November 13, 2009

The Food and Drug Administration's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) today released a report from the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), which recommends clear objectives be set for all users of a simpler, globally accepted food supply chain that can benefit from existing commercial systems. CFSAN commissioned the IFT report in 2008 as part of the agency's ongoing examination of food product tracing practices, and its commitment to improve the ability of government and industry to trace commercially distributed food products potentially of risk to U.S. consumers. The IFT is a nonprofit scientific society focusing on the science of food. Food can become contaminated at many different steps in the supply chain. Experience in conducting foodborne disease outbreak investigations suggests that improved product tracing abilities could help identify products associated with disease more quickly, get risky products off the market faster, and reduce the number of illnesses associated with foodborne illness outbreaks. Full release.

In a partnership that exemplifies One NASA, engineers at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. teamed up with engineers at NASA's Johnson and Kennedy Space Centers to design, build, and test five new ExPRESS Logistics Carriers, or ELCs, which will be delivered to the International Space Station. "ExPRESS" stands for Expedite the Processing of Experiments to the Space Station. The ELCs will provide scientists with a platform and infrastructure to deploy experiments in the vacuum of space without requiring a separate dedicated Earth-orbiting satellite, and will also serve as parking fixtures for spare International Space Station (ISS) hardware which can be retrieved robotically long after the shuttle retires. "It took more than 100 engineers from Goddard, Johnson and Kennedy Space Centers working together over a three-year period to complete this project," said ELC Project Manager Kevin Carmack at NASA Goddard. Engineers from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Carriers Development Office at Goddard constitute a large segment of this new organization. The team developed the unique ELC design, which incorporates elements of both types of science and spare hardware pallets. Goddard served as the overall integrator and manufacturer of the ELCs. Full release.

CCH has issued a special Briefing on the employer and Medicare- and Medicaid-related provisions in the House version of health care reform, detailing provisions of the legislation approved on November 7. To access the new Briefing, visit http://hr.cch.com/pdf/SpecialReport_HealthcareReform_11-09.pdf. The Affordable Health Care for America Act made its way through the House of Representatives with significant changes to the way employers provide health benefits to their employees and major changes for Medicare and Medicaid intact, according to CCH, a part of Wolters Kluwer Law & Business and a leading provider of information and solutions for health care, legal and human resources professionals (hr.cch.com). The House passed the bill by a vote of 220 to 215. The Senate has yet to vote on health care reform, but if a bill does pass in the Senate, a Conference Committee will be necessary to reconcile differences between House and Senate versions. Full release.

Despite continuing economic challenges, the Postal Service (USPS) continues to deliver high levels of service, with 94 percent of customers surveyed rating USPS as "excellent, very good or good" in the period July 1 to Sept. 30, 2009. "Customer service and satisfaction are always our priorities," said Postmaster General John Potter. "The Postal Service remains focused on its mission to provide universal, affordable service to all Americans." Potter said he is pleased with the 94 percent rating -- the highest in four years -- and USPS will build on the achievement to reach even higher levels. Prior to the 94 percent rating, USPS received a 93 percent rating of "excellent, very good or good" for five consecutive quarters. "We will continue to improve service," Potter pledged. "In fact, we have implemented an even more demanding service measurement system that will allow us to see more easily where we need to focus improvement efforts," he said. USPS is implementing the new Customer Experience Measurement (CEM) program, effective with the start of fiscal year 2010, replacing the Customer Satisfaction Measurement program that has been in place since 1991. Full release.

The Food and Drug Administration today notified nearly 30 manufacturers of caffeinated alcoholic beverages that it intends to look into the safety and legality of their products. "The increasing popularity of consumption of caffeinated alcoholic beverages by college students and reports of potential health and safety issues necessitates that we look seriously at the scientific evidence as soon as possible," said Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, principal deputy commissioner of food and drugs. Of the combined use of caffeine and alcohol among U.S. college students in the few studies on this topic, the prevalence was as high as 26 percent. Under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, a substance added intentionally to food (such as caffeine in alcoholic beverages) is deemed "unsafe" and is unlawful unless its particular use has been approved by FDA regulation, the substance is subject to a prior sanction, or the substance is Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS). FDA has not approved the use of caffeine in alcoholic beverages and thus such beverages can be lawfully marketed only if their use is subject to a prior sanction or is GRAS. For a substance to be GRAS, there must be evidence of its safety at the levels used and a basis to conclude that this evidence is generally known and accepted by qualified experts. Full release.

