Religious Right Boycotts McDonald's - Let's Thank McDonald's

Once again the religious right-wingers are boycotting. The right-wing-nuts calling for this latest lame boycott is the same organization whose news division ran the auto-edited story about Olympian Tyson Gay (aka Tyson "Homosexual" - see my July 2nd posting "Christian News Group Embarrasses Itself With It's Own Homophobia" - it's hilarious!).

This time American Family Association (AFA) is pursing their lips and clucking their tongues because McDonald's won't condemn their Vice President of Communications Richard Ellis’s decision to serve on the Board of Directors of the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC).

According to AFA's own press release, Rev. Don Wildmon, founder and chairman of AFA, said "...the chain's decision is baffling. And this is so strange, because it's the family that McDonald's appeals to -- children's playland, you know, all the little toys, all of that. And they are promoting a lifestyle that would utterly destroy the traditional family."

McDonald's responded to their boycott threat by telling Wildmon in a letter:

We treat our employees and our customers with respect and dignity, regardless of their ethnicity, religious beliefs, sexual orientation or other factors. We support our employees’ personal involvement in organizations of their choice.

By the way, in case you didn't know, The National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce is the largest LGBT business development and economic advocacy organization in the world representing the interests of more than 800,000 LGBT businesses and entrepreneurs. If you would like to check them out, go to: www.nglcc.org

Read Full Story at: thinkprogress.org

Another Beef Recall Due To E. Coli Contamination

I am running this story because tomorrow is July 4th and, as we all know, hamburgers are a pretty big part of the celebrations.

The Kroger Food company (they own Fry's Foods here in Arizona) has expanded a major beef recall due to possible e.coli contamination. The beef was supplied by Nebraska Beef Ltd. which issued the initial recall of almost 532,000 pounds of beef that was already shipped to stores.

According to Kroger's press release:

Based on the latest information from the USDA, Kroger is expanding the recall to include ground beef products in Styrofoam tray packages wrapped in clear cellophane or purchased from an in-store service counter from the stores described below.

There are various “sell by” dates on the ground beef being recalled due to different Nebraska Beef production dates.

The following chart explains the range of “sell by” dates that customers should check:

Fred Meyer May 21-July 5
QFC May 21-July 5
Kroger stores May 21-July 3 *
(*except Kroger stores in Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, and Knoxville, Tenn. and Kroger’s Mid-Atlantic division, which includes stores in North Carolina, Northeastern Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. Kroger stores in Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama and Knoxville, Tenn. are not involved in the recall of ground beef in Styrofoam trays or from in-store service counters.)
Kroger Mid-Atlantic May 19-June 6
Fry’s May 21-July 3
Ralphs May 21-July 3 Smith’s May 21-July 3
Baker’s May 17-June 4
King Soopers June 20-July 3
City Market June 20-July 3

Here in Arizona, Fry's Foods seems to be the only chain that receives beef from Nebraska Beef through Kroger. If you purchased beef with the above "sell by" dates DO NOT EAT IT! Return it to the store for a refund or throw it out.

To see Kroger's press release in it's entirety, go to: kroger.com

If it's not e.coli, then it's MCD - see my Friday, June 20th posting "Are You Still Eating Beef?"

Christian News Group Embarrasses Itself With It's Own Homophobia

I just love this story! According to an article at PinkNews.com.uk, which is Europe's largest gay news service, the online division of the American Family News Network uses an auto-replace feature that is setup to automatically replace the word "gay" with the word "homosexual." This has resulted in very embarrassing stories that were run, unchecked by human eyes, about Tyson "Homosexual" qualifying for the Olympics in the 100 meter sprint trials.

That change resulted in headlines like: "Homosexual eases into 100 final at Olympic trials" and "Close call: Homosexual barely averts major flop in 100″. Then there was body copy that read "Tyson Homosexual was a blur in blue..." and "...Here's what does matter: Homosexual qualified for his first Summer Games team and served notice he's certainly someone to watch in Beijing."

And, finally, there was this quote, which is my favorite:

"It means a lot to me," the 25-year-old Homosexual said. "I'm glad my body could do it, because now I know I have it in me." […] After the race, Homosexual and Dix looked at each other and slapped palms, then hugged.

I haven't seen anything quoted anywhere about how Tyson Gay feels about this and he makes no mention of it on his official website. Hopefully, he'll just get a kick out of it like the rest of us and laugh it off.

On the off chance that Tyson Gay sees this posting, I just want to say; CONGRATULATIONS! You were awesome!

You can read the whole story at: PinkNews.com.uk