107 Articles

Friday, July 25, 2008
Solving Urban Poverty with 55 Gallon Drums of Fish--Another Heifer Success Story
With its shameless photos of children hugging rabbits, goats and calves they will also dispatch and its celebrity stumpers, live animal charity Heifer International often gets a pass from donors and the press about its circular logic--that the poor should raise animals with the resources they don't have.

Friday, July 11, 2008
Gates Supported Heifer International Increases Suffering
(6 comments) It almost sounds like a joke. Set up dairy enterprises in rural African villages with no refrigeration, electricity, veterinary care or passable roads for a population that can't drink milk because it's 90% lactose intolerant.

Sunday, June 29, 2008
Spare Us Paternalism Say Organizing Chicago Sex Workers
(7 comments) As long as sex workers are morally quarantined by illegality and stigma, they risk being robbed, cheated, raped, knifed, shot, beaten up, strangled, abducted, arrested and given diseases said "out" sex worker and SWOP organizer Pussy Willow, 47.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Cornell Expert Details Milk Dangers at Fired Teacher's Hearing
(2 comments) The life expectancy of NFL players and health effects of milk on children were part of Dr. T. Colin Campbell's testimony at a fired middle school teacher's hearing near Chicago.

Friday, June 20, 2008
Obesity, Recession Take Bite out of Fashion Dollar
Even if people had the income and bodies for the fashion industry's recherché runway looks, where would they wear them?

Friday, June 20, 2008
Obesity, Recession Take Bite out of Fashion Dollar
Even if people had the income and bodies for the fashion industry's recherché runway looks, where would they wear them?

Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Can Wyeth Fool American Women Twice?
After the HRT hoax, will US women embrace a major psychiatric drug with possible liver and heart complication side effects for menopause manufactured by the same company at four times the cost of Premarin/Prempro?

Saturday, June 14, 2008
More Dads Receiving Messenger Bags Than Ties
What would the Camel Filters Man say about Dads carrying messenger bags and pushing strollers?

Friday, June 13, 2008
Do South Korean Meat Protesters Know Something We Don't?
(4 comments) 400,000 S Koreans think the beef we're eating is unsafe

Sunday, June 8, 2008
Former FDA Officer Worries New Rules Will Curb Industry Profiteering
(4 comments) At $17,000 a month, should a cancer drug improve survival?

Friday, June 6, 2008
Some Get No Satisfaction from Jagger Closeups in Scorsese Movie
Mick Jagger has not been abusing sun screen and moisturizer all these year judging from his closeups in Shine A Light

Thursday, May 29, 2008
NPR 's Garrels Speaks on the Surge, Blackwater and Limits of Embedding
Garrels discussed the progression of the war, the effect of escalating violence and kidnappings on reporting and everyday life in Iraq and her personal experiences as a reporter and a woman at Northwestern University in Evanston, Il

Monday, May 26, 2008
All Over but the Litigation for Merck
Even as Merck seeks closure on its Vioxx nightmare by paying $4.85 billion to tens of thousands of plaintiffs who took the painkiller--not that it did anything wrong--the bad ink continues.

Sunday, May 11, 2008
Egg Supplier to Dept. of Defense Caught in Cruel Video; Trader Joe's Dumps
Monrovia-based Trader Joe's announced an "indefinite" ban of NuCal Foods, Inc. which distributes Gemperle eggs after the disturbing video

Monday, April 21, 2008
Anniversary of Dann Shooting Puts Obama's State in Gun Spotlight Again
(1 comments) On May 20, 1988 Dann shot six students at Hubbard Woods Elementary School, one of whom died, and another man before killing herself and ushered in the era of the school shooing.

Friday, April 18, 2008
New Diet Drug Tanking Just Like Its "Treatment Effects"
(1 comments) Since GlaxoSmithKline's (GSK) high profile launch of alli last summer, the first FDA approved diet drug sold over the counter, the only figures that have flattened are sales.

Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Another Byproduct of Factory Farming: Livestock Incinerating Fires
(2 comments) The uninterrupted rows of confined animals and manure pits that make factory farms so harmful to the environment, animals and workers also cause heartbreaking fires.

Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Tainted Deer Meat Tarnishes Hunter Humanitarian Program
Dumping carcasses makes hunters look like they just like to kill. But find someone who will actually eat the game--staff at canned hunting clubs for example or the poor--and you are suddenly a humanitarian.

Sunday, March 30, 2008
More Problems for the Other White Meat As New Disease Spreads
(2 comments) It's hard to write a story about the 13 workers at the Quality Pork Processing slaughterhouse in Austin, MN who came down with a strange neurological disease in December without mentioning the Table.

Saturday, March 22, 2008
A Second Red Sea Emerges as Canada Begins Killing Seals
(1 comments) Canada takes a surprisingly aggressive approach Canada takes surprisingly aggressive approach to this year's seal hunt, the world's largest marine mammal kill.

Friday, March 21, 2008
Are Your Easter Eggs Cruelty-Free? Not If They're From United Egg Producers
United Egg Producers (UEP) the trade group which represents 85% of US egg farms, continues to defend battery cage produced eggs and even disguise them under the illegal label, "Animal Care Certified."

Saturday, March 15, 2008
Accused of Abusing Workers, Animals and the Watershed, Tyson Eyes China
Since the Mike Espy affair, Tyson Foods continues to operate in the gray areas of regulation and is finding a sympathetic sponsor in China

Sunday, March 2, 2008
Meat Scandal Reaches the Hill
Two Congressional hearings probed the Hallmark meat scandal last week. But ag officials remain in denial about where downers come from. Rosen

Saturday, February 23, 2008
Despite 5,000 Law Suits, Wyeth and Endocrinologist Group Hope For HRT Comeback
(1 comments) A reduction in a jury award for a drug that caused cancer from $134 million to $58 million would not normally be cause to rejoice. But it has not been a normal year for hormone maker Wyeth.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Kazmierczak Comes From Long Line of Mass Shooters Who Passed Background Checks
While the nation debates NIU shooter Stephen Phillip Kazmierczak's mental health, how many realize he waltzed into Tony's Guns in Champaign, IL five days before the massacre and bought a Remington and a Glock?

Saturday, February 16, 2008
Valentine's Day Massacre Courtesy of Legal Gun Owner
(2 comments) The gun lobby contends that existing gun laws are adequate and criminals don't procure guns legally, anyway. Unfortunately Dekalb shooter Stephen Phillip Kazmierczak and Baton Rouge shooter Latina Williams were legal gun owners.

Sunday, February 10, 2008
Downer Cow Meat Recall is Perfect Storm for New Ag Secretary Shafer
(3 comments) Now that people realize their children have been eating beef from the Hallmark/Westland Meat Company through the National School Lunch, Program Ed Schafer, the new Agriculture Secretary, has the perfect storm on his hands.

Thursday, February 7, 2008
Merck and Schering-Plough Relieved Public Is Forgetting Vytorin Scandal
Prescriptions for cholesterol drug Vytorin were down 22 percent in the weeks following the release in January of the Enhance clinical study but now prescriptions are "stabilizing" says Merck

Sunday, February 3, 2008
While Viewers Cringe at Slaughter Video, USDA Spins
You wouldn't think you could "spin" a video that shows slaughterhouse workers electric shocking downer cows and "water boarding" them, but USDA is trying.

Sunday, January 27, 2008
Once Colored by Mike Royko, Chicago Newspapers Now Shaped by Money Men Zell and Black
(2 comments) Print journalism is fighting for its very life in Chicago thanks to the Internet, type-bite shortened attention spans of would be readers and a few greedy men

Monday, January 21, 2008
Is Gourmet Slaughter by Chefs the Solution to Factory Farm Abuses?
Gourmet chefs like UK's Jamie Oliver are taking slaughter into their own hands as a protest against factory farming. But new questions are raised.

