The latest incident of modern-day slavery comes from a 7-Eleven franchisee:

The owners of 14 7-Eleven stores in New York and Virginia were charged on Monday by federal authorities with fraud, identity theft, and concealing undocumented immigrants. Authorities said conditions for undocumented employees at the stores were like a “modern day plantation system.”

As ABC News reported, federal prosecutor Loretta Lynch said the franchise owners gave at least 18 undocumented workers from Pakistan IDs stolen from the deceased and children, and then forced them to work 100 hours a week, often at a small fraction of the wages regular employees would receive. Many of the employees were forced to live in unregulated boarding houses owned by their employers.

I have to wonder what the hell some people are thinking. And don’t tell me, “Oh, these franchises were owned by Pakistani’s, they don’t know any better.” Because my Cheap Labor tag is filled with examples of American companies doing the exact same thing.

I’ve used Advantage, Frontline and Revolution on our six cats for years. I didn’t know that CostCo even had its own brand of flea & tick treatment until Mr. Beale and I attended a crafts fair and CostCo had a table set up where they were advertising this stuff and selling memberships. Well, we’ve been CostCo members for years so we thought, “cool, a cheaper flea & tick treatment, what’s not to love?”

Hair loss! And a nasty mess all over the house, that’s what! OMG, this is the worst stuff ever. Almost as soon as we applied the treatment our cats’ hair started falling out. And the stuff doesn’t absorb like other flea products, so it leaves huge greasy stains everywhere — furniture, bedding, you name it. I had to wash the sheets on our bed after Quinn took his afternoon nap on it!

Look:

Quinn’s hair started falling out ….

So did Como’s ….. finding this stuff EVERYWHERE ….

…. and I won’t bore you with photos of my dirty laundry. I’m wishing I’d read the product reviews at Amazon before using this stuff because the reviews are universally negative. I’m so disappointed in CostCo, it appears this product has been poisoning peoples’ pets for over a year, and there they are promoting it at a crafts’ fair? Shame on them.

I’m worried sick that more serious symptoms will appear. Our cats are like our children, and the idea that I’ve actually poisoned my animals has me frantic. I’m going to call the vet as soon as they open and see what they recommend, I might be spending my day giving six cats a bath. :-0

Anyway, it’s too late for me, but save yourselves! Do not use this product!

Quinn in happier times, like, last week.

[UPDATE]:

Just spent about 2 hours on the phone with the vet, CostCo, product manufacturer, Animal Product Services Safety Center, etc. Diagnosis: bathing in Dawn dishwashing liquid.

They are not amused:

Pissed off kitty.

Misery loves company.

Charges, naturally, were not filed because hey, shit happens! Get over it! Survive a brutal war and get killed by your own kid because a friend left a gun lying around? Circle of life, y’all! It’s their own fault for arriving unannounced! Personal responsibility, people! Next time, call first!

/sarcasm

Now, Thomas’ mother has come forward to plead for gun safety.

PRESCOTT VALLEY, Arizona — A Tampa-area grandmother is urging people to keep firearms safely away from children after her four-year-old grandson picked up a gun and accidentally fired it, killing his father in Arizona last week.

“When I Googled this story on my son, I couldn’t even count the number of pages,” says Marilyn Andreatta about her son, 35-year-old Justin Thomas. “It was infinite — children shooting fathers, children shooting other children, children picking up a gun out of curiosity.”

Thomas was living in Phoenix and had taken his son for a surprise visit to a former roommate’s house about an hour and a half away.

Almost immediately, on a TV stand, police say the boy found the roommate’s gun, something he may have thought was a toy.

“It was loaded,” Andreatta told 10 News. “It was sitting out in the living room and he just didn’t think to put it away when my grandson entered the house.”

Who leaves a loaded gun lying around on the living room TV stand? An irresponsible idiot who should be prosecuted, that’s who. So what if you didn’t think anyone was going to drop by? People drop by all the damn time. What if your house was robbed? You’ve left a loaded gun lying out in the open where thieves can steal it, sending it out onto the streets to be involved in lord knows how many crimes.

This isn’t just the DFH peaceniks talking; it’s firearms safety instructors:

“Every day, I’m seeing something out there, some kind of accidental discharge,” he says. “To me, it’s almost not an accident at that point. It’s just neglect.“

To prevent that, Krawtshenko urges people to unload their guns, take them apart and store the parts across different areas of the house, put guns in a safe, or use the lock that comes with the gun.

