One day, Oscar may be a famous dog - a pioneer in cancer research. Oscar was a very sick dog and researchers are calling him ‘a miracle dog’. Dr. Joseph Bauer has presented remarkable findings:
The bailout money is public funds. It is money from the tax payers. That money comes from you. There is no question about that. On that point, there is universal agreement. Since it is public funds, it would seem like common sense that the people should know where this vast amount of money is going and what is happening with it. Unfortunately, this is not the case:
It may be a sign of the problems in the school system. There simply is not the necessary funding. One teacher is addressing the problem by selling advertising:
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) finally has acted on the melamine scandal that has impacted China. The scope of the contamination has been wide spread and the FDA is following other countries in halting the import of certain products with origins in China:
In a staggering economy, one of the places where there will be less funding is in educational programs. Kansas is one example and the news is not good:
No matter what one’s political persuasion, one is hearing campaign rhetoric about cutting government spending. One area where spending cannot withstand further financial trimming is in education. The school system simply is failing. There is ample evidence of this in the student dropout rate, which has been called “outrageous”:
“High schools are coming under pressure from the federal government to improve the nation’s dismal dropout rate — one in four students.”
link: New rules address ‘outrageous’ dropout rates
There is something wrong when one quarter of the children do not finish high school. The burden that this places on the economy is enormous. Gone are the days when one can strike out and follow one’s dreams without a high school education. The odds against success are overwhelming for dropouts. The technological age changes the employment dynamics. Higher education is needed. Sadly, for one in four children, the ‘American Dream’ is effaced during the teen years.
Catherine Forsythe
We assume that our food is safe. When we are at the supermarket, few thoughts are given to whether that purchase is safe to eat. Our assumption - perhaps mistakenly - is that there are protections in place to safeguard the public. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is entrusted with that mandate to protect the consumer from unsafe products.
It is evident, through the recent pet food disaster and regular product recalls, that the FDA is stressed to fulfill its role:
“WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Preparations for a biological attack and repeated outbreaks of food poisoning have interfered with efforts by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to improve the safety of fresh produce, according to a report released on Friday.
The agency is also unclear on what it plans to do to shape up, the Government Accountability Office said.”
link: FDA faulted for produce oversight
This is not the first time that the FDA has been so severely criticized. In 2007, for example, a report cited that American lives were at risk from the FDA being understaffed and underfunded. It does not seem to be a political imperative to resolve this problem. This is not a ‘hot issue’ on the presidential campaign trail. However, the present contaminated milk disaster in China is an indication of the chaos from just one unsafe, contaminated product. Thousands of children are sick; some have died. In the United States, the FDA cannot do its job adequately; and government officials are focused elsewhere.
Catherine Forsythe
When a medication prescription is written, the assumption is that the drug will be something that helps. It is assumed that there are safeguards to protect the public from unsafe medication. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is mandated to protect the public from unsafe consumables, including medication.
It will be a shock to many people that when a medication is improperly placed in the market place, it may take almost a year to have that drug regulated:
“…When federal regulators catch a drug company peddling prescription drugs for an unapproved use, it takes them an average of seven months to issue a warning, according to a draft report by congressional investigators. It typically takes four more months for the company to fix the problem. During that time, a lot prescriptions can be written.”
link: GAO says agency moves too slowly
The number of people who could be exposed to an improper medication could number in the millions. This is another example of the FDA being improperly funded or staffed to insure that the public is provided with basic security regulation. This was shown in the pet food fiasco and the tomatoes / salmonella warning, as just two recent examples.
It is frightening that many people could be taking improper medication for almost a year - and the FDA knows about the problem.
Catherine Forsythe
With the tragic violence that has visited upon schools and colleges, surveillance cameras are now an accepted part of campus security. There are some considerations about video surveillance that bear mentioning:
Advocates of video surveillance acknowledge these shortcomings. The argument is that the technology is developing and the innovations will amaze. For example, video surveillance will be coupled with facial recognition data bases. Video surveillance will be augmented with auditory surveillance. If direct audio recording is not possible, then speech recognition software will translate the video images into text. Developments will continue because security spending will not abate.
Meanwhile, if you are curious as to the immediate solution to some of the aforementioned difficulties, some have suggested… more cameras.
Catherine Forsythe
Director of Operations
FlyingHamster
