Here We Go Again…

24 Mar

I shouldn’t laugh, this is serious

Reading Viv’s rant this morning, I clicked on the link to the article she cited.  I’ll quote from the article:

I recently heard about the most astonishing corporate crime: the American company, Scotts Miracle-Gro, violated US federal environmental laws by manufacturing and selling poisoned birdseed for more than two years. The Scotts Miracle-Gro company entered guilty pleas to all charges in U.S. District Court.

As someone who feeds the birds in my garden, I am appalled.  In fact, as a human being I’m appalled.

Bushtits mass on a birdfeeder in Salem, Oregon.

Bushtits mass on a birdfeeder in Salem, Oregon. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Here’s why they did it:

…Scotts Miracle-Gro company added the pesticides, Storcide II and Actellic® 5E, to their wild bird feeds to prevent insects from consuming the products during storage.

[...]

According to the product label attached to Storcide II containers and Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) information accompanying this pesticide, it is toxic to fish, birds and wildlife. [My emphasis]

It seems that business, government, television, all public life is hacking away at our trust, one greedy decision at a time.

And why did I laugh?  Because my ageing eyes looked at the caption under the photo and mistakenly read:

A flock of bullshits.

*

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37 Responses to “Here We Go Again…”

  1. vivinfrance March 24, 2012 at 10:50 #

    Thanks for spreading the word, Tilly. Bullshit is what big business is good for, and not much else.

    • Tilly Bud March 24, 2012 at 10:51 #

      Thanks for bringing it to our attention.

  2. joursdemots March 24, 2012 at 10:53 #

    The flock of bullshits is Miracle Gro’s marketing team. I hope gardeners veto their products.

    • Tilly Bud March 24, 2012 at 10:53 #

      I’ll certainly be checking future packets of seed before buying them.

  3. Tom (Aquatom1968) March 24, 2012 at 10:56 #

    Shocking, Tilly.
    Some people do not value life at all do they?

    • Tilly Bud March 24, 2012 at 10:57 #

      It’s all about the bottom line with these bottom feeding bottom dwellers.

  4. Elaine March 24, 2012 at 11:08 #

    It wasn’t just you who misread the title under the bird photo! Note to self… get eyes tested.

    This is just another example of money, money, money, greed, greed, greed with no thought for the effects of it.

    • Tilly Bud March 24, 2012 at 11:09 #

      It would be shocking if it weren’t so dreadfully commonplace these days.

  5. Pseu March 24, 2012 at 11:22 #

    I have shared the link with our local wildlife group. How terrible.

    And thanks for the link to Viv’s other site

  6. judithatwood March 24, 2012 at 11:32 #

    This is an awful, awful story. I feel really bad because the hardware store where I work sells bag after bag of these products. Still, when I saw the caption, I laughed too, and hard! Sometimes laughing at such horrible actions is, as is so often said, protection against the crying that would surely come.

  7. jmgoyder March 24, 2012 at 11:51 #

    You have me a little confused here (but that’s not hard!)

    • Tilly Bud March 29, 2012 at 10:32 #

      Don’t buy any seed products from this immoral company is about the gist of it.

  8. Ron. March 24, 2012 at 11:52 #

    What an earth to live on (if you call this living), eh?

  9. mairedubhtx March 24, 2012 at 13:28 #

    I read it the same too.

  10. Tami AKA My Kid's Mom March 24, 2012 at 13:44 #

    That’s terrible!

  11. Fiona Biedermann March 24, 2012 at 14:09 #

    A flock of ‘bullshits’ sounds so much better. How you make me chuckle :-)

    May a pile of bullshit fall on Scotts Miracle-Gro company, what truly appalling business conduct

    PS – Commenting with Facebook because WordPress is still playing games with my commenting this week :-(

    • Tilly Bud March 29, 2012 at 10:34 #

      It’s been playing with all of us.

  12. slpmartin March 24, 2012 at 14:24 #

    The greed of companies has no end to it…for example the pink slime (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boneless_lean_beef_trimmings) that is added to hambuger is another fine example of corporate greed. :-(

  13. laurieanichols March 24, 2012 at 14:47 #

    Thanks Tilly for helping to spread the word. My best friend loves feeding her birds and I’ll be sure to tell her. I do the same thing with so many words, I don’t use bad words out loud but my mind, in my head, just inadvertently goes to the gutter with so many phrases because I saw the same thing when I looked at the caption. Bad Laurie bad, get your mind out of the gutter.

  14. Brenda @ Fiction with a Purpose March 24, 2012 at 15:01 #

    That is appalling and it’s not like anyone can tell how many birds died because of it!

    BTW — I read it the same way …. hee hee hee

  15. kiwidutch March 24, 2012 at 16:04 #

    I read your post and Viv’s and words fail me… what kind of people can sleep at night knowing this but doing nothing?
    Profit before moral values? ok.. then first hit them the only place apparently where they will feel pain…on the bottom line… at least a Billion dollar fine for start…
    … followed by a hefty jail sentence (min 10 years) for damage caused and even more importantly for breach of trust.
    The message to all businesses (regardless of size) needs to be that blatant breach of public trust is a serious issue that that is not to be taken lightly and has swift and serious consequences.
    I’m also taking note of their product names and they are now on my “no thanks” shopping list.

    • Tilly Bud March 29, 2012 at 10:36 #

      Hitting them where it hurts is the best way to stop them.

  16. Karen S. March 24, 2012 at 16:48 #

    Oh my goodness gracious, unbelievable, (or rather probably not, VERY sadly believable) thanks for sharing this.

    • Tilly Bud March 29, 2012 at 10:38 #

      The more people whio know, the better.

  17. gigihawaii March 24, 2012 at 18:16 #

    Gross!

  18. restlessjo March 24, 2012 at 18:41 #

    Bizarre and very sad.

  19. rumpydog March 24, 2012 at 20:02 #

    I laughed at the bullshits comment. But ya know, I think Scotts is full of bullshits,

  20. barb19 March 24, 2012 at 22:16 #

    It’s all about the almighty dollar for big businesses. Bullshits fits them perfectly.
    Have shared this on FB, spread the word.

  21. artjen1971 March 24, 2012 at 22:51 #

    I liked the caption, not the news story. :(

  22. Maggie L R March 25, 2012 at 03:21 #

    We all need to boycott a company that is so blatantly dishonest.. Pure greed.. to sell birdseed that kills the birds the feed was meant to help… sick..

  23. Perfecting Motherhood March 25, 2012 at 23:48 #

    Wow, I want to say, only in America…
    You know, you can’t blame yourself for reading bullshit in the caption. The poor birds are already given a hard time with a name containing both bush and tit…

    • Tilly Bud March 29, 2012 at 10:41 #

      Sadly, I’m sure it’s not only in America…

  24. eof737 March 29, 2012 at 05:34 #

    Poor birds… wonder what they were paid. :-)

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