The American Trial Lawyers Association

These days, it is getting harder and harder to tell the Obama Justice Department from the Bush Justice Department. The current DOJ is standing behind the former administration's law that provides retroactive immunity to telecom firms that spied on US citizens. The law was specifically designed to protect companies who participated in government wiretapping programs from legal claims and is one that President Obama supported as a senator when it was approved by Congress last year. The administration said in to a brief filed late Wednesday afternoon, that electronic communication service providers play an important role in assisting intelligence officials in national security activities, and that the intelligence community cannot obtain the intelligence it needs without assistance from these companies. According to the Justice Department, the law requires a judge to dismiss a wiretapping lawsuit against a telecommunications company if the attorney general explains the firm's role to the judge in a confidential statement. This comes as a major blow to civil libertarians, who were hoping that we finally had an administration in power that understood the basic concepts of liberty.


In other news this week, it looks like CBS News' new vice president for communications has some skeletons in his closet that he would like to keep hidden. In addition to the fact that new VP Jeff Ballabon once said that “Democrats are inherently bad people and Republicans are fundamentally good people,” Ballabon has now been linked to one of those allegedly “fundamentally good” republicans. Ballabon formerly had a close relationship with lobbyist and convicted felon Jack Abramoff, first as a client and then seemingly as a friend. Ballabon was an executive vice president with Channel One in 1998 when it came under fire from Republican Senator Richard Shelby from Alabama. Channel One had developed a comfortable niche providing free educational programming to public schools in exchange for running commercials during the programs, many of them for soda, candy, and other junk food. After the anger from the GOP reached a boiling point on the issue, Ballabon hired Abramoff's firm to lobby on their behalf, paying them over one million dollars. Abramoff then proceeded to get some of the most powerful conservative organizations to write favorable pieces about Channel 1. And now this man with no apparent conscience is in charge of all media relations and public affairs for CBS. I guess Fox News wasn't hiring.


And finally this week, according to a new book by two Indiana University professors shows that journalists, by censoring themselves, have been offering more favorable coverage of Republicans than Democrats. This self-censoring is a result of them trying to avoid being accused of having a liberal bias. The professors' new book details their study of the three major broadcast networks' presidential campaign coverage from 1992 to 2004. According to the analysis, the coverage on ABC, NBC, and CBS, favored Republican candidates in each election. The authors examined 62 hours of network news coverage between Labor Day and Election Day over the four presidential elections. Among their findings were that candidates were steadily shown more visually in so-called image bites, while their sound bites shortened in average length. The authors examined one of the most negative forms of image bites, the "lip-flap shot," in which a reporter's narration is overlaid on video of the candidate talking. In their findings, Democrats were more likely than Republicans to be given the "lip-flap shot." Also looked at was the "Goldilocks effect," which is who was given the last say in a piece and therefore were better remembered by viewers. The authors found that Republicans were more likely to get the last word in every presidential election studied except for the 2004 election.

Labels: Barack Obama, DOJ, Domestic Spying, Farron Cousins, Jack Abramoff, Jack Ballabon, Media Bias, Raw Story, Telecom Immunity, Warrantless Wiretapping

It's difficult to conclude which side looked the most ridiculous last week during the congressional hearings on bank bailouts. On one side of the room were silk-stocking bank CEOs who had to admit that they had not really used their bailout money the way they promised they would. On the other side of the room were U.S. congressmen who looked foolish and naïve when they discovered that those bank CEOs had hustled the system from the first day they received their corporate welfare. Some congressmen looked shocked as they listened to all the ways those Wall Street bankers had lied to America in order to get possession of taxpayer bailout money.


A couple of congressmen looked particularly brain dead when they suggested that, golly, maybe they should have put some things down in writing back in October when congress and our last president handed over $350 billion to a room full of bank CEO failures. Ya think?


