Free Republic

The California Milk Advisory Board may have shot itself in the hoof. The board, which promotes the state's dairy farmers and is overseen by the California Department of Food and Agriculture, is again preparing to film commercials touting California milk from California cows -- in New Zealand. In January, it plans to shoot part of its new series of 10 California "Happy Cows" TV commercials in Auckland, taking advantage of that country's low production costs. It comes just after California began offering film tax incentives this summer to reverse so-called runaway production that has caused the loss of thousands of...

Dairy farmers are pressing federal antitrust regulators to investigate why large food companies are making hefty profits while farmers are going broke. The average dairy farm in the state lost about $100 per cow per month this summer, according to the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation. With more than 1.25 million cows in the state, it means the industry is losing roughly $4 million a day. ~~ Snip ~~ Feingold said he wants the Justice Department to reconsider the 2001 Dean Foods merger with Suiza Foods that helped make Dean the nation's largest milk processor and distributor. He also wants antitrust...

JOHANNESBURG – Nestle says it will stop buying milk from Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's wife's farm after facing worldwide boycott threats. ... Internet boycott calls had followed reports in Britain's Telegraph that Nestle was buying Mugabe's milk. The Telegraph reported that the farm's former owner, who is white, sold the farm after a campaign of violence.

Six Colorado dairies have filed for bankruptcy protection this year amid banking problems and low milk prices. Four of the banks had loans from Greeley-based New Frontier Bank, which collapsed in April... Bob Winter, a member of the Colorado Farm Bureau, says he believes more Colorado dairies are preparing to file for bankruptcy protection

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi held an "emotional" press conference to caution the rest of us "about the language" we use. "We all have to take responsibility for our actions and our words" and "any incitement they may cause." Some people aren't as "balanced" as we may think, Pelosi pontificated. It's hard to decide which is more repugnant, her acting ability or her double standard. Madam Speaker, perhaps you're the one who isn't "balanced." Consider: Would a balanced person equate the Tea Party rallies and town hall meetings you've maligned with the "violence of the ‘70s" to which you referred?

...Milk dumped on roads and farmland to protest drastically lower prices... European milk farmers have dumped three million litres of fresh milk onto pastures and roads in a massive, organized protest against lowered dairy prices. In Belgium, farmers spread milk across roads near the southern town of Ciney. Elsewhere, about 300 tractors dragged milk containers through plowed fields in southern Belgium, dumping a day's worth of milk production in that region. "It is a scandal to dump this, but we have to realize what the situation is," said Belgian farm leader Erwin Schoepges. "We need a farm revolt." Milk farmers...

American citizens are being asked to weigh in on California's Harvey Milk Day bill. The California Assembly has passed a bill establishing an annual day to honor openly homosexual San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk, who was assassinated November 27, 1978. SaveCalifornia.com president Randy Thomasson is calling on conservative Christians to contact the governor's office. "The bill -- which will honor a sexual predator, a polygamous relationship advocate, and a public liar -- and extend a homosexual, bisexual, transsexual agenda as a role model to children to aspire to is going to the governor after a short stop on the...

The White House announced today the names of 16 people chosen by the Administration of Hope-n-Change to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor. "...These outstanding men and women represent an incredible diversity of backgrounds," Obama said in a statement. "Their tremendous accomplishments span fields from science to sports, from fine arts to foreign affairs," he said. "Yet they share one overarching trait: Each has been an agent of change. Each saw an imperfect world and set about improving it, often overcoming great obstacles along the way." U.S. Rep. Jackie Speier, D-San Mateo, praised Obama for selecting...

The late San Francisco supervisor Harvey Milk received the presidential Medal of Freedom award today with 15 other recipients ranging across the professional and ideological spectrum, from the late supply sider Jack Kemp to tennis star Billy Jean King to Sen. Edward Kennedy, whose absence from the health care debate due to brain cancer treatments has weighed heavily on the White House. The medal is the country's highest civilian honor. President Obama said all the recipients "share one overarching trait: Each has been an agent of change. Each saw an imperfect world and set about improving it, often overcoming great...

An Iraqi woman shows off the butter that was made on her family's farm near Mahmudiyah, June 23. Photo by Sgt. Mary Phillips, 30th Heavy Brigade Combat Team. MAHMUDIYAH — Soldiers with the 120th Combined Arms Battalion, 30th Heavy Brigade Combat Team, and a family of Iraqi dairy farmers are spearheading a program to increase milk and cheese production in this community, the first dairy initiative the North Carolina Army National Guard Soldiers have started with the Iraqis. Capt. Sara Woods, Civil Affairs Team 31, said the intent is to revitalize the area's dairy industry.Using microgrants, the pilot farm will...

