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Technology anthropologist Stefana Broadbent analyzes how we text, IM and talk. Today, she says these new methods of communication are helping us break out of old institutions and bringing us closer together than ever before. She’s speaking with a backdrop of constantly refreshing, beautiful black and white portraits, always of two people seated together. She explains that in each picture is someone she interviewed and the person the communicate with most in the world, whether it be their significant other, parent, grandparent or sibling, along with the communication tools they use — by and large, these are cell phones.
She says that although we may have many people on our Facebook friend lists (120 on average) and in our cell phone directories, we typically use these technologies to interact with a small core group of people. The typical cell phone user makes 80 percent of their calls to just four people, and the average Facebook user exchanges most of their messages with only five or six friends. So these technologies are not networking us with more people, but reinforcing our communication with our inner circle.
Even more interesting, she says that we are now seeing the democratization of intimacy. As more communication technologies are written, and can therefore fly under the radar more easily in a workplace, the boss is not the only one that can keep in touch with their family and friends during working hours. She finds companies’ restrictions on Facebook and schools’ restrictions on texting appalling. We always lived with work and family together, she explains, this compartmentalization of our lives only began 150 or so years ago with the Industrial Revolution. Broadbent is glad to see that cleavage ending.
can’t gt the vid to embed
check the link
http://staging.democracynow.org/2009/10/22/cia_invests_in_software_firm_monitoring
LISTEN
WATCH
JUAN GONZALEZ: “America’s spy agencies want to read your blog posts, keep track of your Twitter updates—even check out your book reviews on Amazon.” That’s the lead sentence to a new article on the website of Wired magazine titled “US Spies Buy Stake in Firm that Monitors Blogs, Tweets.”
The article reveals how the investment arm of the Central Intelligence Agency has invested in a software firm called Visible Technologies that specializes in monitoring social media sites, including blogs, Flickr, YouTube, Twitter and Amazon.
AMY GOODMAN: Noah Shachtman joins us here in our firehouse studio. He broke the story. He’s a contributing editor at Wired and editor of “Danger Room,” the magazine’s national security blog.
OK, lay it out for us, Noah. What did you find?
NOAH SHACHTMAN: So, the CIA, in 1999, set up an investment arm called In-Q-Tel that sort of makes investments in technologies that the spy agencies would like to see grow. And their latest investment is in this company called Visible, which basically takes blog posts and takes Twitter updates and takes comments on YouTube videos and sort of sorts them out and decides which people have the most weight in the blogosphere, which people are the most influential, and also filters out, you know, certain key words, decides whether certain posts are hostile or positive. And it’s basically a way for them to sort of keep track on what’s going on in Twitter, on the blogs, etc., etc.
JUAN GONZALEZ: And who does this firm normally supply this information to?
NOAH SHACHTMAN: Usually to companies like Microsoft. Right now they’re tracking the buzz on their Windows 7 release. They also do the work for Hormel, the processed meat company. When PETA was going after Hormel for some of their business practices, they kept track on the sort of anti-processed food activists. So it’s usually corporate clients, although there’s sort of a political spin to some of the work they do, as well.
JUAN GONZALEZ: So, in essence, they’re sort of like an intelligence operation for the corporate world on a normal—
NOAH SHACHTMAN: Yeah. They would say they try to spot trends and keep tabs on things, yeah.
AMY GOODMAN: But In-Q-Tel, you say, is the investment arm of the CIA. I think a lot of people would just be surprised by the CIA having an investment arm.
NOAH SHACHTMAN: Yeah, that’s right. In 1999, the CIA set up this sort of separate agency that would make investments on behalf of the intelligence agencies. It was a way to sort of develop certain technologies without going through the formal contracting process. Remember, back in 1999, that was like sort of the height of the dotcom boom. And there were a lot of these business incubators that were growing small businesses into something bigger. And In-Q-Tel was the CIA’s attempt to do the same thing.
JUAN GONZALEZ: Is it reporting it’s making money for the government?
NOAH SHACHTMAN: I don’t—it’s a not-for-profit—
JUAN GONZALEZ: Oh, not-for-profit, I see.
NOAH SHACHTMAN: —company, but I do believe that it has—many of its investments have panned out.
AMY GOODMAN: So, explain how Visible works. You talk about how it crawls over half a million web 2.0 sites a day.
NOAH SHACHTMAN: Mm-hmm.
AMY GOODMAN: Explain exactly. And then, how do people protect their privacy?
NOAH SHACHTMAN: Well, first they protect their privacy by not tweeting or not blogging. I mean, that’s the way they would have to protect their privacy, or to do it within a closed password-protected system. If you leave it out there, not only is the government going to read it, but Microsoft and Google just signed deals with Twitter and Facebook yesterday, where all the—all your tweets and all your blog updates will be very easily searchable by either Microsoft’s Bing search engine or by Google.
AMY GOODMAN: What’s the deal?
NOAH SHACHTMAN: The deal is basically that all your Facebook updates will be sort of fed into Microsoft’s new search engine, and people will be able to see what you post on Facebook or Twitter, or what have you.
JUAN GONZALEZ: And, of course, for the CIA, given the fact—the recent reports of how tweets and other social networking are used around the world sometimes to give advance notice on popular insurrections or—
NOAH SHACHTMAN: Mm-hmm.
JUAN GONZALEZ: For the CIA, this would be a sort of a normal direction for them to take, if they want to collect more intelligence.
NOAH SHACHTMAN: It would be. They’re probably already doing so, but just in a less elegant way. So this is probably—for them, they view it as a smarter way to get information they’re already interested in. The question is whether it’s aimed out at international audiences or whether it’s aimed in at domestic ones.
AMY GOODMAN: Noah Shachtman, you’ve also written about the US military using a fleet of unmanned spy blimps to keep tabs on would-be enemies in Afghanistan and Iraq.
NOAH SHACHTMAN: Mm-hmm.
AMY GOODMAN: Explain.
NOAH SHACHTMAN: Well, you know, the US military in Afghanistan—I just got back from there in September—is very interested in what’s called ISR—Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance. The idea is to see as much of what’s going on in Afghanistan as possible and to hear as much of what’s going on in cell phone conversations, or what have you. And so, these blimps are another tool to do it. There’d be cameras and listening equipment installed in these blimps in Afghanistan. It’s another way to kind of keep tabs on what’s going on.
AMY GOODMAN: And tell us what’s going on in New Jersey. In New Jersey, you have written about the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division in Lakehurst.
NOAH SHACHTMAN: Oh, oh, yeah, right, right, right. So, in New Jersey, there is a—the Navy’s got a sort of R&D arm, and they’re looking to upgrade what’s in those spy blimps and really kind of update the surveillance equipment, make it much more powerful.
JUAN GONZALEZ: I’d like to get back for a second to this—you just happened to mention that remark that depending on whether this is being done, the social networking intelligence is being mined, internationally or domestically. Can the CIA conduct surveillance of Americans at home here, in terms of their communications?
NOAH SHACHTMAN: Well, they’re not supposed to. But, I mean, given the recent history of the US intelligence agencies looking inward as well as outward, it’s tough to imagine they wouldn’t. Also, remember, on the internet, it’s very tough to discern whether it’s a purely international conversation or whether a purely domestic conversation.
AMY GOODMAN: I mean, you say, “In-Q-Tel says it wants Visible to keep track of foreign social media, and give spooks ‘early-warning detection on how issues are playing internationally,’” but that tool can just be used inward?
NOAH SHACHTMAN: I mean, obviously, right? It’s the internet. There’s no—there’s no hard national borders, and all this stuff is already out in the public. So it’s a little hard to fathom that there wouldn’t at least be the temptation to use it domestically.
AMY GOODMAN: What’s the military’s policy on soldiers using Twitter?
NOAH SHACHTMAN: The policy right now is up for grabs, but there should be a declared policy in the next, I would say, two to three weeks. And surprisingly, the Pentagon looks to be having a fairly liberal policy when it comes to Twitter and Facebook and other social networks. There was a lot of confusion over the years about whether soldiers could use it or not. Some commands banned it, others allowed it to happen. But it looks like the Pentagon is actually going to come out with something that says, “Hey, look, use YouTube and use Twitter, but just do it smart.”
JUAN GONZALEZ: But that has, certainly during the Iraq war and the Afghanistan war now, opened up a whole new level of communication that didn’t exist before, of ordinary soldiers being able to get information out to their family or to people here in the United States that normally would not happened in previous wars.
NOAH SHACHTMAN: Yeah, that’s absolutely true. And in this period of confusion where it wasn’t clear what the regulations were, a lot of times insecure commanders would sort of slap down their soldiers if they printed something that maybe was a little bit subversive or, you know, didn’t quite hew to the party line. But hopefully these new regulations are going to sort that out, and you really should be able to have those soldiers take to YouTube, take to Twitter, you know, with a great deal of freedom.
AMY GOODMAN: Back to what you said at the beginning, saying the uses for Visible before, Visible tracking animal rights activists’ online campaigns against the company that was Hormel?
NOAH SHACHTMAN: Mm-hmm.
AMY GOODMAN: When it was working for Hormel. So, I see here you’ve got trillions of dollars being spent on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, actually trillions. And it seems like it’s very ripe and open money that can’t be tracked. It can also develop the spy technology under the guise of just war.
NOAH SHACHTMAN: That’s true, although the Pentagon also has plenty of money to—independent of the war costs, to develop spy technology. And the intelligence agencies, remember, their budgets are largely a black box. We don’t know how much they spend. And so, you know, there’s plenty of places where money for spy technology can be funded out of.
AMY GOODMAN: And this issue of how Hormel used Visible, now In-Q-Tel buying into it?
NOAH SHACHTMAN: Mm-hmm. Well, I mean, I don’t know too much more than the fact that they used it. I don’t have a lot of details. But, you know, the way Visible works is it kind of grabs all the blogs and all the tweets out there, then it sorts for certain key words, it sorts for a sentiment about whether things are positive or negative, and then it also sorts based on which bloggers and which tweeters are really important or not. And you can sort of see over time how a conversation develops. Technology then allows companies or the government to respond directly within a blog or within a Facebook page to those people. So, who knows? The commenter—the next commenter on your blog might be the CIA.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, we will leave it there. Noah Shachtman, I want to thank you for being with us. Noah Shachtman is a contributing editor at Wired magazine, and he’s editor of “Danger Room,” the magazine’s national security blog.
“We Are All Connected” was made from sampling The History Channel’s Universe series, Carl Sagan’s Cosmos, Richard Feynman’s 1983 interviews, Neil deGrasse Tyson’s cosmic sermon, and Bill Nye’s Eyes of Nye Series, plus added visuals from The Elegant Universe (NOVA), Stephen Hawking’s Universe, Cosmos and more.
[deGrasse Tyson]
We are all connected;
To each other, biologically
To the earth, chemically
To the rest of the universe atomically
[Feynman]
I think nature’s imagination
Is so much greater than man’s
She’s never going to let us relax
[Sagan]
We live in an in-between universe
Where things change all right
But according to patterns, rules,
Or as we call them, laws of nature
[Nye]
I’m this guy standing on a planet
Really I’m just a speck
Compared with a star, the planet is just another speck
To think about all of this
To think about the vast emptiness of space
There’s billions and billions of stars
Billions and billions of specks
[Sagan]
The beauty of a living thing is not the atoms that go into it
But the way those atoms are put together
The cosmos is also within us
We’re made of star stuff
We are a way for the cosmos to know itself
Across the sea of space
The stars are other suns
We have traveled this way before
And there is much to be learned
I find it elevating and exhilarating
To discover that we live in a universe
Which permits the evolution of molecular machines
As intricate and subtle as we
[deGrasse Tyson]
I know that the molecules in my body are traceable
To phenomena in the cosmos
That makes me want to grab people in the street
And say, have you heard this??
(Richard Feynman on hand drums and chanting)
[Feynman]
There’s this tremendous mess
Of waves all over in space
Which is the light bouncing around the room
And going from one thing to the other
And it’s all really there
But you gotta stop and think about it
About the complexity to really get the pleasure
And it’s all really there
The inconceivable nature of nature
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and of course
another excuse to post this
“A Glorious Dawn” is crafted from sampling Carl Sagan’s 1980 PBS Documentary Cosmos and Stephen Hawking’s 1997 PBS cosmology documentary series Stephen Hawking’s Universe. Cosmos is available to watch for free on Hulu, and many parts of Stephen Hawking’s Universe can be found on Youtube and various other video sites online.
[Sagan]
If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch
You must first invent the universe
Space is filled with a network of wormholes
You might emerge somewhere else in space
Some when-else in time
The sky calls to us
If we do not destroy ourselves
We will one day venture to the stars
A still more glorious dawn awaits
Not a sunrise, but a galaxy rise
A morning filled with 400 billion suns
The rising of the milky way
The Cosmos is full beyond measure of elegant truths
Of exquisite interrelationships
Of the awesome machinery of nature
I believe our future depends powerfully
On how well we understand this cosmos
In which we float like a mote of dust
In the morning sky
But the brain does much more than just recollect
It inter-compares, it synthesizes, it analyzes
it generates abstractions
The simplest thought like the concept of the number one
Has an elaborate logical underpinning
The brain has it’s own language
For testing the structure and consistency of the world
[Hawking]
For thousands of years
People have wondered about the universe
Did it stretch out forever
Or was there a limit
From the big bang to black holes
From dark matter to a possible big crunch
Our image of the universe today
Is full of strange sounding ideas
[Sagan]
How lucky we are to live in this time
The first moment in human history
When we are in fact visiting other worlds
The surface of the earth is the shore of the cosmic ocean
Recently we’ve waded a little way out
And the water seems inviting
nice
i mean NICE doc on “this subject”
angles
ideas
perspectives
vid will mostlikely not play here
but will open to the tudou page proper
http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/W6Rjkr3Olvk
Interest in the Mayan Long Count Calendar and 2012 end-of-the-world prophecies is increasing rapidly with about four years left to the target date of December 21, 2012 (or thereabouts).
A significant number of new books, as well as reprints of older ones, on the topic of 2012 are being published, some becoming legitimate bestsellers, including: Apocalypse 2012: A Scientific Investigation into Civilization’s End by Lawrence E. Joseph; Maya Cosmogenesis 2012 by John Major Jenkins; and 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl by Daniel Pinchbeck.
On the fiction front, Whitley Strieber’s latest novel, 2012: The War for Souls, is slated to be a Michael Bay-produced (and possibly directed) film at Warner Bros. Pictures.
An increasing number of mainstream publications are writing about 2012. The New York Times Magazine ran a feature on the topic, focusing on John Major Jenkins, in its July 1, 2007 edition; USA Today published an article entitled “Does Maya calendar predict 2012 apocalypse?” on March 28, 2007; and Publishers Weekly ran a story about the large number of new books on the topic on March 26, 2007. A second PW story ran in the September 3, 2007 edition with a quote from a well-known editor saying that 2012 “has practically become its own category” of books; and proving that the trend is only strengthening, a year later the September 22, 2008 issue of PW in its cover story stated “publishers agree that New Age readers can’t get enough prophetic 2012 literature,” and “sales on this topic have been through the roof.”
Perhaps most significantly from a mainstream awareness perspective, Roland Emmerich (Independence Day, Day After Tomorrow, 10,000 BC) is directing a new tent-pole film for Sony Pictures entitled 2012. It is set for wide theatrical release in July, 2009.
The Disinformation Company specializes in publishing articles on topics surfacing in the culture on its popular website at www.disinfo.com and publishes books by authors writing in this and related fields. (For instance, Disinformation author Graham Hancock’s bestselling book Fingerprints of the Gods was one of the first to focus on the Mayan calendar and its end date in 2012, and will be one of the bases for the Roland Emmerich movie.) Of course, in addition to its publishing division, The Disinformation Company also produces and distributes documentary films.
Producer Gary Baddeley recognized that interest in 2012 was on a fast track into the zeitgeist in 2007 and initiated the process of planning and producing 2012: Science Or Superstition with director Nimrod Erez. The Disinformation team, including co-producer Ralph Bernardo, contacted and arranged interviews with multiple experts, often obtaining speedy access due to more than ten years of working with them or colleagues in their fields.
Interviews were conducted in New York, Los Angeles, San Diego, Palenque and also shot on location in Mexico and Egypt. Co-producer Bernardo worked with NASA to obtain illuminating footage of our solar system and galaxy and was able to locate leading astronomy professor Anthony Aveni, a cornerstone of the film’s balanced approach. Director Nimrod Erez worked closely with animators to illustrate the sometimes complicated concepts discussed in the film, allowing the viewer to see visually, the hard to grasp phenomenon of precession.
In accord with the Disinformation style of documentary filmmaking and publishing, the producers attempted to highlight multiple views of the subject matter and to interview experts who address the issues from varying and sometimes conflicting perspectives. The goal was to present the viewer with a balanced look at the 2012 phenomenon, allowing him or her to form an independent opinion on the debate about what the December 21, 2012 date means to all of us.
m pretty close to obsessed with my pair of KSO
i only get giddy and idolatrous over very few products and objects
Tabasco
Parmigiano-Reggiano
Sativa strains
Am Appy
idk
i feel like im doin it right in these
The typical human foot is an anatomical marvel of evolution with 26 bones, 33 joints, 20 muscles, and hundreds of sensory receptors, tendons and ligaments. Like the rest of the body, to keep our feet healthy, they need to be stimulated and exercised.
That’s why we recommend wearing FiveFingers for exercise, play, and for fun. Stimulating the muscles in your feet and lower legs will not only make you stronger and healthier, it improves your balance, agility and proprioception.
When we first introduced Vibram FiveFingers® to the world, it was the beginning of a revolution.
For the first time, active outdoor athletes and fitness professionals were able to experience the sensation and freedom of going barefoot with the protection and sure-footed grip of a Vibram sole. Their response exceeded our wildest expectations.
Some customers told us they felt more connected to the earth and more in tune with their bodies. Others discovered an increased sense of balance and greater agility. And many reported health benefits like improved posture and less back pain. All were generous with their praise and their ideas, often suggesting new and creative uses for FiveFingers.
With the new 2009 Vibram FiveFingers collection, our patented barefooting concept continues to evolve.
Now you can choose from a variety of designs to cover the wide range of activities you would rather do barefoot; everything from fitness training and yoga, to running and trekking, to kayaking and sailing. Clearly, the barefooting revolution is alive and well.
When you go barefoot, your movements become the movements of a child—playful and sensitive, yet purposeful and confident. You experience the unbound joy of stepping, hopping, and running across any surface on earth, simply to get from here to there.
Vibram FiveFingers® allow you to relive that sensation. Unlike conventional shoes that insulate you from your surroundings, FiveFingers footwear deepens your connection to the earth and your surroundings. FiveFingers enhance your sense of touch and feel, while improving foot strength, balance, agility, and range of motion. Because wearing Vibram FiveFingers is so close to going barefoot, you’ll enjoy the health and performance benefits of barefooting without some of the risks.
Outdoor enthusiasts have found FiveFingers to be the ideal crossover shoe for multiple sports and activities—from ChiRunning and bouldering to kayaking and windsurfing. Fitness enthusiasts use FiveFingers for core strength training, yoga and Pilates. Our customers continually discover new and creative uses for our alternative performance footwear.
http://www.vibramfivefingers.com
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Vibram FiveFingers is perfect for people who want the benefits of barefoot walking or running without the consequences of going barefoot in modern urban society. There are 4 different product lines that Vibram offer which accommodate a variety of activities and users.
FiveFingers Classic – no frills simple version of the FiveFingers design. Dries quickly and perfect for Running, Fitness Training, Martial Arts, Yoga, Pilates, Travel.
FiveFingers Sprint – extra loop and hook enclosures add additional fit and snugness making it great for a variety of activities like Light Trekking, Climbing, Canyoneering, Running, Fitness Training, Martial Arts, Yoga, Pilates, Sailing, Boating, Kayaking, Canoeing, Surfing, Flats Fishing, Travel.
FiveFingers FLOW – extra covering on top of shoe provides additional insulation for cold weather envrionments which makes it great for Cold Weather Running, Light Trekking, Climbing, Canyoneering, Sailing, Boating, Kayaking, Canoeing, Surfing, Flats Fishing.
FiveFingers KSO – the KSO stands for “keep stuff out” and that’s what it was intended to do. The extra mesh on the top of the shoe keep out dirt, gravel, and other nasties and make it good for Light Trekking, Climbing, Canyoneering, Running, Fitness Training, Martial Arts, Yoga, Pilates, Sailing, Boating, Kayaking, Canoeing, Surfing, Flats Fishing, Travel.
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Plastic Gorilla Feet Give You Twinkle Toes
Minutes after wiggling my feet into these five-toed monstrosities I was creeping across a coworker’s desk like Spider-man. Sadly, Vibram FiveFingers don’t actually let you stick to walls and ceilings, but they are wickedly fun to wear.
Vibram FiveFingers are little more than flexible plastic soles with just enough cloth to hold them snugly on your feet. They have little individual pockets for each toe, making the FiveFingers into a sort of foot glove. The resulting footwear feel less like shoes and more like tougher, more invulnerable versions of your feet.
Traction is incredibly good, due to the grippy material, the separation of the toes, and the addition of siping, or tiny zigzag cuts etched into the soles that expand into little treads as the sole flexes.
The VFFs are also surprisingly comfortable. Each toe is snuggled inside its own little pocket, which is not only cozy, it also gives your feet a surprising amount of feedback about the ground you’re standing on. Your toes, freed from their typical leather prisons, act like a tiny topography sensor array.
Running in FiveFingers is much like running barefoot, except without the mincing “Ow-ow-ow!” moments as you hit a patch of gravel or sun-baked asphalt. You have to use the same stride (and the same, probably atrophied, calf and arch muscles) as you do when running with naked feet. The end result is good: By forcing me into a more efficient stride, the VFFs helped subtract nearly a minute from my admittedly slow per-mile pace. Also, a growing body of research suggests that minimal or no footwear will result in fewer running injuries. But it takes some getting used to if you’ve never run barefoot before. Start with very short runs, and work up gradually.
Vibram offers four different models of its FiveFingers line; I tested two. The Classic offers as clean a line as you’re going to get from such freaky footwear, but the KSO (short for “Keep Stuff Out”) is more practical for running, with webbing on the top to keep debris from sneaking in and a single strap for snugging the shoes more firmly onto your feet.
Vibram FiveFingers will make you look like you have plastic gorilla feet. They’ll draw curious, often appalled stares from strangers and mockery from your family. But by making you run as if barefoot, Vibram FiveFingers might just make you a stronger, faster and less-injured runner.
WIRED Just like going barefoot, except without the cuts, abrasions and icky stuff between your toes. Excellent traction on a variety of surfaces. Surprisingly comfortable.
TIRED Ugly as a bucket of vomit. Just looking at the shoes is a one way ticket to the uncanny valley. Slightly time-consuming to put on. Sizing is extremely fickle. -http://www.wired.com/reviews/product/pr_vibram_fivefingers_kso
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to welcome in an early autumn we are over the moon to welcome back Jamie from the mighty SINCE I WAS A LITTLE GIRL, and his new combo, the LAST DINOSAUR… HOME is an unhurried epic, like a naive and suburban sigur ros, with whispered vocals, and gently plucked guitars, building up to a swirling climax… a bit cocteau twins, a bit radiohead, a lot BRILLIANT…
“This house will always be home to me, regardless of where i lay my feet.. it’s home.. it’s home”
coupled with their basement pop tribute to Michael Jackson, bring on the rain, the soundtrack is waiting…
-http://www.wiaiwya.com/index.php?id=22
SEPTEMBER 2009 – wiaiwya055 – the LAST DINOSAUR – Home ep
http://www.myspace.com/thelastdinosauruk
this week of sept 09
older video of a storm outside broken hill
10 part high quality film piece
U.S. News & World Report
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The Secret Mind -
How Your Unconscious Really Shapes Your Decisions
Mysteries of the Mind – Your Unconscious is Making Your Everyday Decisions
by Marianne Szegedy-Maszak
The snap judgment. The song that constantly runs through your head whenever you close your
office door. The desire to drink Coke rather than Pepsi or to drive a Mustang rather than a
Prius. The expression on your spouse’s face that inexplicably makes you feel either amorous or
enraged. Or how about the now incomprehensible reasons you married your spouse in the first
place?
Welcome to evidence of your robust unconscious at work.
While these events are all superficially unrelated, each reveals an aspect of a rich inner life
that is not a part of conscious, much less rational, thought. Today, long after Sigmund Freud
introduced the world to the fact that much of what we do is determined by mysterious memories
and emotional forces, the depths of the mind and the brain are being explored anew. “Most of
what we do every minute of every day is unconscious,” says University of Wisconsin
neuroscientist Paul Whelan. “Life would be chaos if everything were on the forefront of our
consciousness.”
Fueled by powerful neuroimaging technology, questions about how we make snap decisions, why we
feel uncomfortable without any obvious causes, what motivates us, and what satisfies us are
being answered not through lying on a couch and exploring individual childhood miseries but by
looking at neurons firing in particular parts of our brains. Hardly a week passes without the
release of the results of a new study on these kinds of processes. And popular culture is so
fascinated by neuroscience that Blink, journalist Malcolm Gladwell’s exploration of “thinking
without thinking,” has remained on the bestseller lists for four weeks.
Most of us can appreciate the fact that we make up our minds about things based on thinking that
takes place somewhere just out of our reach. But today, scientists are finding neural correlates
to those processes, parts of the brain that we never gave their due, communicating with other
parts, triggering neurotransmitters, and driving our actions. Says Clinton Kilts, a professor in
the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Emory, “There is nothing that you do,
there is no thought that you have, there is no awareness, there is no lack of awareness, there
is nothing that marks your daily existence that doesn’t have a neural code. The greatest
challenge for us is to figure out how to design the study that will reveal these codes.
Burgeoning understanding of our unconscious has deeply personal and also fascinating medical
implications. The realization that our actions may not be the pristine results of our high-level
reasoning can shake our faith in the strength of such cherished values as free will, a capacity
to choose, and a sense of responsibility over those choices. We will never be able to control
the rhythm of our heartbeats or the choreography of our limbic system. And yet, Gladwell writes
that “our snap judgments and first impressions can be educated and controlled… [and] the task
of making sense of ourselves and our behavior requires that we acknowledge there can be as much
value in the blink of an eye as in months of rational analysis.”
Mental Health
But unconscious procession is not just the stuff of compelling personal insight. For those with
emotional disorders like anxiety, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia, and others who suffer
from traumatic brain injuries either from a stroke or an accident, peeling away the behavioral
layers of their dysfunction has revealed fascinating activity out of conscious awareness that
may eventually provide clues to more effective treatments. Recent research on minimally
conscious patients, for example, shows language centers on fire when they hear personal stories
recounted by a family member. Research on schizophrenia reveals that most who are afflicted have
an impaired ability to smell, which researchers think may provide some clue to understanding why
they have such difficulty perceiving social cues. Or consider the case of Sarah Scantlin, who
was hit by a drunk driver and lay mute at the Golden Plains Health Care Center in Hutchinson,
Kansas, for twenty years. After the September 22, 1984, crash, the doctor told her parents that
it was a miracle she was even alive but that she would never talk or move again on her own. Last
month she began to speak – a simple “OK” at first, then more words, even short sentences.
How does this happen? What was going on all that time? How do we get some access to this thing
called the unconscious?
According to cognitive neuroscientists, we are conscious of only about five percent of our
cognitive activity, so most of our decisions, actions, emotions, and behavior depend on the
ninety-five percent of brain activity that goes beyond our conscious awareness. From the beating
of our hearts to pushing the grocery cart and not smashing into the kitty litter, we rely on
something that is called the adaptive unconscious, which is all the ways that our brains
understand the world that the mind and the body must negotiate. The adaptive unconscious makes
it possible for us to, say, turn a corner in our car without having to go through elaborate
calculations to determine the precise angle of the turn, the velocity of the automobile, the
steering radius of the car. It is hat can make us understand the correct meaning of statements
like “prostitutes appeal to pope” or “children make nourishing snacks” without believing that
they mean that the pope has an illicit life and cannibals are munching on children.
Consuming Thoughts
Gerald Zaltman uses examples like these in many of his conversations. He may be an emeritus
professor from the Harvard Business School, but he thinks about layers of consciousness like a
neuroscientist. He is also a founding partner in Olson Zaltman Associates, a consulting firm
that provides guidance to businesses seeking to better understand the minds – and in this case
it is quite literally the minds – of consumers. As a professor of marketing, Zaltman obviously
was very interested in figuring out what made people buy one thing and not the other. In the
world of neuroscience, this goes to the heart of the profound questions of motivation. In the
world of business, this goes to the bottom line.
When trying to probe the minds of consumers, Zaltman wondered if there was a way to move beyond
the often unreliable focus group to get at the true desires of consumers, unencumbered by the
noise, which would finally result in more effective sales and marketing.
His solution became U.S. Patent No. 5,436,830, also known as Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation
Technique, which is, according to the patent, “a technique for eliciting interconnected
constructs that influence thought and behavior.” From Hallmark cards to Broadway plays, from
Nestle’s Crunch bars to the design for the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, ZMET has been used
to figure out how to craft a message so that consumers will respond with the important
ninety-five percent of their brains that motivates many of their choices. How? Through accessing
the deep metaphors that people, even without knowing it, associate with a particular product or
feeling or place.
Language is limited, Zaltman says, “and it can’t be confused with the thought itself.” Images,
however, move a bit closer to capturing fragments of the rich and contradictory areas of
unconscious feelings. Participants in his studies cut out pictures that represent their thoughts
and feelings about a particular subject, even if they can’t explain why. He discovered that when
people do this, they often discover a core, a deep metaphor simultaneously embedded in a unique
setting.” They are drawn to seasonal or heroic myths, for example, or images like blood and fire
and mother. They are also drawn into deep concepts like journey and transformation. His work
around the world has convinced him that the menu of these unconscious metaphors is limited and
universal, in the manner of human emotions like hope and grief.
And Zaltman has found that even grand metaphors have their practical applications. The
architectural firm Astorino and the design firm Fathom asked Zaltman for help in designing a new
children’s hospital that would make a difficult experience somehow easier for children, their
parents, and the people who work there. With the classic ZMET technique, children, parents, and
staff members cut pictures they somehow associated with the hospital and were then interviewed
for nearly two hours about these pictures, exploring the thoughts, feelings, and associations
that they triggered. A stream of metaphors emerged in the conversations. A child brought in a
picture of a mournful-looking pug, which she colored blue because he’s kind of sad, and that’s
the way I feel when I’m in the ICU or just can’t get out of my room.”
After each picture was thoroughly analyzed by the participants, the images were scanned, and
another interviewer with a computer and a talent for the Photoshop program sat with the parent,
child, or staff member and created a collage, a personal Rorschach test of the images. This
snapshot of the participants’ unconscious associations with the hospital was then enlarged to
include personal narratives using the collage. The process is painstaking, but after the
transcripts of these sessions are reviewed, even in all the enormous variety of human
expressions and emotion, core themes emerge. In the case of Children’s Hospital, says Christine
Astorino Del Sole of the Fathom firm, “the main metaphor was transformation, and the supporting
metaphors were control, connection, and energy.”
So how does that translate into the physical space? When patients and their families walk into
the new hospital, which will be completed in 2008, they will be surrounded by images of
butterflies, the ultimate symbol of transformation. Patient rooms will be more like home, and
children will be able to exercise some control over their personal space. A huge garden,
embodying transformation as well as energy and connection, will be visible from all rooms and
accessible to children and their families. “Before, design was a guessing game: it was hit or
miss,” says Del Sole. “But we know now that at the deepest level this hospital has to be about
transformation.” So when a sick child, or a worried parent, or a harassed nurse walks into this
hospital, a deep and reassuring recognition of the potential beauties of transformation will
resonate unconsciously.
Saves of Cola
Zaltman, obviously, is not the only person peering into the mind of the consumer. In a
neruroscientific take on time-honored blind taste test, Coke and Pepsi once again squared off.
In Blink, Gladwell describes how the Coca-Cola Co. made a costly mistake in using data from
blind taste tests between Coke and Pepsi – in which Pepsi was emphatically preferred by most
cola drinkers – to change the recipe and create her marketing debacle that was New Coke. Still,
even with a less preferred taste, Coke remains No. 1 in the soft drink world. More recent
research that was published after Gladwell’s book was finished may explain why.
Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine offered 67 committed Coke and Pepsi drinkers a choice,
and in blind testing, they preferred Pepsi. When they were shown the company logos before they
drank, however, 3 out of 4 preferred Coke. The researchers scanned the brains of the
participants during the test and discovered that the Coke label created wild activity in the
part of the brain associated with memories and self-image, while Pepsi, though tasting better to
most, did little to these feel-good centers in the brain. P. Reed Montague director of the Brown
Foundation Human Neuroimaging laboratory at Baylor, explained when the study was released last
October: “There’s a huge effect of the Coke label on brain activity related to the control of
actions, the dredging up of memories and self-image.” The mere red-and-white image of Coke made
the hippocampus, our brain’s vault of memories, and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, which is
responsible form any of our higher human brain functions like working memory and what is called
executive function or control of behavior, light up. The point, says Montague, is that “there is
a response in the brain which leads to a behavioral effect.” And curiously, it has nothing to do
with conscious preference.
The dog comes up and begins to sniff. If it remembers you and you were a nice person, then
instantly it wags its tail, perhaps even deigns to lick your wrist. It may avoid you. I may
associate you with food or with a swift kick. And all those images, all those associations are
evoked by one healthy whiff.