Back then, Citigroup, Bank of America, and every other mismanaged bank that had enough money to fly their corporate jet to D.C. was making promises they knew they would never keep. Frankly, any rational thinking congressman should have known those banker promises were meaningless. It was a group that looked too lean, hungry and desperate.


So just how badly have we been hustled? Here are a few parts of the story: The ink had barely dried on Bank of America's first $25 billion bailout check before they used $7 billion of that bailout money to buy a bank in China. That Chinese bank has no connections to the U.S. They don't employ U.S. citizens. They don't lend money to American taxpayers.


Another place Bank of America spent more than $10 million was on K-Street lobbyists who were hired to help stop union initiatives aimed at giving workers the right to organize. Put another way, Bank of America took taxpayer money so they could lobby against a huge number of taxpayers who gave them that money.


You would think Bank of America is on a mission to advertise just how unsophisticated and foolish our Congress and our last president was to actually accept the promises of a room full of desperate bankers with no strings attached.


Bank of America and most of the other welfare recipient bankers have gone as far as raising interest rates on existing credit cards, along with cutting lines of credit on some of their most reliable customers. They have almost eliminated small business lending entirely. Their promise to end the foreclosure mania was just as meaningless as their promise to preserve jobs within their industry. In fact, Bank of America, after spending most of their bailout money, now tells us they intend to lay off 35,000 of their workers.


There are no surprises here. Mark Twain gave us some accurate insight into the character of an entity like Bank of America. He said, “a banker is a fellow who lends us an umbrella when the sun is shining and wants it back the minute it begins to rain.” Is that really the kind of entity we should lend money to with no ground rules?

Labels: air america radio, Bailout, Bank of America, Drunk, Economy, GoLeft.tv, GoLeftTV, Mike Papantonio, pap attack, Recession, ring of fire, Super Bowl Party, Union Busting

This certainly is a bad day to be a Republican. After Tuesday night's address by the president to Congress, and overwhelming number of Americans said they felt better about the economic situation, and the President's approval rating rose by 17%. However, chosen GOP spokesman and Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal didn't fare so well. Conservatives across the country are unhappy with Jindal's performance, saying that he was incredibly weak, amateurish, and that he didn't look like someone who could lead this country. Even the folks at Fox News, who are always friendly towards Republicans, had harsh words for his speech delivery, saying that Jindal never even stood a chance. Many believe that Jindal is currently being groomed to be the next GOP presidential candidate, but if Tuesday night was any indicator, this effort will be very short lived. However, and this is just a point of trivia for today, aside from being a governor, Jindal has also been an exorcist in his past. While in college, Jindal claims that he was able to exorcise a demon from his roommate who had been acting strange. He honestly believes that he expelled a demon and that he was able to cure his roommate's cancer as a result. Perhaps if this politics thing doesn't work out, he could get a job as a professional healer.


And more bad news for the Republicans today, the Senate is preparing plans to investigate allegations of torture under former President Bush, according to comments published Wednesday by Senate Judiciary Chairman Pat Leahy and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse. Whitehouse, a Senator from Rhode Island, is “spearheading” the efforts, and as a member of both the Judiciary and Intelligence Committees, is privy to information about interrogations he can't yet share. Whitehouse noted that a torture commission might need the power to immunize witnesses on a case-by-case basis. The prospect of future prosecutions are beside the point, he said, and the most important thing was putting a spotlight on abuses committed by the Bush administration. Obama's CIA director, Leon Panetta, announced to a Senate hearing earlier this month that the Obama administration would not prosecute CIA officers who participated in harsh interrogations that critics say constituted torture. However, Whitehouse and Leahy are confident that Obama will allow a panel to hear about the abuses.