Almost not an accident? Drop the “almost,” buddy.

After the Newtown shootings, someone (I can’t remember where) wrote, “We don’t want to control your guns. We want you to control your guns.” But the fact of the matter is, gun owners are not controlling their guns. They’re leaving them lying around out in the open where children can find them. They’re leaving them in unlocked cars, where they are stolen.

You aren’t controlling your guns. We’re going to have to pass some laws and prosecute your negligence because too many of you aren’t being responsible.

Some facts to ponder:

• More than 5,0000 people have been killed by guns in the U.S. since the Newtown shootings. More than 360 of them were children and teenagers.

• There have been 14 mass shootings in the six months since Newtown.

• Guns killed more preschoolers in one year than they did law-enforcement officers in the line of duty.

Meanwhile, the same people overwhelmingly supported a new defense bill which, while offering some good protections to victims of sexual assault, also was padded with lots of extra spending. Such as:

The bill also restricts the transfer of detainees from Guantánamo Bay, funds construction of a new East Coast missile defense site and gives the Pentagon $5 billion more than requested for the war in Afghanistan.

Well isn’t that peachy! Sequester, semeshter! Because we all know the Pentagon is never, ever corrupt, fraud never happens, and the Pentagon would never add to our budget deficit. Hey, empires are expensive, y’all! :

What a bunch of fiscal phonies. Guess they’re going to force Senate Democrats to vote against this, so they can run those lovely ads accusing such-and-such liberal of voting against helping sexual assault victims in the military. I can hear it now: “They accuse us of waging a war on women, but look what Senator McLefty CommieHippie did!”

Assholes. Two can play at that game. Look who took food out of the mouth of a hungry child so they can continue to fund wars and killing? And you call yourselves Christians? For shame.

This summer I’ve found organic virgin coconut oil works wonders on chigger and mosquito bites. They stop the itching and the bites go away in about two or three days. It’s a miracle, y’all.

You get it at the grocery store. But be sure to get the virgin coconut oil. Something apparently nasty happens to it when it gets refined.

You can thank me later. Other good news:

• A California effort to control black-carbon soot, the number two greenhouse gas agent causing global warming, led to a significant reduction in the state’s carbon footprint. Scientists hope the California experiment can be replicated elsewhere, which could slow global warming by as much as 15%.

• Connecticut passes a homeless persons’ bill of rights.

• Happy Birthday, Grand Central Station. Every time Mr. Beale and I visit New York City we make sure we stop by Grand Central. It’s incredible.

• SCOTUS strikes down patents on human genes. I’m actually trying to decide if this is good or bad since they left in place patents for modified genes. If I can’t patent my own DNA but a corporation can patent a modified version of my DNA I’m SOL. Also, if anyone hasn’t read the book, The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks, I highly recommend it. Seems to apply here.

• Despite setbacks, gun control is gaining ground.

• Southern Baptists won’t boycott the Boy Scouts after the organization’s decision to allow gay scouts. This is a big deal; seems like not too long ago, the SBC would have jumped at any chance to grandstand on this issue.

• Cockfighting is now a first-offense felony in the state of Nevada.

• The mayor of Carrboro, N.C. and 150 protestors were arrested protesting the North Carolina State Legislatures reactionary right-wing policies. There’s video.

• A Canadian company is fighting counterfeiters by emulating the iridescent wings of a South American butterfly. Just as an aside, this is why it’s important we protect even the smallest species. It makes me nuts when people say, “who cares about a snail darter? Build that dam!” Yeah, well no one thought much about slime molds until penicillin was invented.

• A San Francisco elementary school held a toy gun “buyback” event, where kids exchanged their toy guns for a book and a chance to win a bike.

• Secret life of the cat: very cool interractive look at what our feline friends do when we’re at work. You can select a cat and get a quickie video of what they are doing. Purely at random I clicked on Orlando, who promptly yakked up something nasty. OF COURSE I GOT ORLANDO. You guys, this is my life.

Good News, Tennessee Edition:

• A Federal judge has ruled in favor of the Occupy Nashville protestors who were arrested at War Memorial Plaza in October 2011.

• The cost of living in Nashville is at 88% of the national average, while the per capita income is at 109% of the national average. Sure there are some crackpot wingnuts in the rest of the state, but Nashville trends true blue. So, y’all come.