Aside from the basic inhibition against walking up to someone and sniffing, humans are no
different. An odor is not just a name – it is a whole context,” says psychiatrist Dolores
Malaspina of the New York State Psychiatric Institute and the Columbia University Medical
Center. Olfactory information is “privileged,” Malaspina explains, since it is the only one of
our five senses that does not make a brief stop at the brain’s relay station the thalamus,
before going to the ever so intellectual prefrontal cortex. Smell is unmediated, unfiltered, and
it hits the prefrontal cortex with a wallop of intensity. Researchers have found that smell
plays a strong role in our motion choices, even without our knowing it. And when the female
roommates synchronize their menstrual cycles, it I because the unconscious perception of odor
sets off the endocrine system. Our brains, says Malaspina, “beginning with fetal development,
are laid out to give precedence to olfactory perception.”
But what happens if olfactory perception doesn’t work properly? Malaspina and other researchers
are looking at the olfactory sense in emotional disorders and have found some intriguing
results. While schizophrenia is seen as s disorder of hallucinations and delusions, a more
compelling and disruptive element of the disorder is social impairment. Some people with
schizophrenia can’t seem to read social cues, or manage social relationships, or summon a social
context for whatever encounter they are experiencing. And while hallucinations and delusions can
be controlled often through medication, these basic social impairments cause far more difficulty
in dealing with the daily demands of life.
Research has shown that many people with schizophrenia can also suffer from “clinically
meaningful olfactory impairment,” which includes dysfunction in higher brain centers such as the
parietal lobes – the part of the brain that’s responsible for integrating sensory output so as
to understand something like reading social cues or contextualizing these cues. Just as a smell
can elicit an immediate image of a particular time and place, lacking that ability can deprive
someone of a basic social and emotional anchor in life. “What we are learning is that smell is a
good window into the unconscious basis for sociability and social interest,” says Malaspina.
“There is a tremendous explosion of interest in this forgotten sense. And it was under our noses
all the time.”
The scenario occurs in hospital rooms throughout the world, thousands of times every day. A
brain-damaged father or mother or child lies in bed, not completely unconscious, not in a coma,
but demonstrating only flickering consciousness, small behaviors that show there is some
evidence of the person who once was there, some evidence that this person perhaps knows friends
and family members are near by. Medically, these patients are categorized as existing in a
minimally conscious state of awareness; it is estimated that there are 100,000 to 300,000
Americans in such a state right now. Sometimes these patients are able to actually utter the
name of an object or to follow a very simple command. But for friends and family, they are no
longer themselves. And because they find language so difficult, it is also assumed that they are
unlikely to follow conversations.
The Eye Of The Mind?
But in a stunning study published this month in the journal Neurology, researchers used
functional magnetic resonance imaging to study the brains of two minimally conscious patients
and compared them with the brains of seven healthy men and woman. The scans revealed that the
minimally conscious patients had less than half of the brain activity of the others. But then
all the subjects were played a tape made by a family member or friend, recounting happy memories
and shared experiences. One minimally conscious man listened to his sister reminiscing about her
wedding and about the toast that he made. The result was astonishing; All those who were
scanned, including the minimally conscious patients, shared similar brain activity, some with
activation in the visual cortex. “This shows hat there is life of the mind beyond what is
apparent,” says Joseph Fins, chief of he medical ethics division of New York-Presbyterian
Hospital-Weill Cornell Medical Center. But Fins, who was not involved in the study, pints out
that philosophical questions also emerge. “Does this mean that they are seeing words:
visualizing semantic concepts? Does this in some way conceptualize consciousness?” As Zaltman
pints out, language is only the narrowest determination of our thoughts. This study shows that
our brains, even damaged brains, are exquisitely attuned to that fact.
For the brain damaged and for the healthy, despite the evidence of the prevalence of the
unconscious in our daily lives, even as fervent a believer as Zaltman urges a bit of caution. “I
don’t think we know what the batting average is for purely rational reasons or reasons dressed
up that way, or reasons dressed up as purely intuition. Both can get us into trouble – often do.
And both serve us well.” It is that great tension between the two, the intermingling of the
known and the unknown, the conscious and the unconscious, the 5 percent and the 95 percent, that
the pioneers exploring this vast and intricate universe of our minds will continue to probe. But
there will most likely never be a complete understanding. After all, the enigmas of the mind,
and the mechanics of the brain, will forever define the ultimate mystery of simply being human.
Making Those Choices About Right and Wrong
If asked if it would ever be OK to kill your own child, you don’t have to think very hard before
answering, “No.” And no matter what arguments someone offered, you would probably wince at the
idea that even consensual, safe sex between siblings is anything but bad.
Jonathan Haidt, a psychology professor at the University of Virginia, believes these initial
reactions are based on five intuitions, deep-wired in the brain by eons of evolution. Cultural
norms and practices re based on these instincts, he says, much as cuisines are built on the five
taste receptors.
Haidt believes that moral judgment begins with these intuitions and that only later do we search
for a reason to justify our reactions. That doesn’t mean we can’t change our minds or that we’re
trapped by our primitive instincts: reasons given by other people and unspoken social pressure
can change our minds. “It’s just very hard for people to challenge their gut feelings by
themselves,” he says. “Once they have a feeling about an issue, people are bad at looking for
reasons to oppose it. And when feelings are strong, it almost hurts to think about things from
your opponent’s point of view.”
Haidt isn’t saying you ought to follow your gut – only that people generally do. What happens
when we try to decide? Go back to the idea that you should never kill your child. A group of
researchers at Princeton University gave research subjects this dilemma: Enemy soldiers have
taken over your village and will kill civilians they find. You are hiding in the cellar of a
house with a group of townspeople, and you hear the soldiers enter the house. Your baby starts
to cry, and the only way to quiet him is to hold your hand over his mouth and, eventually,
smother him. But if the baby keeps crying, the soldiers will discover your group and kill
everyone, the baby included. What should you do?
Emotional Brain
The subjects were about equally divided on whether to kill the baby. More interesting was what
their brains were doing – measured by functional magnetic resonance imaging, or FMRI, during the
decision process. Obviously, this scenario appeals to emotion, so it’s not surprising that parts
of the brain involving emotion showed activity. But so did an area involved in monitoring
conflict and another involved with abstract reasoning and cognitive control. In research
published last fall in Neuron, the researchers hypothesized that these findings suggest a
conflict between the emotional responses and higher cognitive processing. When a tough moral
question is posed, the reasoning processes of the brain conflicts with the more automatic
emotional response, and the decision takes longer (as opposed to a faster response to a more
straight forward question, like “Is murder wrong?).
Like Haidt, the authors speculate that this conflict has evolutionary roots. The more abstract
reasoning goes on in the more recently evolved parts of the brain. The “gut” response isn’t
always the wrong one, but it’s not automatically right because it “feels good” either.
Conditions have changed since we automatically followed our more primitive brains. Perhaps we
were hard-wired to feel this genetic sympathy for close relatives but not for people living
thousands of miles away (our ancestors didn’t even know they existed).
Joshua Greene of the Princeton team proposes that a moral judgment is ultimately a balance of
several different considerations – the initial, primal reaction; empathy; cultural or religious
norms; and individual reasoning. Sometimes these will all be in line and make the decision an
easy one, but often they will conflict. It makes for exciting science (and philosophy), even if
it doesn’t offer easy answers to the toughest questions of how to live.
Sen. Tom Coburn’s (R-Okla.) Chief of Staff: ‘All Pornography Is Homosexual Pornography’
By David Weigel 9/20/09 1:54 PM
One of the final events of the Values Voter Summit was a Saturday breakout session on “the new masculinity,” a wide-ranging topic that one speaker used to explain how any and all pornography could lead young people into homosexual lifestyles. That speaker was Sen. Tom Coburn’s (R-Okla.) chief of staff Michael Schwartz, a longtime conservative activist who has worked for the senator since 2005.
“Pornography is a blight,” Schwartz told an audience in a crowded room of the Omni Shoreham hotel. “It is a disaster. It is one of those silent diseases in our society that we haven’t been able to overcome very well. Now, I may be getting politically incorrect here. And it’s been a few years, but not that many, since I was closely associated with pre-adolescent boys, boys around 10 years of age. But it is my observation that boys of that age have less tolerance for homosexuality than just about any other class of people. They speak badly about homosexuality. And that’s because they don’t want to be that way. They don’t want to fall into it.”
Schwartz told the crowd about Jim Johnson, a friend of his who turned an old hotel into a hospice for gay men dying of AIDS. “One of the things he said to me,” said Schwartz, “that I think is an astonishingly insightful remark… he said ‘All pornography is homosexual pornography, because all pornography turns your sexual drive inwards.”
There were murmurs and gasps from the crowd. “Now, think about that,” said Schwartz. “And if you tell an 11-year-old boy about that, do you think he’s going to want to get a copy of Playboy? I’m pretty sure he’ll lose interest. That’s the last thing he wants! You know, that’s a good comment, it’s a good point, and it’s a good thing to teach young people.”
Here’s the final portion of Schwartz’s remarks.
so…
basically internalized or introverted sexuality equals homosexuality
same thing
?
oh
and that’s a bad thing
!Luh ah ah Jik!
the first vid in a 17 part series made by AronRa
check out his youtube page for the series and more of his work
http://www.youtube.com/AronRa
http://darwinwasright.homestead.com/1stFFoC.html
The U.S. population seems pretty evenly divided over whether the human species is biologically related to other animals or whether we were “specially-created” as part of a flurry of miracles. Even our collective politicians -seemingly all of them- are wrapped up in this controversy. Yet its hard to find even one of them who knows what its about. Why is it that there is such concern in so many grade schools (K thru 12) about teaching evolution, yet there is still a complete consensus among scientists all over America and the rest of the world -that evolution is the backbone of modern biology, and a demonstrable reality historically as well?
Most people really don’t understand science; what it is, how it works, what hypotheses and theories are, or even the purpose behind it. Sadly even those on your school faculty or state Board of Education often need an education themselves before they can be trusted to govern how or what our kids will be taught, and that’s why I thought I should speak up and do what I can to help.
To adequately understand evolution, you not only have to understand how to be scientific, (which is the real trick for most people) but you also have to know something about cellular biology, genetics, and anatomy, geology, particularly paleontology, as well as environmental systems, tectonics, atomic chemistry, and especially taxonomy, which most people don’t know squat about at all. Most people who accept evolution also tend to know a whole lot about cosmology, geography, history, sociology, politics, and of course, religion.
But to believe in creationism, you don’t have to know anything about anything, and its better if you don’t! Because creationism relies on ignorance. It is not honest research! It is a scam, a con job exploiting the common folk, and preying on their deepest beliefs and fears. Creationist apologetics depends on misrepresented data and misquoted authorities, out-of-date and out-of-context, and uses distorted definitions if it uses definitions at all.
There are basically two types of creationists; the professional or political creationists; these are the activists who lead the movement and who will regularly deliberately lie to promote their propaganda; and the second type which are the innocently-deceived followers commonly known as “sheep”. I know lots of intellectual Christians, but I can’t get any of them to actually watch the tele-evangelists, because they either already know how phony they are, or they don’t want to find out. But that only allows a radical fringe to claim support from they masses they now also claim to represent. So there’s nothing to stop them. Professional creationists are making money hand over fist with faith-healing scams or bilking little old ladies out of prayer donations, or selling books and videos at their circus-like seminars where they have undeserved respect as powerful leaders. All of them feign knowledge they can’t really possess, and some of them claim degrees they’ve never actually earned.
“You are a scientist, correct?”
“That’s right; I have a PhD in truthology from Christian Tech.”
Were it not for this con, they’d have to go back to selling used cars, wonder drugs, and multi-level marketing schemes. They will never change their minds no matter what it costs anyone else. So it is obviously the “sheep” whom I’m attempting to reach with this speech –so that they might not be sheep anymore, and will stop feeding fuel into that manipulative movement. Because its one thing to believe in something that might be true (like God in general or Christianity specifically) even though neither can be substantiated or tested in any objective way. But it is a whole other matter to willfully deceive others into believing things which are definitely not true -like creationism, especially when we can also prove that those doing this know their assorted arguments are bogus, and know they’re lying to our children, and that they hope to continue doing so under the guise of “education”.
Creationism extorts support through peer-pressure, prejudice, and paranoid propaganda, and sells itself with short, simplistic slogans which appeal to those who don’t want to think too much, or are afraid to question their own beliefs. Worst of all, it actually forbids critical inquiry, and promotes anti-intellectualism, and it is based on at least a dozen foundational falsehoods. First and foremost among them is the idea that accepting evolution requires the rejection of theism, if not all other religious or spiritual beliefs as well.
For decades those behind the creationism movement have tried very hard to portray the illusion that one cannot accept evolution and still believe in God. They know better, but they still want you to believe that evolution is atheist, and that it is either evolution without God, or God creating without evolution. That’s been their central claim since the creationism movement began. But this supposed controversy never was about whether or not there is a god. Most people believe there is a god, and they believe he is in control of all the seemingly-random events of our lives. This is true of most of the people who accept evolution also. Most of them believe in God as well, and they believe that God is in control of evolution; that evolution, like every other system in nature, is part of God’s design.
Of the couple hundred different, and often violently-conflicting denominations of Christianity, the largest of them by far is Catholicism followed by Orthodoxy. Both of these have stated support of evolution and denounced creationism. Pope Benedict recently described evolution as an “enriching reality” and described creationist contests against it as “absurd”. Both of the popes before him advised Christians ‘round the world to consider evolution to be “more than an hypothesis” and not to fear acceptance of that as being any challenge to their faith in Christ.
The early pioneers of evolutionary science were all initially Christian, (including Darwin) and many leading proponents of modern evolutionary science are still Christian today. For example, microbiologist Dr. Ken Miller, (who testified against intelligent design creationism in Kitzmiller v. Dover) -is a Catholic. Another outspoken proponent of evolution, Dr. Robert T. Bakker, (who has PhDs from both Harvard and Yale) is not only one of the leading, and most recognizable paleontologists in the world today, but he also happens to be a Bible-believing Pentecostal preacher; though he interprets Genesis differently than literalists would. In his book, Bones, Bibles and Creation, he says that to treat the Bible as though it were common history is to degrade its eternal meaning. One of the earliest geneticists, Theodosius Dobzhansky was an Orthodox Christian who many times professed his belief that life was created by God, but that nothing in biology made sense except in light of evolution. All these men agree that even if there really is a god, and even if that god is the Christian god, and even if that god created the universe and everything in it, =which they all believe- evolution would still be at least mostly true, and creationism would still be completely wrong.
Of all the developed nations throughout Christendom, only the United States has a significant number of creationists, and they’re the minority even here! Every other predominantly-Christian country tends to regard creationism as an incredulous, (if not insane) radical fringe movement which is an almost exclusively American phenomenon, and not taken seriously anywhere else. Poll after poll continues to reveal that, around the world, most “evolutionists” are Christian, and most Christians are evolutionists. So evolution is not synonymous with atheism, and creationism isn’t synonymous with Christianity either. Most creationists aren’t even Christians! There are millions more Muslim and Hindu creationists than Christian ones.
Regardless which religion they claim, creationism can be collectively defined as the fraction of religious believers who reject science, not just the conclusions of science, but its methods as well, and I mean all of them, from uniformitarianism and methodological naturalism to the peer review process and requirement that all positive claims be based on testable evidence. These people rely instead on blind faith in the assumed authority of their favored fables. In all cases, creationism is an obstinate and dogmatic superstitious belief which holds that members of most seemingly-related taxonomic groups did not evolve naturally, but were created magically, -that plants and animals were literally poofed out of nothing fully-formed, in their current state, unrelated to anything else –despite all indications to the contrary.
Creationists may side with western Abrahamic religions, (being the Judeo-Christian/Islamic mythos) in which there are conflicting versions of the same tales. Or creationists may belong to one of many eastern religions where the sacred stories of creation are much older, completely different, and dedicated to other gods and pantheons. But in every case, the proposed “creator” is supernatural, meaning that it is not a part of perceptible reality. Therefore it is undetectable by any testable means, and can only be assumed to exist for subjective emotional reasons, or as a result of cultural indoctrination, rather than because of any measurable evidence or logical rationale. In other words, there’s no way to say if its really there. Worst of all, there’s also no way to distinguish anyone’s gods or ghosts from the imaginary beings some primitive folks just made up either. This doesn’t mean no god exists. But it does mean that science can’t say anything about them. Because even if gods are real, they still don’t appear to be, and apparently don’t want to –since all the holy books demand they be believed on faith alone. As there is nothing anyone can verify and thus actually know to be correct about gods, then science is unable to make any comment about them at all. Because science can only ever investigate things with demonstrable evidence can be tested or measured.
From the creationist’s perspective, the method or mechanism of creation which these mystical beings use is nothing more than a golem spell where clay statues are animated with an enchantment. Or its an incantation in which complex modern plants and animals are “spoken” into being. That’s right, magic words which cause fully-developed adult animals to be conjured out of thin air. Or a god simply wishes them to exist; so they do. That’s it! There really is nothing more to it than that; pure freakin’ magic –by definition. Remember that the next time you hear anything from a creation “scientist”.
So for those who believe in God, the question really is how God created, and whether it was by one of many inextricably integrated natural systems he seemingly designed, or whether he simply blinked, wiggled his nose, wished upon a star and said “abra-cadabera”.
The 1st Falsehood of creationism:
“evolution = atheism”
im kinda sick and tired
figuratively
literally
idk
values have shifted
self has become clearer
steal has rubbed steel to a sharpness
i’ve always been cognizant of this line of logic
but never felt or perceived a need to be or obtain such
not that im back into vamachara or that im gettin all left handed again
maybe so though
idk
LOGIC!
The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene
we’ll see
The 48 Laws of Power
by Robert Greene and Joost Elffers
http://www2.tech.purdue.edu/cg/Cours…s_of_power.htm
Law 1
Never Outshine the Master
Always make those above you feel comfortably superior. In your desire to please or impress them, do not go too far in displaying your talents or you might accomplish the opposite – inspire fear and insecurity. Make your masters appear more brilliant than they are and you will attain the heights of power.
Law 2
Never put too Much Trust in Friends, Learn how to use Enemies
Be wary of friends-they will betray you more quickly, for they are easily aroused to envy. They also become spoiled and tyrannical. But hire a former enemy and he will be more loyal than a friend, because he has more to prove. In fact, you have more to fear from friends than from enemies. If you have no enemies, find a way to make them.
Law 3
Conceal your Intentions
Keep people off-balance and in the dark by never revealing the purpose behind your actions. If they have no clue what you are up to, they cannot prepare a defense. Guide them far enough down the wrong path, envelope them in enough smoke, and by the time they realize your intentions, it will be too late.
Law 4
Always Say Less than Necessary
When you are trying to impress people with words, the more you say, the more common you appear, and the less in control. Even if you are saying something banal, it will seem original if you make it vague, open-ended, and sphinxlike. Powerful people impress and intimidate by saying less. The more you say, the more likely you are to say something foolish.
Law 5
So Much Depends on Reputation – Guard it with your Life
Reputation is the cornerstone of power. Through reputation alone you can intimidate and win; once you slip, however, you are vulnerable, and will be attacked on all sides. Make your reputation unassailable. Always be alert to potential attacks and thwart them before they happen. Meanwhile, learn to destroy your enemies by opening holes in their own reputations. Then stand aside and let public opinion hang them.
Law 6
Court Attention at all Cost
Everything is judged by its appearance; what is unseen counts for nothing. Never let yourself get lost in the crowd, then, or buried in oblivion. Stand out. Be conspicuous, at all cost. Make yourself a magnet of attention by appearing larger, more colorful, more mysterious, than the bland and timid masses.
Law 7
Get others to do the Work for you, but Always Take the Credit
Use the wisdom, knowledge, and legwork of other people to further your own cause. Not only will such assistance save you valuable time and energy, it will give you a godlike aura of efficiency and speed. In the end your helpers will be forgotten and you will be remembered. Never do yourself what others can do for you.
Law 8
Make other People come to you – use Bait if Necessary
When you force the other person to act, you are the one in control. It is always better to make your opponent come to you, abandoning his own plans in the process. Lure him with fabulous gains – then attack. You hold the cards.
Law 9
Win through your Actions, Never through Argument
Any momentary triumph you think gained through argument is really a Pyrrhic victory: The resentment and ill will you stir up is stronger and lasts longer than any momentary change of opinion. It is much more powerful to get others to agree with you through your actions, without saying a word. Demonstrate, do not explicate.
Law 10
Infection: Avoid the Unhappy and Unlucky
You can die from someone else’s misery – emotional states are as infectious as disease. You may feel you are helping the drowning man but you are only precipitating your own disaster. The unfortunate sometimes draw misfortune on themselves; they will also draw it on you. Associate with the happy and fortunate instead.
Law 11
Learn to Keep People Dependent on You
To maintain your independence you must always be needed and wanted. The more you are relied on, the more freedom you have. Make people depend on you for their happiness and prosperity and you have nothing to fear. Never teach them enough so that they can do without you.
Law 12
Use Selective Honesty and Generosity to Disarm your Victim
One sincere and honest move will cover over dozens of dishonest ones. Open-hearted gestures of honesty and generosity bring down the guard of even the most suspicious people. Once your selective honesty opens a hole in their armor, you can deceive and manipulate them at will. A timely gift – a Trojan horse – will serve the same purpose.
Law 13
When Asking for Help, Appeal to People’s Self-Interest,
Never to their Mercy or Gratitude
If you need to turn to an ally for help, do not bother to remind him of your past assistance and good deeds. He will find a way to ignore you. Instead, uncover something in your request, or in your alliance with him, that will benefit him, and emphasize it out of all proportion. He will respond enthusiastically when he sees something to be gained for himself.
Law 14
Pose as a Friend, Work as a Spy
Knowing about your rival is critical. Use spies to gather valuable information that will keep you a step ahead. Better still: Play the spy yourself. In polite social encounters, learn to probe. Ask indirect questions to get people to reveal their weaknesses and intentions. There is no occasion that is not an opportunity for artful spying.
Law 15
Crush your Enemy Totally
All great leaders since Moses have known that a feared enemy must be crushed completely. (Sometimes they have learned this the hard way.) If one ember is left alight, no matter how dimly it smolders, a fire will eventually break out. More is lost through stopping halfway than through total annihilation: The enemy will recover, and will seek revenge. Crush him, not only in body but in spirit.
Law 16
Use Absence to Increase Respect and Honor
Too much circulation makes the price go down: The more you are seen and heard from, the more common you appear. If you are already established in a group, temporary withdrawal from it will make you more talked about, even more admired. You must learn when to leave. Create value through scarcity.
Law 17
Keep Others in Suspended Terror: Cultivate an Air of Unpredictability
Humans are creatures of habit with an insatiable need to see familiarity in other people’s actions. Your predictability gives them a sense of control. Turn the tables: Be deliberately unpredictable. Behavior that seems to have no consistency or purpose will keep them off-balance, and they will wear themselves out trying to explain your moves. Taken to an extreme, this strategy can intimidate and terrorize.
Law 18
Do Not Build Fortresses to Protect Yourself – Isolation is Dangerous
The world is dangerous and enemies are everywhere – everyone has to protect themselves. A fortress seems the safest. But isolation exposes you to more dangers than it protects you from – it cuts you off from valuable information, it makes you conspicuous and an easy target. Better to circulate among people find allies, mingle. You are shielded from your enemies by the crowd.
Law 19
Know Who You’re Dealing with – Do Not Offend the Wrong Person
There are many different kinds of people in the world, and you can never assume that everyone will react to your strategies in the same way. Deceive or outmaneuver some people and they will spend the rest of their lives seeking revenge. They are wolves in lambs’ clothing. Choose your victims and opponents carefully, then – never offend or deceive the wrong person.
Law 20
Do Not Commit to Anyone
It is the fool who always rushes to take sides. Do not commit to any side or cause but yourself. By maintaining your independence, you become the master of others – playing people against one another, making them pursue you.
Law 21
Play a Sucker to Catch a Sucker – Seem Dumber than your Mark
No one likes feeling stupider than the next persons. The trick, is to make your victims feel smart – and not just smart, but smarter than you are. Once convinced of this, they will never suspect that you may have ulterior motives.
Law 22
Use the Surrender Tactic: Transform Weakness into Power
When you are weaker, never fight for honor’s sake; choose surrender instead. Surrender gives you time to recover, time to torment and irritate your conqueror, time to wait for his power to wane. Do not give him the satisfaction of fighting and defeating you – surrender first. By turning the other check you infuriate and unsettle him. Make surrender a tool of power.
Law 23
Concentrate Your Forces
Conserve your forces and energies by keeping them concentrated at their strongest point. You gain more by finding a rich mine and mining it deeper, than by flitting from one shallow mine to another – intensity defeats extensity every time. When looking for sources of power to elevate you, find the one key patron, the fat cow who will give you milk for a long time to come.
Law 24
Play the Perfect Courtier
The perfect courtier thrives in a world where everything revolves around power and political dexterity. He has mastered the art of indirection; he flatters, yields to superiors, and asserts power over others in the mot oblique and graceful manner. Learn and apply the laws of courtiership and there will be no limit to how far you can rise in the court.
Law 25
Re-Create Yourself
Do not accept the roles that society foists on you. Re-create yourself by forging a new identity, one that commands attention and never bores the audience. Be the master of your own image rather than letting others define if for you. Incorporate dramatic devices into your public gestures and actions – your power will be enhanced and your character will seem larger than life.
Law 26
Keep Your Hands Clean
You must seem a paragon of civility and efficiency: Your hands are never soiled by mistakes and nasty deeds. Maintain such a spotless appearance by using others as scapegoats and cat’s-paws to disguise your involvement.
Law 27
Play on People’s Need to Believe to Create a Cultlike Following
People have an overwhelming desire to believe in something. Become the focal point of such desire by offering them a cause, a new faith to follow. Keep your words vague but full of promise; emphasize enthusiasm over rationality and clear thinking. Give your new disciples rituals to perform, ask them to make sacrifices on your behalf. In the absence of organized religion and grand causes, your new belief system will bring you untold power.
Law 28
Enter Action with Boldness
If you are unsure of a course of action, do not attempt it. Your doubts and hesitations will infect your execution. Timidity is dangerous: Better to enter with boldness. Any mistakes you commit through audacity are easily corrected with more audacity. Everyone admires the bold; no one honors the timid.
Law 29
Plan All the Way to the End
The ending is everything. Plan all the way to it, taking into account all the possible consequences, obstacles, and twists of fortune that might reverse your hard work and give the glory to others. By planning to the end you will not be overwhelmed by circumstances and you will know when to stop. Gently guide fortune and help determine the future by thinking far ahead.
Law 30
Make your Accomplishments Seem Effortless
Your actions must seem natural and executed with ease. All the toil and practice that go into them, and also all the clever tricks, must be concealed. When you act, act effortlessly, as if you could do much more. Avoid the temptation of revealing how hard you work – it only raises questions. Teach no one your tricks or they will be used against you.
Law 31
Control the Options: Get Others to Play with the Cards you Deal
The best deceptions are the ones that seem to give the other person a choice: Your victims feel they are in control, but are actually your puppets. Give people options that come out in your favor whichever one they choose. Force them to make choices between the lesser of two evils, both of which serve your purpose. Put them on the horns of a dilemma: They are gored wherever they turn.
Law 32
Play to People’s Fantasies
The truth is often avoided because it is ugly and unpleasant. Never appeal to truth and reality unless you are prepared for the anger that comes for disenchantment. Life is so harsh and distressing that people who can manufacture romance or conjure up fantasy are like oases in the desert: Everyone flocks to them. There is great power in tapping into the fantasies of the masses.
Law 33
Discover Each Man’s Thumbscrew
Everyone has a weakness, a gap in the castle wall. That weakness is usual y an insecurity, an uncontrollable emotion or need; it can also be a small secret pleasure. Either way, once found, it is a thumbscrew you can turn to your advantage.
Law 34
Be Royal in your Own Fashion: Act like a King to be treated like one
The way you carry yourself will often determine how you are treated; In the long run, appearing vulgar or common will make people disrespect you. For a king respects himself and inspires the same sentiment in others. By acting regally and confident of your powers, you make yourself seem destined to wear a crown.
Law 35
Master the Art of Timing
Never seem to be in a hurry – hurrying betrays a lack of control over yourself, and over time. Always seem patient, as if you know that everything will come to you eventually. Become a detective of the right moment; sniff out the spirit of the times, the trends that will carry you to power. Learn to stand back when the time is not yet ripe, and to strike fiercely when it has reached fruition.
Law 36
Disdain Things you cannot have: Ignoring them is the best Revenge
By acknowledging a petty problem you give it existence and credibility. The more attention you pay an enemy, the stronger you make him; and a small mistake is often made worse and more visible when you try to fix it. It is sometimes best to leave things alone. If there is something you want but cannot have, show contempt for it. The less interest you reveal, the more superior you seem.
Law 37
Create Compelling Spectacles
Striking imagery and grand symbolic gestures create the aura of power – everyone responds to them. Stage spectacles for those around you, then full of arresting visuals and radiant symbols that heighten your presence. Dazzled by appearances, no one will notice what you are really doing.
Law 38
Think as you like but Behave like others
If you make a show of going against the times, flaunting your unconventional ideas and unorthodox ways, people will think that you only want attention and that you look down upon them. They will find a way to punish you for making them feel inferior. It is far safer to blend in and nurture the common touch. Share your originality only with tolerant friends and those who are sure to appreciate your uniqueness.
Law 39
Stir up Waters to Catch Fish
Anger and emotion are strategically counterproductive. You must always stay calm and objective. But if you can make your enemies angry while staying calm yourself, you gain a decided advantage. Put your enemies off-balance: Find the chink in their vanity through which you can rattle them and you hold the strings.
Law 40
Despise the Free Lunch
What is offered for free is dangerous – it usually involves either a trick or a hidden obligation. What has worth is worth paying for. By paying your own way you stay clear of gratitude, guilt, and deceit. It is also often wise to pay the full price – there is no cutting corners with excellence. Be lavish with your money and keep it circulating, for generosity is a sign and a magnet for power.
Law 41
Avoid Stepping into a Great Man’s Shoes
What happens first always appears better and more original than what comes after. If you succeed a great man or have a famous parent, you will have to accomplish double their achievements to outshine them. Do not get lost in their shadow, or stuck in a past not of your own making: Establish your own name and identity by changing course. Slay the overbearing father, disparage his legacy, and gain power by shining in your own way.
Law 42
Strike the Shepherd and the Sheep will Scatter
Trouble can often be traced to a single strong individual – the stirrer, the arrogant underling, the poisoned of goodwill. If you allow such people room to operate, others will succumb to their influence. Do not wait for the troubles they cause to multiply, do not try to negotiate with them – they are irredeemable. Neutralize their influence by isolating or banishing them. Strike at the source of the trouble and the sheep will scatter.
Law 43
Work on the Hearts and Minds of Others
Coercion creates a reaction that will eventually work against you. You must seduce others into wanting to move in your direction. A person you have seduced becomes your loyal pawn. And the way to seduce others is to operate on their individual psychologies and weaknesses. Soften up the resistant by working on their emotions, playing on what they hold dear and what they fear. Ignore the hearts and minds of others and they will grow to hate you.
Law 44
Disarm and Infuriate with the Mirror Effect
The mirror reflects reality, but it is also the perfect tool for deception: When you mirror your enemies, doing exactly as they do, they cannot figure out your strategy. The Mirror Effect mocks and humiliates them, making them overreact. By holding up a mirror to their psyches, you seduce them with the illusion that you share their values; by holding up a mirror to their actions, you teach them a lesson. Few can resist the power of Mirror Effect.
Law 45
Preach the Need for Change, but Never Reform too much at Once
Everyone understands the need for change in the abstract, but on the day-to-day level people are creatures of habit. Too much innovation is traumatic, and will lead to revolt. If you are new to a position of power, or an outsider trying to build a power base, make a show of respecting the old way of doing things. If change is necessary, make it feel like a gentle improvement on the past.
Law 46
Never appear too Perfect
Appearing better than others is always dangerous, but most dangerous of all is to appear to have no faults or weaknesses. Envy creates silent enemies. It is smart to occasionally display defects, and admit to harmless vices, in order to deflect envy and appear more human and approachable. Only gods and the dead can seem perfect with impunity.
Law 47
Do not go Past the Mark you Aimed for; In Victory, Learn when to Stop
The moment of victory is often the moment of greatest peril. In the heat of victory, arrogance and overconfidence can push you past the goal you had aimed for, and by going too far, you make more enemies than you defeat. Do not allow success to go to your head. There is no substitute for strategy and careful planning. Set a goal, and when you reach it, stop.
Law 48
Assume Formlessness
By taking a shape, by having a visible plan, you open yourself to attack. Instead of taking a form for your enemy to grasp, keep yourself adaptable and on the move. Accept the fact that nothing is certain and no law is fixed. The best way to protect yourself is to be as fluid and formless as water; never bet on stability or lasting order. Everything changes.
View Current Issue (Volume 60 Issue 13 September 2009) Advance Access Browse the Archive
The Journal of Experimental Botany publishes high-quality primary research papers in the plant sciences. These papers cover a range of disciplines from molecular and cellular physiology and biochemistry through whole plant physiology to community physiology. Every issue of the Journal contains at least one ‘Perspective’ article. These are most commonly reviews of research areas, which are particularly exciting and important, topical or controversial. Opinion articles are also considered. In addition to 12 regular issues, at least one Special Issue is published each year. These are collections of articles derived from a specialised meeting or conference session. All papers are fully reviewed, and we will endeavour to complete the review process with all speed.
Journal of Experimental Botany named one of the top 100 most influential journals in Biology and Medicine over the last 100 years (DBIO 100)
crackers
negros
and sundry ochre shaded folk
and you know!!!
Weeding out marijuana: Researchers close in on engineering recognizable, drug-free Cannabis plant
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-09/uom-wom091509.php
U of Minnesota researchers identify genes producing THC
In a first step toward engineering a drug-free Cannabis plant for hemp fiber and oil, University of Minnesota researchers have identified genes producing tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive substance in marijuana. Studying the genes could also lead to new and better drugs for pain, nausea and other conditions.
The finding is published in the September issue of the Journal of Experimental Botany. Lead author is David Marks, a professor of plant biology in the College of Biological Sciences.
