Eeyores News and View

Stocks sink on financial fears; Dow drops 332 points to below 8000
By Tim Paradis, AP Business Writers
NEW YORK — The dawn of the Obama presidency could not shake the stock market from its dejection over the rapidly deteriorating state of the banking industry.
Financial stocks, many of them falling by double digit percentages, led a huge drop on Wall Street Tuesday that left the major indexes down more than 4% and the Dow Jones industrials down 332 points.
Although traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange paused to watch the inauguration ceremony and Obama's remarks, the transition of power didn't erase investors' intensifying concerns about struggling banks and their impact on the overall economy.
The market's angst, which began with multibillion losses reported last week by Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc., intensified after the Royal Bank of Scotland's forecast that its losses for 2008 could top $41.3 billion.
The collapse in bank stocks was swift Tuesday: State Street plunged 59%, Citigroup fell 20% and Bank of America lost 29%. Royal Bank of Scotland fell 69% in New York trading.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/markets/2 ... sday_N.htm

16-year-old Chinese boy dies of bird flu
January 20, 2009 - 3:55am
A man catches chickens at a poultry market in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu province, Monday, Jan. 19, 2009. A 16-year-old boy infected with the H5N1 bird flu virus has died in central China, the third fatality from the disease this month. (AP Photo) BEIJING (AP) - A 16-year-old boy infected with the H5N1 bird flu virus has died in central China, the official Xinhua News Agency said Tuesday, the country's third fatality from the disease this month.
Authorities also stepped up bird flu precautions on fears that the deadly virus can spread more quickly in cold weather and as tens of millions of people travel between cities and rural hometowns for the Lunar New Year holiday, which typically includes feasts with poultry.
The student surnamed Wu, who had been in critical condition, died Tuesday morning in Huaihua, a city in Hunan province, Xinhua said. He fell ill on Jan. 8 in his hometown in the neighboring province of Guizhou and was transferred to a hospital in Huaihua on Jan. 16, when his condition worsened.
He had had contact with dead poultry, the report said without giving other details.
The two other bird flu deaths were a 27-year-old woman in Shandong province in the country's east who died on Saturday and a 19-year-old woman who died in Beijing on Jan. 5.
Also Tuesday, a 2-year-old girl who had been critically ill with the H5N1 virus in Hunan was in stable condition and had returned to her home in the north, China Central Television said in its noon newscast. The state television report said the girl had been to live poultry markets "many times" but did not elaborate.
The girl's mother died earlier this month from pneumonia after being exposed to poultry, a Hunan health official said in an interview with a state-run newspaper published Tuesday. However, he could not confirm a link to H5N1.
Most bird flu cases stem from exposure to sick birds, but human-to-human transmission of bird flu has happened about a dozen times in the past in countries including China, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Turkey. In nearly every case, transmission has occurred among blood relatives who have been in close contact, and the virus has not spread into the wider community.
While the disease remains hard for humans to catch, scientists have warned that if outbreaks among poultry are not controlled, the virus may mutate into a form more easily passed between people. A new influenza virus could quickly turn into a pandemic, infecting millions of people with no immunity.
No sick poultry has been found in the areas where the four people fell ill this year, despite officials inspecting hundreds of thousands of birds. This could mean that surveillance needs to be tightened or that poultry may be carrying the virus but not showing symptoms or falling sick. Vaccinations also reduce the amount of virus circulating, but low levels of H5N1 may still be causing outbreaks _ without the obvious signs of dying birds.
Until this month, no new human cases had been reported in China since February 2007. Shu Yuelong, a flu expert at China's National Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said a spike in infections was likely because the H5N1 virus is more active in lower temperatures.
The cases come as an estimated 188 million people travel between cities and rural hometowns for Lunar New Year, the country's biggest holiday, which begins next week.
Celebratory family meals often include dishes made from freshly slaughtered chicken and duck feature, meaning a potentially greater risk of exposure to sick birds as people shop in markets for poultry or when the birds are transported to be sold.
The Agriculture Ministry has ordered tighter monitoring of disease outbreaks at all levels and proper vaccination of all poultry. It would also increase checks across the country and at borders.
According to World Health Organization, bird flu has killed 249 people worldwide since 2003. The tally does not include Tuesday's death in China, where a total of 34 infections have been reported.
http://wtop.com/?nid=105&sid=1565513

