Bacon v. Fries

Bacon wins over fries

Bacon wins over fries
Associated Press

LOVELAND, Colo. - There was a tasty race for Colorado senate when voters got to choose between Bacon and Fries.

In the end, Bacon won.

Democrat incumbent Bob Bacon defeated Republican challenger Matt Fries on Tuesday 63 percent to 37 percent to represent the district that encompasses most of Larimer County in northern Colorado.

"I am so pleased that the voters appreciate the work that I have done," Bacon said.

Bacon originally was elected to the seat in 2004 after serving three terms in the state House of Representatives. Fries is a long time education advocate.

Plenty pork left despite piglet theft

Despite the theft of hundreds of piglets from major pig farms in Trinidad, the owners have bounced back and are in a position to supply enough hams and pork products for Christmas.

Three months ago a ring of pig thieves entered several farms and stole the piglets which were being culled for the Christmas season.

Police in the affected areas went into action, and although they did not arrest anyone they were able to suppress the attacks, the owners said

Ian Leong Poi, President of the Pork and Pork Producers Association said recently: "Pig farmers were hit with severe losses and apart from the vigilance of the police the large farms were forced to spend thousands of dollars fencing their properties and setting bright lights throughout the farms."

He added: "We have recovered from the losses but now we are faced with labour shortages. CEPEP is now controlling the labour market and workers are not prepared to work for less than $200 a day." CEPEP is the State-run Community Environmental Protection and Enhancement Programme, responsible mainly for maintaining verges.

Leong Poi said several farmers went out of the pig business last year because of the steep increase in the price of pig feed. "When the price went from $80 for a 100 -pound bag to $140, many farmers found it uneconomical to rear pigs for sale."

He said pig production in Trinidad had increased slightly.

"We are now producing about four million pounds of pork a year, that represents an increase of five per cent." Leong Poi said farmers in Trinidad were enjoying the benefit of exporting meat to Guyana and Suriname. He said the sale of hams had already shown an increase over last year's sales.

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Feral pig aerial shooting

Aerial shooting of feral pigs in the Bogan, Culgoa, Barwon, Cuttaburra and Warrego Rivers is planned for last week of November.

The Brewarrina, Bourke and Wanaaring Rural Lands Protection Boards (RLPB), the Department of Primary Industries, the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), the Australian Government and the Western Catchment Management Authority are working together to undertake the aerial shoot as part of a $150,000 coordinated feral pig control program.

This is the second phase of the successful program conducted during the 2007-2008 financial year, which involved 200 landholders responsible for 98 individual properties.

Aerial shooting resulted in 584 pigs being shot, 45 traps were built and distributed and 150 tins of poison were distributed to landholders.

The aerial shoot will be held from November 22 to 31 and will start at the Culgoa National Park before heading south along the Darling River and finishing with the Cuttaburra and Warrego River Systems.

Brewarrina RLPB Ranger, Colin Betts, said the shoot will revisit old ground as well as some new areas.

“The Cuttaburra and Warrego River systems are being included this time because the rains earlier in the year resulted in flooding throughout that country has provided ideal breeding conditions for feral pigs,” Mr Betts said.

“We will also revisit some areas that had significant pig populations such as along the Culgoa and some individual hotspots along the Bogan and Barwon Rivers.”

Chair of the Western Catchment Management Authority, Rory Treweeke, said feral pig control improved land condition and water quality.

“Feral pigs can cause significant damage and foul waterways, particularly in fragile areas such as wetlands,” Mr Treweeke said.

“Aerial shooting is an effective method of controlling isolated pockets of pigs, which will prevent reinfestation if landholders are conscientious about follow-up control with baits and/or traps.”

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Ukraine: ban on russian pork

The outbreak of swine fever in Russia last week, that caused 600 pigs to be destroyed, has led to the government of Ukraine imposing a ban on Russian pork from the region. 

The State Committee on Veterinary Medicine spokesman, said “ It is prohibited to bring animals susceptible to African swine fever, as well as the products and raw materials from them into Ukraine territory”.

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Spicy pork sausage found in 'soiled diapers'

McALLEN, Texas (AP) — Customs inspectors scored the makings of a barbecue when a 21-year-old South Texas woman declared several soiled baby diapers at a U.S.-Mexico border crossing.

Suspicious of the chunky diapers, inspectors with U.S. Customs and Border Protection at the international bridge in Hidalgo found several links of spicy pork sausage, or chorizo, inside. The diapers had been folded to look soiled, according to a customs agency statement.

The Mission resident, who was not identified after the Friday night incident, was fined $300 and her chorizo was seized.

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Three tons of double dead pork seized in Balintawak Market

Three tons of double dead pork were seized by Quezon City health officials several meat stalls in Balintawak Market, Thursday night.

Councilor Allan Francisco said a tip from market goers prompted the raid conducted by the Quezon City Health Division at the market.

