Democracy for California

REPUBLICAN REBUTTAL

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CONSERVATIVE CANT GETS OLD

BURKE'S LAW IS NO LONGER VALID

YOUTUBE: MSNBC
"State Of The Union | Barack Obama"
A rousing rebuttal to the Right, after forty years of failure from them.

Same Tired Two Hundred Year Old Tory Twaddle Is All The Right Wing Has To Offer

The Great-Grandad of all conservatives was English Whig politician Edmund Burke. Burke was an Irishman who called himself an Englishman, son of a Catholic who converted to Anglicanism for political, financial and professional reasons, a go-along to get along kinda guy, like most "conservatives," with no real loyalties. His claim to conservative fame is based upon his opposition to the French Revolution, which was not exactly a courageous or unpopular stand in monarchist, francophobe Great Britain. He called the French "atheists and tyrannical democrats, given to foul, unnatural vice." (Sound familiar?) Some of his fellow Whigs were pro-Jacobin, and regarded Burke as a Tory.

While at Trinity College, Dublin, Burke started the world's first fraternity, the College Historical Society, hence, perhaps, the popularity with today's aging neo-con frat-boys. A failed lawyer, he took to punditry, practicing the conservative art of reductio ad absurdum on his enemies, rather than honestly debating them. (Bullet train to Vegas, anyone?) He wrote only one actual philosophical tract in his entire life, before he was eighteen; then it was all just politics.

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After sucking up to a member of the British aristocracy, he was given a safe seat in the House of Commons from which to bloviate. In that position, he exalted Party over King and Country. He claimed that he represented himself in Parliament, and not his constituents, by Divine Right. He championed "free trade" over fair trade, in opposition to the interests of his own constituency. His Party presided over the loss of the American War of Independence and the Crown's possessions in the Colonies. He delighted in carving up His Majesty's Government, and putting public money into private hands, especially bankers'. Like Newt Gingrich & Ken Starr, his endless investigations, trials and attacks on his political opponents were so vile, personal, unbalanced and violent that they actually created sympathy for his victims, as happened with Starr & Gingrich's victim, Bill Clinton. He could have been a modern, er, contemporary, uh, living, oh, well, a Republican.

Burke claimed that Englishmen's liberties were not created by or won with their own unique individual hearts and minds but came from merely being born English; from tradition and ancient legal documents and not from any new declarations or manifestos based on new realities. Burke was a strict constructionist; a fundamentalist. In his mind, freedom was a gift from the past, not a product of our own labors in the present. And only Englishmen were entitled to English liberties, there being no universal rights of man or connections between men of different nations, according to Burke, or Scalia today.

It was Burke who wrote, "We fear God, we look up with awe to kings; with affection to parliaments; with duty to magistrates; with reverence to priests; and with respect to nobility." A real boot-licking, cap-doffing, forelock-tugging ass-kisser. And good at it, too. (Hey, it's a living. Just ask George Will.)

He also claimed that general prejudices and attitudes are superior to any individual's ideas and philosophy: "Prejudice", Burke claimed, "is of ready application in the emergency; it previously engages the mind in a steady course of wisdom and virtue, and does not leave the man hesitating in the moment of decision, sceptical, puzzled, and unresolved. Prejudice renders a man's virtue his habit." That's what conservative lynch-mobs believe, to this very day.

Burke rejected any notion of a malleable, negotiable or updatable social contract, claiming that the social contract included our obligations to the dead and the unborn which should not nor could not be readily changed. Louis XVI was a big fan, until he lost his head for embodying such attitudes.

Burke's reputation seems based entirely upon his popularity among the high and mighty, the old and entrenched, the rich and powerful, then and now. His opponents included Thomas Paine, Mary Wollstonecraft, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, all much better known names today, and far more influential in the making of modern nations. It is mainly his opposition to wage and price controls which survives today among his followers, being so much in agreement with their inherited prejudices and interests, as Burke would have it.

