Norah O'Donnell on earmarks

ha ha ha

Which, it is actually. Anyone who has ever driven past a large hog farm knows that there are 2 things that need to be controlled at such places. The smell, and the waste. I've been telling people about this all week, who heard McCain mention the smell and waste thing as being stupid spending. Of course, what most don't realize is that the stench can make locals sick. The waste can contaminate groundwater and make it not drinkable.

This sort of reminds me of the Jindal making fun of volcano monitoring. I mean, why would you ever want something like that?

I find this kind of thing absolutely amazing.  What the hell is wrong with people?  Are we actually this stupid as a country?  Maybe it's because I live in Iowa and am from the Midwest, but having problems with the waste and smell from pig farms is nothing new.  This has been a BIG problem in the Midwest (and in the rest of the world) for decades now. 

Are there actually people who are professional journalists in this country that are unaware of this?  This is where I get lost - I am not sure if these people are this stupid or if they are purposely spreading misinformation.  I am really not sure sometimes anymore.  The volcano monitoring issue is the same thing to me.  Is a governor really that stupid, or was that just the best crap he could find to point and laugh at in the bill?

Two things. One of them probably wasn't caught by most people.

1. I live in Northern California. Lots of farming. Along Interstae five is the cattle factory for Harris Ranch, one of the largest suppliers of beef in the U.S. If you travel along I-5, especially in summer, you can smell the huge lasture area and the manure from miles away. AND they have a Harris Ranch restaurant next to the farm!.

2. Something people may not have caught was her first mention of the pig odor research at 1.8 million, then she says just a few seconds slater 108 million dollars. Someone needs to use a little more concentration when spewing her facts. Or, as others have said in the past, maybe she's misquoting it the second time for those who can't "watch" it, but listen as they're getting ready for work. In that case, the 108 million is going to stick out.

BTW...she laughs like a duck.

Yeah on the E4-N on the way to Arlanda (Stockholm, Swedens capitals airport), there's a pigfarm. Ever since I was a kid we always know when it's coming up, someone says "PIGFARM!", and everybody holds their breathe for as long as possible, so you won't have to smell it. It smells awful, the smell comes into the car (even though the farm's like 100 yards away from the road), and it stinks for a full minute. It's disgusting.

 

It's really ridiculous. If they're going to cite numbers, why don't they have somebody on to explain them? If they wanted to waste money, on let's say, a contract for Halliburton to build a bridge after they'd already failed to build it twice (and still gotten payed), then they can say "these are the numbers, the money is being wasted".

This, however, is actually something that you may need some information on, to have an idea of what the money is going to.

 

BAD MEDIA! BAD, BAD MEDIA!

Teehee she said pig odor.

Norah O'Donnell apparently knows nothing about pig odor and is too superficial a professional to bother finding out. Other contributors to this forum have it right. To live in Iowa is to understand how huge a problem hog lot odor can be.

"You put a million gallons of hog manure together, it's not going to smell like fruit salad." That's what the farm manager for New Melleray Abbey (near Dubuque IA) told the Chicago Tribune 11 years ago when the 26 Trappist monks there opposed expansion of a nearby hog operation. Vital industry vs. environmental and health concerns at a 160-year monastery: The clash highlighted the importance of somehow controlling hog odor.

Norah O'Donnell doesn't take the prize for ignoring details, though. That goes to Charles Krauthammer, who put the hog odor

earmark in Louisiana. It was a matter of reading "IA" as "LA," which is what you can do when patrolling a small-print list for "outrages" to seize upon. A clarification soon followed -- unusual for Krauthammer and Fox News.

Jerry Elsea

It's also important not to forget the point made by magnolia earlier in this post.  I have lived in both Kansas and Iowa in recent years and can tell you that the waste that comes from these farms is detrimental to the entire area.  Groundwater gets contaminated and then it is unusable.  The water becomes unusable.  Kind of an important thing - this water.  If we are going to continue to allow pig farms to operate (and I am not suggesting that we shut them down) then the government has a responsibility to put as much money as they can into making sure they find other ways of ensuring the health of the area around these pig farms.

As a born and bred Iowan who lives in Minnesota now but still travels to Iowa frequently to visit family, the pig manure smell stench has increased substancially since the corporate farms have moved in!  This smell isn't coming from your family farmers....Mikehuck1976 I agree the health of those around these areas is priceless.  I wish media matters had its own cable news show to point out all this poor "reporting" of these talking heads.

This is what happens when you hire Sara Like taking heads as journalists. Since they don't know the subject matter they read what ever is on the teleprompter.  She like most of the pretty faces on MSNBC are just props.

After seeing the video it is understandable,norah o donnell is an educated stupid ass.