The study revealed that the genes are active in tiny hairs covering the flowers of Cannabis plants. In marijuana, the hairs accumulate high amounts of THC, whereas in hemp the hairs have little. Hemp and marijuana are difficult to distinguish apart from differences in THC.
With the genes identified, finding a way to silence them—and thus produce a drug-free plant — comes a step closer to reality. Another desirable step is to make drug-free plants visually recognizable. Since the hairs can be seen with a magnifying glass, this could be accomplished by engineering a hairless Cannabis plant.
The researchers are currently using the methods of the latest study to identify genes that lead to hair growth in hopes of silencing them.
“We are beginning to understand which genes control hair growth in other plants, and the resources created in our study will allow us to look for similar genes in Cannabis sativa,” said Marks.
“Cannabis genetics can contribute to better agriculture, medicine, and drug enforcement,” said George Weiblen, an associate professor of plant biology and a co-author of the study.
As with Dobermans and Dachshunds, marijuana and hemp are different breeds of the same species (Cannabis sativa), but marijuana contains much more THC than hemp, which is a source of industrial fiber and nutritious oil.
Hemp was raised for its fiber — which is similar to cotton but more durable — in the United States until legislation outlawed all Cannabis plants because they contain THC. Today, marijuana contains as much as 25 percent THC, whereas hemp plants contain less than 0.3 percent.
Hemp was once a popular crop in the upper Midwest because it tolerates a cool climate and marginal soils that won’t support other crops but, after drug legislation, hemp fiber was replaced by plastic and other alternatives. Recent popular demand for hemp products has led some states to consider the economic and environmental benefits of hemp. North Dakota legislation aims to reintroduce it as a crop, and Minnesota is considering similar legislation. At the same time, California and other states permit the medicinal use of marijuana.
“I can’t think of a plant so regarded as a menace by some and a miracle by others,” says Weiblen, who is one of the few researchers in the United States permitted to study Cannabis genetics. In 2006, Weiblen and colleagues developed a DNA “fingerprinting” technique capable of distinguishing among Cannabis plants in criminal investigations.
REVOLVE!
youtube=http://www.youtube.com/v/JhaEc_4zuFI]
so i’ve really been tryin to empathize with this bill
see if i can find the logic play
and how this is a means to an end
i did some extensive and exhausted web searches and most of what i’m herain and seein is a bunch of left leanin libbys cryin on how mommy and daddy are raisin them
how wrong it is that hey are tellin them what to eat
idk
i really want to slap them and say
“quit bitchin about the paradigm you created!”
“you made the bed, lie in it”
“KARMA”
here’s some of the propaganda i’ve received and come across
http://www.federaljack.com/index.php?s=organic <-where is that first vid from? and how scary are they tryin to be in their bullshit boo!
http://www.change.org/ideas/6133/view_blog/hr_875s_425_farm_to_fork_food_fascism_comes_to_america
http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h875/show
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=59474562131
http://www.thenhf.com/press_releases/pr_26_mar_2009.html
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=511973
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Response-to-Myths-and-Fac-by-Aaron-Lucich-090315-298.html
http://www.opednews.com/articles/CODEX-is-in-HR-875–learn-by-Abu-Ahmad-090511-625.html
http://www.opednews.com/populum/search.php?mode=AR&pg=30&from=183&to=0&search_requested=hr+875&submit=Site
idk
my utopian fairy tale would be that these folk said
“ok gub’ment”
“but we are responsible for our own life”
“we dont need nor want for you to do for us”
but again it dawns on me
that is a right sided logic
not left
right now the entity that thinks it owns and runs me has already told me what i can and can’t grow in my garden
they just said i was wrong for a garden of beautiful purple flowers last year
there are hundreds of plants/fruits/veggies that this authoritative entity tells me not to grow
so what does one do now?
what will you do?
the entire bill is listed below
but i’ve taken time to pull ou the prohibitive acts section here
i read that it’s not that organic farming is to become illegal like i keep hearin
and it seems to be focused on interstate commerce more so
even in the penalties section it is focused on businesses of people not their private use
but there is the lack of responsibility in the regulation and inspection by the government(although i wonder if that is only for interstate commerce as well
ya
responsibility is the only issue i see
imo
liberal dems fel entitled for someone to do for them and everyone else
in the projected solipsism of my way is the best way
then they bitch when the folk doin for them arent doin it the way they want
a libertarian rep wuld rather do it his way for him and bitch at himself if he does it wrong
SEC. 401. PROHIBITED ACTS.
It is prohibited–
(1) to manufacture, introduce, deliver for introduction, or receive in interstate commerce any food that is adulterated, misbranded, or otherwise unsafe;
(2) to adulterate or misbrand any food in interstate commerce;
(3) for a food establishment or foreign food establishment to fail to register under section 202, or to operate without a valid registration;
(4) to refuse to permit access to a food establishment or food production facility for the inspection and copying of a record as required under sections 205(f) and 206(a);
(5) to fail to establish or maintain any record or to make any report as required under sections 205(f) and 206(b);
(6) to refuse to permit entry to or inspection of a food establishment as required under section 205;
(7) to fail to provide to the Administrator the results of testing or sampling of food, equipment, or material in contact with food, that is positive for any contaminant under section 205(f)(1)(B);
(8) to fail to comply with a provision, regulation, or order of the Administrator under section 202, 203, 204, 206, or 208;
(9) to slaughter an animal that is capable for use in whole or in part as human food at a food establishment processing any food for commerce, except in compliance with the food safety law;
(10) to transfer food in violation of an administrative detention order under section 402 or to remove or alter a required mark or label identifying the food as detained;
(11) to fail to comply with a recall or other order under section 403; or
(12) to otherwise violate the food safety law.
Text of H.R. 875: Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009
111th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 875
To establish the Food Safety Administration within the Department of Health and Human Services to protect the public health by preventing food-borne illness, ensuring the safety of food, improving research on contaminants leading to food-borne illness, and improving security of food from intentional contamination, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 4, 2009
Ms. DELAURO (for herself, Ms. ESHOO, Ms. DEGETTE, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. ENGEL, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Mr. MURPHY of Connecticut, Ms. SUTTON, Mrs. LOWEY, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. SCHAUER, Mr. NADLER of New York, Mr. BISHOP of New York, Ms. LINDA T. SANCHEZ of California, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. RYAN of Ohio, Ms. GIFFORDS, Mr. FILNER, Mr. HALL of New York, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. PINGREE of Maine, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, and Mr. DEFAZIO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To establish the Food Safety Administration within the Department of Health and Human Services to protect the public health by preventing food-borne illness, ensuring the safety of food, improving research on contaminants leading to food-borne illness, and improving security of food from intentional contamination, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) Short Title- This Act may be cited as the ‘Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009’.
(b) Table of Contents- The table of contents of this Act is as follows:
TITLE I–ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FOOD SAFETY ADMINISTRATION
TITLE II–ADMINISTRATION OF FOOD SAFETY PROGRAM
TITLE III–RESEARCH AND EDUCATION
TITLE IV–ENFORCEMENT
TITLE V–IMPLEMENTATION
SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSES.
(a) Findings- Congress finds that–
(1) the safety of the food supply of the United States is vital to the public health, to public confidence in the food supply, and to the success of the food sector of the Nation’s economy;
(2) lapses in the protection of the food supply and loss of public confidence in food safety are damaging to consumers and the food industry, and place a burden on interstate commerce and international trade;
(3) recent ongoing events demonstrate that the food safety program at the Food and Drug Administration is not effective in controlling hazards in food coming from farms and factories in the United States and food and food ingredients coming from foreign countries, and these events have adversely affected consumer confidence;
(4) the safety and security of the food supply require a systemwide approach to prevent food-borne illness involving the integrated efforts of Federal, State and local agencies; a thorough, broad-based, and coordinated approach to basic and applied science; and intensive, effective, and efficient management of the Nation’s food safety program;
(5) the task of preserving the safety of the food supply of the United States faces tremendous pressures with regard to–
(A) emerging pathogens and other contaminants and the ability to detect all forms of contamination;
(B) the threat of intentional contamination of the food supply;
(C) a growing number of people at high risk for food-borne illnesses, including an increasing population of aging and immune-compromised consumers, together with infants and children;
(D) an increasing volume of imported food, without adequate monitoring, inspection, and systems for prevention of food safety problems; and
(E) maintenance of rigorous inspection of the domestic food processing and food service industries;
(6) Federal food safety standard setting, inspection, enforcement, and research efforts should be based on the best available science and public health considerations, and food safety resources should be systematically deployed in ways that most effectively prevent food-borne illness;
(7) the Food and Drug Administration, an agency within the Department of Health and Human Services, has regulatory jurisdiction over the safety and labeling of 80 percent of the American food supply, encompassing all foods except meat, poultry, and egg products, as well as drugs, medical devices, and biologics;
(8) rapid technological advance and the expansion and globalization of industries in all areas of Food and Drug Administration jurisdiction present challenges and require leadership beyond the capacity of any one agency or agency head to provide;
(9) in the food safety area, the Food and Drug Administration implements provisions of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act that are 70 years old and that antiquated law limits the Food and Drug Administration’s role largely to reacting to and correcting food safety problems after they occur, rather than working with the food industry to systematically prevent problems;
(10) the Food and Drug Administration’s effectiveness is further impaired by fragmentation of leadership and management within the Administration, as major food safety responsibilities are dispersed across the Administration’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, Center for Veterinary Medicine, and Office of Regulatory Affairs;
(11) there is no official with the full-time responsibility and budget authority for food safety at the Food and Drug Administration and food safety competes unsuccessfully with the drug and medical device programs for senior agency management attention and resources; and
(12) improving Federal oversight of food safety requires a modern food safety mandate, clear authorities, and a dedicated official within the Department of Health and Human Services with budget authority to manage an integrated organizational structure and report directly to the Secretary.
(b) Purposes- The purposes of this Act are–
(1) to establish an agency within the Department of Health and Human Services to be known as the ‘Food Safety Administration’ to–
(A) regulate food safety and labeling to strengthen the protection of the public health;
(B) ensure that food establishments fulfill their responsibility to process, store, hold, and transport food in a manner that protects the public health of all people in the United States;
(C) lead an integrated, systemwide approach to food safety and to make more effective and efficient use of resources to prevent food-borne illness;
(D) provide a single focal point within the Department of Health and Human Services for food safety leadership, both nationally and internationally; and
(E) provide an integrated food safety research capability, including internally generated, scientifically and statistically valid studies, in cooperation with academic institutions and other scientific entities of the Federal and State governments;
(2) to transfer to the Food Safety Administration the food safety, labeling, inspection, and enforcement functions that, as of the day before the date of the enactment of this Act, are performed by various components of the Food and Drug Administration and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration;
(3) to modernize and strengthen the Federal food safety law to ensure more effective application and efficient management of the laws for the protection and improvement of public health; and
(4) to establish that food establishments have responsibility to ensure that all stages of production, processing, and distribution of their products or products under their control satisfy the requirements of this law.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) ADMINISTRATION- The term ‘Administration’ means the Food Safety Administration established under section 101(a)(1).
(2) ADMINISTRATOR- The term ‘Administrator’ means the Administrator of Food Safety appointed under section 101(a)(2).
(3) ADULTERATED-
(A) IN GENERAL- The term ‘adulterated’ has the meaning given that term in section 402 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 342).
(B) INCLUSION- The term ‘adulterated’ includes bearing or containing a contaminant that causes illness or death among sensitive populations.
(4) AGENCY- The term ‘agency’ has the meaning given that term in section 551 of title 5, United States Code.
(5) CATEGORY 1 FOOD ESTABLISHMENT- The term ‘category 1 food establishment’ means a food establishment (other than a seafood processing establishment) that slaughters, for the purpose of producing food, animals that are not subject to inspection under the Federal Meat Inspection Act or poultry that are not subject to inspection under the Poultry Products Inspection Act.
(6) CATEGORY 2 FOOD ESTABLISHMENT- The term ‘category 2 food establishment’ means a seafood processing establishment or other food establishment (other than a category 1 establishment) not subject to inspection under the Federal Meat Inspection Act, the Poultry Products Inspection Act, or the Egg Products Inspection Act, that processes raw seafood or other raw animal products, whether fresh or frozen, or other products that the Administrator determines by regulation to pose a significant risk of hazardous contamination.
(7) CATEGORY 3 FOOD ESTABLISHMENT- The term ‘category 3 food establishment’ means a food establishment (other than a category 1 or category 2 establishment) that processes cooked, pasteurized, or otherwise ready-to-eat seafood or other animal products, fresh produce in ready-to-eat raw form, or other products that pose a risk of hazardous contamination.
(8) CATEGORY 4 FOOD ESTABLISHMENT- The term ‘category 4 food establishment’ means a food establishment that processes all other categories of food products not described in paragraphs (5) through (7).
(9) CATEGORY 5 FOOD ESTABLISHMENT- The term ‘category 5 food establishment’ means a food establishment that stores, holds, or transports food products prior to delivery for retail sale.
(10) CONTAMINANT- The term ‘contaminant’ includes a bacterium, chemical, natural toxin or manufactured toxicant, virus, parasite, prion, physical hazard, or other human pathogen that when found on or in food can cause human illness, injury, or death.
(11) HAZARDOUS CONTAMINATION- The term ‘hazardous contamination’ refers to the presence of a contaminant in food at levels that pose a risk of human illness, injury, or death or are capable of reaching levels that pose such risk during the shelf life of the product.
(12) FOOD- The term ‘food’ means a product intended to be used for food or drink for a human or an animal and components thereof.
(13) FOOD ESTABLISHMENT-
(A) IN GENERAL- The term ‘food establishment’ means a slaughterhouse (except those regulated under the Federal Meat Inspection Act or the Poultry Products Inspection Act), factory, warehouse, or facility owned or operated by a person located in any State that processes food or a facility that holds, stores, or transports food or food ingredients.
(B) EXCLUSIONS- For the purposes of registration, the term ‘food establishment’ does not include a food production facility as defined in paragraph (14), restaurant, other retail food establishment, nonprofit food establishment in which food is prepared for or served directly to the consumer, or fishing vessel (other than a fishing vessel engaged in processing, as that term is defined in section 123.3 of title 21, Code of Federal Regulations).
(14) FOOD PRODUCTION FACILITY- The term ‘food production facility’ means any farm, ranch, orchard, vineyard, aquaculture facility, or confined animal-feeding operation.
(15) FOOD SAFETY LAW- The term ‘food safety law’ means–
(A) the provisions of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 301 et seq.) related to and requiring the safety, quality, nutritional composition, labeling, and inspection of food, infant formulas, food additives, pesticide residues, and other substances present in food;
(B) the provisions of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 301 et 11 seq.) and of any other Acts that are administered by the Center for Veterinary Medicine of the Food and Drug Administration;
(C) the provisions of the Public Health Service Act that relate in any way to studying, surveying, containing, or preventing food-borne illness; and
(D) the provisions of this Act.
(16) FOREIGN FOOD ESTABLISHMENT- The term ‘foreign food establishment’ means any category 1 through 5 food establishment or food production facility located outside the United States that processes or produces food or food ingredients for consumption in the United States.
(17) INTERSTATE COMMERCE- The term ‘interstate commerce’ has the meaning given that term in section 201(b) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 321(b)).
(18) MISBRANDED- The term ‘misbranded’ has the meaning given that term in section 403 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 343).
(19) PROCESS- The term ‘process’ or ‘processing’ means the commercial slaughter, packing, preparation, or manufacture of food.
(20) STATE- The term ‘State’ means–
(A) a State;
(B) the District of Columbia;
(C) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; and
(D) any other territory or possession of the United States.
TITLE I–ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FOOD SAFETY ADMINISTRATION
SEC. 101. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FOOD SAFETY ADMINISTRATION.
(a) Establishment-
(1) IN GENERAL- There is established in the Department of Health and Human Services an agency to be known as the ‘Food Safety Administration’.
(2) HEAD OF THE ADMINISTRATION- The Administration shall be headed by the Administrator of Food Safety, who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, for a term of 5 years, and who may be reappointed.
(3) DELEGATION- All the authorities and responsibilities assigned to the Secretary of Health and Human Services in the food safety law are hereby assigned to the Administrator.
(b) Duties of Administrator- The Administrator shall–
(1) administer and enforce the food safety law;
(2) serve as the food safety leader within the Department of Health and Human Services and coordinator of all Department activities related to ensuring the safety, quality, and proper labeling of the food supply;
(3) represent the United States in relevant international food safety bodies and discussions;
(4) promulgate regulations to ensure the safety and security of the food supply from all forms of contamination, including intentional contamination; and
(5) oversee within the Department of Health and Human Services–
(A) in consultation with the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, all activities related to foodborne illness surveillance and investigation of foodborne illness outbreaks;
(B) implementation of food safety inspection, enforcement, and research efforts to protect the public health;
(C) development of consistent and science-based standards for safe food;
(D) coordination and prioritization of food safety research and education programs with other Federal agencies;
(E) prioritization of food safety efforts and deployment of food safety resources to achieve the greatest possible benefit in reducing food-borne illness;
(F) coordination of the response to food-borne illness outbreaks with other Federal and State agencies; and
(G) integration of food safety activities with State and local agencies.
SEC. 102. CONSOLIDATION OF FOOD SAFETY FUNCTIONS.
(a) Transfer of Functions and Resources- For each component of the Department of Health and Human Services or the Department of Commerce specified in subsection (b), there are transferred to the Administration all functions, personnel, and assets (including facilities and financial resources) of those components as of the day before the date of the enactment of this Act (including all related functions of any officer or employee of the component) that relate to administration or enforcement of the food safety law, as determined by the President.
(b) Transferred Functions and Resources- The components referred to in subsection (a) are–
(1) the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition of the Food and Drug Administration;
(2) the Center for Veterinary Medicine of the Food and Drug Administration;
(3) the National Center for Toxicological Research of the Food and Drug Administration;
(4) the personnel and assets of the Office of Regulatory Affairs of the Food and Drug Administration used to administer and conduct inspections of food establishments and imports and conduct laboratory analyses and other investigations relating to food safety and enforcement of the food safety law;
(5) the personnel and assets of the Office of the Commissioner of Food and Drugs used to support–
(A) the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition;
(B) the Center for Veterinary Medicine;
(C) the National Center for Toxicological Research; and
(D) the personnel and assets of the Office of Regulatory Affairs described in paragraph (4); and
(6) the personnel and assets of the National Marine Fisheries Service of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the Department of Commerce used to administer the seafood inspection program.
(c) Renaming and Reservation of Agency Identity- The Food and Drug Administration in the Department of Health and Human Services is hereby renamed the Federal Drug and Device Administration and may be referred to as ‘FDA’.
(d) Sharing of Facilities and Resources- The Food Safety Administration and the Federal Drug and Device Administration shall enter into such agreements concerning the sharing of facilities and other resources as may be appropriate to make efficient use of such facilities and resources and achieve their respective missions.
SEC. 103. ADDITIONAL DUTIES OF THE ADMINISTRATION.
(a) Officers and Employees- The Administrator may–
(1) appoint officers and employees for the Administration in accordance with the provisions of title 5, United States Code, relating to appointment in the competitive service; and
(2) fix the compensation of those officers and employees in accordance with chapter 51 and with subchapter III of chapter 53 of that title, relating to classification and General Schedule pay rates.
(b) Experts and Consultants- The Administrator may–
(1) procure the services of temporary or intermittent experts and consultants as authorized by section 3109 of title 5, United States Code; and
(2) pay in connection with those services the travel expenses of the experts and consultants, including transportation and per diem in lieu of subsistence while away from the homes or regular places of business of the individuals, as authorized by section 5703 of that title.
(c) Bureaus, Offices, and Divisions- The Administrator may establish within the Administration such bureaus, offices, and divisions as the Administrator determines are necessary to perform the duties of the Administrator.
(d) Advisory Committees-
(1) IN GENERAL- The Administrator shall establish advisory committees that consist of representatives of scientific expert bodies, academics, industry specialists, and consumers.
(2) DUTIES- The duties of an advisory committee established under paragraph (1) may include developing recommendations with respect to the development of new processes, research, communications, performance standards, and inspection.
TITLE II–ADMINISTRATION OF FOOD SAFETY PROGRAM
SEC. 201. ADMINISTRATION OF NATIONAL PROGRAM.
(a) In General- The Administrator shall–
(1) develop, administer, and annually update a national food safety program (referred to in this section as the ‘program’) to protect public health; and
(2) ensure that persons who produce, process, or distribute food meet their responsibility to prevent or minimize food safety hazards related to their products.
(b) Comprehensive Analysis- The program shall be based on a comprehensive analysis of the hazards associated with different food and with the processing of different food, including the identification and evaluation of–
(1) the severity of the potential health risks;
(2) the sources of potentially hazardous contamination or practices extending from the farm or ranch to the consumer that may increase the risk of food-borne illness;
(3) the potential for persistence, multiplication, or concentration of naturally occurring or added contaminants in food;
(4) the potential for hazardous contamination to have cumulative toxic effects, multigenerational effects, or effects on specific categories of consumers;
(5) opportunities across the food production, processing, distribution, and retail system to reduce potential health risks; and
(6) opportunities for intentional contamination of food or food ingredients.
(c) Program Elements- In carrying out the program, the Administrator shall–
(1) adopt and implement a national system for the registration of food establishments and foreign food establishments, as provided in section 202 of this Act;
(2) adopt and implement a national system for regular unannounced inspection of food establishments;
(3) require and enforce the adoption of preventive process controls in food establishments, based on the best available scientific and public health considerations and best available technologies;
(4) establish and enforce science-based standards for–
(A) potentially hazardous substances that may contaminate food; and
(B) safety and sanitation in the processing and handling of food;
(5) implement a statistically valid sampling program with the stringency and frequency to independently monitor that industry programs and procedures that prevent food contamination are effective on an ongoing basis and that food meets the standards established under this Act;
(6) implement appropriate surveillance procedures and requirements to ensure the safety and security of imported food;
(7) coordinate and collaborate with other agencies and State or local governments in carrying out inspection, enforcement, research, and monitoring;
(8) implement a national system to identify the food products posing the greatest public health risk and to analyze the effectiveness of existing food safety programs, in conjunction with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other Federal agencies;
(9) develop public education, risk communication, and advisory programs;
(10) implement an applied research program to further the purposes of this Act;
(11) coordinate and prioritize food safety research and educational programs with other Federal agencies and with State and local governments; and
(12) provide technical assistance to farmers and food establishments that are small business concerns (meeting the requirements of section 3(a) of the Small Business Act and the regulations promulgated thereunder) to assist with compliance with the requirements of this Act.
SEC. 202. REGISTRATION OF FOOD ESTABLISHMENTS AND FOREIGN FOOD ESTABLISHMENTS.
(a) In General- Any food establishment or foreign food establishment engaged in manufacturing, processing, packing, or holding food for consumption in the United States shall register annually with the Administrator.
(b) Registration Requirements-
(1) IN GENERAL- To be registered under subsection (a), a food establishment shall submit a registration or reregistration to the Administrator.
(2) REGISTRATION- Registration under this section shall begin within 90 days of the enactment of this Act. Each such registration shall be submitted to the Secretary through an electronic portal and shall contain such information as the Secretary, by guidance, determines to be appropriate. Such registration shall contain the following information:
(A) The name, address, and emergency contact information of each domestic food establishment or foreign food establishment that the registrant owns or operates under this Act and all trade names under which the registrant conducts business in the United States relating to food.
(B) The primary purpose and business activity of each domestic food establishment or foreign food establishment, including the dates of operation if the domestic food establishment or foreign food establishment is seasonal.
(C) The types of food processed or sold at each domestic food establishment or, for foreign food establishments selling food for consumption in the United States, the specific food categories of that food as listed under section 170.3(n) of title 21, Code of Federal Regulations, or such other categories as the Administrator may designate in guidance, action level, or regulations for evaluating potential threats to food protection.
(D) The name, address, and 24-hour emergency contact information of the United States distribution agent for each domestic food establishment or foreign food establishment, who shall maintain information on the distribution of food, including lot information, and wholesaler and retailer distribution.
(E) An assurance that the registrant will notify the Administrator of any change in the products, function, or legal status of the domestic food establishment or foreign food establishment (including cessation of business activities) not later than 30 days after such change.
(3) PROCEDURE- Upon receipt of a completed registration described in paragraph (1), the Administrator shall notify the registrant of the receipt of the registration, designate each establishment as a category 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 food establishment, and assign a registration number to each domestic food establishment and foreign food establishment.
(4) LIST- The Administrator shall annually compile a list of domestic food establishments and a list of foreign food establishments that are registered under this section. The Administrator may establish the manner of and any fees required for reregistration and any circumstances by which either such list may be shared with other governmental authorities. The Administrator may remove from either list the name of any establishment that fails to reregister, and such delisting shall be treated as a suspension.
(5) DISCLOSURE EXEMPTION- The disclosure requirements under section 552 of title 5, United States Code, shall not apply to–
(A) the list compiled under paragraph (4); and
(B) information derived from the list under paragraph (4), to the extent that it discloses the identity or location of a specific person.
(6) SUSPENSION OF REGISTRATION-
(A) IN GENERAL- The Administrator may suspend the registration of a domestic food establishment or foreign food establishment, including the facility of an importer, for violation of a food safety law that is either repeated or could result in serious adverse health consequences or death to humans or animals.
(B) NOTICE AND OPPORTUNITY FOR HEARING- The Administrator shall provide notice of an intent to suspend the registration of an establishment under this paragraph to a registrant and provide the registrant with an opportunity for an administrative hearing within 3 days. The Administrator may issue a written order of suspension following the hearing, if the Administrator finds that a violation described in subparagraph (A) has occurred.
(C) JUDICIAL REVIEW- The issuance of an order of suspension under subparagraph (B) shall be considered to be a final agency action subject to judicial review in accordance with the provisions of chapter 7 of title 5, United States Code.
(7) REINSTATEMENT- A registration that is suspended under this section may be reinstated based on a showing that adequate process controls have been instituted that would prevent future violations and there are assurances from the registrant that the violations will not be repeated.
(c) Transitional Provision- During the 6-month period following the date of the enactment of this Act, a food establishment is deemed to be registered in accordance with this section if the establishment is registered under section 415 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 350d).
(d) Repeal- Effective at the end of the 6-month period following the date of the enactment of this Act, section 415 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 350d) is repealed.
SEC. 203. PREVENTIVE PROCESS CONTROLS TO REDUCE ADULTERATION OF FOOD.
(a) In General- The Administrator shall, upon the basis of best available public health, scientific, and technological data, promulgate regulations to ensure that food establishments carry out their responsibilities under the food safety law.
(b) Regulations- Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall promulgate regulations that require all food establishments, within time frames determined by the Administrator–
(1) to adopt preventive process controls that–
(A) reflect the standards and procedures recognized by relevant authoritative bodies;
(B) are adequate to protect the public health;
(C) meet relevant regulatory and food safety standards;
(D) limit the presence and growth of contaminants in food prepared in a food establishment using the best reasonably available techniques and technologies; and
(E) are tailored to the hazards and processes in particular establishments or environments;
(2) to establish a sanitation plan and program that meets standards set by the Administrator;
(3) to meet performance standards for hazardous contamination established under section 204;
(4) to implement recordkeeping to monitor compliance with regulatory requirements;
(5) to implement recordkeeping and labeling of all food and food ingredients to facilitate their identification and traceability in the event of a recall or market removal;
(6) to implement product and environmental sampling at a frequency and in a manner sufficient to ensure that process controls are effective on an ongoing basis and that regulatory standards are being met;
(7) to label food intended for final processing outside commercial food establishments with instructions for handling and preparation for consumption that will destroy microbial contaminants; and
(8) to provide for agency access to records kept by the food establishments and submission of copies of records to the Administrator, as the Administrator determines appropriate.
(c) Specific Hazard Controls- The Administrator may require any person with responsibility for or control over food or food ingredients to adopt specific hazard controls, if such controls are needed to ensure the protection of the public health.
SEC. 204. PERFORMANCE STANDARDS FOR CONTAMINANTS IN FOOD.
(a) In General- To protect the public health, the Administrator shall establish by guidance document, action level, or regulation and enforce performance standards that define, with respect to specific foods and contaminants in food, the level of food safety performance that a person responsible for producing, processing, or selling food shall meet.
(b) Identification of Contaminants; Performance Standards-
(1) LIST OF CONTAMINANTS- Not later than 6 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall publish in the Federal Register a list of the contaminants in foods that have the greatest adverse impact on public health in terms of the number and severity of illnesses and number of deaths associated with foods regulated under this Act. Where appropriate, the Administrator shall indicate whether the risk posed by a contaminant is generalized or specific to particular foods or ingredients.
(2) PERFORMANCE STANDARDS-
(A) ESTABLISHMENT- The Administrator shall establish by guidance document, action level, or regulation a performance standard for each contaminant in the list under paragraph (1) at levels appropriate to protect against the potential adverse health effects of the contaminant.
(B) TIMING- The Administrator shall establish a performance standard under subparagraph (A) for each contaminant in the list under paragraph (1)–
(i) as soon as practicable; or
(ii) in the case of a contaminant described in subparagraph (C), by the date described in such subparagraph.
(C) SIGNIFICANT CONTAMINANTS- The list under paragraph (1) (and any revision thereto) shall identify the 5 most significant contaminants in the list (in terms of the number and severity of illnesses and number of deaths associated with foods regulated under this Act). Not later than 3 years after a contaminant is so identified, the Administrator shall promulgate a performance standard under subparagraph (A) for the contaminant.
(3) REVIEW; REVISION- Not less than every 3 years, the Administrator shall review and, if necessary, revise–
(A) the list of contaminants under paragraph (1); and
(B) each performance standard established under paragraph (2).
(c) Performance Standards-
(1) IN GENERAL- The performance standards established under this section may include–
(A) health-based standards that set the level of a contaminant that can safely and lawfully be present in food;
(B) zero tolerances, including any zero tolerance performance standards in effect on the day before the date of the enactment of this Act, when necessary to protect against significant adverse health outcomes;
(C) process standards, such as log reduction criteria for cooked products, when sufficient to ensure the safety of processed food; and
(D) in the absence of data to support a performance standard described in subparagraph (A), (B), or (C), standards that define required performance on the basis of reliable information on the best reasonably achievable performance, using best available technologies, interventions, and practices.
(2) BEST REASONABLY ACHIEVABLE PERFORMANCE STANDARDS- In developing best reasonably achievable performance standards under paragraph (1)(D), the Administrator shall collect, or contract for the collection of, data on current best practices and food safety outcomes related to the contaminants and foods in question, as the Administrator determines necessary.
(3) REVOCATION BY ADMINISTRATOR- All performance standards, tolerances, action levels, or other similar standards in effect on the date of the enactment of this Act shall remain in effect until revised or revoked by the Administrator.
(d) Enforcement-
(1) IN GENERAL- In conjunction with the establishment of a performance standard under this section, the Administrator shall develop a statistically valid sampling program with the stringency and frequency sufficient to independently monitor whether food establishments are complying with the performance standard and implement the program within 1 year of the promulgation of the standard.
(2) INSPECTIONS- If the Administrator determines that a food establishment fails to meet a standard promulgated under this section, the Administrator shall, as appropriate–
(A) detain, seize, or condemn food from the food establishment under section 402;
(B) order a recall of food from the food establishment under section 403;
(C) increase the inspection frequency for the food establishment;
(D) withdraw the mark of inspection from the food establishment, if in use; or
(E) take other appropriate enforcement action concerning the food establishment, including withdrawal of registration.
(e) Newly Identified Contaminants- Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, the Administrator shall establish interim performance standards for newly identified contaminants as necessary to protect the public health.
SEC. 205. INSPECTIONS OF FOOD ESTABLISHMENTS.
(a) In General- The Administrator shall establish an inspection program, which shall include statistically valid sampling of food and facilities to enforce performance standards. The inspection program shall be designed to determine if each food establishment–
(1) is operated in a sanitary manner;
(2) has continuous preventive control systems, interventions, and processes in place to minimize or eliminate contaminants in food;
(3) is in compliance with applicable performance standards established under section 204, and other regulatory requirements;
(4) is processing food that is not adulterated or misbranded;
(5) maintains records of process control plans under section 203, and other records related to the processing, sampling, and handling of food; and
(6) is otherwise in compliance with the requirements of the food safety law.
(b) Establishment Categories and Inspection Frequencies- The resource plan required under section 209, including the description of resources required to carry out inspections of food establishments, shall be based on the following categories and inspection frequencies, subject to subsections (c), (d), and (e):
(1) CATEGORY 1 FOOD ESTABLISHMENTS- A category 1 food establishment shall be subject to antemortem, postmortem, and continuous inspection of each slaughter line during all operating hours, and other inspection on a daily basis, sufficient to verify that–
(A) diseased animals are not offered for slaughter;
(B) the food establishment has successfully identified and removed from the slaughter line visibly defective or contaminated carcasses, has avoided cross-contamination, and has destroyed or reprocessed such carcasses in a manner acceptable to the Administrator; and
(C) applicable performance standards and other provisions of the food safety law, including those intended to eliminate or reduce pathogens, have been satisfied.
(2) CATEGORY 2 FOOD ESTABLISHMENTS- A category 2 food establishment shall–
(A) have ongoing verification that its processes are controlled; and
(B) be randomly inspected at least weekly.
(3) CATEGORY 3 FOOD ESTABLISHMENTS- A category 3 food establishment shall–
(A) have ongoing verification that its processes are controlled; and
(B) be randomly inspected at least monthly.
(4) CATEGORY 4 FOOD ESTABLISHMENTS- A category 4 food establishment shall–
(A) have ongoing verification that its processes are controlled; and
(B) be randomly inspected at least quarterly.
(5) CATEGORY 5 FOOD ESTABLISHMENTS- A category 5 food establishment shall–
(A) have ongoing verification that its processes are controlled; and
(B) be randomly inspected at least annually.
