, seldom a letter comes. - Tu Fu

I've been too busy trying to keep Wikipedia up-to-date to put a proper blog together on this, so for now I'll post a brief email I sent to Ben over at Itchmo and Daily Kos's own Susan Hu.  If you've been following the news regarding the 2007 pet food crisis and the use of melamine to inflate the protein measurements, you can probably follow it right off.  If not, go read my last blog post (A Perfect Storm or the China Syndrome: Food Fraud) or check out the info at the wikipedia entry above.

An argument for removing the economic incentive to dump industrial waste into our protein products follows after the jump:

Is the burgeoning pet food recall and animal feed contamination scandal the result of a "perfect storm" of relaxation of regulatory standards, food industry complacency in relying on outdated tests for detecting adulterants and Chinese productivity in ramping up the productive capacity of an industrial chemical to the point where it could be cheaply used to inflate the sales value of some common food additives?

And are we only in the eye of the storm now, awaiting word that not only has melamine entered the human food supply indirectly via contaminated animal feed but also may have been being added directly to human food products since as long ago as 2005 or earlier?

Answers after the jump.

In light of the ever-expanding pet food recall situation and evidence that tainted pet food has been dumped into animal feed, FDA is finally beginning to take steps to test imported ingredients and finished products that contain wheat gluten, rice protein, cornmeal, soy protein, rice bran and corn gluten.

But why didn't FDA use the authority it has to seize the tainted pet food it had already discovered before some of it was dumped into the animal feed system?

The Food and Drug Administration today announced the final rule establishing procedures for administrative detention of food under the authority of the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002 (Bioterrorism Act). This new authority applies to food for which the agency has credible evidence or information that it presents a threat of serious adverse health consequences or death to humans or animals. [h/t 5CatMom in comments on Itchmo.com]

Senators Dick Durbin and Maria Cantwell have asked the FDA to tell us what they know and to do more to protect the pet and human food supply from what are now known threats from imported wheat, rice and corn protein additives:

In addition to identifying those companies who were recipients of the contaminated rice protein and have yet to do the right thing by identifying themselves, we request that the FDA begin comprehensive testing and sampling of both rice protein and corn gluten, similar to the testing and sampling performed on wheat gluten. The FDA must assure Congress and the American people that the shipments of rice protein known to be contaminated with melamine imported by Wilbur Ellis and the second unknown importer are the only shipments of contaminated rice protein to reach the United States and that no contaminated corn gluten has reached the United States. Should any additional contaminated rice protein or corn gluten be found, the FDA should take immediate action to identify those companies .... http://durbin.senate.gov/...

Yesterday, I wrote about the growing indications of intentional food tampering to inflate protein content measurements in the food additives (wheat gluten and rice protein concentrate) involved in the ever growing pet food recall.

Today, we hear that the FDA has been presented with evidence of what is almost certainly intentional tampering:

Last Sunday, April 15, Wilbur-Ellis notified the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that a single bag in a recent shipment of rice protein concentrate from its Chinese supplier, Binzhou Futian Biology Technology Co. Ltd., had tested positive for melamine. Unlike the other white-colored bags in that shipment, the bag in question was pink and had the word "melamine" stenciled upon it.

Update: The white bags tested positive for Melamine too.

For a fuller report.

Yesterday's recall of pet foods containing rice protein concentrate have added to the worries of pet owners who were already concerned over the recalls involving wheat gluten.  Other Kossaks have already reported on this here and here.

As disturbing as the pet food recalls are in themselves, a perhaps even more disturbing story line that is emerging is that we should all be concerned about the use of protein concentrates in the human food supply as well. While there is no evidence yet that any such adulterated products have entered the human food supply, the FDA is taking this possibility seriously:

As an added precaution, however, we have asked the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to use its surveillance network to monitor for signs of human illness, such as increased renal failure, that could indicate contamination of the human food supply.

TPM Muckraker has put together some of today's document dump with earlier documents that establishes:

1. Kyle Sampson, the Attorney General's Chief of Staff in the Department of Justice, informed Chistopher Oprison in the White House Counsel's Office that he, Kyle Sampson, knew that "getting him [Tim Griffin] appointed was important to ... Karl [Rove] ...";

2. Kyle Sampson later sent a draft letter containing the statement: "The Department is not aware of Karl Rove playing any role in the decision to appoint Griffin" to the very same Chistopher Oprison in the WHCO for approval before the DOJ sent the letter to Congress;

3. Chistopher Oprison ok'ed the draft letter with the false statement in it.

DOJ lied to Congress and the White House approved the lie.

My friend Bartleby, who prefers not to do his own blogging, shared the following poem with me recently. He says that the text dates back to 1990, not long after the Exxon Valdez tanker spilled oil all over the pristine southern coast of Alaska, and that he remembered the poem when he recently read that the appeals court reduced the damages Exxon Mobil was required to pay. He also sends along his apologies to T.S. Eliot. For a cross-posted version with pictures follow this link.

My dear 90 year old grandmother, who spent almost all of her working years assembling light switches for Westinghouse, retired a good many years ago. At least those were different times and her union had been able to negotiate decent pension benefits, including prescription drug coverage for retirees. So, in many ways, she has been one of the fortunate senior citizens who hasn't had to sign up for Medicare part D. However, she is very confused by the ever-changing nature of her current medical coverage. I attempt to capture the substance and flavor of the conversation I had with her over Christmas. Follow this link for a cross-posted version with pictures.