Greg's View of Todays News - 01/27/2009

This is an automated post featuring local news, press releases and syndicated news stories that I felt compelled to comment upon. Comments are invited.

• Canada: Raw milk crusader returns to court to fight charges from 2006 raid

  But he's confident and feels completely prepared to argue that people should have the right to drink and enjoy raw, unpasteurized milk - even if the government thinks the drink is hazardous to your health.
  
  "When it comes to our own body and what we put in our body as food, the government should respect what people want to do," he said in an interview.

  • For years Schmidt has been selling raw milk from his Durham, Ont., farm through a so-called "cow share" program, in which customers buy a share in one of his cows, rather than the milk itself.
    • Now, there's an entrepeneurial move by a farmer that I have not heard of in Australia. I am old enough to remember when pasteurisation first came in back when milk came in returnable bottles with waxed cardboard plugs to seal them. The cream rose to the top and you either poured it off as cream leaving 'skim' milk or you shook the contents to get 'full cream milk'. If it was available, I'd be buying it! - post by gnaylor

• Expert advocates yearly test for elderly drivers | The Courier-Mail

  ELDERLY drivers should undergo a mandatory test every 12 months to help cut the state's ballooning road toll, a top crash investigator says.
  
  COMMENT: I can relate to that. I am 67 and, due to cancer medications, my driving skills are deteriorating. I notice that I have difficulty maintainingt the speed limit on the open road and I get startled in CBD areas with many cars around me. Fortunately, I am still mentally alert enough to notice it and to give up driving of my own free will.

• Parents panned over lack of toilet training | The Courier-Mail

  PARENTS have been urged to take more responsibility for their children with revelations some are starting school in Queensland when not even toilet-trained.
  
  COMMENT: Is it any wonder that the standards of literacy are also deteriorating? If the children have not been toilet trained, it is likely they have not been prepared for school in other areas

  • "We have increasing numbers of children in schools that aren't toilet-trained," Mr Hart said.
    • That is 'proof absolute' that the quality of parenting has deteriorated. As these kids get older, they will fail in other social skills ultimately begettibg a future generation of less manageble children - post by gnaylor

• Obama’s Order Is Likely to Tighten Auto Standards - NYTimes.com

  WASHINGTON — President Obama will direct federal regulators on Monday to move swiftly on an application by California and 13 other states to set strict automobile emission and fuel efficiency standards, two administration officials said Sunday.

  • 
  • Mr. Obama will use the announcement to bolster the impression of a sharp break from the Bush era on all fronts, following his decisions last week to close the detention facility at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba; tighten limits on interrogation tactics by Central Intelligence Agency officers; order plans to withdraw combat forces from Iraq; and reverse President George W. Bush’s financing restrictions on groups that promote or provide abortion overseas, administration officials said.
    • The rapid response of President Obama to break from the Bush era is an encouraging sign to all environmentalists that 'Yes, we can' turn around the visible effects of Climate Change.
      
      Until now, the rest of the world has despaired saying that, unless America gets on board, the necessary change will never occur.
      
      OK, America has changed its stance - what about China and India? - post by gnaylor

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