March 1999
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Big Lie of the Month
"The safety of everyone who eats our products is our number-one priority, and therefore we are voluntarily taking this precautionary measure," said George A. Chivari, president and chief executive officer of Bil Mar Foods.
Bil Mar is the division of Sara Lee that sold hot dogs laced with Listeria bacteria. These hot dogs (along other meat products) have killed at least 20 people. They could have prevented the "outbreak" of listeriosis by performing tests that would have cost the company $3000 per day per plant.
So what do you think? Is the "safety of everyone who eats" Bil Mar's products really Sara Lee's "number-one priority"?
And why do we let these kinds of people have so much power in our country, the best democracy in the world?
I just called the Sara Lee hot line phone number listed in the "Bil Mar Foods Announces Voluntary Recall" document located at
http://www.saralee.com/homepage.html#
It said that consumers with questions about the recall should call 1.800.247-8339. So I did that and the person working the phone claimed to have perhaps heard a rumor that some people had gotten very sick, maybe just maybe four had died, but the supervisor got on the phone and made it very clear that they didn't have any information at all about that sort of thing. I needed to call Sara Lee Customer Service at 1.800.654.3650, which I will do tomorrow morning.
After some searching on the Internet, I found the following quote from Nando Media/Reuter News:
"The death toll from tainted Sara Lee Corp. hot dogs and lunch meat has risen to 20, with nearly 100 others becoming ill from the meat, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control said Monday."
Can't wait to see what Sara Lee says tomorrow. But there was nothing on their web site and this news is not exactly making headlines. Wonder why not...
Oh, also, when you call 1.800.247-8339, you first hear a LONG and I mean LONG detailed recording about the "voluntary recall" and which packages are affected. At the very end of this monotonously cheerful monologue, the woman concludes by saying:
"We are sorry if this recall has caused you any inconvenience."
Can you imagine saying that if your actions just killed 20 people? What if the daughter of a man who died listened to that?
Monday, March 1, 1999
Monday, March 1, 1999
It is 10:30 PM, Eli and Veva are asleep. The cats are very much awake. I sit here in front of my laptop and feel
that:
I am a very lucky person. I have a lot for which to be thankful.
Let me tell you about my day and then see if you agree.
I was up at 6:40 AM, a bit later than usual. Veva is still sleeping. I guess neither of us set our alarms. I head
downstairs and prepare Eli's lunch. Here is what he got today:
- Turkey sandwich on whole wheat bread (mayonnaise and honey dijon mustard)
- Fresh strawberries, with raspberry vinagrette in a side container
- Nacho cheese chips
- Chips Ahoy cookies (5 or 6, can't quite remember)
- Gatorade (mixed from concentrate)
I often fix him breakfast when I am not traveling. But I decided this morning to let him ask me to make him
something, once he decides what it is. I wouldn't offer to make him breakfast and present, in essence, a menu.
Does this sound strange? Then you probably weren't an only child.
So when some time passes and I haven't approached him, he storms through the kitchen decrying that there is nothing
to eat. "I'll have a brownie for breakfast," he throws out in a slightly challenging way. Surely Dad
will object to that and feel compelled to come up with something better. I shrug. He says, "Ah, I don't even
feel hungry." I shrug. He has a big lunch. He'll be OK. Then Veva comes downstairs and a moment later Eli
asks her to make him some breakfast. He clearly didn't want to or couldn't bring himself to ask me. Wow. I was
struck by this.
So she makes him his latest favored fare: fried eggs with bacon (turkey) and toast to soak up the yolks. He eats
the yolks and leaves the whites. Then I eat the whites (I was called "the garbage can" by my sisters
and parents when I was growing up. I cleaned up everyone's plates. Unless they had lima beans or pepper steak.)
or they go directly to Mercury, our parrot. After he was done, did he bring his plate into the kitchen? I think
he did. He never does that. And he said as he went upstairs to dress for school: "Thanks, Mom, that was great."
He thanked her of his own accord. He complimented her cooking.