Edmund Burke did, however, oppose capital punishment and brutalization of homosexuals. He also opposed authoritarianism, militarization and imperialism, and championed the cause of the oppressed Irish minority and struggling Revolutionaries in the New World; but you don't hear much about that from today's cons. His most famous quote, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil, is for good men to do nothing," was never written or spoken by Burke. No one knows who said it. Perhaps Bartlett himself.

Today, Obama's very existance repudiates Burke: He has transcended his cultural background here in Hawaii, which I know intimately, and is trying to forge something new; not more deterministic conservative crap. And that is what a majority of the electorate voted for: Change. Not something Burke, or any conservative ever was comfortable with at all.

Only conservatives today claim Burke. They can have him. In his life and in his work, he was a servile and self-serving ruthless political hack, like all conservatives.

BBC: HISTORY
"Edmund Burke (1729 - 1797)"
A bit of background.

' Burke was a hugely influential Anglo-Irish politician, orator and political thinker, notable for his strong support for the American Revolution and his fierce opposition to the French Revolution. Edmund Burke was born in Dublin on 12 January 1729, the son of a solicitor. He was educated at Trinity College Dublin and then went to London to study law. He quickly gave this up and after a visit to Europe settled in London, concentrating on a literary and political career. He became an MP in 1765. He was closely involved in debates over limits to the power of the king, pressing for parliamentary control of royal patronage and expenditure. '

STANFORD ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PHILOSOPHY
"Edmund Burke"
Here's the best the conservatives have to offer. Feh.

' Edmund Burke, author of Reflections on the Revolution in France, is known to a wide public as a classic political thinker: it is less well understood that his intellectual achievement depended upon his understanding of philosophy. The present essay explores the character and significance of this for his thought. '

NEOPOPULISM.ORG
"American Conservatives "
The trouble with conservatives is Burke.

' The 20th Century conservative movement collapsed because their patron saint Edmund Burke was an 18th Century British elitist whose philosophy was ill-suited to address democracy, the intergenerational transfer of values, mediocre modern bureaucracies and written constitutions. Not surprisingly, the reason why Americans have recently rejected American conservatives at the ballot box is … how they have governed. The first American problem with Burke is that he was a conservative elitist -- favoring the British Monarchy, the House of Lords and the landed gentry vis-à-vis a self-governing people. Burke led the elitists to defend their prerogatives and to prudently exercise their collective duty to the people. Burke opposed truly democratic movements – even abroad. For example, Burke in 1790 opposed the democratic revolution against France’s monarchy – before it happened. Unlike the British people and French people (in 1790), the American people from their beginnings in their United States Constitution have been entitled to govern themselves. So, from the get-go, Burke’s elitist philosophy is ill-suited for an American people that are entitled to democratically govern themselves. Second, American conservatives tend toward the institutional status quo – the "wisdom of the ages" for Burke. However, unlike Britain’s wisdom of the ages, America’s wisdom of the ages rests not in the government’s institutions but with the people as they transfer their values to the next generations. For Americans, governmental institutions with their self-promotion, mediocrity and often out-dated ideology are an obstacle, not conduit, for the intergenerational transfer of the people’s values. Americans have come to understand that American conservatives, out of an abundance of caution, do not give the people the governmental institutions they want. '

BRAINY QUOTES.COM
"Edmund Burke Quotes"
Ayn Rand in the XVIII Century.

' A spirit of innovation is generally the result of a selfish temper and confined views. People will not look forward to posterity, who never look backward to their ancestors. '

GOOGLE BOOKS
"Books By Edmund Burke"
Read all about it.

(Cross-posted at blog me no blogs by cosanostradamus)
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REPUBLICANS OPPOSE U.S. JOBS

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GOPPERS VOTE AGAINST HOME-STATE WORKERS

"CONSERVATIVES" REFUSE WORK FOR WORKING AMERICAN FAMILIES

These Are The Jobs Your Republican Senators & Congressmen & Women Voted Down

Sorry, no jobs for you! Maybe you haven't lost your job or business or home yet, but the Right hopes you do. In fact, they're betting the farm on it. They know that if the Democrats fix the disastrous Bush Economy, Republicans are screwed. And that's all the GOP cares about: Politics. Party before Country. Remember that on Election Day, next year. Here's something to help you remember; names, faces, quotes and websites:

