Pot Luck

Debbie Stabenow... (0.00 / 0)

So it's pretty clear Blanche Lincoln will soon be gone.  Even if she survives her primary challenge from current Arkansas Lt. Governor Bill Halter, she's certainly going to lose in the general to whatever knuckledragger ends up on the Republican line.

After Lincoln's gone, Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) will end up as Chair of the Senate Ag Committee.  What do we know about her on food issues?  She seems to be a blank slate as far as I can tell.  Any Michiganders here that can weigh in?

"The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks." - Christopher Hitchens

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by: JayinPortland @ Tue Mar 02, 2010 at 04:29:13 AM UTC

Got scary? (4.00 / 1)

If something (highly unlikely) happens and Debbie Stabenow leaves Ag for another committee?  Nebraska's Ben Nelson takes over as Chair of the Senate Ag Committee!

Okay, I'm gonna have nightmares about that...

"The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks." - Christopher Hitchens

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by: JayinPortland @ Tue Mar 02, 2010 at 04:31:25 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

New study on atrazine's effects on frogs (4.00 / 3)

From the March 2nd Washington Post:

A new study has found that male frogs exposed to the herbicide atrazine -- one of the most common man-made chemicals found in U.S. waters -- can make a startling developmental U-turn, becoming so completely female that they can mate and lay viable eggs.

The study, published online Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, seems likely to add to the attention focused on a weedkiller that is widely used on cornfields.

...

Hayes's study examined a group of 40 African clawed frogs, all of which carried male chromosomes. When they were tadpoles, he put them in water tainted with 2.5 parts per billion of atrazine -- still within the EPA's drinking water standards.

About 10 percent of the frogs that developed in the water became "functionally female," Hayes said. The eggs they produced after mating hatched; the offspring were all male, because both parents contributed male genes.

The other 90 percent of the exposed frogs retained some male features, Hayes said, but often had lower testosterone levels and fertility. When competing for female frogs' attentions, atrazine-treated males frequently lost out to males that hadn't been treated.

...

Syngenta [maker of atrazine] officials referred a reporter to Keith Solomon, a professor at the University of Guelph in Canada, who said he had questions about Hayes's work. He said no other studies, including those on African clawed frogs living near atrazine-laden fields in Africa, found this level of effect.

Hayes's work may be "irrelevant in the big picture" because it hasn't been repeated elsewhere, Solomon said. He said he had received funding from Syngenta for previous research, but that it had not biased his work.

...

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by: mental_masala @ Tue Mar 02, 2010 at 06:45:47 AM UTC

wow! (4.00 / 2)

if you write a diary on this, I will put it on the front page. Otherwise I'll try to cover it in the next day or so.

"I can understand someone from Iowa promoting corn and soy, but we are not feeding the world, we are feeding animals and soft drink companies." - Jim Goodman

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by: Jill Richardson @ Tue Mar 02, 2010 at 07:35:16 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Keith R. Solomon (4.00 / 1)

He said he had received funding from Syngenta for previous research, but that it had not biased his work.

I wish I could find someome as gullible as David A. Fahrenthold, author of the WaPo article. I have a bridge...

Keith R. Solomon bio

I don't know the date of that bio, but it's from a project that was conducted a few years ago. From Farm Family Exposure Study,

Who We Are

In 1999, a feasibility study was completed under the sponsorship of eight companies (BASF, Dow Chemical, DuPont, FMC, Monsanto, Novartis, Rhone Poulenc, and Zeneca). The results of this pilot study confirmed feasibility and the FFES was initiated through a research grant with the University of Minnesota with Professors Jack Mandel and Bruce Alexander. Members of the sponsoring Task Force include Bayer, Dow Agrosciences, DuPont, FMC, Monsanto, Syngenta, and the American Chemistry Council.

A Message from Keith Solomon, Ph.D., Chair, Board of Directors, CNTC

(Canadian Network of Toxicology Centres)

Expansion and growth in these themes has occurred through partnership funding from the Canadian Chemical Producers' Association and funding to related projects in Environment Canada's Toxic Substances Research Initiative (TSRI).

I don't know the date of that message, but it looks like 2004 or prior. The website has archived annual reports, so the message could be tracked down if anyone is interested.

Looks like the Canadian Network of Toxicology Centres has stumbled into hard times.

CNTC Annual Report 2007-2008

Environment Canada did not provide an annual contribution towards neither the research program nor the infrastructure of the CNTC during the 2007-08 fiscal year.
...

3.2.2 Web Sites
CNTC Home Page www.uoguelph.ca/cntc (maintained minimally due to lack of funding).
...

6. CNTC ADMINISTRATION
CNTC is a non-profit corporation whose by-laws fully describe its organization and management rules. During 2007-08, only the CNTC Secretariat functions were maintained.

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by: count @ Tue Mar 02, 2010 at 14:19:33 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Chile earthquake (4.00 / 2)

A photo from Chile

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by: count @ Tue Mar 02, 2010 at 15:44:59 PM UTC

FarmVille may be silly, but (4.00 / 2)

I've got FarmVille neighbors from all over the world. One lives in Concepción, Chile. I sent her a message the day of the quake asking if she was OK. This morning, I got this reply:

my family its ok. and we just lost the glasses and cups... almost everything end in the floor.... i`m in my sister´s house here there is energy (light) no potable water this is in another city.... in nthe city were i live trhere´s no light no water no food, people get crazy and stole everything from the stores!!! there´s chilean army forces in the city killing people that making vadalism....there's a lot of death but i´m fine and mi family it´s OK..... now waiting that the cellphones start to work again for start the comunications.... thanks for ask... hugs..bye
ps: sorry for my english..

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by: Crider @ Tue Mar 02, 2010 at 19:02:23 PM UTC

[ Parent ]