ATTN: Steve Kramer
 

I'm out of watermelon seeds! (just kidding)

You might enjoy the photos posted at the following site. This woman has a
Tokay lizard living under the eaves of her house. Nice photos taken in
various places in Thailand, though she's not a professional photographer
such as yourself.

http://photos.yahoo.com/badwilson

Jill

ATTN: Steve Kramer
 

jmcquown wrote:
>
> I'm out of watermelon seeds! (just kidding)
>
> You might enjoy the photos posted at the following site. This woman has a
> Tokay lizard living under the eaves of her house. Nice photos taken in
> various places in Thailand, though she's not a professional photographer
> such as yourself.
>
> http://photos.yahoo.com/badwilson
>
> Jill

Thanks for the heads up. She visits nice places! And if you ARE actually
out of watermelon seeds, let me know. I have to go to the post office
later this week anyway and it's no trouble at all to send out 5 little
boxes instead of 4! :o)

Steve
Chiang Mai, Thailand








Five years, one month, two weeks, three days, 2 hours, 4 minutes and 49
seconds. 56222 cigarettes not smoked, saving $14,055.65. Life used for a
better purpose: 27 weeks, 6 days, 5 hours, 10 minutes.

--
"The voyage of discovery lies not in seeking new horizons,
but in seeing with new eyes." - Marcel Proust

WARNING Thai Melon Seeds (was: Steve Kramer)
 

Steve Kramer wrote:

> jmcquown wrote:
> >
> > I'm out of watermelon seeds! (just kidding)
>
> Thanks for the heads up. She visits nice places! And if you ARE
> actually out of watermelon seeds, let me know. I have to go to
> the post office later this week anyway and it's no trouble at all
> to send out 5 little boxes instead of 4! :o)

Quoting from:
http://www.fda.gov/ora/fiars/ora_import_ia2302.html

IA #23-02, REVISED 12/20/96 - IMPORT ALERT #23-02
"DETENTION WITHOUT PHYSICAL EXAMINATION
OF MELON SEEDS, ATTACHMENTS A - 4/13/00,
ATTACHMENT C & ATTACHMENT B - 6/6/03

NOTE: This alert is being revised to reflect updated information.
Additional changes are bracketed by asterisks(***).


TYPE OF ALERT: **Detention Without Physical Examination**
and Guidance

PRODUCT : Melon seeds

PRODUCT CODE : 23K[][]05

PROBLEM : Aflatoxin (PSAM)
Color (UCNC)
Filth (FLNF, FLRF, FLAF)

COUNTRY : Sudan (SD, 835)
PROC (CN, 280)
Hong Kong (HK, 435)
Thailand (TH, 875)

MANUFACTURER/
SHIPPER : Various

MANUFACTURER
SHIPPER I.D.#: N/A

IMPORTER'S
I.D.# : N/A

CHARGE : "The article is subject to refusal of admission
pursuant to Section 801(a)(3) in that it appears to contain
"AFLATOXIN," a poisonous and deleterious substance,
which may ordinarily render it injurious to health."
[Adulteration, Section 402(a)(1)]

or

"The article is subject to refusal of admission pursuant
to Section 801(a)(3) in that it appears to bear or
contain a color additive which is unsafe within the
meaning of Section 706(a)." [Adulteration, Section 402(c)]

or

"The article is subject to refusal of admission pursuant
to Section 801(a)(3) in that it appears to consist in
whole or in part of a filthy, putrid, or decomposed
substance or is otherwise unfit for food, in that in
contains insect, rodent, animal or other filth."
[Adulteration, Section 402(a)(3)]

[. . .]

Attachment A to Import Alert #23-02 4/13/00


Melon Seeds on ***Detention Without Physical
Examination for Aflatoxin***

Packer/Shipper Product

All firms from the Sudan Melon Seeds

Lang Derm Exporters Dried Melon Seeds
Bangkok, Thailand

Kwang Yak Joo Ltd. Black Melon Seeds
Bangkok, Thailand

WARNING Thai Melon Seeds (was: Steve Kramer)
 

Mark Thorson wrote:
>
> Steve Kramer wrote:
>
> > jmcquown wrote:
> > >
> > > I'm out of watermelon seeds! (just kidding)
> >
> > Thanks for the heads up. She visits nice places! And if you ARE
> > actually out of watermelon seeds, let me know. I have to go to
> > the post office later this week anyway and it's no trouble at all
> > to send out 5 little boxes instead of 4! :o)
>
> Quoting from:
> http://www.fda.gov/ora/fiars/ora_import_ia2302.html
>
> IA #23-02, REVISED 12/20/96 - IMPORT ALERT #23-02
> "DETENTION WITHOUT PHYSICAL EXAMINATION
> OF MELON SEEDS, ATTACHMENTS A - 4/13/00,
> ATTACHMENT C & ATTACHMENT B - 6/6/03
>
> NOTE: This alert is being revised to reflect updated information.
> Additional changes are bracketed by asterisks(***).
>
> TYPE OF ALERT: **Detention Without Physical Examination**
> and Guidance
>
> PRODUCT : Melon seeds