(c) Establishment of Inspection Procedures- The Administrator shall establish procedures under which inspectors shall take random samples, photographs, and copies of records in food establishments.
(d) Alternative Inspection Frequencies- With respect to a subcategory of food establishment under category 2, 3, 4, or 5, the Administrator may establish alternative increasing or decreasing inspection frequencies for subcategories of food establishments or individual establishments, to foster risk-based allocation of resources. Before establishing an alternative inspection frequency for a subcategory of food establishments or individual establishments, the Administrator shall take into consideration the evidence described in paragraph (2)(D) and the overall record of compliance described in paragraph (2)(E) for such subcategory. In establishing alternative inspection frequencies under this subsection, the Administrator shall comply with the following criteria and procedures:
(1) Subcategories of food establishments and their alternative inspection frequencies shall be defined by regulation, subject to paragraphs (2) and (3).
(2) In defining subcategories of food establishments and their alternative inspection frequencies under paragraphs (1) and (2), the Administrator shall consider–
(A) the nature of the food products being processed, stored, or transported;
(B) the manner in which food products are processed, stored, or transported;
(C) the inherent likelihood that the products will contribute to the risk of food-borne illness;
(D) the best available evidence concerning reported illnesses associated with the foods processed, stored, held, or transported in the proposed subcategory of establishments; and
(E) the overall record of compliance with food safety law among establishments in the proposed subcategory, including compliance with applicable performance standards and the frequency of recalls.
(3) The Administrator may adopt alternative inspection frequencies for increased or decreased inspection for a specific establishment and shall annually publish a list of establishments subject to alternative inspections.
(4) In adopting alternative inspection frequencies for a specific establishment, the Administrator shall consider–
(A) the criteria in paragraph (2), together with any evidence submitted from the individual food establishment supporting a request for an alternative inspection frequency, including the establishment’s record for implementing effective preventive process control systems;
(B) whether products from the specific establishment have been associated with a case or an outbreak of food-borne illness; and
(C) the establishment’s record of compliance with food safety law, including compliance with applicable performance standards and the frequency of recalls.
(e) Effective Date- The inspection mandates shall go into effect 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act.
(f) Maintenance and Inspection of Records-
(1) IN GENERAL-
(A) RECORDS- A food establishment shall–
(i) maintain such records as the Administrator shall require by regulation, including all records relating to the processing, distributing, receipt, or importation of any food; and
(ii) permit the Administrator, in addition to any authority transferred to the Administrator pursuant to section 102, upon presentation of appropriate credentials and at reasonable times and in a reasonable manner, to have access to and copy all records maintained by or on behalf of such food establishment representative in any format (including paper or electronic) and at any location, that are necessary to assist the Administrator–
(I) to determine whether the food is contaminated or not in compliance with the food safety law; or
(II) to track the food in commerce.
(B) REQUIRED DISCLOSURE- A food establishment shall have an affirmative obligation to disclose to the Administrator the results of testing or sampling of food, equipment, or material in contact with food, that is positive for any contaminant.
(2) MAINTENANCE OF RECORDS- The records in paragraph (1) shall be maintained for a reasonable period of time, as determined by the Administrator.
(3) REQUIREMENTS- The records in paragraph (1) shall include records describing–
(A) the origin, receipt, delivery, sale, movement, holding, and disposition of food or ingredients;
(B) the identity and quantity of ingredients used in the food;
(C) the processing of the food;
(D) the results of laboratory, sanitation, or other tests performed on the food or in the food establishment;
(E) consumer complaints concerning the food or packaging of the food;
(F) the production codes, open date codes, and locations of food production; and
(G) other matters reasonably related to whether food is adulterated or misbranded, or otherwise fails to meet the requirements of this Act.
(g) Protection of Sensitive Information-
(1) IN GENERAL- The Administrator shall develop and maintain procedures to prevent the unauthorized disclosure of any trade secret or commercially valuable confidential information obtained by the Administrator.
(2) LIMITATION- The requirements under this subsection and subsection (f) do not–
(A) limit the authority of the Administrator to inspect or copy records or to require the establishment or maintenance of records under this Act;
(B) have any legal effect on section 1905 of title 18, United States Code;
(C) extend to any food recipe, financial data, pricing data, or personnel data;
(D) limit the public disclosure of distribution records or other records related to food subject to a voluntary or mandatory recall under section 403; or
(E) limit the authority of the Administrator to promulgate regulations to permit the sharing of data with other governmental authorities.
(h) Bribery of or Gifts to Inspector or Other Officers and Acceptance of Gifts- Any person or agent or employee thereof that gives, pays, or offers, directly or indirectly, to the Administrator or any employee or other designee thereof authorized to perform any duty under the food safety law any money or other thing of value, with intent to influence the discharge of any duty under such law, shall be imprisoned for not more than 5 years, fined in accordance with title 18, United States Code, or both. Any Administrator, employee, or other designee that solicits or accepts any money or other thing of value from any person, with intent to influence the discharge of any duty under the food safety law, shall be summarily discharged from office and imprisoned for not more than 5 years, fined in accordance with title 18, United States Code, or both.
SEC. 206. FOOD PRODUCTION FACILITIES.
(a) Authorities- In carrying out the duties of the Administrator and the purposes of this Act, the Administrator shall have the authority, with respect to food production facilities, to–
(1) visit and inspect food production facilities in the United States and in foreign countries to determine if they are operating in compliance with the requirements of the food safety law;
(2) review food safety records as required to be kept by the Administrator under section 210 and for other food safety purposes;
(3) set good practice standards to protect the public and animal health and promote food safety;
(4) conduct monitoring and surveillance of animals, plants, products, or the environment, as appropriate; and
(5) collect and maintain information relevant to public health and farm practices.
(b) Inspection of Records- A food production facility shall permit the Administrator upon presentation of appropriate credentials and at reasonable times and in a reasonable manner, to have access to and ability to copy all records maintained by or on behalf of such food production establishment in any format (including paper or electronic) and at any location, that are necessary to assist the Administrator–
(1) to determine whether the food is contaminated, adulterated, or otherwise not in compliance with the food safety law; or
(2) to track the food in commerce.
(c) Regulations- Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator, in consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture and representatives of State departments of agriculture, shall promulgate regulations to establish science-based minimum standards for the safe production of food by food production facilities. Such regulations shall–
(1) consider all relevant hazards, including those occurring naturally, and those that may be unintentionally or intentionally introduced;
(2) require each food production facility to have a written food safety plan that describes the likely hazards and preventive controls implemented to address those hazards;
(3) include, with respect to growing, harvesting, sorting, and storage operations, minimum standards related to fertilizer use, nutrients, hygiene, packaging, temperature controls, animal encroachment, and water;
(4) include, with respect to animals raised for food, minimum standards related to the animal’s health, feed, and environment which bear on the safety of food for human consumption;
(5) provide a reasonable period of time for compliance, taking into account the needs of small businesses for additional time to comply;
(6) provide for coordination of education and enforcement activities by State and local officials, as designated by the Governors of the respective States; and
(7) include a description of the variance process under subsection (d) and the types of permissible variances which the Administrator may grant under such process.
(d) Variances- States and foreign countries that export produce intended for consumption in the United States may request from the Administrator variances from the requirements of the regulations under subsection (c). A request shall–
(1) be in writing;
(2) describe the reasons the variance is necessary;
(3) describe the procedures, processes, and practices that will be followed under the variance to ensure produce is not adulterated; and
(4) contain any other information required by the Administrator.
(e) Approval or Disapproval of Variances- If the Administrator determines after review of a request under subsection (d) that the requested variance provides equivalent protections to those promulgated under subsection (c), the Administrator may approve the request. The Administrator shall deny a request if it is–
(1) not sufficiently detailed to permit a determination;
(2) fails to cite sufficient grounds for allowing a variance; or
(3) does not provide reasonable assurances that the produce will not be adulterated.
(f) Enforcement- The Administrator may coordinate with the agency or department designated by the Governor of each State to perform activities to ensure compliance with this section.
(g) Imported Produce- Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall promulgate regulations to ensure that raw agricultural commodities and minimally processed produce imported into the United States can meet standards for food safety, inspection, labeling, and consumer protection that are at least equal to standards applicable to such commodities and produce produced in the United States.
SEC. 207. FEDERAL AND STATE COOPERATION.
(a) In General-
(1) AUTHORITY- The Administrator shall strengthen and expand food-borne illness surveillance systems to–
(A) inform and evaluate efforts to prevent food-borne illness; and
(B) enhance the identification and investigation of, and response to, food-borne illness outbreaks.
(2) FOOD-BORNE ILLNESS OUTBREAK- For purposes of this section, the term ‘foodborne illness outbreak’ means the occurrence of 2 or more cases of a similar illness resulting from the ingestion of a common food.
(b) Food-Borne Illness Surveillance Systems- The Administrator, in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, shall enhance food-borne illness surveillance systems to improve the collection, analysis, reporting, and usefulness of data on food-borne illnesses by–
(1) coordinating food-borne illness surveillance systems, including complaint systems, in order to–
(A) produce better information on illnesses associated with foods, including sources and risk factors for infections by emerging pathogens; and
(B) facilitate sharing of data acquisition and findings on a more timely basis among governmental agencies, including the Food Safety Administration, the Food Safety and Inspection Service, and State and local agencies, and with the public;
(2) augmenting such systems to improve attribution of a food-borne illness outbreak to a specific food;
(3) developing improved epidemiological tools for obtaining quality exposure data, microbiological methods for classifying cases and detecting clusters, and improved tracebacks to rapidly and specifically identify contaminated food products;
(4) expanding capacity of such systems for implementation of fingerprinting strategies for food-borne infectious agents, including parasites and hepatitis A, in order to increase pathogen discovery efforts to identify new or rarely documented causes of food-borne illness;
(5) allowing timely public access to de-identified, aggregate surveillance data;
(6) at least annually, publishing current reports on findings from such systems;
(7) exploring establishment of registries for long-term case follow-up to better characterize late complications of food-borne illness;
(8) increasing participation in national networks of public health and food regulatory agencies and laboratories to–
(A) allow public health officials at the Federal, State, and local levels to share and accept laboratory analytic findings; and
(B) identify food-borne illness outbreaks and attribute such outbreaks to specific foods through submission of standardized molecular subtypes (also known as ‘fingerprints’) of food-borne illness pathogens to a centralized database; and
(9) establishing a flexible mechanism for rapidly supporting scientific research by academic centers of excellence, which may include staff representing academic clinical researchers, food microbiologists, animal and plant disease specialists, ecologists, and other allied disciplines.
(c) Improving State Surveillance Capacity- The Administrator, in collaboration with the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, shall improve capacity for surveillance in the States by–
(1) supporting outbreak investigations with needed specialty expertise, including epidemiological, microbiological, and environmental expertise, to assist identification of underlying common sources and contributing factors;
(2) identifying, disseminating, and supporting implementation of model practices at the State and local level for–
(A) facilitating rapid shipment of clinical isolates from clinical laboratories to State public health laboratories to avoid delays in testing;
(B) conducting rapid and more standardized interviewing of cases associated with major enteric pathogens, including prior to designation of clusters as food-borne illness outbreaks;
(C) conducting and evaluating rapid and standardized interviews of healthy control persons;
(D) sharing information on a timely basis–
(i) within public health and food regulatory agencies;
(ii) among such agencies;
(iii) with the food industry;
(iv) with healthcare providers; and
(v) with the public;
(3) developing, regularly updating, and disseminating training curricula on food-borne illness surveillance investigations, including standard sampling methods and laboratory procedures;
(4) integrating new molecular diagnostic tools for parasites into web-based consultation services for parasitic infections to accelerate the identification of these food-borne infectious agents;
(5) supporting research to develop and deploy new subtyping methods for salmonella, E. coli, campylobacter, and other pathogens, to increase the speed and accuracy of diagnoses;
(6) determining minimum core competencies for public health laboratories, and developing self-evaluation and proficiency-testing tools for such laboratories;
(7) facilitating regional public health laboratory partnerships to leverage resources, including equipment and physical space, and increase surge capacity;
(8) providing technical assistance, which may include the detailing of officers and employees of the Administrator, to State and local public health and food regulatory agencies;
(9) partnering with the Food Safety Administration to increase communication, coordination, and integration of food-borne illness surveillance and outbreak investigation activities; and
(10) developing and periodically updating response and interview procedures so that such procedures are standardized and tested.
(d) Program Activities- The Administrator shall carry out activities to support core food safety functions of State and local public health laboratories, including–
(1) establishing fellowships, stipends, and scholarships to address critical workforce shortages;
(2) training and coordination of State and local personnel;
(3) establishing partnerships between private and public laboratories to facilitate sharing of positive enteric specimens and improve surge capacity;
(4) strengthening capacity to participate in existing or new food-borne illness surveillance systems; and
(5) purchasing and maintaining data systems hardware and software and laboratory equipment.
(e) Plan To Improve Food Safety Capacity at the State and Local Level-
(1) GOALS- The Administrator shall leverage and enhance the food safety capacity and roles of State and local agencies and integrate State and local agencies as fully as possible into national food safety efforts, in order to achieve the following goals:
(A) Improve food-borne illness outbreak response and containment.
(B) Improve the contribution of food-borne illness surveillance and investigation to the prevention of food-borne illness.
(C) Strengthen oversight of food safety at the retail level.
(D) Strengthen the capacity of State and local agencies to carry out inspections and enforce safety standards in food processing establishments, as part of a national strategy and plan to provide an adequate level of inspection and achieve compliance with safety standards in such establishments.
(E) Make more effective use of the Nation’s combined food safety resources to reduce the burden of food-borne illness.
(2) SURVEY- In preparation for development of the plan required by paragraph (3), the Administrator shall, not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this part, complete a survey of State and local capacities, and needs for enhancement, with respect to–
(A) staffing levels and expertise available to perform food safety functions;
(B) laboratory capacity to support surveillance, outbreak response, inspection, and enforcement activities;
(C) information systems to support data management and sharing of food safety information among State and local agencies and with counterparts at the Federal level;
(D) legal authorities of State and local agencies to support the roles of such agencies in a national food safety system; and
(E) organizational arrangements for managing and coordinating food safety activities.
(3) PLAN- Taking into account the goals established in paragraph (1), results from the survey required in paragraph (2), and consultations with State and local agencies and other food safety stakeholders, the Administrator shall, not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this part, develop, publish, and begin implementation of a plan that includes the following elements:
(A) Criteria for assessing the adequacy of State and local capacity to perform food safety functions as part of a national food safety system.
(B) Priorities for enhancing the capacity of State and local agencies.
(C) Action plans for meeting the highest priority capacity needs, including budget requirements and financing plans that take into account Federal, State, and local resources.
(D) Improved coordination and information flow among Federal, State, and local agencies to strengthen food-borne illness surveillance, outbreak response, and investigation and to ensure that agencies at all levels have the information on origins and causes of food-borne illness that such agencies need to plan preventive measures.
(E) Integration of the inspection and compliance programs in food processing establishments of the Food Safety Administration and State and local agencies, including–
(i) joint planning and priority setting to ensure that the collective effort has the greatest possible impact on achieving compliance with food safety standards and reducing food-borne illness;
(ii) elimination of barriers to the free flow of information among the Food Safety Administration and State and local agencies with respect to inspection and compliance programs and integration of State and Federal inspection and laboratory data systems;
(iii) steps to expand, and ensure the vigor and consistency of, State inspection of processing establishments under contract to the Food Safety Administration; and
(iv) reliance by the Food Safety Administration on State inspection and food sample analyses in Federal enforcement activities.
(4) FOOD SAFETY CAPACITY BUILDING GRANTS- The Administrator shall make grants to State and local agencies to enhance State and local food safety capacity and programs and support achievement of the goals established in paragraph (1). In awarding such grants, the Administrator shall take into account the criteria and priorities established by the Administrator under paragraph (3).
(5) REPORT TO CONGRESS- Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this part, and on an annual basis thereafter, the Administrator shall submit to Congress a report that describes–
(A) progress made in implementing this section, including any obstacles to such implementation; and
(B) any legislative recommendations or additional resources needed for full implementation.
(f) Service Agreements-
(1) IN GENERAL- The Administrator may, under agreements entered into with Federal, State, or local agencies, use on a reimbursable basis or otherwise the qualified personnel and services of those agencies in carrying out this Act.
(2) TRAINING- Agreements with a State under this subsection shall provide for training of State employees.
(3) MAINTENANCE OF AGREEMENTS- The Administrator shall maintain any agreement described in paragraph (1) that is in effect on the day before the date of the enactment of this Act until the Administrator evaluates such agreement and determines whether to maintain or substitute such agreement.
(4) COMMISSIONING- Where necessary and appropriate to fulfill the provisions of this Act or other food safety law, the Administrator shall, as part of any service agreement, commission qualified State and local regulatory officials and inspectors to assist the Administrator in carrying out the food safety law and accord such commissioned officials and inspectors access to information in possession of the Administrator as if they were Federal employees.
SEC. 208. IMPORTS.
(a) In General- All imported food under this Act shall meet requirements for food safety, inspection, labeling, and consumer protection that are at least equal to those applicable to food grown, manufactured, processed, packed, or held for consumption in the United States.
(b) Certification System- Not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall establish a system under which food products offered for importation into the United States shall be certified by the accredited foreign government in the country of export or by an accredited certifying agent meeting all applicable standards under this section.
(1) Category 1, 2, and 3 food establishments shall secure certification of products from the accredited foreign government in the country where the products are produced and must enter the United States through ports designated by the Administrator.
(2) Category 4 and 5 food establishments shall be certified either by–
(A) the accredited foreign government in the country where the products are produced; or
(B) a certifying agent that has been accredited under subsection (c).
(3) Beginning not later than 5 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, food from category 4 and 5 food establishments that is not certified by an accredited entity described in subsection (c) shall not enter the United States except through ports of entry that are located in a metropolitan area with an accredited food testing laboratory.
(c) Certification Standard-
(1) IN GENERAL- A foreign government or third party agent requesting accreditation to certify food for entry into the United States shall demonstrate, in a manner determined appropriate by the Administrator, that food produced under the supervision of the foreign government or third party agent, respectively, can meet standards for food safety, inspection, labeling, and consumer protection that are at least equal to standards applicable to food produced in the United States.
(2) REQUEST BY FOREIGN GOVERNMENT- Prior to accrediting a foreign government, the Administrator shall–
(A) review and audit the food safety program of the requesting foreign government (including all statutes, regulations, and inspection authority); and
(B) determine that the exporting country–
(i) administers a food control program that requires food exporters to implement hazard control measures for physical, chemical, and biological contaminants;
(ii) ensures sanitary operations of facilities;
(iii) utilizes testing and verification programs; and
(iv) administers an effective enforcement program.
(3) REQUEST BY A CERTIFYING AGENT- Prior to accrediting a certifying agent, the Administrator shall–
(A) review the training and qualifications of auditors and other employees used by the agent;
(B) ensure that any such auditors have completed such training as may be required by the Administrator for the conduct of food safety inspections; and
(C) conduct reviews of internal systems and such other investigation as the Administrator deems necessary to determine that the certifying agent is capable of auditing food establishments–
(i) to assess the adequacy of systems and standards in use; and
(ii) to ensure that food approved by the agent for import to the United States meets the requirements of this Act.
(4) CERTIFICATION TO ACCOMPANY EACH SHIPMENT- As a condition of accrediting any foreign government or certifying agent, such government or agent shall agree to issue a written and electronic certification to accompany each shipment intended for import to the United States from any food establishment which the government or agent certifies, subject to requirements set forth by the Administrator.
(d) Audits; Inspections- Following any accreditation under subsection (c), the Administrator may at any time–
(1) conduct an on-site audit of any food establishment registered under section 202, with or without the certifying agent; or
(2) require a certifying agent to submit an onsite audit report and any other reports or documents which the agent requires as part of the audit process, including documentation that the food establishment is in compliance with registration requirements and prior notice requirements for food imported to the United States.
(e) Limitation- A foreign government or other certifying agent accredited by the Administrator to certify food for import to the United States under this section may certify only the food products or food categories for importation to the United States that are specified in the grant of accreditation.
(f) Withdrawal of Accreditation- The Administrator may withdraw accreditation from a foreign government or certifying agent–
(1) if food approved by the foreign government or certifying agent is linked to an outbreak of human illness;
(2) following an investigation and finding by the Administrator that the programs of the foreign government, or a foreign food establishment certified by the certifying agent, are no longer equal to those applied to food grown, manufactured, processed, packed, or held in the United States; or
(3) following a refusal to allow United States officials to conduct such audits and investigations as may be necessary to ensure continued compliance with the requirements of this section.
(g) Renewal of Accreditation- The Administrator shall audit foreign governments and certifying agents whenever needed, but no less than once every 3 years, to ensure the continued compliance with the requirements set forth in this section. Renewal of accreditation shall occur following each satisfactory audit.
(h) Required Routine Inspection- The Administrator shall routinely inspect food before or at entry into the United States to ensure ongoing compliance with food safety law and where appropriate, as part of the audit of any certifying entity.
(i) Enforcement- The Administrator may–
(1) deny importation of food from any foreign country if the government of such country does not permit United States officials to enter the foreign country to conduct such audits and inspections as may be necessary to fulfill requirements under this section;
(2) deny importation of food from any foreign country or foreign food establishment that does not consent to a timely investigation by the Administration when food from that foreign country or foreign food establishment is linked to a food-borne illness outbreak or is otherwise found to be adulterated or misbranded;
(3) promulgate regulations to carry out the purposes of this section, including setting terms and conditions for the destruction of products that fail to meet the requirements of this Act; and
(4) establish such fees as are necessary to carry out the implementation of the accreditation and inspection programs required under this section.
(j) Detention and Seizure- Any food imported for consumption in the United States may be detained, seized, or condemned pursuant to section 402 or recalled pursuant to section 403.
(k) Certifying Agents- Entities eligible for accreditation as a certifying agent under subsection (c) may include–
(1) a State or regional food authority; or
(2) a foreign or domestic cooperative that aggregates the products of growers or processors for importation.
(l) Avoiding Conflicts of Interest With Certifying Agents-
(1) IN GENERAL- To be eligible for accreditation under subsection (c), a certifying agent shall–
(A) not be owned, managed, or controlled by any person that owns or operates an establishment whose products are to be certified by such agent;
(B) have procedures to ensure against the use, in carrying out audits of food establishments under this section, of any officer or employee of such agent that has a financial conflict of interest regarding an establishment whose products are to be certified by such agent; and
(C) annually make available to the Secretary, disclosures of the extent to which such agent, and the officers and employees of such agent, have maintained compliance with subparagraphs (A) and (B) relating to financial conflicts of interest.
(2) REGULATIONS- The Secretary shall promulgate regulations not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act to ensure that there are protections against conflicts of interest between a certifying agent and the establishments whose products are to be certified by such agent. Such regulations shall include–
(A) requiring that domestic audits performed under this section be unannounced;
(B) a structure, including timing and public disclosure, for fees paid by food establishments to certifying agents to decrease the potential for conflicts of interest; and
(C) appropriate limits on financial affiliations between a certifying agent and any person that owns or operates an establishment whose products are to be certified by such agent.
SEC. 209. RESOURCE PLAN.
(a) In General- The Administrator shall prepare and update annually a resource plan describing the resources required, in the best professional judgment of the Administrator, to develop and fully implement the national food safety program established under this Act.
(b) Contents of Plan- The resource plan shall–
(1) describe quantitatively the personnel, financial, and other resources required to carry out the inspection of food establishments under section 205 and other requirements of this Act;
(2) allocate inspection resources in a manner reflecting the distribution of risk and opportunities to reduce risk across the food supply to the extent feasible based on the best available information, and subject to section 205; and
(3) describe the personnel, facilities, equipment, and other resources needed to carry out inspection and other oversight activities, at a total resource level equal to at least 50 percent of the resources required to carry out inspections in food establishments under section 205 and food production facilities under section 206–
(A) in foreign establishments and production facilities; and
(B) at the point of importation.
(c) Grants- The resource plan shall include recommendations for funding to provide grants to States and local governments to carry out food safety activities and inspections of food establishments and food production facilities and include resources to audit such programs.
(d) Submission of Plan- The Administrator shall submit annually to the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate, the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives, and other relevant committees of Congress, the resource plan required under this section.
SEC. 210. TRACEBACK REQUIREMENTS.
(a) In General- The Administrator, in order to protect the public health, shall establish a national traceability system that enables the Administrator to retrieve the history, use, and location of an article of food through all stages of its production, processing, and distribution.
(b) Applicability- Traceability requirements under this section shall apply to food from food production facilities, food establishments, and foreign food establishments.
(c) Requirements-
(1) STANDARDS- The Administrator shall establish standards for the type of information, format, and timeframe for food production facilities and food establishments to submit records to aid the Administrator in effectively retrieving the history, use, and location of an item of food.
(2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION- Nothing in this section shall be construed as requiring the Administrator to prescribe a specific technology for the maintenance of records or labeling of food to carry out the requirements of this section.
(3) AVAILABILITY OF RECORDS FOR INSPECTION- Any records that are required by the Administrator under this section shall be available for inspection by the Administrator upon oral or written request.
(4) DEMONSTRATION OF ABILITY- The Administrator, during any inspection, may require a food establishment to demonstrate its ability to trace an item of food and submit the information in the format and timeframe required under paragraph (1).
(d) Relationship to Other Requirements-
(1) CONSISTENCY WITH EXISTING STATUTES AND REGULATIONS- To the extent possible, the Administrator should establish the national traceability system under this section to be consistent with existing statutes and regulations that require recordkeeping or labeling for identifying the origin or history of food or food animals.
(2) EXISTING LAWS- For purposes of this subsection, the Administrator should review the following:
(A) Country of origin labeling requirements of subtitle D of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1638 et seq.).
(B) The Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act of 1930 (7 U.S.C. 499a-t).
(C) Country of origin labeling requirements of section 304 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1340).
(D) The National Animal Identification System as authorized by the Animal Health Protection Act of 2002 (7 U.S.C. 8301 et seq.).
(3) CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS- Nothing contained in this section prevents or interferes with implementation of the country of origin labeling requirements of subtitle D of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1638 et seq.).
SEC. 211. ACCREDITED LABORATORIES.
(a) Establishment of Program- The Administrator shall establish a program for accrediting laboratories to perform sampling and testing for purposes of this Act. Such program shall include–
(1) standards for appropriate sampling and analytical procedures;
(2) training and experience qualification levels for individuals who conduct sampling and analysis;
(3) annual onsite visits to audit the performance of an accredited laboratory; and
(4) such additional requirements as the Administrator determines to be appropriate.
(b) Requirements- To be accredited under this section, a laboratory shall–
(1) prepare and submit an application for accreditation to the Administrator;
(2) meet required tests and standards established by the Administrator; and
(3) comply with such terms and conditions as are determined necessary by the Administrator.
(c) Accrediting Bodies- The Administrator may approve State agencies or private, nonprofit entities as accrediting bodies to act on behalf of the Administrator in accrediting laboratories under this section. The Administrator shall–
(1) in making such approvals–
(A) oversee and review the performance of any accrediting body acting on behalf of the Administrator to ensure that such accrediting body is in compliance with the requirements of this section; and
(B) have the right to obtain from an accrediting body acting on behalf of the Administrator and from any laboratory that may be certified by such a body all records and materials that may be necessary for the oversight and review required by subparagraph (A);
(2) reevaluate accreditation bodies approved under paragraph (1) whenever–
(A) the Administrator determines a laboratory accredited by the accrediting body is no longer in compliance with this section;
(B) the Administrator determines the accrediting body is no longer in compliance with the requirements of this section; or
(C) no less than once every 5 years; and
(3) promptly revoke the approval of any accreditation body found not to be in compliance with the requirements of this section.
(d) Revocation of Accreditation- The Administrator shall revoke the accreditation of any laboratory that fails to meet the requirements this section.
TITLE III–RESEARCH AND EDUCATION
SEC. 301. PUBLIC HEALTH ASSESSMENT SYSTEM.
(a) In General- The Administrator, acting in coordination with the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and with food safety and research programs of the Department of Agriculture, shall–
(1) identify on an ongoing basis the priorities for collection of epidemiological data and for other food safety research and data collection that are most important to implementing the food safety law and reducing the public health burden of food-borne illness;
(2) have full access for purposes of implementing the food safety law to the applicable data and data systems of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including data made available to the Centers by a State;
(3) provide appropriate support and input on the design and implementation by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the States of an active surveillance system that provides information on the incidence and causes of food-borne illness which is timely, detailed, and representative of the population of the United States;
(4) based on data and information obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the States, and other sources, assess the incidence, distribution, public health impact, and causes of human illness in the United States associated with the consumption of food, and conduct research and analysis to devise effective and feasible interventions to reduce food-borne illness;
(5) maintain a state-of-the-art DNA matching system and epidemiological system dedicated to food-borne illness identification, outbreaks, and containment; and
(6) utilize surveillance data created by means of monitoring and statistical studies conducted as part of its own inspection.
(b) Public Health Sampling-
(1) IN GENERAL- Not later than 1 year after the enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall establish guidelines for a sampling system under which the Administrator shall take and analyze samples of food–
(A) to assist the Administrator in carrying out this Act; and
(B) to assess the nature, frequency of occurrence, and quantities of contaminants in food.
(2) REQUIREMENTS- The sampling system described in paragraph (1) shall provide–
(A) statistically valid monitoring, including market-based studies, on the nature, frequency of occurrence, and quantities of contaminants in food available to consumers; and
(B) at the request of the Administrator, such other information, including analysis of monitoring and verification samples, as the Administrator determines may be useful in assessing the occurrence of contaminants in food.
(c) Assessment of Health Hazards-
(1) IN GENERAL- Through the surveillance system and analyses referred to in subsection (a) and the sampling system described in subsection (b), the Administrator shall–
(A) rank food categories based on the hazard to human health presented by the food category and specific chemical and microbiological hazards associated with foods in those categories;
(B) identify appropriate industry and regulatory approaches to minimize hazards in the food supply; and
(C) assess the conditions affecting the likelihood that emerging pathogens and diseases, including zoonosis, will affect the safety of the food supply and possible strategies for minimizing the potential risk to public health associated with emerging pathogens and diseases.
(2) COMPONENTS OF ANALYSIS- The analysis under subsection (b)(1) may include–
(A) a comparison of the safety of commercial processing with the health hazards associated with food that is harvested for recreational or subsistence purposes and prepared noncommercially;
(B) a comparison of the safety of food that is domestically processed with the health hazards associated with food that is processed outside the United States;
(C) a description of contamination originating from handling practices that occur prior to or after the sale of food to consumers; and
(D) use of comparative risk assessments.
SEC. 302. PUBLIC EDUCATION AND ADVISORY SYSTEM.
(a) Public Education-
(1) IN GENERAL- The Administrator, in cooperation with private and public organizations, including the cooperative extension services and building on the efforts of appropriate State and local entities, shall establish a national public education program on food safety.
(2) REQUIREMENTS- The program shall provide–
(A) information to the public regarding Federal standards and best practices, and promotion of public awareness and understanding of those standards and practices;
(B) information for health professionals–
(i) to improve diagnosis and treatment of food-related illness; and
(ii) to advise individuals at special risk for food-related illnesses; and
(C) such other information or advice, including on safe food handling practices, to consumers and other persons as the Administrator determines will promote the purposes of this Act.
(b) Health Advisories- The Administrator, in consultation with other Federal departments and agencies as the Administrator determines necessary, shall work with the States and other appropriate entities–
(1) to develop and distribute regional and national advisories concerning food safety;
(2) to develop standardized formats for written and broadcast advisories;
(3) to incorporate State and local advisories into the national public education program established under subsection (a); and
(4) to present prompt, specific information regarding food found to pose a threat to the public health, including by identifying the retailers and food establishments where such food has been sold.
SEC. 303. RESEARCH.
(a) In General- The Administrator shall conduct research to carry out this Act, including studies to–
(1) improve sanitation and food safety practices in the processing of food;
(2) develop improved techniques to monitor and inspect food;
(3) develop efficient, rapid, and sensitive methods to detect contaminants in food;
(4) determine the sources of contamination of contaminated food;
(5) develop food consumption data;
(6) identify ways that animal production techniques could improve the safety of the food supply;
(7) draw upon research and educational programs that exist at the State and local level;
(8) utilize the DNA matching system and other processes to identify and control pathogens;
(9) address common and emerging zoonotic diseases;
(10) develop methods to reduce or destroy harmful pathogens before, during, and after processing;
(11) analyze the incidence of antibiotic resistence as it pertains to the food supply and develop new methods to reduce the transfer of antibiotic resistance to humans; and
(12) conduct other research that supports the purposes of this Act.
(b) Contract Authority- The Administrator may enter into contracts and agreements with any State, university, Federal Government agency, or person to carry out this section.
SEC. 304. WORKING GROUP ON IMPROVING FOODBORNE ILLNESS SURVEILLANCE.
Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall establish a diverse working group of experts and stakeholders from Federal, State, and local food safety and health agencies, the food industry, consumer organizations, and academia. Such working group shall provide the Administrator, through at least annual meetings of the working group and an annual public report, advice and recommendations on an ongoing and regular basis regarding the improvement of food-borne illness surveillance, including advice and recommendations on–
(1) the priority needs of regulatory agencies, the food industry, and consumers for information and analysis on food-borne illness and its causes that can be used to prevent food-borne illness;
(2) opportunities to improve the effectiveness of initiatives at the Federal, State, and local levels, including coordination and integration of activities among Federal agencies, and between the Federal, State, and local levels of government;
(3) improvement in the timeliness and depth of access by regulatory and health agencies, the food industry, academic researchers, and consumers to food-borne illness surveillance data collected by government agencies at all levels, including data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention;
(4) key barriers to improvement in food-borne illness surveillance and its utility for preventing food-borne illness at Federal, State, and local levels; and
(5) specific actions to reduce barriers to such improvement, implement the working group’s recommendations, with measurable objectives and timelines, and identification of resource and staffing needs.