• A clean energy project successfully converts biowaste into electricity using gasification technology.

• What does it cost to drive an electric car in Tennessee? How about 97-cents a gallon? Some of us with solar panels on the roof pay less. Jealous, much?

• Gift Cards For Guns event in Nashville called a success.

• Despite efforts to legislatively marginalize GLBT people in Tennessee, businesses have embraced the GLBT community and are actively marketing to them. Money talks.

• June 12, 2013:

A 79-year-old woman was accidentally shot in the leg by a man who was target shooting.

• June 10, 2013:

A Chattanooga police officer started shooting at someone who was shooting at someone — and missed:

The department said the officer confronted a man who was shooting at people at the Southside Reunion. The officer fired several rounds, but the suspect was not hit. He fled the scene.

How’s that “good guy with a gun” stuff supposed to work, again?

• June 5, 2013

A Chattanooga couple have been found not guilty in the 2010 accidental shooting death of their 2-year-old. The child was shot in the chest by their 5-year-old who had found a loaded gun in the parents’ nightstand.

• June 3, 2013:

A 17-year-old boy shot himself in the leg with a stolen .45 in South Knoxville Monday afternoon.

It’s The Corporations, Stupid: Juan Cole on why the Second Amendment is interpreted strictly, literally, fundamentally, but the Fourth Amendment is not. Good read.

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Last night I was watching “All In With Chris Hayes,” a rare oasis of intelligent, in-depth conversation on the day’s news. The segment on Edward Snowden, which you can see here (WordPress won’t let me embed the video) covered a lot of the main issues. The thing that got me out of my chair was this bit from Karen Finney; I have no idea who Karen Finney is — I gather she worked in the Clinton White House and she’s got a show coming to MSNBC — but she hit every point I’ve been thinking and saying about this story, and I want to say thank you because there are a couple of larger issues here that really need to be addressed.

She said:

[...] I remember very clearly when I was at the DNC, when we were fighting the Bush Administration on the warrantless wiretapping. I mean, many Democrats, Howard Dean among them, you know, the argument we made was, follow the law. We can do, you know, let’s follow the law and we can keep America safe, we said we wanted a process. We now have a process. I think the argument needs to be, if this process isn’t right, then let’s have that conversation. But the other problem, just quickly, Chris, that really bothers me about this is, you know, somebody could track my location just based on my cell phone. Somebody not the government and so, like, we’re already — it’s a farce if we think that we’ve got a level of privacy that we used to. I mean the amount of information that is out there and available about us that we are willingly giving away all the time, if we’re going to be this concerned about it, then let’s really have that conversation because I don’t want private companies having access to that information either, by the way.

Marc Ambinder then jumped in with his notion that there’s a big difference between corporations and the government having this information, the worst a corporation can do is send you coupons in the mail, but the government can actually put you in jail. That’s an extraordinarily dumb argument, and Ambinder should know better. First of all, being deluged with advertising messaging is incredibly invasive (I wrote about it here). But also, we live in an era when corporations are polluting our elections with dark money and trying to hide their true agenda behind shadowy groups like Americans For Prosperity and FreedomWorks. So to say the worst thing a corporation can do is send you some unwanted ads is extraordinarily obtuse. They’re trying to undermine our entire democratic process, Ambinder. They’re unraveling the very fabric of our democracy. You goddamn fool.

I’m not happy about any of this, but I’m slightly less concerned about the government’s activities than I am the private sector’s. We have control over the government. We have elections, and a certain amount of transparency built into that system. Private corporations? Not so much. Money corrupts, doesn’t it? So let’s not bring the profit motive into any situation that we don’t want money to corrupt. Like, you know, national security.

Let’s take this scenario to its logical end, when we’re all slaves to the board of directors of RJ Exxon Coca-Koch Bros. Industries, and quaint things like clean air, clean water, worker’s rights and a fucking Saturday off are a thing of the past. Yes I’m exaggerating but if you think things like income inequality are bad now, wait until we turn more of our institutions over to private, for-profit corporations. It’s called “corporate capture” and it’s the real problem, the one no one wants to talk about because it’s already too late.

