oh gov's approval rating hits record low - 6.5

can he be recalled? impeached? any remedy for a gov who hasn't the decency to resign?

Taft's approval ratings sink into single digits
Only 6.5% back governor, poll says

By JIM TANKERSLEY
BLADE POLITICS WRITER

Gov. Bob Taft's approval ratings have hit single digits.

But Ohio Republicans shouldn't hit the panic button, a new statewide poll suggests.

A Zogby International online survey, conducted a week after the Nov. 8 election and released yesterday, shows just 6.5 percent of Ohio voters view the embattled GOP governor very or somewhat favorably. Barely 3 percent rate his job performance as "good" or "excellent."

"I'm not aware of anyone who's ever sunk lower," pollster John Zogby said.

Sixty-one percent of respondents said Mr. Taft should have resigned after pleading guilty in August to misdemeanor ethics charges for failing to report dozens of gifts and golf outings to state officials.
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kids' jewelry tainted by lead

shameful that these products were on the market for over 3 years.

Unsafe Kids' Jewelry Recalled

WASHINGTON, Nov. 30, 2005
(AP / CBS)

(AP) A California company is voluntarily recalling about 6 million children's personalized necklaces and zipper pulls that pose a serious risk of lead poisoning, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said Wednesday.

The painted metal jewelry contains high amounts of lead, which can be toxic if swallowed. There have been no reports of incidents or injuries associated with the Chinese-made jewelry sold by the Stravina Operating Co. of Chatsworth, Calif.

The recalled necklaces are silver-colored with individual names painted in a variety of colors attached to a 16-inch cord. The necklace packaging reads "Personalized Necklace" and "Stravina." The packaging is marked with UPC code 0-35203-00039-7.

The recalled zipper pulls include nameplates similar to those on the necklaces but hang from a silver-colored metal clip designed to attach to backpacks, key rings or zippers. The packaging reads "Personalized Zipper Pull," "Great for Backpacks and Keyrings too" and "Stravina." The packaging is marked with UPC code 0-35203-00038-0.

The jewelry was sold through discount, party, grocery and drug stores from March 2002 through September. Retail prices varied between $2 and $4.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission recommends immediately taking the jewelry away from children. Consumers who want a free replacement product can call Stravina at (800) 964-0029.

kids' lunchboxes tainted by lead

disgusting. and i don't buy the spin that these lunchboxes posed little risk to children.

Lunch Box Maker Strikes Deal With N.Y.

By MICHAEL GORMLEY, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 5 minutes ago

ALBANY, N.Y. - Families that bought tens of thousands of super hero lunch boxes that government tests have shown include traces of lead can get their money back under an agreement between the distributor and the state attorney general in New York.

Meanwhile, a California public interest group hopes the pact between Fast Forward LLC of New York City and New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer will bolster their civil lawsuits to rid California of lunch boxes with lead.

Spitzer spokesman Marc Violette emphasized there is only a "very mild concern" that the soft plastic and mesh lunch boxes illustrated with comic book super heroes could harm children. He said there is greater concern about the lead being released into the environment when the lunch boxes are thrown away. Some of lunch boxes exceeded the allowable limits of lead under a state hazardous packaging law, Violette said.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Target Corp. stores have already removed the lunch boxes from their shelves in New York, Spitzer's office said. Retailers will provide refunds to customers with receipts or store credit for those without receipts for lunch boxes.

Target spokeswoman Lena Michaud said the lunch boxes will be removed from shelves only in New York. A Wal-Mart spokesman didn't respond to a request for comment.
...

The lunch boxes made in China feature Spiderman, Superman, Batman, the Fantastic Four, Precious Moments characters and Rocawear products. The Fast Forward label is inside the boxes. They sell for about $10.

...
"This is a welcome first step in our drive to protect children from lead in lunch boxes," said Michael Green of California's Center for Environmental Health. "The companies involved in making and selling children's lunch boxes must now come together to insure that all children are protected."

The lawsuits initiated by the Center for Environmental Health seek to remove lead from a lunch boxes sold in California to protect children and the environment, said the public interest group's Michael Green. He said the suits don't seek specific damages, but will seek to recover the cost of the litigation.
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duke pleads to bribery, resigns

finally.

