Conservative Leader Stephen Harper delivers a speech at a rally in Laval, Que., on Monday.(Tom Hanson/Canadian Press)

A re-elected Conservative government would provide $400 million more in loans over the next four years to help the beleaguered manufacturing sector in Central Canada, Stephen Harper said Tuesday in releasing his party's long-awaited platform amid increasing global economic uncertainty.

Harper, speaking to the Canadian Club in Toronto, said the Conservatives would add $200 million to the Automotive Innovation Fund and another $200 million to the Strategic Aerospace Defence Initiative.

The Tories would also abolish tariffs on a wide range of imported machinery to bolster manufacturing efficiency, he said.

The party would also abandon its controversial changes to film and television tax-credit eligibility.

Opposition parties have targeted Harper for withholding the Tories' policy book until just a week before the Oct. 14 federal election, saying the delay showed the Conservatives had no plan to deal with the economic troubles that have sent global financial markets spiralling in recent days.

Harper said "some are disappointed" that an incumbent government is campaigning on a plan to move forward in the same direction as it governed, but dismissed the criticism as a "view that unless a plan is brand new, it's not a plan."

"If you are making it up in response to the latest news or the latest change in the stock market, then it is obvious you really don't have a plan," Harper said.

"Prudent leadership does not set economic strategy for the nightly news or rewrite plans for the morning papers. On the contrary…the strengths of a plan are advanced preparation and consistent execution."

'The election is just seven days away and they are just unveiling the platform now?'

— Srakken

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The funds are the latest in the series of campaign announcements made by the Conservatives, who describe their proposals as "modest, affordable" measures that will benefit working Canadian families in times of economic uncertainty.

"If we choose to stay the course, [with] lower taxes, lower debt and prudent spending, Canada will come out of the current economic downturn stronger, better and more prosperous than ever before," Harper said.

Opposition plans 'recipe for disaster'

He also ruled out running a deficit during any years of a Conservative mandate, a day after appearing to soften his stance on emergency spending.

"I think I was asked one question whether I would run a deficit and I said no. That's my answer," he told reporters after his speech.

The Conservative leader denied he was appearing insensitive to Canadians who fear their savings could melt away in the economic turmoil, saying his government has already introduced practical measures for seniors and families to save money.

"I'm the first to admit I'm not the most emotionally expressive guy," Harper said. "There's a lot of panic, but the government can't panic. Canadians must be assured that the government knows where it is going and that is obviously what we are trying to communicate them in this election."

The most recent national survey from The Canadian Press/Harris-Decima put the Tories at 31 per cent, 10 points below their highest point during the campaign, and just five points ahead of the Liberals with 26.

The rolling poll sample represents 1,251 interviews conducted Friday through Sunday and is considered accurate to within 2.8 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

During his address, Harper again tried to reassure investors amid continuing market drops and escalating global economic turmoil, while repeating his warning that his opponents' plans would increase taxes for Canadian energy and commodities companies, among the hardest hit by the crisis.

He reiterated that the level of spending promised by his rivals would require raising taxes and bringing Canada into deficit, which he labelled a "recipe for disaster, nothing more, nothing less."

"As the saying goes, it wasn't raining when Noah built the ark," he said. "Which is why when the rain came, Noah didn't need to panic and he didn't switch boats."

Layton invokes Great Depression PM

Speaking Tuesday in British Columbia, Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion again attacked Harper's platform as "too little, too late," saying the Conservative leader "failed at his job" in preparing Canada's economy for uncertain times.

"Stephen Harper says, 'Don't switch boats in the middle of a storm,' but we have a captain who's asleep at the wheel," he told reporters following Harper's address.

"For the sake of Canadians, what we need to change is the captain and his crew."

Also in B.C., New Democrat Leader Jack Layton invoked the name of Canada's prime minister during the worst years of the Great Depression in dismissing the Conservatives' plan, saying it "completely fails to address what our economy needs now and what our country needs over the next four years."

