Tomato industry loses over $100 million from salmonella scare

How'd that self-regulation work out? Tell us again about how costly regulation is for business.

The 6,000 acres of tomatoes grown on Virginia's sea-swept Eastern Shore were never implicated in the national salmonella outbreak — they were still on the vine weeks after people starting getting sick.

Still, that hasn't made much difference to tomato broker Batista Madonia III, who has seen sales and prices plummet in the wake of a salmonella outbreak that sickened people in 42 states and left the nation's tomato industry feeling woozy as well.

Since the government announced it was investigating whether tomatoes caused the outbreak that began in April, the nation's tomato industry estimates it has lost more than $100 million. Health investigators have not able to find tomatoes that contained the salmonella strain that sickened 1,220 people, and the government on Thursday lifted its salmonella warning involving tomatoes.

The move hasn't brightened the outlook of the $1.3 billion industry, and the stigma and uncertainty of the salmonella's origin are likely to add to its losses.

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Lazy cat Saturday afternoon

I'm not sure how this happens, but it always does. Turn your head for two minutes and this is what happens, every time. Read the rest of this post...

Anti-gay marriage proposal losing in latest CA poll, this is a very bad sign for the fundies

It's still a few months away, but the anti-gay forces are losing according to the latest Field poll in California.

Proposition 8, the constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriage in California, is opposed by 51 percent of likely voters with 42 percent in favor, according to a new Field Poll.

Those results put the proposed ban in a politically perilous position in the Nov. 4 election, said Mark DiCamillo, director of the nonpartisan Field Poll.

“Starting out behind is usually an ominous sign for a proposition,” DiCamillo said. “Over 90 percent of propositions that start out behind get taken down.”

Typically, ballot measures start out ahead, but become less popular as the opposition campaign begins raising questions and creating doubt, he said.

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Obama camp weighs in on Maliki endorsing Obama's Iraq plan

Obama Campaign Senior National Security Advisor, Dr. Susan Rice, in response to Prime Minister Maliki's support for Senator Obama's Iraq plan.

"Senator Obama welcomes Prime Minister Maliki's support for a 16 month timeline for the redeployment of U.S combat brigades. This presents an important opportunity to transition to Iraqi responsibility, while restoring our military and increasing our commitment to finish the fight in Afghanistan."

A funny aside, the White House accidentally sent the Maliki article out to the entire White House press corps this morning. Oops. Read the rest of this post...

Phil Gramm steps down from McCain campaign, blasts liberals for making him call Americans "whiners"

Yeah, it's all our fault that top McCain surrogate and adviser Phil Gramm called Americans "whiners" for feeling that the economy isn't going so well. McCain announced his resignation as national co-chair for McCain by blasting liberals for attacking him. So much for contrition. It is interesting to note that McCain said Gramm had nothing to do with his campaign and now Gramm is resigning from the campaign. Perhaps McCain was simply confused. Read the rest of this post...

Al Gore is surprise guest at Netroots Nation blog conference

Gore is speaking right now, about the environment. He was a surprise guest, though word started leaking out late last night. I'm sure the entire speech will be posted online shortly, but for right now here's the standing ovation he got on entering the hall. It was kind of cute, Pelosi was on stage taking questions from the audience, and she started reading a letter she said she'd received about climate change. In the middle of the letter you heard Al Gore's voice reading the letter. I suspect some people thought it was a recording, until Gore appeared on stage. This video captures that moment. It's good to see Gore again.

And before the video, here's a panoramic photo of the room while Gore is speaking. See larger, and largest, versions here.



And here's the video of Gore's surprise:

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Iraq's Maliki endorses Obama Iraq plan on eve of Obama visit

This is huge.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki told a German magazine he supported prospective U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's proposal that U.S. troops should leave Iraq within 16 months.

In an interview with Der Spiegel released on Saturday, Maliki said he wanted U.S. troops to withdraw from Iraq as soon as possible.

"U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama talks about 16 months. That, we think, would be the right timeframe for a withdrawal, with the possibility of slight changes."
...

Asked if he supported Obama's ideas more than those of John McCain, Republican presidential hopeful, Maliki said he did not want to recommend who people should vote for....

"Whoever is thinking about the shorter term is closer to reality. Artificially extending the stay of U.S. troops would cause problems."....

"The Americans have found it difficult to agree on a concrete timetable for the exit because it seems like an admission of defeat to them. But it isn't," Maliki told Der Spiegel.

