By ANDREW BRIDGES Associated Press WriterWASHINGTON Jun 28, 2007 (AP)
Font Size E-mail Print Share
var addthis_pub = 'abcnews';
Farmed seafood has now joined tires, toothpaste and toy trains on the list of tainted and defective products from China that could be hazardous to a person's health.
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=3327048&Business=true
Perhaps my entry yesterday was a bit too timely!
Friday, June 29, 2007
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Ni How MA?
My wonderful mentor and college professor strongly encouraged those of us Saycians to take and learn Chinese in college. He even went to the trouble of making the College find and hire a professor to teach the class. A number of my classmates and I took the class. I also took it when I went to Oxford. I probably did it more to make him happy than my interest. I regret not paying more attention and actually getting into the language. I can remember a bit of the language. I am disappointed in my lack of interest in the class now with the emerging giant in the Far East. Dr. Sayce's point then was "1/5 of the world's population speaks Mandarin not French" My friends that poured themselves into the language did well with it. A number of them went to China after graduation to teach English.
My good friend that is Eurasian now lives outside of Shanghai and owns a hotel and more. She constantly is trying to get me to come out there for vacation.
Okay nice trip down memory lane but what is my point? Why don't I just go find a Mandarin class and start over? I have a growing concern about the amount of products and services being manufactured and created in China. Moreover, the amount of issues with the quality. We have thousands of pets that have died because of the Chinese putting in an additive into a food by product to make it seem better even though it was poisonous. Do they care - nope.
Next case - Tooth paste has been poisoned.
Last night, I saw a case about the tire recall. This is what got me thinking.
Do you remember back in the early 70's when it was "Jap Crap". Now the Japanese make the best of everything. I wasn't old enough to know if there was issues with quality that was dangerous from a health prospective. I have to think the difference is the land mass. It is difficult to have an impact on the food industry when you are an island that imports food.
What do you think the impact of the emerging nation of China will be.... We have already seen the gas price impact. Did you know the busiest Best Buy store is in China? Think about it.
My good friend that is Eurasian now lives outside of Shanghai and owns a hotel and more. She constantly is trying to get me to come out there for vacation.
Okay nice trip down memory lane but what is my point? Why don't I just go find a Mandarin class and start over? I have a growing concern about the amount of products and services being manufactured and created in China. Moreover, the amount of issues with the quality. We have thousands of pets that have died because of the Chinese putting in an additive into a food by product to make it seem better even though it was poisonous. Do they care - nope.
Next case - Tooth paste has been poisoned.
Last night, I saw a case about the tire recall. This is what got me thinking.
Do you remember back in the early 70's when it was "Jap Crap". Now the Japanese make the best of everything. I wasn't old enough to know if there was issues with quality that was dangerous from a health prospective. I have to think the difference is the land mass. It is difficult to have an impact on the food industry when you are an island that imports food.
What do you think the impact of the emerging nation of China will be.... We have already seen the gas price impact. Did you know the busiest Best Buy store is in China? Think about it.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Illegal Aliens Defined
Illegal =
1.forbidden by law or statute.
2.contrary to or forbidden by official rules, regulations, etc.: The referee ruled that it was an illegal forward pass. –noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Alien =
Owing political allegiance to another country or government; foreign: alien residents.
Belonging to, characteristic of, or constituting another and very different place,
Dissimilar, inconsistent, or opposed, as in nature: emotions alien to her temperament. n.
An unnaturalized foreign resident of a country. Also called noncitizen.
A person from another and very different family, people, or place.
A person who is not included in a group; an outsider.
A creature from outer space: a story about an invasion of aliens.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth EditionCopyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Now that we have defined the two words.... Illegal Alien... Why would we give amnesty and citizenship to individuals that have done something forbidden by law and by definition have allegiance to a foreign government? I can't get over this. We have lists of people that want to come to this country LEGALLY. Why should they take a back seat to those individuals that take short cuts, commit crimes (being an illegal alien is a crime), and drain our government resources.
Who would do the work? Perhaps the teenage obese population would be less fat and facing diabetes if they had to, vacuum, mow the lawn, weed, babysit their brothers and sisters or neighbors' kids, work an entry level job at a fast food restaurant. Remember when it was cool to work at McDonald's. Remember when kids had summer jobs? They learned the value of a dollar and why it was important to get an education rather than spend a life time making minimum wage digging ditches.
