Peanut Butter News

Technology or just money that the cars are not safe. You judge for your self.
Full Story at CNN.com

(CNN) — The driver of a Toyota Prius says he was taken on a wild ride Monday after the car’s accelerator became stuck, reaching speeds in excess of 90 mph on a winding, hilly portion of a southern California interstate.

It took the California Highway Patrol to bring the car safely to a stop.

The driver, Jim Sikes, said he was traveling east on Interstate 8 outside of the San Diego area when he attempted to pass a slower vehicle.

Full Story at msnbc.com

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

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 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) — Toyota announced Wednesday night that it is adding another 1.1 million vehicles to an an earlier 4.2 million vehicle recall originally announced in November.

The vehicles are being recalled to fix a problem in which the gas pedal can become caught on the edge of the removable floormat, causing the vehicle to accelerate uncontrollably.

Full Story at money.cnn.com

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — The maker of several over-the-counter drugs, including Tylenol, Motrin and Benadryl, announced a broad-based recall of these and other drugs Friday after receiving complaints of an “unusual moldy, musty or mildew-like” odor.

The recall drew the FDA’s wrath on Johnson and Johnson (JNJ, Fortune 500) for not reacting quickly to customer complaints and its failure to fix the problem. The company has struggled to resolve the issue since it was first reported in 2008.

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.

Full Story at CNN.com

(CNN) — About 700,000 units of Vicks Dayquil cold medicine were recalled Friday after a finding that the packaging was not child-proof, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

The recall affects Vicks Dayquil Cold & Flu 24-Count Bonus Pack Liquicaps with the UPC no. 3 23900 01087 1, according to the product safety group. The medicine was sold between September 2008 and December 2009.

The packaging — which is not child-resistant and lacks the statement, “This package for households without young children” — should be kept out of the reach of young children. If a child swallows several of the pills, the child could suffer “serious health problems or death,” the commission said.

Full Story at CNN.com

(CNN) — The past 12 months have been a banner year for cyber crime. And that could be bad news for the future of e-commerce.

“At current trends, in three or four years people will start to think twice about transacting on the Web, individuals and businesses,” said Michael Fraser, director of the communications law centre at the University of Technology Sydney.

“The way it’s trending now, the Web could be so full of rubbish that people won’t trust it,” Fraser said. “That could destroy the potential of the whole knowledge economy, which so many developed economies are counting on for the competitive advantage.”

Full Story atmoney.cnn.com

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — General Electric said Thursday it has secured a $1.4 billion contract to supply wind turbines and provide services for what will be the world’s largest wind farm operation when completed in 2012.

The conglomerate will supply 338 of its 2.5-megawatt turbines to New York-based Caithness Energy to be installed in 2010 and 2011 at Shepherds Flat, the 845-megawatt farm that stretches across 30 square miles in north-central Oregon.

The Shepherds Flat Project will supply energy to Southern California Edison, providing enough to power approximately 235,000 California households, GE and Caithness said in a statement.