[SNIP of government warnings]

I'll bet you don't eat street vendor food when traveling, do you? What a
few rat hairs or dirt on melon seeds? BBQ'd Rat-on-a-stick isn't much
cleaner! Nor is the chicken that's been sitting in the hot sun for the
past two days awaiting a buyer. HEY! This is third world. We live on
this stuff as our daily bread! And have been doing so most of our lives!
Of course... we die by age three. :o)

Steve
Chiang Mai, Thailand








Five years, one month, two weeks, four days, 4 hours, 25 minutes and 34
seconds. 56255 cigarettes not smoked, saving $14,063.88. Life used for a
better purpose: 27 weeks, 6 days, 7 hours, 55 minutes.



-
"The voyage of discovery lies not in seeking new horizons,
but in seeing with new eyes." - Marcel Proust

WARNING Thai Melon Seeds (was: Steve Kramer)
 

Hark! I heard Steve Kramer > say:

<snip>

> I'll bet you don't eat street vendor food when traveling, do you? What a
> few rat hairs or dirt on melon seeds? BBQ'd Rat-on-a-stick isn't much
> cleaner!

You reminded me of something:

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/2513099/detail.html

Hey, it's still protein... :-P


--
j*ni p. ~ mom, gamer, novice cook ~
...fish heads, fish heads, eat them up, yum!

WARNING Thai Melon Seeds (was: Steve Kramer)
 

"j*ni p." wrote:
>
> Hark! I heard Steve Kramer > say:
>
> <snip>
>
> > I'll bet you don't eat street vendor food when traveling, do you? What a
> > few rat hairs or dirt on melon seeds? BBQ'd Rat-on-a-stick isn't much
> > cleaner!
>
> You reminded me of something:
>
> http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/2513099/detail.html
>
> Hey, it's still protein... :-P

.... and doesn't taste badly at all when BBQ'd. I think people from First
World countries would be very surprised at the taste of many foods eaten
regularly in Third World countries. While I don't like the 'idea' of
eating many of the things I see being sold in the local markets here,
I've tasted them all, and most have rather nice flavors. I do find that
much of it has textures that I don't care for though. Larva and grubs
have the texture of tofu that's been frozen and thawed; spongy I guess
I'd call it. And the legs of insects used to get stuck between my teeth
before I wised up and broke them off before eating the bodies. I still
don't like that 'crunch.' Although I love a variety of foods, nothing
will beat a good Nathan's hot dog with brown mustard and sauerkraut!

Steve
Chiang Mai, Thailand








Five years, one month, two weeks, four days, 14 hours, 2 minutes and 59
seconds. 56267 cigarettes not smoked, saving $14,066.89. Life used for a
better purpose: 27 weeks, 6 days, 8 hours, 55 minutes.

--
"The voyage of discovery lies not in seeking new horizons,
but in seeing with new eyes." - Marcel Proust

WARNING Spinal Cord in Hot Dogs
 

Steve Kramer wrote:

> Although I love a variety of foods, nothing will beat
> a good ******'s hot dog with brown mustard and sauerkraut!

Quoting from:
http://www.paralinks.net/spinal_cords.html

"If you're a fan of hamburgers, hot dogs, or luncheon meats,
odds are you sometimes eat small bits of cow spinal cords.
You can thank something called Advanced Meat Recovery
(AMR) for that."

"'Most AMR plants voluntarily remove spinal cords before
processing, ' says the American Meat Institute's Janet Riley.
But last year, in response to complaints from consumer groups
(including CSPI), the USDA surveyed seven AMR plants
in the U.S. The Feds found bits of spinal cord in two out of 11
meat samples."

Quoting from
http://www.cspinet.org/new/madcow_protection.html

"More than 100 people in Europe have died of vCJD.
The disease causes progressive brain damage, which
results in difficulty walking and speaking, memory loss,
decreased mental function, and, invariably, death.
BSE and vCJD are transmitted from cattle to other
cattle and to humans through feed and food contaminated
with small amounts of infected cattle brain, spinal cord,
or other nervous system tissue."