And finally today, if you're really upset about some of the budgets and spending packages in Congress, perhaps you should take that up with the GOP. In spite of the fact that they are now the minorities in both Houses, they've requested a 10% increase in the Congressional budget so that they can still retain the staff levels that they had when they were the majority. Congressional Republicans have been pouncing on any instance of wasteful spending they can find, but the congressional-operations line item will likely remain safe from their ire. The one-tenth hike brings the budget for Congress itself to $4.4 billion. A GOP leadership aide said it's unfair to blame Republicans for the increase, saying quote "I just don't know how they can get away with blaming us for that 10 percent figure. Republicans aren't getting a dime more in committee money for staff than we got last year.” Ok, so you aren't getting any MORE money, but you also aren't getting any LESS money. And keep in mind that the Republicans lost 20% of their seats in this last election. I'm no mathematician, but shouldn't that amount to a 20% decrease in funding for their party?

Labels: Bobby Jindal, Budget, Congress, Demon, Economy, Exorcism, Exorcist, Farron Cousins, GOP, Pat Leahy, Sheldon Whitehouse, Staff, The Daily Left, Torture

It looks like the sour job market in America is taking a toll on a group of folks who were once able to get great jobs without any qualifications. I'm speaking of course, of former members of the Bush administration. According to a new report, of the 3,000 former officials currently looking for full-time work, only about 25% of them have been able to find a job. For many, the traditional refuge of conservative think tanks in Washington, D.C. has become a Fort Knox, with almost no positions available, and certainly not for lower-rung Bush officials. Some have been able to find positions at universities, and Condoleezza Rice recently signed a three book deal, but others have not been so lucky. According to the original report in the Wall Street Journal, Washington think tanks aren't interested in hiring more Republicans because Democrats control both Houses of Congress as well as the presidency. Other job seekers are falling victim to Bush's historically low approval ratings, which is something that most employers don't want to be associated with. It only seems fitting that the people involved with the administration would finally become effected by it. This is poetic justice at its finest.


In other news, we all know that we have criminals and swindlers on Wall Street, but running a military charity? No! According to a recent investigation, the largest charity inside the US military has been stockpiling tens of millions of dollars that was supposed to be used to help put returning soldiers back on their feet. Between 2003 and 2007 Army Emergency Relief swelled into a $345 million charity titan, while the military families it was designed to help, dealt with long deployments and soaring home foreclosure rates. According to tax records, during those years, the charity hoarded $117 million in its reserves with spending just $64 million on direct aid. The charity was founded in 1942 to help ease cash emergencies of active-duty soldiers and retirees, and provides college scholarships for their families. It also helps cover mortgage payments, food, car repairs, medical bills among other things. It's also been revealed that instead of giving money away, the charity lent out 91% of its emergency funds between 2003 and 2007. AER executives have defended the fund saying they need to keep sizable reserves to be ready for future catastrophes. If the two current wars we have going on right now don't count as a catastrophe, I'm not sure what would.


And finally today, in a case of life imitating art, a man from Australia has been arrested for smuggling…Snakes on a plane. The man has been charged with attempting to smuggle 44 native lizards and snakes on a flight out of Australia. The snakes have been identified as three black headed pythons and an albino carpet python, which is an extremely endangered species with numbers estimated to be as low as 100, and worth as much as 20 thousand dollars. Customs officials estimate that the total worth of the man's reptile haul was close to $200,000 dollars. The man was set to board a flight to Bangkok, but the snakes and lizards were detected by luggage x-rays before he could get on his flight. While wildlife smuggling is a serious crime, the fact that the man actually tried to bring snakes on a plane has to make you laugh, at least a little.

Labels: Afghanistan, Bush Administration, Charity, Economy, Farron Cousins, Fraud, Iraq, Military, Movie, Quote, Samuel L Jackson, Snakes on a Plane, The Daily Left, unemployment

Most people in this country have been in this situation - You need to call customer service about a problem or complaint. While this process is one of the most nauseating and infuriating ones in that you'll ever experience, you should at least take solace in the fact that you are at least calling the right place. Now imagine if you went to cast your electronic ballot on a Diebold machine, it doesn't work properly, so you decide to call the company. Instead of a friendly Diebold customer service rep, you end up talking to a Wal-Mart greeter.