"Mr. Harper's response to the crisis in the banking system is to say that everything is fine, that nothing needs to change, that there are no problems," Layton said during a campaign appearance in Courtney, then added: "R.B. Bennett couldn’t have said it better himself in 1930."

When pressed by reporters on the statement, the NDP leader denied he was being alarmist in raising the spectre of the Great Depression and said Canadians realize these are "serious times."

"I think Canadian investors are very concerned at the present time, and what they want to see is the government understands that there are problems and is ready to take action," he said.

Dion has promised a 30-day action plan to address pressing economic issues if he becomes prime minister, with stepped-up spending on infrastructure, consultations with regulatory agencies and private-sector economists and talks with the provincial premiers.

"His retail politics is not a vision," he told reporters. "Maybe if he had spent less time distorting me and my plan, he would have been able to release a platform on his own by now."

The Conservative platform also includes previously announced proposals, such as:

A two-cent-a-litre cut in taxes on diesel and aviation fuel over four years totalling $600 million a year once fully implemented.Maternity, parental leave benefits for entrepreneurs who pay into employment insurance.$85 million in tax breaks for families where one spouse forgoes full-time work to care for a disabled family member.Maximum life sentences for offenders as young as 14 convicted of first- or second-degree murder; maximum 14-year sentences for youths who commit violent crimes.Teens over 14 who commit serious crimes would no longer have their identities protected.Ending conditional sentencing, also known as house arrest, for 30 serious crimes, including robbery, theft and arson.Pledging $113 million over five years to crack down on environmental crime, including maximum penalties of $6 million for companies and $1 million for individuals.New tax credit totalling $150 million a year for parents of children under 16 enrolled in eligible arts programs.With files from the Canadian Press

There have been rumours of AMD considering an asset smart strategy for some time now and today it has announced a partnership with Advanced Technology Investment Company (ATIC) of Abu Dhabi.

The processing powerhouse will sell a 55.6 percent stake of its manufacturing business to ATIC, who will form a new entity called The Foundry Company for the time being - the corporate identity of the new company will not be revealed until the deal closes at the beginning of 2009, providing everything goes to plan.

ATIC will pay AMD $700 million for its stake in the new company and will invest several billion dollars into the business in the mid-term future. ATIC said it will also invest $1.4 billion in a new foundry, Fab 4X, in Upstate New York next year and will commit at least $3.6 billion (and up to $6 billion) in additional funds over the next five years.

As a result of the agreement, $1.2 to $1.3 billion of existing AMD debt will be absorbed by The Foundry Company, while AMD will retain the remainder of the new business, holding a 44.4 percent stake. It will also be given equal voting rights to ATIC on The Foundry Company's board.

Doug Grose, AMD's current senior vice president of manufacturing, will become the CEO of the new company, while former AMD CEO Hector Ruiz will step down from his role at AMD and become chairman of the board at The Foundry Company.

AMD will hand over control of its Dresden fabs and will have an "exclusive supply agreement with limited exceptions to manufacture AMD processors and to manufacture, where competitive, certain percentages of other AMD semiconductor products," according to a statement.

On a related note, Mubadala Development Company has announced that it will significantly increase its stake in AMD. The Abu Dhabi-based investor bought an eight percent stake in AMD last November for $622 million and will now inject another $314 million into the company for a 19.3 percent stake and one seat on the board of directors.

What do you think to AMD's decision to spin off the manufacturing portion of the company? Let us know your thoughts in the forums.

Demand is so high in certain places that there are even shortages. For example, it happened it New York City earlier this year, and in Taiwan, people pay deposits before the bikes are even off the assembly line.

After a slow 2006, sales took off last year in Europe and America as fuel prices shot up. Suddenly a bicycle seems like the remedy for many modern ills, from petrol prices to pollution and obesity. Each market has its own idiosyncrasies. Europeans mainly use bikes for commuting, but have the odd habit of ignoring models made explicitly for that purpose in favour of sleeker, faster models which are then expensively modified. Americans prefer off-road BMX trail bikes. Taiwanese demand is led by racing-style bikes used for exercise.