I was very, very jealous. I pointed out this aberrant behavior to Veva (when has he last thanked anyone for his
meal?) and she said: "And why don't you talk about him right in front of him like he wasn't there?" This
is one of her pet peeves, not just about me; she is very sensitive to this behavior, thinks it is degrading.
Hey, and it's not even 8 AM in the morning. Pretty cool, huh?
Like I said, my life is great. I get to get all in a huff over stuff like that.
I also read the Chicago Tribune. Oh, my gosh, I could spend a few dozen pages on that. But, well, oh, all right,
just a few nitpicks:
Israel has just bombed the hell out of Southern Lebanon once again. Hezbollah soldiers managed to infiltrate
the area of Lebanon occupied illegally and against UN resolutions by Israel. They set up an ambush; the result
was that a mine killed an Israeli brigadier general. In response, well, hell, send in those jets and bomb "military
installations". Yeah, with those smart bombs. All the media talk in hushed terms about Israeli's clearly thoroughly
justified attack. Israeli (which, of course, to many, many people means simply "Jewish") lives were lost.
That can never be taken lightly. These lives are somehow perceived as more sacred and valuable than the lives of
other people. For instance, I didn't hear or read a single report of the impact of the bombing raids in Lebanon.
How many people killed? Any civilians hurt? Maybe Israel should end its occupation of someone else's country and
see if that makes the residents of that country less angry. Israel and others want us to believe that they are
all just crazed terrorists who will gladly blow themselves up just to see the end of Israel. I think that is a
racist and hateful view of the Palestinians in particular and Arabs in general.
Oh, and then there is the latest article about the National Missile Defense system, formerly known as "Star Wars". Reagan looked foolish back in the 80s when he talked about invisible rays destroying Russian missiles. But still our taxes paid for billions of dollars of research and development. The consistent message from every test of prototype systems, every theoretical analysis by experts? This system is never going to work properly and will cost 50, 100, 150 billion dollars. Somehow, our lawmakers can find a way to justify such expenditures, but they go absolutely crazy, almost foaming at the mouth to read the rhetoric, when anyone mentions something as crazy as the other page 1 article:
"Battle looms on high cost of drugs". Turns out many poorer senior citizens are having to choose
between heat and prescription drugs or food and prescription drugs. They are so expensive and Medicare doesn't
cover much of the cost of those drugs. These medicines, sold by one or another American or European pharmaceutical
company, cost in the U.S. 50% more than in Canada and three times what Mexicans pay for comparable drugs (the last
14 words are plagiarized shamelessly from the Chicago Tribune, by the way). So there are long, complex, tangled
negotiations going on between the Democrats, the Republicans, the pharmaceutical companies and the National Commission
on the Future of Medicare on how or whether Medicare will cover drugs. Why should the pharmaceutical companies
care? The government will be paying for these prescriptions. Ah, but "the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers
of America is more afraid that the government would use its massive buying power to demand deep discounts on the
price of drugs." It's truly amazing what you will find in the papers. The bastards don't even bother hiding
the raw and ugly truth. Pharmaceutical companies are fighting hard to allow senior citizens to continue to live
in misery in order to prop up their exorbitant profits. And at the same time, Congress can easily swing $100 billion
in addition money for the Pentagon over the next 6 years, with more likely to be spent if the "National Defense
System" gets rolling.
Yes, well, so that's the Chicago Tribune.
Filled with lies of omission and
deliberate deceptions both.
Filled with startling confessions and
non-stop spin to stunt your growth.
This is what counts for "Freedom of the Press" in 1999.
And I read in another magazine today that the Savings and Loan bailout cost us, the U.S. taxpayers, $165 billion.
And now many of those banks and individuals are filing suit because of the way the Resolution Trust Corporation
treated them. One estimate is that these suits will cost us, the U.S. taxpayers another $50 billion. Who do you
think is ever going to see that money? Where did the first $165 billion go? Gee, I can't find any of it in my pockets.
How about you?