WAYMART - Joe Davitt's tone curdled as he discussed the trough in milk prices. "We're the only self-employed business that has no say in what we get paid," Mr. Davitt, 39, said Wednesday as he gazed at a cluster of Holstein cows feeding in the barn at his 145-acre farm. "I can't afford to quit because what the cows would bring wouldn't be enough to cover my debt." A slump in milk prices is taking dairy farmers to the woodshed. Expenses exceed milk payments at many dairy operations. "There were times before when the prices were low, but the costs...

An artist's proposal to create a pink cloud over the intersection of Market and Castro streets is creating a stir in one of San Francisco's most whimsical neighborhoods. The idea is recycled from 2000, when artist Christian Werthmann's "pink cloud" was one of two winning proposals for a city art piece to commemorate the late Harvey Milk, a supervisor and gay rights advocate. There was no money at the time to fund the project, so it was shelved. Now it's back - revived by Supervisor Bevan Dufty and the San Francisco Arts Commission to add some flair to the temporary...

After crossing the bricked finish line on Sunday, the winner of the Indianapolis 500 will drive into the winner’s circle, be presented with a celebratory wreath and take a swig from a cold bottle of milk. The latter is one of the grandest traditions in sports, but also one of the most confusing. Why milk? Why is it in a bottle? And (this one was actually asked by a girl I knew in college) has it been sitting in the sun all day? After solving mysteries in Beijing, Boston and Augusta, GA, the old Y! Sports investigative unit is here...

SAN FRANCISCO -- The American Civil Liberties Union on Wednesday threatened to sue a San Diego County school that refused to let a student present a report on slain gay rights leader Harvey Milk until her classmates got their parents' permission to hear it. David Blair-Loy, legal director of the ACLU of San Diego County, said the principal of Mt. Woodson Elementary School in Ramona violated the free speech rights of 6th-grader Natalie Jones, who was the only student in her class prevented from giving an in-class presentation. Principal Theresa Grace concluded last month that the subject of the girl's...

The brand of Sanlu Group, the dairy company embroiled in China's tainted-milk scandal, was sold at an auction Tuesday for 7.3 million yuan (1.07 million U.S. dollars), court officials said. An unidentified individual entrepreneur from south China won the bid at an auction in the Shijiazhuang Intermediate People's Court in northern Hebei Province. No further information about the bidder was released. The auction started at 7 million yuan and drew three bids from only two bidders. The "Sanlu" brand was worth 14.9 billion yuan in 2006, according to the China Brand Asset Evaluation Center. Sanlu Group, which was based in...

With encouragement from an Oscar-winning screenwriter, a state Senate committee approved legislation Wednesday that would designate a day honoring slain gay rights leader Harvey Milk. The Senate Education Committee voted 7-2 to send the bill by Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, to the full Senate. It would designate each May 22 — Milk's birthday — as Harvey Milk Day. The "day of special significance" would recognize Milk's life and contributions to the state but would not be an official holiday, meaning there would be no cost to state government. It also would encourage public schools to conduct "suitable commemorative exercises"...

A CANCER-CAUSING protein has been found in milk produced in an eastern China city. Three people from the dairy producer, including its legal representative, have been detained. Authorities tested 14 batches of milk products from Morning Garden Dairy Co Ltd in Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province, and found 11 of them were contaminated with protein hydrolyzed from leather waste, a substance which could have been used to increase the apparent protein content in milk products, Shanghai Evening Post reported yesterday. The case, which follows the fatal Sanlu milk powder scandal, has been referred to police, according to local authorities. Mao Jianhua,...

Since we've all worked hard all week, It's time to kick back, relax, forget about politics and enjoy a nice full glass of iced tea or Soda. Enjoy

Evidence for health claims is thin, but a Pittsboro woman is pushing for testing. There is nothing smooth about a cool glass of camel's milk. The animals aren't cooperative, milk production is less than stellar and it's illegal to sell across state lines. Still, proponents, led by Millie Hinkle of Pittsboro, say camel's milk may be an elixir, curing maladies from allergies to autism to diabetes – although the science behind such claims is thin. The prospect of a cure-all is what inspires Hinkle, a naturopathic physician who read about the health benefits in a magazine three years ago and...