If you look at Giant Manufacturing's stock market performance, you'll even see that on a year-to-date basis they are up about 5.65% right now, which the overall market is way down over the same period of time. Not bad, and green in more ways than one.

[via Treehugger via The Economist]

IPOs generally involve one or more investment banks as "underwriters." The company offering its shares, called the "issuer," enters a contract with a lead underwriter to sell its shares to the public. The underwriter then approaches investors with offers to sell these shares. Enter Dynasty Resources, a small company with big ambitions for reshaping the way China and the US do business.

An China initial public offering (IPO) occurs when a company first sells common shares to investors in the public. Generally, the company offers primary shares this way, although sometimes secondary shares are also sold as IPOs. For a company to offer IPOs, they need to hire a corporate lawyer as well as an investment banker to underwrite the offer. The actual sale of the shares is generally offered by stock exchange or by regulators. When the company starts to offer IPOs, they are usually required to reveal financial information about the company so that investors know whether the companies a good investment or not.

China is now the fourth largest economy in the world. There was substantial growth in market capitalization and trading activities in most of the major markets. The China Initial public offerings flood, which saw many deals massively oversubscribed by frenzied investors, appeared to be a major achievement of China's financial reforms, for the first time making the stock market an important source of funding for many companies. Please visit online http://www.dynastyresources.net in NewYork city.

AMD finally fleshed out the "Asset Smart" strategy it has been talking about since, at least, last December. The result: AMD is now fabless.

Jerry Sanders, former AMD CEO and co-founder, once quipped, "Only real men have fabs." When presented with the question about real men having fabs, Dirk Meyer, the current AMD CEO, responded with, "We feel like we're still pretty manly at AMD. Frankly, the math has changed." Has the math changed? Stock traders seem to think so. AMD shares registered a 8.5% increase to close at $4.59 per share.

The new pure-play foundry company is being referred to as The Foundry Company, for the time being. The company will be owned by AMD and the Abu Dhabi based Advanced Technology Investment Company (ATIC). ATIC is dropping a cool $2.1 billion for a 55.6% majority interest in the new company; AMD will have a 44.4% minority interest in the company and equal voting rights, as reported by InformationWeek.

In other links, Barron's breaks the deal down to bullet points, Digitimes presents a no-frills, fact filled writeup, and the EETimes is cheery and optimistic.

Through Sampe's collaborative work with mass-production industry and her more pioneering work with computer technology, she helped Scandinavian textile design to become part of the contemporary world without losing it traditions and strengths. This has helped to make it one of the worlds leading areas in contemporary textile design.

But there are more personal reasons why this should be a concern for the PMA community.  The aerospace community relies on synergies between space and aviation to help develop new technologies.  A lack of progress in the space technology arena can mean that we do not see the same level of technology advances in the aviation community that we have seen in the past.

This is a particular concern for the independent PMA community, because government-developed space technologies are often made available to the private sector for purchase or licensing, and may even be available through the Freedom of Information Act.  NASA frequently licenses and sells patents that it has acquired.  This sort of break-through technology can give a PMA company the ability to produce an improvement over an OEM product; the fact that it is licensed from the US Government can mean that it the PMA company's Research and Development costs are far less than they would have been to develop the technology on its own.

A House Intelligence Committee Budget Report (INTELLIGENCE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR

2009, H. Rept. 110-665 at 116-117 (May 21, 2008)) criticizes the Administration's failure to make space-based spy-satellite infrastructure a priority:

We are disappointed with certain provisions of the classified annex with respect to national security space systems. National security space systems have been and will continue to be a cornerstone of the nation’s intelligence collection capability. However, the current bill lacks a sense of urgency with regard to making decisions on overhead architecture and fails to address critical architectural shortfalls. It does not adequately fund critical national security space systems and is overly prescriptive in certain areas mandating technical solutions without complete analysis.

The news media has picked up this idea, as well. The Wired Blog Report on Defense (Danger Room) issues suggests "America has become so lousy at building spy satellites that 'the United States is losing its preeminence in space.'"