Today, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund's (LDF) Political Participation Group, released "Post-Racial" America? Not Yet, a report detailing why the fight for voting rights continues one year after the historic election of President Barack Obama. "Amid the excitement of President Obama's election, 'post-racial' has become a powerful buzzword in our social and political lexicon, and some have asserted that America has completely overcome the racially discriminatory practices that have endured long past the work of the Civil Rights Movement," said John Payton, LDF President and Director-Counsel. "President Barack Obama's election as the first African American President marks continued progress toward our highest ideals of freedom and equality, and affords all Americans great hope about the promises of our Constitution," said Ryan P. Haygood, Co-Director of LDF's Political Participation Group. "Yet some mistake this critical milestone as the end of our nation's ongoing journey toward racial equality." With voting as its focus, this report confronts the myth that President Obama's election ushered America into a "post-racial" era by examining two recent developments in the area of race and politics. Full release.

The Departments of Justice and Defense today announced forum decisions for ten detainees at Guantanamo Bay whose cases were previously charged in military commissions, including five detainees accused of conspiring to commit the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks and a detainee accused of orchestrating the attack on the USS Cole. "Today we announce a step forward in bringing those we believe were responsible for the 9/11 attacks and the attack on the USS Cole to justice," said Attorney General Eric Holder. "For over two hundred years, our nation has relied on a faithful adherence to the rule of law to bring criminals to justice and provide accountability to victims. Once again we will ask our legal system to rise to that challenge, and I am confident it will answer the call with fairness and justice." "Bringing terrorists to justice is an integral part of our national security," said Defense Secretary Robert Gates. "The reform of Military Commissions and today's announcement are important steps in that direction." Full release.

Rohullah Farooqi Lodin and Hashmatullah Farooqi were each sentenced today in Alexandria, Va., to four years in prison for their roles in a scheme to offer $1 million in bribes to a U.S. Army contracting official in Afghanistan, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Neil H. MacBride of the Eastern District of Virginia. U.S. District Court Judge Liam O'Grady also sentenced Lodin, 48, from Irvine, Calif., and Farooqi, 38, from New York City, to each serve three years of supervised release following their prison term and ordered each to pay a $30,000 fine. Lodin and Farooqi, both dual Afghan/U.S. citizens, each pleaded guilty on Aug. 7, 2009, to one count of offering to bribe a public official. The U.S. Army in Afghanistan is responsible for the Commander's Emergency Response Program (CERP), which enables U.S. Army commanders in Afghanistan to use U.S. monies to fund humanitarian relief and reconstruction projects, including road construction, in that country. According to court documents, in 2009, the U.S. Army solicited bids from contractors to design and build a road in Logar Province, Afghanistan (the Logar Road Contract). The U.S. Army received numerous bids on the Logar Road Contract, including $18 million bids each from National General Construction Company (NGCC) and Hamed Lais Group (Hamed Lais), both general contracting firms in Afghanistan that Lodin and Farooqi claimed to represent. Full release.

Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School took top school honors among 450 participating schools in the Northeast U.S. in an online math competition. Individually, two PA Cyber students placed second and third among 14,600 participants. Over 1,000 PA Cyber students in grades 4-8 participated in the 48-hour online VMath Live Northeast Region Mania Math Challenge Oct. 14-15, (Northeast VMath Live rankings). Two sixth-grade PA Cyber students placed in the top three individuals overall: Dustin Marquardt of Lebanon, Pa., placed second, and Caleb Hixon of Mars, Pa., placed third, announced Dr. Nick Trombetta, founder and CEO of PA Cyber. Ten PA Cyber math classes placed among the top 50 classes. Students scored for speed and accuracy in real-time competition. "This was fun for the kids, but it was also good at teaching them skills they need," said Lori Dodd, the math teacher who initiated the school's participation. Full release.

Trust for America's Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) released a new public opinion survey today that finds that 71 percent of Americans favor an increased investment in disease prevention and that disease prevention is one of the most popular components of health reform. Forty-four percent of Americans strongly favor investing more in prevention. In the poll, conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research and Public Opinion Strategies, investing in disease prevention receives majority support from across the political spectrum (85 percent of Democrats, 59 percent of Republicans, and 68 percent of Independents) and across the country (72 percent in the Northeast, 73 percent in the South, 71 percent in the West, and 69 percent in the Midwest). "Prevention is clearly one of the most popular parts of health reform," said Al Quinlan, President of Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research. "Americans see a real payoff for investing in disease prevention in terms of lowering disease rates and reducing health care costs." Full release.

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