- Of all the parts of their culture and national identity Germans are proud of, beer is at the top of the list. Soccer is near the top of the list too, but don’t forget meat. That’s right, meat. Bratwurst, currywurst and so many other forms of sausage and processed meat are also key cogs in the German culture and as such, I have to imagine that a global panic over the safety of German meat due to contaminated animal feed can’t be good. Not with South Korea banning pork imports and Slovakia suspending poultry sales, it can’t. The European Union attempted to convince everyone that no ban was needed and Germany's agriculture ministry looked to calm concerns over food safety with test results showing acceptable levels of dioxin, a potentially cancer-causing chemical compound, in poultry and meat. According to the European Commission, South Korea had become the first country to suspend imports of German pork. The EC fanned the flames by accusing Seoul of overreacting. "It is a decision which is out of proportion as to what is going on in Germany, but we are going to try to talk with the South Koreans to reassure them," said Frederic Vincent, spokesman for European health commissioner John Dalli. The commission, based in Brussels, believes there are not grounds in this case for declaring a ban on exports of German meat or other products from Germany "because the farms have been closed and farm products which have been delivered are blocked, awaiting analysis," Vincent said. It would have been a good idea to have that talk with Slovakia, which became the first EU country to impose restrictions on German meat, after it suspended sales of poultry meat and eggs while it conducted tests to assess dioxin levels. "The agriculture ministry has ordered checks in shops and warehouses in response to the discovery of dioxins in certain foods," Slovakia said in a statement. "Pending the results of laboratory tests, the sale of eggs and poultry imported from Germany will be temporarily suspended.” Russia is threatening a similar ban, but has not enacted one yet. In countering the problem, German officials said Friday they had shut 4,700 farms and destroyed more than 100,000 eggs after tests showed dangerous levels of dioxin. The chief culprit in the case is Harles und Jentzsch, located in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein. The firm is alleged to have supplied up to 3,000 metric tons of contaminated fatty acids meant only for industrial use to around 25 animal feed makers. German agricultural authorities claim to have tested samples and found dioxin levels that were "well below the authorized limit.” The situation doesn’t come at a great time for Harles und Jentzsch, which has been accused of fraud and tax evasion in addition to possibly breaking health regulations. Now might be a good time for the company to re-examine its business practices……….
- The annual Consumer Electronics Show is a launching point for many a new gadget, but those gadgets tend to be small, handheld or at least tiny enough to sit on a person’s lap. That didn’t deter Ford from selecting CES 2011 as the venue to introduce its all-electric Focus. The car is based on the 2012 Focus model being introduced this year and is actually Ford’s second electronic vehicle, coming on the heels of its Transit Connect utility vehicle. The automaker has hedged on giving a range figure for the electric Focus because it is still undergoing EPA testing. A spokesman at the show speculated that it would go up to 100 miles on its 23 kilowatt-hour liquid cooled lithium-ion battery pack with a top speed of 84 mph. The main difference between the Focus and other electric cars on or coming to market is that recharge time from empty to full should take from 3 to 4 hours when plugged into a 240 volt source, half the charge time of the Nissan Leaf. In a humorous twist, the electronic focus will be able to charge on a 240-volt charging station with installation through Best Buy. The station is comprised of one hard-wired bracket and the charging unit, which plugs into the bracket. That will provide flexibility for owners, who will be able to take the charging unit to a new garage, only needing to purchase a new bracket. The electronic focus also sports a version of Ford's MyFord Touch dashboard interface designed specifically for electric vehicles and an app called MyFord Mobile that lets owners set charging times and remotely unlock the doors, among other functions. Considering how much trouble most people have keeping their phones and other mobile devices charged, that’s probably a good thing. Your phone being dead and you being unable to make calls for a couple of hours while it charges is not nearly as much of a problem as you forgetting to charge up your car and not being able to go anywhere. To help you conserve battery power, the dashboard includes a screen that shows an increasing amount of butterflies as the car is driven more efficiently. All of these features will hit the market in November, when the all-electric Focus goes on sale……….