Your State: # Jobs In Stimulus Bill Rejected By G.O.P. [click-able map]


GOP.COM: REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE
CHAIRMAN MICHAEL STEELE (MD)
"Republican Statement on President Signing Stimulus Bill"

STEELE REJECTED 66,000 JOBS IN STIMULUS BILL FOR HIS HOME STATE OF MARYLAND

' Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Michael Steele released the following statement today on President Barack Obama signing the stimulus bill: Republicans are unified in our disagreement with Congressional Democrat leaders and President Obama on this bill. '

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REPUBLICAN MITCH MCCONNELL (KY)
SENATE MINORITY LEADER
"‘A Random Dollar Amount’ "
"McConnell: ‘We need to be straight with the American people’ "


MCCONNELL REJECTED 48,000 JOBS IN STIMULUS BILL FOR HIS HOME STATE OF KENTUCKY

' “The effects of the economic crisis are inescapable. Every day we hear about some of America’s most venerable companies slashing jobs. The longer we wait, the worse this crisis could become.” “But action for the sake of action is almost always unwise. What’s needed is the right action. And the stimulus plan that Democrats in the House and Senate have proposed is not the right action. The President was right to call for a stimulus, but this bill misses the mark. I won’t take that risk. Throughout this process, Republicans have been guided by the belief that the desire to ‘just do something’ shouldn’t be an excuse to waste tax dollars. I will vote against it, and I urge my colleagues to do the same.” '

REPUBLICAN JOHN BOEHNER (OH)
HOUSE MINORITY LEADER
"Boehner Speech Opposing Democrats’ Trillion-Dollar “Stimulus” Bill, Supporting GOP’s Better Solutions"

BOEHNER REJECTED 133,000 JOBS IN STIMULUS BILL FOR HIS HOME STATE OF OHIO

' “Mr. Speaker, my colleagues, the American economy needs help. Our neighbors, our friends, our constituents, they’re hurting and there’s not a member in this body on either side of the aisle that doesn’t understand that. And I think everyone in this chamber on both sides of the aisle understands that Congress needs to act and act now to help American families and small businesses and help bring confidence back into our economy. So I’m going to vote no. I said on opening day that republicans would not be the party of no. I’m going to vote no. I’d suggest that you vote no.” '

REPUBLICAN JOHN KYL (AZ)
SENATE MINORITY WHIP
"Betting Against our Children’s Future: A $1 Trillion Gamble "

KYL REJECTED 70,000 JOBS IN STIMULUS BILL FOR HIS HOME STATE OF ARIZONA

' Arizona has experienced the largest number of home foreclosures in the United States behind Nevada and Florida. Phoenix leads every metropolitan area in the country for the greatest decline in home values in 2008. Over a third of all homes sold in Tucson last year were sold at a loss. The housing crisis in Arizona is exacerbated by the significant job losses the state has experienced. While our economy will eventually recover, it will more likely be in spite of the “stimulus” bill, not because of it. The economic theory that underpins this “stimulus” bill is that a massive amount of government spending will eventually find its way into people’s pockets and they will spend it, thereby creating (or saving) jobs, according to supporters of the bill. The least we can do is ask the hard questions about what we’re getting for our money and take the time to better understand the long-term ramifications for our children and grandchildren. I vote "No." '

REPUBLICAN JOHN CANTOR (VA)

HOUSE MINORITY WHIP
"Cantor Op-Ed: 'How To Boost The Economy'"

CANTOR REJECTED 93,000 JOBS IN STIMULUS BILL FOR HIS HOME STATE OF VIRGINIA

' Every House Republican I have spoken with agrees we need bold action to meet our challenges. When you include people who can find only part-time work and people who have quit searching altogether, unemployment has soared to roughly 14 percent. It's time to reverse this dubious trend and put people back to work in permanent, honest-paying jobs. Our unanimous vote against the House bill was an unequivocal rejection of the failed philosophy that government can create millions of sustainable jobs simply by increasing the size of existing and largely ineffective government programs. Last month, not a single Republican voted for the initial House stimulus bill. And despite arduous pleading and cajoling, Senate Democrats only managed to peel off three Republican senators for their modified version of the bill. At the end of the day, the final stimulus bill won only the slightest sliver of bipartisan support. '

AMERICABLOG
"Why did Republicans vote against jobs for their states? "
Hat-tip.