-Marc-

Globalization has been driven by relative manufacturing costs, and enabled by cheap energy. Cheap movement of goods around the world has created an increasingly integrated global economy, and I think many have thought development in this direction would only continue. This change was based on cheap energy as much as innovations in the shipping industry, however, and most of that energy has come from fossil fuels of which the world has only a limited supply. As that supply runs down, and the cheapest and most easily accessible forms are exhausted, costs will inevitably rise, and that will impact the cost of moving goods around the globe. Then, as costs rise, the goods we ship, led by the cheapest and least dense in terms of value per unit weight and volume, will no longer be economical to ship long distances. The shipping cost will eclipse any cost advantage to be gained by manufacturing overseas.  This suggests a return to regional economic manufacturing, first for low margin products, in a pattern that will extend to goods with higher margins and value-densities as energy prices climb.

Workers in the low-cost countries are gaining power and demanding higher pay and better benefits. Articles over the past year have described how Chinese workers have begun demanding higher pay, benefits, and safer working conditions, and walking off the job if their demands weren't met.  This is not to say that they've been organizing.  That would draw official attention that could be highly undesirable.  Instead, workers have been voting with their feet - walking off the job and finding a new job in another factory nearby or in another city.  One report last spring cited over 200 factories had closed in Southern China and the operations had been moved to other countries, predominantly Indonesia and Viet Nam, because of rising costs.  Still, China is the current world manufacturing power house, and demand for labor is high.

The return of manufacturing may come sooner than many expected. Actually, I think most people never expected to see manufacturing returning to the U.S. and other most developed countries, or at least felt it would be decades before such a change would occur.  The recent rise in oil prices, however, has already started to noticeably turn the tide.  It is an economic certainty that, when the combined cost of shipping and manufacturing goods elsewhere becomes less than the cost of manufacturing near the point of consumption, companies will move manufacturing facilities to optimize their profits.  I don't think this will be bad for the developed countries, but the overall result will depend on what other changes come about in conjunction with oil price increases.

As always, I welcome your comments.  - Tim

Company Description

CAREER OPPORTUNITIES

As one of the world’s largest consumer goods companies, and fastest growing Indonesian business, we are looking for dynamic candidates that strive for excellence to join our team as:

Quality Control Staff

(PASURUAN  FACTORY)

QUALITY CONTROL STAFF- PASURUAN FACTORY

Job Description
*      Responsible to establish checking & monitoring activities to assure that our products at-any –time meet to quality standards.

General Requirements :
*      Having S1/D3 degree in food Technology, THP, Microbiology or chemical
*      Having 1 – 2 years experience in QC operations is preferable but not a must
*      Familiar with HACCP, Food Safety, SPC and TPM concept
*      Honest, team player, details oriented, ready to work under pressure, complying with regulations
*      Computer literacy and English communicative
*      Living in Pasuruan around, or at East Java area

Please submit a comprehensive resume, current and expected salary details and recent photograph no later than 7 days from the date of this advertisement to:

Attn. HRD Dept
Catur.Handayani@id.hjheinz.com

The role:
Your primary function is to observe a family of state-of-the-art production equipment and ensure that they are operating at optimal condition. This involves equipment troubleshooting, preventive/predictive maintenance tasks and driving continuous improvement programs with failure Pareto analysis. You are required to support any ongoing improvement projects and work with OEE improvement activities. You are also required to define and lead various programs such as TPM (Total Productive Maintenance), CRP (Cost Reduction Program) and ClP (Continuous improvement Program).
Other responsibilities include conducting training for technicians and other new equipment users, as well as liaising with vendors and other factories worldwide during new equipment installations and transfer.