Saturday, January 19, 2008
Accused of Hiding Drug Dangers Again, Big Pharma Starts 2008 Defending Itself
The ink isn't even dry on the massive Vioxx settlement and already Big Pharma's been accused of burying clinical data, spinning journal articles and selling drugs that cause the conditions they're supposed to fix. Sound familiar?

Tuesday, January 8, 2008
First They Take Your Gun; Then Your Bible Says a Reactivating NRA
(6 comments) Maybe it fears a President Obama. Maybe it feels enough time has elapsed since Robert Hawkins gunned down 13 Christmas shoppers at an Omaha mall. But the National Rifle Association is back on the legislative track.

Saturday, December 29, 2007
Quit Picking on Huckabee's Son Says Michael Vick
Mike Hukabee did not get the bounce he hoped out of his post Christmas pheasant hunting trip. Allegations about his son hanging a stray dog didn't help

Tuesday, December 25, 2007
FDA Official Leaves as He Came in: Serving Wall Street
(1 comments) In his opeds in the Wall Street Journal, Dr. Scott Gottlieb shows why he was never FDA material

Sunday, December 16, 2007
A Pill for Every Mood and Spokesman for Every Pill
Psychoactive drugs don't cause mass shootings like the Omaha shopping mall says a leading psychiatrist--the real danger is kids being drug free

Saturday, December 15, 2007
Red Meat a Rich and Varied Source of Cancer
(1 comments) A new study finds red meat promotes esophagus, liver, lung and pancreas cancer. Second opinion? It also promotes colon and breast cancer.

Tuesday, December 4, 2007
The Many Faces of Big Pharma's Disease Mongering
(1 comments) Big Pharma disease mongering takes more than payments to doctors--there's medical journals, ghost writers and PR firms

Saturday, December 1, 2007
Fur Drawing More Disgust Than Admiration From Holiday Crowds Yet New Stores Open
(1 comments) Furriers are closing in Chicago thanks to new public sensibilities--but others are opening with cheap Chinese imports

Thursday, November 29, 2007
No Holiday Season for Women in High Risk Lifestyles
In Ipswich, Atlantic City and Chicago, women are struggling to overcome the addiction to high risk lifestyles which have claimed the lives of their associates.

Thursday, November 22, 2007
FDA Not Playing the Game Anymore Charges Miffed Wyeth CEO
In the post Vioxx era, the FDA is starting to be pharma's watchdog instead of lapdog and pharma is crying poor me

Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Turkeys have little to be thankful for hidden videos show
(1 comments)

Sunday, November 11, 2007
Like Merrill and Citi, Merck Wants to Forget a Lost Billion or Eight and Move On
(1 comments) Merck, after burying evidence of Vioxx' harm and killing an estimated 55,000 would like to move on. It's taking its cue from Wall Street.

Sunday, November 11, 2007
Like Merrill and Citi, Merck Wants to Forget a Lost Billion or Eight and Move On
(1 comments) Merck, after burying evidence of Vioxx' harm and killing an estimated 55,000 would like to move on. It's taking its cue from Wall Street.

Friday, November 9, 2007
Bedeviled by Bloodlust and Cowardice Cheney Goes Canned Hunting
(3 comments) Last week bloodlust again got the better of him and Cheney indulged in his favorite sport--pulverizing birds that can barely, walk, fly or see

Saturday, October 27, 2007
How To Read Ann Coulter If You Must
(1 comments) Coulter's new book is so close to self parody it is hard to take seriously

Sunday, October 21, 2007
United Egg Producers Approve First Cage-Free Guidelines 7 Years Too Late
After seven years of spin doctoring United Egg Producers has concluded what most people realize in five minutes: cage egg operations are cruel

Friday, October 12, 2007
FDA Regulation Hurts Worse than Depression says Cymbalta maker Eli Lilly
(1 comments) With its number one and number two pills under regulatory clouds, Eli Lilly making a lot more people sick than well

Sunday, October 7, 2007
Playing Pattie Cake with Public Health, E. Coli Spreading Slaughterhouses Allowed To Stay Open
(3 comments) Topps and Cargill didn't grow their own E. coli. Who were their slaughterhouses and why is their identity being protected?

