Breastfeeding: Political roadkill

It drives me insane whenever I hear otherwise well-educated people complain about "pressure to breastfeed" and "La Leche League Nazis," grousing how all that political pressure on new mothers to nurse their babies A) makes them feel bad and B) isn't really any healthier than formula. Well, that "B" answer, popularized by formula companies, is utter bullshit. And the "A" answer, well, tough. But if there's any question on where the real political power lies, consider this:

In an attempt to raise the nation's historically low rate of breast-feeding, federal health officials commissioned an attention-grabbing advertising campaign a few years ago to convince mothers that their babies faced real health risks if they did not breast-feed. It featured striking photos of insulin syringes and asthma inhalers topped with rubber nipples.

Plans to run these blunt ads infuriated the politically powerful infant formula industry, which hired a former chairman of the Republican National Committee and a former top regulatory official to lobby the Health and Human Services Department. Not long afterward, department political appointees toned down the campaign.

I am shocked--SHOCKED!--to find political pandering going on in this administration!

The formula industry's intervention -- which did not block the ads but helped change their content -- is being scrutinized by Congress in the wake of last month's testimony by former surgeon general Richard H. Carmona that the Bush administration repeatedly allowed political considerations to interfere with his efforts to promote public health.

Rep. Henry A. Waxman's Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is investigating allegations from former officials that Carmona was blocked from participating in the breast-feeding advocacy effort and that those designing the ad campaign were overruled by superiors at the formula industry's insistence.

Man, I hope Waxman nails these bastards to the wall by their latex nipples. If you want to learn more about the sorry state of affairs in the U.S. regarding formula and breastfeeding, check out Milk, Money and Madness by Naomi Baumslag and Dia L. Michels. It's disturbing and eye-opening, and puts the above mess in context.

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Friday Night Videos

I grew up in a small Texas town with a tiny radio station that played both kinds of music: Country and western. So that's the music I grew up with. I have a deep appreciation for Johnny Cash, Marty Robbins, Bob Wills and Hank Williams that's never gone away. Jerry Jeff Walker's playing right now. But almost without exception, Nashville never got the whole concept of videos. And by that I mean C&W videos suck. Really, really suck. Suck so much that the Nashville Network stopped showing them all together, changed its name to Spike and now has a programming slate filled with Ultimate Fighting and Star Trek reruns. But every so often a country act rose above the morass and realized you could have fun with the format. Case in point: Carlene Carter, daughter of June Carter Cash. With a knack for catchy songwriting and a confident, shameless stage presence, she turned out some trippy, fun videos like this one for "Every Little Thing."



Previously on Friday Night Videos... Squeeze

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Just like drinking boiling oil. Only slightly less viscous.

Since I labeled and put up all those bottles of Thorn in My Hive the other day (which I've pretty much decided will henceforth be designated as a "dessert wine." Seriously, it's that sweet) I turned my idle mind toward the remaining bottles of fermented honey stacked up in my office. The spicy, jalapeño metheglin caught my attention (actually, it throttled the mint and shouted "Me! Me!"). Here's the result.



As I've said before, this stuff starts out sweet, but that's merely a Trojan horse. Once it gets past the lips and tongue, just as you're swallowing and it's too late to do anything else, one heck of an afterburn kicks in. And it's not the warm, rounded burn of cooked jalapeño either--the is the razor-sharp crispness of the raw chili peppers. I've eaten hotter salsa happily, but the incongruity of this mead leads me to think it won't be a huge hit with the wine and cheese crowd. I suspect it'll make an awesome cooking wine, though, and have some wild duck in the freezer I hope to marinate with this Liquid Heat in the near future. Will keep everyone posted.

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Chupacabra archives

Ah, now I understand why I missed this on the initial go-round: The story ran back when we were leaving for St. Louis. So now I'll rectify that tragic oversight on my part by directing your attention to a story with some great tidbits:

Canion said the animal has been lurking around the ranch for years, first snatching cats, and then chickens right through a wire cage.

"(It) opened it, reached in, pulled the chicken head out, sucked all the blood out of the chicken, left the chicken in the cage," Canion said.

At least two dozen chickens were sucked dry, with the meat left on the bone.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Ain't Texas great?

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Son of zombie chupacabra!

I blame it on Bat Boy. With the Weekly World News having breathed its last, the universe was compelled to fill the void created by the departure of Bat Boy news. Nature abhors a vacuum, so it goes, and apparently our old pal zombie chupacabra has stepped up to the plate in this time of need.