... The contrast between the media's portrayal of homosexuality and the reality of that lifestyle is striking. But, if the real behavior were shown, we would hear the truth about the medical problems associated with this behavior, the high rates of suicide and other issues that reflect reality--not the rosy picture that has been sold to the American public. Only God knows what we will be seeing 20 years from now. Will the media and Hollywood continue to demonize Christians and conservative Jews to the point it will be illegal to quote Scripture that offends those who practice ungodly behavior?...

The Bay Area took center stage at the Oscars when Sean Penn was honored for his performance in "Milk." Not only did the story of the former San Francisco supervisor put the Bay Area in the middle of the show but Bay Area resident, Penn, used his acceptance speech as an opportunity to dig into California politics and a hotbed Bay Area issue. In case you missed it, check out his speech below. Or for more on Penn's speech, check out Penn Pleas for Gay Rights, Rourke at Oscars.

San Francisco -- Hundreds of people who watched the Academy Awards from San Francisco's Castro Theatre on Sunday night gave polite applause to "Slumdog Millionaire" - which won best picture and seven other awards - but roared with foot-stomping standing ovations for "Milk" when it took the prizes for best original screenplay and best actor. "You commie, homo-loving sons of guns," Sean Penn told the academy upon accepting the best actor award for his portrayal of the slain San Francisco Supervisor and gay rights leader Harvey Milk. "I did not expect this, and I want it to be very clear...

Sean Penn's best actor award: a real high point It might not have been enough to redeem what came before for some viewers, but Sean Penn's award as best actor brought a moment of real emotion to the Oscars telecast last night. He won for his portrayal of gay rights activist Harvey Milk, and he used the platform to speak out for equality. Penn started his remarks with humor, addressing the Hollywood audience as "Commie, homo loving sons of guns." But by the end of his speech, he was castigating those who oppose gay marriage and telling them they will...

Got "Milk"? If not, here's a chance to get one of the suits (including shirt and tie) worn by Sean Penn in his Oscar-nominated role as Harvey Milk. The suit was designed for a scene in the film "Milk" to replicate that worn by the real Milk on election night Nov. 7, 1978, when a referendum to bar gays from teaching in California public schools was defeated. Milk was the first openly gay man to be elected to a major public office (the San Francisco Board of Supervisors). The film is nominated for a total of eight Academy Awards, including...

Tian Wenhua, 66, has appealed against her conviction at a court in Shijiazhuang last month, as have the three other executives from Sanlu, who were given jail terms of between five and 15 years. In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, Mrs Tian's lawyer, Liang Zikan, launched an attack against the Chinese authorities, suggesting that his client was made a scapegoat and that the local authorities were aware of the problems at Sanlu but failed to act. His condemnation of the trial is one of the strongest criticisms ever to be voiced about China's lack of legal transparency and the...

The scandal over tainted milk powder led to a 10 percent fall in Chinese dairy exports by volume and a rise in foreign imports last year, state media said Saturday, citing the customs department. Dozens of countries pulled Chinese dairy products from their shelves in 2008 after it emerged that the industrial chemical melamine had been added to milk to artificially boost its protein content. "Lots of foreign countries stopped importing dairy products from China, and the country's milk industry suffered severely," the Xinhua news agency quoted a customs report as saying.

A renegade dairy farmer played the role of a lawyer Monday at the start of his trial for selling raw, unpasteurized milk and suggested his rights have been violated. Spectators crowded into a small courtroom to hear details of an orchestrated,armed raid by about two dozen officers and government officials on a Durham,Ont., farm in 2006. The Crown said it will disclose evidence of a clandestine, undercover investigation into the illegal sale of dangerous substances stored on the farm, sometimes on clear display in open sight. The illicit products, which spawned 20 charges against farm owner Michael Schmidt, were raw...

The price farmers get for their milk is plummeting – and some of the difference may show up in your pocketbook soon. The global dairy market has crashed so quickly, however, that it's backing up the industry's supply chain – all the way to Galt, where farmer Bill Van Egmond had to pour a day's worth of milk – 2,000 gallons – down the drain last weekend. "No creamery would take it," he said Friday. The base price that dairy farmers get for their cows' milk is set to tumble ...

On the morning of December 18, a week before Christmas, a woman showed up at Sharon Palmer’s Healthy Family Farms in Santa Paula, CA, wanting to purchase some goat cheese—for an upcoming holiday party, she said. What happened next was that Sharon found herself in serious trouble, though there are two versions of exactly how she got there...

China's milk scandal is a political temblor Selling contaminated baby formula is a heinous enough crime to shock a nation, but China's leaders know they have a dangerously destabilizing political crisis on their hands. The scandal goes to the heart of a covenant between any authoritarian regime and those who surrender freedom. They cede power with the belief, however wishful, they will be better off. Those in power promise to protect them from all manner of hazards, foreign and domestic.

