... and kitty angels meow thee to thy rest

Deep and heartfelt thanks to all who reached out to express sympathy for the loss of our dear boy Lefty.

I know people with human offspring roll their eyes when people like me (born minus the urge to replicate and surgically ensuring that outcome at age 22) refer to pets as their children, but love is love and loss is loss, regardless of species. You share your love, your life, your bed, and your heart with these creatures, so when they go the pain is all-encompassing.

Fortunately I never lose sight of the fact that I am borne aloft on an immeasurable wave of love and support. Lefty and I had a good run together, and he went out in the best way possible. He managed to leave the party while he was still having a good time, which is more than a lot of us ever get. His days were filled with good food, cool sinks, running faucets, and high thread count down bedding. He had toys, perches, and friends of both human and feline variety.

It's going to be a while before I stop hearing him howl out the news of the day to no one in particular until I can finally get him into bed, where he will paw at me until I lie in a snuggle-appropriate configuration, and before I will stop offering my arm for him to curl up into for some quality face-rubbing.
He was a Good Boy and as with all adored pets, I had hoped we'd have more time together.

Big Dairy to change the definition of “milk” so they can add chemical sweeteners without labeling.

So this morning I read that the FDA is reviewing a petition to allow Big Dairy to add - gee, I dunno - Aspartame and Sucralose (and who knows what else?) to milk. And get this: They want the FDA to let them do it WITHOUT HAVING TO MENTION IT ON THE LABELS.

Yes, you read that right.

After all we had to do to GET ingredient lists on food labels (and yes we know that "natural flavoring" means secretions from a beaver ass), here comes this: The Dairy industry is suffering! People are finally realizing that humans are the only species that drink the milk of other species, and that there's no reason for it, especially for children.

So sales are down and everybody knows Kids Love Sweets, so let's make milk SWEET for them!

Hey Michelle Obama, if you really do give a crap about the obesity issue, take a gander at this issue. It's well known that artificial sweeteners have a carload of really nasty side effects. Are we really okay to flood our nation's milk supply with them?

Here's a link to write your comments to the FDA. They've logged 6,626 comments as of midnight last night.

http://www.regulations.gov/#!submitComment;D=FDA-2009-P-0147-0012

Or you can just copy or edit my comment:

SO MUCH WRONG with this!

First, the idea that milk - a product ingested primarily by children - would be adulterated with chemicals like aspartame and sucralose, which are known to be Harmful To Children? That's insane enough on its own.

Second, that even if a parent wanted to be conscientious and choose milk that DIDN'T have these poisons, this petition grants the milk producers the right to include these chemicals (and who knows what ELSE) WITHOUT HAVING TO INCLUDE THEM ON THE LABELS.

This completely overrides the consumers' rights to CHOOSE what we are eating, drinking, and giving to our children.

SHAME ON YOU if you agree to this.

You can't show me one single advantage to granting anyone the authority to exclude ingredients from the list we fought so hard to see on our foods. Oh wait - More Sales for the Dairy folks and more sick people who need expensive health care.

Silly me.

But Heads Up, FDA - We're watching you.