I developed my work ethic doing yard work and then holding a full time summer job starting at the age of 14. My parents didn't force me to do it. I wanted to. Where is that drive gone?
Send the law breakers back to their countries i.e. -HOME!! Re-open Ellis Island type facilities ... if it worked prior WHY NOT NOW?
definitions pulled from dictionary.com
1.forbidden by law or statute.
2.contrary to or forbidden by official rules, regulations, etc.: The referee ruled that it was an illegal forward pass. –noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Alien =
Owing political allegiance to another country or government; foreign: alien residents.
Belonging to, characteristic of, or constituting another and very different place,
Dissimilar, inconsistent, or opposed, as in nature: emotions alien to her temperament. n.
An unnaturalized foreign resident of a country. Also called noncitizen.
A person from another and very different family, people, or place.
A person who is not included in a group; an outsider.
A creature from outer space: a story about an invasion of aliens.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth EditionCopyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Now that we have defined the two words.... Illegal Alien... Why would we give amnesty and citizenship to individuals that have done something forbidden by law and by definition have allegiance to a foreign government? I can't get over this. We have lists of people that want to come to this country LEGALLY. Why should they take a back seat to those individuals that take short cuts, commit crimes (being an illegal alien is a crime), and drain our government resources.
Who would do the work? Perhaps the teenage obese population would be less fat and facing diabetes if they had to, vacuum, mow the lawn, weed, babysit their brothers and sisters or neighbors' kids, work an entry level job at a fast food restaurant. Remember when it was cool to work at McDonald's. Remember when kids had summer jobs? They learned the value of a dollar and why it was important to get an education rather than spend a life time making minimum wage digging ditches.
I developed my work ethic doing yard work and then holding a full time summer job starting at the age of 14. My parents didn't force me to do it. I wanted to. Where is that drive gone?
Send the law breakers back to their countries i.e. -HOME!! Re-open Ellis Island type facilities ... if it worked prior WHY NOT NOW?
definitions pulled from dictionary.com
Monday, June 25, 2007
Driving Miss Daisy through Litchfield County
I spent the weekend doing a number of things I have wanted to do for a while. Friday, I scooted out from work and went to cheer on a family member that was doing a tri-athelelon up in New Preston at the lake. Believe me .... He was a the talk of the event when he decided to do the run pushing his twins ( 2 1/2 yr olds) in the run. Which was nothing but up hill and then down hill. Now that is the way to inspire fitness and competition!
Saturday morning, I spent cleaning the house finally. I hadn't dusted or really vaccuumed in combination since prior to going to Florida. I had cleaned a bit here and a bit there. It didn't take tooo long and felt good to get it done. I then enjoyed creating a menu for our friends to come over and enjoy. My goal is always to cook stuff that can be made ahead and doesn't take much time to ready to serve ...especially in the summer. It is very hard to be at the stove and at the grill, and behind the bar at the same time. We had a great time catching up with our NY friends! I know there is no easy way to get here from there considering it would only be about 20 minutes as the crow flies but you have to go over hill and dale. North to go South again.
Sunday I drove up to Kent to go to this Dog gift shoppe up by the Falls. Not impressed. It had been featured in Yankee Magazine and it was awful. It looked like a bunch of stuff found at yard sales featuring dogs with some bad handmade crafts. Avoid it in the future. I then went down into Kent center and walked around the shops. I found some cute toys for my nephews in a toy store and a wedding shower present. It is always so tough to find something original and pratical when you haven't seen their home.
Saturday morning, I spent cleaning the house finally. I hadn't dusted or really vaccuumed in combination since prior to going to Florida. I had cleaned a bit here and a bit there. It didn't take tooo long and felt good to get it done. I then enjoyed creating a menu for our friends to come over and enjoy. My goal is always to cook stuff that can be made ahead and doesn't take much time to ready to serve ...especially in the summer. It is very hard to be at the stove and at the grill, and behind the bar at the same time. We had a great time catching up with our NY friends! I know there is no easy way to get here from there considering it would only be about 20 minutes as the crow flies but you have to go over hill and dale. North to go South again.
Sunday I drove up to Kent to go to this Dog gift shoppe up by the Falls. Not impressed. It had been featured in Yankee Magazine and it was awful. It looked like a bunch of stuff found at yard sales featuring dogs with some bad handmade crafts. Avoid it in the future. I then went down into Kent center and walked around the shops. I found some cute toys for my nephews in a toy store and a wedding shower present. It is always so tough to find something original and pratical when you haven't seen their home.