At first blush this doesn’t seem to be an overly political year at the movies. After all, Michael Moore was silent in 2008 by his standards, releasing only one documentary for his Bush-hating brethren online. Look closer. Among the Oscar favorites are: Milk, the biopic of the slain councilman and gay rights activist played by Sean Penn; Wall*E, a Pixar tale in which the earth has been reduced to a garbage dump thanks to rampant consumerism; Frost/Nixon, a retelling of the historic interview of the disgraced GOP president; and The Dark Knight, a film many conservatives felt embraced President George...

The Daily Beast reports that it's obtained a private text message in which "Mickey Rourke bashes Sean Penn — his chief rival in the Oscar race — as a 'homophobe' and an 'average' actor. " Columnist Gerald Posner says a Los Angeles entertainment honcho showed him the text message, which read: "Look seans an old friend of mine and i didnt buy his performance at all—thought he did an average pretend acting like he was gay besides hes one of the most homophobic people i kno' [sic] "

Victims of tainted baby formula, which caused hundreds of thousands of infants to become sick, six of whom died, are expected to be compensated by 22 Chinese dairy producers that made the milk. "The enterprises offered to shoulder the compensation liability," the country's Dairy Industry Association said Saturday, according to state news agency Xinhua. "By doing so, they hope to earn understanding and forgiveness of the families of the sickened children." The group said victims will receive a one-time cash payment, but did not provide the amounts, according to Xinhua. "The money for compensation is in place now and will...

On Wednesday’s CBS Early Show, co-host Harry Smith interviewed actor James Franco, who stars opposite Sean Penn in a new movie about gay San Francisco politician Harvey Milk: "Actor James Franco is here to talk about his role in the much-talked-about new movie, 'Milk.' He is amazing in it." At the end of the show, Smith thanked Franco for being a guest and offer this review of the movie: "James Franco in 'Milk,' amazing performance. Sean Penn, off the charts. It's a must-see for everybody." On November 30, CBS’s Sunday Morning offered a similar glowing description of the film, describing...

NEW YORK (AP) - "Milk," Gus Van Sant's movie about gay rights leader Harvey Milk starring Sean Penn, has been named best film by the New York Film Critics Circle. Penn was also chosen as best actor by the critics, who announced their picks Wednesday.

90 Percent of U.S. Infant Formula May Be Contaminated with Melamine; FDA Abruptly Declares Chemical Safe for Babies (NaturalNews) Up to 90 percent of the infant formula sold in the United States may be contaminated with trace amounts of melamine, the toxic chemical linked to kidney damage, according to recent tests. The FDA's test results, which the agency hid from the public and only released after the Associated Press filed a Freedom of Information Act request, showed that Nestle, Mead Johnson and Enfamil infant formula products were all contaminated with melamine. The FDA has no new science to justify its...

China reports huge increase in children sickened by tainted milk by Karl Malakunas Karl Malakunas Mon Dec 1, 10:40 pm ET BEIJING (AFP) – China has dramatically raised the tally of children sickened by dairy products laced with the industrial chemical melamine to 294,000, more than five times the original figure. In a late-night statement on Monday, the health ministry also said six babies may have died from consuming poisoned milk, up from a previous confirmed death toll of three. The updated figures showed the problem over contaminated milk in China this year was much greater than the government had...

In the United States, we have no end of attacks on product liability litigation, consumer protection laws and class action lawsuits. (A visit to Americans for Tort Reform provides information and perspective on these efforts.) As this group and others question the "excesses" of lawsuits in compensating the injured and doubt their efficacy in bolstering product quality, consider what is taking place in China. A lawsuit was filed by the parents of a six-month old baby who died from the effects of poison in milk formula. The charge against the manufacturer, The Sanlu Group, amounts to a stunning development in...

On a temperate night in the City by the Bay last month, a community gathered to honor one of its fallen with the world premiere of "Milk." Gus Van Sant's film stars Sean Penn as Harvey Milk, the San Francisco city supervisor who, along with Mayor George Moscone, was shot and killed on Nov. 27, 1978. In front of the Castro Theatre, the cast and civic VIPs stopped for interviews. There was Josh Brolin, who plays Dan White, the city supervisor who pulled the trigger. There was James Franco, who plays Milk's most significant other. Across the street, people waved...