SEC. 305. CAREER-SPANNING TRAINING FOR FOOD INSPECTORS.
(a) In General- The Administrator shall make a grant to an entity described in subsection (c) to provide training to Federal, State, and local food inspectors.
(b) Use of Funds- The Administrator may make a grant under this section to an applicant only if the applicant agrees to use the grant to provide regular, standardized, graduated, career-spanning training, based on a curriculum developed by the Association of Food and Drug Officials, to Federal, State, and local food inspectors.
(c) Eligible Entity- An entity described in this subsection is an entity that–
(1) is described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 501(c)(3));
(2) has the capability to train not less than 1,000 food inspectors per year; and
(3) offers both on-site and off-site training for food inspectors.
SEC. 306. FOOD-BORNE ILLNESS HEALTH REGISTRY.
(a) Purpose- The purpose of the registry under subsection (b) is to stimulate research on the trends, sources, health outcomes, and preventive strategies related to food-borne disease.
(b) Registry- For the purpose described in subsection (a), the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, shall develop and maintain a registry, to be known as the Food-Borne Illness Health Registry, consisting of data on the trends, sources, health outcomes, and preventive strategies related to food-borne disease.
SEC. 307. STUDY ON FEDERAL RESOURCES.
Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall complete a study on the Federal resources being dedicated to food-borne illness and food safety research and submit a report on the results of such study to the Congress.
TITLE IV–ENFORCEMENT
SEC. 401. PROHIBITED ACTS.
It is prohibited–
(1) to manufacture, introduce, deliver for introduction, or receive in interstate commerce any food that is adulterated, misbranded, or otherwise unsafe;
(2) to adulterate or misbrand any food in interstate commerce;
(3) for a food establishment or foreign food establishment to fail to register under section 202, or to operate without a valid registration;
(4) to refuse to permit access to a food establishment or food production facility for the inspection and copying of a record as required under sections 205(f) and 206(a);
(5) to fail to establish or maintain any record or to make any report as required under sections 205(f) and 206(b);
(6) to refuse to permit entry to or inspection of a food establishment as required under section 205;
(7) to fail to provide to the Administrator the results of testing or sampling of food, equipment, or material in contact with food, that is positive for any contaminant under section 205(f)(1)(B);
(8) to fail to comply with a provision, regulation, or order of the Administrator under section 202, 203, 204, 206, or 208;
(9) to slaughter an animal that is capable for use in whole or in part as human food at a food establishment processing any food for commerce, except in compliance with the food safety law;
(10) to transfer food in violation of an administrative detention order under section 402 or to remove or alter a required mark or label identifying the food as detained;
(11) to fail to comply with a recall or other order under section 403; or
(12) to otherwise violate the food safety law.
SEC. 402. FOOD DETENTION, SEIZURE, AND CONDEMNATION.
(a) Administrative Detention of Food-
(1) EXPANDED AUTHORITY- The Administrator shall have authority under section 304 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 334) to administratively detain and seize any food regulated under this Act that the Administrator has reason to believe is unsafe, is adulterated or misbranded, or otherwise fails to meet the requirements of the food safety law.
(2) DETENTION AUTHORITY- If, during an inspection conducted in accordance with section 205 or 208, an officer, employee, or agent of the Administration making the inspection has reason to believe that a domestic food, imported food, or food offered for import is unsafe, is adulterated or misbranded, or otherwise fails to meet the requirements of this the food safety law, the officer, employee, or agent may order the food detained.
(3) PERIOD OF DETENTION-
(A) IN GENERAL- A food may be detained under paragraph (1) or (2) for a reasonable period, not to exceed 20 days, unless a longer period, not to exceed 30 days, is necessary for the Administrator to institute a seizure action.
(B) PERISHABLE FOOD- The Administrator shall provide by regulation for procedures to institute a seizure action on an expedited basis with respect to perishable food.
(4) SECURITY OF DETAINED FOOD-
(A) IN GENERAL- A detention order under this subsection–
(i) may require that the food be labeled or marked as detained; and
(ii) shall require that the food be removed to a secure facility, if appropriate.
(B) FOOD SUBJECT TO AN ORDER- A food subject to a detention order under this subsection shall not be transferred by any person from the place at which the food is removed, until released by the Administrator or until the expiration of the detention period applicable under the order, whichever occurs first.
(C) DELIVERY OF FOOD- This subsection does not authorize the delivery of a food in accordance with execution of a bond while the article is subject to the order.
(b) Appeal of Detention Order-
(1) IN GENERAL- A person who would be entitled to be a claimant for a food subject to a detention order under subsection (a) if the food were seized under section 304 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 334), may appeal the order to the Administrator.
(2) ACTION BY THE ADMINISTRATOR- Not later than 5 days after an appeal is filed under paragraph (1), the Administrator, after providing an opportunity for an informal hearing, shall confirm, modify, or terminate the order involved.
(3) FINAL AGENCY ACTION- Confirmation, modification, or termination by the Administrator under paragraph (2) shall be considered a final agency action for purposes of section 702 of title 5, United States Code.
(4) TERMINATION- A detention order under subsection (a) shall be considered to be terminated if, after 5 days, the Administrator has failed–
(A) to provide an opportunity for an informal hearing; or
(B) to confirm, modify, or terminate the order.
(5) EFFECT OF INSTITUTING COURT ACTION- If the Administrator initiates an action under section 302 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 332) or section 304(a) of that Act (21 U.S.C. 334(a)) for a food subject to a detention order under subsection (a), the process for the appeal of the detention order with respect to such food shall terminate.
(c) Condemnation of Food-
(1) IN GENERAL- After confirming a detention order, the Administrator may order the food condemned.
(2) DESTRUCTION OF FOOD- Any food condemned shall be destroyed under the supervision of the Administrator.
(3) RELEASE OF FOOD- If the Administrator determines that, through reprocessing, relabeling, or other action, a detained food can be brought into compliance with this Act, the food may be released following a determination by the Administrator that the relabeling or other action as specified by the Administrator has been performed.
(d) Temporary Holds at Ports of Entry-
(1) IN GENERAL- If an officer or qualified employee of the Administration has reason to believe that a food is unsafe, is adulterated or misbranded, or otherwise fails to meet the requirements of this Act, and the officer or qualified employee is unable to inspect, examine, or investigate the food when the food is offered for import at a port of entry into the United States, the officer or qualified employee shall request the Secretary of Homeland Security to hold the food at the port of entry for a reasonable period of time, not to exceed 24 hours, to enable the Administrator to inspect or investigate the food as appropriate.
(2) REMOVAL TO SECURE FACILITY- The Administrator shall work in coordination with the Secretary of Homeland Security to remove a food held in accordance with paragraph (1) to a secure facility as appropriate.
(3) PROHIBITION ON TRANSFER- During the period in which food is held, the food shall not be transferred by any person from the port of entry into the United States, or from the secure facility to which the food has been removed.
(4) DELIVERY IN ACCORDANCE WITH A BOND- The delivery of the food in accordance with the execution of a bond while the food is held is not authorized.
(5) PROHIBITION ON REEXPORT- A food found unfit for human or animal consumption shall be prohibited from reexport without further processing to remove the contamination and reinspection by the Administration.
SEC. 403. NOTIFICATION AND RECALL.
(a) Notice to Administrator of Violation-
(1) IN GENERAL- A person that has reason to believe that any food introduced into or in interstate commerce, or held for sale (whether or not the first sale) after shipment in interstate commerce, may be in violation of the food safety law shall immediately notify the Administrator of the identity and location of the food.
(2) MANNER OF NOTIFICATION- Notification under paragraph (1) shall be made in such manner and by such means as the Administrator may require by regulation.
(b) Recall and Consumer Notification-
(1) VOLUNTARY ACTIONS- If the Administrator determines that food is in violation of the food safety law when introduced into or while in interstate commerce or while held for sale (whether or not the first sale) after shipment in interstate commerce and that there is a reasonable probability that the food, if consumed, would present a threat to public health, as determined by the Administrator, the Administrator shall give the appropriate persons (including the manufacturers, importers, distributors, or retailers of the food) an opportunity to–
(A) cease distribution of the food;
(B) notify all persons–
(i) processing, distributing, or otherwise handling the food to immediately cease such activities with respect to the food; or
(ii) to which the food has been distributed, transported, or sold, to immediately cease distribution of the food;
(C) recall the food;
(D) in conjunction with the Administrator, provide notice of the finding of the Administrator–
(i) to consumers to whom the food was, or may have been, distributed; and
(ii) to State and local public health officials; or
(E) take any combination of the measures described in this paragraph, as determined by the Administrator to be appropriate in the circumstances.
(2) MANDATORY ACTIONS- If a person referred to in paragraph (1) refuses to or does not adequately carry out the actions described in that paragraph within the time period and in the manner prescribed by the Administrator, the Administrator shall–
(A) have authority to control and possess the food, including ordering the shipment of the food from the food establishment to the Administrator–
(i) at the expense of the food establishment; or
(ii) in an emergency (as determined by the Administrator), at the expense of the Administration; and
(B) by order, require, as the Administrator determines to be necessary, the person to immediately–
(i) cease distribution of the food; and
(ii) notify all persons–
(I) processing, distributing, or otherwise handling the food to immediately cease such activities with respect to the food; or
(II) if the food has been distributed, transported, or sold, to immediately cease distribution of the food.
(3) NOTIFICATION TO CONSUMERS BY ADMINISTRATOR- The Administrator shall, as the Administrator determines to be necessary–
(A) provide notice of the finding of the Administrator under paragraph (1)–
(i) to consumers to whom the food was, or may have been, distributed; and
(ii) to State and local public health officials; and
(B) provide notice to the public of the names and addresses of retail locations at which recalled food products were available for sale.
(4) NONDISTRIBUTION BY NOTIFIED PERSONS- A person that processes, distributes, or otherwise handles the food, or to which the food has been distributed, transported, or sold, and that is notified under paragraph (1)(B) or (2)(B) shall immediately cease distribution of the food.
(5) AVAILABILITY OF RECORDS TO ADMINISTRATOR- Each person referred to in paragraph (1) that processed, distributed, or otherwise handled food shall make available to the Administrator information necessary to carry out this subsection, as determined by the Administrator, regarding–
(A) persons that processed, distributed, or otherwise handled the food; and
(B) persons to which the food has been transported, sold, distributed, or otherwise handled.
(c) Informal Hearings on Orders-
(1) IN GENERAL- The Administrator shall provide any person subject to an order under subsection (b) with an opportunity for an informal hearing, to be held as soon as practicable but not later than 2 business days after the issuance of the order.
(2) SCOPE OF THE HEARING- In a hearing under paragraph (1), the Administrator shall consider the actions required by the order and any reasons why the food that is the subject of the order should not be recalled.
(d) Post-Hearing Recall Orders-
(1) AMENDMENT OF ORDER- If, after providing an opportunity for an informal hearing under subsection (c), the Administrator determines that there is a reasonable probability that the food that is the subject of an order under subsection (b), if consumed, would present a threat to the public health, the Administrator, as the Administrator determines to be necessary, may–
(A) amend the order to require recall of the food or other appropriate action;
(B) specify a timetable in which the recall shall occur;
(C) require periodic reports to the Administrator describing the progress of the recall; and
(D) provide notice of the recall to consumers to whom the food was, or may have been, distributed.
(2) VACATION OF ORDERS- If, after providing an opportunity for an informal hearing under subsection (c), the Administrator determines that adequate grounds do not exist to continue the actions required by the order, the Administrator shall vacate the order.
(e) Remedies Not Exclusive- The remedies provided in this section shall be in addition to, and not exclusive of, other remedies that may be available.
SEC. 404. INJUNCTION PROCEEDINGS.
(a) Jurisdiction- The district courts of the United States, and the United States courts of the territories and possessions of the United States, shall have jurisdiction, for cause shown, to restrain a violation of section 202, 203, 204, 208, or 401 (or a regulation promulgated thereunder).
(b) Trial- In a case in which violation of an injunction or restraining order issued under this section also constitutes a violation of the food safety law, trial shall be by the court or, upon demand of the accused, by a jury.
SEC. 405. CIVIL AND CRIMINAL PENALTIES.
(a) Civil Sanctions-
(1) CIVIL PENALTY-
(A) IN GENERAL- Any person that commits an act that violates the food safety law (including a regulation promulgated or order issued under the food safety law) may be assessed a civil penalty by the Administrator of not more than $1,000,000 for each such act.
(B) SEPARATE OFFENSE- Each act described in subparagraph (A) and each day during which that act continues shall be considered a separate offense.
(2) OTHER REQUIREMENTS-
(A) WRITTEN ORDER- The civil penalty described in paragraph (1) shall be assessed by the Administrator by a written order, which shall specify the amount of the penalty and the basis for the penalty under subparagraph (B) considered by the Administrator.
(B) AMOUNT OF PENALTY- Subject to paragraph (1)(A), the amount of the civil penalty shall be determined by the Administrator, after considering–
(i) the gravity of the violation;
(ii) the degree of culpability of the person;
(iii) the size and type of the business of the person; and
(iv) any history of prior offenses by the person under the food safety law.
(C) REVIEW OF ORDER- The order may be reviewed only in accordance with subsection (c).
(b) Criminal Sanctions-
(1) OFFENSE RESULTING IN SERIOUS ILLNESS- Notwithstanding section 303(a) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 333(a)), if a violation of any provision of section 301 of such Act (21 U.S.C. 301) with respect to an adulterated or misbranded food results in serious illness, the person committing the violation shall be imprisoned for not more than 5 years, fined in accordance with title 18, United States Code, or both.
(2) OFFENSE RESULTING IN DEATH- Notwithstanding section 303(a) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 333(a)), if a violation of any provision of section 301 of such Act (21 U.S.C. 331) with respect to an adulterated or misbranded food results in death, the person committing the violation shall be imprisoned for not more than 10 years, fined in accordance with title 18, United States Code, or both.
(c) Judicial Review-
(1) IN GENERAL- An order assessing a civil penalty against a person under subsection (a) shall be a final order unless the person–
(A) not later than 30 days after the effective date of the order, files a petition for judicial review of the order in the United States court of appeals for the circuit in which that person resides or has its principal place of business or the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia; and
(B) simultaneously serves a copy of the petition by certified mail to the Administrator.
(2) FILING OF RECORD- Not later than 45 days after the service of a copy of the petition under paragraph (1)(B), the Administrator shall file in the court a certified copy of the administrative record upon which the order was issued.
(3) STANDARD OF REVIEW- The findings of the Administrator relating to the order shall be set aside only if found to be unsupported by substantial evidence on the record as a whole.
(d) Collection Actions for Failure To Pay-
(1) IN GENERAL- If any person fails to pay a civil penalty assessed under subsection (a) after the order assessing the penalty has become a final order, or after the court of appeals described in subsection (b) has entered final judgment in favor of the Administrator, the Administrator shall refer the matter to the Attorney General, who shall institute in a United States district court of competent jurisdiction a civil action to recover the amount assessed.
(2) LIMITATION ON REVIEW- In a civil action under paragraph (1), the validity and appropriateness of the order of the Administrator assessing the civil penalty shall not be subject to judicial review.
(e) Penalties Paid Into Account- The Administrator–
(1) shall deposit penalties collected under this section in an account in the Treasury; and
(2) may use the funds in the account, without further appropriation or fiscal year limitation–
(A) to carry out enforcement activities under the food safety law; or
(B) to provide assistance to States to inspect retail commercial food establishments or other food or firms under the jurisdiction of State food safety programs.
(f) Discretion of the Administrator To Prosecute- Nothing in this Act requires the Administrator to report for prosecution, or for the commencement of an action, the violation of the food safety law in a case in which the Administrator finds that the public interest will be adequately served by the assessment of a civil penalty under this section.
(g) Remedies Not Exclusive- The remedies provided in this section are in addition to, and not exclusive of, other remedies that may be available.
SEC. 406. PRESUMPTION.
In any action to enforce the requirements of the food safety law, the connection with interstate commerce required for jurisdiction shall be presumed to exist.
SEC. 407. WHISTLEBLOWER PROTECTION.
(a) In General-
(1) PROHIBITION- No Federal employee, employee of a Federal contractor or subcontractor, or covered individual may be discharged, demoted, suspended, threatened, harassed, or in any other manner discriminated against, because of any lawful act done by the employee or covered individual to–
(A) provide information, cause information to be provided, or otherwise assist in an investigation regarding any conduct that the covered individual reasonably believes constitutes a violation of any law, rule, or regulation, or that the covered individual reasonably believes constitutes a threat to the public health, when the information or assistance is provided to, or the investigation is conducted by–
(i) a Federal regulatory or law enforcement agency;
(ii) a Member or committee of Congress; or
(iii) a person with supervisory authority over the covered individual (or such other individual who has the authority to investigate, discover, or terminate misconduct);
(B) file, cause to be filed, testify, participate in, or otherwise assist in a proceeding or action filed or about to be filed relating to a violation of any law, rule, or regulation; or
(C) refused to violate or assist in the violation of any law, rule, or regulation.
(2) DEFINITION- For the purposes of this section, the term ‘covered individual’ means an individual who is an employee of–
(A) a food establishment;
(B) a food production facility;
(C) a restaurant;
(D) a retail food establishment other than a restaurant;
(E) a nonprofit food establishment in which food is prepared for or served directly to the consumer;
(F) a fishing vessel; or
(G) an agent of any of the above.
(b) Enforcement Action-
(1) IN GENERAL- A covered individual who alleges discharge or other discrimination by any person in violation of subsection (a) may seek relief under subsection (c) by filing a complaint with the Secretary of Labor. If the Secretary of Labor has not issued a final decision within 180 days after the date on which the complaint is filed and there is no showing that such delay is due to the bad faith of the claimant, the claimant may bring an action at law or equity for de novo review in the appropriate district court of the United States, which shall have jurisdiction over such an action without regard to the amount in controversy.
(2) PROCEDURE-
(A) IN GENERAL- An action under paragraph (1) shall be governed under the rules and procedures set forth in section 42121(b) of title 49, United States Code.
(B) EXCEPTION- Notification under section 42121(b)(1) of title 49, United States Code, shall be made to the person named in the complaint and to the person’s employer.
(C) BURDENS OF PROOF- An action brought under paragraph (1) shall be governed by the legal burdens of proof set forth in section 42121(b) of title 49, United States Code.
(D) STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS- An action under paragraph (1) shall be commenced not later than 90 days after the date on which the violation occurs.
(c) Remedies-
(1) IN GENERAL- A covered individual prevailing in any action under subsection (b)(1) shall be entitled to all relief necessary to make the covered individual whole.
(2) COMPENSATORY DAMAGES- Relief for any action described in paragraph (1) shall include–
(A) reinstatement with the same seniority status that the covered individual would have had, but for the discrimination;
(B) the amount of any back pay, with interest; and
(C) compensation for any special damages sustained as a result of the discrimination, including litigation costs, expert witness fees, and reasonable attorney’s fees.
(d) Rights Retained by the Covered Individual- Nothing in this section shall be construed to diminish the rights, privileges, or remedies of any covered individual under any Federal or State law, or under any collective bargaining agreement.
SEC. 408. ADMINISTRATION AND ENFORCEMENT.
(a) In General- For the efficient administration and enforcement of the food safety law, the provisions (including provisions relating to penalties) of sections 6, 8, 9, and 10 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 46, 48, 49, and 50) (except subsections (c) through (h) of section 6 of that Act), relating to the jurisdiction, powers, and duties of the Federal Trade Commission and the Attorney General to administer and enforce that Act, and to the rights and duties of persons with respect to whom the powers are exercised, shall apply to the jurisdiction, powers, and duties of the Administrator and the Attorney General in administering and enforcing the provisions of the food safety law and to the rights and duties of persons with respect to whom the powers are exercised, respectively.
(b) Inquiries and Actions-
(1) IN GENERAL- The Administrator, in person or by such agents as the Administrator may designate, may prosecute any inquiry necessary to carry out the duties of the Administrator under the food safety law in any part of the United States.
(2) POWERS- The powers conferred by sections 9 and 10 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 49 and 50) on the United States district courts may be exercised for the purposes of this chapter by any United States district court of competent jurisdiction.
SEC. 409. CITIZEN CIVIL ACTIONS.
(a) Civil Actions- A person may commence a civil action against–
(1) a person that violates a regulation (including a regulation establishing a performance standard), order, or other action of the Administrator to ensure the safety of food; or
(2) the Administrator (in his or her capacity as the Administrator), if the Administrator fails to perform an act or duty to ensure the safety of food that is not discretionary under the food safety law.
(b) Court- In an action commenced under this section:
(1) IN GENERAL- The action shall be commenced–
(A) in the case of a civil action against a person, the United States district court for the district in which the defendant resides, is found, or has an agent; and
(B) in the case of a civil action against the Administrator, any United States district court.
(2) JURISDICTION- The court shall have jurisdiction, without regard to the amount in controversy, or the citizenship of the parties, to enforce a regulation (including a regulation establishing a performance standard), order, or other action of the Administrator, or to order the Administrator to perform the act or duty.
(3) DAMAGES- The court may–
(A) award damages, in the amount of damages actually sustained; and
(B) if the court determines it to be in the interest of justice, award the plaintiff the costs of suit, including reasonable attorney’s fees, reasonable expert witness fees, and penalties.
(c) Remedies Not Exclusive- The remedies provided for in this section shall be in addition to, and not exclusive of, other remedies that may be available.
TITLE V–IMPLEMENTATION
SEC. 501. REORGANIZATION PLAN.
(a) Submission of Plan- Not later than 180 days after the enactment of this Act, the President shall transmit to the appropriate congressional committees a reorganization plan regarding the following:
(1) The transfer of agencies, personnel, assets, and obligations to the Administration pursuant to this Act.
(2) Any consolidation, reorganization, or streamlining of agencies transferred to the Administration pursuant to this Act.
(b) Plan Elements- The plan transmitted under subsection (a) shall contain, consistent with this Act, such elements as the President determines appropriate, including the following:
(1) The timetable for transfer and identification of any functions of agencies designated to be transferred to the Administration pursuant to this Act that will not be transferred promptly to the Administration under the plan.
(2) Specification of the steps to be taken by the Administrator to organize the Administration, including the delegation or assignment of functions transferred to the Administration among the officers of the Administration in order to permit the Administration to carry out the functions transferred under the plan.
(3) Specification of the funds available to each agency that will be transferred to the Administration as a result of transfers under the plan.
(4) Specification of the proposed allocations within the Administration of unexpended funds transferred in connection with transfers under the plan.
(5) Specification of any proposed disposition of property, facilities, contracts, records, and other assets and obligations of agencies transferred under the plan.
(6) Specification of the proposed allocations within the Administration of the functions of the agencies and subdivisions that are not related directly to ensuring the safety of food.
(c) Modification of Plan- The President may, on the basis of consultations with the appropriate congressional committees, modify or revise any part of the plan until that part of the plan becomes effective in accordance with subsection (d).
(d) Effective Date-
(1) IN GENERAL- The reorganization plan described in this section, including any modifications or revisions of the plan under subsection (c), shall become effective for an agency on the earlier of–
(A) the date specified in the plan (or the plan as modified pursuant to subsection (c)), except that such date may not be earlier than 90 days after the date the President has transmitted the reorganization plan to the appropriate congressional committees pursuant to subsection (a); or
(B) the end of the 12-month period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act.
(2) STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION- Nothing in this subsection may be construed to require the transfer of functions, personnel, records, balances of appropriations, or other assets of an agency on a single date.
(3) SUPERSEDES EXISTING LAW- Paragraph (1) shall apply notwithstanding section 905(b) of title 5, United States Code.
SEC. 502. TRANSITIONAL AUTHORITIES.
(a) Provision of Assistance by Officials- Until the transfer of an agency to the Administration, any official having authority over or function relating to the agency immediately before the date of the enactment of this Act shall provide the Administrator such assistance, including the use of personnel and assets, as the Administrator may request in preparing for the transfer and integration of the agency to the Administration.
(b) Services and Personnel- During the transition period, upon the request of the Administrator, the head of any executive agency may provide services or detail personnel to assist with the transition.
(c) Acting Officials-
(1) IN GENERAL- During the transition period, pending the advice and consent of the Senate to the appointment of an officer required by this Act to be appointed by and with such advice and consent, the President may designate any officer whose appointment was required to be made by and with such advice and consent and who was such an officer immediately before the date of the enactment of this Act (and who continues to be in office) or immediately before such designation, to act in such office until the same is filled as provided in this Act.
(2) COMPENSATION- While acting pursuant to paragraph (1), such officers shall receive compensation at the higher of–
(A) the rates provided by this Act for the respective offices in which they act; or
(B) the rates provided for the offices held at the time of designation.
(3) LIMITATION- Nothing in this Act shall be construed to require the advice and consent of the Senate to the appointment by the President to a position in the Administration of any officer whose agency is transferred to the Administration pursuant to this Act and whose duties following such transfer are germane to those performed before such transfer.
(d) Transfer of Personnel, Assets, Obligations, and Function-
(1) IN GENERAL- Consistent with section 1531 of title 31, United States Code, the personnel, assets, liabilities, contracts, property, records, and unexpended balances of appropriations, authorizations, allocations, and other funds that relate to the functions transferred under subsection (a) from a Federal agency shall be transferred to the Administration.
(2) UNEXPENDED FUNDS- Unexpended funds transferred under this subsection shall be used by the Administration only for the purposes for which the funds were originally authorized and appropriated.
SEC. 503. SAVINGS PROVISIONS.
(a) Completed Administrative Actions- The enactment of this Act or the transfer of functions under this Act shall not affect any order, determination, rule, regulation, tolerance, guidance, permit, personnel action, agreement, grant, contract, certificate, license, registration, user fees, privilege, or other administrative action issued, made, granted, or otherwise in effect or final with respect to that agency on the day before the transfer date with respect to the transferred functions.
(b) Pending Proceedings- Subject to the authority of the Administrator under this Act–
(1) pending proceedings in an agency, including notices of proposed rulemaking, and applications for licenses, permits, certificates, grants, and financial assistance, shall continue notwithstanding the enactment of this Act or the transfer of the agency to the Administration, unless discontinued or modified under the same terms and conditions and to the same extent that such discontinuance or modification could have occurred if such enactment or transfer had not occurred; and
(2) orders issued in such proceedings, and appeals therefrom, and payments made pursuant to such orders, shall issue in the same manner on the same terms as if this Act had not been enacted or the agency had not been transferred, and any such order shall continue in effect until amended, modified, superseded, terminated, set aside, or revoked by an officer of the United States or a court of competent jurisdiction, or by operation of law.
(c) Pending Civil Actions- Subject to the authority of the Administrator under this Act, any civil action commenced with regard to that agency pending before that agency on the day before the transfer date with respect to the transferred functions shall continue notwithstanding the enactment of this Act or the transfer of an agency to the Administration.
(d) References-
(1) IN GENERAL- After the transfer of functions from a Federal agency under this Act, any reference in any other Federal law, Executive order, rule, regulation, directive, document, or other material to that Federal agency or the head of that agency in connection with the administration or enforcement of the food safety law shall be deemed to be a reference to the Administration or the Administrator, respectively.
(2) STATUTORY REPORTING REQUIREMENTS- Statutory reporting requirements that applied in relation to such an agency immediately before the date of the enactment of this Act shall continue to apply following such transfer if they refer to the agency by name.
SEC. 504. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.
(a) Executive Schedule- Section 5313 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by inserting at the end the following new item: ‘Administrator of Food Safety.’.
SEC. 505. ADDITIONAL TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.
Not later than 60 days after the submission of the reorganization plan under section 501, the President shall prepare and submit proposed legislation to Congress containing necessary and appropriate technical and conforming amendments to the Acts listed in section 3(15) of this Act to reflect the changes made by this Act.
SEC. 506. REGULATIONS.
The Administrator may promulgate such regulations as the Administrator determines are necessary or appropriate to perform the duties of the Administrator.
SEC. 507. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are necessary to carry out this Act.
SEC. 508. LIMITATION ON AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
For the fiscal year that includes the date of the enactment of this Act, the amount authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act shall not exceed–
(1) the amount appropriated for that fiscal year for the Federal agencies identified in section 102(b) for the purpose of administering or enforcing the food safety law; or
(2) the amount appropriated for those agencies for that purpose for the preceding fiscal year, if, as of the date of the enactment of this Act, appropriations for those agencies for the fiscal year that includes such date have not yet been made.
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Text of S. 425: Food Safety and Tracking Improvement Act
S 425 IS
111th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 425
To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to provide for the establishment of a traceability system for food, to amend the Federal Meat Inspection Act, the Poultry Products Inspections Act, the Egg Products Inspection Act, and the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to provide for improved public health and food safety through enhanced enforcement, and for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
February 12, 2009
Mr. BROWN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
A BILL
To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to provide for the establishment of a traceability system for food, to amend the Federal Meat Inspection Act, the Poultry Products Inspections Act, the Egg Products Inspection Act, and the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to provide for improved public health and food safety through enhanced enforcement, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) Short Title- This Act may be cited as the Food Safety and Tracking Improvement Act.
(b) Table of Contents- The table of contents for this Act is as follows:
TITLE II–ENFORCEMENT AND RECALL FOR MEAT, POULTRY, AND FOOD
TITLE I–TRACEABILITY OF FOOD
SEC. 101. TRACEABILITY OF FOOD.
The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 301 et seq.) is amended–
(1) in section 301, by inserting at the end the following:
‘(oo) The failure to comply with any requirement of section 414A (relating to the traceability of food).’; and
(2) in chapter IV, by inserting after section 414 the following:
‘SEC. 414A. TRACEABILITY OF FOOD.
‘(a) Establishment of System- Not later than 3 years after the date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary shall establish a traceability system described in subsection (b) for all stages of manufacturing, processing, packaging, and distribution of food.
‘(b) Description of System- The traceability system required by subsection (a) shall require each article of food shipped in interstate commerce to be identified in a manner that enables the Secretary to retrieve the history, use, and location of the article through a recordkeeping and audit system, a secure, online database, or registered identification.
‘(c) Records-
‘(1) IN GENERAL- The Secretary may require that each person required to identify an article of food pursuant to subsection (b) maintain accurate records, as prescribed by the Secretary, regarding the purchase, sale, and identification of the article.
‘(2) ACCESS- Each person described in paragraph (1) shall, at all reasonable times, on notice by a duly authorized representative of the Secretary, allow the representative to access each place of business of the person to examine and copy the records described in paragraph (1).
‘(3) DURATION- Each person described in paragraph (1) shall maintain records as required under this subsection for such period of time as the Secretary prescribes.
‘(d) False Information- No person shall falsify or misrepresent to any other person or to the Secretary, any information as to any location at which any article of food was held.
‘(e) Alteration or Destruction of Records- No person shall, without authorization from the Secretary, alter, detach, or destroy any records or other means of identification prescribed by the Secretary for use in determining the location at which any article of food was held.
‘(f) Advisory Committee-
‘(1) IN GENERAL- In order to assist the Secretary in implementing the traceability system under subsection (a), the Secretary shall convene an advisory committee (referred to in this subsection as the ‘Committee’).
‘(2) MEMBERSHIP- The Committee shall consist of 13 members appointed by the Secretary which shall include–
‘(A) an equitable number of food safety and tracking technology experts, representatives of the food industry, and consumer advocates; and
‘(B) officials from the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition and the Office of Regulatory Affairs of the Food and Drug Administration and the Agriculture Marketing Service of the Department of Agriculture.
‘(3) CHAIRPERSON- The Secretary shall appoint a Chairperson of the Committee.
‘(4) MEETING- The Committee shall convene not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this section and periodically thereafter at the call of the Chairperson.
‘(5) REPORT OF COMMITTEE-
‘(A) IN GENERAL- Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this section, the Committee shall submit to the Secretary and the Office of the Commissioner a report that describes the recommendations regarding the most practicable approach to providing for the traceability of food, including the most efficient means of implementing the traceback of contaminated foods.
‘(B) CONSIDERATIONS- In developing the report under subparagraph (A), the Committee shall consider the following approaches to providing for the traceability of food:
‘(i) A national database or registry operated by the Food and Drug Administration.
‘(ii) Electronic records identifying each prior sale, purchase, or trade of the food and its ingredients, and establishing that the food and its ingredients were grown, prepared, handled, manufactured, processed, distributed, shipped, warehoused, imported, and conveyed under conditions that ensure the safety of the food. The records should include an electronic statement with the date of, and the names and addresses of all parties to, each prior sale, purchase, or trade, and any other information as appropriate.
‘(iii) Standardized tracking numbers on all shipments. These numbers would identify the country of origin, the unique facility registration number, date of production, and lot number (if applicable).
‘(iv) Recall performance standards for each food or commodity type.
‘(v) Safeguards for the combining, repacking, or otherwise mixing of items of food, particularly fresh produce.
‘(vi) Other approaches that enable the reliable tracking of food and food products.
‘(g) Authorization of Appropriations- For the purpose of carrying out this section, there is authorized to be appropriated $40,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 2010 through 2012.’.
TITLE II–ENFORCEMENT AND RECALL FOR MEAT, POULTRY, AND FOOD
SEC. 201. FOOD SAFETY ENFORCEMENT FOR MEAT AND MEAT FOOD PRODUCTS.
(a) In General- The Federal Meat Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) is amended–
(1) by redesignating section 411 (21 U.S.C. 680) as section 414; and
(2) by inserting after section 410 (21 U.S.C. 679a) the following:
‘SEC. 411. NOTIFICATION, NONDISTRIBUTION, AND RECALL OF ADULTERATED OR MISBRANDED ARTICLES.
‘(a) Notification to Secretary of Violation-
‘(1) IN GENERAL- A person (other than a household consumer) that has reason to believe that any carcass, part of a carcass, meat, or meat food product of an amenable species (referred to in this section as an ‘article’) transported, stored, distributed, or otherwise handled by the person is adulterated or misbranded shall, as soon as practicable, notify the Secretary of the identity and location of the article.