Requirements:

• Degree in Electronics/Electrical engineering or equivalent
• 5 - 7 years’ working experience, of which at least 3 years are in a high volume and highly automated manufacturing environment
• Relevant skills and knowledge of PLC, Scada, Profibus, motors and drives is highly advantageous
• Possess initiative to handle improvement and upgrade activities
• Fluent in reading electrical and electronics schematic diagrams
• Basic PC skills in MS Office
• Knowledge of pneumatics, hydraulics application and TPM will be an added advantage

**Interested applicants, please forward updated CV to info@strategixhr.com and our consultants will be in touch with you. We regret only shortlisted candidates will proceed to the next round of selection.

Manufacturing firms in the West Midlands reported significant falls in domestic orders and further worsening of exports. This is impacting on investment and confidence, with fewer firms reporting plans for capital investment as expectations of profitability and turnover decline.

In services the picture is mixed, with domestic orders falling but strong growth in exports. Employment growth, while positive, has slowed on the previous quarter and cashflow has deteriorated. In the light of the continuing uncertainty the survey reports business confidence levels falling.

Hiring in the manufacturing and service sectors will continue to slide in October to the lowest seasonal point in four years as the labor market endures a tough stretch, according to an organization for HR professionals.  Read more...

The Pepsi Bottling Group is a fast-paced, customer-focused company, with an entrepreneurial spirit. We offer careers in sales and sales operations, manufacturing, finance, human resources, information technology, field marketing, and general management. The Company is an equal opportunity employer and values the diversity of its workforce.

At The Pepsi Bottling Group, we are looking for people who are talented, driven and share our passion for winning. Our future growth depends on our ability to attract, retain, and develop people who thrive in a fast-paced environment and are committed to building their long-term success and making an impact every day.

Our more than 65,000 employees across the world live by the "Rules of the Road" at PBG, which call for a passion for results, a strong entrepreneurial spirit and respect for each other. Start your journey and join this winning team! Your first step can be visiting us at

http://www.pepsi-jobs.com

to learn more about all of the amazing opportunities that await you at PBG!

Please pray for aman named Steve Cook. He has leukeamia and brain cancer and is not expected to die within the next few days. He is married with two teenage sons.

Please also pray for all the workes at the JCB factory near my home, who have recently been made redundant, especially Mr. P and his wife (I don't think they would like their names revealed) who are in danger of losing their home.

That's right, EVE has driven me to use spreadsheets. In fact, I couldn't play EVE without it. Manufacturing stuff isn't straightforward, and selling stuff isn't that uncomplicated either. Well, that depends really. If you're happy with whatever amount of ISK the first filthy Minmatar offers you then go ahead, sell your produce and be happy with it. But if you want to maximize, you gotta do some thinking first, boyo.

It boils down to this: you want to build a spaceship. Excellent. You lookup the blueprint on the market and you buy it. You get the blueprint and give it a look-see. One spaceship requires (for example) 100 tritanium and 10 pyerite, and 5 mexallon. Superb. You quickly buy those minerals and rent a factory slot. Now you just have to wait.

It takes a varying amount of time to build a spaceship, or, well, anything really. Lets say, for this example, that it takes 5 minutes. During this time you browse the market and this is when you realize that you would've been able to get those minerals a little bit cheaper further away, if only you had been bothered to travel some. Oh well. Next time.

You see that you should be able to sell your soon-to-be-done ship for 300 (some guy is selling for 310, but you figure that if you go a bit lower you'll sell yours, while he's stuck with his, sucker). However, somewhere in the back of your mind a tiny bell is ringing. You open up your wallet (not your actual wallet, but the ingame wallet) and look at the latest transactions. You add up the expenses for renting the factory slot and buying the minerals and realize that it cost you over 400. What the F? Double-checking the market you see how people are happily selling that spaceship for less than it costs you to acquire the raw materials and build it. You feel depressed, log out, emoragespam the eve-o forum and go back to WoW.

All these numbers were made up, but the emoragespam is all too real.

Manufacturing isn't so straightforward in EVE as it might be elsewhere. The market is demanding, and you have plenty of competitors (well, depending on where you're trying to sell stuff). And as a new player, you're disadvantaged, since you're likely to not have Production Efficiency V - you want to build stuff, that's the skill you get. Basically, what the skill does is that it lowers the amount of minerals needed to build something. Less minerals equals less cost for building equals more isk for you.