Calif. Congressman Admits Taking Bribes

By ELLIOT SPAGAT, Associated Press Writer

Monday, November 28, 2005
(11-28) 20:03 PST SAN DIEGO, (AP) --

Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, an eight-term congressman and hotshot Vietnam War fighter jock, pleaded guilty to graft and tearfully resigned Monday, admitting he took $2.4 million in bribes mostly from defense contractors in exchange for government business and other favors.

"The truth is I broke the law, concealed my conduct, and disgraced my office," the 63-year-old Republican said at a news conference. "I know that I will forfeit my freedom, my reputation, my worldly possessions, most importantly, the trust of my friends and family."

He could get up to 10 years in prison at sentencing Feb. 27 on federal charges of conspiracy to commit bribery and fraud, and tax evasion.
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swiss vote to restrict gmo's

the swiss have acted sensibly!

Swiss OK Curb on Genetically Altered Crops

By BALZ BRUPPACHER, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 15 minutes ago

BERN, Switzerland - Swiss voters approved a referendum Sunday to tighten curbs on genetically modified farm products, a divisive topic in a country that already prohibits most of such technology from being used in agriculture.

Over 55 percent of participants in the national referendum voted for the five-year moratorium on all genetically modified animals and crops, except for use in certain research and to produce medicine.

Sunday's referendum was forced by environmentalists and consumer groups who easily gathered the 100,000 signatures they needed to oppose a January 2004 law that would have permitted cultivation of genetically modified crops once they passed a "multiyear testing procedure."

The groups claimed the 2004 law threatened Swiss farmers while benefiting multinational agricultural business and would have forced products onto the market that people are not interested in buying.
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pthalate-free label deceives

excerpt from article titled unsafe toys on store shelves

...
Many plastic toys now come labeled "phthalates free" because of increasing concern that the chemicals, used to soften plastic in toys and pacifiers, could pose a health risk.

The report showed that six of eight toys labeled as "phthalates free" still contained at least one form of the chemicals. One labeled product, "Baby's First Peek-a-Boo Book", made by Sassy, tested positive for four different phthalates.

"Instead of helping parents, these labels are deceiving parents," Cassady says.

Gary Klein, a spokesman for the Toy Industry Association, denied that phthalates have been shown to be dangerous in the levels present in children's toys.

"It's very easy to scare parents by mentioning children and toxic chemicals in the same breath," he says.

Klein called the alleged mislabeling of phthalates-containing toys "a problem." "We don't endorse the mislabeling of a product," he tells WebMD.

dupont hid teflon risks

another reason to avoid teflon cookware.

Papers: DuPont Hid Teflon-Risk Studies

By JOHN HEILPRIN, Associated Press Writer

Wednesday, November 16, 2005
(11-16) 18:57 PST WASHINGTON (AP) --

DuPont Co. hid studies showing the risks of a Teflon-related chemical used to line candy wrappers, pizza boxes, microwave popcorn bags and hundreds of other food containers, according to internal company documents and a former employee.

The chemical Zonyl can rub off the liner and get into food. Once in a person's body, it can break down into perfluorooctanoic acid and its salts, known as PFOA, a related chemical used in the making of Teflon-coated cookware.

The Environmental Protection Agency has been trying to decide whether to classify PFOA as a "likely" human carcinogen. The Food and Drug Administration, in a letter released Wednesday evening by DuPont, said it was continuing to monitor the safety of PFOA chemicals in food.

The DuPont documents were made public Wednesday by the Environmental Working Group, a research and advocacy organization.

At the same time, a former DuPont chemical engineer, Glenn Evers, told reporters at a news conference at EWG's office that the company long suppressed its studies on the chemical.

"They are toxic," Evers said of the PFOA chemicals. "They get into human blood. And they are also in every one of you. Your loved ones, your fellow citizens."

From 1981 to 2002, Evers helped DuPont develop new products. He lost his job in 2002 in what DuPont described as a company restructuring.
...