‘(2) MANNER OF NOTIFICATION- Notification under paragraph (1) shall be made in such manner and by such means as the Secretary may require by regulation.
‘(b) Recall and Consumer Notification-
‘(1) VOLUNTARY ACTIONS- On receiving notification under subsection (a) or by other means, if the Secretary finds that an article is adulterated or misbranded and that there is a reasonable probability that human consumption of the article would present a threat to public health (as determined by the Secretary), the Secretary shall provide all appropriate persons (as determined by the Secretary), that transported, stored, distributed, or otherwise handled the article with an opportunity–
‘(A) to cease distribution of the article;
‘(B) to notify all persons that transport, store, distribute, or otherwise handle the article, or to which the article has been transported, sold, distributed, or otherwise handled, to cease immediately distribution of the article;
‘(C) to recall the article;
‘(D) in consultation with the Secretary, to provide notice of the finding of the Secretary to all consumers to which the article was, or may have been, distributed; or
‘(E) to notify State and local public health officials.
‘(2) MANDATORY ACTIONS- If the appropriate person referred to in paragraph (1) does not carry out the actions described in that paragraph with respect to an article within the time period and in the manner prescribed by the Secretary, the Secretary–
‘(A) shall require the person–
‘(i) to immediately cease distribution of the article; and
‘(ii) to immediately make the notification described in paragraph (1)(B); and
‘(B) may take control or possession of the article.
‘(3) NOTICE TO CONSUMERS AND HEALTH OFFICIALS- The Secretary shall, as the Secretary determines to be necessary, provide notice of the finding of the Secretary under paragraph (1) to consumers to which the article was, or may have been, distributed and to appropriate State and local public health officials.
‘(4) NONDISTRIBUTION BY NOTIFIED PERSONS- A person that transports, stores, distributes, or otherwise handles the article, or to which the article has been transported, sold, distributed, or otherwise handled, and that is notified under paragraph (1)(B) or (2)(B) shall cease immediately distribution of the article.
‘(5) AVAILABILITY OF RECORDS TO SECRETARY- Each appropriate person referred to in paragraph (1) that transported, stored, distributed, or otherwise handled an article shall make available to the Secretary information necessary to carry out this subsection, as determined by the Secretary, regarding–
‘(A) persons that transport, store, distribute, or otherwise handle the article; and
‘(B) persons to which the article has been transported, sold, distributed, or otherwise handled.
‘(c) Informal Hearings on Orders-
‘(1) IN GENERAL- The Secretary shall provide a person subject to an order under subsection (b) with an opportunity for an informal hearing (in accordance with such rules or regulations as the Secretary shall prescribe) on–
‘(A) the actions required by the order; and
‘(B) any reasons why the article that is the subject of the order should not be recalled.
‘(2) TIMING OF HEARINGS- The Secretary shall hold a hearing under paragraph (1) as soon as practicable, but not later than 2 business days, after the date of issuance of the order.
‘(d) Post-Hearing Recall Orders-
‘(1) AMENDMENT OF ORDERS- If, after providing an opportunity for an informal hearing under subsection (c), the Secretary determines that there is a reasonable probability that human consumption of the article that is the subject of an order under subsection (b) presents a threat to public health, the Secretary may, as the Secretary determines to be necessary–
‘(A) amend the order under subsection (b)–
‘(i) to require recall of the article or other appropriate action; and
‘(ii) to specify a timetable during which the recall shall occur;
‘(B) require periodic reports to the Secretary describing the progress of the recall;
‘(C) provide notice of the recall to consumers to which the article was, or may have been, distributed; or
‘(D) take any combination of actions described in subparagraphs (A) through (C).
‘(2) VACATION OF ORDERS- If, after providing an opportunity for an informal hearing under subsection (c), the Secretary determines that adequate grounds do not exist to continue the actions required by the order, the Secretary shall vacate the order.
‘(e) Remedies Not Exclusive- The remedies authorized by this section shall be in addition to any other remedies that may be available.
‘SEC. 412. REFUSAL OR WITHDRAWAL OF INSPECTION OF ESTABLISHMENTS.
‘(a) In General- The Secretary may, for such period, or indefinitely, as the Secretary considers necessary to carry out this Act, refuse to provide or withdraw inspection under title I with respect to an establishment if the Secretary determines, after opportunity for a hearing on the record is provided to the applicant for, or recipient of, inspection, that the applicant or recipient, or any person responsibly connected with the applicant or recipient (within the meaning of section 401), has committed a willful violation or repeated violations of this Act (including a regulation promulgated under this Act).
‘(b) Denial or Suspension of Inspection Pending Hearing- The Secretary may deny or suspend inspection under title I, pending opportunity for an expedited hearing, with respect to an action under subsection (a), if the Secretary determines that the denial or suspension is in the public interest to protect the health or welfare of consumers or to ensure the effective performance of an official duty under this Act.
‘(c) Judicial Review-
‘(1) IN GENERAL- A determination and order of the Secretary with respect to the refusal or withdrawal of inspection under this section shall be final unless, not later than 30 days after the effective date of the order, the affected applicant for, or recipient of, inspection–
‘(A) files a petition for judicial review of the order; and
‘(B) simultaneously sends a copy of the petition by certified mail to the Secretary.
‘(2) REFUSAL OR WITHDRAWAL OF INSPECTION PENDING REVIEW- Inspection shall be refused or withdrawn as of the effective date of the order pending any judicial review of the order unless the Secretary directs otherwise.
‘(3) VENUE; RECORD- Judicial review of the order shall be–
‘(A) in–
‘(i) the United States court of appeals for the circuit in which the applicant for, or recipient of, inspection resides or has its principal place of business; or
‘(ii) the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit; and
‘(B) on the record on which the determination and order are based.
‘(d) Remedies Not Exclusive- The remedies authorized by this section shall be in addition to any other remedies that may be available.
‘SEC. 413. CIVIL PENALTIES.
‘(a) In General-
‘(1) ASSESSMENT- The Secretary may assess against a person that violates section 411 (including a regulation promulgated or order issued under that section) a civil penalty for each violation of not more than $100,000.
‘(2) SEPARATE OFFENSES- Each violation and each day during which the violation continues shall be considered to be a separate offense.
‘(3) NOTICE AND OPPORTUNITY FOR HEARING- The Secretary shall not assess a civil penalty under this section against a person unless the person is given notice and opportunity for a hearing on the record before the Secretary in accordance with sections 554 and 556 of title 5, United States Code.
‘(4) DETERMINATION OF CIVIL PENALTY AMOUNT- The amount of a civil penalty under this section–
‘(A) shall be assessed by the Secretary by written order, taking into account–
‘(i) the gravity of the violation;
‘(ii) the degree of culpability of the person;
‘(iii) the size and type of the business of the person; and
‘(iv) any history of prior offenses by the person under this Act; and
‘(B) shall be reviewed only in accordance with subsection (b).
‘(b) Judicial Review-
‘(1) IN GENERAL- An order assessing a civil penalty against a person under subsection (a) shall be final unless the person–
‘(A) not later than 30 days after the effective date of the order, files a petition for judicial review of the order in–
‘(i) the United States court of appeals for the circuit in which the person resides or has its principal place of business; or
‘(ii) the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit; and
‘(B) simultaneously sends a copy of the petition by certified mail to the Secretary.
‘(2) FILING OF COPY OF RECORD- The Secretary shall promptly file in the court a certified copy of the record on which the order was issued.
‘(c) Collection Actions for Failure To Pay Assessment-
‘(1) REFERRAL TO ATTORNEY GENERAL- If a person fails to pay a civil penalty assessed under subsection (a) after the order assessing the civil penalty has become a final order, or after the court of appeals has entered final judgment in favor of the Secretary, the Secretary shall refer the matter to the Attorney General.
‘(2) ACTION BY ATTORNEY GENERAL- The Attorney General shall bring a civil action to recover the amount of the civil penalty in United States district court.
‘(3) SCOPE OF REVIEW- In a civil action under paragraph (2), the validity and appropriateness of the order of the Secretary assessing the civil penalty shall not be subject to review.
‘(d) Refusal or Withdrawal of Inspection Pending Payment- If a person fails to pay the amount of a civil penalty after the order assessing the civil penalty has become a final order, the Secretary may refuse to provide or withdraw inspection under title I of the person until the civil penalty is paid or until the Secretary directs otherwise.
‘(e) Penalties in Lieu of Other Actions- Nothing in this Act requires the Secretary to report for prosecution, or for the commencement of an action, any violation of section 411 in any case in which the Secretary believes that the public interest will be adequately served by the assessment of a civil penalty under this section.
‘(f) Remedies Not Exclusive- The remedies authorized by this section shall be in addition to any other remedies that may be available.’.
(b) Conforming Amendments-
(1) Section 1 of the Federal Meat Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 601) is amended by adding at the end the following:
‘(x) Person- The term ‘person’ means any individual, partnership, corporation, association, or other business unit.’.
(2) The Federal Meat Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) is amended–
(A) by striking ‘person, firm, or corporation’ each place it appears and inserting ‘person’;
(B) by striking ‘persons, firms, and corporations’ each place it appears and inserting ‘persons’; and
(C) by striking ‘persons, firms, or corporations’ each place it appears and inserting ‘persons’.
SEC. 202. FOOD SAFETY ENFORCEMENT FOR POULTRY AND POULTRY FOOD PRODUCTS.
(a) In General- The Poultry Products Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 451 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
‘SEC. 32. NOTIFICATION, NONDISTRIBUTION, AND RECALL OF ADULTERATED OR MISBRANDED ARTICLES.
‘(a) Notification to Secretary of Violation-
‘(1) IN GENERAL- A person (other than a household consumer) that has reason to believe that any poultry or poultry product (referred to in this section as an ‘article’) transported, stored, distributed, or otherwise handled by the person is adulterated or misbranded shall, as soon as practicable, notify the Secretary of the identity and location of the article.
‘(2) MANNER OF NOTIFICATION- Notification under paragraph (1) shall be made in such manner and by such means as the Secretary may require by regulation.
‘(b) Recall and Consumer Notification-
‘(1) VOLUNTARY ACTIONS- On receiving notification under subsection (a) or by other means, if the Secretary finds that an article is adulterated or misbranded and that there is a reasonable probability that human consumption of the article would present a threat to public health (as determined by the Secretary), the Secretary shall provide all appropriate persons (as determined by the Secretary), that transported, stored, distributed, or otherwise handled the article with an opportunity–
‘(A) to cease distribution of the article;
‘(B) to notify all persons that transport, store, distribute, or otherwise handle the article, or to which the article has been transported, sold, distributed, or otherwise handled, to cease immediately distribution of the article;
‘(C) to recall the article;
‘(D) in consultation with the Secretary, to provide notice of the finding of the Secretary to all consumers to which the article was, or may have been, distributed; or
‘(E) to notify State and local public health officials.
‘(2) MANDATORY ACTIONS- If the appropriate person referred to in paragraph (1) does not carry out the actions described in that paragraph with respect to an article within the time period and in the manner prescribed by the Secretary, the Secretary–
‘(A) shall require the person–
‘(i) to immediately cease distribution of the article; and
‘(ii) to immediately make the notification described in paragraph (1)(B); and
‘(B) may take control or possession of the article.
‘(3) NOTICE TO CONSUMERS AND HEALTH OFFICIALS- The Secretary shall, as the Secretary determines to be necessary, provide notice of the finding of the Secretary under paragraph (1) to consumers to which the article was, or may have been, distributed and to appropriate State and local health officials.
‘(4) NONDISTRIBUTION BY NOTIFIED PERSONS- A person that transports, stores, distributes, or otherwise handles the article, or to which the article has been transported, sold, distributed, or otherwise handled, and that is notified under paragraph (1)(B) or (2)(B) shall cease immediately distribution of the article.
‘(5) AVAILABILITY OF RECORDS TO SECRETARY- Each appropriate person referred to in paragraph (1) that transported, stored, distributed, or otherwise handled an article shall make available to the Secretary information necessary to carry out this subsection, as determined by the Secretary, regarding–
‘(A) persons that transport, store, distribute, or otherwise handle the article; and
‘(B) persons to which the article has been transported, sold, distributed, or otherwise handled.
‘(c) Informal Hearings on Orders-
‘(1) IN GENERAL- The Secretary shall provide a person subject to an order under subsection (b) with an opportunity for an informal hearing (in accordance with such rules or regulations as the Secretary shall prescribe) on–
‘(A) the actions required by the order; and
‘(B) any reasons why the article that is the subject of the order should not be recalled.
‘(2) TIMING OF HEARINGS- The Secretary shall hold a hearing under paragraph (1) as soon as practicable, but not later than 2 business days, after the date of issuance of the order.
‘(d) Post-Hearing Recall Orders-
‘(1) AMENDMENT OF ORDERS- If, after providing an opportunity for an informal hearing under subsection (c), the Secretary determines that there is a reasonable probability that human consumption of the article that is the subject of an order under subsection (b) presents a threat to public health, the Secretary may, as the Secretary determines to be necessary–
‘(A) amend the order under subsection (b)–
‘(i) to require recall of the article or other appropriate action; and
‘(ii) to specify a timetable during which the recall shall occur;
‘(B) require periodic reports to the Secretary describing the progress of the recall; or
‘(C) provide notice of the recall to consumers to which the article was, or may have been, distributed.
‘(2) VACATION OF ORDERS- If, after providing an opportunity for an informal hearing under subsection (c), the Secretary determines that adequate grounds do not exist to continue the actions required by the order, the Secretary shall vacate the order.
‘(e) Remedies Not Exclusive- The remedies authorized by this section shall be in addition to any other remedies that may be available.
‘SEC. 33. REFUSAL OR WITHDRAWAL OF INSPECTION OF ESTABLISHMENTS.
‘(a) In General- The Secretary may, for such period, or indefinitely, as the Secretary considers necessary to carry out this Act, refuse to provide or withdraw inspection under this Act with respect to an establishment if the Secretary determines, after opportunity for a hearing on the record is provided to the applicant for, or recipient of, inspection, that the applicant or recipient, or any person responsibly connected with the applicant or recipient (within the meaning of section 18(a)), has committed a willful violation or repeated violations of this Act (including a regulation promulgated under this Act).
‘(b) Denial or Suspension of Inspection Pending Hearing- The Secretary may deny or suspend inspection under this Act, pending opportunity for an expedited hearing, with respect to an action under subsection (a), if the Secretary determines that the denial or suspension is in the public interest to protect the health or welfare of consumers or to ensure the effective performance of an official duty under this Act.
‘(c) Judicial Review-
‘(1) IN GENERAL- A determination and order of the Secretary with respect to the refusal or withdrawal of inspection under this section shall be final unless, not later than 30 days after the effective date of the order, the affected applicant for, or recipient of, inspection–
‘(A) files a petition for judicial review of the order; and
‘(B) simultaneously sends a copy of the petition by certified mail to the Secretary.
‘(2) REFUSAL OR WITHDRAWAL OF INSPECTION PENDING REVIEW- Inspection shall be refused or withdrawn as of the effective date of the order pending any judicial review of the order unless the Secretary directs otherwise.
‘(3) VENUE; RECORD- Judicial review of the order shall be–
‘(A) in–
‘(i) the United States court of appeals for the circuit in which the applicant for, or recipient of, inspection resides or has its principal place of business; or
‘(ii) the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit; and
‘(B) on the record on which the determination and order are based.
‘(d) Remedies Not Exclusive- The remedies authorized by this section shall be in addition to any other remedies that may be available.
‘SEC. 34. CIVIL PENALTIES.
‘(a) In General-
‘(1) ASSESSMENT- The Secretary may assess against a person that violates section 32 (including a regulation promulgated or order issued under that section) a civil penalty for each violation of not more than $100,000.
‘(2) SEPARATE OFFENSES- Each violation and each day during which the violation continues shall be considered to be a separate offense.
‘(3) NOTICE AND OPPORTUNITY FOR HEARING- The Secretary shall not assess a civil penalty under this section against a person unless the person is given notice and opportunity for a hearing on the record before the Secretary in accordance with sections 554 and 556 of title 5, United States Code.
‘(4) DETERMINATION OF CIVIL PENALTY AMOUNT- The amount of a civil penalty under this section–
‘(A) shall be assessed by the Secretary by written order, taking into account–
‘(i) the gravity of the violation;
‘(ii) the degree of culpability of the person;
‘(iii) the size and type of the business of the person; and
‘(iv) any history of prior offenses by the person under this Act; and
‘(B) shall be reviewed only in accordance with subsection (b).
‘(b) Judicial Review-
‘(1) IN GENERAL- An order assessing a civil penalty against a person under subsection (a) shall be final unless the person–
‘(A) not later than 30 days after the effective date of the order, files a petition for judicial review of the order in–
‘(i) the United States court of appeals for the circuit in which the person resides or has its principal place of business; or
‘(ii) the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit; and
‘(B) simultaneously sends a copy of the petition by certified mail to the Secretary.
‘(2) FILING OF COPY OF RECORD- The Secretary shall promptly file in the court a certified copy of the record on which the order was issued.
‘(c) Collection Actions for Failure To Pay Assessment-
‘(1) REFERRAL TO ATTORNEY GENERAL- If a person fails to pay a civil penalty assessed under subsection (a) after the order assessing the civil penalty has become a final order, or after the court of appeals has entered final judgment in favor of the Secretary, the Secretary shall refer the matter to the Attorney General.
‘(2) ACTION BY ATTORNEY GENERAL- The Attorney General shall bring a civil action to recover the amount of the civil penalty in United States district court.
‘(3) SCOPE OF REVIEW- In a civil action under paragraph (2), the validity and appropriateness of the order of the Secretary assessing the civil penalty shall not be subject to review.
‘(d) Refusal or Withdrawal of Inspection Pending Payment- If a person fails to pay the amount of a civil penalty after the order assessing the civil penalty has become a final order, the Secretary may refuse to provide or withdraw inspection under this Act of the person until the civil penalty is paid or until the Secretary directs otherwise.
‘(e) Penalties in Lieu of Other Actions- Nothing in this Act requires the Secretary to report for prosecution, or for the commencement of an action, any violation of section 32 in any case in which the Secretary believes that the public interest will be adequately served by the assessment of a civil penalty under this section.
‘(f) Remedies Not Exclusive- The remedies authorized by this section shall be in addition to any other remedies that may be available.’.
(b) Conforming Amendments- Section 5(c)(1) of the Poultry Products Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 454(c)(1)) is amended in the first sentence–
(1) by striking ‘, by thirty days prior to the expiration of two years after enactment of the Wholesome Poultry Products Act,’; and
(2) by striking ‘sections 1-4, 6-10, and 12-22 of this Act’ and inserting ‘sections 1 through 4, 6 through 10, 12 through 22, and 32 through 34’; and
SEC. 203. NOTIFICATION, NONDISTRIBUTION, AND RECALL OF ADULTERATED OR MISBRANDED EGGS AND EGG PRODUCTS.
The Egg Products Inspection Act is amended by inserting after section 20 (21 U.S.C. 1049) the following:
‘SEC. 20A. NOTIFICATION, NONDISTRIBUTION, AND RECALL OF ADULTERATED OR MISBRANDED EGGS AND EGG PRODUCTS.
‘(a) Notification to Secretary of Violation-
‘(1) IN GENERAL- A person (other than a household consumer) that has reason to believe that any egg or egg product (referred to in this section as an ‘article’) transported, stored, distributed, or otherwise handled by the person is adulterated or misbranded shall, as soon as practicable, notify the Secretary of the identity and location of the article.
‘(2) MANNER OF NOTIFICATION- Notification under paragraph (1) shall be made in such manner and by such means as the Secretary may require by regulation.
‘(b) Recall and Consumer Notification-
‘(1) VOLUNTARY ACTIONS- On receiving notification under subsection (a) or by other means, if the Secretary finds that an article is adulterated or misbranded and that there is a reasonable probability that human consumption of the article would present a threat to public health (as determined by the Secretary), the Secretary shall provide all appropriate persons (as determined by the Secretary), that transported, stored, distributed, or otherwise handled the article with an opportunity–
‘(A) to cease distribution of the article;
‘(B) to notify all persons that transport, store, distribute, or otherwise handle the article, or to which the article has been transported, sold, distributed, or otherwise handled, to cease immediately distribution of the article;
‘(C) to recall the article;
‘(D) in consultation with the Secretary, to provide notice of the finding of the Secretary to all consumers to which the article was, or may have been, distributed; or
‘(E) to notify State and local public health officials.
‘(2) MANDATORY ACTIONS- If the appropriate person referred to in paragraph (1) does not carry out the actions described in that paragraph with respect to an article within the time period and in the manner prescribed by the Secretary, the Secretary–
‘(A) shall require the person–
‘(i) to immediately cease distribution of the article; and
‘(ii) to immediately make the notification described in paragraph (1)(B); and
‘(B) may take control or possession of the article.
‘(3) NOTICE TO CONSUMERS AND HEALTH OFFICIALS- The Secretary shall, as the Secretary determines to be necessary, provide notice of the finding of the Secretary under paragraph (1) to consumers to which the article was, or may have been, distributed and to appropriate State and local health officials.
‘(4) NONDISTRIBUTION BY NOTIFIED PERSONS- A person that transports, stores, distributes, or otherwise handles the article, or to which the article has been transported, sold, distributed, or otherwise handled, and that is notified under paragraph (1)(B) or (2)(B) shall cease immediately distribution of the article.
‘(5) AVAILABILITY OF RECORDS TO SECRETARY- Each appropriate person referred to in paragraph (1) that transported, stored, distributed, or otherwise handled an article shall make available to the Secretary information necessary to carry out this subsection, as determined by the Secretary, regarding–
‘(A) persons that transport, store, distribute, or otherwise handle the article; and
‘(B) persons to which the article has been transported, sold, distributed, or otherwise handled.
‘(c) Informal Hearings on Orders-
‘(1) IN GENERAL- The Secretary shall provide a person subject to an order under subsection (b) with an opportunity for an informal hearing (in accordance with such rules or regulations as the Secretary shall prescribe) on–
‘(A) the actions required by the order; and
‘(B) any reasons why the article that is the subject of the order should not be recalled.
‘(2) TIMING OF HEARINGS- The Secretary shall hold a hearing under paragraph (1) as soon as practicable, but not later than 2 business days, after the date of issuance of the order.
‘(d) Post-Hearing Recall Orders-
‘(1) AMENDMENT OF ORDERS- If, after providing an opportunity for an informal hearing under subsection (c), the Secretary determines that there is a reasonable probability that human consumption of the article that is the subject of an order under subsection (b) presents a threat to public health, the Secretary may, as the Secretary determines to be necessary–
‘(A) amend the order under subsection (b)–
‘(i) to require recall of the article or other appropriate action; and
‘(ii) to specify a timetable during which the recall shall occur;
‘(B) require periodic reports to the Secretary describing the progress of the recall; or
‘(C) provide notice of the recall to consumers to which the article was, or may have been, distributed.
‘(2) VACATION OF ORDERS- If, after providing an opportunity for an informal hearing under subsection (c), the Secretary determines that adequate grounds do not exist to continue the actions required by the order, the Secretary shall vacate the order.
‘(e) Remedies Not Exclusive- The remedies authorized by this section shall be in addition to any other remedies that may be available.
‘SEC. 20B. REFUSAL OR WITHDRAWAL OF INSPECTION OF ESTABLISHMENTS.
‘(a) In General- The Secretary may, for such period, or indefinitely, as the Secretary considers necessary to carry out this Act, refuse to provide or withdraw inspection under this Act with respect to an establishment if the Secretary determines, after opportunity for a hearing on the record is provided to the applicant for, or recipient of, inspection, that the applicant or recipient, or any person responsibly connected with the applicant or recipient (within the meaning of section 18), has committed a willful violation or repeated violations of this Act (including a regulation promulgated under this Act).
‘(b) Denial or Suspension of Inspection Pending Hearing- The Secretary may deny or suspend inspection under this Act, pending opportunity for an expedited hearing, with respect to an action under subsection (a), if the Secretary determines that the denial or suspension is in the public interest to protect the health or welfare of consumers or to ensure the effective performance of an official duty under this Act.
‘(c) Judicial Review-
‘(1) IN GENERAL- A determination and order of the Secretary with respect to the refusal or withdrawal of inspection under this section shall be final unless, not later than 30 days after the effective date of the order, the affected applicant for, or recipient of, inspection–
‘(A) files a petition for judicial review of the order; and
‘(B) simultaneously sends a copy of the petition by certified mail to the Secretary.
‘(2) REFUSAL OR WITHDRAWAL OF INSPECTION PENDING REVIEW- Inspection shall be refused or withdrawn as of the effective date of the order pending any judicial review of the order unless the Secretary directs otherwise.
‘(3) VENUE; RECORD- Judicial review of the order shall be–
‘(A) in–
‘(i) the United States court of appeals for the circuit in which the applicant for, or recipient of, inspection resides or has its principal place of business; or
‘(ii) the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit; and
‘(B) on the record on which the determination and order are based.
‘(d) Remedies Not Exclusive- The remedies authorized by this section shall be in addition to any other remedies that may be available.
‘SEC. 20C. CIVIL PENALTIES.
‘(a) In General-
‘(1) ASSESSMENT- The Secretary may assess against a person that violates section 20A (including a regulation promulgated or order issued under that section) a civil penalty for each violation of not more than $100,000.
‘(2) SEPARATE OFFENSES- Each violation and each day during which the violation continues shall be considered to be a separate offense.
‘(3) NOTICE AND OPPORTUNITY FOR HEARING- The Secretary shall not assess a civil penalty under this section against a person unless the person is given notice and opportunity for a hearing on the record before the Secretary in accordance with sections 554 and 556 of title 5, United States Code.
‘(4) DETERMINATION OF CIVIL PENALTY AMOUNT- The amount of a civil penalty under this section–
‘(A) shall be assessed by the Secretary by written order, taking into account–
‘(i) the gravity of the violation;
‘(ii) the degree of culpability of the person;
‘(iii) the size and type of the business of the person; and
‘(iv) any history of prior offenses by the person under this Act; and
‘(B) shall be reviewed only in accordance with subsection (b).
‘(b) Judicial Review-
‘(1) IN GENERAL- An order assessing a civil penalty against a person under subsection (a) shall be final unless the person–
‘(A) not later than 30 days after the effective date of the order, files a petition for judicial review of the order in–
‘(i) the United States court of appeals for the circuit in which the person resides or has its principal place of business; or
‘(ii) the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit; and
‘(B) simultaneously sends a copy of the petition by certified mail to the Secretary.
‘(2) FILING OF COPY OF RECORD- The Secretary shall promptly file in the court a certified copy of the record on which the order was issued.
‘(c) Collection Actions for Failure To Pay Assessment-
‘(1) REFERRAL TO ATTORNEY GENERAL- If a person fails to pay a civil penalty assessed under subsection (a) after the order assessing the civil penalty has become a final order, or after the court of appeals has entered final judgment in favor of the Secretary, the Secretary shall refer the matter to the Attorney General.
‘(2) ACTION BY ATTORNEY GENERAL- The Attorney General shall bring a civil action to recover the amount of the civil penalty in United States district court.
‘(3) SCOPE OF REVIEW- In a civil action under paragraph (2), the validity and appropriateness of the order of the Secretary assessing the civil penalty shall not be subject to review.
‘(d) Refusal or Withdrawal of Inspection Pending Payment- If a person fails to pay the amount of a civil penalty after the order assessing the civil penalty has become a final order, the Secretary may refuse to provide or withdraw inspection under this Act of the person until the civil penalty is paid or until the Secretary directs otherwise.
‘(e) Penalties in Lieu of Other Actions- Nothing in this Act requires the Secretary to report for prosecution, or for the commencement of an action, any violation of section 20A in any case in which the Secretary believes that the public interest will be adequately served by the assessment of a civil penalty under this section.
‘(f) Remedies Not Exclusive- The remedies authorized by this section shall be in addition to any other remedies that may be available.’.
SEC. 204. NOTIFICATION, NONDISTRIBUTION, AND RECALL OF ADULTERATED OR MISBRANDED ARTICLES OF FOOD.
(a) Prohibited Acts- Section 301 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 331) is amended by adding at the end the following:
‘(pp)(1) The failure to notify the Secretary in violation of section 311(a).
‘(2) The failure to comply with–
‘(A) an order issued under section 311(b) following any hearing requested under section 311(c); or
‘(B) an amended order issued under section 311(d)(1).’.
(b) Notification, Nondistribution, and Recall of Adulterated or Misbranded Articles of Food; Civil Penalties Relating to Foods- Chapter III of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 331 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
‘SEC. 311. NOTIFICATION, NONDISTRIBUTION, AND RECALL OF ADULTERATED OR MISBRANDED ARTICLES OF FOOD.
‘(a) Notification to Secretary of Violation-
‘(1) IN GENERAL- A person (other than a household consumer or other individual who is the intended consumer of an article of food) that has reason to believe that an article of food when introduced into or while in interstate commerce, or while held for sale (regardless of whether the first sale) after shipment in interstate commerce, is adulterated or misbranded in a manner that, if consumed, may result in illness or injury shall, as soon as practicable, notify the Secretary of the identity and location of the article.
‘(2) MANNER OF NOTIFICATION- Notification under paragraph (1) shall be made in such manner and by such means as the Secretary may require by regulation.
‘(b) Recall and Consumer Notification-
‘(1) VOLUNTARY ACTIONS- On receiving notification under subsection (a) or by other means, if the Secretary finds that an article of food when introduced into or while in interstate commerce, or while held for sale (regardless of whether the first sale) after shipment in interstate commerce, is adulterated or misbranded in a manner that, if consumed, may result in illness or injury (as determined by the Secretary), the Secretary shall provide all appropriate persons (including the manufacturer, importer, distributor, or retailer of the article) with an opportunity (as determined by the Secretary)–
‘(A) to cease distribution of the article;
‘(B) to notify all persons–
‘(i) that produce, manufacture, pack, process, prepare, treat, package, distribute, or hold the article, to cease immediately those activities with respect to the article; or
‘(ii) to which the article has been distributed, transported, or sold, to cease immediately distribution of the article;
‘(C) to recall the article;
‘(D) in consultation with the Secretary, to provide notice of the finding of the Secretary to all consumers to which the article was, or may have been, distributed and to appropriate State and local health officials; or
‘(E) to notify State and local public health officials.
‘(2) MANDATORY ACTIONS- If the appropriate person referred to in paragraph (1) does not carry out the actions described in that paragraph with respect to an article within the time period and in the manner prescribed by the Secretary, the Secretary–
‘(A) shall require the person–
‘(i) to immediately cease distribution of the article; and
‘(ii) to immediately make the notification described in paragraph (1)(B); and
‘(B) may take control or possession of the article.
‘(3) NOTICE TO CONSUMERS AND HEALTH OFFICIALS- The Secretary shall, as the Secretary determines to be necessary, provide notice of the finding of the Secretary under paragraph (1) to consumers to which the article was, or may have been, distributed and to appropriate State and local health officials.
‘(c) Hearings on Orders-
‘(1) IN GENERAL- The Secretary shall provide a person subject to an order under subsection (b) with an opportunity for a hearing on–
‘(A) the actions required by the order; and
‘(B) any reasons why the article of food that is the subject of the order should not be recalled.
‘(2) TIMING OF HEARINGS- The Secretary shall hold a hearing under paragraph (1) as soon as practicable, but not later than 2 business days, after the date of issuance of the order.
‘(d) Post-Hearing Recall Orders-
‘(1) AMENDMENT OF ORDERS- If, after providing an opportunity for a hearing under subsection (c), the Secretary determines that an article of food when introduced into or while in interstate commerce, or while held for sale (regardless of whether the first sale) after shipment in interstate commerce, is adulterated or misbranded in a manner that, if consumed, may result in illness or injury, the Secretary may, as the Secretary determines to be necessary–
‘(A) amend the order under subsection (b)–
‘(i) to require recall of the article or other appropriate action; and
‘(ii) to specify a timetable during which the recall shall occur;
‘(B) require periodic reports to the Secretary describing the progress of the recall; or
‘(C) provide notice of the recall to consumers to which the article was, or may have been, distributed.
‘(2) VACATION OF ORDERS- If, after providing an opportunity for a hearing under subsection (c), the Secretary determines that adequate grounds do not exist to continue the actions required by the order, the Secretary shall vacate the order.
‘(e) Remedies Not Exclusive- The remedies authorized by this section shall be in addition to any other remedies that may be available.
‘SEC. 312. CIVIL PENALTIES RELATING TO FOODS.
‘(a) In General-
‘(1) ASSESSMENT- The Secretary may assess against a person that commits an act prohibited by section 301(pp) a civil penalty for each such act of not more than–
‘(A) $100,000, in the case of an individual; and
‘(B) $500,000, in the case of any other person.
‘(2) SEPARATE OFFENSES- Each prohibited act and each day during which the act continues shall be considered to be a separate offense.
‘(3) NOTICE AND OPPORTUNITY FOR HEARING- The Secretary shall not assess a civil penalty under this section against a person unless the person is given notice and opportunity for a hearing on the record before the Secretary in accordance with sections 554 and 556 of title 5, United States Code.
‘(4) DETERMINATION OF CIVIL PENALTY AMOUNT- The amount of a civil penalty under this section–
‘(A) shall be assessed by the Secretary by written order, taking into account–
‘(i) the gravity of the violation;
‘(ii) the degree of culpability of the person;
‘(iii) the size and type of the business of the person; and
‘(iv) any history of prior offenses by the person; and
‘(B) shall be reviewed only in accordance with subsection (b).
‘(b) Judicial Review-
‘(1) IN GENERAL- An order assessing a civil penalty against a person under subsection (a) shall be final unless the person–
‘(A) not later than 30 days after the effective date of the order, files a petition for judicial review of the order in–
‘(i) the United States court of appeals for the circuit in which the person resides or has its principal place of business; or
‘(ii) the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit; and
‘(B) simultaneously sends a copy of the petition by certified mail to the Secretary.