Francisco said the spoiled pork came from Bulacan province. The names of the spoiled meat's owners have been withheld, but the city government assured that charges will be filed against them.

The councilor said more raids will be conducted by the city health division because they expect more double dead pork to be delivered in other public markets in the city as the Christmas season nears.

Francisco said that aside from the three tons of double dead pork, they also recovered 500 kilograms of processed meat product, including tocino and smoke, that could have been made of spoiled meat. -- DOLAND CASTRO, ABS-CBN News

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Pig meat could help banish financial gloom

FEW people realise the value of pig meat sold in Wales exceeds that of lamb. Sadly, most of it is imported.

Now pig producers in North Wales hope to dispel some of dark clouds currently hanging over their sector.

A group have been gathered together by Hybu Cig Cymru to develop a new marketing strategy for pork and bacon produced in Wales.

Driving force behind the project is Amy Lowe, HCC’s market development officer for pig meat, who has organised a conference to discuss the way forward.

It’s on Tuesday, November 4, 6pm-7.30pm, at Coleg Meirion Dwyfor’s Glynllifon campus, near Caernarfon.

The meeting, hosted by CALU, will also enable pig producers to tell HCC how they want their levy monies used.

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Chlamydia jag has pig future

Published Date: 23 October 2008

THE growing problem of chlamydia in Chinese pigs has prompted an Edinburgh firm to devise a vaccination which could eventually be used on humans.

BigDNA has teamed up with the China Agricultural University in Beijing to produce jags, which will initially be used on pig farms and on other animals, but it is hoped it can eventually be used to inoculate humans. 

Dr Jason Clark, principal researcher at the Roslin-based firm, said: 

"Chlamydia is a major problem on pig farms in China." 

Menacing pigs disappear from Hillsborough

By Jessica Bernstein-Wax

Bay Area News Group

Article Launched: 10/12/2008 09:45:00 PM PDT

A pair of feral pigs who prowled the streets of Hillsborough after dark, wreaking havoc on manicured lawns and artfully landscaped back yards, apparently have vanished.

And they're not missed.

Residents and police say they have seen neither snout nor tail of the duo since Oct. 4.

"We're just hoping that they're gone and that's the end of it," said John Meyer, who became so aggravated by the animals' almost nightly romps in his yard that he hired Milpitas-based trapper Steve Hebert to take care of the problem.

Since late spring, the Hillsborough Police Department has received numerous complaints of feral pigs from residents of a neighborhood near Cherry Creek, Capt. Mark O'Connor said.

One person reported that a pig approached a family member aggressively and wouldn't retreat, O'Connor said. And the beasts have been so busy rooting and kicking up dirt on the surrounding hillsides that many fear the season's first rain will wash piles of debris into the creek.

"Pigs can be dangerous," O'Connor said. "Our real concern is for the safety of a child or an elderly adult walking down into this area and being injured as the result of a pig."

Source

Enjoy a refreshing ham soda

SEATTLE, Washington (AP) -- Coming soon next to the Coke and Pepsi in a store near you: ham-and latke-flavored soda to make your holiday feast complete.

Jones Soda's Christmas Pack flavors are Sugar Plum, Egg Nog, Christmas Tree and Christmas Ham.

It even will be kosher, the company making it says -- including the ham.

Jones Soda Co., the Seattle-based purveyor of offbeat fizzy water, is selling holiday-themed limited-edition packs of flavored sodas.

The Christmas pack will feature such flavors as Sugar Plum, Christmas Tree, Egg Nog and Christmas Ham. The Hanukkah pack will have Jelly Doughnut, Apple Sauce, Chocolate Coins and Latkes sodas.

"As always, both packs are kosher and contain zero caffeine," Jones said in a statement.

The packs will go on sale Sunday, with a portion of the proceeds to be given to charity, the company said.

Jones' products feature original label art and frequently odd flavors. Last year's seasonal pack was Thanksgiving-themed, with Green Pea, Sweet Potato, Dinner Roll, Turkey and Gravy, and Antacid sodas.

For its contract to supply soda to Qwest Field, home of the Seattle Seahawks, Jones came up with Perspiration, Dirt, Sports Cream and Natural Field Turf. The company -- fortunately or unfortunately -- prides itself on the accuracy of the taste.

Jones also makes more traditional flavors, including root beer, cherry and strawberry sodas.

Ham report stirs 'mess'

Ham report stirs 'mess'

By Judith Meyer , Managing Editor/days
Wednesday, April 25, 2007

LEWISTON - An obscure online parody of the recent hate incident at the Lewiston Middle School - a parody reported as news on a national Fox broadcast Tuesday - launched an immediate avalanche of angry phone calls and ugly e-mails to the school system.

In the parody, the ham steak became a ham sandwich. Fake quotes were attributed to Superintendent Leon Levesque, Stephen Wessler of the Center for the Prevention of Hate Violence, and one of the Somali students targeted in the incident.