' The Obama administration prepared a breakdown of the impacts by state at Recovery.gov. I posted the breakdown below (click on each photo for larger image.) It's kind of hard to argue against job creation these days -- unless one is a Rush Limbaugh Republican. '

"RED STATE YELLOW BELLIES"
Is your State on this list?

(Cross-posted on blog me no blogs.)
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TAX-SUCKING RED STATE DEADBEAT STATS

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ALL OF THESE STATES VOTED AGAINST THE STIMULUS BILL

YET THEY RECEIVE THE MOST FEDERAL SPENDING BACK ON THEIR TAXES

MARK NEWMAN
"Maps of the 2008 US presidential election results"

And They REALLY Need The Money!

Listed below are the poorest, worst educated, shortest-living, most baby-dying, tax-sucking, anti-change, ignorant redneck racist right-wing "conservative" hypocrite Republican Red States in the nation. They are not fit to care for their own children, but they want to tell us how to care for ours. They don't want to invest any of their low wages in our country, but they want us to spend our hard-earned tax dollars on their dirt-poor States. They helped run this country into bankruptcy over the last forty years, but they think they know how to run an economy better than we do in the rich, liberal, well-educated, long-living, baby-nurturing, tax-paying, pro-change, enlightened tolerant progressive forthright Democratic Blue States. Should we let them go it alone, without any of our Federal money? Or should we Federalize their National Guards and go finish the work of Reconstruction?

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Explanation of Table:

BY STATE
(Red States Only)

Ranked in order of Highest Incidence of Infant Mortality, 1-50:
(Lowest number is worst.)

Life Expectancy ranked by Lowest Average Age at Death, 1-50:
(Highest number is worst.)

Poorest States ranked by lowest Median Household Income, 1-50:
(Lowest number is worst.)

States' Education ranked by spending, test scores, drop-out rate, college admissions, etc., 1-50:
(Highest number is worst.)

Tax Back ranked according to the most Federal spending in the State per tax dollar from the State, 1-50:
(Lowest number is biggest parasite on you if you live in a tax-positive Blue State.)

WORST STATES EVER:

STATE	PRES. 2008	INFANT MORTALITY	LIFE EXPECTANCY	POOREST	EDUCATION	TAX BACK
Mississippi	McCain	1st	50th	1st	48th	4th
Louisiana	McCain	2nd	49th	6th	44th	13th
South Carolina	McCain	3rd	47th	10th	26th	17th
Alabama	McCain	4th	48th	5th	45th	6th
Tennessee	McCain	6th	45th	9th	30th	18th
Georgia	McCain	9th	41st	28th	41st	35th
West Virginia	McCain	10th	46th	2nd	37th	3rd
Oklahoma	McCain	11th	44th	8th	36th	11th
Arksansas	McCain	14th	43rd	3rd	32nd	12th
Montana	McCain	23rd	25th	12th	7th	9th
Arizona	McCain	24th	22nd	29th	50th	19th
Kentucky	McCain	27th	42nd	4th	31st	14th
Alaska	McCain	37th	26th	48th	46th	2nd
STATE	PRES. 2008	INFANT MORTALITY	LIFE EXPECTANCY	POOREST	EDUCATION	TAX BACK

STOP THIS BULLSH*T: Write Your Senators & Congressperson. Or The Red Staters'.

INFOPLEASE.COM
"The Fifty States"

CNN MONEY.COM
"The richest (and poorest) places in the U.S."

WIKIPEDIA
"Household Income In The United States"

TAX PROF BLOG
"Red States Feed at Federal Trough, Blue States Supply the Feed"

TAX FOUNDATION
"Who Pays Taxes and Who Receives Government Spending?"