‘(2) FILING OF COPY OF RECORD- The Secretary shall promptly file in the court a certified copy of the record on which the order was issued.
‘(3) STANDARD OF REVIEW- The findings of the Secretary relating to the order shall be set aside only if the findings are found to be unsupported by substantial evidence on the record as a whole.
‘(c) Collection Actions for Failure To Pay Assessment-
‘(1) REFERRAL TO ATTORNEY GENERAL- If a person fails to pay a civil penalty assessed under subsection (a) after the order assessing the civil penalty has become a final order, or after the court of appeals has entered final judgment in favor of the Secretary, the Secretary may refer the matter to the Attorney General.
‘(2) ACTION BY ATTORNEY GENERAL- The Attorney General shall bring a civil action to recover the amount of the civil penalty in United States district court.
‘(3) SCOPE OF REVIEW- In a civil action under paragraph (2), the validity and appropriateness of the order of the Secretary assessing the civil penalty shall not be subject to review.
‘(d) Penalties Deposited in Treasury- All amounts collected as civil penalties under this section shall be deposited in the Treasury of the United States.
‘(e) Penalties in Lieu of Other Actions- Nothing in this Act requires the Secretary to report for prosecution, or for the commencement of any libel or injunction proceeding, any violation of section 301(pp) in any case in which the Secretary believes that the public interest will be adequately served by the assessment of a civil penalty under this section.
‘(f) Remedies Not Exclusive- The remedies authorized by this section shall be in addition to any other remedies that may be available.’.
A snake with a single clawed foot has been discovered in China, according to reports.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildlife/6187320/Snake-with-foot-found-in-China.html
Dean Qiongxiu, 66, said she discovered the reptile clinging to the wall of her bedroom with its talons in the middle of the night.
“I woke up and heard a strange scratching sound. I turned on the light and saw this monster working its way along the wall using his claw,” said Mrs Duan of Suining, southwest China.
Mrs Duan said she was so scared she grabbed a shoe and beat the snake to death before preserving its body in a bottle of alcohol.
The snake – 16 inches long and the thickness of a little finger – is now being studied at the Life Sciences Department at China’s West Normal University in Nanchang.
Snake expert Long Shuai said: “It is truly shocking but we won’t know the cause until we’ve conducted an autopsy.”
A more common mutation among snakes is the growth of a second head, which occurs in a similar way to the formation of Siamese twins in humans.
Such animals are often caught and preserved as lucky tokens but have very little chance of surviving in the wild anyway, especially as the heads have a tendency to attack each other.
The Pharmacratic Inquisition DVD – Official Online Edition
1:51:19
How deep does the rabbit hole go? Gnostic Media is proud to present the official online edition of The Pharmacratic Inquisition 2007. If you enjoyed “Zeitgeist – The Movie”, you will love this video; the creators of this video are listed as one of the sources for the Zeitgeist Movie. The Pharmacratic Inquisition 2007 is a video version of the book, “Astrotheology & Shamanism” by Jan Irvin & Andrew Rutajit. The painstakingly detailed and heavily footnoted research in the book comes to life in this video and is now available to you for FREE! For further research of the claims made in this video, please read AstroTheology & Shamanism – this book is available to order as a combo with the DVD. Thousands of years ago, in the pre monarchic era, sacred plants and other entheogenic substances where politically correct and highly respected for their ability to bring forth the divine, Yahweh, God, The Great Spirit, etc., by the many cultures who used them. Often the entire tribe or community would partake in the entheogenic rites and rituals. These rites were often used in initiation into adulthood, for healing, to help guide the community in the decision process, and to bring the direct religious experience to anyone seeking it. In the pre literate world, the knowledge of psychedelic sacraments, as well as fertility rites and astronomical knowledge surrounding the sun, stars, and zodiac, known as astrotheology, were anthropomorphized into a character or a deity; consequently, their stories and practices could easily be passed down for generations. Weather changes over millenniums caused environmental changes that altered the available foods and plant sacraments available in the local vicinity. If a tribe lost its shamanic El-der (El – God), all of the tribe’s knowledge of their plant sacraments as well as astronomical knowledge would be lost. The Church’s inquisitions extracted this sacred knowledge from the local Shamans who were then exterminated…It is time to recognize the fact that this Pharmacratic Inquisition is still intact and destroy it.
In this one-off documentary, David Malone looks at four brilliant mathematicians – Georg Cantor, Ludwig Boltzmann, Kurt Gödel and Alan Turing – whose genius has profoundly affected us, but which tragically drove them insane and eventually led to them all committing suicide.
Renowned linguist Steven Pinker speaks at Google’s Mountain View, CA, headquarters about his book “The Stuff of Thought.” This event took place on September 24, 2007, as part of the Authors@Google series. For more information about Steven Pinker, please visit http://pinker.wjh.harvard.edu/books/s…
“Persistence Hunt” of a Male Kudu, by tribesman of the San on the Kalahari Desert of Africa.
http://e-cognitive-enhancers.blogspot.com/
Dopaminergics
Dopaminergics are substances that affect the neurotransmitter dopamine or the components of the nervous system that use dopamine. Dopamine is produced in the synthesis of all catecholamine neurotransmitters, and is the rate limiting step for this synthesis. Dopaminergic nootropics include dopamine precursors and cofactors (vitamin C and vitamin B6), and dopamine reuptake inhibitors:
* Mucuna pruriens – Seed powder which contains high concentrations of levodopa (L-dopa),[28] a direct precursor of the neurotransmitter dopamine.
* Tyrosine (requires Vitamin B6 and Vitamin C) – Amino acid. Precursor to dopamine, anti-depressant, sleep reducer.
* Lazabemide – a MAO-B inhibitor and has potent membrane lipid antioxidant activity. The antioxidant effects of lazabemide are attributed to its chemical structure and direct physicochemical interactions with the membrane lipid bilayer. It is a potent antioxidant, even more powerful than selegiline (deprenyl) or vitamin E, and is used to treat Alzheimer’s disease.[29]
* L-dopa – Prescription drug and dietary supplement. Precursor to the neurotransmitter dopamine, anti-depressant.
* Phenylalanine (requires Vitamin B6 and Vitamin C) – Essential amino acid. Precursor to dopamine, anti-depressant, sleep reducer.
* Selegiline – L-deprenyl is an irreversible MAO-B inhibitor, an enzyme that breaks down dopamine. Thus, it is used to treat Parkinson’s disease, and has been tested as a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease.[30] It protects against the genotoxin AraC, provides neuroprotection against growth factor withdrawal in PC12 cells, protects against oxidative stress in mesencephalatic neurons, and delays neuronal cell death in the hippocampus after global ischemia.[31]
* Tolcapone – Inhibits COMT (an enzyme that breaks down the neurotransmitters dopamine, epinephrine, and norepinephrine) and increases performance in tasks depending on working memory in individuals with the val/val and val/met genotype of the val158Met polymorphism of the catechol-O-methyltransferase gene, while decreasing it in presence of the met/met version. Tolcapone presents the risk of deadly side effects.
* Yohimbe – Bark. Aphrodisiac. Boosts dopamine levels,[citation needed] though how it does this is not yet understood. Supplements are likely to have no yohimbe in them.[32] Yohimbe poses some health risks through its side-effects: it is a neuro-paralytic which slows down breathing and induces acidosis, some symptoms of which are malaise, nausea, and vomiting. Contraindicated for users of megadoses of acidic vitamins or nutrients.
* Theanine – Found in tea. Increases serotonin and dopamine levels in the brain. Increases alpha-wave based alert relaxation.
Publicat de health victorro la 04:23 0 comentarii
Etichete: Dopaminergics
Cholinergics
Cholinergics are substances that affect the neurotransmitter acetylcholine or the components of the nervous system that use acetylcholine. Acetylcholine facilitates memory, concentration, focus, and high-order thought processes (abstract thought, calculation, innovation, etc.).[citation needed] Increasing the availability of this neurotransmitter in the brain may improve these functions and increase the duration in which they may be engaged without slowing down or stopping. Oversupplying the brain with acetylcholine may have the opposite effect, temporarily reducing rather than improving mental performance.[citation needed] Cholinergic nootropics include acetylcholine precursors and cofactors, and acetylcholinesterase inhibitors:
Piracetam
Main article: Piracetam
Piracetam (Nootropil) is the original[15] and most commonly taken[16][15] nootropic supplement. It is a cholinergic agent synergistic with DMAE, Centrophenoxine, choline, Alpha-GPC and Hydergine. It increases brain cell metabolism and energy levels,[17][15] and speeds up interhemispheric flow of information (left-right brain hemisphere communication). It increases alertness,[12] improves concentration, and enhances memory. Protects neurons from hypoxia,[15] and stimulates growth of acetylcholine receptors.[citation needed] It may also cause nerves to regenerate.[citation needed] Piracetam markedly decreases the formation of neuronal lipofuscin.[18] It improves posture in elderly people.[19] It is not regulated in the US.[citation needed] It is a pyrrolidone derivative.
Aniracetam
Main article: Aniracetam
Aniracetam is a pyrrolidone derivative drug, analogous of piracetam, and considered more potent[citation needed]. Like piracetam, aniracetam protects against some memory impairing chemicals, such as diethyldithiocarbamate and clonidine.[20] Also like piracetam, aniracetam may enhance memory in aging adults by increasing levels of brain biogenic monoamines, which are beneficial to learning and memory.[13] Both racetams have possible therapeutic use in treating fetal alcohol syndrome.[21] Aniracetam increases vigilance.[12] Aniracetam has shown to positively potentiate AMPA receptors.
Other cholinergics
This section needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2007)
* Acetyl-L-carnitine (ALCAR) – Amino acid. Precursor of acetylcholine (donating the acetyl portion to the acetylcholine molecule). It is synergistic with lipoic acid.[22] Inhibits lipofuscin formation.
* Choline – precursor to acetylcholine (an essential component of the acetylcholine molecule).
o Alpha-GPC (L-alpha glycerylphosphorylcholine, Choline alfoscerate) – most effective choline precursor, readily crosses the blood-brain barrier.
o Citicoline – less expensive and similar in effect to Alpha GPC. Appears effective in rats.[23][24]
o Choline bitartrate – precursor of acetylcholine, anti-depressant.
o Choline citrate – precursor of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, anti-depressant.[citation needed]
* DMAE – approved treatment for ADD/ADHD[citation needed], precursor of acetylcholine, cholinergic agent, removes lipofuscin from the brain, anti-depressant.
* Galantamine – acetylcholinesterase inhibitor made from chemical synthesis or extract from plants such as Red Spider Lily (Lycoris radiata).
* Huperzine A – potent acetylcholinesterase inhibitor derived from Chinese club-moss. Recent Cochrane review concluded that it appears to have beneficial cognitive effects with limited side-effects, but more evidence is needed.[25]
* Ispronicline – recently developed selective α4β2 partial agonist
* Lecithin – contains phosphatidylcholine, precursor of acetylcholine.
* Other pyrrolidone derivatives:
o Etiracetam – It increases vigilance.[12]
o Nefiracetam – Drug. Analog of piracetam, and facilitates hippocampal neurotransmission.[26]
o Oxiracetam – Drug. Analog of piracetam, and 2 to 4 times stronger. Improves memory, concentration, and vigilance. When fed to pregnant rats, the offspring of those rats were more intelligent than the offspring of rats fed a saline solution placebo.
o Pramiracetam – Drug. Analog of piracetam.
o In animal studies, nootropics such as piracetam, oxiracetam and aniracetam are known to facilitate the formation of long term memory traces and to restore object recognition in aging rats.[27] There is evidence that the beneficial effect of racetams may result from an interaction with the central glutamatergic receptor function. [27]
* Vitamin B5 – cofactor in the conversion of choline into acetylcholine, cholinergic agent, increases stamina (including mental stamina).[citation needed]
Excess acetylcholine is considered by many to be potentially harmful; see acetylcholinesterase inhibitor.
Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors
Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors function by inhibiting the cholinesterase enzyme which breaks down the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. They exist in the form of poisons and have been used as weapons, but they are also used to treat Alzheimer’s patients. Donepezil, galantamine, and Huperzine A are notable among these.
Publicat de health victorro la 04:21 0 comentarii
Etichete: Cholinergics
Replenishing and increasing neurotransmitters
As the brain ages, its ability to produce and maintain youthful levels of neurotransmitters declines.[13] There are various reasons for such an insufficiency. For instance, there might be a lack of enzymes involved in the neurotransmitter synthesis. Nevertheless, in many cases, providing the brain with ample raw materials necessary to make neurotransmitters can restore them to more youthful levels and thus help maintain cognitive function at vigorous youthful levels.[citation needed] Furthermore, there are declines in immune and endocrine functioning.[14] Certain nootropics enhance immune and endocrine functioning.
Publicat de health victorro la 04:21 0 comentarii
Etichete: neurotransmitters
Stimulants
Stimulants are often seen as smart drugs. Their effects are non-specific with similar results seen in children and adults with and without ADHD. One finds improved concentration and behavior in all.[6][7][8][9] Due to their non-specific activity, stimulants have been used by writers to increase productivity,[10] as well as by the United States Air Force to improve effectiveness in combat.[11] Some scientists recommend wide spread use (of Ritalin and Adderall) by the general population to increase brain power.[4]
This section needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2008)
* Adrafinil (Olmifon) – Drug.
* Caffeine – Drug. Improves concentration, idea production, but hinders memory encoding. Large amounts produce the jitters. Caffeine is the most widely used psychoactive substance in the world, and may be susceptible to strong levels of tolerance.
* Coffee – Bean. Contains caffeine; brewed coffee is high in antioxidants.
* Nicergoline – Drug. Nicergoline is an ergoloid mesylate derivative used to treat senile dementia. It has also been found to increase mental agility and enhance clarity and perception. It increases vigilance.[12] Increases arterial flow and use of oxygen and glucose in the brain.
* Nicotine – stimulus barrier (aids in concentration). Stimulus barrier rebound effect (an unpleasant side effect).
* Cocaine – Drug. Schedule II. Increase extracellular dopamine and serotonin levels resulting in increased alertness and arousal.
* Methylphenidate (Ritalin) – aids in concentration, focus and stamina. Prescribed for ADHD.
* Dextroamphetamine – (Adderall, Dexedrine) – aids in concentration, focus and stamina. Prescribed for ADHD.
* Modafinil – (Provigil) – Drug.
* Phenibut -
* Theophylline -
* Amphetamines – aids in concentration, focus and stamina. Prescribed for ADHD.
* Carphedon (Phenotropil) -
Publicat de health victorro la 04:19 0 comentarii
Etichete: cognitive, enhancers, Stimulants
Availability
Currently there are several drugs on the market that improve memory, concentration, planning and reduce impulsive behavior. Many more are in different stages of development.[3] The most commonly used class of drug are the stimulants.[4]
These drugs are used primarily to treat people with cognitive difficulties: Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, ADHD. However, more widespread use is being recommended by some researchers.[5] These drugs have a variety of human enhancement applications as well and are marketed heavily on the World Wide Web. Nevertheless, intense marketing may not correlate with efficacy; while scientific studies support some of the claimed benefits, it is worth noting that many of the claims attributed to most nootropics have not been formally tested.
i normally dont care for his logic play
and find it loaded and slippery at times
i did find this perspective very curious and foreign
http://www.wired.com/medtech/drugs/magazine/17-09/ff_placebo_effect?currentPage=all
Placebos Are Getting More Effective. Drugmakers Are Desperate to Know Why.
By Steve Silberman 
08.24.09
08.24.09
Photo: Nick Veasey
Merck was in trouble. In 2002, the pharmaceutical giant was falling behind its rivals in sales. Even worse, patents on five blockbuster drugs were about to expire, which would allow cheaper generics to flood the market. The company hadn’t introduced a truly new product in three years, and its stock price was plummeting.
In interviews with the press, Edward Scolnick, Merck’s research director, laid out his battle plan to restore the firm to preeminence. Key to his strategy was expanding the company’s reach into the antidepressant market, where Merck had lagged while competitors like Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline created some of the best-selling drugs in the world. “To remain dominant in the future,” he told Forbes, “we need to dominate the central nervous system.”
His plan hinged on the success of an experimental antidepressant codenamed MK-869. Still in clinical trials, it looked like every pharma executive’s dream: a new kind of medication that exploited brain chemistry in innovative ways to promote feelings of well-being. The drug tested brilliantly early on, with minimal side effects, and Merck touted its game-changing potential at a meeting of 300 securities analysts.
Behind the scenes, however, MK-869 was starting to unravel. True, many test subjects treated with the medication felt their hopelessness and anxiety lift. But so did nearly the same number who took a placebo, a look-alike pill made of milk sugar or another inert substance given to groups of volunteers in clinical trials to gauge how much more effective the real drug is by comparison. The fact that taking a faux drug can powerfully improve some people’s health—the so-called placebo effect—has long been considered an embarrassment to the serious practice of pharmacology.
Ultimately, Merck’s foray into the antidepressant market failed. In subsequent tests, MK-869 turned out to be no more effective than a placebo. In the jargon of the industry, the trials crossed the futility boundary.
MK-869 wasn’t the only highly anticipated medical breakthrough to be undone in recent years by the placebo effect. From 2001 to 2006, the percentage of new products cut from development after Phase II clinical trials, when drugs are first tested against placebo, rose by 20 percent. The failure rate in more extensive Phase III trials increased by 11 percent, mainly due to surprisingly poor showings against placebo. Despite historic levels of industry investment in R&D, the US Food and Drug Administration approved only 19 first-of-their-kind remedies in 2007—the fewest since 1983—and just 24 in 2008. Half of all drugs that fail in late-stage trials drop out of the pipeline due to their inability to beat sugar pills.
The upshot is fewer new medicines available to ailing patients and more financial woes for the beleaguered pharmaceutical industry. Last November, a new type of gene therapy for Parkinson’s disease, championed by the Michael J. Fox Foundation, was abruptly withdrawn from Phase II trials after unexpectedly tanking against placebo. A stem-cell startup called Osiris Therapeutics got a drubbing on Wall Street in March, when it suspended trials of its pill for Crohn’s disease, an intestinal ailment, citing an “unusually high” response to placebo. Two days later, Eli Lilly broke off testing of a much-touted new drug for schizophrenia when volunteers showed double the expected level of placebo response.
It’s not only trials of new drugs that are crossing the futility boundary. Some products that have been on the market for decades, like Prozac, are faltering in more recent follow-up tests. In many cases, these are the compounds that, in the late ’90s, made Big Pharma more profitable than Big Oil. But if these same drugs were vetted now, the FDA might not approve some of them. Two comprehensive analyses of antidepressant trials have uncovered a dramatic increase in placebo response since the 1980s. One estimated that the so-called effect size (a measure of statistical significance) in placebo groups had nearly doubled over that time.
It’s not that the old meds are getting weaker, drug developers say. It’s as if the placebo effect is somehow getting stronger.
The fact that an increasing number of medications are unable to beat sugar pills has thrown the industry into crisis. The stakes could hardly be higher. In today’s economy, the fate of a long-established company can hang on the outcome of a handful of tests.
Why are inert pills suddenly overwhelming promising new drugs and established medicines alike? The reasons are only just beginning to be understood. A network of independent researchers is doggedly uncovering the inner workings—and potential therapeutic applications—of the placebo effect. At the same time, drugmakers are realizing they need to fully understand the mechanisms behind it so they can design trials that differentiate more clearly between the beneficial effects of their products and the body’s innate ability to heal itself. A special task force of the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health is seeking to stem the crisis by quietly undertaking one of the most ambitious data-sharing efforts in the history of the drug industry. After decades in the jungles of fringe science, the placebo effect has become the elephant in the boardroom.
The roots of the placebo problem can be traced to a lie told by an Army nurse during World War II as Allied forces stormed the beaches of southern Italy. The nurse was assisting an anesthetist named Henry Beecher, who was tending to US troops under heavy German bombardment. When the morphine supply ran low, the nurse assured a wounded soldier that he was getting a shot of potent painkiller, though her syringe contained only salt water. Amazingly, the bogus injection relieved the soldier’s agony and prevented the onset of shock.
Returning to his post at Harvard after the war, Beecher became one of the nation’s leading medical reformers. Inspired by the nurse’s healing act of deception, he launched a crusade to promote a method of testing new medicines to find out whether they were truly effective. At the time, the process for vetting drugs was sloppy at best: Pharmaceutical companies would simply dose volunteers with an experimental agent until the side effects swamped the presumed benefits. Beecher proposed that if test subjects could be compared to a group that received a placebo, health officials would finally have an impartial way to determine whether a medicine was actually responsible for making a patient better.
In a 1955 paper titled “The Powerful Placebo,” published in The Journal of the American Medical Association, Beecher described how the placebo effect had undermined the results of more than a dozen trials by causing improvement that was mistakenly attributed to the drugs being tested. He demonstrated that trial volunteers who got real medication were also subject to placebo effects; the act of taking a pill was itself somehow therapeutic, boosting the curative power of the medicine. Only by subtracting the improvement in a placebo control group could the actual value of the drug be calculated.
The article caused a sensation. By 1962, reeling from news of birth defects caused by a drug called thalidomide, Congress amended the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, requiring trials to include enhanced safety testing and placebo control groups. Volunteers would be assigned randomly to receive either medicine or a sugar pill, and neither doctor nor patient would know the difference until the trial was over. Beecher’s double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial—or RCT—was enshrined as the gold standard of the emerging pharmaceutical industry. Today, to win FDA approval, a new medication must beat placebo in at least two authenticated trials.
Beecher’s prescription helped cure the medical establishment of outright quackery, but it had an insidious side effect. By casting placebo as the villain in RCTs, he ended up stigmatizing one of his most important discoveries. The fact that even dummy capsules can kick-start the body’s recovery engine became a problem for drug developers to overcome, rather than a phenomenon that could guide doctors toward a better understanding of the healing process and how to drive it most effectively.
In his eagerness to promote his template for clinical trials, Beecher also overreached by seeing the placebo effect at work in curing ailments like the common cold, which wane with no intervention at all. But the triumph of Beecher’s gold standard was a generation of safer medications that worked for nearly everyone. Anthracyclines don’t require an oncologist with a genial bedside manner to slow the growth of tumors.
What Beecher didn’t foresee, however, was the explosive growth of the pharmaceutical industry. The blockbuster success of mood drugs in the ’80s and ’90s emboldened Big Pharma to promote remedies for a growing panoply of disorders that are intimately related to higher brain function. By attempting to dominate the central nervous system, Big Pharma gambled its future on treating ailments that have turned out to be particularly susceptible to the placebo effect.
The tall, rusty-haired son of a country doctor, William Potter, 64, has spent most of his life treating mental illness—first as a psychiatrist at the National Institute of Mental Health and then as a drug developer. A decade ago, he took a job at Lilly’s neuroscience labs. There, working on new antidepressants and antianxiety meds, he became one of the first researchers to glimpse the approaching storm.
To test products internally, pharmaceutical companies routinely run trials in which a long-established medication and an experimental one compete against each other as well as against a placebo. As head of Lilly’s early-stage psychiatric drug development in the late ’90s, Potter saw that even durable warhorses like Prozac, which had been on the market for years, were being overtaken by dummy pills in more recent tests. The company’s next-generation antidepressants were faring badly, too, doing no better than placebo in seven out of 10 trials.
As a psychiatrist, Potter knew that some patients really do seem to get healthier for reasons that have more to do with a doctor’s empathy than with the contents of a pill. But it baffled him that drugs he’d been prescribing for years seemed to be struggling to prove their effectiveness. Thinking that something crucial may have been overlooked, Potter tapped an IT geek named David DeBrota to help him comb through the Lilly database of published and unpublished trials—including those that the company had kept secret because of high placebo response. They aggregated the findings from decades of antidepressant trials, looking for patterns and trying to see what was changing over time. What they found challenged some of the industry’s basic assumptions about its drug-vetting process.
Assumption number one was that if a trial were managed correctly, a medication would perform as well or badly in a Phoenix hospital as in a Bangalore clinic. Potter discovered, however, that geographic location alone could determine whether a drug bested placebo or crossed the futility boundary. By the late ’90s, for example, the classic antianxiety drug diazepam (also known as Valium) was still beating placebo in France and Belgium. But when the drug was tested in the US, it was likely to fail. Conversely, Prozac performed better in America than it did in western Europe and South Africa. It was an unsettling prospect: FDA approval could hinge on where the company chose to conduct a trial.
Mistaken assumption number two was that the standard tests used to gauge volunteers’ improvement in trials yielded consistent results. Potter and his colleagues discovered that ratings by trial observers varied significantly from one testing site to another. It was like finding out that the judges in a tight race each had a different idea about the placement of the finish line.
Potter and DeBrota’s data-mining also revealed that even superbly managed trials were subject to runaway placebo effects. But exactly why any of this was happening remained elusive. “We were able to identify many of the core issues in play,” Potter says. “But there was no clear answer to the problem.” Convinced that what Lilly was facing was too complex for any one pharmaceutical house to unravel on its own, he came up with a plan to break down the firewalls between researchers across the industry, enabling them to share data in “pre-competitive space.”
After prodding by Potter and others, the NIH focused on the issue in 2000, hosting a three-day conference in Washington. For the first time in medical history, more than 500 drug developers, doctors, academics, and trial designers put their heads together to examine the role of the placebo effect in clinical trials and healing in general.
Potter’s ambitious plan for a collaborative approach to the problem eventually ran into its own futility boundary: No one would pay for it. And drug companies don’t share data, they hoard it. But the NIH conference launched a new wave of placebo research in academic labs in the US and Italy that would make significant progress toward solving the mystery of what was happening in clinical trials.
Visitors to Fabrizio Benedetti’s clinic at the University of Turin are asked never to say the P-word around the med students who sign up for his experiments. For all the volunteers know, the trim, soft-spoken neuroscientist is hard at work concocting analgesic skin creams and methods for enhancing athletic performance.
One recent afternoon in his lab, a young soccer player grimaced with exertion while doing leg curls on a weight machine. Benedetti and his colleagues were exploring the potential of using Pavlovian conditioning to give athletes a competitive edge undetectable by anti-doping authorities. A player would receive doses of a performance-enhancing drug for weeks and then a jolt of placebo just before competition.
Benedetti, 53, first became interested in placebos in the mid-’90s, while researching pain. He was surprised that some of the test subjects in his placebo groups seemed to suffer less than those on active drugs. But scientific interest in this phenomenon, and the money to research it, were hard to come by. “The placebo effect was considered little more than a nuisance,” he recalls. “Drug companies, physicians, and clinicians were not interested in understanding its mechanisms. They were concerned only with figuring out whether their drugs worked better.”
Part of the problem was that response to placebo was considered a psychological trait related to neurosis and gullibility rather than a physiological phenomenon that could be scrutinized in the lab and manipulated for therapeutic benefit. But then Benedetti came across a study, done years earlier, that suggested the placebo effect had a neurological foundation. US scientists had found that a drug called naloxone blocks the pain-relieving power of placebo treatments. The brain produces its own analgesic compounds called opioids, released under conditions of stress, and naloxone blocks the action of these natural painkillers and their synthetic analogs. The study gave Benedetti the lead he needed to pursue his own research while running small clinical trials for drug companies.
Now, after 15 years of experimentation, he has succeeded in mapping many of the biochemical reactions responsible for the placebo effect, uncovering a broad repertoire of self-healing responses. Placebo-activated opioids, for example, not only relieve pain; they also modulate heart rate and respiration. The neurotransmitter dopamine, when released by placebo treatment, helps improve motor function in Parkinson’s patients. Mechanisms like these can elevate mood, sharpen cognitive ability, alleviate digestive disorders, relieve insomnia, and limit the secretion of stress-related hormones like insulin and cortisol.
In one study, Benedetti found that Alzheimer’s patients with impaired cognitive function get less pain relief from analgesic drugs than normal volunteers do. Using advanced methods of EEG analysis, he discovered that the connections between the patients’ prefrontal lobes and their opioid systems had been damaged. Healthy volunteers feel the benefit of medication plus a placebo boost. Patients who are unable to formulate ideas about the future because of cortical deficits, however, feel only the effect of the drug itself. The experiment suggests that because Alzheimer’s patients don’t get the benefits of anticipating the treatment, they require higher doses of painkillers to experience normal levels of relief.
Benedetti often uses the phrase “placebo response” instead of placebo effect. By definition, inert pills have no effect, but under the right conditions they can act as a catalyst for what he calls the body’s “endogenous health care system.” Like any other internal network, the placebo response has limits. It can ease the discomfort of chemotherapy, but it won’t stop the growth of tumors. It also works in reverse to produce the placebo’s evil twin, the nocebo effect. For example, men taking a commonly prescribed prostate drug who were informed that the medication may cause sexual dysfunction were twice as likely to become impotent.
Further research by Benedetti and others showed that the promise of treatment activates areas of the brain involved in weighing the significance of events and the seriousness of threats. “If a fire alarm goes off and you see smoke, you know something bad is going to happen and you get ready to escape,” explains Tor Wager, a neuroscientist at Columbia University. “Expectations about pain and pain relief work in a similar way. Placebo treatments tap into this system and orchestrate the responses in your brain and body accordingly.”
In other words, one way that placebo aids recovery is by hacking the mind’s ability to predict the future. We are constantly parsing the reactions of those around us—such as the tone a doctor uses to deliver a diagnosis—to generate more-accurate estimations of our fate. One of the most powerful placebogenic triggers is watching someone else experience the benefits of an alleged drug. Researchers call these social aspects of medicine the therapeutic ritual.
In a study last year, Harvard Medical School researcher Ted Kaptchuk devised a clever strategy for testing his volunteers’ response to varying levels of therapeutic ritual. The study focused on irritable bowel syndrome, a painful disorder that costs more than $40 billion a year worldwide to treat. First the volunteers were placed randomly in one of three groups. One group was simply put on a waiting list; researchers know that some patients get better just because they sign up for a trial. Another group received placebo treatment from a clinician who declined to engage in small talk. Volunteers in the third group got the same sham treatment from a clinician who asked them questions about symptoms, outlined the causes of IBS, and displayed optimism about their condition.
Rx for Success
What turns a dummy pill into a catalyst for relieving pain, anxiety, depression, sexual dysfunction, or the tremors of Parkinson’s disease? The brain’s own healing mechanisms, unleashed by the belief that a phony medication is the real thing. The most important ingredient in any placebo is the doctor’s bedside manner, but according to research, the color of a tablet can boost the effectiveness even of genuine meds—or help convince a patient that a placebo is a potent remedy.—Steve Silberman
Yellow pills
make the most effective antidepressants, like little doses of pharmaceutical sunshine.
Red pillscan give you a more stimulating kick. Wake up, Neo.
The color greenreduces anxiety, adding more chill to the pill.
White tablets—particularly those labeled “antacid”—are superior for soothing ulcers, even when they contain nothing but lactose.
More is better,scientists say. Placebos taken four times a day deliver greater relief than those taken twice daily.
Branding matters.Placebos stamped or packaged with widely recognized trademarks are more effective than “generic” placebos.
Clever namescan add a placebo boost to the physiological punch in real drugs. Viagra implies both vitality and an unstoppable Niagara of sexy.
Not surprisingly, the health of those in the third group improved most. In fact, just by participating in the trial, volunteers in this high-interaction group got as much relief as did people taking the two leading prescription drugs for IBS. And the benefits of their bogus treatment persisted for weeks afterward, contrary to the belief—widespread in the pharmaceutical industry—that the placebo response is short-lived.
Studies like this open the door to hybrid treatment strategies that exploit the placebo effect to make real drugs safer and more effective. Cancer patients undergoing rounds of chemotherapy often suffer from debilitating nocebo effects—such as anticipatory nausea—conditioned by their past experiences with the drugs. A team of German researchers has shown that these associations can be unlearned through the administration of placebo, making chemo easier to bear.
Meanwhile, the classic use of placebos in medicine—to boost the confidence of anxious patients—has been employed tacitly for ages. Nearly half of the doctors polled in a 2007 survey in Chicago admitted to prescribing medications they knew were ineffective for a patient’s condition—or prescribing effective drugs in doses too low to produce actual benefit—in order to provoke a placebo response.
The main objections to more widespread placebo use in clinical practice are ethical, but the solutions to these conundrums can be surprisingly simple. Investigators told volunteers in one placebo study that the pills they were taking were “known to significantly reduce pain in some patients.” The researchers weren’t lying.
These new findings tell us that the body’s response to certain types of medication is in constant flux, affected by expectations of treatment, conditioning, beliefs, and social cues.
For instance, the geographic variations in trial outcome that Potter uncovered begin to make sense in light of discoveries that the placebo response is highly sensitive to cultural differences. Anthropologist Daniel Moerman found that Germans are high placebo reactors in trials of ulcer drugs but low in trials of drugs for hypertension—an undertreated condition in Germany, where many people pop pills for herzinsuffizienz, or low blood pressure. Moreover, a pill’s shape, size, branding, and price all influence its effects on the body. Soothing blue capsules make more effective tranquilizers than angry red ones, except among Italian men, for whom the color blue is associated with their national soccer team—Forza Azzurri!
But why would the placebo effect seem to be getting stronger worldwide? Part of the answer may be found in the drug industry’s own success in marketing its products.
Potential trial volunteers in the US have been deluged with ads for prescription medications since 1997, when the FDA amended its policy on direct-to-consumer advertising. The secret of running an effective campaign, Saatchi & Saatchi’s Jim Joseph told a trade journal last year, is associating a particular brand-name medication with other aspects of life that promote peace of mind: “Is it time with your children? Is it a good book curled up on the couch? Is it your favorite television show? Is it a little purple pill that helps you get rid of acid reflux?” By evoking such uplifting associations, researchers say, the ads set up the kind of expectations that induce a formidable placebo response.