Friday, September 28, 2007
"Ethics Lesson" Gets Teacher Who Mixed Food With Art Fired
Food and art don't mix in the classroom a Chicago area middle school teacher recently found out. Not when you sprinkle in ethics.

Monday, September 24, 2007
Desperately Seeking NRA Approval
Even if a candidate made the grade, the NRA will need more than a pol in its pocket--its favorite concealed weapon--in the upcoming legislative sessions

Monday, September 17, 2007
Suicide Scares Show There's Money in Dosing Children for Pharma
(1 comments) Pharma is using suicide scares in scientific journals to retain its profitable practice of dosing children

Friday, September 14, 2007
Fashion Week or Fashion Weak?
Out of touch annual event is hurting not boosting the fashion industry's image

Sunday, September 9, 2007
As Cancers Rise, Western Diet Becomes an Unpopular US Export
Breast and colon cancer are an unwanted dividend to "Western diet" challenging food paternalism

Friday, August 31, 2007
From Farm to Fork...and Discarded Carcasses in the Stream
(2 comments) As "byproducts" of factory farming find their way into recreational areas and community dumps, few believe all's well on the farm

Sunday, August 26, 2007
USDA Tradition of Industry Before Animals to Continue at Top Vet Group
(1 comments) As the Department of Agriculture's top veterinarian moves to the nation's top vet group, don't look for improvements in animal welfare.

Saturday, August 18, 2007
Credit Derivative Orgy is Behind Liquidity Crisis
(1 comments) Enron style financing is alive and well and masquerading as a "sub prime lending crisis."

Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Skinny "Bastards" and Pastors Join "Bitches" in Praising V-word
The New York Times says red meat is gaining favor with women but Skinny Bitch followers say it just gains weight

Saturday, August 4, 2007
Avandia's Real Warning Should Be About FDA And Pharma Symbiosis
Many of today's prescription drugs are more expensive, less safe and less effective than older ones. But more dangerous is the toxic synergy between FDA and Pharma

Friday, July 27, 2007
Rolling Stone, Gourmet Magazines Turn Up Heat on Factory Farmers
Even mainstream magazines are exposing animal abuse much to the chagrin of factory farmers.

Saturday, July 21, 2007
Hanging of Pig as "Euthanasia" Divides Northeast Ohio Farming Community
Can hanging ever be considered euthanasia? On Wiles hog farm near Creston Ohio it is.

Monday, July 9, 2007
What Tech Shootings? NRA Storms Ahead
Less than three months after the Virginia Tech shootings, the NRA agenda surges ahead with help from compliant lawmakers

Friday, June 29, 2007
Selling doctor data to drug marketers? Priceless for the AMA
Banks do it. Online retailers do it. Why shouldn't the AMA make a buck selling personal customer data?

Friday, June 22, 2007
Is It A Cluster Yet? Public Health Officials Have Few Answers About CJD Cases
(3 comments) The big elephant in the room surrounding the Indiana and Idaho CJD clusters is: what did they eat?

Saturday, June 16, 2007
Will shooting shooting exotic animals on Ted Turner's Ranch help Gov. Richardson "bag" the party nomination?
New Mexico Gov. Richardson's attempt to win the gun lover vote may backfire

Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Chicago Priest and Cardinal caught in Gun Control Crossfire
In standing up to the gun dealers who have turned his Chicago neighborhood into a blood bath, Father Michael Pfleger has been swift boated

Thursday, May 31, 2007
Denny's Dumps Supplier Following Graphic Video of Bird Abuse
(2 comments) Employees at the Raeford, N.C.- based House of Raeford poultry slaughterhouse invaded live birds' cavities for eggs which they then threw at each other according to an undercover investigation