I stopped at the Covered Bridge and took some pictures. I am beginning to enjoy having this small digital in my bag to snap away at stuff. I wish I had my grandmother's ability to paint.
That is the nagging question someone asked me this weekend. The family member was so happy that we came out to cheer them on with the Tri-Race.. He asked what he could do to support something I did and was into doing. I found myself saying I used to... fill in the blank (skate, ski, dance) Now the only thing I think I do and excel at is working and selling. How do you cheer that on? What does that say at the end of a life time... She really knew how to hock stuff. Perhaps, it is time to find a passion. Any ideas ??? I think I would like it to be either creative or sports related. I feel like I have let a part of me get thrown in the compactor.
Monday, June 18, 2007
Beautiful CT weekend
It was a beautiful weekend here in Litchfield County. We went out for a late dinner on Saturday night. Went to a family BBQ on Sunday. Gardening was done in the rock yard and a stroll through the art show on the green.
It is a lovely area. Annie had a hard weekend. The arthritis is giving her a ton of pain. She has caused sores on her joints from licking them so much. We have finally had to put her on medication for it today after a quick trip to the vet for the baseline blood work. She is just getting old and it is hard to take.
It is a lovely area. Annie had a hard weekend. The arthritis is giving her a ton of pain. She has caused sores on her joints from licking them so much. We have finally had to put her on medication for it today after a quick trip to the vet for the baseline blood work. She is just getting old and it is hard to take.
Friday, June 15, 2007
June is Busting Out All Over
It seems the past couple of weeks have flown by! I was so encompassed in work with the Annual Retreat last week and getting the Customer Self Service Conference program and brochure out the door with the rest of my team... I haven't had a chance to write an entry. Again... Bad blogging behavior. So what is new in the world of the Branny's?
Well I finally did it. I am now a red head or strawberry blond. I love it. I wasn't sure at first but it is definitely grown on me. I have lost a couple of pounds doing the WW point system. Seamus is getting more walks as a result.
Annie has celebrated her 11th Birthday in May. She is doing okay for a gal of 77 years old. I think her joints are really beginning to bother her. I don't like what I read on the medication for it. I am trying to balance getting her the appropriate amount of exercise to keep her moving and managing the pain I believe she is in with the shaking of her legs occasionally.
My nephew Jamie is graduating from high school today. I am so proud of him. He is off to University of Lowell next year in the engineering school. He has accomplished so much in 18 years. I can't believe what this young man has gone through and fought to be the success he is today. The sky is the limit I hope for him.
This weekend's plans just got cancelled so... I think the gardens are beckoning to be planted with both perenials and annuals. I don't know why I really haven't done it yet. I guess the digging I have done to date has hit rock after about 3 inches of topsoil and hasn't inspired the type of gardening I have done at my previous homes.
I think Mr. Branny has a race next weekend and then we have plans around the Fourth as usual. Not sure about other vacation time as we just got back from going to Florida to see the Sr. Branny's and spent a couple of days of RR in Naples. I highly recommend the LaPlaya Beach Resort in Naples. Incredible property!! The Boca Resort not so much!
Well I finally did it. I am now a red head or strawberry blond. I love it. I wasn't sure at first but it is definitely grown on me. I have lost a couple of pounds doing the WW point system. Seamus is getting more walks as a result.
Annie has celebrated her 11th Birthday in May. She is doing okay for a gal of 77 years old. I think her joints are really beginning to bother her. I don't like what I read on the medication for it. I am trying to balance getting her the appropriate amount of exercise to keep her moving and managing the pain I believe she is in with the shaking of her legs occasionally.
My nephew Jamie is graduating from high school today. I am so proud of him. He is off to University of Lowell next year in the engineering school. He has accomplished so much in 18 years. I can't believe what this young man has gone through and fought to be the success he is today. The sky is the limit I hope for him.
This weekend's plans just got cancelled so... I think the gardens are beckoning to be planted with both perenials and annuals. I don't know why I really haven't done it yet. I guess the digging I have done to date has hit rock after about 3 inches of topsoil and hasn't inspired the type of gardening I have done at my previous homes.
I think Mr. Branny has a race next weekend and then we have plans around the Fourth as usual. Not sure about other vacation time as we just got back from going to Florida to see the Sr. Branny's and spent a couple of days of RR in Naples. I highly recommend the LaPlaya Beach Resort in Naples. Incredible property!! The Boca Resort not so much!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)