It's been some time since our necrotic canine friend has graced this blog, so let us recap: Zombie chupacabra made its first appearance July of 2004, whereupon it was promptly shot dead, attracting the attention of Whitley Strieber and the MUFON network. But being shot, as all horror movie fans know, isn't anything that will keep a good undead monster down, so we had the sequel that following October, this time with lots of gory pictures. Shortly thereafter, my blog traffic went through the roof, only dropping off when I switched ISPs a year ago and the posted photos became broken links (I've since reposted the images. Now, if only some of those teeming hordes would buy my book while they're here...).



Zombie chupacabra made its triumphant return in July, appearing this time in Cuero, Texas, a town I know very well since my grandmother lives there. In proper zombie chupacabra fashion, this encounter ended once again with the animal dead (or so we think...) but for once the story doesn't end there.

The mystery animal recently killed in DeWitt County is now immortalized on a T-shirt that is flying off the shelves at Phylis Canion's Cuero store. Canion discovered the corpse on her property last month and sent a tissue sample off for DNA testing to determine exactly what the animal is.

Her brother-in-law, David Boyd of Goliad, convinced her she should do a T-shirt.

"At first I said, 'No way,'" Canion said. "Then I was just going to do them for the family. Well, our staff wore them in the store Monday and everyone who came in wanted one."

Canion received 75 shirts on Friday and has already had to reorder.

"We think the shirt turned out great. It has been so popular, and most people don't even know we have them yet," she said.

Chupacabra shirts! Zombie chupacabra shirts for everyone! You know, things like this are what makes America great. Bat Boy spent years roaming around the mountains of Afghanistan and never was able to find Bin Laden, but maybe, just maybe, a pack of zombie chupacabras turned loose in the poppy fields could do the trick.

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DisAstros

So the Astros fire manager Phil Garner and GM Tim Purpura yesterday, the fallout from a season that hasn't seen the team within sniffing distance of .500 since the first month of the season. And by "Astros" I mean owner Drayton McLane. I've had dealings with McLane in the past, and can honestly say that he's a better owner than the late John McMullen. Houston fans with long memories will understand why that's not a ringing endorsement.

I feel bad about Phil Garner being shown the door. He's always been a capable guy, and the worst sin of his I can remember is sticking with closer Brad Lidge one pitch too long in the NLCS against St. Louis (yes, last year's inconsistent play was troubling, but even the Yankees founder on occasion). With the way the team was gutted by bad player moves from upper management this year, I can't think of any other manager who could've done better. He joins a long line of good guys who've been shown the door by McLane, starting with Art Howe and Larry Dierker.

Tim Purpura's ouster doesn't bother me so much. Anyone who'd ship Willy Taveras off for the dregs Houston got in return doesn't deserve to run a major league team. He also stuck with mentally fragile closer Lidge two seasons too long, which is significantly worse than what Garner did. The sad thing is, Purpura shouldn't have been in that position in the first place. That came about because McLane ran off brilliant GM Gerry Hunsicker--architect of the Astros teams that were perennial playoff contenders through the late 80s and early 90s--with his meddling ways. Hunsicker's now with Tampa Bay, and McLane's ego is such that he's refused to even consider bringing the man back.

I don't expect the Astros to be good again any time soon. McLane is a sucker for razzle-dazzle, and too often mistakes rah-rah for production (case in point: Terry Collins). I know there've been grumblings among the Houston faithful, and McLane's never been as popular as he once was. But now without the fan-favorites of Bagwell and Biggio to generate goodwill, are we about to see Houston turn it's back on the fiasco the Astros have become? Shoot. Where's Nolan Ryan when you need him?

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Thorn in My Hive

So I had a bottle of that prickly pear mead (honey wine) that I bottled back in June which was only 3/4 full. Concerned that this might oxidize and become unpalatable (I believe the technical term is "yucky") I popped it in the refrigerator yesterday and uncorked it tonight.



Wow. Talk about a profoundly sweet alcoholic beverage. The honey is very much front and center, and the prickly pear fruit gives it a light, not-quite-obvious fruity undertone. I didn't actually want this batch to be so sweet, but I used a lot of honey in the fermentation process and eventually the yeast knocked itself out trying to deal with all that sugar. As it is, the alcohol content is pretty sturdy--at least 15 percent, and possibly higher. I got a slight buzz simply from sipping one glass of the stuff. It's not bad at all, and improved rapidly upon exposure to air. There's almost no rough edge to this stuff, so I can only imagine how it will improve once it's aged for a year or more.

I also played around on the computer and came up with some labels. "Thorn in My Hive." Clever, huh?

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