This wasn't the result of a crossed wire - It was the result of fraud and deception on the part of Diebold. Across the country, the company has been listing bogus addresses and phone numbers in an effort to prevent having to deal with voters or even the press. The majority of their listings either lead people back to Wal-Mart, Sam's Club, or to buildings that simply don't exist. Raw Story has the exclusive:


A quick investigation by Bob Fertik on Democrats.com revealed that a similar scam existed in New York, with another Diebold listing in Buffalo turning out to be a Wal-Mart. Out of 13 listings in Florida, 5 turned out to be Wal-Marts. Similar office listings have been uncovered in Alabama, Mississippi, and New Hampshire. Since the office listings exist in each state and not just in Utah, it is probably unlikely that the corporate branch in every state is acting independently of each other.


There is doubt as to whether this could end up being prosecuted in court as a false-claims lawsuit. As of now, there is no knowledge of any written statement claiming that Diebold “has about 20 offices in Utah.” Without a written statement, it would be difficult to establish any lawsuit.


This is not the first time Diebold has found itself under fire for questionable business practices. Shortly before the 2002 election, Georgia's secretary of state, Cathy Cox, discovered that an unauthorized patch had been installed on some of the voting machines. The state of California ordered that 15,000 of its Diebold voting machines not be used in the 2004 elections due to flaws that the company failed to disclose. Maryland's House of Delegates voted to ban the company from its electronic voting in 2006. The company has come under fire on numerous occasions for failing to protect its software from hackers.


We want to hear from you on this. If you have experienced this problem, or if you have an actual phone number for a local office, please send it to us.

Labels: Democrats, Diebold, Fraud, Premier Election Systems, Report, Utah, Voting Machine, Wal-Mart

Bank of America has certainly been enjoying themselves after receiving $25 billion dollars from the government. From Super Bowl parties to investing in non-American companies, Bank of America has blown money on everything except things that would actually help our economy. Mike Papantonio talks with Brave New Films founds Robert Greenwald about how this bank is squandering our tax dollars and continuing to destroy our economy.

Labels: air america radio, Bank of America, Brave New Films, Economy, GoLeft.tv, GoLeftTV, Mike Papantonio, Recession, ring of fire, Robert Greenwald, Stimulus, Super Bowl Party, unemployment

Ok, I've got some good news and some bad news. The good news is that the Federal Reserve is now saying that their original predictions about the US economy for this year, which were pretty grim, were wrong. The bad news is that they're now saying that things are going to be much worse than expected. Under the new projections, the unemployment rate will rise to between 8.5 and 8.8 percent this year. Their previous forecast had predicted that unemployment wouldn't pass the 7 and a half percent mark. They are predicting that the unemployment rate, which currently stands at 7.6%, will continue to rise as more and more companies continue to lay off workers. This new forecast could reflect the recent announcements from major companies that they were cutting their work forces, including General Motors, who will be getting rid of 57 thousand employees. The Fed also believes the economy will contract this year between 0.5 and 1.3 percent. Employment is usually the last piece of the economy to heal once the country is out of recession and in recovery mode. Businesses are usually reluctant to ramp up hiring until they feel confident that any recovery has staying power. However, the light at the end of the tunnel is that economists are predicting that next year the economy will grow between 2.5 and 3.3%.


In other economic news, apparently taking the advice of political strategist Paul Begala, some Republican governors are debating on whether or not to accept funds for their states from the recently passed stimulus bill. While no one has outright rejected the money available for education, health care and infrastructure, the governors of Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alaska, South Carolina and Idaho have all questioned whether the $787 billion bill signed into law this week will even help the economy. However, governors who reject some of the stimulus aid may find themselves overridden by their own legislatures because of language included in the bill that allows lawmakers to accept the federal money even if their governors object. This means that state legislatures could easily override the governors. The fact that these Republicans are even considering such a move shows that they are putting their own ideology over the needs and wants of the people. Polls show that the majority of US governors, from either party, support the stimulus bill, as do the majority of Americans. To reject this money would be a slap in the face to every citizen of the United States who has been effected by our dismal economy.


