Talking about. . .Immigration reform, Korea, Blue-eared pigs, FDA labs

“In fact I think it would be prudent if we offered our own State of the State of the Border speech to keep them honest. It’s not that we don’t trust them, it’s just that — well, we don’t trust them.”
(Source: The Hill, August 10, 2007)
Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO.), a critic of the White House immigration policy, commenting on the new but failed immigration reform initiatives.
>PS: It’s a polarizing issue gone critical, so expect any survival-first politician to practice his or her “duck and cover” techniques.

"It's been a German town for a long time, every morning at 5 o'clock, 5 or 6 o'clock, it's like a cuckoo clock, German ladies out sweeping their sidewalks. And now they're (immigrants) not mowing their lawn, and so they're trying to pass laws to get people to keep up their lawns and not park their car on them."
(Source: Houston Chronicle, August 18, 207)
Perry Roberts, long time resident of Ft. Morgan, CO, complaining about the influx of low paid, low skilled Latino immigrants. Most work in the nearby Cargill meat packing plant.
>PS: Senor Roberts, habla Espanol?

“The U.S. demand, based on the World Organization for Animal Health’s (OIE) assessment that the country has its mad cow threat under control, is that Korea import its beef regardless of the age of its beef cows and whether or not the beef contains bone fragments and specified risk materials that could cause bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease. It is a demonstration of America’s arrogant approach to beef negotiations when, in response to the discovery of a vertebral column, it says there is no safety problem, except for the fact the cow was younger than 30 months old.”
(Source: The Hankyoreh (Korea), August 13, 2007)
Unsigned editorial taking the U.S. to the woodshed over the recent beef fracas

“Further excessive demand is feared to trigger anti-American sentiment and even a campaign to boycott U.S. beef. Koreans are accustomed to collective motives rather than individual ones. And such trends become more apparent when related to international issues involving surrounding nations such as the U.S., in particular.”
(Source: Korea Times, August 13, 2007)
Unsigned editorial also taking the U.S. to the woodshed over the recent beef fracas.
>PS: It’s not a beef issue, it’s a cultural issue.

“They haven’t really explained what this virus is. This is like SARS. They haven’t sent samples to any international body. This is really irresponsible of China. This thing could get out and affect everyone.”
(Source: New York Times, August 16, 2007)
Federico A. Zuckermann, a professor of immunology at the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine, talking about blue-ear disease that’s swept through most of China and decimated its hog population.
>PS: Insane inflation for the Chinese food biz and another SARS style cover-up? I smell problems for next year’s Olympics.

“To assure our success and allow additional time to gather input, I am canceling plans for the rollout of all changes to our organizational structure."
(Source: CNN Money, August 17, 2007)
Margaret Glavin, FDA Associate Commissioner for Regulatory Affairs, in an e-mail written in conventional bureaucratese and sent to FDA employees backing away from the ill-advised plan to close half their food labs.
>PS: Colossally bad decision, even by fed standards, will be tossed onto the trash heap where it belongs.

Farming for votes: Campaign 2008
Barack Obama, visiting Bevery Van Fossen’s farm in Auel, Iowa to talk about rural issues and missing the point entirely, asked, “Anybody gone into Whole Foods lately and see what they charge for the arugula?” Someone asked, “What’s arugula?”

Obama went to Tama a few days later and redeemed himself with this comment: “I believe it’s time to turn the page on a politics that has turned its back on rural America. While you’re working hard to strengthen your farms, your families, and your communities, small businesses or main streets, our government has been working for big agribusiness.”

John Edwards campaigning in Sioux City, Iowa said "One of the greatest dangers we face in this country today is that of kids growing up in small towns, leaving and never coming back. This has been a very serious issue as I've seen it here in Iowa. What we want to do is create opportunities for these young people, opportunities not just in big cities but in smaller towns and rural communities."

Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack speaking at an Iowa corn boil for Hillary Clinton: "She brings a breadth of knowledge about rural issues to the table that many Iowans might not realize she has. We tend to think of New York as only the city but there a lot of family farms in upstate New York." His comment led to this statement at a standing-room-only rally in Council Bluffs, Iowa: Hillary Clinton answered a question on immigration by noting her experience working with upstate New York farmers who rely on migrant workers. “We have 35,000 farms in New York, most of them are family farms, they’re not very big farms, they’re mostly fruit, vegetable, dairy and, you know, vineyards, horticulture and some livestock,” she said. “You’ve got to milk those cows 365 days a year. So if [farmers] lose that source of labor, they’re not sure where they’re going to get it.”