George Ruggle Played An Academic Ignoramus

Ignoramus is a college farce, a 1615 academic play by George Ruggle. Written in Latin (with passages in English and French), it was arguably the most famous and influential academic play of English Renaissance drama. Ruggle based his play on La Trappolaria (1596), an Italian comedy by Giambattista della Porta (which in turn borrows from the Pseudolus of Plautus).







In Latin ignōrāmus the first-person plural present active indicative of īgnōrō (“I do not know”, “I am unacquainted with”, “I am ignorant of”) literally means “we are ignorant of” or “we do not know”. The term acquired its English meaning of an ignorant person or dunce as a consequence of Ruggle’s play.


Performance
The play was first produced in Clare College, Cambridge on Wednesday, March 8, 1615, as part of the program of entertainments for a visit by King James I. James enjoyed the play so much that he returned to Cambridge to see it again on Saturday, May 13 of that year.[1] Contemporary John Chamberlain reported that "the play was full of mirth and variety with many excellent actors, but more than half spoiled by its extreme length of six hours.


Texts
Ignoramus was entered into the Stationers' Register on April 18, 1615, and was published later that year by the bookseller Walter Burre. Two subsequent editions were issued in 1630, and other editions followed in 1658, 1659, 1668, 1707, 1731, 1736, 1737, and after. John Sidney Hawkins issued an elaborately-edited text in 1787.


Several manuscripts of the play also exist. The MS. in the collection of the Bodleian Library, Tanner MS. 306, features a cast list of the amateur actors in the original production.[2]


Fernando Parkhurst translated the original into English in 1660, as Ignoramus, or the Academical Lawyer; Robert Codrington's translation followed in 1662. The English-language versions were presented onstage during the Restoration.


Satire
The play satirizes the college recorder, Francis Brackyn, a "constant adversary of the university"[3] who is represented as the Ignoramus of the title. Brackyn was unpopular among the academics of the town as a "common lawyer" (they used a crude "law Latin" that the academics deplored); he had previously been ridiculed in the third of the Parnassus plays. In Ignoramus, Brackyn is given a romance of false loves; he is enamored of Rosabella and pays 600 gold pieces for her hand in marriage, but is tricked into being with the mannish Polla. Like Malvolio, who is supposed mad, he is suspected of being possessed and put through an exorcism before being carried off to a monastery to recuperate (and to stay away from the loves of the more worthy wits).


The lawyers who were the subject of the play's satire did not enjoy the work; Sir Edward Coke, the Lord Chief Justice, believed that he was a target of some of the barbs. The play provoked a quarrel between academics and lawyers. The lawyers responded with satirical poems and ballads, which inspired responses by the academics, to create a passionate controversy. Ruggle's play even had an influence in the reform of legal language in England.[4]


Author
George Ruggle (1575–1622) graduated Lavenham grammar school and matriculated at St. John's, Cambridge in 1589. He transferred to Trinity College, where he received his B.A. in 1593 and his M.A. in 1597. He became a fellow of Trinity the following year, and remained at the college until 1620.


Upon Ruggle's death, Nicholas Ferrar read a eulogy for the academic at a meeting of the Virginia Company; he referred to Ruggle as a "Brother of the Company" and revealed that Ruggle had worked for the Company for the last three years of his life. In his will, Ruggle left £100 for the Christian education of American Indian children in Virginia.[5]


Ruggle is reported to have written other plays; but none are extant.[6]

Philippines Representative Venus Raj Makes It to Top 5 of Miss Universe!

The Top 5 are:

Mexico
Jamaica
Australia
Ukraine
Philippines

Top 10 – Evening Gown and Swimsuit Scores Combined:

Mexico 8.913
Jamaica 8.884
Australia 8.841
Ukraine 8.743
Philippines 8.714
Albania 8.693 Eliminated
Ireland 8.548 Eliminated
South Africa 8.420 Eliminated
Guatemala 8.286 Eliminated
Puerto Rico 7.971 Eliminated

Watch “Miss Universe 2010” primetime telecast tonight on Studio 23 at 9:30 PM and on Velvet (SkyCable ch 53) at 6:30 PM and 10:00 PM.

Miss Universe 2010 Crowned Miss Mexico Jimena Navarrete

Just like what we predicted in our Fearless Forecast, Mexico took home the Miss Universe crown!

Crowd favorite Jimena Navarrette Rosete has been the second Mexican to be crowned Miss Universe in Las Vegas.