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Candy, snacks, bakery products, pet food and other Chinese products that contain milk will be detained at the border until tests prove that they are not contaminated, the federal government announced Thursday. The Food and Drug Administration said it issued the alert because of concern about such products being contaminated with the toxic chemical melamine. It was discovered in infant formula in September and has sickened more than 50,000 infants in China and killed at least four.

Federal food safety officials yesterday began holding up shipments of food from China that contain milk or milk-derived ingredients in the largest effort to date to keep products tainted with the industrial chemical melamine from reaching U.S. consumers. The Food and Drug Administration is requiring importers of the halted shipments to test for the chemical, which is used to make plastic and fertilizer but has been added to human and animal food to boost protein readings. The types of products likely to be waylaid are cookies, candies, and other goods made with milk or milk powder. If an importer can...

* Bacteria found in Australian milk * Pauls, Ausnutria brands fail quality tests * Companies were never told CHINA says two shipments of Australian milk, including Pauls brand, failed quality tests put in place after a contaminated milk scandal Four children died in China and 53,000 people got sick after drinking milk powder laced with melamine, which is used to cheat nutrition tests and is also used to make plastic furniture. Melamine has since been found in other dairy products, eggs and animal feed, prompting recalls of Chinese-made products around the world. Many worried Chinese parents have switched to foreign-made...

Before melamine-laced milk killed and sickened Chinese babies and led to recalls around the world, the routine spiking of milk with illicit substances was an open secret in China's dairy regions, according to the accounts of farmers and others with knowledge of the industry. Farmers here in Hebei province say in interviews that "protein powder" of often-uncertain origin has been employed for years as a cheap way to help the milk of undernourished cows fool dairy companies' quality checks. When the big companies caught on, some additive makers switched to toxic melamine -- which mimics protein in lab tests and...

San Francisco -- The guests came to the Castro Theatre on Tuesday dressed in Levi's and designer dresses, '70s-chic velvet jackets and drag-queen heels and glitter. It looked like a glamorous early start on Halloween, but actually it was a Hollywood affair complete with a red carpet and a who's-who invitation list. And, it was all devoted to a sold-out, one-night-only, world-premiere benefit screening of "Milk," the hotly anticipated new film about the life, times and tragic death of controversial San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk. History came back home to where it started three decades ago. The Castro Theatre vibrated...

VISALIA — Fire investigators are trying to determine how powdered milk exploded at a processing plant, sparking a two-alarm fire. Seven fire engines responded to California Dairies Inc., where an explosion Monday blew a hole in the side of a powdered milk processing building and forced the evacuation of 200 employees.

San Francisco Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier joined health officials and grocery store representatives Tuesday morning to urge stores in the city to stop carrying baby bottles containing the chemical bisphenol A. The news conference in front of City Hall preceded a 2 p.m. Board of Supervisors meeting, where Alioto-Pier was scheduled to introduce a resolution calling on hospitals and retailers to discontinue the sales and distribution of baby bottles containing the chemical. Bisphenol A, known as BPA, has been found in 93 percent of Americans ages 6 and older and is suspected of causing health problems including an increased risk of...

Milk and yogurt from two Chinese stores in Italy tested positive for the chemical melamine, a government official announced Thursday. Welfare Undersecretary Francesca Martini said that health police have been seizing and testing dairy products imported from China, the Italian news agency ANSA reported. So far, problems have been found with three cases of dairy products. Cosimo Piccinno, commander of the health police, said that the levels of melamine found were above the acceptable limit and that he was concerned because the products are likely to be eaten by children. ''These aren't lethal quantities, but they are harmful,'' Piccinno said....

BEIJING (Reuters) - The toll of Chinese children ill from toxic milk formula may have nearly doubled since the Health Ministry's last public count, local media reports show, but an official said on Wednesday the number of new cases was falling. Beijing is struggling with fallout from adulteration of milk with the industrial chemical melamine. At home four babies have died, and thousands of infants fell sick, while around the world products made with Chinese milk have been recalled. The government has not updated figures issued on September 21, when it said that 12,892 infants were in hospital, 104 with...

`China Covered Up Melamine Outbreak due to Olympics` OCTOBER 01, 2008 03:00 A Taiwanese daily said yesterday that the Chinese government knew about melamine-tainted milk power before the Beijing Olympics, but covered it up. United Daily News said the Chinese weekly Southern Weekend found in late July infants who contracted kidney stones by eating the milk powder products of San Lu, the infamous company which triggered the melamine scare. The weekly was about to report the case. The central propaganda department of the Chinese Communist Party, which controls the media, issued a gag order and banned the publication. The department...