So the FDA announced Thursday afternoon that it is OK to eat
tomatoes. The federal agency has lifted its warning because the
salmonella outbreak has slowed.
That's really funny, actually.
First of all, it seems that I've seen lots and lots of tomatoes
around, inside restaurants and filling shelves in my grocery stores.
No ban existed and it appears that the warning carried little weight.
Plus, news stories in recent weeks indicated that they doubted
tomatoes were at the root of the problem even as the salmonella
outbreak expanded.
But apparently our government follows human nature — in that once the
rash starts to go away, you can cancel that doctor's appointment.
It's great reinforcement to the 'wait til it goes away' approach to
caring for yourself, your people and your food industry.
Seriously, though, it is too bad that the regulation and monitoring
of our foods has taken such a back seat to everything else. And not
even sickness or death is changing this. That lack of outrage is the
most disappointing part of this story.

Fanchon Stinger, suspended and then unemployed news-reader, has
finally responded to all the speculation and analysis of her
involvement with companies tied to a suspicious sludge deal with the
City of Detroit.
It's never a good sign when one has to announce that they need more
time to respond to a situation, but she hasn't been charged with any
crime and it is not even sure that she violated any station or
journalistic rules.
However, it is always appearances that matter -- especially on TV and
in the news, and it certainly appears that something was funny.
Most notable to me, though, was that someone who is in the news
business, where speed is right behind accuracy, and who also has a
strategic public relations firm in her name has not been out in front
of this story.
She was unheard from for nearly a week and then it was only a press
release.
I thought one of the first rules of the business was to get your side
out there as fast as possible. When that didn't happen, I had to wonder.

Following the meek amount of new material this spring, following the
lengthy writers' strike, television looks to pick up tonight with the
return of both "The Closer" and "Saving Grace" on TNT.
Nicole Robertson, an editor here at The Oakland Press, gave Saving
Grace a favorable review, calling it "a high-energy show" worth
watching because it is less about the procedure than the human heart.
I have yet to invest the time to watch it, saving it hopefully for a
run on Netflix. But I have enjoyed the first three seasons of "The
Closer," in which Kyra Sedgewick plays a delightful investigator who
enjoys nothing more than pulling the awful truth from the souls of
society's worst.
A blend of humor and solid police procedural as well as mood and wit,
"The Closer" has never let down, particularly because of the
shortened seasons, which feature only dozen or so episodes.
Having fizzled on "Lost," this has been a favorite show in my
household, making TNT a must watch on Monday nights.
And with the soon-to-return "Monk," my summer looks to be more like
fall.