"The CSPI petition urged USDA to ban cattle spinal
columns and neck bones from processing through
advanced meat recovery (AMR) machines. Those
machines strip soft tissue (including meat and spinal cord)
from bones and produce 40 million pounds of meat paste
annually. That meat paste typically is used in the
production of hundreds of millions of pounds of
hot dogs, hamburgers, pizza toppings, and taco fillings."

WARNING Spinal Cord in Hot Dogs
 

Mark Thorson wrote:
>
> Steve Kramer wrote:
>
> > Although I love a variety of foods, nothing will beat
> > a good ******'s hot dog with brown mustard and sauerkraut!
>
> Quoting from:
> http://www.paralinks.net/spinal_cords.html
>
> "If you're a fan of hamburgers, hot dogs, or luncheon meats,
> odds are you sometimes eat small bits of cow spinal cords.


>>>>>"When despair for the world grows in me and I wake in the night
at the least sound in fear of what my life and my children's lives may
be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake rests in his beauty on the water,
and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with
forethought of grief.
I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars waiting with their light.
For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free."<<<<<<<<


Personally, I do not wish to tax my life with forethought of grief.
Your mileage may vary. :o)


Steve
Chiang Mai, Thailand








Five years, one month, two weeks, five days, 2 hours, 48 minutes and 3
seconds. 56283 cigarettes not smoked, saving $14,070.88. Life used for a
better purpose: 27 weeks, 6 days, 10 hours, 15 minutes.


--
"The voyage of discovery lies not in seeking new horizons,
but in seeing with new eyes." - Marcel Proust

WARNING Thai Melon Seeds (was: Steve Kramer)
 

Mark Thorson wrote:
> Steve Kramer wrote:
>
>> jmcquown wrote:
>>>
>>> I'm out of watermelon seeds! (just kidding)
>>
>> Thanks for the heads up. She visits nice places! And if you ARE
>> actually out of watermelon seeds, let me know. I have to go to
>> the post office later this week anyway and it's no trouble at all
>> to send out 5 little boxes instead of 4! :o)
>
> Quoting from:
> http://www.fda.gov/ora/fiars/ora_import_ia2302.html
>
> IA #23-02, REVISED 12/20/96 - IMPORT ALERT #23-02
> "DETENTION WITHOUT PHYSICAL EXAMINATION
> OF MELON SEEDS, ATTACHMENTS A - 4/13/00,
> ATTACHMENT C & ATTACHMENT B - 6/6/03
>
> NOTE: This alert is being revised to reflect updated information.
> Additional changes are bracketed by asterisks(***).

Oh get a grip! Obviously you never lived in SE Asia. Hey, you eat melon
seeds for enjoyment; you don't inspect them for attachments to goverment
inspections.

Jill

WARNING Spinal Cord in Hot Dogs
 

Steve Kramer wrote:
> Mark Thorson wrote:
>>
>> Steve Kramer wrote:
>>
>>> Although I love a variety of foods, nothing will beat
>>> a good ******'s hot dog with brown mustard and sauerkraut!
>>
>> Quoting from:
>> http://www.paralinks.net/spinal_cords.html
>>
>> "If you're a fan of hamburgers, hot dogs, or luncheon meats,
>> odds are you sometimes eat small bits of cow spinal cords.
>
>
>>>>>> "When despair for the world grows in me and I wake in the night
> at the least sound in fear of what my life and my children's lives may
> be,
> I go and lie down where the wood drake rests in his beauty on the
> water, and the great heron feeds.
> I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with
> forethought of grief.
> I come into the presence of still water.
> And I feel above me the day-blind stars waiting with their light.
> For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free."<<<<<<<<
>
>
> Personally, I do not wish to tax my life with forethought of grief.
> Your mileage may vary. :o)
>
>
> Steve
> Chiang Mai, Thailand
>
Chai, mak!

Jill

ATTN: Steve Kramer
 

Steve Kramer wrote:
> jmcquown wrote:
>>
>> I'm out of watermelon seeds! (just kidding)
>>
>> You might enjoy the photos posted at the following site. This woman
>> has a Tokay lizard living under the eaves of her house. Nice photos
>> taken in various places in Thailand, though she's not a professional
>> photographer such as yourself.
>>
>> http://photos.yahoo.com/badwilson
>>
>> Jill
>
> Thanks for the heads up. She visits nice places! And if you ARE
> actually out of watermelon seeds, let me know. I have to go to the
> post office
> later this week anyway and it's no trouble at all to send out 5 little
> boxes instead of 4! :o)
>
> Steve
> Chiang Mai, Thailand
>
I missed your trip to the post office... yes, I'm nearly out! I've been
conserving them but, hey, they probably have bugs in them and all that...
good lord, who would want to eat them? ME!!! I'll send you a check; you
send me more cannisters of watermelon seeds (please).

Jill