Miss Universe 2010: Mexico, Jimena Navarrete Rosete

1st Runner Up: Jamaica, Yendi Phillipps
2nd Runner Up: Australia, Jesinta Campbell
3rd Runner Up: Ukraine, Anna Poslavska
4th Runner Up: Philippines, Maria Venus Raj

Special Awards:

Miss Photogenic – Thailand, Fonthip Watcharatrakul
Best National Costume – Thailand, Fonthip Watcharatrakul
Miss Congeniality – Australia, Jesinta Campbell

Mexico and Jamaica also received the highest scores from the swimsuit and evening gown competition combined.

Congratulations to our very own Venus Raj for breaking the 10-year drought of the Philippines in the Miss Universe pageant. The last time the country placed in the said pageant was in 1999 when Miriam Quiambao won 1st runner up.

MOST DESTRUCTIVE HURRICANE EVER TO STRIKE THE U.S - HURRICANE KATRINA

On August 28, 2005, Hurricane Katrina was in the Gulf of Mexico where it powered up to a Category 5 storm on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale packing winds estimated at 175 mph.

At 7:10 a.m. EDT on August 29, Hurricane Katrina made landfall in southern Plaquemines Parish Louisiana, just south of Buras, as a Category 3 hurricane. Maximum winds were estimated near 125 mph to the east of the center.


Although Katrina will be recorded as the most destructive storm in terms of economic losses, it did not exceed the human losses in storms such as the Galveston Hurricane of 1900, which killed as many as 6,000-12,000 people, and led to almost complete destruction of coastal Galveston. (Click image on left for high resolution version.)


Hurricane Andrew, in 1992, cost approximately $21 billion in insured losses (in today’s dollars), whereas estimates from the insurance industry as of late August 2006, have reached approximately $60 billion in insured losses (including flood damage) from Katrina. The storm could cost the Gulf Coast states as much as an estimated $125 billion.


Hundreds of NOAA employees from many divisions of the agency were involved with Hurricane Katrina, which involved forecasting the storm; surveying and clearing waterways; responding to oil and chemical spills; and testing fisheries.



Hurricane Katrina video from Slidell, LA as a 15 foot storm surge battered the area. TornadoVideos.net storm chasers were trapped on a second floor balcony in Slidell before catching a ride on a fishing boat, and hitch-hiking back to Oklahoma City. Check out TornadoVideos.net for more insane tornado and hurricane footage.

Heats Up Primetime TV With Martha Cecilia’s Kristine Heats Up Primetime TV

“Martha Cecilia’s Kristine” is off to a strong start with a sizzling hot pilot week that lives up to its tag as the biggest ‘teleserye’ of the year.

The epic TV adaptation of the Philippines’ most popular pocketbook series routed competition with a rating of 18.6 percent, nine points higher than its nearest competitor based on the nationwide survey conducted by media specialist Kantar Media/TNS.

The stars and staff of the show, led by acclaimed director Rory Quintos, are overjoyed of the show’s strong performance, especially because they have been preparing for it for more than a year.

“Lahat sila nagandahan, maganda daw yung story, maganda daw yung acting. Sabi ng mga friends ko kaabang-abang siya at nakakabitin,” said Cristine Reyes, one of the show’s lead stars.

Viewers were hooked in an instant with the show’s scenic shots, the strong performances of the cast, and the steamy and romantic encounters of Marco De Silva and Emerald Fortalejo, played by Rafael Rosell and Denise Laurel.

Laurel’s Emerald stormed to Paso De Blas, her father’s hometown, to get the key to a safety deposit box containing their inheritance. She would then find herself lost in the territory of the De Silvas, captured by the brooding Marco. The most sensual on-screen sweethearts packed the heat last week as their characters tried to fight off attraction due to the war between their families.

This week, things are bound to get even hotter as Jaime Reyes and Jewel Fortalejo, played by Prince of Passion Zanjoe Marudo and Jewel of Romance Reyes, finally meet. Jaime will return to Paso De Blas to pay a debt of gratitude to the De Silvas while Jewel will follow her older sister Emerald to save her from possible danger.

Marudo said people can expect something different from their pairing.

“Feeling ko naman, magugustuhan ng tao yung tandem naming ni Cristine. Iba ang atake namin ni Cristine sa mga characters namin. Kung sina Marco at Emerald eh medyo intense na seryoso, kami cute na makulit,” he explained.

Don’t miss “Martha Cecilia’s Kristine” from Monday to Friday after “Magkaribal” on ABS-CBN’s Primetime Bida.