If all this sounds new and strange to you, have a look at GC13's excellent Science and Manufacturing guide. It also contains information about invention and BPO research, which is also very very important if you want to build stuff.

The solution to many a problem in EVE is research. Look things up, ask, ask again, get a different opinion (if it is to be had), do the math, and if you come up short, figure out what you can do to improve your numbers, and think about what you can do in the meantime. The reason you're building anything is probably so you can sell it, so that you can earn isk. And if you're being stupid or just don't know about stuff, you'll end up losing isk instead.

I was stupid once, but now I use Excel (well, OpenOffice really, but still). Sometimes I spend more time tallying up amounts of tritanium, pyerite, mexallon etc, and their market value (which changes all the time), comparing the cost totals with potential profits (also subject to change, and sometimes you might not even be able to sell your product for a long long time). I'm no longer stupid, but I also suspect I've lost a bit of my sanity.

If spreadsheets are not your thing, fear not, there are plenty of applications out there, created by members of the EVE community. However, I have yet to find one I'm completely satisfied with, so I'll refrain from mentioning anyone for now.

Currently training: Gallente Industrial V (12 days 3 hours remaining)

"Stunning Decline" in Manufacturing Sector

(seems to me Halle Berry's character in the movie Bulworth made a related claim years ago - but that was a b-list hollywood movie).

KJE has asked how the economic decline will affect Cambodia. My prognosis? You're about to see an awful lot of empty skyscrapers, unfinished building, and a rapid increase in urban homelessness and poverty as the completely unprotected agricultural sector pushes population to the cities in search of any job that can be found. But then, I'm an optimist.

We did some research on why the big brand pet food sold in pet stores, grocery stores, and wholesale chains across America is just so bad for our dogs.  Like most other processed foods, the big brands use horrible, no-quality ingredients and unregulated manufacturing methods that result in the poorest, unhealthiest substance that you can feed your pet.  The most atrocious offense by big brand pet food is their source of the "protein".

What is the source of this so-called "meat" that is listed as "crude animal protein" and "by-products"?

1. "Rendered companion animals" - DEAD PETS. They use dead pets as a source of meat. Includes shelter animals (cats/dogs/etc), strays, lab tested animals, etc. Unless cremation is specifically requested by the owner, dead pets are used in rendering plants.

2. "4D animals": dead, dying, diseased, or disabled animals. Includes farm animals.

3. Roadkill.

In Food Pet's Die For, Ann Martin writes on the pet food industry:

Rendering is a cheap, viable means of disposal. Pets are mixed with other material from slaughterhouse facilities that has been condemned for human consumption - rotten meat from supermarket shelves, restaurant grease and garbage, "4-D" (dead, diseased, dying and disabled) animals, roadkill and even zoo animals...

In 1990, John Eckhouse, a reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle, wrote a two-part exposé on the rendering of companion animals in California. While the pet food companies vehemently denied that this was happening, a rendering plant employee told Eckhouse that "it was common practice for his company to process dead pets into products sold to pet food manufacturers.

Animal slaughterhouses strip the flesh and send the remains - heads, feet, skin, toenails, hair, feathers, carpal and tarsal joints and mammary glands - to rendering plants. Also judged suitable for rendering: animals who have died on their way to slaughter; cancerous tissue or tumors and worm-infested organs; injection sites, blood clots, bone splinters or extraneous matter; contaminated blood; stomach and bowels.

At the rendering plant, slaughterhouse material, restaurant and supermarket refuse (including Styrofoam trays and Shrink-wrap), dead-stock, roadkill and euthanized companion animals are dumped into huge containers. A grinding machine slowly pulverizes the entire mess. After it is chipped or shredded, it is cooked at temperatures between 220 F and 270 F for 20 minutes to one hour. The grease or tallow that rises to the top is used as a source of animal fat in pet foods. The remaining material is put into a press where the moisture is squeezed out to produce meat and bone meal.