Some Little Debbie products join snack food recall January 19, 2009 - 5:51am
WASHINGTON (AP) - The company that sells Little Debbie snacks announced a recall Sunday of peanut butter crackers because of a potential link to a deadly salmonella outbreak.
The voluntary recall came one day after the government advised consumers to avoid eating cookies, cakes, ice cream and other foods with peanut butter until health officials learn more about the contamination.
The announcement by McKee Foods Corp. of Collegedale, Tenn., about two kinds of Little Debbie products was another in a string of voluntary recalls following the most recent guidance by health officials.
The South Bend Chocolate Co. in Indiana said Sunday it too was recalling various candies containing peanut butter from Peanut Corp. of America. In suburban Chicago, Ralcorp Frozen Bakery Products recalled several brands of peanut butter cookies it sells through Wal-Mart stores.
Peanut Corp. expanded its recall Sunday to all peanut butter and all peanut paste produced at its Blakely, Ga., plant since July 1.
McKee said it had not received any complaints about illnesses from people who ate any size peanut butter toasty sandwich crackers or peanut butter cheese sandwich crackers. The recall covers crackers produced on or after July 1.
Officials are focusing on peanut paste, as well as peanut butter, produced at Peanut Corp.'s Georgia facility. Its peanut butter is not sold directly to consumers but distributed to institutions and food companies. But the peanut paste, made from roasted peanuts, is an ingredient in cookies, cakes and other products that people buy in the supermarket.
So far, more than 470 people have gotten sick in 43 states, and at least 90 had to be hospitalized. At least six deaths are being blamed on the outbreak. Salmonella is a bacteria and the most common source of food poisoning in the U.S., causing diarrhea, cramping and fever.
Also Sunday, the maker of Peter Pan peanut butter said none of its products are associated with the outbreak. Peter Pan and other peanut butter produced by ConAgra Foods Inc. were linked in 2007 to a salmonella outbreak that sickened more than 625 people in 47 states.
The company recalled all its peanut butter and eventually traced the contamination to a leaky roof and faulty sprinkler head at its Georgia plant. In a statement, ConAgra said it does not buy any ingredients from Peanut Corp.
The Kellogg Co., which listed Peanut Corp. as one of its suppliers, has recalled 16 products. McKee said Kellogg manufactured the Little Debbie crackers covered by the recall.
The Kellogg products recalled include Austin and Keebler branded peanut butter sandwich crackers, and some snack-size packs of Famous Amos peanut butter cookies and Keebler Soft Batch Homestyle peanut butter cookies.
Late Saturday, the Midwest supermarket chain Hy-Vee Inc. of West Des Moines, Iowa, said it was voluntarily recalling products made in its bakery departments with peanut butter because they had the potential to be contaminated with salmonella. The recall covered seven states: Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota and Minnesota.
Perry's Ice Cream Co., based in Akron, N.Y., said it was recalling select ice cream products containing peanut butter because of the PCA investigation. Its recall covered New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland and Virginia.
Most peanut butter sold in jars at supermarkets appears to be safe, the Food and Drug Administration said Saturday.
Health officials are focusing on 30 companies out of a total of 85 that received peanut products from the Georgia plant.
On the Net:
FDA: http://tinyurl.com/8srctw
http://wtop.com/?nid=34&sid=1578833

