Hasta La Gadget!

A study released Thursday by the Environmental Defense Fund found lead in a surprising number of baby food samples, raising questions about manufacturing processes and federal standards.

The study, which analyzed 2,164 baby food samples, found lead in 20 percent of them, compared to just 14 percent of the 10,064 samples of other, non baby-specific foods tested. Which means: If you buy baby food, you’re six percent more likely to ingest lead than if you buy the regular version.

Researchers tested 57 different types of baby food overall and found detectable levels of lead in 52 of them.

While the report focuses on the number of baby foods that tested positive for lead, rather than the amount of lead in the individual samples, EDF did identify some especially problematic foods.

In particular, fruit juice stood out as a large offender. 89 percent of grape juice samples contained lead, followed by mixed fruit (67 percent), apple (55 percent) and pear (45 percent). Surprisingly, the “adult” versions of those juices contained less lead. “Only” 68 percent of normal grape juice tested positive for lead, while normal apple juice tested at 25 percent.

Other lead-laden baby foods identified by the report are root vegetables like sweet potatoes (86 percent) and carrots (43 percent), and cookies.

We do not know whether the results with no detectable levels were due to chance or a vigilant manufacturer with strong standards.

“We don’t know the source [of the lead].” Tom Neltner, EDF’s chemicals policy director said Thursday on a call with reporters. “We think that’s one of the big questions that needs to be answered: Where is it coming from?”

Neltner said soil, processing, and incidental contamination could all play a role.

“We do not know whether the results with no detectable levels were due to chance or a vigilant manufacturer with strong standards,” the report found.

The EDF didn’t identify any specific brands as particularly problematic, instead encouraging consumers to contact manufacturers directly and ask about lead levels and their food safety standards.

Concerned parents should also urge the FDA to update its lead standards, said the EDF, as they were set in 1993 and don’t reflect our growing knowledge of just how toxic lead can be ― especially for children.

“I think the onus is really on FDA and industry to change their standards to reflect what we know, that there is no safe lead level,” Jennifer A. Lowry, M.D., of the American Academy of Pediatrics said in a statement. “These are old standards they currently have and they haven’t been updated in decades.” 

Even low levels of lead exposure has been shown to reduce childrens’ IQs, the CDC notes, causing damage that cannot be reversed.

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Pull up to the gas station at 47th Avenue and Mission Road in Kansas City, and you might only expect to drive away with a full tank. But if you’re in the know, you’re also coming for Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que, the iconic meat shack housed inside the gas station convenience store.

Named by Anthony Bourdain as one of the top places to eat before you die, Joe’s is one of those places where every single item on the menu is popular — from the crispy burnt ends to the smoked chicken to even the non-barbecue fare, like the dirty rice.  

The place is run by Jeff and Joy Stehney, career competition smokers who have racked up loads of major barbecue awards. They own multiple locations, but the original is where you’ll find the prize-winning, consistently great ’cue.

The Z-Man Sandwich is a must-order, and a legend unto itself — filled with smoked brisket, smoked provolone, onion rings, and barbecue sauce. The sandwich was named after a local sports radio host, Mike Zarrick, who popularized the dish to his listeners.

Since then, the Z-Man has been credited with instigating a winning streak for the Kansas City Royals, causing some to officially label it as a magical, performance-enhancing food. Don’t believe us? Try it yourself, and report back. 

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Starship Technologies’ delivery bots have been dropping off lunches in Europe and the US with increasing regularity, and governments are slowly warming to the idea. State legislatures in Virginia and Idaho recently granted official permission for sma…

Logitech’s main mission at E3 this year: proving to gamers that wireless mice are just as capable, and sometimes more so, than their corded counterparts. The company revealed two innovations at the show: Lightspeed, its low-latency wireless transmiss…

A GOP leader in Colorado is facing backlash for using Wednesday’s shooting in Alexandria, Virginia, as an excuse to raise funds for his political action committee.

Twelve hours after the shooting, Republican state Rep. Patrick Neville, the minority leader in the Colorado House of Representatives, sent out a fundraising email from Colorado Liberty PAC with the subject head “They’re targeting you [Name of recipient].”

The letter starts off by playing to the fears of potential donors.

Unruly protesters trashing Civic Center Park and clashing with cops in the streets. 

Mock beheadings of President Trump by Kathy Griffin.

And now an ASSASSINATION attempt on Republican lawmakers!

The hate-inspired violent rhetoric against conservatives and Republicans was already at an all-time fever pitch before today, but now it just got very real. 

The left is out of control. Their violent actions are un-American, and it needs to stop!

After that, Neville offers “thoughts and prayers” to the victims of the shooting and their family members before getting to his request for money.

Here’s what you can do to help:

First, join me in praying for a speedy recovery for Congressman Scalise and the staff and law enforcement who were wounded in today’s attack.  

Second, join me in calling on the media to denounce horrific attacks like this and to call for an end to the violent political rhetoric on the left that they’ve inspired. 

Finally, if you can, please show us that you’re not backing down by chipping-in $50 or $25 to Colorado Liberty PAC today so we can retake the State House in 2018.

Your contribution today will help us advance our conservative values through passionate and peaceful civil discourse that makes our country great.

The hyperlink leads to this donation page:

Colorado resident Dave Maney told HuffPost his first reaction to the fundraising email was that it was in “extremely poor taste.”

“I thought, ‘They can’t be stupid enough to do that,’” said Maney, a digital marketer and Daily Beast contributor. “I thought this is a moment when we should come together and not go white-hot partisan.”

Maney then posted the email on Twitter:  

Neville didn’t immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment on the fundraising letter, but he did attempt to justify it to Denver station KUSA in this statement:

I wouldn’t consider it a pure fundraising email. The main purpose was to encourage people not to be silenced by fear. This issue is a difficult one for me. As a former Columbine student I have experienced a mass shooting and lost friends. I also saw political terrorist acts, like this one, used in Iraq as a way to silence the citizens of that country. I never want to see that here in America. I think it is important to stand up against them immediately.

Maney, who has donated to GOP causes and says he agrees with the party on economic issues, had this reaction to that statement: “That’s bullshit!”

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