This bill has NOTHING to do with socialism and EVERYTHING to do with capitalism. The profits of big agriculture are written all over this bill. I've spent weeks 'dissecting' every word in the bill and researching the co sponsors and the wretched politicians that wrote it , you should do the same. It does in fact impact farmers markets or any vegetable that is sold or meant for human consumption. It makes all growers comply with industry regulations ie insect control/pest nematodes,bacterial disease control and on and on. It hardly impacts the current agriculture monopolies and impacts the small farmers that don't have the resources to comply with regulations. Tom Vilsak (one of the bills authors) is heavily in favor of large industrial farms and genetically modified crops. Political spin confuses people, it is not about socialism per say , if we want to be intellectually honest HR 875 was born out of corporate monopolies infiltrating Washington with their money and influence. This bill is capitalism out of control,paradoxically the profit motive of corporate monopolies is behind this bill. They see the threat of small farmers and back yard growers and they want to stop it. This is all about $ business $....thats capitalism for you.

Kitty is definitely ours now. I spent Christmas Eve day at the pet hospital. Kitty is definitely a girl despite body shape of boy kitty. She started scratching and rubbing at her ears and whimpering then would shake her head and lose her balance! She is much happier now but boy, was she ever mad at everyone. She sat on the bench as far into the corner as she could get and just told everyone how mean they were and grumbled until we got home. The vet said everyone wound up with scratches despite two people holding her while the ears got cleaned out. Got antibiotics for infected gums. We'll have to take her back to get the teeth cleaned after the medicine has a chance to work. No feline leukemia I'm happy to say. $162 and they wanted to do full blood work. I said we would wait until we knew she was going to stay with us. I really don't think anyone is going to reclaim her though after so much time. She is a sweet cat and I can't imagine why they would mistreat her. Can anyone suggest a name? Sandy

I called PECO this morning. Surprisingly, the person I spoke to, Donna, was very sympathetic and took down all the pertinent information. She explained that while they wouldn't be out today (understandable, an ice storm is forcast for this afternoon) she would submit it as an electrical problem. Based on dealings I've had with this company in the past, this is not at all how I thought my request would be received. Now to see how well they follow up. I may not have been too clear on the age of my kids. As I said earlier my oldest was 4-5 when the first bird was killed but she's 24 now & engaged to be married 10/10.

The latest on this case -- apparently the maximum penalty is a year and a half, whether it's killing the 3 cats she confessed to, or the 650 she'd claimed. From the Associated Press: A woman charged with animal cruelty in the deaths of five cats gave a videotaped confession in which she expressed frustration with the pet-adoption system and indicated some pet owners didn't deserve to have animals, a prosecutor said. Maureen McLaughlin, 56, also said she knew what she did was wrong and knew the animals suffered, Assistant City Prosecutor Bill Hedrick said last night. Assistant Public Defender Tanya Flanigan had objected to the bond, noting the charges are misdemeanors. Franklin County Environmental Judge Harland Hale said he set the amount because McLaughlin fled to Mansfield and checked herself into a psychiatric facility after the first charge was filed following a search of her home. She was brought to the jail on Monday. McLaughlin was interviewed March 11 by Franklin County animal control investigators following up on a call she made to Columbus police saying she had drowned a number of animals. McLaughlin confessed and told the investigators she may have killed as many as 650 dogs and cats in the last five years, Hedrick said. She is charged with drowning three stray cats, as well as one belonging to her mother and another belonging to a neighbor who said she hadn't seen her pet since she asked McLaughlin to look after it in late February. McLaughlin has been diagnosed with psychiatric problems, but she was aware that her actions were wrong and may be prosecuted on that basis, Hedrick said. She faces a maximum 1 1/2 years in jail, whether she's convicted of killing three animals or 650, the prosecutor said. Here is a link that might be useful: Cat Killer confession