And finally today, if you thought that it wasn't possible to be viewed less favorably than George Bush or members of Congress, think again. According to a new poll, American CEOs are now the most despised interest group in the country, with only 22% of Americans viewing them favorably. Stockbrokers and financial analysts as well as journalists and reporters are held in higher regard, with 37 and 38% approval respectively, while lawyers are at 41% and bankers stand at 44%. Congress still stands at a 26% approval rating, but the numbers for Democratic members are far better than those for Republicans. Among Democratic Americans, 41% view members of Congress favorably while just 15% say the same about corporate CEOs. By contrast, 31% of Republicans have a favorable opinion of CEOs, but only 14% feel the same way about those in Congress. Those numbers really show you where their faith lies. But as the last 8 years have shown us, Republicans aren't big fans of democracy, and I'm sure they'd all be much better living in a “corporatocracy,” and just letting those CEOs run their lives.

Labels: Barack Obama, CEO, Charlie Crist, Corporation, Depression, Economy, Farron Cousins, Federal Reserve, Governor, Recession, Republican, Stimulus Package, Wall Street

Officials from the Bush White House are no longer advising Karl Rove to claim that he is protected from testifying by executive privilege. In addition, Rove's attorney told reporters at Raw Story that the former advisor will not be invoking the Fifth Amendment to protect himself from testifying. Rove was subpoenaed in 2007 to testify before Congress about his role in the Don Siegelman prosecution, as well as the politicization of the Justice Department. He was then subpoenaed in 2008 for this same testimony. Both times he refused to show. He did however offer to testify, as long as he didn't have to be under oath and the hearings were not public, which Congress refused. He was recently subpoenaed in January of this year, and then again this month. Though it remains unclear what form Rove's cooperation with Congress and Justice Department investigators might take, it seems increasingly likely that Rove will testify to Congress in some way.


In other news, it looks like the United States' war on terror didn't just take away the rights of American citizens, but according to international legal experts, it stripped away the rights of people across the globe. According to Mary Robinson, former High Commissioner for Human Rights at the UN, citizens across the globe have fewer rights today than they did when terrorists attacked on 9/11, largely due to the fact that the US responded inappropriately to the attacks. The harsh U.S. detentions and interrogations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay gave a dangerous signal to other countries that quickly followed suit. A new report found that many undemocratic states have referred to U.S. counter-terrorism practices to justify their own abuses, creating a serious situation that the UN must now deal with. The UN Security Council has already begun investigating prisoner abuse in places like Canada, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Russia, China, and Germany.


In economic news today, a new report shows that all of those Wall Street banks who begged and pleaded for a bailout so they could lend more money, have actually not been lending anymore money. In fact, since they received their bailout funds, they've actually been lending less money. The Treasury Department said the banks reduced their mortgage and business loans by a median of 1 percent each, while credit card lending rose by a median of 2 percent. The report also said that banks reduced new commercial real estate loans by 19 percent. But don't think that these banks will be reprimanded for not upholding their end of the deal. The Treasury Department has already written off the decrease in lending by saying that consumer demand for loans has decreased, so it really isn't the banks' fault. Basically, what this means is that the banks took our tax dollars, and did nothing to help the economy. They aren't loaning people money, they laid off tens of thousands of employees, and they aren't producing any tangible goods for Americans. They used the money to shore up their investments and pay dividends to stockholders. If you ask me, all of these banks are guilty of stealing money from the government, and the CEOs of these institutions should be sitting in prison.


In other news, a new USA Today report shows that cyber attacks against government computer systems increased by 40% last year. In total, there were 5,488 tracked incidents of unauthorized access to US government computers, as well as installations of hostile programs in 2008. However, rather than taking this as a serious threat, one official from the Department of Homeland Security said that this doesn't necessarily mean there was an increase in attacks, and it could mean that their detection software is catching more intruders. However, if that is the case, that means that 40% of the hacks from 2007 were never detected. President Obama announced last week that his administration will be conducting a review of US cyber security to protect the government's information technology systems from security and economic threats.


