Biden calls Bush comments 'bulls***'

After hearing his comments today, I really wish Sen. Joe Biden had better results in the Democratic primary! He finally said some of the things that needed to be said and I hope more of his colleagues follow suit.

This is perhaps one of the most accurate and appropriate statements made by a Democrat in Congress since Bush took office:

“This is bullsh**t. This is malarkey. This is outrageous. ... He’s the guy who’s weakened us. He’s the guy that’s increased the number of terrorists in the world. His policies have produced this vulnerability the United States has. His intelligence community pointed that out not me. The NIE has pointed that out and what are you talking about, is he going to fire Condi Rice? Condi Rice has talked about the need to sit down. So his first two appeasers are Rice and Gates. I hope he comes home and does something.”

Now let's see if these words can translate to some action in Congress. Let's push to change our mission in Iraq. Let's push towards world leadership, not world domination. And -for the sake of America- let's push for impeachment!

Honey Bees Still in Trouble

More commercial honey bee colonies lost - CNN.com
Haagen-Dazs Helping the Honey Bees

This is probably not the most interesting blog topic you've ever discovered, but it may be one of the most important. The U.S. population of honey bees is dying. And as you heard us discuss on previous episodes, that will have major impacts on the food you eat.

As a civilization, we are now experiencing the beginning of food shortages. Rice is becoming a rare commodity around the world and its lack of availability has sparked riots on multiple continents. Now imagine such shortages with foods such a pears, raspberries, strawberries, or dozens of other food products which rely on honey bee pollination to survive. While we may rail against the evils of large farming conglomerates or the commercialization of the food industry, this will affect farms of all sizes. The death of American honey bees does not care about the label on a package. As the fallout from their plummeting population becomes more widely felt, we will see prices skyrocket and eventual shortages on a huge variety of products. Lest we forget that not only fruit, but also honey itself will be in much shorter supply. And that goes far beyond food for uses.

When the numbers are seen, it has a much stronger effect. For the past two years, the number of commercially controlled bee colonies has declined by one-third. As a means of comparison, imagine one-third of all the commercial dairy cows in the United States dying in the period of one year. Or one-third of all American turkeys dying before Thanksgiving. How concerned would people be if any of those scenarios were to occur?

Now for the disappointing news. So far, the state of Pennsylvania has dedicated a whopping $81,000 towards researching this problem. That figure includes "emergency" funds. It is disappointing to know that Pennsylvania is leading the research effort because University of Pennsylvania is a national leader in bee colony research. But there is at least one company willing to make a substantial effort. As seen in the links above, Haagen-Dazs is contributing up to $250,000 towards researching the disappearing bees.

To find out more about how you can help, visit www.helpthehoneybees.com.