The environmental group on Wednesday gave the FDA and the EPA copies of DuPont-sponsored internal studies indicating higher dangers from Zonyl than the government knew, including its ability to migrate into the food.

One of the documents, a 1987 memo, cites laboratory tests showing the chemical came off paper coating and leached into foods at levels three times higher than the FDA limit set in 1967. Another document, a 1973 Dupont study in which rats and dogs were fed Zonyl for 90 days, said both types of animals had anemia and damage to their kidneys and livers; the dogs had higher cholesterol levels.

"What makes this worse is that DuPont knew at that time that Zonyl breakdown-products, such as PFOA, in food were very persistent in the environment and were contaminating human blood, including the fetal cord blood of babies born to DuPont female employees," EWG Senior Vice President Richard Wiles wrote to FDA and EPA officials.

Wiles asked the agencies to determine whether DuPont should be penalized for withholding the studies. Last year, based on another DuPont document that the environmental group obtained, EPA alleged the company had repeatedly failed over a 20-year period to submit required data about PFOA. The document referred to a study that suggested possible links between PFOA and birth defects in infants.
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groper surrenders to nurses

bravo, CA nurses!

Schwarzenegger Drops Nurse-Staffing Fight

By DON THOMPSON, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 42 minutes ago

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has ended a yearlong fight with California nurses over hospital staffing levels after a bitter feud that escalated when he boasted, "I'm kicking their butts."
...

Tensions between the governor and the nurses union escalated in December 2004, when he labeled the union a special interest and said he was "kicking their butts."

Since then, the union has attacked Schwarzenegger in TV commercials, on freeway billboards and at nearly every public event he held, including fundraisers in New York and Boston.

In a September interview with The Associated Press, Schwarzenegger said his comment was a mistake and called the reaction to it a learning experience.

groper exposed on "special interests"

his hypocrisy laid bare. he cannot be bought? those hundred-thousand $$ payments were just a coincidence, huh?

Schwarzenegger's Special Interests

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 3, 2005
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (AP)

(CBS) Almost any time Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger gets near a microphone he takes aim at special interests, CBS News correspondent Vince Gonzales reports.

"I have put the special interests on notice," Schwarzenegger said. "The only thing I have to say to them is 'hasta la vista baby.' "

That's been the theme ever since he announced he was running for governor.

"I do not have to bow to any special interests," Schwarzenegger said on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno." "I have plenty of money. No one can pay me off."

"Trust me," he said. "No one."

But Doug Heller, who heads Arnold Watch, which is part of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, tells a different story.
...

Heller points to bills the governor vetoed on one day just last month:

# He vetoed a bill opposed by Wal-Mart. That day records show an "Arkansas homemaker" — Christy Walton, heir to the Wal-Mart fortune — donated a quarter of a million dollars to his political causes. Eleven days later, another quarter million came from Wal-Mart's Chairman.

# He vetoed a pesticide regulation bill opposed by winemakers and wholesalers. That day one wine group donated $100,000.

# The governor also vetoed a bill the insurance industry didn't like. And that day an industry group gave $105,000.
...

"I cannot be bought, that is the key thing," Schwarzenegger said.

The governor's office said he was too busy campaigning to sit down for an interview, but this is what he told a reporter at a CBS station earlier this year.

The reporter, Hank Plante, asked Schwarzenegger, "When you take $350,000 from the drug companies and then veto four prescription drug bills, you can't connect the dots on that?"

"Absolutely not," Schwarzenegger replied. "I vetoed the bills that are bad for California. It's that simple."

It's not that simple for many California voters. He's plummeted in the polls and according to one survey, half now believe he caters to special interests as much or more than other politicians.

fbi abuses patriot act

entirely predictable. the fraudulently-named "patriot" act was supposed to help catch terrorists, but the FBI is abusing its powers to investigate ordinary Americans.

The FBI's Secret Scrutiny
In Hunt for Terrorists, Bureau Examines Records of Ordinary Americans

By Barton Gellman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, November 6, 2005; A01

The FBI came calling in Windsor, Conn., this summer with a document marked for delivery by hand. On Matianuk Avenue, across from the tennis courts, two special agents found their man. They gave George Christian the letter, which warned him to tell no one, ever, what it said.