TAX FOUNDATION
"Federal Tax Burdens and Expenditures by State"

MORGAN QUITNO PRESS
"Which State Is Smartest?"

AMERICAN HUMAN DEVELOPMENT PROJECT
"Media Kit: PDF maps, fact sheets, charts, bios and more useful information"

GALLUP-HEALTHWAYS WELL-BEING INDEX
"Record 60% of Americans Struggling"

BUSINESS WEEK
"Table: U.S. States Ranked by Life Expectancy"

US CENSUS BUREAU
"State Rankings -- Statistical Abstract of the United States: INFANT MORTALITY RATE -- 2005"

(Crossposted at blog me no blogs.)
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FOOD SAFETY: IT'S NOT PEANUTS!

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ANOTHER POISONING-FOR-PROFIT CASE

WILL THE FDA EVER PROSECUTE THESE SICK, GREEDY BASTARDS?

YOUTUBE: NBC "The Today Show"
"Feb 2, Matt Lauer interview with President Barack Obama"
FDA critique at 7minutes 35seconds in on the video.

Obama Promises To Fix America's Food Safety Net (Before It Kills Us All)

Terrorism? Nearly 3,000 people died in the 9/11 attacks on New York City and Washington DC. Every year an unknown number of people worldwide die from consuming tainted food. Millions are sickened by toxins in foods every year without even realizing the cause, doctors say.

The attacks on the World Trade Center were deliberate political acts perpetrated by foreign terrorists to force changes in US policy, or so Bush told us. The attacks on our food supply every day are deliberate economic acts perpetrated by incompetent and greedy American and "friendly" foreign nations' business people, strictly for cold hard cash.

The 9/11 attacks missed their mark: If anything, American foreign and domestic policy toward Muslims and Arabs became even worse, from almost any point of view. The attacks on our supplies of food supply are an ongoing and smashing success, earning trillions of dollars for the worldwide food industry each year, every year.

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9/11 was the only known successful major attack on the "homeland" by the alleged perpetrators, Al Qaida. The attacks by persons and corporations unknown and very well known goes on day after day in the United States. We may have succeeded in stopping Osama Bin Laden in America, but we have done absolutely nothing to protect our food here. And that is truly terrifying.

The peanut butter you feed your kids may be poisoned. We don't really know. We thought the tomatoes we eat were making us sick last summer, but we didn't have any idea where they were coming from, or how to stop the poison from reaching our dinner tables. Then we were told it was peppers from Mexico, not tomatoes from the US. But a lot of people got sick, and some even died, before the problem was fixed. Whatever it was...

Well, there's a bigger problem. Despite the fact that our move to ensure food safety was greatly advanced by Republican Teddy Roosevelt over a hundred years ago, Republicans and Lite-Republicans have been dismantling our food safety system for the last forty years. They believe in de-regulation of everything, just so businesses can make bigger profits without making better products. That's their rationale for everything. That's why they hate unions and the minimum wage, work safety and pollution standards, keeping jobs in America and demanding fair trade instead of "free" trade: They only care about money, not people. They don't give a good God damn about America, though they wrap themselves in the flag at every opportunity. They are the worst sort of whores, and they have been running our country since Nixon took over in 1968. That's why we voted for change, at long last, in 2008.

This is change we desperately need to believe in. Even some of the big food processing companies themselves are calling for more regulation. The severe lack of consumer confidence in America today starts in the grocery store. When every aisle presents you and your family with potential dangers, who can be confident? Who can spend more money buying more stuff, knowing that, instead of enjoying nourishing ourselves and our families, we fear poisoning them? Hello? Think we have a crisis here?

The bottom line is, of course, people gotta eat. But we don't gotta eat sh*t: Literally; the peanut butter has sh*t in it. Is it any wonder that we are losing confidence in far-away corporations and their well-wrapped packages of unknown content? This may help the local food businesses, so, in the long run, some good may come of this. But if government and industry want our trust and confidence back, they'd better completely reverse this deregulation of our food safety system, and start acting like they give a sh*t about us, and not on us. Otherwise, it's going to be a very long recession.

