thedailywhat:

Orange Juice Import Ban of the Day: The FDA has placed a temporary ban on the importation of orange juice after trace amounts of a fungicide linked to liver tumors were found in OJ from Brazil.

The South American country supplies the States with 41 percent of its imported OJ.

Additionally, some domestic products have imported juice mixed in, meaning containers could be pulled off the shelf and destroyed if tests for carpendazim — a chemical not approved from use on US crops — come back positive.

The FDA promised to “take the necessary action to ensure that the product is removed from the market” if found to be dangerous. However, there is nothing much to be done about the millions of potentially contaminated gallons of OJ already consumed by Americans.

Despite the disconcerting move and the subsequent price spike, the EPA and FDA both sought to assuage fears that citizens have been exposed to harmful toxins.

“Based on monitoring data provided to EPA by FDA, the EPA has no reason to expect that residues of carbenzadim in oranges grown in Brazil would ever approach levels that would raise safety concerns,” said EPA spokesman Dale Kemery in a statement.

Test results are due back this week.

[bloomberg / photo: flickr via laweekly.]

thedailywhat:

This Is All Kinds Of Wrong of the Day: A Texas-based “pro-family” group is calling for a boycott of Girl Scout cookies [pdf] in response to the organization’s decision to allow a Colorado boy who identifies as a girl to join a local troop.

In a video uploaded to YouTube last week, Honest Girl Scouts member Taylor, a 14-year-old Girl Scout from Ventura County, California, reads a statement excoriating GSUSA for “not being honest with us girls, its troops, its leaders, its parents or the American public.”

“Girl Scouts describes itself as an all-girl experience,” Taylor continues. “With that label, families trust that the girls will be in an environment that is not only nurturing and sensitive to girls’ needs, but also safe for girls.”

This isn’t the first backlash GSUSA has seen from its decision in Colorado: Three troops in Louisiana disbanded in December, citing the inclusion of trans girls as the reason. 

A boycott of Girl Scout cookies would undoubtedly harm the august organization, as it receives a generous amount of its funding from their sale.

Reached for comment, Girl Scouts spokeswoman Michelle Tompkins told the Washington Post that GSUSA “prided itself on being an inclusive organization serving girls from all walks of life,” and will continue to review “cases involving transgender children on a case by case basis with a focus on ensuring the welfare and best interests of the child in question and the other girls in the troop as our highest priority.” 

[blogpost.]

thedailywhat:

Google Street View Stumble of the Day: A woman was walking along Rua Flor de Espatódia in the Brazilian town of Belo Horizonte in July of last year when she suddenly tripped and fell.

Normally, this wouldn’t merit a mention, except this particular misstep happened to be captured by a passing Google Street View van and uploaded online for the world to see.

Follow this link, and then click on the woman to recreate the fateful moment that will forever associate this street with her stumble. 

[reddit.]

"You are getting to a point where you either need to talk to Pat, and stop seeing eddy, or stop seeing pat and see other people"

bad guy good guy

I spent all day Thursday with Eddy and Stephanie. I spent Friday night/sat morning with Patrick. I’m the bad guy right now.

“I’m a boomerang doesnt matter how you throw me Turn around and im back in the game”

thedailywhat:

This Is Just Great of the Day: Appearing in the latest Target circular is 6-year-old Ryan: A happy, gregarious, photogenic rising star in the world of child modeling — who happens to have Down syndrome. 

Ryan has also appeared in a recent Nordstrom catalog among other clothing ads.

On the Daddyblog of a father whose child also has Down syndrome, Ryan’s mother writes:

The whole process of modeling is an extreme confidance booster for him. He received so much warmth and caring from the Nordstrom crew that he thought they were there just for him! We are honored that Ryan is making the Down syndrome community proud. He is a beautiful boy inside and out. He makes us better parents, and a better family.

[noahsdad / adweek.]

thedailywhat:

ICWUDT of the Day: A Facebook thread in a pokeless place.

(Do better below.)

[peetaah / ratsoff / context.]

(Source: black-diamonds)

thedailywhat:

Early Bird Special: Kien Lam says: “After I quit my job last year, I packed a bag, grabbed my camera and bought a one way ticket to London. 17 countries later, I compiled this time lapse of the many amazing places I came across.”

17 Countries. 343 Days. 6237 Photographs. One incredible journey.

[kiendlam.]

thedailywhat:

What The Hell of the Day: How does a 14-year-old African-American girl who speaks not one word of Spanish end up being deported by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to Colombia? That’s what they would like to know.

ICE Director of Public Affairs Brian Hale said the department has opened an investigation into the circumstances leading to the deportation of a Texas teen named Jakadrien, who was arrested and sent to Colombia last year despite never having been there in her life.

According to Jakadrien’s grandmother, who managed to track down her granddaughter with the help of Dallas Police and Facebook, the then-14-year-old ran away from home in 2010 after her grandfather died and her parents divorced.

News 8 says Jakadrien ended up on the streets of Houston, where she was arrested by police for theft. Alone and scared, the young girl gave officers a fake name, which, by sheer misfortune, happened to belong to a 22-year-old illegal immigrant from Colombia.

Without verification, ICE collected Jakadrien’s fingerprints and deported her to the South American republic, where she was given a work card and released. In Facebook posts, Jakadrien reportedly complained of being tired from having to work all day cleaning a big house.

Though the U.S. Embassy has been notified of her whereabouts, this sad story isn’t over yet: The Colombian government has since seized Jakadrien, and is holding her in a detention facility for reasons unknown.

Her grandmother, however, is far from giving up: “I feel like she will come home,” she says. “I just need help and prayer.”

[wfaa.]