Propeller.com Stories submitted by Beau7890

FDA Finds Salmonella Strain in Jalapeno Pepper

Beau7890 — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 17:10:22 EDT

Government inspectors finally have a big clue in the nationwide salmonella outbreak: They found the same bacteria on a single Mexican-grown jalapeno pepper handled by a small Texas produce shipper.

Channel: News Tags: salmonella FDA jalapenos food health

Can't We All Agree On This? Toys Should Not Kill Children.

Beau7890 — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 15:51:26 EDT

The nation is facing some tough questions -- how to go about withdrawing troops from Iraq, how to handle an Iran with nuclear ambitions. It is also facing some easy ones -- like whether to get tough about protecting children from deadly toys. Sadly, Washington seems to have as much trouble with the easy questions as the hard ones.

Channel: Do No Evil Tags: consumer protection Consumer Product Safety Commission deregulation lax oversight Consumer Product Safety Reform Act

McCain Ad Takes On Obama Over Gas Prices

Beau7890 — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 15:35:05 EDT

"Who can you thank for rising prices at the pump?" the announcer in the ad asks as a still-shot of Mr. Obama fills the screen and an unseen crowd chants, "Obama! Obama!" Subtle? Not so much.

Channel: Politics Tags: McCain ad negative campaign ad gas prices talking down to voters American political discourse

Obama holds to course

Beau7890 — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 18:13:01 EDT

It's hard to keep up with Barack Obama's positions on the Iraq war. When he entered the presidential race, he offered a plan that would take more than a year to withdraw from Iraq. In September, he said he would withdraw all our combat brigades over 15 months or so. This week, he vowed to pull those forces out within 16 months of taking office.

Channel: Politics Tags: Obama Iraq withdrawal consistent position

Cosmic Markdown: EPA Says Life Is Worth Less

Beau7890 — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 20:23:39 EDT

The EPA has lowered its official estimate of life's value, from about $8.04 million to about $7.22 million. "By reducing the value of human life...the perceived benefits of cleaning up the air seem less," said Frank O'Donnell of Clean Air Watch. "That has the effect of weakening the case for pollution cleanup."

Channel: Do No Evil Tags: EPA undermining its mission decreased value of life pollution environment

Stet - The Internet's Typographical and Grammatical Morass

Beau7890 — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 18:22:49 EDT

I am stumped by how to excerpt the language on message boards and blogs. Take a passage signed by zipthwung, an astute online commenter: "pornography if for the ruling classes and their violent vulgar all consuming appetites. Or their slaves."

Channel: Gadgets & Tech Tags: Internet culture message board comments language typos shorthand

Terrorism Funds May Let Brass Fly in Style

Beau7890 — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 01:04:21 EDT

The Air Force's top leadership sought for three years to spend counterterrorism funds on "comfort capsules" to be installed on military planes that ferry senior officers and civilian leaders around the world, with at least four top generals involved in design details such as the color of the capsules' carpet and leather chairs, according

Channel: Do No Evil Tags: war on terror government waste military incompetence your tax dollars

Electrical Risks at Bases in Iraq Worse Than Previously Said

Beau7890 — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 23:53:03 EDT

Shoddy electrical work by private contractors on United States military bases in Iraq is widespread and dangerous, causing more deaths and injuries from fires and shocks than the Pentagon has acknowledged, according to internal Army documents.

Channel: News Tags: Iraq military contractors KBR electrocution systemic problem shoddy work

Tour de France Team Out After Test

Beau7890 — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 23:49:41 EDT

The Tour de France, already diminished by the absence of some of the world's best cyclists because of doping violations, was thrown into turmoil yet again Thursday when an Italian rider who had won two stages of this year's race was kicked out of the competition for failing a drug test.

Channel: Sports Tags: Tour de France cycling doping Riccardo Ricco Saunier Duval Scott EPO

Merrill Lynch Posts $4.65 Billion Loss In Second Quarter

Beau7890 — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 23:44:27 EDT

Merrill Lynch reported a $4.65 billion loss during its second quarter yesterday, surpassing the expectations of the most pessimistic analysts and underscoring the continued toll of the subprime mortgage meltdown even as economists and policymakers turn their attention to other economic threats such as inflation.

