Peanut Butter News

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NEW YORK – Dozens of former federal officials are playing leading roles in helping carmakers handle federal investigations of auto defects, including those for Toyota’s runaway acceleration problems.

A Washington Post analysis shows as many as 33 former National Highway Traffic Safety Administration employees and Transportation Department appointees left those jobs in recent years and now work for automakers as lawyers, consultants, lobbyists and in other jobs that deal with government safety probes, recalls and regulations.

Full Story at NYTimes.com

JOSH SMITH is a large man with a shaved head, a goatee and a look in his eyes that can only be described as stoked. And he is never more stoked than when he talks about his job, one of the strangest at the General Motors Proving Grounds, here in this suburb 45 miles northwest of Detroit.

All day, he breaks G.M. parts.

Not just any parts. Mr. Smith is a member of Red X, a team of 33 engineers who study auto parts that are malfunctioning for reasons that have everyone stumped. The work is a little bit “CSI” and a little bit “MythBusters.” Red X takes working parts and methodically torments them in controlled experiments, hoping to re-enact the demise of ones that failed.

Full Story at CNN.com

(CNN) — A U.S. soldier who defused roadside bombs in Iraq wants credit for inspiring the main character in “The Hurt Locker,” a movie up for nine Oscars this weekend.

Master Sgt. Jeffrey Sarver filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday claiming writer Mark Boal — a journalist embedded with his Army unit in Iraq — based the film’s main character on his life.

“They literally transposed his life in the film and then claimed it was a work of fiction,” said lawyer Geoffrey Fieger. “The only fiction was the claim it was a work of fiction.”

Without directly denying Sarver’s claim, the production company said it was “a fictional account of what brave men and women do on the battlefield.”

Full Story at CNN.com

Washington (CNN) — British defense contractor BAE Systems has pleaded guilty in Washington to conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government and was ordered to pay a $400 million criminal fine, authorities announced.

A top Justice Department official said the fine is one of the largest criminal fines ever levied in the United States against a company for business-related violations.

BAE Systems admitted Monday to knowingly making false statements to U.S. investigators to hide its failure to ensure compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

Full Story atnews.Yahoo.com

AUSTIN, Texas – A software engineer who crashed his plane into a Texas office building containing nearly 200 Internal Revenue Service employees, killing himself and at least one worker, apparently left behind an irate anti-government manifesto but offered little other hint of his intentions before the attack.

The Red Cross said the wife of A. Joseph Stack III planned to contact media and answer questions Friday, a day after law enforcement officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing, said her husband apparently set fire to their house and posted his rambling screed on the Web before launching his suicide attack.

Full Story at CNN.com

(CNN) — The New Orleans Saints won the Super Bowl for the first time in their 43-year history with a 31-17 victory over the Indianapolis Colts at the Sun Life Arena in Miami on Sunday night.

The NFC champions recovered from a slow start to deny Indianapolis a repeat of their Super Bowl success against Chicago Bears in the same stadium three years ago.

Inspired by MVP Drew Brees, who won his head-to-head with fellow star quarterback Peyton Manning, the Saints took command after trailing 17-16 going into the final quarter.

Full Story at CNN.com

(CNN) — Toyota’s reputation for making trusty, reliable cars has come into question after the company recalled millions of cars because of sticking gas pedals last week.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told lawmakers Wednesday that drivers of cars affected by the recall should “stop driving” them and take them to the dealer for repair. He later clarified his statement, saying that owners should take their cars to get them fixed as soon as possible. But the comment had already been reported by many media outlets, frightening many owners.

Full Story at money.cnn.com

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — About 635,000 cribs sold at major discounters nationwide have been recalled by Dorel Asia SRL for strangulation and suffocation hazards that killed one child and injured 10 others, the government said Tuesday.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said that the hardware holding up the side of the crib can fail, causing the drop side of the crib to detach, which could trap and suffocate a child.

Full Story at  CNN.com

In this day and age of food-on-the-go, supplements can add much-needed nutrients to your diet. But a walk down the vitamin aisle at any store could very well make your head spin. Here’s a breakdown of several of multivitamin options.

Basic Multivitamins

What they are: One-pill wonders that offer 100 percent of the recommended daily allowance (RDA), as suggested by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, for many important vitamins.

Benefits: They give you much of what you need in a day, including vitamins A, C, D, and E, B vitamins, and folic acid. Bonus: You have only one tablet to remember to take and swallow. Try One A Day Essential Multivitamin ($10 for 130 tablets, drugstore.com).

Full Story atmoney.cnn.com

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — A midnight deadline has passed, but the Fox network has still not resolved its differences with Time Warner Cable to keep its channels on the air.

Time Warner Cable and News Corp. (NWS, Fortune 500), Fox’s parent company, have been locked in a public battle over how much the cable giant should pay for the right to deliver Fox networks into its subscribers’ homes.

Full Story at msnbc.com

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – American International Group Inc. has lost a top executive due to the government’s limits on executive pay.

AIG said Wednesday that vice chairman and general counsel Anastasia Kelly has resigned, effective immediately.

Kelly left because of the reduction in her base salary that was mandated by the government’s pay czar, Kenneth Feinberg, AIG said.

Full Story at CNN.com

Washington (CNN) — A beef recall is under way in a half-dozen states involving possibly contaminated products from the Oklahoma company National Steak and Poultry, according to the firm and federal inspectors.

U.S. Agriculture Department officials said a cluster of illnesses involving the E. coli bacteria was reported in Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, South Dakota and Washington state.

The cases then were linked with beef the Owasso, Oklahoma, company produced in October, prompting the government to direct a Class I recall, indicating the highest risk of illness if the products are consumed.

On Thursday, National Steak and Poultry began a voluntary recall of 248,000 pounds of beef products marketed under its name as well as under names that include Carino’s Boneless Beef and Moe’s Beef Steak.