- Probably a good call on your part, History Channel. Pulling the plug on the highly anticipated miniseries the Kennedys because it is “not a fit for the History brand” is a brilliant decision as long as a few things are true. First, if you don’t want more viewers, then it’s a good play. Having a series people are talking about before it hits the air can only bring bad things, right? Secondly, canceling a series in which a member of Tom Cruise’s family is acting won't stir up any tensions, I should think. It’s not as if Cruise is a certifiable loon who jumps on the couches of daytime talk show hosts, berates actresses he barely knows for taking certain medicines and has the biggest Napoleon complex this side of the diminutive French leader himself. And thirdly, you never want to expand your horizons and try something a little bit outside your comfort zone because that sort of expansion never leads to growth and prosperity. So what was the official explanation on stopping production of the series? While the film is produced and acted with the highest quality, after viewing the final product in its totality, we have concluded this dramatic interpretation is not a fit for the History brand,” the network explained in an official statement. The network explained that while it values the work Katie Holmes put in playing the character of Jackie Kennedy and the admirable performance of Greg Kinnear as John F. Kennedy, a dramatically fictionalized take on the story of one of America’s most famous families isn’t what History Channel is about. “We recognize historical fiction is an important medium for storytelling and commend all the hard work and passion that has gone into the making of the series,” the network added, “but ultimately deem this as the right programming decision for our network.” As such, the 8-part production is on life support but not officially dead. “Although we regret this does not fit into the History Channel’s plans, we are confident that television viewers in the United States will join viewers from around the world in having an opportunity to watch this series in the near future,” Muse Entertainment and Asylum Entertainment explained, adding that they will look for a new network to partner with on the project. Lots of success with that…………
- When do you jump in if you see a person being accosted in a public place? Scores of studies have been done and shown time and time again that people will almost invariably pass right by, much like the first two men to see the beaten-down traveler in the story of the good Samaritan in the Bible, if they see someone being beaten up or robbed. Still, knowing those facts and seeing them play out in the real world are two different things and Allen Haywood can attest to that. Haywood, a transit passenger in Washington, D.C., said Friday no one came to his assistance after two people attacked him without provocation at a busy rail station. Haywood claimed that he was standing next to a pillar, reading at the Metro L'Enfant Plaza Station Sunday evening when someone came up from behind and clubbed him in the back of his head. He did not get a great look at his attackers but believes a boy about 12 struck him first, after which a girl about 15 or 16 hit him several times and others joined in, he added. "Stop it, stop it!," Haywood says on a grainy video that was posted on YouTube. Despite hearing his protestations, none of the dozens of bystanders steps in to help or even demand that the attackers cease and desist. For some reason, Haywood wasn’t capable of defending himself against a pre-teen and a teenage girl and suffered a black eye, a bloody ear, a bruised neck and a large knot on his head. The beating, apparently random and not a robbery, end with the girl throwing the book Haywood was reading onto the tracks. Perhaps she wasn’t a fan of that particular author? Neither of the attackers attempted to rob Haywood, but several other young people who appeared to be with the attacked pulled out cell cameras, recorded the incident and taunted him, doing mock interviews and offering the video for a price, Haywood said in an interview after the incident. Metro police are asking anyone who witnessed the "unfortunate incident" to come forward and has adjusted its force to have more patrols at the station. Of course, if no one cared enough to get involved when the attack was going on just a few feet away, expecting any of them to make the effort to call the police is probably asking too much. "We're treating this very seriously," said Metro spokeswoman Cathy Asato. "We are hoping anyone who saw this can give good descriptions of the suspects.” In addition to the YouTube video, investigators are reviewing Metro's cameras in the busy transfer station, Asato said. Haywood’s attackers fled the station after they finished issuing their beatdown and when he tried to identify some people in the group to a Metro employee, Haywood says he was told to go upstairs to get out of harm's way. Assaults on the transit system are trending up, with 112 aggravated assaults in the first 10 months of 2010, compared with were 94 assaults in all of 2009, and 92 in 2008. What advice does Haywood have in light of his experience? He encourages crime eyewitnesses to do something, even if they don't physically intervene and put themselves in danger. "People can take pictures for evidence, not for fun, or (to) post," he said. Seems fair. More than most people will do, but still fair……….
- Could it be? Could the NBA’s king of “Look at me” moments and its biggest egomaniac (which is saying something in a sport of notoriously ginormous egos) actually be learning humility? Of course not, don’t be ridiculous. While LeBron James disagrees with NBA commissioner David Stern that interest in his free agency last summer brought more fans to the league and is the reason for higher TV ratings for the league this season, don’t take that as anything other than James a) admitting to the obvious and b) seizing upon the occasion as a means to pretend to be humble and one of the guys. When asked about Stern’s comments, James said there are so many great players in the league that he didn't think he individually had anything to do with what Stern said were better TV ratings. "I think it's great," James said. "Another NBA season, another great year for everyone. Everyone that's a part of it. You've seen fans love the game of basketball once again. So if I had anything to do with it, which I don't; there's too many players, there's so many great players I don't think individually I had anything to do with it. Just trying to do my part." Aww, look at that. Modest, humble LeBron just trying to do his part. Funny, but I didn’t see any of that humility when he was knifing the city of Cleveland in the back with the one-hour ego-stroking fest that was "The Decision." Nor did I see it when James recently admitted that he and his Heat teammates refer to themselves as the "Heatles" after the Beatles for attracting big road crowds. The higher TV numbers come even as attendance is down slightly this season across the league. The deep thinker might look at the current economic woes of the country and figure that staying home and watching games on TV - especially with flat screens, HD and bloated ticket, parking and concession prices at games - is a lot cheaper than attending a game in person. But Stern, always trying to portray the league in the sunniest possible way, said he believed some of the ratings boost came from the offseason free agent frenzy for James that culminated in a one-hour TV special dubbed "I think when you have so many people tune into an event -- some of whom have never watched a game before -- it does raise the interest of a certain number of people to tune into the games," Stern explained. Sure thing, commish. If by “raise the interest” you mean everyone other than Heat fans hate the Heat with a burning passion and want to see them lose as much as possible, then I agree wholeheartedly………
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