Channel: Money Tags: mortgage crisis huge loss Merrill Lynch economy deregulation consequences

Mukasey the Obstructionist

Beau7890 — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 23:35:36 EDT

Michael Mukasey has President Bush's back. Mukasey succeeded toady Alberto Gonzales as attorney general last fall. But the notion that he would restore independence to that post took a big hit yesterday when he refused to turn over to a House committee key documents related to the CIA leak investigation.

Channel: Politics Tags: subpoena Cheney Bush executive privilege Mukasey Waxman obstruction of justice

New Stimulus Plan on Tap

Beau7890 — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 23:27:09 EDT

Senate Democrats plan to unveil a second fiscal stimulus plan next week, this one worth at least $50 billion, arguing that soaring energy prices and the crisis in the housing market require a major jobs program to kick-start a faltering economy.

Channel: Money Tags: Senate economy stimulus plan infrastructure job creation

All Tomatoes Cleared of Salmonella Risk, Officials Say

Beau7890 — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 23:22:33 EDT

All types of fresh tomatoes are safe to eat, federal health officials said yesterday, lifting a six-week-old warning that led restaurants to pull them and triggered tens of millions of dollars in losses for the tomato industry.

Channel: Food Tags: tomatoes salmonella FDA CDC warning lifted food safety health

Obama Adds 20 Va. Offices In a Big Push To Win State

Beau7890 — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 23:18:53 EDT

Sen. Barack Obama's campaign announced Wednesday that it is adding 20 offices across Virginia, an unprecedented effort by a presidential candidate and another sign that he plans to compete vigorously in a state that has been on the sidelines during past presidential contests.

Channel: Politics Tags: Obama Virginia campaign strategy swing state

Kay Ryan, Outsider Who Revels in Wordplay, Is Named Poet Laureate

Beau7890 — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 23:09:09 EDT

When Kay Ryan was a student at the University of California, Los Angeles, the poetry club rejected her application; she was perhaps too much of a loner, she recalls. Now Ms. Ryan is being inducted into one of the most elite poetry clubs around. She is to be named the country's poet laureate on Thursday.

Channel: Books Tags: U.S. poet laureate Kay Ryan Dana Gioia

Lawmakers Probe Web Tracking

Beau7890 — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 22:48:05 EDT

An Internet provider based in Kansas used a monitoring technology earlier this year to track sites visited by its users, apparently without directly notifying them, according to a congressional panel investigating the action.

Channel: Do No Evil Tags: Embarq privacy data collection technology targeted advertising consumer protection Congress

Time for Some Campaignin'

Beau7890 — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 22:41:32 EDT

In our first election satire since 2004's "This Land" and "Good to be in DC", we bid farewell to Bush and give Obama and McCain a proper JibJab hazing! And, of course, who could forget about Hillary and Bill? This rip-roaring musical romp gives the election process the proper spanking it deserves!

Channel: Humor Tags: JibJab 2008 election satire apologies to Bob Dylan

Tongue Orchids Take Sexual Deception of Wasps to New Heights

Beau7890 — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 22:55:37 EDT

Orchids are also some of the most deceitful flowers, having evolved sometimes elaborate ruses to lure pollinators. In a new study of the most brazen of these botanical cheats, the species that entice pollinators with false promises of sex, scientists have discovered that one group of orchids has taken the art of manipulation to shameless heights

Channel: Science Tags: orchids pollination sexual deception pseudocopulation Anne Gaskett Macquarie University

McCain Math

Beau7890 — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 17:01:10 EDT

SEN. JOHN McCain says that President McCain would balance the federal budget by 2013. The plan is not credible. The Congressional Budget Office projects a deficit of $443 billion in 2013 if President Bush's tax cuts are extended, as Mr. McCain wants. But Mr. McCain is proposing far more tax cuts.

Channel: Politics Tags: McCain fuzzy math unworkable plan tax cuts fiscal responsibility

Fannie, Freddie Deflected Risk Warnings

Beau7890 — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 16:56:28 EDT

From a Washington think tank to the halls of Congress, from the Treasury to the Federal Reserve, from the Clinton to the Bush administrations, critics of the government-sponsored mortgage giants have long argued that they were allowed to operate with financial cushions that were too thin to support their far-reaching financial risks.

