Two former workers at one of the two Iowa egg farms implicated in the massive recall of salmonella-contaminated eggs said federal inspectors who worked at the two farms ignored complaints about conditions at one of the sites, the Associated Press reported Friday.
The two workers, employed at Wright County Egg facilities, said they reported problems such as leaking manure and dead chickens to U.S. Department of Agriculture employees, but nothing was done, the news service reported.
Former Egg Farm Employees Say Their Complaints Were Ignored: Report
Blackwater Won Contracts via Web of Companies
Blackwater Worldwide created a web of more than 30 shell companies or subsidiaries in part to obtain millions of dollars in American government contracts after the security company came under intense criticism for reckless conduct in Iraq, according to Congressional investigators and former Blackwater officials.
While it is not clear how many of those businesses won contracts, at least three had deals with the United States military or the Central Intelligence Agency, according to former government and company officials. Since 2001, the intelligence agency has awarded up to $600 million in classified contracts to Blackwater and its affiliates, according to a United States government official.
Pentagon declined to investigate hundreds of purchases of child pornography
The Pentagon declined to investigate more than 200 employees or contractors who purchased child pornography online, according to a report from Yahoo! News.
According to documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, the Pentagon's Defense Criminal Investigative Service identified 264 Defense employees or contractors who used their credit cards or Paypal to purchase pictures online of children in sexual situations in 2006. But DCIS investigated only 52 of those suspects, and only 10 were ever charged with viewing or purchasing child pornography, the report said.
Genetically modified salmon safe to eat, FDA report says
The effort to win federal approval of genetically engineered salmon received a major boost Friday when the Food and Drug Administration released an analysis that deemed the fish safe to eat and unlikely to harm the environment.
AquaBounty Technologies Inc. of Waltham, Mass., has invested more than 14 years and nearly $60 million developing and seeking approval of its AquAdvantage salmon. The company says its fish look and taste like non-engineered North Atlantic salmon, consume up to 25% less food, and reach market weight in half the time.
New Mars tests find possible life ingredients
Thirty-four years after NASA's Viking missions to Mars sent back results interpreted to mean there was no organic material - and consequently no life - on the planet, new research has concluded that organic material was found after all.
The finding does not bring scientists closer to discovering life on Mars, researchers say, but it does open the door to a greater likelihood that life exists, or once existed, on the planet.
U.S. to temper stance on Afghan corruption
U.S. military commanders in Afghanistan are developing a strategy that would tolerate some corruption in the country but target the most corrosive abuses by more tightly regulating U.S. contracting procedures, according to senior defense officials.
American officials here have not spoken publicly about countenancing potentially corrupt local power brokers. Such a stance would run somewhat against the grain of a counterinsurgency doctrine that preaches the importance of building competent governance.
Chemical basis for first life theorized
It's a chicken-and-the-egg puzzle: How could the basic biochemicals like amino acids and nucleotides have come about when there were no catalysts, like proteins or ribosomes, around to create them? Now scientists propose that a third type of catalyst could have jumpstarted metabolism and life itself, deep in hydrothermal ocean vents, an article in The Biological Bulletin says.
The scientists' theory says molecular structures involving transition metal elements -- iron, copper, nickel, etc. -- and ligands -- small organic molecules -- could have catalyzed the synthesis of basic biochemicals, monomers, that acted as building blocks for more complex molecules, leading ultimately to the origin of life.
AP Editor Memo: 'Combat in Iraq is not over, and we should not uncritically repeat suggestions that it is'
Colleagues: Many AP staffers are producing content that refers to the situation in Iraq. It might be a local story about Iraq veterans, an international diplomatic story that mentions the Iraqi conflict or coverage on the ground in Iraq itself.
Whatever the subject, we should be correct and consistent in our description of what the situation in Iraq is. This guidance summarizes the situation and suggests wording to use and avoid.
Breitbart: 'We are at war with the mainstream media'
Conservative blogger and activist Andrew Breitbart told a North Texas Tea Party crowd Thursday night that the biggest enemies of conservatives are not President Barack Obama, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
"It's George Stephanopoulos. It's Diane Sawyer. It's Charlie Gibson, and, my God, it's Katie Couric," Breitbart said. "They are the problem." More than 500 people attended the event sponsored by the Dallas Tea Party and described by organizers as a fundraiser, symposium and election-season kickoff. Attendees paid between $5 and $20.
Page 734 of 1152