It's a Dog Eat Dog world.  For real.

By looking at the ingredients of your average big name dog food, and you'll find that there is no real meat - only meat by-products, fillers, flavoring, preservatives, and vitamin supplements.  So, in addition to eating your neighbor's ground-up dead dog, your dog may be eating chemicals, hormones, drugs, diseases, and additives that can lead to serious health consequences such as cancers and tumors.

Let's take a look at the main ingredients in a typical major brand pet food for example:

Pedigree For Puppies Original Chicken Flavor Dry Dog Food

Chicken By-Product Meal (everything BUT the meat)
Rice   (filler carbs that can lead to obesity)
Corn Gluten Meal   (filler source of protein and carbs that are prone to contamination)
Animal Fat (preserved with Mixed Tocopherols, Source of Vitamin E)   (fat from what animals?)
Natural Poultry Flavor   (skimmings from boiling 4-D chickens)
Wheat    (more filler grain, which many dogs are allergic to)
Potassium Chloride  (used as a preservative and also for executions by lethal injection)
Wheat Flour  (pre-processed grain by-product stripped of nutrients)
DiCalcium Phosphate (dietary supplement added to dog food products)

Here are some of the most problematic ingredients in dog food:

1. Chicken by-product meal is NOT chicken.
"Chicken by-product meal consists of the ground, rendered, clean parts of the carcass of slaughtered chicken, such as necks, feet, undeveloped eggs and intestines, exclusive of feathers, except in such amounts as might occur unavoidable in good processing practice."

2. Corn Gluten Meal.
Contaminated Corn Gluten Meal imported from China for use in dog food was the reason for the massive recalls in 2007.

"The presence of corn products - particularly if they are high on the list of ingredients - may indicate that corn has been used instead of a more expensive alternative.  About 25% of the corn produced in the U.S. today is genetically modified.  Corn is more difficult to digest either by humans or dogs.

Corn gluten meal is a concentrated source of protein that can be substituted for costlier animal protein.  In many bargain dry dog foods, corn gluten meal provides a large proportion or the total protein in the food rather than more digestible forms of protein such as meat."

3. Brewer's Rice.
Brewer's Rice, wheat flour, and rice flour are cheap by-products of the alcohol manufacturing industry used as filler.

4. Natural Poultry Flavor.
Additional flavoring is unnecessary in products that contain actual meat, and is added purely for taste.  The source of the flavoring and use of the word "natural" are highly suspicious.

5. Food Coloring and Preservatives: FD&C and Lake Colors (Yellow 6, Blue 2, Red 40, Yellow 5).
There is absolutely no reason to add food coloring to dog food except for presentation to the pet owner. Preservatives such as propylene glycol (antifreeze) are used to lengthen the shelf life.

These ingredients are not a recipe for a healthy dog food.
They are intended to fill your dog's stomach with carbs - basically like feeding your dog meat-flavored cereal.  The food is chemically formulated to just barely meet the minimum basic requirements and guidelines outlined by vets and the FDA to be considered fit for sale.

How to select a pet food:
1. Meat such as chicken should be listed as the first ingredient.  Look at the order of ingredients.
2. Look at the guaranteed analysis to see that the protein level is at 30% or more.
3. The fat content should be at 18% or more.
4. There should be a wide spectrum of ingredients such as omega fatty acids and Vitamin E.
5. There should be NO FOOD COLORING!

Brief History of Previous Pet Food Recalls (from Wikipedia):

1995: Nature's Recipe - fungus contaminated wheat causes dogs to vomit.

1999: Doane Pet Care, including Walmart Ol' Roy - another fungal toxin kills at least 25 dogs.

2005: Diamond Pet Foods - deadly toxin, Aflatoxin, kills at least 100 dogs.

2007: One of the wost years in pet food history.  A list of over 25 big name brand pet foods were recalled due to contamination of ingredients.  See the full list here on the FDA's site here.

2008: Pedigree has made TWO recalls on both dry and wet dog food within a two-month span, due to Salmonella contamination. See the long list of recalled Pedigree products on the Mars Pedigree site here.