Channel: Money Tags: Fannie Mae Freddie Mac mortgage crisis ignored warnings unsound lending insufficient capital

The Outlaw Presidency

Beau7890 — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 16:53:55 EDT

Another major book chronicling the descent into lawlessness of the Bush presidency is out this week. This one is by Jane Mayer of the New Yorker, and it's called "The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned into a War on American Ideals."

Channel: Do No Evil Tags: civil liberties Bush secrecy anti Americanism Froomkin

Barack Obama: My Plan for Iraq

Beau7890 — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 08:28:04 EDT

THE call by Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki for a timetable for the removal of American troops from Iraq presents an enormous opportunity. We should seize this moment to begin the phased redeployment of combat troops that I have long advocated, and that is needed for long-term success in Iraq and the security interests of the United States.

Channel: Politics Tags: Obama Iraq strategy withdrawal 2008 election

There He Goes Again

Beau7890 — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 10:28:14 EDT

This nation desperately needs the next president to have a clear-eyed vision for the economy. And yet, the biggest news that Senator John McCain made last week was his renewal of a pledge to balance the federal budget by 2013. How? Who knows? Mr. McCain's main campaign promises, if fulfilled, would lead to huge budget deficits.

Channel: Politics Tags: McCain economy deficit spending same policies no plan

Book Cites Secret Red Cross Report of C.I.A. Torture of Qaeda Captives

Beau7890 — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 21:30:52 EDT

Red Cross investigators concluded last year in a secret report that the Central Intelligence Agency's interrogation methods for high-level Qaeda prisoners constituted torture and could make the Bush administration officials who approved them guilty of war crimes, according to a new book on counterterrorism efforts since 2001.

Channel: Do No Evil Tags: Red Cross report U.S. war crimes torture detainees terrorism

A Delicate Balance

Beau7890 — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 21:00:27 EDT

You know something's up when both the secretary of the Treasury and the chairman of the Federal Reserve give speeches calling for a new mechanism to allow them to manage the orderly liquidation of a major financial institution.

Channel: Money Tags: financial crisis bank closings global credit crisis Depression

US regulators close IndyMac Bancorp savings bank

Beau7890 — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 20:56:27 EDT

IndyMac Bancorp became the biggest retail bank to fall victim to the US mortgage crisis on Friday, as regulators shut down the Californian savings back after the markets closed because it was unable to raise the cash needed to make good the almost $900 million of losses it has suffered in the worst housing crisis since the Great Depression.

Channel: Money Tags: IndyMac credit crisis bank failure FDIC economy Depression

Obama: McCain Helped Create Current Energy Woes

Beau7890 — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 17:38:14 EDT

Sen. Barack Obama said the energy ideas of his opponent, Sen. John McCain, such as a gas tax holiday and more offshore oil drilling, would do little to reduce prices at the pump immediately, a view shared by many economists.

Channel: Politics Tags: energy policy oil dependence alternative energy 2008 election

Capitalism's Reality Check

Beau7890 — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 14:34:53 EDT

The biggest political story of 2008 involves the collapse of assumptions that have dominated our economic debate for three decades. Since the Reagan years, free-market cliches have passed for sophisticated economic analysis. But in the current crisis, these ideas are falling, one by one, as even conservatives recognize that capitalism is ailing.

Channel: Politics Tags: free market capitalism deregulation economy Reagan

The Justice Department, Blind to Slavery

Beau7890 — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 13:12:10 EDT

Imagine my surprise, then, when the Justice Department started a campaign against a new bill that would strengthen the government's anti-human trafficking efforts. In a 13-page letter last year, the department blasted almost every provision in the new bill that would reasonably expand American anti-slavery efforts.