The post then appeared to legitimize the information by attributing The Associated Press as its source.

Larry Laughlin, chief of bureau for AP in Northern New England, said the parody was "clearly improper use of The Associated Press brand."

"You can't," Laughlin said, "fancifully make up comments and add them to an Associated Press story."

Lawyers for the AP are reviewing the parody post and will take action as appropriate, Laughlin said.

The parody, posted by Nicholas Plagman of Atlanta, Ga., and published Monday on an Associated Press look-alike site called Associated Content, and the resulting comments and posts on that and dozens of other online sites, created tension at the middle school and among parents of students.

"We're in a mess here," Levesque said, that they want to straighten out by talking about the cafeteria incident with students. Students are upset and don't want to talk, he said, because they're worried about harassment.

Following the Fox broadcast, Levesque's office received dozens of angry phone calls and profanity-laced e-mails, made and sent by people all over the country, who charge the school district overreacted to what they believed from news reports to be a ham sandwich tossed at a Somali student.

"Leaving your sandwich on a table is now a crime in Maine?" one e-mail asked. It continued, "This child did nothing illegal in placing his sandwich in front of several intolerant people that will kill YOUR students for sitting at the same table let alone placing a sandwich next to them."

From North Carolina, a e-mailer wrote that he'd read the "news media of your actions with regards to a child leaving a ham sandwich on a table used by Muslim students at one of your schools. Excuse my bluntness, but are you people insane?"

And, in another e-mail, "A ham sandwich is not a hate crime. It's two pieces of bread with a processed meat between them. Stop catering to the less than 1% and offending the other 99%. Please!"

Another e-mail suggested Levesque wasn't qualified to be superintendent of a public school because he "obviously escalated a simple prank into a hate crime."

That's not the case, Levesque said.

The incident, which happened in the school cafeteria on April 11, was considered by school staff to be a hate incident. School resource officer Bill Brochu, according to Principal Maureen Lachapelle, followed police procedure by filing a report "because the ham incident was perceived as a hate/bias crime" by the students.

"The Somali boys said they were offended by it because of their religion," which considers pork unclean, and Brochu "did an investigation and forwarded his report to his supervisor, Adam Higgins," Lachappelle said. From there, the report was sent to the Attorney General's Office for review and to the Androscoggin County District Attorney's Office for review for possible harassment charges.

According to Lachapelle, a student brought a honey-baked ham to school to share with his friends. While they were in the cafeteria, one or more students dared another student (not the one who brought the ham to school) to put the ham on a table in front of five Somali boys. That student took up the dare, and followed through even though his friends immediately tried to talk him out of it. The student "knew it was wrong," Levesque said, while he was doing it.

Lachappelle said the student regrets the incident and his parents have supported the punishment meted by the school district.

The Sun Journal published a story about the incident on April 19 as the lead article on the front page. After Monday's Associated Content posting, the altered story moved rapidly across personal and news sites and was discussed with outrage.

In the parody, Levesque was quoted as saying "These children have got to learn that ham is not a toy, and that there are consequences for being nonchalant about where you put your sandwich."

Wessler was quoted as saying his agency was working with the school to create an "anti-ham 'response plan.'"

Neither man said those things.

Levesque never made any reference to a need to make students feel safe from attacks from any ham product.

The parody also attributed a quote to the student who was targeted with the ham, equating the experience to being "back in Somalia being shot at all over again."

Plagman never spoke to the student, and the student never made that statement.

The Sun Journal attempted to contact Plagman for comment, but he did not respond.

Wessler, who talked to a Texas CBS affiliate and two Fox affiliates Tuesday and has been scheduled to appear on another Fox broadcast today, said, "This kind of distortion by reputable news outlets is destructive."

"Fox has figured out, from the calls we've gotten, that they've made a big mistake," Wessler said.

"This is a wake-up call that the level of hate and anger, among a small population, is vibrant," he added.

Levesque said he was bothered not only that the parody took aim at a sensitive issue in Lewiston, but also that Fox and others reported the information as fact without checking. The national media, Levesque said, sees information posted online and "uses it as gospel."

In this case, reporting false information is getting in the way of the city and the school's continued work to build community understanding and tolerance for immigrants, said Phil Nadeau, Lewiston's assistant city administrator. The parodied news account cast a false impression of an overwhelmingly tolerant city and its population, Nadeau said, and of the Somali population in particular.

"The last thing they want is to be above the fold" of a front page or featured on the evening news, Nadeau said.

Watching the parody and news reports unfold Tuesday, Levesque said is proof media "is interested in entertaining and playing on people's emotions," which gets in the way of building community relations.

Lachapelle said she won't let it get in the way of the disciplined student's return to school, ensuring steps are being made to make sure he feels safe when he comes back.