Aurora Dairy: Either Moo-ve Out of Organic Market or Comply with Standards

September 2nd, 2009. By janem

Most everyone knows that buying organic anything is pricier, including milk. And we know how difficult and expensive it is for family dairy farmers to convert their farms to organic.

The big guns have also jumped on the organic wagon– much to the dismay of small, indie farms because a national surplus of organic milk largely created by these factory farm dairies has been driving down prices paid to farmers. And what we didn’t know is that they aren’t all playing by the rules.

This week the Cornucopia Institute, an organic industry watchdog, filed a formal legal complaint with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) alleging that one of the five industrial-scale dairies operated by Aurora, its High Plains dairy near Kersey, Colorado, is failing to graze their dairy cattle as required by the federal organic standards.

According to Cornucopia Institute, Aurora is allegedly primarily confining their dairy cows in giant barns and pens instead of being allowed to graze on fresh forage, and exhibit their natural instinctive behaviors, as the federal law mandates. When the cows are let outside they often only have access to substandard crops that are planted on an annual basis, and wither in the desert-like heat, instead of more hardy perennials that stand up to continual grazing throughout the growing season.

In response to a previous legal complaint filed in 2006 by The Cornucopia Institute, the USDA found that Aurora was in violation of 14 tenets of the organic regulations including confining their cattle to feedlots, instead of grazing.

Wake up, USDA! If I were buying Aurora Dairy’s supposed organic milk, I’d want my Moo-ney back.

Sprint ETF Settlement: Stuck with Sprint to avoid fees? Read on…

September 2nd, 2009. By AbiK

The pending Final Approval Hearing for the Sprint Nextel Early Termination Fees (ETF) Settlement on October 21, 2009 should have folks racing to submit their claims for either a cash payout or a credit for future minutes. But many current Sprint customers probably aren’t submitting claims, simply because they haven’t paid any early termination fees—as of yet. 

If that sounds like you, then you might want to go ahead and submit a claim anyway. Why? According to the explanation provided by the settlement administrators, the affected class may include individuals who stayed on with Sprint—for fear they would have to cough up the ETF if they quit their contract. The explanation of who is included in the class states the following:  Read the rest of this entry »

Judges and Senators Trump the Social Security Administration

September 1st, 2009. By janem

The DesMoinesRegister.com recently published a story about Todd Lindberg, a former truck driver with one amputated foot and not much left of the other foot (due to diabetes) who has lived 18 months in a storage garage. Of course he qualifies for social security disability benefits that would pay for decent accommodation and maybe some cash left over for groceries; instead he is one of about 736,000 people waiting way too long to have their claims processed. That’s an increase of more than 556,000 from last year due to a “massive backlog” of unresolved disability claims at the Social Security Administration.

(Currently 7.4 million Americans receive disability benefits with an average monthly check totaling $1,063.)

There’s an even sadder story: Last year, another truck driver died in the lobby of a Social Security office while waiting to be called into the office for a hearing on his three-year-old claim for benefits.

In its infinite wisdom, the Administration recently denied a 55-year-old woman benefits: she was born without a right hand. More recently, arthritis crippled her left hand. However, last month, U.S. District Judge Robert Pratt rejected the agency’s finding and ordered the disabled woman be paid benefits she first claimed five years ago. In another case, a judge ruled that the Social Security Administration had “relied on facts that were clearly erroneous” in denying a woman benefits who suffered from migraines.

Back to Lindberg: It took two and a half years for a judge to approve his application for federal disability benefits-only after U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin intervened. So what’s causing the holdup?

The Social Security Administration is notoriously denying claims. Is it their mandate?  In fact about two-thirds of claims for benefits are denied at the get-go, which leads to an appeals backlog. Fortunately most applicants who appeal eventually receive benefits but it can take months of going back and forth and oftentimes applicants are better off getting legal help: it’s less stressful and generally speeds up the process by not having to go through yet another denial and appeal.

Case in point:

Four years ago, Kara Schroeder of Iowa City was living out of a van in California and picking up her mail at a homeless shelter. The Social Security Administration mailed her a notice that she needed to see a doctor and verify that she was still disabled, but it was sent to the wrong address. Guess what? Her benefits were cut off…To make a long story short, Schroeder finally got reinstated with the help of a Legal Aid attorney but her problems continue…

Paris Hilton finds her talent niche: litigious living

September 1st, 2009. By AbiK

Paris Hilton may not have found her talent niche yet, but she apparently knows how to work the systems—PR and courts, that is. You have to give her credit, she’s tried modeling, acting (tv, viral-release video, and film), singing, perfuming (is that a word?)…but it’s only been recently that she may have found her true calling: a litigious living.

Paris and the Law: Take One

Someone—namely some film investors—had the nerve to file a lawsuit against Paris alleging that she failed to promote her 2006 box office miss “Pledge This!”. See, the movie didn’t quite provide the hoped for ROI, so the investors kind of wanted some money back ($8.3 million, specifically). So they went after what they perceived to be the best target: Paris. Deep pockets? Check! Possible reason film sucked? Check! They figured, hey, easy way to recoup that investment. Unfortunately, U.S. District Judge Federico Moreno didn’t quite agree. He felt the lawsuit was based on speculation. Oh, she may have to cough up around $1 mill, but still…Paris is 1-0.

Paris and the Law: Take Two

Fast-forward to 2007 when Paris took the reins and went after Hallmark. Those creative types in Missouri played off some pop culture (Paris!) and created a greeting card with a cartoon image of a waitress on it. Ahh, but the cartoon had an actual image of Paris’ head superimposed on it, with the caption, “That’s hot”. Paris didn’t take it too kindly— Read the rest of this entry »

Greenscam! Sigg bottles, Aurora organic milk not what they say?

September 1st, 2009. By AbiK

The horror! Eco-consciousness without conscience! In an industry that thrives on consumer trust, what happens when that trust is comprised by alleged greenscammers?

We’re about to find out. Enter Sigg bottles and Aurora Organic Milk…

Seems all too easy in today’s eco-conscious clime that if you can make it green, talk it up as friendlier, safer, healthier, more sustainable…you’ll have a hit with consumers. Particularly those with deeper pockets as going eco & organic ain’t cheap. Put your eco-friendly product in the right hands—red carpet types—and, like Sigg bottles, trendy cult status may be within reach.

But as with all glowing self-proclamations, stating publicly that you’re “organic” or “eco-conscious” leaves you open to scrutiny. And, trendy or not, Sigg bottles have found themselves in the cross-hairs of pissed off consumers who felt they were led to believe the bottles were BPA-free. Not helping is CEO Steve Wasik’s letter (sigg.com) stating that Sigg bottles produced before August, 2008 contain trace amounts of BPA.

BPA, or bisphenol A, is a potentially toxic substance found in plastics (such as some baby bottles), some dental sealants and linings of metal cans; it’s gained notoriety in recent years since a government panel raised concern in 2007 about BPA leaching from its source and, if ingested—particularly in children—there may be potential for neural and behavioral problems (usatoday.com, 1/30/08).

The initial issue with Sigg had been the issue of leaching; Sigg bottles apparently did not show Read the rest of this entry »