As we come marching, marching in the beauty of the day,
A million darkened kitchens, a thousand mill lofts gray,
Are touched with all the radiance that a sudden sun discloses,
For the people hear us singing: “Bread and roses! Bread and roses!”
As we come marching, marching, we battle too for men,
For they are women’s children, and we mother them again.
Our lives shall not be sweated from birth until life closes;
Hearts starve as well as bodies; give us bread, but give us roses!
As we come marching, marching, unnumbered women dead
Go crying through our singing their ancient cry for bread.
Small art and love and beauty their drudging spirits knew.
Yes, it is bread we fight for — but we fight for roses, too!
As we come marching, marching, we bring the greater days.
The rising of the women means the rising of the race.
No more the drudge and idler — ten that toil where one reposes,
But a sharing of life’s glories: Bread and roses! Bread and roses!
I wrote to Representative Nancy Pelosi about my concern for water as it relates to security. Here is part of her reply:
The Federal Water Pollution Control Act, amended in 1977, and commonly known as the Clean Water Act, established regulations for the discharge of pollutants into the waters of the United States. The act initiated pollution control programs and set water quality standards for contaminants in surface waters. In the three decades since the establishment of the Clean Water Act, court rulings and agency interpretations of federal regulation have reduced the protections afforded to our drinking waters and wetlands intended by the original Clean Water Act. HR 2421 would restore the original intent of the Clean Water Act by amending the Act’s definition of “waters of the United States” to include “intrastate” and “intermittent” water bodies, which would then extend protections to all of our nation’s waters and wetlands.
Regulations to protect the health and welfare of citizens are obviously a non-trivial responsibility. Like patching vulnerable software, I hope these changes to the words will enable better controls over pollution. I also hope more support for clean water and awareness emerges in order to push back on the notion that corporations can pollute without accountability.
Police in Hamburg have issued a warning to the perpetrators of the hazelnut heist not to consume any of the ill-gained goods, as the sacks containing the nuts were full of poisonous phosphate gas, Reuters news agency has reported.
The deadly gas is used to extend the shelf life of the nuts, which have to first be treated before they’re safe to munch on.
Deadly gas to extend shelf life? Sounds like a great trade-off.
The BBC reports that a China dairy requested media and relations help from officials:
The Chinese authorities have already acknowledged that the Shijiazhuang government sat on a report from Sanlu about milk contamination for more than a month while Beijing hosted the Olympic Games.
It now says that in a letter to the city government, Sanlu asked for help to “increase control and co-ordination of the media, to create a good environment for the recall of the company’s problem products”, the People’s Daily reported.
This is not a Chinese problem. This is a failure of leadership. I have commented several times on Governor Palin’s attitude towards data and bad news. Troopergate is a fine example. This is exactly the kind of problem I would expect from her in the White House. She is likely to focus efforts entirely on positive spin for corporations and self-promotion even at the cost of human life and great suffering.
“This is to avoid whipping up the issue and creating a negative influence in society,” the Sanlu Group is reported to have said.
Palin said she did not want any negative feedback in her office. Only when casualties and public outcry overwhelm this kind of leader will they be motivated to act. At that point they are likely to describe the situation as an “unforseen” emergency and ask for even greater power with less oversight to deal “efficiently” with the problems. Sound familiar?