Criminal Probe Called For In Tainted Peanut Butter Incident

After the deaths of eight people, and the sickening of over 500 after the Peanut Corporation of America allegedly knew of the Salmonella Typhimurium contamination, but covered it up and sold and shipped their products to companies and institutions anyway.

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."

Georgia's, top agriculture official joined DeLauro in asking the Justice Department to determine if the case warrants criminal prosecution.

The Plant also has a history of problems, and was cited repeatedly in over the last three years.

From a PR perspective the company has gone down the wrong path. If the allegations turn out to be true, I expect that many of the executives at this company may face criminal charges, in addition to dozens of lawsuits.

I have a previous post on the the situation with links to the recalled products called Salmonella Outbreak, Product Recall Grows

Downadup Worm Continues To Spread, Get Conficker Patch To Protect Systems

The Downadup worm (also known as Conficker,or Kido) continues to spread across the world affecting more than 20 million systems as security experts fear the results should it kick-off other malicious activities.

Referred to as "very well-engineered" by Alfred Huger, vice president of development at Symantec Corp.'s security response group. Alfred Huger also called the malicious software "very complex" adding that "At the byte level, it implements [things] in some novel ways." Compared to most malware, which Huger said is "written off the cuff," Downadup is downright elegant.

The worm first surfaced in November and appears to have originated in the Ukraine. It currently keeps users from accessing antivirus sites to obtain updates, though the worm is capable of downloading a second stage of code for as yet unknown intentions, though security experts are saying we could see that soon.

Microsoft Virus Alert for Downadup, Conficker

F-Secure.com has a Disinfecting Tool available and has excellent Downadup (Conficker) Information.

Will Alaskan Volcano, Redoubt Erupt again?

Image courtesy of the Alaska Volcano ObservatoryThe Alaskan volcano Redoubt continues to ruble according to geologists and might erupt within hours or days.

Geologists did a fly over the sight said the could smell sulfur in the air so staff at the observatory will be monitoring activity and satellite images that identify temperature changes round the clock.

If Redoubt erupts, it will likely dump ash on several surrounding communities including Anchorage, Alaska.

The last time Mount Redoubt erupted was in December 1989 and lasted for five months causing mud flows into the Drift River drainage which caused partial flooding of the Drift River Oil Terminal facility. The large ash plume also disrupted international air traffic and a thin ash layer coated Anchorage and surrounding communities.

Below is an image of the eruption in 1990 of Mount Redoubt.

courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey

Disaster Tip of The Week: Get A Carbon Monoxide Detector

Carbon Monoxide, or CO is highly toxic to people, and pets. The fact that it has the characteristics of being colorless, odorless, tasteless and is non-irritating, is what makes it so deadly and difficult for people to detect.

Some early stage symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning are often headaches, nausea, and fatigue (sleepiness), which are often mistaken for the flu or even exhaustion.

This is why CO is such a dangerous gas, since most people who feel tired or ill will just often lay down and go to bed.

According to the CDC, each year unintentional CO exposure accounts for an estimated 15,000 emergency department visits and 500 unintentional deaths in the United States.

There are plenty of safety tips to reduce your expose to CO, but getting a Carbon Monoxide detector is the most important step in ensuring the safety of your family.

There are many types of detectors and the one pictured here is the one I use to help protect my family.

Make sure you have a CO detector on each level of your home, and remember CO detectors do not double up as smoke detectors or fire alarms.

Protect your family and get a CO detector today! And USE IT!

This is the one I use and the one pictured in the post:

This is another option and best seller:

War On Terror Over...as Defined By President Bush

According to the Washington Post, the war on terror is over. That's right it has come to an end, or at least as defined by President Bush.

According to the Post:

Key components of the secret structure developed under Bush are being swept away: The military's Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, facility, where the rights of habeas corpus and due process had been denied detainees, will close, and the CIA is now prohibited from maintaining its own overseas prisons. And in a broad swipe at the Bush administration's lawyers, Obama nullified every legal order and opinion on interrogations issued by any lawyer in the executive branch after Sept. 11, 2001. It was a swift and sudden end to an era that was slowly drawing to a close anyway

But don't the headlines fool you, just today President Obama ordered attacks in Pakistan using missile carrying drones. This attack killed 20 people inside a tribal area in Pakistan. So...No matter what you want to call it, whether or not we take detainees, or if we have prisoners in Guantanamo Bay or in San Francisco, Pennsylvania, or anywhere else inside the United States....Make no mistake, the War on Terror continues.