If I seem a little “emo” on this issue it’s because the whole surveillance issue is something I’ve devoted a lot of time to in my life. Heck, I spent 10 years on a novel I never finished (I know, such a cliche, right?) whose title was “Panopticon,” okay? So I get it. The thing is, as Finney points out, this isn’t just big, bad gummint doing this. This is a private security contractor! A private corporation! The collusion between government and the private sector is extremely disturbing. And I guess we won’t ever address that issue until some Tea Party Republicans decide they don’t like it (which will be never) because apparently our corporate media doesn’t think any issue is worth discussing unless Republicans are upset about it.

So wake the hell up.

What Tom said.

——————————–

You know what kills me about these stupid, post-truth times we live in? There’s no fucking accountability. Invade a Middle Eastern country based on lies, distortions, and fearmongering? Kill tens of thousands and bust the national treasury? No problem! Off into the sunset with you, eight years later we’ll have forgotten it ever happened.

Monitor peoples’ phone calls and internet activity without a warrant? Don’t worry about it! Five years later people will have never heard of such a thing. And when we hear about it happening with warrants and judicial oversight? Hey, we can pretend it’s some new thing and get faux-outraged all over again.

I mean, shit. We can’t even have a national discussion about this surveillance with FISA courts and all that because everyone’s pretending this is the same extra-judicial overreach that Bush did. It’s like “50 First Dates,” every day the sun rises and memories are wiped clean. Every day we start back at square one. It’s annoying as hell.

I want to know some things about this, like how long the NSA keeps this information or if they’re required to dump it after a certain period of time. Also, who and what governments (or corporations) are they sharing this information with? And what legal recourse do those being surveilled have? What can you do if a mistake is made, which is bound to happen? What limits and restraints are there?

Now is the time to find out about this stuff but no, we can’t even get that far because we’re still in “OMG THE GOVERNMENT IS LISTENING TO MY PHONE CALLS” mode. C’mon, folks. We covered this ground, like, eight years ago. There are some serious, real issues that need to be addressed here, but we never get around to having the grown-up conversation because we’re in constant reaction-mode.

Look, pay attention, people. Hit the Google. Read a fucking newspaper or magazine instead of getting your information from the TV, which caters to the 30-second attention span. Hey, I’ve learned a lot from Harper’s but maybe The Economist is more your speed? Fine, whatever. Just fucking learn something, please. I’m tired of having the same conversations all over again.

Seriously, I’m super busy today, guys? So look, if you want to know what I think about all of this NSA spying crap everyone is acting like is some new thing? Just click on the little tags and categories thingies below? Because I’ve been talking about this since I started blogging, which was like six years ago. It was bad under Bush, it’s bad under Obama, but no one wanted to listen to any of us hippies on the left (and some on the right) who were crying “civil liberties! civil liberties!” back in the day. So stop your fucking whining and Obama blaming now.

Here’s a nice little trip into the memory hole for y’all:

U.S. President George Bush called on Congress Monday night to broaden protection for telecommunications carriers that helped the government monitor phone calls and e-mail.

The Protect America Act, which allows the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) to intercept phone calls and e-mails of suspected terrorists without first obtaining a court warrant, is due to expire Friday and Bush called for its extension as part of his final State of the Union address.

“To protect America, we need to know who the terrorists are talking to, what they are saying, and what they are planning,” he said in the televised address. “Last year, Congress passed legislation to help us do that. Unfortunately, Congress set the legislation to expire on Feb.1. This means that if you do not act by Friday, our ability to track terrorist threats would be weakened and our citizens will be in greater danger. Congress must ensure the flow of vital intelligence is not disrupted.”

Failure to extend the legislation won’t just hit the NSA. The telecommunications carriers that worked with the agency despite the lack of court warrants also face privacy lawsuits and an extension to the legislation would provide them legal protection. Bush touched on that point as well.

“Congress must pass liability protection for companies believed to have assisted in the efforts to defend America. We’ve had ample time for debate. The time to act is now,” said Bush to applause from mostly Republican members of the audience. Vice President Dick Cheney, seated behind Bush, also applauded the call.

Cheney and the White House last week pushed Congress to extend the act and provide protection for telecom carriers. AT&T and other carriers are facing lawsuits in San Francisco by civil liberties groups and individuals who allege that the surveillance program is illegal.

Earlier Monday, efforts by Republicans to curtail debate in the U.S. Senate and force a vote on an extension to the act failed, and debate is due to resume Tuesday.