In the meantime, Veva took Eli to school. He attends the Lycee Francais, a French-immersion private school at Lake
Shore Drive and Irving Park. I thought that I had a 10:30 AM appointment with my very friendly and smart CPA, Stuart
Gilman. At 9 AM I checked my calendar and found that my appointment was for...9 AM! Whoops! Stuart was not offended,
but I hopped on my bicycle as soon as I could and headed downtown.
Bicycle? What about my car? We used to have two cards: a 95 Toyota Corolla wagon (on which we paid off the loan
a few months ago. This means we now own it and so something breaks on it just about every month resulting in a
repair that sometimes exceeds but rarely falls below the former monthly loan payment) and a 96 Honda Accord. The
Accord was "mine". I leased it. After three years I gave it back (we are still wrangling over how much
money I should pay them. They want to charge me over $400 for repairs to a car that was in great condition, but
don't get me started on that.). I have decided that since I didn't use my car very much (I am either out of the
city or sitting right where I am sitting now, what a tiny world I live in, staring at a 14" diagonal screen
and imbuing it with lots of importance), I could do without. I did go out and buy a new bicycle, a Specialized
model designed for city riding, but with fat tires I could use in the rain or snow. It was only about $340, before
they started adding on all the extras. It's amazing what they pack into a bicycle these days.
It felt like an extravagance, but this was first new bicycle purchase in over twenty years! I still have a bicycle
that was built for me back in 1977 by a friend who was a fantastic bike mechanic. It has a Raleigh 451 frame, very
light and strong. It has a strange combination of components and it has lasted and lasted. I am very fond of it,
but it has thin, good old ten speed racing tires and they just don't cut it in Chicago during the winter. So if
I was not going to have a car, I needed something besides or in addition to my black beauty.
So I hopped on my pretty green bike. I even have a mirror on my helmet to watch traffic behind me. I rode my bicycle
the 12 miles or so downtown in about 45 minutes. Much of my trip was on the lakefront bicycle trail. The sun was
out, the sky clear, the waves crashing to my left, trees all around me. I passed an occasional homeless person
surrounded by his bags of possessions. It was about 45 degrees in the sun. I was so lucky to be able to take this
bicycle, appreciate this very beautiful side of Chicago. I hated to return to the city streets and wind my way
to Stuart's office. But I did.
We talked money stuff and tax stuff for a while. I'd give you all the details, but even I have to draw the line
somewhere. After that, though, came the high point of my day. I rode my cycle out west and north to 1800 N. Humboldt
Blvd.
Do you know about the Boulevards in Chicago? They are long wide streets with a divider with grass and trees running
down the center. You can find them all over the city and when encountering one, you get a sense of the grandness
the neighborhood once possessed and could, should, possess again in the future.
A Major Mosaic
Well, at 1800 N Humboldt Blvd, you will find The Children's House Association. It is a hospice/home/treatment center for children with HIV/AIDS. Chris Silva, my older son, and his fellow artist, Juan, were selected to create a mosaic on the entry way wall of the building. They are creating a truly original and captivating work. Chris and Juan feel that they have come up with a new way of using tiles, a new form of mosaic. Here, see for yourself:
I was very, very impressed and delighted. You can see more of these pictures at the Chris Tavares Silva Gallery.
Chris took lots of pictures using my digital camera. My batteries died almost immediately so I bought some batteries
at a nearby Walgreen's and also picked up a couple of candy bars to eat on the ride back to my house (another 8
miles back still to go). When I got back and got really hungry, I took out the bars and offered "some chocolate"
to Chris and Juan and they both very thankfully took a bar. Then they realized there was nothing left for me, but
I waved off their concerns. They don't take breaks for lunch. They need the calories. So I didn't eat till I got
home, but then it all tasted very good.
I can't wait to return to take many more pictures of the completed mosaic. I think this project might mark a real
turning point in Chris' artistic career. He is very talented and very principled. That might be the sort of combination
that doesn't get you rich and famous, but it might also produce some rare and significant art.
If you get the chance to pick up a work by Chris Tavares Silva, I wouldn't pass it up.
So then I rode my bicycle home along city streets, missing the lakefront, pushing hard and feeling it in my thighs,
thinking about the AIDS Ride, over 1000 miles from Minneapolis to Chicago, and realizing how hard that would be.