"Previous Posts On Food Safety"
All about the attack of the killer tomatoes.

WASHINGTON POST
"Officials Still Seek Source of Salmonella Outbreak"
Four months in, still no answers.

' The source of a salmonella outbreak that has sickened almost 400 Americans in 42 states remains unknown, U.S. health officials said Friday, adding that more cases are expected. The strain of salmonella has been identified as Salmonella Typhimurium, the most common of the more than 2,500 types of salmonella bacteria in the United States. It's often found in uncooked eggs and meats, said officials with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), who have been investigating the outbreak for several weeks. "Cases are continuing to occur, and it is an ongoing investigation," said Dr. Rajal Mody, a CDC Epidemic Intelligence Service officer. "The first people began getting ill in September, but it usually takes several weeks before enough cases have been reported to start noticing a possible outbreak." '

REUTERS
"Salmonella outbreak linked to peanut butter"
OK, maybe it's peanut butter.

' Minnesota health officials issued a product alert for peanut butter on Friday after finding a jar that was contaminated with a strain of salmonella linked to an outbreak across the United States. While the bacteria in the peanut butter match the outbreak strain genetically, the health officials said it was not clear yet that the peanut butter could be linked to any cases. The outbreak of salmonella food poisoning has sickened at least 399 people and put 70 or more into hospital since September. '

WASHINGTON POST
"Peanut Butter Recalled as Salmonella Search Continues"
No worries, peanut butter's only poisoning hospitals.

' An Ohio peanut butter distributor issued a voluntary recall Saturday for two brands of peanut butter after health officials in Minnesota on Friday said they had found salmonella bacteria in a tub of peanut butter that is distributed to schools and hospitals. The recall, and the Minnesota report, could be the breakthrough in the search for the source of a salmonella outbreak that has struck in 42 states so far. '

YAHOO NEWS
"Officials link salmonella to deaths in Va., Minn."
The old, the young, the sick, the weak. You know, the people the Right would like to recycle, anyway.

' Three deaths associated with a national salmonella outbreak occurred in Virginia and Minnesota, health officials confirmed Tuesday. Health officials are urging nursing homes, hospitals, schools, universities and restaurants to toss out specific containers of peanut butter linked to a salmonella outbreak in 43 states and possibly to the deaths of three people. '

YAHOO NEWS
"Test: Some peanut butter at Ga. plant contaminated"
I told you to stay away from those Georgia crackers.

' Some peanut butter at a Georgia plant shows signs of contamination, but officials said Thursday they don't know if it's linked to a salmonella outbreak that has sickened hundreds and prompted Kellogg to pull crackers from store shelves. Samples of the microbes found at the Peanut Corp. of America plant in Blakely will be tested for salmonella, Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin said. If it proves to be the food-borne bacteria, further tests would determine whether it is the same strain that has sickened more than 450 people in 43 states and may have contributed to five deaths. "We do not have a positive confirmation for salmonella," Irvin said in a statement. "However, results of two tests completed so far mean that we cannot eliminate salmonella as a possibility." '

ABC NEWS
"Recall: Kellogg Takes Peanut Butter Snacks off Shelves"
Would you trust Kelloggs? You'll have to, if you're eating their foods.

' Kellogg Co said on Wednesday it was removing its Austin and Keebler branded peanut butter snacks from store shelves and put a hold their shipments due to the current Salmonella food poisoning outbreak. But the company said its own investigation has not indicated any concerns over its products, nor has Kellogg received any consumer illness complaints. '

US NEWS & WORLD REPORT
"Peanut Butter Product Recalls Mount"
Ten days further on, and the poison is still spreading.

' The drum roll for recalls of peanut butter products continued without letup Monday, as more companies pulled back everything from cookies to candies on store shelves. The actions followed a U.S. Food and Drug Administration warning Saturday that consumers should avoid peanut butter products containing peanut butter or peanut butter paste while the salmonella outbreak probe continued. The U.S. health warning is focused on products made with peanut butter, like crackers, not jars of peanut butter on store shelves, the agency said. "We are urging people not to eat products that have peanut butter until we have better information, and they can make an informed choice," Dr. Stephen Sundlof, director of the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, said at a Saturday teleconference, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. '

YAHOO NEWS
"FDA: 125-plus products recalled in peanut outbreak"
Goin' to the dawgs.