The success of those ads in selling blockbuster drugs like antidepressants and statins also pushed trials offshore as therapeutic virgins—potential volunteers who were not already medicated with one or another drug—became harder to find. The contractors that manage trials for Big Pharma have moved aggressively into Africa, India, China, and the former Soviet Union. In these places, however, cultural dynamics can boost the placebo response in other ways. Doctors in these countries are paid to fill up trial rosters quickly, which may motivate them to recruit patients with milder forms of illness that yield more readily to placebo treatment. Furthermore, a patient’s hope of getting better and expectation of expert care—the primary placebo triggers in the brain—are particularly acute in societies where volunteers are clamoring to gain access to the most basic forms of medicine. “The quality of care that placebo patients get in trials is far superior to the best insurance you get in America,” says psychiatrist Arif Khan, principal investigator in hundreds of trials for companies like Pfizer and Bristol-Myers Squibb. “It’s basically luxury care.”
Big Pharma faces additional problems in beating placebo when it comes to psychiatric drugs. One is to accurately define the nature of mental illness. The litmus test of drug efficacy in antidepressant trials is a questionnaire called the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale. The HAM-D was created nearly 50 years ago based on a study of major depressive disorder in patients confined to asylums. Few trial volunteers now suffer from that level of illness. In fact, many experts are starting to wonder if what drug companies now call depression is even the same disease that the HAM-D was designed to diagnose.
Existing tests also may not be appropriate for diagnosing disorders like social anxiety and premenstrual dysphoria—the very types of chronic, fuzzily defined conditions that the drug industry started targeting in the ’90s, when the placebo problem began escalating. The neurological foundation of these illnesses is still being debated, making it even harder for drug companies to come up with effective treatments.
What all of these disorders have in common, however, is that they engage the higher cortical centers that generate beliefs and expectations, interpret social cues, and anticipate rewards. So do chronic pain, sexual dysfunction, Parkinson’s, and many other ailments that respond robustly to placebo treatment. To avoid investing in failure, researchers say, pharmaceutical companies will need to adopt new ways of vetting drugs that route around the brain’s own centralized network for healing.
Ten years and billions of R&D dollars after William Potter first sounded the alarm about the placebo effect, his message has finally gotten through. In the spring, Potter, who is now a VP at Merck, helped rev up a massive data-gathering effort called the Placebo Response Drug Trials Survey.
Under the auspices of the NIH, Potter and his colleagues are acquiring decades of trial data—including blood and DNA samples—to determine which variables are responsible for the apparent rise in the placebo effect. Merck, Lilly, Pfizer, AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Sanofi-Aventis, Johnson & Johnson, and other major firms are funding the study, and the process of scrubbing volunteers’ names and other personal information from the database is about to begin.
In typically secretive industry fashion, the existence of the project itself is being kept under wraps. NIH staffers are willing to talk about it only anonymously, concerned about offending the companies paying for it.
For Potter, who used to ride along with his father on house calls in Indiana, the significance of the survey goes beyond Big Pharma’s finally admitting it has a placebo problem. It also marks the twilight of an era when the drug industry was confident that its products were strong enough to cure illness by themselves.
“Before I routinely prescribed antidepressants, I would do more psychotherapy for mildly depressed patients,” says the veteran of hundreds of drug trials. “Today we would say I was trying to engage components of the placebo response—and those patients got better. To really do the best for your patients, you want the best placebo response plus the best drug response.”
The pharma crisis has also finally brought together the two parallel streams of placebo research—academic and industrial. Pfizer has asked Fabrizio Benedetti to help the company figure out why two of its pain drugs keep failing. Ted Kaptchuk is developing ways to distinguish drug response more clearly from placebo response for another pharma house that he declines to name. Both are exploring innovative trial models that treat the placebo effect as more than just statistical noise competing with the active drug.
Benedetti has helped design a protocol for minimizing volunteers’ expectations that he calls “open/hidden.” In standard trials, the act of taking a pill or receiving an injection activates the placebo response. In open/hidden trials, drugs and placebos are given to some test subjects in the usual way and to others at random intervals through an IV line controlled by a concealed computer. Drugs that work only when the patient knows they’re being administered are placebos themselves.
Ironically, Big Pharma’s attempt to dominate the central nervous system has ended up revealing how powerful the brain really is. The placebo response doesn’t care if the catalyst for healing is a triumph of pharmacology, a compassionate therapist, or a syringe of salt water. All it requires is a reasonable expectation of getting better. That’s potent medicine.
Contributing editor Steve Silberman (steve@stevesilberman.com) wrote about the hunt for Jim Gray in issue 15.08.
so i posted some surface info on codex last week
and got asked if i was passin out propaganda
i was not
now i am
im not at all comfortable with this ladies sensational, emotion manipulating set ups and her folksy colloquial acting
i mean
its all normal human shit that i get annoyed at and sick of experiencing when it’s used to weight like this
and im gettin the sense that shes down with the general idea of codex
just not the specifics
and is lookin to be a major part of an alternative codex
codex lite
alternative guidlines
a codex that works for her or her assumed group ideals
and not what she sees as the opposition
oh wait…
she actually says that in part 5
now…
im goin to assume or project that someone may think im talkin to him here
not specifically ; )
but i’ve been havin an issue with certain…
counter-cultural icons and movements
employing the same tacts and avenues of control
but jsut to different ends
ive even had folk own up to that being the case
but then rationalize it by saying they are doin it for good or to a better end
which is the same fuckin logic the other side used to begin with!
carpet wrinkles man
carpet wrinkles
idk
im still curious
yeah
the idea
the idea of monsanto making all dairy cows chemically contaminated cyborg clones i find fucked up
but almost too much to every be a reality in my lifetime
and if so
then ok
but fuck off if you aint hip to be responsible for your own food at that point
it almost seems karmic
you sleep in the made you make
ha
fuckin monsanto is genetically modifying the fruits on the tree of liberty!
this is some wrinkly damn carpet
yeah
i want to know specifically how my backyard/agri. acres would be out of my responsibility
and under UN or FDA mandate and control
then you lefties can have yer pitbull
wait
that would then be on the right…
wait
both could be at play
are
so yeah
Norman Borlaug on Penn and Teller: BS
slow down ghandi
you’re breedin em
and then why not the “organic” episode in full
just click the lil advance arrows under image
—-> Huffington Post <—-
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/christine-escobar/hes-back-former-vp-at-mon_b_228792.html
Michael R. Taylor, the former Vice President for Public Policy at Monsanto has returned through Washington’s revolving doors and will now advise FDA Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg on food safety.
We learn of this discouraging connection on the same day the White House announced its new commitment to upgrading the country’s food safety system.
Much hope had been held out for a change in FDA perspective due to Commissioner Hamburg’s lack of industry ties. Her career has consisted of public health research and policy positions. Prior to her appointment as FDA commissioner, she worked as the New York City health commissioner. Unfortunately, it appears that with the addition of Taylor, the FDA has remedied that problem.
It seems Taylor is just the man you’d want on the job, if you’re concerned about unwanted industry regulation and corporate representation of toxic hormones in your dairy. But, examining bad industry practices that lead to salmonella and E. coli tainted foods? Not so sure about that.
According to a release Tuesday on the agency’s website, Taylor will now serve as senior advisor to the FDA head. In the announcement, Hamburg, said of Taylor:
“I am pleased to welcome Mike Taylor back to the FDA,” Commissioner of Food and Drugs Margaret A. Hamburg, M.D., said in announcing Taylor’s appointment. “His expertise and leadership on food safety issues will help the agency to develop and implement the prevention based strategy we need to ensure the safety of the food we eat.”
Taylor’s “long and distinguished career” is noted therein without mention of his 7 years of work as an attorney for Monsanto, the giant agricultural biotech corporation.
A few months ago, I posted a story here on The Huffington Post highlighting the insidious way rBGH (the bovine growth hormone) made it into our country’s food supply, with the help of Michael R. Taylor. I wrote about the dangerous effects of the addition of rBGH to our dairy supply:
In humans, studies indicate milk from cows treated with rBGH may contain elevated levels of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IFG-1), which can increase the risk of breast cancer and other types of cancer.
Here is a portion of what I detailed about Taylor’s connections in that story:
“An excerpt from a 1998 article in The Ecologist magazine details Taylor’s journey and its significance:
“In March 1994, Taylor was publicly exposed as a former lawyer for the Monsanto corporation for seven years. While working for Monsanto, Taylor had prepared a memo for the company as to whether or not it would be constitutional for states to erect labeling laws concerning rBGH dairy products. In other words. Taylor helped Monsanto figure out whether or not the corporation could sue states or companies that wanted to tell the public that their products were free of Monsanto’s drug.”
So, just what will Taylor’s duties be?
As Senior Advisor to the FDA Commissioner, he will be expected to:* Assess current food program challenges and opportunities
* Identify capacity needs and regulatory priorities
* Develop plans for allocating fiscal year 2010 resources
* Develop the FDA’s budget request for fiscal year 2011
* Plan implementation of new food safety legislation.
—-> Natural Food Merchandiser <—-
http://naturalfoodsmerchandiser.com/tabId/119/itemId/3992/Former-Monsanto-VP-named-FDA-advisor.aspx
Michael Taylor, a former vice president of public policy at Monsanto Company, is the new senior advisor for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. He will advise Margaret A. Hamburg, commissioner of food and drugs.
Taylor joined the FDA earlier this month. He will oversee planning and implementation of food safety reform at FDA, said George Strait, assistant commissioner of public affairs for the administration. The hiring marks a return to the FDA for Taylor, who worked for the FDA from 1976 to 1981 as a staff lawyer and executive assistant, and again from 1991 to 1994 as deputy commissioner for policy. Taylor also served as the administrator for U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service from 1994 to 1996.
“He was selected because of his great expertise and experience in food safety issues,” Strait said. “He will be reporting directly to the commissioner as her special assistant on all food and food safety. It is a new position, created because the commissioner sees food safety as one of her highest priorities.”
But some activists see Taylor’s hiring as trouble.
“We’re not happy to hear the news of Michael Taylor getting the (job), not only because of his well-known GMO revolving door issues that don’t please us at all, but also, we have some differences of opinion in terms of government and food inspection,” said Patty Lovera of Food & Water Watch, a nonprofit consumer organization.
After leaving the FDA the first time in 1981, Taylor led the food and drug law practice at King & Spalding, a Washington law firm that represented Monsanto. After leaving the USDA in 1996, he returned to that firm. Then, from October 1998 to January 2000, Taylor was vice president for public policy at Monsanto, the makers of Roundup herbicide and developers of genetically-engineered crops.
But the “revolving door” issue could prove to be of little consequence if Taylor performs responsibly, said Michael Hansen, senior scientist for Consumers Union, which is also a nonprofit consumer organization.
Taylor’s signature is on the FDA policy that claims genetically engineered is simply an extension of conventional breeding and does not require safety testing, Hansen said. (In later years, Taylor seemed to reverse his stance and admitted that genetically engineered foods should go through safety testing and be labeled.)
Many organic food activists also see Taylor as the administrator responsible for the FDA’s approval of the genetically modified growth hormone rbGH to be used in dairy production.
But Hansen said Taylor is “a sharp lawyer and he also did some positive things.”
Most noteworthy is Taylor’s determination in regard to E. coli 0157:H7. Hansen said Taylor pushed the USDA to declare it an adulterant, meaning the food fails to meet standards and can’t be sold. It also established a trigger for potential recalls.
He also spearheaded the USDA’s implementation of the Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Points, which provide a global way of looking at plant operations as a whole and determining where contamination can happen and taking action so those problems don’t occur. HACCP is designed to ensure food safety is addressed through the analysis and control of biological, chemical, and physical hazards from raw material production, procurement and handling, to manufacturing, distribution and consumption of the finished product, according to the FDA.
“I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt,” Hansen said. “I don’t think he’s Monsanto’s person in FDA. Look, he’s done some things that I have disagreed with in past, but his actions at the USDA and on E. coli were definitely a step forward, and what he said about new technology is a step forward, so let’s give him a chance and see what he can do.”
http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm170842.htm
—-> FDA NEWS RELEASE <—-
For Immediate Release: July 7, 2009
Media Inquiries: George Strait, 301-796-4829; george.strait@fda.hhs.gov
Consumer Inquiries: 888-INFO-FDA
Noted Food Safety Expert Michael R. Taylor Named Advisor to FDA Commissioner
Michael R. Taylor, J.D., a nationally recognized food safety expert and research professor at George Washington University’s School of Public Health and Health Services, will return to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to serve as senior advisor to the commissioner.
“I am pleased to welcome Mike Taylor back to the FDA,” Commissioner of Food and Drugs Margaret A. Hamburg, M.D., said in announcing Taylor’s appointment. “His expertise and leadership on food safety issues will help the agency to develop and implement the prevention based strategy we need to ensure the safety of the food we eat.”
Commissioner Hamburg said that Taylor would work closely and collaboratively with her office and with the management of the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, Center for Veterinary Medicine, the Office of Regulatory Affairs, Congress, and with members of the Obama Administration.
Specifically, Taylor will work to:
- Assess current food program challenges and opportunities
- Identify capacity needs and regulatory priorities
- Develop plans for allocating fiscal year 2010 resources
- Develop the FDA’s budget request for fiscal year 2011
- Plan implementation of new food safety legislation.
“I am honored and grateful that Commissioner Hamburg has asked me to return to the FDA in the position of Senior Advisor to the Commissioner,” Taylor said. “I am looking forward to working with her, Principal Deputy Commissioner Joshua Sharfstein, and all of the FDA’s dedicated and talented people.”
Taylor has had a long and distinguished career in public service. He began at the FDA in 1976 as a litigating attorney. He served as the FDA’s Deputy Commissioner for Policy from 1991 to 1994, overseeing FDA’s policy development and rulemaking, including the implementation of the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act and issuance of new seafood safety rules.
From 1994 to 1996, he served at the U.S. Department of Agriculture as Administrator of the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) and Acting Under Secretary for Food Safety. During that time, he spearheaded public health-oriented reform of the FSIS. Since 2000, Taylor has worked in academic and research settings on the challenges facing the nation’s food safety system and ways to address them.
Taylor’s recent research agenda has focused on policy, resource, and institutional issues that affect the success of public health agencies in carrying out their prevention-related missions. He served as chair of the steering committee of the Food Safety Research Consortium, collaboration among six universities and a nonprofit think tank to improve food safety decision making and priority setting.
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Understanding the Codex Alimentarius Preface. <-.pdf file download
Third Edition. Published in 2006 by the World Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
: The Codex Alimentarius is a collection of international food standards that have been adopted by the Codex Alimentarius Commission. Codex standards cover all the main foods, whether processed, semi-processed or raw. In addition, materials used in the further processing of food products are included to the extent necessary for achieving the principal objectives of the code – protecting the health of consumers and facilitating fair practices in the food trade. Codex provisions concern the hygienic and nutritional quality of food, including microbiological norms, food additives, pesticide and veterinary drug residues, contaminants, labelling and presentation, and methods of sampling and risk analysis. As well as individual standards, advisory codes of practice, guidelines and other recommended measures form an important part of the overall food code. The Codex Alimentarius can safely claim to be the most important international reference point in matters concerning food quality. Its creation, moreover, has generated food-related scientific research and greatly increased the world community’s awareness of the vital issues at stake – food quality, safety and public health.
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UNDERSTANDING REVISED AND UPDATED Produced by the |
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WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION |
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CONTENTS
ORIGINS OF THE CODEX ALIMENTARIUS
WHAT IS THE CODEX ALIMENTARIUS?
THE CODEX SYSTEM: THE CODEX ALIMENTARIUS COMMISSION AND HOW IT WORKS
CODEX AND THE INTERNATIONAL FOOD TRADE
MORE THAN CODEX: FAO, WHO AND WIDER PARTNERSHIPS
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codex_Alimentarius
http://www.codexalimentarius.ne
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United States of America Codex Commission Member
| Full Address | U.S. Codex Office, Room 4861 South Building, Food Safety and Inspection Service, US Department of Agriculture, 1400 Independence Ave. SW, Washington D.C. 20250-3700 | ||||||
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| E-mail 1 | uscodex@fsis.usda.gov | ||||||
| Internet | http://www.fsis.usda.gov/regulations_&_policies/Codex_Alimentarius/ | ||||||
| UpDated | 28/02/2008 | ||||||
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Streets With No Name
http://www.sweet-juniper.com/2009/06/streets-with-no-name.html
This past winter, the snow stayed so long we almost forgot what the ground looked like. In Detroit, there is little money for plowing; after a big storm, the streets and sidewalks disappear for days. Soon new pathways emerge, side streets get dug out one car-width wide. Bootprints through parks veer far from the buried sidewalks. Without the city to tell him where to walk, the pilgrim who first sets out in fresh snowfall creates his own path. Others will likely follow, or forge their own paths as needed.
In the heart of summer, too, it becomes clear that the grid laid down by the ancient planners is now irrelevant. In vacant lots between neighborhoods and the attractions of thoroughfares, bus stops and liquor stores, well-worn paths stretch across hundreds of vacant lots. Gaston Bachelard called these les chemins du désir: pathways of desire. Paths that weren’t designed but eroded casually away by individuals finding the shortest distance between where they are coming from and where they intend to go.
It is an urban legend on many college campuses that many sidewalks and pathways were not planned at all, but paved by the university after students created their own paths from building to building, straying from those originally prescribed. The Motor City, like a college campus, has a large population that cannot afford cars, relying instead on bikes and feet to meet its needs. With enormous swaths of the city returning to prairie, where sidewalks are irrelevant and sometimes even dangerous, desire lines have become an integral yet entirely unintended part of the city’s infrastructure. There are hundreds of these prescriptive easements across neglected lots throughout the city. Click on the photo at the top of this post to see just a few of them in greater detail.
Desire lines are considered by many landscape architects to be proof of a flaw in the design of a physical space, or more gently, a sign that concrete cannot always impose its will on the human mind. But what about a physical space that no longer resembles its intended design, a city where tens of thousands of homes have been abandoned, burned, and buried in their own basements? While actual roads and sidewalks crumble with each season of freezing and thawing, Detroiters have taken it upon themselves to create new paths, in their own small way working to create a city that better suits their needs.
Academics around the world argue about whether the first paths were created by hunters following game trails. There are scientists who study ants to better understand highways. They have created mathematical models for trail formation. When the great cities were built, sometimes roads were built along ancient paths. The Romans imposed grids on every city but their own. In Detroit many of the streets are named for the Frenchmen whose ribbon farms stretching north from the river were covered in asphalt: Beaubien, Dequindre, Campau, Livernois, Chene. In many cities, there are streets named for dead men once revered throughout the land but now mostly forgotten (Fulton, Lafayette, Irving) and others named for men no one remembers.
In Detroit, there are streets no one has named. And they belong to anyone.
Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia Trailer
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jesco white
http://www.myspace.com/jescorama3000
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Jesco White: The Dancing Outlaw — The legend lives on
July 11, 2008
THE OTHER SIDE: By Jeff Stover
Register-Herald Senior Copy Editor
http://www.register-herald.com/features/local_story_193145931.html
Editor’s note: Since Jesse “Jesco” White’s dialect is so unusual, his quotes are written as they were spoken in order to capture the full essence of his personality. It’s written this way not to poke fun at Jesco, rather to share his unique way of explaining things to those who will listen. Be aware some content is adult in nature. Reader discretion is advised.
MADISON — Most folks got to know Jesco White from the West Virginia Public Broadcasting series “Different Drummer” in a 1991 documentary titled “The Dancing Outlaw” where he shows off his dancing prowess and talks about his family, Elvis and life in general.
Today’s generation also knows him by one of his most famous quotes from the documentary: “I’m tired of eatin’ sloppy, slimy eggs,” which was directed toward his wife’s apparent difficulties with cooking fried eggs. The video clip of this segment is now popular on YouTube.com.
In that medium, his MySpace page, “jescorama3000,” which is maintained by a friend, describes him as an “Appalachian Shaman” and the “King of the Wild Mountain Dancers.”
But after an interview in his small, but tidy, Madison apartment, it appears that he is all that — and a whole lot more. He’s sincere, moody, personable and funny — though sometimes irreverent — but most of all, he’s real. He suffers hard times, but has a good bit of fun along the way.
Being taken advantage of and “The Miracle Woman”
He has gathered a loyal following over the years, being named in numerous songs and appearing in plenty of movies and music videos.
Most of the songs, he says, mention him without his permission — and with no compensation. But one of the most recent songs, “Legend of D. Ray White” by Hank Williams III, is about Jesco’s father — a famous mountain dancer in his own right. The Hank III song was with his blessing, Jesco said.
He’s certainly not shy about his displeasure of others making profits from his name and talents. “Yeah, and I mean it’s not goin’ nowhere. It just ends up in a big partyin’, laughin’ time and carryin’ on, and that’s all that comes out of it. And I’m thinking I’m goin’ to go higher and bigger and stuff and it don’t go nowhere. It’s like a dog chasin’ its tail in a circle. I’m back where I started, man, and it hurts me now — I’ve got beautiful talents to dance and stuff — like the plaques and stuff I made …”
He creates talented woodburnings, some of which he had made for his recently departed mother, Bertie Mae White, known as “The Miracle Woman,” who passed away June 1. He had also created hand-carved canes from native Boone County woods, two of which were for his ailing mother before she died. He said she never used them, just admired them and showed them off to visiting friends. He now has either sold them or has them in a nearby shop for sale, ” ’cause I can’t stand to look at ‘em knowin’ my mom’s gone — that I made them for her, and she’s not here to enjoy ‘em. And it makes my depression worser knowin’ my hands made them for my mother and she’s not here to use ‘em,” he said with his voice trembling, adding, “but I kept her laughter, though, ’til she died — ’til the end.”
By the way, she was called The Miracle Woman by folks who knew her because of the loss, grief and lingering sadness she had to endure while not losing her exceptional sense of humor.
Becoming “famous”
When he made his television debut in the PBS documentary, he explained, “That was really true, everything in it. ‘Cept they didn’t understand what I was tryin’ to produce — somethin’ that had my talent in it. And it was like a nightmare in hell to produce somethin’ that everybody else wants to take advantage of because you have a lack of education. The only education I’ve got is what I’ve learned the hard way.
“What little help I did get, what people did help me with, made it worser instead of better because it wasn’t enough to do anything with — just make the problems worser. And I’ve not been doin’ no performin’ for a long time — just maybe go out to a beer joint now and then and try to make a few dollars or drink or hang out with friends,” he said, sighing, “and it’s hard to even do that because of the alcohol killing you that way, so it’s just like any way you’re turnin’ you’re screwed.”
He does wish someone could do something about folks taking advantage of him, saying, “It’s goin’ to keep me in depression and misery and angry over it ’cause no one’s tryin’ to help me — protect me. I should have rights as a legend or citizen or somethin’. Now, I’ve never made it nowhere and I’m still livin’ in a honky-tonk jail,” he said, chuckling.
But Jesco carries on.
“I’ll make it — All I can say is this cat’s a hustler,” he laughed.
And, as proclaimed in the documentary, he said, “I’m three people. I can do the talent like, I’m a comedian — I tell dirty jokes. I dance a little bit of the bluegrass music or about anything, as far as that goes, if I’ve got a good buzz. Then, the other part, I do Elvis songs and stuff. Hey, we have a good time, but it’s like they want to drive you crazy with it. And sometimes a person’s gotta dry out and rest, man, you know. But they don’t believe in that, son, they believe ‘rock on down,’ you know, ’til they fall, I guess.” He then mused, “Who wants to be like a cockroach on hot shots staggerin’ through life?”
“The gas prices is gettin’ scary”
The Dancing Outlaw also is observant about the troubled economy. “Everything’s goin’ up,” he complained. “The gas prices is gettin’ scary.”
To illustrate his point about money getting tighter and tighter, he told a story about going to a “value-priced” store recently and not finding what he expected. “I got a loaf a bread. I was gettin’ ready to check out and it had a little bit of mold on it. Not very much. I don’t know if it was an old loaf they’d forgot to change out or what. I said, ‘Damn, man, there’s enough mold on here to kill everyone in this store.’ I said, ‘You could bounce a 30.06 off this slice of bread. I can’t eat that.’ She said ‘Oh, Jesco, I’m so sorry about that. Go back there and get you another loaf.’ I said, ‘You crazy’ I’m gonna go get another damn loaf and it might be greener than this one.’ I said, ‘I’m outta here. I’ll go somewhere else.’ She said, ‘Now don’t be mad; I’ll get you a fresh loaf.’ She was scared — afraid I was goin’ to turn her in to the manager. I said, ‘No, I ain’t goin’ to say nothin, honey; I ain’t a rat. But I just can’t eat green bread.’ “
Jesco’s personality “distorder” and MTV
“I’m just a miracle, I guess, from God to live with the anger that I’ve carried, and depression. But I can’t depend on the doctor helpin’ me. They can help you, but what’s the use to help me, givin’ me medicine to treat my personality distorder (disorder) when I’m turned back loose in the damn jungle. I can’t control all this and I’m just feelin’ the way I do inside and I’m honest about myself. But I do pretty good takin’ care of myself,” Jesco said.
“I’m 51, but I’m not rich or nothin’ like that. I just hustle to get by the best I can. And if I don’t do it, man, I’m goin’ to have it harder and harder, ’cause it ain’t goin’ to get no easier if you don’t. And they want me to go out tonight a little bit and have a little bit of fun. I hope I don’t get 10-foot-tall and bulletproof and then come home as a midget.”
The “goin’ out” Jesco was referring to was shooting by an independent filmmaker for another documentary called “The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia,” produced by Storm Taylor, which, he says, is expected to be purchased by MTV for release sometime next year. They’ve filmed in the Madison area three times in the past few months, documenting the life of Jesco and his family. They even filmed his mom while she was in the hospital before she passed away — something Jesco said he wasn’t all too happy about. The crew has followed him and his family to several locations around Madison to film different segments. He said “if the documentary makes it,” he’ll get paid one time for his parts in the film.
He said in one shoot, he was dancing on the back street behind his apartment. “Then the law pulls up and asks us what we’re doin’ down here. I told them they’re workin’ on a documentary down here. He said, ‘Well, Jesco, we’re goin’ to give you 15 more minutes to video, then clean these beer bottles up, and you’ve got to dance us one.’ They turned on the police lights on the car and let me dance a bluegrass song to ‘em.”
“The King”
Jesco is a huge fan of Elvis Presley and proudly performs his songs at concerts, bars and the like, or when asked — especially when some sort of contribution is offered.
While showing off Elvis art hanging on the walls of his apartment, he pours a glass (jelly jar) of Elvis Presley wine and says, “It’s one of my collection wines. It’s 5 years old, from California — good grape wine.”
Then he tells about gathering Elvis memorabilia — and the loss of most of it when a fire destroyed his “Prenter Holler” home. “They burnt my home down. $50,000 worth of Elvis pictures and stuff. That’s the only thing that kept me a goin’ and happy was collectin’ that stuff ’cause Elvis was my favorite singer.” He said that episode sent him into another, deeper bout of depression.
Hank III
These days, his popularity seems to be on the rise again, thanks to the World Wide Web and some parts in various films. Plus, his appearance with Hank Williams III in a music video has caught the attention of more than a few.
He praised the youngest of the Williams clan — an “outlaw” in his own right — and was happy to have a part in the video.
“I met Hank III. He’s an awesome friend and a nice person, like we are, you know, as people. But when he’s on stage, he’s a whole differnt character. He does some of his own stuff, a little bit of his daddy’s music — mix it kindly up. He’s an awesome entertainer and I’ve performed with him, too, with the French harp. I said I looked like a giant wood roach. I had that big coat on and hat. — I just done the best I could. I can’t even play the harp, I was just playin’ it on the way I felt. Just backin’ him up and stuff, just for a little bit, and I felt real good about it. It helped because he helped me out a little bit with a little bit of money to get coal and wood with ’cause I lived over there in the holler. And he’s just a beautiful person that you could meet as a friend.”
He was quick to praise a couple of Hank III’s songs in particular. “I love that one he made up about my dad, Way Down in West Virginia. Man, that’s a killer song. And I dance to that one he plays too, The Mississippi Mud. It says, ‘As I take my shot straight from the jug, I like to do a little dance in the Mississippi mud.’ Man, it’s right. I just love the music to that, the way he made that song. It is awesome. And that kind, that’s got rhythm in it that’s not too fast or slow so I can dance to it.”
Jesco’s family
His father, D. Ray White, a well-known mountain dancer who had appeared in the PBS documentary “Talking Feet,” was shot and killed in 1985. His documentary led filmakers to discover Jesco, who says he got his talent from his father and misses him dearly. When Jesco was in his wilder days, he remembers his dad coming to get him from the local courthouse. “He’d always tell us boys, ‘Now, buddy, I’m tired of comin’ down here and gettin’ ya’ll outta jail.’ He said, ‘Now the next time you get out, you get out yourselves. I just ain’t got the money to bail you out. Damn, you done broke the bank up gettin’ you out,’ ” Jesco said, laughing.
Jesco’s sister Mamie, who’s likely best known for her four-wheeling escapades in an old blue Ford pickup truck in the original PBS documentary, is still around and joins Jesco on many of his adventures. “She’s wilder now than she’s ever been, man,” he said. She’s been known to break up fights at some of the venues where Jesco has performed. “In big towns that’s what they get a thrill out of, man,” he said, laughing out loud. “What’s bad, I’m just afraid somebody’s gonna get killed.”
As mentioned before, his mother Bertie Mae, “The Miracle Woman,” passed away June 1 after suffering a stroke in mid-May. That was one of the most devastating losses in his life, Jesco said. “I sure loved my mom.”
Plus, his wife, Norma Jean, is now suffering several illnesses and has been “moved into a home” in Charleston, he said. Jesco hasn’t seen her in a while and reckons he will never see her again. But, he said, she told him to carry on without her. “My wife always told me when it got that bad for me to go on and have my life any way I wanted it and enjoy it. But I’ll never take this wedding band off as long as I live — ’til when she passes on. Then, I’ll take it off.”
A movie idea of his own
Since The Dancing Outlaw has been working around and appearing in movies and television, he said he’s finally come up with an idea of his own for a movie about his life (now, don’t steal this, folks. Jesco would get mad).
He said, “It’s a movie about Charlie Daniels and Hank Jr. They’re bounty hunters, right? Like Dog is, that detective on TV? … this’ll be in a western is what I’m thinkin’ of. I dreamed this up myself — and they’re bounty hunters and Elvis Presley’s the sheriff and they’re goin’ out after Big and Rich for stealin’ Jesco’s name. And Jesco, since he’s a legend and has got a clean record, he can sue them boys and it’s the law’s job to get his name back that they stoled. — Then I’m goin’ to be in the part sittin’ on a jackass with a big Mexican hat on that says Git-R-Dun — Warner Brothers movies might buy that.”
Be sure to keep an eye out for that to make the big screen.
The future
Jesco has hopes that MTV will, indeed, purchase the documentary and it will be popular. He thinks its airing will lead to more, and better, entertainment career opportunities.
He and his family also appear in Hasil Adkins: My Blue Star, a documentary set to be released this fall, about Hasil “Haze” Adkins, another famous Boone County entertainer.
Plus, you might find him tapping away at a Boone County watering hole on a Saturday night — if he feels like it. He says he does that for his fans. “I don’t know what they get out of it. But they sure seem to like it.”
And if you’re in Madison some day, keep an eye out for Jesco and say hi if you see him. He might just tap out a tune for you — especially if you have a little spare cash.
On the Web
There’s plenty more about Jesco, his videos, music and family on the Web. Just search YouTube or Google for “Jesco White” and you’ll find plenty to get your fill of the world-famous “Dancing Outlaw.”
— Stover is a lifelong resident of Raleigh County and enjoys observing the unique personalities living in southern West Virginia. He is a senior copy editor for Beckley Newspapers, where he has worked for more than 20 years. E-mail: jstover@register-herald.com
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Miracle Woman Obituary
Current mood:
melancholy
Current mood:
melancholy
Mircle Woman obituary from the Charleston Gazzette.
Birtie Mae White, 85, “The Miracle Woman” of Madison died June 1, 2008, at her home.
She was born Feb. 23, 1923, at Davis Creek and was a daughter of the late Dick and Mamie Estep Selbea. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Donald Ray White; children, Ona F., Donald M., Roberta A., Virginia A., Dorsey R., Billy R., and Minis R. White.
She is survived by her children, Zetta Clark of Ohio, Louise Rowe of West Virginia, John Gullett of Minnesota, Mamie Warner, Jesco White, Jerry White, Bernadine Cook, Sue White and Annie Davis, all of West Virginia; 34 grandchildren; and 48 great-grandchildren.
Funeral service will be 11 a.m. Wednesday, June 4, at Martha Freewill Baptist Church, Bandytown, with Leslie White and Johnny Baire officiating. Burial will follow in Green Cemetery, Bandytown.
Friends may call one hour prior to the service at the church.
Handley Funeral Home, Danville, is in charge of arrangements.
You may express your condolences to the family at www.handleyfh.com.
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Birtie Mae White … Maw ….. Gone but not forgotten
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In the garden of my house there’s a tree with lots of randomly grown twigs. It looks odd and nice at the same time. One day I asked myself if I could create a piece of music with it.
To tune the tree I picked a fundamental note and tuned the twigs by trimming them with a pencil sharpener. I used two Røde NT6 and a NTG-2 as microphones, combined with a customized stethoscope.
I recorded the tracks live on a Pro Tools LE system. I didn’t use any synthesizer or sampler to create or modify the sounds. All the sounds come from playing the tree, by bowing the twigs, shaking the leaves, playing rhythms on the cortex and so on.
At this link you can see some pictures with more detailed descriptions: behance.net/Gallery/Music-from-a-Tree/263872
I hope you’ll like it.
The track is also available as an high-quality download on my Bandcamp page: diegostocco.bandcamp.com/track/music-from-a-tree
