I’m at it again.

Don’t ask me why my blogroll has vexed me so ghoulishly these past several months, but it has.  And I won’t stand for it anymore.

Lacking time now consumed greedily by my employer (and for which they pay me, so I shan’t complaint), I’ve realized I’m not keeping up with my favorite blogs as easily as I’d like.  I’m still reading them all—my one rule for blogrolling, as you know, is that I won’t link to one that I don’t actually visit regularly.  It’s just that I’m finding it somewhat difficult to keep up with all of them given the new demands for my precious twenty four hours.

But wait!  There’s more…

I scramble about the intertubes visiting new blogs, and I do this often.  Most of the new finds are those linked to by blog carnivals (e.g., Carnival of the Cats, Good Planets, Friday Ark, Carnival of the Trees, etc.).  Others I find by perusing the blogrolls of sites I already enjoy (based, of course, on the premise that someone I like will undoubtedly link to someone else I’ll like).  All of this discovering can be tiring.  More importantly, it far too often lands me in the position of wanting to add blogs to my already bloated list.

Does blog gluttony stop me?  Hell no!

Which brings me back to this undeniable capriciousness with the blogroll…

I’m in the process of adding and removing sites again.  The same reasons apply now that have always applied.  Some I’ve grown weary of, some no longer offer anything I want, my interests change over time, and so on and so forth and yadda yadda yadda…

So rather than bore you with speaking up each time I make changes—as though doing so requires some public announcement—I’m simply going to state now for the record that my blogroll is considered a dynamic element here.  Sites will come and sites will go.  I’ve imposed a virtual limit of 200 sites and am trying desperately not to approach it.  If I go over it, I’ll admit myself to a rehab center.

Meanwhile, consider yourselves warned that the blogroll is now in perpetual flux and will be that way… er… uh… perpetually.

The notion of a Christian commonwealth should be exploded forever…Government should protect every man in thinking and speaking freely, and see that one does not abuse another. The liberty I contend for is more than toleration. The very idea of toleration is despicable; it supposes that some have a pre-eminence above the rest to grant indulgence, whereas all should be equally free, Jews, Turks, Pagans and Christians.

— John Leland

According to the FDA and the USDA, the tainted pet food is no longer our only concern.  As of yesterday, they are announcing swine in several states are to be destroyed after having been fed contaminated feed imported from China.

The USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today notified State authorities that swine fed adulterated product will not be approved to enter the food supply. . .

[. . .]

FDA and FSIS are coordinating with State authorities in eight states where the adulterated feed is known to have been purchased. Eight pork producers in the states of California, Kansas, North Carolina, New York, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Utah are known to have purchased the feed. These combined operations involve approximately 6,000 hogs. All of the animals are currently being held under state quarantines in CA, NC, NY and SC. In KS, OK and UT producers agreed to hold the animals until further notice. Authorities are also in contact with a feed mill in Missouri that might have received adulterated feed.

As the government inspects less than 1% of all imported food products (regardless of destination), this is yet another sign that our system is broken and that the pet food recall is only one small piece of a rather large disaster.

And current estimates place the dog and cat death toll in the tens of thousands.

I’m disgusted by this entire situation.  To know animals have died unnecessarily is beyond comprehension, beyond acceptance.  To know poison can so easily be introduced to our entire food chain, from pet to human, is unforgivable and unimaginable.  Changes need to be made.

Immediately.

Meanwhile, more pet food brands and products have been recalled.

Our lives reflect the pictures we create in our minds, and therefore we should pay close attention to our mental doodling.

— Mary Manin Morrissey