Agricultural minister in hot water

Gerry Ritz, the federal minister of agriculture, has recently been under fire for tasteless comments made at a government conference call about listeriosis. He opened the call with "This is like a death by a thousand cuts. Or should I say cold cuts." Later, after being informed of another death in PEI, he quipped "Please tell me it's Wayne Easter." Wayne Easter is a liberal MP in PEI who has followed Ritz's ministry closely. Ritz later apologized to Easter and to the public at a press conference on September 18th.

It's interesting that these comments are coming to light now, considering they were originally made on August 30th in a private conference call. The implications of these comments coming to light are astounding. On the one hand, the media is able to bring to light the minister's inappropriate use of gallows humour and make the him pay for his callous comments. On the other hand, this represents a breach of informational security from within the government.

Although currently a minority government, the government still needs to present a united front so that the public can have faith in their ability to lead the country. The current focus on everyone's mind seems to be the upcoming election, which will likely have us see a change in the political powers that be. Rather, the current focus on all politicians' minds is the election. The rest of the world is being thrown off by all of these "scandals" that keep popping up from within the Harper government.
I am mildly amused by the dirty tactics that are being used for this election; the Liberals must be really worried about the sway of the Conservatives if they're hounding Ritz so hard about a comment made during a private conference call. I won't support Ritz - his comments were completely inappropriate - however, the Liberals and NDP are positively drooling over this mess up and calling for his resignation. (I'm sure that it's not only the Liberals and the NDP that are coming up with these ideas, but they seem to be the most vocal when it comes to the news.) These parties are playing up the comments and downplaying the timing. Ritz's comments were made on August 30th, which was at the beginning of the crisis; when his comments are taken out of context, such as during the present day, they seem more cruel than they were meant to be.

Call me crazy, but shouldn't politics be more about public relations and less about backstabbing? With all of these scandal stories that have been leaking about the current government, I'm not so sure that I'm comfortable enough with the current state of all of the parties to vote. Here's hoping that something changes between now and October 14th.

Sanlu group baby formula recall

Now here's an interesting case of PR gone wrong. The largest producer of powdered milk in China, Sanlu Group, has been forced to recall their baby formula after melamine was found in the product. Melamine is a chemical that is high in nitrogen and is used in glue to promote thickening; it will boost the protein rating of a product because most standard tests measure nitrogen levels as the indication of protein levels. Thus far, the tainted milk has claimed the lives of four children. It is estimated that more than 6250 children have kidney stones due to the product.

Claims are arising that the company was aware of the problem with their baby formula as early as March, but the product recall on started Thursday, September 11th. In fact, up until last Friday, September 19th, the company's commercials for their baby formula were still accessible on the site. As of September 20th, the company's website has been shut down and visitors are greeted by an apologetic letter from the company's new chairman. The previous chairwoman was fired and then taken into custody. The mayor and deputy mayor of the corporate town were also fired, so were a handful of quality inspectors and the head of the government quality inspection office.

The way that Sanlu has handled this crisis can only be called a PR nightmare. I give them credit for firing the quality inspectors, government officials, and chairwoman, but the firing of their mayor seems questionable. Who are the people supposed to look to as a spokesperson during this crisis? The Prime Minister of New Zealand has stepped up to the plate, because Sanlu is 43% owned by a New Zealand dairy cooperative, however I have to question if she is the appropriate spokesperson. Sanlu is now trying to use their new chairman as their spokesperson, but I again question this. Their spokesperson should be someone trusted by the community, possibly even someone well known. Obviously, the chairman has been thrown in the deep end. I hope he can swim!

The downfall of plastic bottles?

Environmental groups have been advocating the evil of plastic bottles for years, mainly based on their nasty tendency to end up in landfills. Finally, a health-related reason to steer clear of plastic bottles!

A recent joint study through the University of Missouri and Environmental Health Sciences, a nonprofit organization, has found evidence that bisphenol A, BPA, is linked with an increased risk of heart disease and diabetes. This chemical is a hormone disruptor and has been linked with health problems even when found in small concentrations.

I'm not going to quibble over the details of the study. I do find it interesting that not many environmental groups have picked up on this. It seems to me that a study finding toxic chemicals in plastic bottles would bolster support for environmental groups that encourage the general public to stop using plastic bottles in favour of metal ones. I must confess that I am guilty of using the plastic bottle, but after reading the study, I suspect I'll soon convert to metal.

If you're interested, the article can be found here.

[Update: I bit the bullet and bought a metal bottle. I had to let it soak in water for a while before my drinks stopped tasting like metal, but I like it so far a lot better than plastic. No plastic taste anymore!]

Inspiration behind the URL

So a few people have asked me as to what the URL of my blog means. In return, I asked them what they thought I meant. So far I've gotten some interesting responses.

"elusive"
"desertification"
"loss of resources"
"time"

Personally, I was thinking along the lines of elusive. There's an image that pops into my head when I hear the phrase "a fistful of sand." I think of a child on the beach wanting to hold onto the moment for as long as possible, so they pick up a fistful of sand. The thing is, the harder they try to hold onto that fistful, the faster it slips away. To me, politics is a lot like that fistful of sand. The harder a person tries to hold onto the power that they've gained, the faster it slips away. Hence, "fists full of sand."