The USDA has deemed it acceptable to sell and distribute beef contaminated with certain strands of the E. Coli bacterium.  Millions of pounds of beef test positive for a virulent strand of E. Coli and are still distributed every year.

The meat-packing companies put this beef under the “cook only” category, claiming that the strand will be destroyed during the cooking process.  The meat is sold in restaurants, grocery stores and schools as taco meat, hamburger meat and meatloaf.          

Inspectors argue that eliminating the “cook only” category would cause too much of a loss and be a waste of food in the meat industry.  “You’re talking about throwing away a significant volume of product, which to any food safety person, that doesn’t make sense because the product can still be put through a validated cooking process and be made safe,” said Randall Huffman, senior vice presdient for scientific affairs at the American Meat Institute, “A lot of food products right now are cooked.”

Other inspectors say the “cook only” practice means that higher-than-appropriate levels of E. Coli are tolerated in packing plants, raising the chance that clean meat will become contaminated.  They say the “cook only” practice is part of the reason for this year’s sudden rise in incidents of E. Coli contamination.

An anonymous specialist under the USDA said, “The government keeps putting out that we’ve reduced E. Coli by 50 percent and all of tha…and we haven’t done (anything).  We’ve just covered it up.”

The USDA has denied this.  In answers to written questions from the Tribune, department officials said the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service “collects its own random samples without waiting for test results from the plant.”

There are a few problems here:

1. It’s disturbing and disgusting that possible strands of E. Coli are making it into out meat, without us knowing about it.

2. It’s even more disturbing that this beef is being given to children in schools.  Especially when school lunch programs have increased the use of cooked beef in recent years, especially hamburger patties and taco meat, as a way to prevent E. Coli poisoning from undercooked beef, according to Jeannie Sneed, a food service consultant formerly at Iowa State University.

3. Sure it’s gross knowing that there’s a possibility we are eating beef with E. Coli, but what makes it worse is that we are not even aware of it.  The USDA has hidden this from us!

Way to be honest and up-front guys!

 Some tips on preventing E. Coli…

Normally I hate things like this. I hate when people complain about music lyrics.  Music is a form of expression, it’s a freedom, it’s an outlet.

 Yes, there are songs with words that demean women, minorities and children. There are also songs loaded with drugs and violence. Each of these songs are a form of expression and they are the right of the musician. However, I heard something on the radio the other day, that I really didn’t find appropriate.

 “I feel like dying”

Only once the drugs are done, that I feel like dying… I feel like dying
Only once the drugs are done, that I feel like dying… I feel like dying
Only once the drugs are done, that I feel like dying… I feel like dying
(I feel like, I feel like, I feel like…)

Only once the drugs are done, that I feel like dying… I feel like dying
Only once the drugs are done, that I feel like dying… I feel like dying

Children and teenagers listen to the radio, they listen to the lyrics and they digest them.  Celebrities are their role models.  Especially when these celebrities write about the lives they had on the streets and “in the hood,” and then becoming successful.  Then they start writing about drugs, guns and violence, all the while those children are still listening.

This particular song references five different forms of drugs by name, as well as flat-out saying “only once the drugs are done, that I feel like dying.”

I support music as an outlet, and a way for people to connect.  And like other Americans, I am greatful for my freedom of speech, but when we mix the two together and inappropriate things are said, then they need to be monitored and edited before they are put on the radio for little children to hear.

While there, we had a little bit of car trouble….which is typical. 

We went to Bowman’s Beach, which is a bout 5 miles down a twisting and turning road that looks like it’s in the middle of the jungle.  Civilization is at the other side of the island.

While at the beach it started to rain so we walked back to car hoping to drive away and get some lunch.  However, the remote to the car alarm would not work.  If the remote does not unlock the doors, then the alarm on the car won’t disengage, the alarm will obnoxiously scream for minutes at a time and the car will not start.

So we unlocked the doors with the car key, and sat in the car with the alarm screaming, rather then standing in the pouring rain.  We banged the remote, we blew into the remote trying to get sand out of it, we blew on the remote trying to dry it. Nothing. Nothing worked.

I remembered seeing an ACE Hardware store back where civilization was, we just needed to get there.  Being at the most remote beach on the island there weren’t many people around, so we couldn’t bum a ride.  Instead we decided to call the police.

Operator:  “911, what is your emergency?”

Me: “Hi, we are not from the area, we are stranded at a remote beach and the car won’t start. Can you send someone to help us?”

Operator: “Ma’am, this is not a taxi service.”

Me: ………(dumfounded, not knowing what to say)…………

Operator: “Hello? Ma’am?”

Me: “Yes, I know this is not a taxi service, but this is the police and we need help.”

Operator: “Is anyone hurt?”

Me: “No, But..”

