The company, Beef Products Inc., had been looking to expand into the hamburger business with a product made from beef that included fatty trimmings the industry once relegated to pet food and cooking oil. The trimmings were particularly susceptible to contamination, but a study commissioned by the company showed that the ammonia process would kill E. coli as well as salmonella.
...
With the U.S.D.A.'s stamp of approval, the company's processed beef has become a mainstay in America's hamburgers. McDonald's, Burger King and other fast-food giants use it as a component in ground beef, as do grocery chains. The federal school lunch program used an estimated 5.5 million pounds of the processed beef last year alone.

Judges and lawyers in Florida can no longer be Facebook friends.

In a recent opinion, the state's Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee decided it was time to set limits on judicial behavior online. When judges "friend" lawyers who may appear before them, the committee said, it creates the appearance of a conflict of interest, since it "reasonably conveys to others the impression that these lawyer 'friends' are in a special position to influence the judge."

According to him, the presence of so many Asians and Pacific Islanders made her uncomfortable: "They were a minority type thing and it wasn't glamorous, so she came home.

The book, a layman's guide to physics by British science writer John Gribbin, appeared in a photo of Woods' crashed SUV, lying on the vehicle's floor. Since yesterday, the book's Amazon sales rank has jumped from 396,224 to 2,268 -- a fortuitous turn for the author. "Anytime a book gets highlighted, you get a spike of a day or two," Jim Milliot, a senior editor at Publishers Weekly, said. "It happened when President Bush was carrying some books on vacation. It happened with Obama." Asked if there was an industry term for such a notoriety-induced sales boost, Milliot replied, "dumb luck."

Innovative illustrator Shepard Fairey has been selected to create the official artwork for the 52nd Annual GRAMMY Awards. The piece, which brings together traditional GRAMMY iconography with Fairey's unique approach to design, will be used as the official artwork for the world's premier music event and will grace the cover of the 52nd Annual GRAMMY Awards program book, telecast tickets, promotional poster, and 2010 GRAMMY Nominees CD.

Ron Artest, the often-controversial Los Angeles Lakers' forward, told a magazine interviewer he used to drink alcohol at halftime of NBA games.

"I used to drink Hennessy ... at halftime," Artest said in an interview with The Sporting News, which is publishing the story in its Dec. 7 issue. "I [kept it] in my locker. I'd just walk to the liquor store and get it."

"I have let my family down and I regret those transgressions with all of my heart," Woods said on his Web site. "I have not been true to my values and the behavior my family deserves. I am not without faults and I am far short of perfect. I am dealing with my behavior and personal failings behind closed doors with my family. Those feelings should be shared by us alone.