What are the alternatives?

1. High Quality Pet Food Brands

There are too many choices for dog owners out there.  There are "holistic" options that take all aspects of a dog's health into account, typically using organic ingredients.  Most of the higher quality dog food manufacturers use real meats, a variety of vegetable ingredients, and no additives such as food coloring or flavoring.  Some even use ingredients fit to be eaten by humans.

The general rule of thumb is that the more expensive the food, the better the quality.  Some high quality dog food brands include: Innova by Naturapet, Nutro, Life's Abundance, and many more.  These are NOT at grocery stores and huge pet store chains like Petco.

2. The Raw Meat and Bones Diet, aka the Raw Meaty Bone Diet.

There is a big debate about whether dogs should be fed manufactured dog food or whether they should be fed a diet of raw meat and animal organs.  The commercial dog food industry has only been around for less than a hundred years, as an offshoot of the human food industry (Mars owns Pedigree for example). However, dogs and their wolf cousins have been eating raw meat for thousands of years.  In this diet, dogs are fed meat straight off the bone, such as a chicken quarter leg or a T-bone, in addition to organs such as beef liver and heart.  Dogs gnaw on raw bones (not cooked, which will splinter internally) to sharpen and strengthen their teeth as well as for a source of calcium. Visit www.rawfed.com.

3. The BARF Diet.

No, it's not bullimia for dogs.  BARF stands for Bones and Raw Food. The difference between this diet and the Raw Meaty Bone Diet is that this diet includes the addition of certain vegetables and fruits and mineral supplements, as part of a holistic approach towards dog health. Visit www.barfworld.com.

Our Choice?

Our goal is just to give our girl the best, longest life she can have with us.

We're not totally convinced yet that there is enough scientific proof that either the Raw Diet or the BARF Diet is healthier for dogs.  There is huge controversy surrounding whether dogs are carnivores or omnivores, and dogs are highly adaptable making it difficult to prove.  We're definitely considering both diets, even though we're pretty happy with our results using Innova brand (See our post about her poop on Pedigree vs Innova).  The foods in the BARF Diet are essentially the same ingredients in Innova and other high quality brands, but served raw.  Fresh is usually best, so both the Raw Diet and the BARF Diet seem to make sense.  We're also considering the no-grain aspect of the raw diet, since studies show that carbs were not a part of a wild dog's diet. We just bought a huge 20-lb bag of Innova, so we're probably going to wait until she finishes it to make our decision.  Keep you posted.

Stop buying big name brand pet food!

Applying Green Party policies at the local level, the plan looks at actions which could be taken in Guelph to assist the manufacturing sector, ensuring sustainable municipal infrastructure, opportunities in the food processing industry, affordable housing, transportation, energy conservation and planning.

It also looks at measures aimed at improving the air quality in Guelph.

The plan has been posted on the Nagy campaign website at www.mikenagy.ca.

10/05/08 - NEW YORK, NY—Nominations for the fifth annual Wonder Women of Toys Awards, presented by Women In Toys and Playthings magazine, are now being accepted. The final nomination deadline is 11/30/08.

Don't miss the opportunity to nominate your choice for these prestigious industry awards. Nominees must meet the following guidelines in order to be eligible for a Wonder Women of Toys awards:

• Nominee must be female

• Nominee must be a member in good standing of Women in Toys

• Nominee must currently work within the toy, licensing, or entertainment industry• Nominee may be employed by a manufacturer, manufacturers’ representative, retailer, licensor, or work as an independent consultant to the toy, licensing, entertainment or a related industry

• Nominee must be nominated in one of 10 categories: Retailer, Manufacturer, Consultant, Licensor, Licensing Agent, Inventor/Designer, Entrepreneur, Women to Watch*, Green, In Memoriam

The deadline for nominations is Nov. 30, 3008.

For more information, or to submit a nomination, go to: http://womenintoys.com/Events/WonderWomenNomination.html

For more info contact: crestonassoc@aol.com