And finally today, horny teenagers are getting a new role model to tell them to keep it in their pants - Bristol Palin. While speaking about the birth of her son Tripp to Fox News, Bristol said she now hoped to become an advocate against teen pregnancy. The little Palin went on to say that everyone should be abstinent, but that that idea isn't realistic at all. She refused to give her views on contraception, which makes her an astounding hypocrite. She says that abstinence isn't going to work, but it's the only thing that will work. I'm not sure I follow her logic here. The bottom line is this - studies have been conducted throughout this century showing that abstinence-only education programs result in higher rates of teen pregnancy, than education programs that teach the use of contraceptives. That is a fact. Teenagers shouldn't be listening to a girl who couldn't figure that out on her own.



For video, click here

Labels: Bailout, Barack Obama, Bristol Palin, Economy, Farron Cousins, Hacker, Karl Rove, Lending, Mortgage Crisis, Political Briefs, Recession, Sarah Palin, Sex, Teenager, Trigg, Underage

With today being President's Day, it is customary that C-Span releases their yearly survey of the best, and worst, presidents in history. This survey is based upon the opinions and research of historians, and tends to fluctuate from year to year. However, there is one mainstay on the list, and that is Abraham Lincoln consistently coming in at number 1. The battle for the number 2 slot is often fought between FDR and George Washington, with Washington taking the prize this year. In fourth and fifth respectively are Theodore Roosevelt and Harry Truman (who was closely followed by John F. Kennedy.)


The only surprise from the top ten was the fact that Ronald Reagan's name appeared in there. Ronald Reagan - the man lampooned by the media during his reign as the most intellectually inept, corrupt, shady president of all time. The same man who sold arms to the Contras and essentially helped create the dictatorial regime that now rules Iran. The man who helped create the Taliban. That same man came in at number 10.


But even more surprising than that was the fact that George W. Bush did not come in last. He didn't even come in second to last. Nope, W. managed to come in seventh to last. Apparently historians hold some sort of grudge against William Henry Harrison, who died a month after taking office. In all fairness, Harrison never lied the country into a war, spied on American citizens, authorized torture, or issued more than 800 signing statements - so we're forced to ask why he ranked lower than Bush.


So who was the worst? Good old James Buchanan, the man who said that slaves were treated humanely and with kindness is the worst president ever.

Labels: Abraham Lincoln, Bill Clinton, C-Span, George W Bush, Poll, President's Day, Ronald Reagan

Breaking news from News Inferno:

The failing food safety issue in this country has been making headlines recently with agency scandals and routine, sometimes gargantuan food contaminations. Now, just-confirmed U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is saying that in the wake of the massive peanut butter salmonella debacle that has sickened over 575, been linked to eight deaths, and resulted in hundreds and hundreds of recalls, the time has come to streamline operations, reported Bloomberg News.



Vilsack is calling for a modernization of the food safety system with the ultimate goal being one single inspection agency to oversee all the food entering and produced in this country, said Bloomberg News, as opposed to the multiple, fragmented, outdated, and inefficient systems currently in place and responsible for keeping the nation's food supply safe.



Vilsack told Bloomberg news that, “We need a single agency that's working in a modern framework…. We don't have that today,” noting that responsibility for some food safety is shared between the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)—which is responsible for meat and poultry—and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)—which is responsible for drugs, medical devices, other products, and about 80 percent of the food supply—and is also present in a number of other governmental agencies.



The Associated Press pointed out gap in the multi-agency system. For instance, egg oversight depends on the state of the eggs. The FDA overseas eggs in the shell, but the USDA is responsible for processed egg products. Also, said the AP, while the FDA is responsible for inspecting peanuts, some USDA auditors visited the plant responsible for the ongoing salmonella outbreak to review records.



Earlier this month President Barack Obama also said he would be calling for a broad review of the FDA and food safety systems; however, Vilsack said that the one-agency model is at least one year away, reported Bloomberg. In the meantime, said Vilsack, the agencies responsible for food safety should be collaborating more closely and utilizing technology to improve and speed up operations, according to Bloomberg.


For the full story, click here.

Labels: Agriculture, Barcak Obama, FDA, Food Safety, Inspection, Secretary

During the Bush years, the FDA was stacked with industry hacks who did little, if anything, to benefit consumers. Instead, they allowed dangerous products to reach the market, harmful prescription drugs to be approved without proper testing, and imported food to remain uninspected. Now this same FDA is claiming that they did all that they could to prevent the current peanut butter-salmonella outbreak. From ABC News:


Federal health officials are defending their handling of the nationwide salmonella outbreak, telling Congress they had been hot on the trail of a Georgia processor even before they were certain that peanuts were to blame for hundreds of illnesses.


The Food and Drug Administration "began its investigation prior to having a strong epidemiological link to a particular food," Stephen Sundlof, head of the agency's food safety center, said in testimony prepared for delivery to the Senate Agriculture Committee.


The first signs of the outbreak were detected in November by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But disease detectives initially suspected chicken was the culprit in clusters of salmonella infections that states were reporting.


Lawmakers, however, may not be reassured. They are concerned about the state of the national food safety system, a collaboration between the FDA, CDC and authorities in each state. As the list of recalled items containing peanut products surpasses 1,000, lawmakers are vowing to press for stronger food safety laws and more money for inspections.


The Peanut Corp. plant in Blakely, Ga., which produces a tiny share of U.S. peanut products, is being blamed. Authorities say the facility shipped peanut butter, paste and other products that had tested positive for salmonella. The company retested, got a negative reading, and shipped the products.


A criminal investigation is under way. The company has denied any wrongdoing and said Wednesday that its Blakely plant had received regular visits and inspections from state and federal authorities in 2008 and had gotten a "superior" rating from an independent inspection.


For the full story, click here.

Labels: Consumer Safety, FDA, Outbreak, Peanut Butter, Product Safety, Recall, Salmonella

Over the weekend, the FDA released a fresh wave of recalls in the continuing saga of the tainted peanut butter product case. As noted previously, the source of the contamination comes from a single processing plant in Georgia - The Peanut Corporation of America. But what you may not have known, unless you picked up a copy of the Atlanta Journal Constitution, is that Stewart Parnell, the president of Peanut Corp., actually serves on an advisory board that works with the US Department of Agriculture to set the quality standards for peanut butter and related products. Here's some more on the story from The Oregonian:


The latest recalls by 25 companies listing dozens of items include Walgreen's chocolate candy with peanuts, Best Brands peanut butter cookie dough and Hain Celestial's frozen pad Thai dinners, including one made for Trader Joe's.


On Saturday, Harry and David of Medford joined the recall, pulling Olympia Delight Trail Mix products, and Berkeley, Ca.-based Clif Bar and Co. pulled eight more of its protein bars.


The recall has reached a fever pitch since it was expanded to include all products - from roasted peanuts to peanut butter -- from Peanut Corporation of America's plant at Blakely, Ga., where Food and Drug Administration investigators found two strains of salmonella and evidence that on 12 occasions in 2007 and 2008 the company sold food even after it had tested positive for salmonella.


Although Peanut Corp. sold items to about 77 companies in the U.S., many of them in turn resold shipments, reaching about 1,000 distributors and manufacturers all together.


As the drumbeat of recalls continues, health departments across the country have confirmed new cases of salmonella poisoning. More than 530 people have been sickened, with nearly 30 new cases popping up in the past week.


For the full story, click here.

Labels: Consumer Safety, Peanut Butter, Product Safety, Recall, Salmonella