ANTI-TERROR bosses last night hailed their latest ally in the war on
terror — the BLACK DEATH.
By ALEX WEST
At least 40 al-Qaeda fanatics died horribly after being struck down with the
disease that devastated Europe in the Middle Ages.
Epidemic ... in Britain in 1665
The killer bug, also known as the plague, swept through insurgents training
at a forest camp in Algeria, North Africa. It came to light when security
forces found a body by a roadside.
The victim was a terrorist in AQLIM (al-Qaeda in the Land of the Islamic
Maghreb), the largest and most powerful al-Qaeda group outside the Middle
East.
It trains Muslim fighters to kill British and US troops.
Now al-Qaeda chiefs fear the plague has been passed to other terror cells —
or Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.
One security source said: “This is the deadliest weapon yet in the war
against terror. Most of the terrorists do not have the basic medical
supplies needed to treat the disease.
“It spreads quickly and kills within hours. This will be really worrying
al-Qaeda.”
Black Death comes in various forms.
ubonic Plague is spread by bites from infected rat fleas. Symptoms include
boils in the groin, neck and armpits. In Pneumonic Plague, airborn bacteria
spread like flu.
It can be in the body for more than a week — highly contagious but not
revealing tell-tale symptoms.
Deadly ... the plague bacteria causes horrific symptoms
The al-Qaeda epidemic began in the cave hideouts of AQLIM in Tizi Ouzou
province, 150km east of the capital Algiers. The group, led by wanted terror
boss Abdelmalek Droudkal, was forced to turn its shelters in the Yakouren
forest into mass graves and flee.
The extremists supporting madman Osama bin Laden went to Bejaia and Jijel
provinces — hoping the plague did not go with them.
A source said: “The emirs (leaders) fear surviving terrorists will surrender
to escape a horrible death.”
AQLIM boss Droudkal claims to command around 1,000 insurgents. Training
camps are also based in Morocco, Tunisia and Nigeria.
AQLIM bombed the UN headquarters in Algiers in 2007, killing 41. Attacks
across Algeria last year killed at least 70 people.
In an interview last July, Droudkal boasted his cell was in constant contact
with other al-Qaeda “brothers”.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...cle2146286.ece

More than six in 10 Americans do not want any more of their tax dollars to be devoted to bailing out financial institutions, according to a new poll.
A CNN/Opinion Research survey found that the majority of people feel the first bailout was not successful and do not want to spend more in this way.
"One reason for the opposition to more money being spent may be that more than eight in 10 said that the first $350 billion of taxpayer money for the bailout didn’t work," said CNN’s polling director Keating Holland.
In fact, a similar poll taken by CNN back in October, before the bailout had been approved found that 56 percent of the public opposed the measure.
However, the newest findings do reveal that some people are in support of the government’s proposed actions, with 38 percent agreeing more money should be given to struggling financial institutions.
On Thursday, the Senate voted to release the remaining $350 billion of the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program to the incoming administration.
http://www.personalliberty.com/news/pol ... -18978805/

Bush Pardons Border Patrol Agents Ramos and Compean
Jan 19th 2009 1:45PM
Filed Under:eBush Administration, Immigration
AP News
In his final acts of clemency, President George W. Bush on Monday commuted the prison sentences of two former U.S. Border Patrol agents whose convictions for shooting a Mexican drug dealer ignited fierce debate about illegal immigration.
Bush's decision to commute the sentences of Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, who tried to cover up the shooting, was welcomed by both Republican and Democratic members of Congress. They had long argued that the agents were merely doing their jobs, defending the American border against criminals. They also maintained that the more than 10-year prison sentences the pair was given were too harsh.
Well, good. As noted in the article, these two have become a cause celebre for those concerned with border issues. Not so much for what they did (which was bad) but because the key witness was an illegal and a drug smuggler and he was given immunity for his testimony against two of the good guys. Well, maybe not so good, but you get the idea.
I don't, of course, agree with what they did, but do feel the maximum possible punishment should have been no more than dismissal from the border patrol. But ten years? Ridiculous.
Expect GWB's approval rating among Republicans to go up about five points. For the life of me I don't understand why he didn't do this months ago if he was going to do it at all. In general, the whole concept of last minute pardons means that either you couldn't be bothered to pay attention to this kind of stuff earlier, or that you believe that the pardons will have some kind of negative political repercussion.
http://news.aol.com/political-machine/2 ... d-compean/