RECALL OF 22 MILLI0N LBS. OF BEEF HAS BUFFALO CONNECTION. DOESN’T EVERYTHING?
The Topps Meat Co. has recalled 22 million pounds of ground meat due to the possibility the meat may be tainted with the E- coil bacteria. The Topps Meat Company of Elizabeth,N J. is owned by a Buffalo firm, Strategic Investments & Holdings.
23 people who have eaten this beef had been infected with the E-coil bacteria since mid August. The company didn’t make any announcement of these cases until 6 weeks later. Topps Meat Co. made it’s first recall of a small amount of their beef because of the E-coli induced illness. In less than a week 21.7 pounds were recalled. This was as late as September 30, 2007.
One of the investors in this company is Robert D. Gioia of Buffalo. Mr. Gioia was the Chairman of Topps for 3 years. The Buffalo based company has owned Topps for 4 years.
Federal food safety investigators announced the stoppage of meat grinding operations at the plant because of unsafe measures in place. Toss in the trash any Topps meat stamped
“sell by” “or best used by” Sept. 25, 2008. The products also bear the U.S. Department of Agriculture designation EST 9748. If you want a list of the recalled meats go to their web site ~ www.toppsmeat.com
LOYAL NETWORK BACKS OBAMA AFTER HIS HELP
How closely are money and politics linked? If you pay attention to Barack Obama’s courtship of a group of black entrepreneurs you can easily see the inextricable link between the two.
“In 2000, after losing a Congressional race, Barack Obama was looking to revive his political fortunes. And he soon found a springboard — a group of black entrepreneurs also trying to break out.”
“Month after month, Mr. Obama, then an Illinois state senator, showed up at the Chicago group’s meetings, listening to members’ concerns about the difficulties they faced in getting government and corporate business, and asking them what he could do to help.”
[read whole story]
JUSTICES BEGIN WORK ON A POLARIZING NEW DOCKET
Last year the Supreme Court dealt with ideological divisions. This year looks like it is shaping up the same way. Today is Oct. 1st and court is in session.
“The Supreme Court has so many polarizing cases on the docket for its new term that the deep ideological divisions that characterized the last term are all but certain to remain on display after justices reconvene on Monday.”
“The conservative majority under Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. drove the court to the right in a series of high-profile rulings during the term that ended in June. That performance, as well as a series of books and articles by and about justices, has placed the court in an unusually bright spotlight as the new term opens.”
“The conservative bloc will not necessarily prevail in every important case. For example, the Bush administration is clearly on the defensive as the court prepares to hear a third-round challenge to policies governing those held as enemy combatants at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. [read whole story]
FATAL AIRPLANE CRASHES DROP 65%
Afraid to fly? Concerned that a small mechanical glitch may cause a big problem? According to the most recent statistics, fatal plane crashes have dropped by 65%.
“The improvements come in part from improved equipment and from efforts by airlines to identify and fix small problems that are common precursors to accidents.”
“After two infamous crashes in 1996 that together killed 375 people, a White House commission told the airline industry and its regulators to reduce the domestic rate of fatal accidents 80 percent over 10 years. That clock ended Sunday.”
“They have come close to reaching that goal. Barring a crash before midnight Sunday, the drop in the accident rate will be about 65 percent, to one fatal accident in about 4.5 million departures, from one in nearly 2 million in 1997.”
“There have been no fatal airliner crashes involving scheduled flights this year in the United States and just one fatal accident: a mechanic who was trying to close the cabin door of a chartered Boeing 737 on the ground in Tunica, Miss., fell to the pavement during a rainstorm.”
[read whole story]
MORE HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS SAY ‘NO SMOKING’
To smoke or not to smoke. That is the question. Should movies that are likely to be seen by young audiences show cigarette smoking? Hollywood’s big movie studios are divided on that question.
“The biggest studios are usually like-minded when it comes to what is fit to portray on screen. But they have become divided lately in confronting one of the entertainment industry’s touchiest issues: smoking in movies that reach the young.”
“Under pressure from an antismoking lobby unsatisfied by a promise that the industry’s trade group made in May to consider tobacco use as a factor in film ratings, the six largest studio owners have been patching together individual responses to those who want cigarettes out of films rated G, PG or PG-13.”
[read whole story]