On the eve of Obama's visit to Iraq, the Iraqi leader, a US puppet, is signaling that he now not only endorses Barack Obama's plan for withdrawing from Iraq, but overall, Maliki hints that he prefers Obama over McCain.

Normally, foreign endorsements of our presidential candidates are neither welcome nor helpful. In this case, it's rather huge. Why? Because the foreign leader is the leader of Iraq. He's the guy who even John McCain says we should follow his lead on whether to stay or go. But there's more. Maliki knows that Obama is coming to Iraq in a few days, yet Maliki still basically inserted himself into the US presidential race on Obama's side. Maliki wanted to help Obama, and he wanted to hurt Bush and McCain. It's simply extraordinary that a foreign leader would do something like this. While it's difficult to know how the American people will react to this news, it's hard to imagine that people are going to want to say in Iraq if the Iraqis want us to leave. And that the American people are going to support the candidate who wants us to stay in Iraq long after our welcome is over. On so many levels, this is huge. Read the rest of this post...

More on the Obama trip to Afghanistan

More details are emerging, although, according to the New York Times, there aren't any reporters traveling wih Obama to Afghanistan:

Mr. Obama touched down in Kabul about 11:45 a.m., according to a pool report released by his aides. In addition to attending briefings with military leaders, he hoped to meet with President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan before flying to Iraq later in the weekend.

His trip was cloaked in secrecy, which advisers said was due to security concerns set forth by the Secret Service. His whereabouts have been unknown since he departed Chicago. He left Andrews Air Force Base near Washington on Thursday afternoon, according to a pool report, and turned up in Afghanistan on Saturday.

Before he left the United States, he gave a brief outline of his trip to two pool reporters traveling with him from Chicago to Washington. No reporters accompanied him to Afghanistan.

“Well, you know, I’m more interested in listening than doing a lot of talking,” Mr. Obama said. “And I think it is very important to recognize that I’m going over there as a U.S. senator. We have one president at a time, so it’s the president’s job to deliver those messages.”

Mr. Obama’s arrival opened a weeklong foreign trip that includes visits to Iraq and two other stops in the Middle East as well as appearances in three European capitals. His tour of Afghanistan and Iraq are part of a Congressional delegation — similar to trips that Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, made in the spring — in which he is joined by Senators Chuck Hagel, Republican of Nebraska, and Jack Reed, Democrat of Rhode Island, both of whom have been mentioned as possible vice presidential running mates.

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Saturday Morning Open Thread

Good morning from Austin.

Should be another interesting day. Speaker Nancy Pelosi is participating in a question and answer session at 9:00 a.m. Central. That's just for starters. Stay tuned.

Also, I'm pretty sure that Netroots Nation is a lot more fun and productive than the much smaller right wing version being held across town. Even Texas isn't a safe haven for the GOP anymore. That's got to really suck for them.

We'll have updates through the day as events unfold.

So, thread the news, please. Read the rest of this post...

Obama arrives in Afghanistan

From CNN:

Obama spoke briefly to a pool reporter about his trip just before leaving Washington.

"I'm looking forward to seeing what the situation on the ground is," Obama said. "I want to, obviously, talk to the commanders and get a sense, both in Afghanistan and in Baghdad of, you know, what the most, their biggest concerns are. And I want to thank our troops for the heroic work that they've been doing."

Asked if he would have tough talk for the leaders of Afghanistan and Iraq, Obama said he was "more interested in listening than doing a lot of talking."

"I think it is very important to recognize that I'm going over there as a U.S. senator. We have one president at a time, so it's the president's job to deliver those messages," Obama said.

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China arrests yet another earthquake critic

Our best business partners ever. As Western leaders prepare to hold hands with the communist leaders in Beijing for the Olympic opening ceremony, they are all kind enough to avoid any embarrassing discussions related to such gross violations of human rights. To be fair to the Chinese government, it's really not fair - not socially acceptable - to ask questions about shoddy construction that contributed to the death of thousands of children. So far the Chinese government has been fair and avoided criticism of the parents who were only too happy to sponge the use of government buildings when it suited them and now are complaining because thousands needlessly died. There's only so much good will the government can provide before it has no alternative but to fight back.

Asking such questions may not reflect the proper glorious respect for the communist party who may have mistakenly accepted a few envelopes of yuan to overlook building regulations. To ask questions is to threaten the state and we can't have that. Then where would we build our disposable society crap? Then who would buy our piles of debt? Read the rest of this post...