' More than 125 products have been recalled in a salmonella-and-peanuts investigation that keeps getting bigger, federal health officials said Wednesday. The list ranges from goodies like cookies and ice cream to energy bars. Even food for pooches may not be entirely safe, with a national company recalling some of its dog treats. On Tuesday, PetSmart recalled seven kinds of its Grreat Choice dog biscuits. On Wednesday, the weight loss company NutriSystem was among the latest caught up in the investigation, issuing a recall for peanut butter granola bars. Last week, Kellogg recalled some of its Austin and Keebler brand peanut butter crackers. Salmonella was confirmed in a package of Austin crackers. To help consumers, the Food and Drug Administration has set up on its Web site a searchable database of recalled peanut products. "We expect (the) number to continue to increase," said Stephen Sundlof, head of the FDA's food safety program. No major brands of peanut butter sold in jars are implicated. '

USA TODAY
"Officials call for criminal probe into salmonella recall"
Oh, so it was deliberate. How could that happen? [EASY] What are we going to do about it? [NOTHING]

' Senior congressional and state officials called Wednesday for a federal probe of possible criminal violations at a Georgia peanut processing plant linked to the nationwide salmonella outbreak. The government Tuesday accused the peanut butter manufacturer Peanut Corp. of America (PCA) of shipping products in 2007 and 2008 after internal tests found bacterial contamination, violating food safety regulations. The company's actions "can only be described as reprehensible and criminal," said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., who oversees Food and Drug Administration funding. "Not only did this company knowingly sell tainted products, it shopped for a laboratory that would provide the acceptable results they were seeking. This behavior represents the worst of our current food safety regulatory system." '

YAHOO NEWS
"Food makers don't report in-house test results"
Poisoners are on the honor system?

' A federal probe into a deadly salmonella outbreak has exposed a dirty secret: Food producers in most states are not required to alert health regulators if internal tests show possible contamination at their plants. The legal loophole surfaced this week when federal investigators disclosed internal Peanut Corp. of America reports that documented at least 12 positive tests for salmonella between 2007 and 2008 at their Blakely, Ga., plant, which has been identified as the source of the nationwide outbreak. In each case, the plant did not alert state or federal regulators. The flaw has infuriated regulators and food safety experts, who are pushing legislation that would require the alerts at the first sign of contamination. They say stricter requirements could have stemmed an outbreak, which may have started months ago and has sickened at least 500 people and may have led to eight deaths. '

WASHINGTON POST
"FDA Investigating Peanut Company Behind Recall"
Feds "investigating." Like the "investigated" the 9/11 bombers and let 9/11 happen anyway? Now we're REALLY in trouble!

' The federal government has begun a criminal investigation of the peanut company responsible for an outbreak of salmonella illness that has sickened hundreds of people, killed at least eight and prompted one of the largest food recalls in U.S. history. The Food and Drug Administration is working with the Justice Department to explore possible criminal charges against the Peanut Corporation of America of Lynchburg, Va., which shipped contaminated products made in its plant in Blakely, Ga., officials said yesterday. "There is a criminal investigation that has been initiated through our office of criminal investigation at the FDA. They have to work through the Department of Justice to develop a case and prosecute, if that's what it comes to," said Stephen Sundlof, director of the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. "It's an open investigation." '

YAHOO NEWS
"Feds rarely file charges in tainted food cases"
After all, who cares? Poisoning hardly ever happens, so we don't need a deterrent, right?

' As federal officials launch a criminal investigation into a Georgia peanut processor at the center of a deadly salmonella outbreak, food safety experts say they hope it's a signal that the government plans to be more aggressive in prosecuting other cases in the future. Food safety watchdogs and legal experts say criminal charges have only been brought against a handful of companies involved in high-profile outbreaks though federal law allows cases to be prosecuted without proof the company knew it was distributing contaminated food. They say the law is not used often because there has been little will to pursue criminal charges in all but the most noteworthy and outrageous cases, and that has put the public at risk. "Part of that system is the ability to penalize the people that fail," said Michael Taylor, a food safety scientist at George Washington University. "And there's been a real failure to do so at the federal and state level." Food safety advocates hope that is starting to change. '

NY NEWSDAY
"Latest peanut scare may be linked to previous outbreak"
Hunh. I guess it does happen often. Hey, maybe we do need a deterrent. HANG 'EM HIGH!!!

' Authorities are investigating the possibility that the current nationwide salmonella outbreak that has sickened at least 530 people may be linked to an outbreak that infected more than 700 people two years ago. A report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirms the source of the current Salmonella Typhimurium outbreak - responsible for one of the largest product recalls in U.S. history - is the Peanut Corporation of America's Blakely, Ga., processing plant. While eight deaths have been linked to the outbreak, with 529 confirmed cases in the U.S. and one in Canada, the report notes the real number sickened could range in to many thousands. That's because, according to the CDC, only an estimated 3 percent of salmonella infections ever reach the stage of being laboratory-confirmed and reported to its surveillance systems. '

US FOOD & DRUG ADMINISTRATION
"Peanut Butter and other Peanut Containing Products Recall List"
NOW they tell us: ATTENTION: You Have Just Been Poisoned. How about PREVENTING this sh*t???

' Information current as of 12 PM February 3, 2009. 1085 products in list. Peanut Containing Product Recall (Salmonella Typhimurium Outbreak): Main Page. Do's and Don'ts During the Peanut Salmonella Outbreak: FDAs Dr. Stephen Sundlof. Note: This list includes human and pet food subject to recall in the United States since January 2009 related to peanut products recalled by Peanut Corporation of America. This list will be updated as new information is received. The information is current as of the date indicated. Once included, all human and pet food recalls will remain listed. If we learn that any information is not accurate, we will revise the list as soon as possible. When available, this database also includes photos of recalled human and pet food products that have been voluntarily submitted by recalling firms to the FDA to assist the public in identifying those products that are subject to recall. '

US CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL
"Clinical Features/Signs and Symptoms"
Apparently, eating sh*t makes you sh*t. Kinda of a natural laxative. And a breath freshner.

' Most persons infected with Salmonella develop diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps 12–72 hours after infection. Infection is usually diagnosed by culture of a stool sample. The illness usually lasts 4 to 7 days. Although most people recover without treatment, severe infections may occur. Infants, elderly persons, and those with impaired immune systems are more likely than others to develop severe illness. When severe infection occurs, Salmonella may spread from the intestines to the bloodstream and then to other body sites and can cause death unless the person is treated promptly with antibiotics. '

US DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
"Salmonella Questions and Answers"
I'm sick of your sh*t. Literally, peanut-heads!

' Q. What is Salmonella? A. Salmonella is a gram-negative, rod-shaped bacilli that can cause diarrheal illness in humans. They are microscopic living creatures that pass from the feces of people or animals to other people or other animals. '

MINNEAPOLIS STAR-TRIBUNE
"Obama: FDA too slow tracking tainted food; wants review of agency and salmonella outbreak"
Saved by The Kids In The White House.

' President Obama had critical words for the Food and Drug Administration yesterday in the midst of a massive recall of peanut products linked to a nationwide outbreak of salmonella illness that has killed eight people and sickened another 550. "I think the FDA has not been able to catch some of these things as quickly as I expect them to catch them, so we're going to be doing a complete review of FDA operations," Obama told Matt Lauer during an interview broadcast on NBC's "Today" show. "At a bare minimum, we should be able to count on our government keeping our kids safe when they eat peanut butter," the president said. "That's what Sasha eats for lunch," Obama said, referring to his 7-year-old daughter. "Probably three times a week. I don't want to worry about whether she's going to get sick as a consequence of eating her lunch." '

[Cross-posted at blog me no blogs by cosanostradamus.].
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