Got that? This isn’t some new thing under Obama, it’s something we’ve been talking about for about 10, 11, 12 years now. Since 9/11 at the least. And by the way, that article above is from January 29, 2008. Not only did they want the NSA wiretapping without warrants to continue, the Republicans in the Senate tried to ram it through and were thwarted thanks to the Democrats. As I wrote at the time:

I’m sure the Republicans will be up to their usual screetching about terrorists, but we all know this has nothing to do with terrorism and everything to do with protecting corporate cronies at Big Telecom. Liberals refer to it as telecom immunity, neocons as “liability protection,” but it all comes down to protecting AT&T and Verizon Wireless from scores of lawsuits because they knowingly broke the law.

Please. Y’all are getting on my last nerve with this IOKIYAR shit. Knock it off. We’re not that stupid.

As negative as the news can be here sometimes, it’s helpful to remember the big picture. Without further ado:

• Researchers at the University of Copenhagen have made a major breakthrough in malaria research:

Researchers at the University of Copenhagen, in collaboration with Seattle Biomedical Research Institute, the University of Oxford, NIMR Tanzania and Retrogenix LTD, have identified how malaria parasites growing inside red blood cells stick to the sides of blood vessels in severe cases of malaria. The discovery may advance the development of vaccines or drugs to combat severe malaria by stopping the parasites attaching to blood vessels.

This is a big fucking deal, y’all.

• To help preserve Navajo language and culture, “Star Wars” has been translated into Navajo. I think that’s pretty cool.

• Eight states have passed laws in the past year requiring insurance companies to be more diligent in tracking down beneficiaries of life insurance policies. No, Tennessee is not among them. Like you had to ask? If it’s not guns or ‘ginas, our legislature doesn’t care.

• TSA has removed invasive xray machines from all U.S. airports.

• Paleontologists excavating in Wyoming found a nearly completely three-horned triceratops skeleton.

• The White House lost its bid to delay a ruling which makes emergency contraception available to women of all ages.

• The British government will apologize for torturing Kenyans during the Colonial-era Mau Mau uprising and compensate victims of truly barbaric abuse.

• The so-called “vinegar test” has been found to be a cheap, easy and highly effective alternative to pap smears in poor countries, slashing cervical cancer deaths by 30%.

• Remember that Mother’s Day parade in New Orleans which was halted by a shooting spree? The parade’s sponsor, Original Big 7 Social Aid and Pleasure Club, held a redo last Saturday. Good for them.

• Good riddance to pink-washing.

• A petition to repeal Maryland’s new gun control law failed to gather enough signatures, and the law goes into effect Oct. 1.

• Not good news or bad, just fascinating: we are a nation divided over mayonnaise, caramel and crawfish. Oh, and lawyers.

• Virginia’s Republican governor announced he would automatically restore all civil rights, including voting rights, to non-violent felons who have completed their sentence. I’m sure this was self-serving on his part but it’s still good news.

• Starbucks has banned smoking in their outdoor patios and cafes. Y’know, I smoked for years before quitting for good in 1995, but even when I smoked I knew it was a disgusting, filthy habit. Live for the day when tobacco goes the way of foot-binding and other self-inflicted forms of torture.

• The Evangelical Lutheran Church of America elected its first openly gay bishop.

• Mora County, NM becomes the first U.S. county to ban fracking.

• Good luck, Team USA, in the 2013 Greenpower National electric vehicle race! The team is comprised of students from the Huntsville (AL) Center for Technology, and they are the only non-UK team invited to participate.

Good News, Tennessee Edition:

• I’m so proud of Tennessee’s own Marcel Neergaard, a gay 11-year-old who is homeschooled because of bullying he endured at school. After Michelle Rhee’s StudentsFirst group named “Don’t Say Gay” bill sponsor John Ragan a “reformer of the year,” Neergaard successfully took action to strip Ragan of his award.

• After violence takes the lives of some of their own, Nashville teens launch the Nashville Peace Project.

• Metro Nashville police are offering $25 gift cards for unwanted guns at a Saturday “buyback” event.

• Memphis’ Manassas High School, whose football team was featured in the Oscar-winning documentary “Undefeated,” is celebrating an academic achievement: a 100% graduation rate, and 100% acceptance rate to college or technical school. Four years ago the graduation rate was just 54.8%. Congrtulations, kids!

This week’s cool video: I didn’t know much about actor Patrick Stewart’s background, or that he was raised in a home marked by domestic violence. This interaction Stewart had with a fan about domestic violence is incredibly moving: