I Don't Think The FDA Really Knows What's Behind This Latest Salmonella Outbreak!

Is it just peanut butter products that are infecting people with salmonella or the actual peanuts that are found in numerous foods? Which is it,FDA? I don't think they have a good handle on this situation,as usual. At first,we were told to stay away from peanut butter.Now,it may be the peanuts that are found in various baked goods.And the only reason they suspect peanuts is because some folks don't recall ever eating peanut butter. So,what is causing this recent outbreak of salmonella poisoning? I wouldn't trust our bumbling government to find this information out in a timely fashion.Here's more from Yahoo News:

"The recall includes Austin and Keebler branded Peanut Butter Sandwich Crackers, in addition to some snack-size packs of Famous Amos Peanut Butter Cookies and Keebler Soft Batch Homestyle Peanut Butter Cookies.

Sandra Williams, a compliance officer with the Food and Drug Administration in Detroit, advised consumers not to eat the products and to contact a doctor if they have any symptoms.

"This is a very active investigation, but we don't yet have the data to provide consumers with specifics about what brands or products they should avoid," said Stephen Sundlof, director of the FDA's food safety center. Although salmonella bacteria has been found at the Georgia plant, for example, more tests are needed to see if it matches the strain that has made people sick.

The investigation includes not just peanut butter, but baked goods and other products that contain peanuts and are sold directly to consumers. Health officials say as many as one-third of the people who got sick did not recall eating peanut butter.

Officials said they are focusing on peanut paste, as well as peanut butter, produced at a Blakely, Ga., facility owned by Peanut Corp. of America. Under scrutiny are 32 of the 85 companies that Peanut Corp. supplies, because of when they received shipments of peanut butter or paste. The companies are being urged to test their products, or pull them from the shelves as Kellogg did.

The processing plant passed its last inspection this summer."(END OF EXCERPT)Read the rest here:http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090117/ap_on_bi_ge/salmonella_outbreak

The quality of this video is poor.But,as you can see from this CNN medical correspondent,Elizabeth Cohen,told people just last week that they didn't have to stay away from peanut butter altogether.Now,we are being told to stay away from it.Does anyone really know what's going on here? From this report,it appears that they don't!

Some Dumb Ass Xenophobe Got Nabbed For Planning To Assassinate Barack Obama!

I knew the idiots would emerge sooner or later! Some asshole got nabbed down in the good state of Mississippi for planning to assassinate Barack Obama. Here's more on that from the Telegraph:

"Steven Joseph Christopher, who is from Wisconsin, was arrested by the Secret Service in Brookhaven, Mississippi, after two threats were posted on the internet.

Federal prosecutors said that he was charged with threatening to kill the US President-Elect for what he claimed was "the country's own good".

The criminal complaint was sealed until the 42-year-old suspect's appearance in a federal court. A judge ordered Mr Christopher to be held until a bail hearing next Thursday.

He is said to have made two threats on Jan 11 and Jan 15.

The security scare came as Mr Obama was preparing to take office as America's first black president at his inauguration in Washington next Tuesday.

It followed the uncovering of a suspected neo-Nazi plot to kill Mr Obama last October shortly before the US election. The plot centred on Tennessee, where the black civil rights campaigner Martin Luther King was assassinated 41 years ago."(END OF EXCERPT) Read the rest here:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/4274602/Man-arrested-for-threatening-to-assassinate-Barack-Obama.html

Barack Obama isn't the only one that some folks hate.George Bush is going to need all the security he can get as well!But Time magazine is comparing it to a police state:

"Meanwhile, the Secret Service has infuriated Virginians just across the Potomac River by ordering all five bridges linking the state and capital closed to private cars on Inauguration Day. They say it's necessary to minimize congestion in the capital, but not everyone agrees. "The Secret Service, they're insane," James Moran, a Virginian Democratic Congressman, told the Washington Post about the agency's decision. "This is security on steroids." He fought — and succeeded in reversing — a Secret Service decision to bar pedestrians from the 14th Street bridge, which would give walkers the closest access to the Inauguration. However, major Virginia roads inside the Beltway encircling the capital will be reserved for official vehicles only.

Four subway stations near the Mall will be shut down during the festivities, and the subway system — which is likely to be overwhelmed — is encouraging passengers to carry as little as possible so left-behind items don't trigger police alerts. "On Inauguration Day," the system adds in a final indignity, "all Metrorail station restrooms will be closed for security reasons." (Luckily, the subway is setting up 146 porta-potties near its stations, and 5,000 will be located on the Mall and along the parade route.)

