Updated: Melamine: It's What's For Breakfast AND Dessert AND Just About Any Other Damn Thing Remotely Associated With China

Melamine is a compound that when combined with formaldehyde produces a very durable plastic so you know it is probably not a healthy food additive. Leave it to those inventive Chinese to use Melamine to boost the "protein" values for watered down food products. That lead to the pet food crisis of 2007 and helped reduce the carbon footprint of the western hemisphere. For reals.

Reports coming out of China indicate that they figured out a backup plan for all of that melamine they can no longer ship to us in dog food: baby formula. Once ingested by infants, melamine can cause kidney stones and chronic or frequent ingestion leads to kidney failure and death. Don't let it be said the Chinese don't take global warming seriously.

With 53,000 reported cases of poisoning and the likely total much, much higher; the Chinese have shown the rest of the world that poison and kill is MUCH more effective than cap and trade.


Singapore said Sunday (AP) that it had found traces of melamine in another Chinese-made dairy product, milk-based White Rabbit brand candy.

I didn't know that the Chinese had such a taste for irony. Well played.

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Update: Kraft, Mars Investigating Claims of Tainted (with Melamine) Oreos, M&Ms...mostly in Asia. But still...

Who Wants Lower Gas Prices?

Well, apparently some of our representatives in congress are pretty happy with the current situation. Just in the last week, with everybody's hair on fire over the issue, here's what they have done.

Proposed to raise taxes on oil and gas companies. Nope that doesn't lower prices.

Threaten to socialize oil companies. Wrong again. That only works if you already own the land the oil is under. And then only for a short while.

Worst of all. Investors and speculators alike have a no risk investment right now with the supply/demand imbalance. And given that these guys trade FUTURES contracts, additional oil supply IN THE FUTURE would make traders consider the possibility that prices WILL come down. That would take a lot of the froth out of the market today. But guess what.

Congress won't even open up areas in the Gulf of Mexico where CHINA and freaking CUBA are already drilling.

John Peterson (R VA) tried to lift domestic offshore drilling restrictions, which was killed by the House Subcommittee of Interior and the Environment. Let's see, all the dems voted to continue the drilling ban and all of the republicans voted to allow our companies to do what China and Cuba are doing.

Dems:

Ben Chandler (KY) voted NO
Norman D. Dicks (WA)voted NO
Maurice D. Hinchey (NY)voted NO
James P. Moran (VA)voted NO
Dave Obey (WI)voted NO
John W. Olver (MA)voted NO
Alan B. Mollohan (WV)voted NO
Tom Udall (NM)voted NO
Ed Pastor (AZ)voted NO


Rep:

Ken Calvert (CA) voted YES
Jo Ann Emerson (MO) voted YES
Virgil H. Goode, Jr. (VA)voted YES
Jerry Lewis (CA) voted YES
John E. Peterson (PA) voted YES
Todd Tiahrt (KS) voted YES

The democrats have seen the polling data: They are 15% ahead among people who have gas prices as the No.1 issue. They have no reason to help make gas get cheaper until they have been elected. This is the lowest form of politics.

And don't tell me these guys don't understand speculating in markets. Clinton made a killing in beef/cattle futures and Obama made a killing speculating in real estate with his friend Resco.