My butt would be sore as hell after the first of five days! Or is it longer than that?
Once home, it was time to disappear inside my world of Oracle technology. I am currently learning all the great,
new stuff that Oracle Corporation is about to deliver to the marketplace in the form of Oracle8i Release 8.1 --
the "first database for the Internet". The array of new features is close to overwhelming. Today, my
task is to learn how to write Java Stored Procedures (JSPs): classes written in Java that are stored in the Oracle
database and then become callable from other Oracle languages, including my own area of expertise, the PL/SQL language.
And just to show you complicated my electronic life is, click here to continue reading the "high tech" content of this diary, or keep on reading here if you are more interested in politics and family and culture.
Note: for the time being that link above will just take you to my current diary entry and not to a continuation of my exploration of JSPs. It will show up over at the PL/SQL Pipeline soon...
But, wait! The afternoon had disappeared. It was by now 6 PM. I had to hurry on down to Mama Desta's Red Sea Restaurant for a dinner and conversation with fellow board members and staff of the Crossroads Fund.
And here I am supposed to tell you about the dinner, the fine Ethiopian/Eritrean food, the discussion of expanding our outreach to new grantees organizations, such as latinos organizing in the suburbs, and the very interesting dialogue around having Crossroads convene a gathering of grassroots progressive organization to discuss how to work together to build a powerful, effective movement for progressive change.
But I am getting tired, so I will skip along and ...
Now it is 11:30 PM. My day is over. As you can see or read, rather, there was nothing dramatic about my day. It
had its frustrations and its moments of satisfaction. But it felt very full and I felt happy and lucky to be alive
and be walking in these large but well taken care of size 14 feet.
Wednesday, March 3, 1999
Veva and I participated in a rally to call for an end -- or at least a moratorium -- to the death penalty here
in Illinois. It was a bitterly cold evening, and that probably kept the numbers down, but there were probably 300
people at the State of Illinois Building, including Anthony Porter, who spent over 17 years on Death Row for a
murder he didn't commit. Anthony came within 2 days of being executed; he was rescued by several Northwestern University
students working on a school project.
Hey, but Governor Ryan says that just shows "the system works". Contemptible.
Mayor Daley, who was Cook County State's Attorney at the time Porter was convicted -- and therefore responsible
for the prosecution -- refuses to apologize to Porter. "America should apologize," he says. This is a
man with no guts, no integrity, and neither a sense of personal dignity nor honesty.
As you might have guessed, I did not vote for Richard M. Daley in the recent mayoral election. Everyone is gasping
at the "landslide" victory for Daley. Get this: just 32% of all eligible voters voted for Daley. To be
able to transform that lukewarm nod into a history-setting popularity requires the uniform support of the major
media (TV networks, daily newspapers, National Public Radio) and a state of total denial concerning the crisis
of democracy in our city and country.
Anyway, Veva is active in the Northeastern Illinois University Amnesty International group and they brought a couple
carloads of students to the action. There seems to be at least a slight chance that Governor Ryan will support
a moratorium to establish a commission to review the existing cases to bide its time until the public's attention
and sense of outrage fades to then reinstate the death penalty. We'd like to force him to take more meaningful
action, hence our demonstration.
Here are some photos from the protest:
NEIU students happy to make their voices heard (that's my wife Veva in the center)
Many signs, many people (with the well-known radio broadcaster and historian, Studs
Terkel, addressing the crowd)
Studs Terkel addressing the group
Signs and skyscrapers
Our dear friends occupying the edges of the left
Crossroads at the Protest (Kathleen Desautels of Eighth Day Center for Justice and member
of the Crossroads Board of Directors)
I must admit, I came out of with a bit depressed, but now it is after midnight and I am tired, so I will come back to that later.
Return to Diary Index
Big Lie of the Month
Monday, March 1
A Major Mosaic
Wednesday, March 3
Protest Photos
www.stevenfeuerstein.com © 1999 Steven Feuerstein. All rights reserved.