Obama, who is expected to give his inaugural address from behind a bulletproof shield, will be able to ride along the 1.7-mile parade route in his brand-new heavily armored Cadillac limousine. He'll be shadowed by Secret Service vans crammed with heavily armed SWAT teams and electronic-warfare gear capable of jamming detonators designed to set off certain explosives. Electronic devices — like those already in use in the D.C. subway — will be used above ground, to sniff the air for biological or chemical agents. They'll be aided by at least four Army dogs that will be sniffing for hidden explosives. Mike, a 6-year-old Belgian Malinois, has worked presidential details before, according to his handler, Staff Sergeant Daniel Konrardy. The dog is calm in crowds and the only thing that bothers him is gunfire. "Hopefully, we won't be hearing any gunfire," Konrardy says. Snipers will be discreetly sprinkled along the parade route, and along with a battery of surveillance cameras, they'll ensure that anything suspicious is quickly checked out.

Everyone attending the festivities will be subject to a "thorough security screening," the Secret Service says, warning that "lines may be long" outside the 13 entrances along the parade route that will open at 7 a.m. on Inauguration Day. Everything that you think might be banned is. The list of items ranges from the "duh" variety — firearms, ammunition, explosives, knives and Mace — to the more mundane: coolers, thermoses, umbrellas, strollers and backpacks."(END OF EXCERPT) Read the entire article here:http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1871963,00.html

Boston Wants Their Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial!

Isn't this Martin Luther King Jr. memorial stunning? It was designed by Robert Kelly for the MLK Memorial in Seattle, Washington.Here's more on this great piece of architecture:

"Robert Kelly designed the sculpture and fountain for the Martin Luther King Memorial in Seattle, Washington. It was dedicated November 16, 1991.
Rising from an elliptical reflecting pool in the Martin Luther King Memorial Park, Robert Kelly's sculpture is a symbolic memorial to the slain civil rights leader. Carved from black granite, the 30-foot sculpture was inspired by Martin Luther King's "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech, made the day before he was assassinated in 1968. The monument is composed of three segments representing the Christian Trinity and also the union of mother, father, and child."(END OF EXCERPT)Read more about this memorial here: http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://z.about.com/d/architecture/1/0/1/H/martinlutherkingmemorial-at.jpg&imgrefurl=http://architecture.about.com/od/greatbuildings/ig/Monuments-and-Memorials/Martin-Luther-King-Memorial-.htm&h=431&w=275&sz=35&tbnid=7Hd7Z_AlNhNQJM::&tbnh=126&tbnw=80&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dpictures%2Bof%2Bmartin%2Bluther%2Bking%2Bmemorials&usg=__GEyx2p3kARblZnTBNR782GHLkr0=&sa=X&oi=image_result&resnum=2&ct=image&cd=1

Boston is still wondering what happened to their Martin Luther King memorial. The mayor of the city promised to erect a statue that would commemorate both Dr. Martin Luther King & his wife.So far,they haven't even formed a committee or raised the funds it would take to get the project moving.And a lot of folks are not pleased with the fact that no real effort has been made to make it an actuality.Here's more from The Boston Globe:

"With Martin Luther King III at his side, Mayor Thomas M. Menino stood before a packed Twelfth Baptist Church in Roxbury a year ago and proudly announced that "we will build a statue to Dr. King and Coretta right here in our city."Applause burst forth from the crowd of 350 people packed into the church. If built, it would be the first public statue to honor Martin Luther King Jr. in the city - a highly significant tribute given the slain civil right leader's legacy in Boston and the city's history of racial strife.

But nearly a year later, almost nothing has been done. No committee has been formed, no site has been identified, no artist has been selected, no design has been proposed.

City officials, citing tough economic times, say the mayor's plans for a statue honoring King and his wife, Coretta Scott King, have not been forgotten, but the city's priorities have shifted to programs and people hit hard by the crumbling economy.

The faltering economy's full effect on City Hall budgets became clear about four months ago, and before that, said Menino, the city was working on finding committee members to lead the effort.

"It's taken longer than we'd like to get this committee off the ground," Menino said yesterday. "But as we started getting the names together . . . the finances started drying up on us and some of the people we were talking to were saying it's not the appropriate time. My intention is to continue to seek ways to have an appropriate statue in Boston."(END OF EXCERPT)Read the rest of the article here:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/01/09/memorial_to_king_still_only_a_dream/