Under the shield and stars of the FBI crest, the letter directed Christian to surrender "all subscriber information, billing information and access logs of any person" who used a specific computer at a library branch some distance away. Christian, who manages digital records for three dozen Connecticut libraries, said in an affidavit that he configures his system for privacy. But the vendors of the software he operates said their databases can reveal the Web sites that visitors browse, the e-mail accounts they open and the books they borrow.

Christian refused to hand over those records, and his employer, Library Connection Inc., filed suit for the right to protest the FBI demand in public. The Washington Post established their identities -- still under seal in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit -- by comparing unsealed portions of the file with public records and information gleaned from people who had no knowledge of the FBI demand.

The Connecticut case affords a rare glimpse of an exponentially growing practice of domestic surveillance under the USA Patriot Act, which marked its fourth anniversary on Oct. 26. "National security letters," created in the 1970s for espionage and terrorism investigations, originated as narrow exceptions in consumer privacy law, enabling the FBI to review in secret the customer records of suspected foreign agents. The Patriot Act, and Bush administration guidelines for its use, transformed those letters by permitting clandestine scrutiny of U.S. residents and visitors who are not alleged to be terrorists or spies.

The FBI now issues more than 30,000 national security letters a year, according to government sources, a hundredfold increase over historic norms. The letters -- one of which can be used to sweep up the records of many people -- are extending the bureau's reach as never before into the telephone calls, correspondence and financial lives of ordinary Americans.

Issued by FBI field supervisors, national security letters do not need the imprimatur of a prosecutor, grand jury or judge. They receive no review after the fact by the Justice Department or Congress. The executive branch maintains only statistics, which are incomplete and confined to classified reports. The Bush administration defeated legislation and a lawsuit to require a public accounting, and has offered no example in which the use of a national security letter helped disrupt a terrorist plot.
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sony music spyware fiasco

shame on you, Sony Music, and Microsoft too.

Sony to offer patch to reveal hidden copy-protection software
By MATTHEW FORDAHL, AP Technology Writer
Wednesday, November 2, 2005
(11-02) 17:30 PST San Jose, Calif. (AP) --

...
The controversy started Monday after Windows expert Mark Russinovich posted a Web log report on how he found hidden files on his PC after playing a Van Zant CD. He also said it disabled his CD drive after he tried to manually remove it.

...
A firestorm quickly erupted over what appeared to be an attempt by the music company to retain control over its intellectual property by secretly installing hidden software on the PCs of unsuspecting customers.

Making matters worse, Sony did not disclose exactly what it was doing in its license agreement, Russinovich said. It only mentions that proprietary software to enable copy protection would be installed. The software affects only PCs running the Windows operating system.

"The (license) makes no mention that it's going to install something that's going to be hidden from view, that will constantly consume CPU resources even if I'm not listening to music and it will have no uninstall capability," he said.

Because the technology looks for a specific prefix in the filename, it also could be used by malware authors to mask their programs, Russinovich said. There's also the question of how a PC user is supposed to maintain a system that runs hidden programs.

"If you've got software on your computer that you can't see, there's no way for you to manage it from a security point of view," he said. "You don't know if you need updates for it. You don't know if you should uninstall it because you don't know it's even there."
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the appearance of impropriety

interesting, how DeLay's lawyer says "it's about the appearance of impropriety". why doesn't that standard apply to DeLay's relationship with tainted lobbyist Jack Abramoff? why doesn't that standard apply to DeLay's relationship with the PACs that illegally accepted and laundered corporate money into Texas elections? why doesn't that standard apply to DeLay's putting his wife and daughter on the campaign payroll at inflated salaries? why doesn't that standard apply to DeLay's transparent favor-mongering-for-campaign contributions? why doesn't that standard apply to the infamous "K street project" that forced lobbying firms to hire repubs and fire dems? and the list goes on...


delay defense wins new judge

"He's not the right judge for this case," said DeLay's lawyer, Dick DeGuerin, after the ruling. "It's not personal; it's not about him. It's about the appearance of impropriety."