Sunday, May 27, 2007
Fur and Hooves Fly at House Ag Committee Animal Welfare Hearings
Despite riveting testimony, the a House ag committee will keep serving industry

Thursday, May 17, 2007
On the Menu and on the Docket; Legislators Look at Fowl Foul Play
They may be socioeconomic opposites, but cockfighters and foie gras producers are using the same arguments as they face legislative bans

Saturday, May 12, 2007
Surprise: Milk, like pizza and lasagna, is not a weight loss food; FTA quashes dairy industry claims
The FTA has ruled that milk is not a weight loss food. But that is the least of the dairy industry's problems

Saturday, April 14, 2007
Pharma to medical press: thanks for resuscitating HRT
Less than five years after being discredited, HRT is back and extolled as helpful against heart disease.

Saturday, April 7, 2007
In unusual move, biotech giant Monsanto asks for more government regulation
Now that dairies, food processors and consumers are turning away from rBST Monsanto is screaming "no fair."

Monday, April 2, 2007
Armed and Sniveling
The NRA is still pushing its "bring your gun to work" agenda and bristling at the press releasing conceal and carry data at the same time

Sunday, March 25, 2007
Et Tu, Wolfgang? Some chefs battle growing humane farming trend
(2 comments) Like Charlie Trotter, Wolfgang Puck has changed the culinary landscape for other chefs with his new humane menu

Friday, March 16, 2007
Now That New Mexico Has Outlawed Cockfighting, Can Louisiana Be Far Behind?
With Governor Richardson's signature, New Mexico joined Missouri, Oklahoma and Arizona in abolishing cockfighting since 1998. Are you listening Louisiana?

Sunday, March 11, 2007
Kennedy Antibiotic Bill Meets "Resistance" from Big Pharma
The Kennedy Preservation of Antibiotics for Human Treatment bill threatens the high volume, repeat order, prescription free ag drugs that are Big Pharma's backbone

Tuesday, March 6, 2007
Rats are the least of KFC's problems--and other chicken operations
From KFC to the Mepkin Abbey monks, chicken mistreatment is what's for dinner.

Thursday, March 1, 2007
Is your state breeding birds for Dick Cheney style hunting like Illinois?
The State of Illinois spends a half a million dollars a year breeding birds for Dick Cheney style canned hunting on public lands--some paid by tax payers.

Sunday, February 25, 2007
Enjoy the Hillary/Obama show? You'll love the Zumbo/NRA show
What do you call a critic of the NRA? Unemployed as the Jim Zumbo saga reveals

Monday, February 19, 2007
NRA silent on yet another massacre
(9 comments) The NRA is silent, as usual, on the ten killed in Salt Lake City and Philadelphia on February 13 but it is defending the gun rights of felons in Florida.

Sunday, February 11, 2007
American Bar Association challenges NRA "Bring Your Gun to Work" campaign
With 800 workplace deaths a year, does this nation need loaded guns in employee parking lots?

Friday, January 26, 2007
Fun and "Game" for 8-year-olds from the Pennsylvania Game Commission
Some citizens in Pennsylvania are worried about the right of 5-year-olds to shoot white tail

Monday, January 22, 2007
Biotech solutions to factory farming not what activists had in mind
New animal production methods line the pockets of private industry and do nothing to reduce suffering.

Monday, January 15, 2007
Are the NRA's Warm and Fuzzy days over?
(1 comments) Despite a year of successes, the NRA is in attack mode.

Sunday, January 14, 2007
US Trappers Bristle at Humane Society Ads on Fox Sports
Some find trapping offensive but trappers find HSUS's anti-trapping ads aired on Fox Sports offensive

Saturday, January 6, 2007
Merck funded and edited article in JAMA--surprise--supports Merck drug
(2 comments) A recent article in the Journal of the American Medical Association about alendronate (Fosamax) was funded and written by Merck and--surprisingly-- favorable.