Channel: Do No Evil Tags: slavery human trafficking Justice states rights John R. Miller

Lustrous Visions, Cut From Stone

Beau7890 — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 23:06:03 EDT

A sumptuous sprawl of 170 objects borrowed from all over Europe, it is the first in-depth survey of the arts and crafts of pietre dure. That Italian term, which translates as hard rock or hardstone, refers foremost to an intricate inlay of finely cut, highly polished slices of semiprecious stones: agate, lapis lazuli, jasper, carnelian, alabaster,

Channel: Art & Design Tags: pietre dure stone inlay Arts of the Royal Court Metropolitan Museum of Art Renaissance art

Mental Activity May Affect Autism-Linked Genes

Beau7890 — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 22:22:27 EDT

New research suggests that some cases of autism arise from defects in genes that can be turned on or off by mental activity, a finding that sheds light on the devastating condition and might eventually lead to strategies to treat it.

Channel: Science Tags: autism genetics research experiential development neurology

Putting Her Foot Down and Getting the Boot

Beau7890 — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 16:39:52 EDT

Defense Secretary Robert Gates has tried to sweep out the symbols of his predecessor's capricious reign, firing acolytes of Donald Rumsfeld and bringing glasnost to the Pentagon. But in one area, Rummy's Rules still pertain: the attempt to hide from public view the returning war dead.

Channel: Do No Evil Tags: Gates retaliatory firing Gina Gray Arlington National Cemetery war dead

Obama's Audacity of Listening

Beau7890 — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 07:15:32 EDT

When an extremely intelligent politician tells you over and over and over that he is tired of the take-no-prisoners politics of the last several decades, that he is going to get things done and build a "new consensus," he is trying to explain that he is all about compromise.

Channel: Politics Tags: Obama compromise consensus ideology bipartisanship

U.S. Troops in Iraq Face A Powerful New Weapon

Beau7890 — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 07:04:11 EDT

Suspected Shiite militiamen have begun using powerful rocket-propelled bombs to attack U.S. military outposts in recent months, broadening the array of weapons used against American troops.

Channel: News Tags: Iraq war IRAMs weapons advances

Officials Add Jalapenos To Salmonella Warning

Beau7890 — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 07:00:12 EDT

Federal health officials now blame raw jalapenos for some of the illnesses in the three-month-old salmonella outbreak and yesterday advised the elderly, infants and people with compromised immune systems to avoid them.

Channel: Health & Fitness Tags: food salmonella jalapenos seranos government warning CDC FDA

Ex-Officials Offer Plan to Revamp War Powers Act

Beau7890 — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 11:57:05 EDT

Two former secretaries of state have declared the War Powers Act of 1973 obsolete and proposed a new system of closer consultation between the White House and Congress before American forces go into battle.

Channel: Politics Tags: Baker Christopher War Powers Act war government

After 40 Years, Moon Rocks Still in Demand for Research

Beau7890 — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 22:33:05 EDT

In the lab, the Moon rocks look nondescript -- dark gray basalt, a whitish mineral called anorthosite and mixtures of the two with crystals thrown in. Yet nearly 40 years after the Apollo astronauts brought the first rocks back to Earth, these pieces of the Moon are still providing scientists with new secrets from another world.

Channel: Science Tags: Moon rocks space

True or False: We Need a Wartime President

Beau7890 — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 13:03:45 EDT

We are in a struggle against Islamic extremism, but it is more like the cold war than a hot war--a long, mostly peacetime challenge in which a leader must be willing to use military power but also know when not to do so.

Channel: Politics Tags: war on terror leadership cold war 2008 election war president

For the F.E.C., Lots to Look Into

Beau7890 — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 12:36:23 EDT

All manner of dodgy election fund-raising initiatives have already been concocted, but one stands out as especially in need of the Federal Election Commission's urgent attention: the announced plan by the Republican Governors Association to raise large amounts of unregulated soft money in the name of Senator John McCain.

Channel: Politics Tags: campaign financing FEC soft money Republican Governors Association McCain

The Truth Commission

Beau7890 — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 01:59:48 EDT

When a distinguished American military commander accuses the United States of committing war crimes in its handling of detainees, you know that we need a new way forward. The first step of accountability isn't prosecutions. Rather, we need a national Truth Commission to lead a process of soul searching and national cleansing.

Channel: Do No Evil Tags: war crimes accountability Physicians for Human Rights Taguba torture