Operator:  “Then this is not an emergency, I cannot send someone out.”

Me: “Well we aren’t from the area and our car will not start, we just need a ride to the Ace Hardware down the island.”

Operator: “Do you want me to call you a taxi or a rental car?”

Me: “A TAXI?! No, we just want someone to come and help us so we can start the car, get out of the rain and go home.”

Operator: “Ma’am I don’t know what to tell you but this is not an emergency.  I can call you a taxi.”

I hung up before I cursed the bitch out.

I know that our situation was not life-threatening.  I know that no one was hurt or dying.  I also know that we were practically lost, in the middle of nowhere on an island that didn’t seem to have much action going on. 

I highly doubt it would have been a hardship for the cop,

to come and give us a lift to the Ace Hardware 10 minutes down the road, so that we could get a new battery for the damn remote.

Not only was the “emergency correspondent” the least bit helpful.  She was rude!  A taxi? What, is this a joke?  Do I want a taxi to come and save me? And “ma’am?”  I don’t sound like a ma’am.  I was probably half the age of her, which would make me a “miss.”

That’s beside the point.  For forty-five minutes we sat in that parking lot and listened to the car alarm scream

while my dad wrestled under the steering wheel and poked around under the hood.  My Mom however, played with the remote and somehow unlocked the doors and started the car.  We sped to Ace Hardware got what we needed, fixed the remote and left the island.

Two days after that adventure I was driving home from work, and I saw a policeman changing a man’s tire on the side of the road.  It was broad-daylight.  The man was pulled over on Bruce B. Downs Boulevard, across the street from a gas station. 

He could have gotten someone from the gas station to help him.  He could have flagged down anyone driving by.  But instead he had the help of a policeman.  Apparently a flat tire in the middle of the city is more of an emergency then a car that won’t start in the middle of Bumblefuck, Florida.

I don’t know if that 911 Operator was having a bad day, if she was doing her job properly or if she was just being a sarcastic bitch.  But I know that she was unhelpful and uncompassionate, neither of which are in an emergency correspondent’s job description!

I don’t know if teens got the memo yet, but babies are not the newest, coolest, trendiest accessory.  They are not equivalent to:

                          coach bags    or to Jimmy Choos     or to

                      iphones      or to teeny-tiny dogs in expensive bags   

Or to any other completely ridiculous, “trendy” fad.

              Babies are living, breathing, crying, eating, crying, shitting, crying, sleeping, crying human beings!

Teenagers are practically children themselves, and when they think they are mature enough to play house, it really shows they are still children.

I just can’t get over the fact that this girl was walking around the mall patting the back of –what looked like a one month old- baby on a Saturday night.

This is not the first time I’ve seen this either.  Just the other day I went to Walmart and saw a similar eyesore.  There were two girls, that time.  One was about 15 or 16 years old dragging a toddler around saying, “Hurry for Mommy!  Hurry for Mommy!”  While the other girl, who was also 15 or 16 and pregnant, waddled down the aisles next to her. 

I don’t get it.

Never in my life have I thought it was cool to have a baby.  Never in my life have I thought it was okay to have a baby.

Unless I was well on my own two feet and ready to care and provide for it, most preferably married, with a house and a steady job.

What makes these kids think differently?

MTV’s new show, “A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila,” premiered last Tuesday.  Fortunately I missed it, however tonight I caught the first 15 minutes of the show, and I don’t plan on seeing anymore. Ever.

The show is a reality show of course, god forbid MusicTV plays MUSIC!

Anyway, Tila, a model and MySpace whore- basically, with over 2 million “friends,” is looking for love.  With the help of MTV she has 32 people compete for her attention.  She puts them through “romantic challenges” and eliminates them one by one.

The catch: she’s bisexual.  So there are 16 lesbians and 16 straight men battling it out for her.

The concept of this show disgusts me.

First of all, those who think they can find real love on a reality show are out of their minds. Second, the fact that a nobody like her, can have a show this provocative is disturbing.  Doesn’t television have any couth?  Apparently not.

I understand that reality television is addictive.  Trust me I know.  I also know that it gets good ratings.  But the channel that this shitty show is airing on is MTV.  Pretty much the Bible for teens and preteens.

MTV has already aired plenty of bad shows, like “Next,” “Date my Mom,” and “Parental Control,” all of which promote promiscuous behavior. But Tila is really stepping out of line.

I support people’s sexual preferences.  And I could possibly support the concept of this show, if it were on HBO or a similar channel, late at night, when children were sleeping.

The younger generation does not need to be exposed to women in thongs kissing each other while on a picnic, or men wearing high heels and boas racing to a finish line.  It’s just not appropriate.

I love that people complain about, worry about, and wonder why teen pregnancies and STD’s are on the rise.  Look at what’s corrupting today’s youth.