Saturday, December 30, 2006
New Year's Resolutions for Big Pharma
(2 comments) Some resolutions to make Big Pharma kinder and gentler in 2007

Sunday, December 24, 2006
Kennedy, Foley, Haggard, Frey: A year of excuses not apologies
(1 comments) It was a year of bad behavior in high places. Bad behavior, that is, from evil twins--since few took responsibility.

Sunday, December 17, 2006
Kicking Wyeth Habit Saves Women's Lives--Study
(1 comments) Hormones have long been indicted for causing breast cancer but even the research community was shocked at the latest findings.

Monday, November 27, 2006
Could your bumper sticker make you a victim of road rage?
(1 comments) Short fused drivers looking for a reason to rage are changing the face of America's bumper stickers to a national "no comment."

Wednesday, November 15, 2006
The 13 Warning Signs of Bad Companies to Work For
How do you know if a company is bad to work for before you accept a job? Here are some warning signs.

Friday, November 3, 2006
Is NRA grip on Congress loosening?
Amercians are speaking out against the NRA--even gun owners.

Wednesday, November 1, 2006
Why are Americans overweight?
Many Americans were relieved to read recently that not getting enough sleep and too much air conditioning could contribute to obesity. But what if you get enough sleep and keep the a.c low?  Here are some other cultural institutions to blame.

Saturday, October 21, 2006
Deer season opening with new fears about venison
(1 comments) As deer season approaches, two recent articles in the Journal Science raise doubts about the safety of eating deer meat

Friday, September 29, 2006
Have drug; need patients: Big Pharma seeks uses for Seroquel
For Big Pharma it's cheaper and easier to sell new uses for drugs it has and Seroquel is the latest case in point

Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Industry Officials Shrug off China videos of dog and cat slaughter for fur 
(1 comments) Industry officials don't want videos of dogs and cats boiled and skinned alive in China to ruin Americans' appetite for fur and fur trim--even though some may actually be wearing man's best friend

Tuesday, August 22, 2006
State DNRs breeding birds for the ethically and recreationally challenged to shoot
State Departments of Natural Resourcess are talking environmentalism while actually in bed with hunting groups and breeding birds for public hunting

Tuesday, August 1, 2006
JAMA scandal and Ketek approval raise questions about big pharma's influence
Despite the Vioxx and HRT scandals, big pharma is still controlling medical journals and the FDA

Saturday, July 29, 2006
New gun laws arm children; scrap safety training
New laws let kids so young they are still in car seats shoot guns

Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Japan Beef Exports and Johanns Future Await Slaughterhouse Audits
Reinstating beef exports to Japan is becoming a nightmare for Agriculture Secretary Mike Johnanns

Saturday, July 1, 2006
UN Baiting and Katrina Chasing Show NRA's LaPierre Losing His Touch
(1 comments) NRA's Wayne LaPierre hasn't succeeded at much lately--except selling his own book.

Saturday, June 24, 2006
Cage-Free Trend Could Squeeze Big US Egg Producers
To develop its new guidelines, United Egg Producers hired spin doctors not animal doctors

Friday, June 16, 2006
Stormin' Norman Shooting for Cancer Patients
The Safari Club is trying to improve its image by getting anyone--the poor, the sick--to eat the animals it harvests. Now Stormin' Norman is geting into the act.

Wednesday, May 17, 2006
Milk: It's what's in the vending machine
After a series of discredited health claims, milk is now being pushed for weight loss.

Friday, May 12, 2006
In Louisiana, you don't want to see laws or cockfights made
It's as predictable and pernicious as hurricane season--Louisiana's yearly consideration of a cockfighting ban. This year it failed again.

Friday, April 21, 2006
Wanted by Pharma: Osteoporotic Bones
(1 comments)

Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Hormones Hard to Give Up--for Drug Companies That Make Them
(1 comments) Since federal researchers halted the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) hormone replacement therapy (HRT) study in 2002, three years early because the drugs were so dangerous, the sequence of events has played out almost like a joke