Race for a Pair of Shoes For TheTwo Children on ‘The Correspondents’

For some children, it has been a tradition to buy a new pair of shoes every start of a school year. But for children from less fortunate families like aspiring athletes Junjun and Aira, a tradition like this is just an ever-elusive dream.

Without the resources to get themselves proper training shoes, the two children from General Santos have not given up on their ambition. Just like famed runner Rio dela Cruz, Junjun and Aira never considered poverty as a hindrance to fulfilling their dreams.

This Tuesday (August 24), ABS-CBN news correspondent Gretchen Malalad will follow the kids’ journey as they join a marathon that gives its participants free shoes.

Watch them fight and win this challenge in their lives from the start to the finish line on “The Correspondents” right after “Bandila” on ABS-CBN.

GMA Premiers ‘Ang Yaman ni Lola’ on August 23, 2010

Ang Yaman ni Lola is a sitcom and reality show combined, featuring Nanette Inventor as Lola Barbie, a rich and generous lola who shares her riches by hiring workers every week.

The workers in the show are real people from different professions chosen via audition. Every week, different challenges will be given by Lola Barbie based on the storyline. The most efficient worker for the week will receive P100,000.

Ang Yaman ni Lola also stars Sheryl Cruz, Benjie Paras, Joyce Ching, Aaron Novilla, Patricia Ysmael, and Fabio Ide. They will complete the shows teleserye element.

Ang Yaman ni Lola starts on August 23, Monday, after Eat Bulaga! on GMA.

Creative Arts Primetime Emmy Awards 2010 – Winners Revealed

The 2010 Primetime Emmy Awards are next Sunday, but last night the Creative Arts Primetime Emmy Awards were handed out.

Here are the winner(s) per tv program:

GLEE

Best Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series
Best Guest Actor in a Comedy Series (Neil Patrick Harris)

MAD MEN

Outstanding Casting For A Drama Series
Outstanding Hairstyling For A Single-Camera Series

GREY’S ANATOMY

Outstanding Makeup For Single-Camera Series

THE TUDORS

Best Costumes for a Series
Best Art Direction for a Single-Camera Series

LOST

Best Picture Editing for Drama Series

FLASHFORWARD

Best Stunt Coordination

5-star recruit James Wilder Jr. picks FSU over Georgia, Florida

James Wilder Jr., a five-star recruit and consensus Top 5 national prospect, picked Florida State over Georgia and Florida during a heavily-attended, regionally-televised news conference Wednesday afternoon at Plant High School in Tampa.

James Wilder Jr.

“The FSU coaches were the big difference for me as far as my decision,” Wilder told reporters at the news conference. “Assistant coach Eddie Gran has helped put a lot of top running backs in the National Football League and that was very attractive to me.”

There had been reports as late as Wednesday morning that the 6-foot-2, 220-pound athlete, who intends to play running back in college, was going to select Georgia. And, dressed in black shirt with a red vest, it looked like that might be the case.

But as it turns out Wilder had been favoring coach Jimbo Fisher’s Seminoles for a while. Late last month he blew off a scheduled trip to Gainesville for Florida’s Friday Night Lights camp in order to remain in Tallahassee on an unofficial visit at FSU.

“I made the decision three days ago,” Wilder said. “The reason I chose FSU was just being comfortable with everything in regards to FSU.”

Afterward, Wilder indicated Georgia’s Orson Charles and Aaron Murray made it tough on him.

“At 6 o’clock this morning Orson Charles was blowing me up (with texts),” Wilder told FanHouse.com. “Oh my God, [Charles and Murray] were coming at me. They were definitely telling me to go where my heart is, where I feel best. But they were definitely on me”

Wilder, who has as many 80 scholarship offers according to his coach, is an all-around athlete who could play running back, linebacker or defensive end in college. As a result, he’s all over the map in recruiting rankings. MaxPreps.com rates him the No. 1 overall recruit in America while Rivals.com ranks him No. 3 overall. Scout.com considers him the nation’s No. 1-ranked linebacker in the nation and ESPNU has him as No. 2-ranked athlete.

But Wilder, the son of the Tampa Bay Bucs’ all-time leader rusher James Wilder Sr., has made it clear he wants play running back in college. Last season, he rushed for 1,004 yards and scored 15 touchdowns as a running back while leading Plant to the Class 5A state championship. Wilder had 136 tackles and 19 sacks as a linebacker and defensive end.

Later Wednesday night Georgia lost out on another elite Florida recruit who had the Bulldogs as a finalists. Groveland, Fla.’s, Nick Waisome, rated the No. 2 cornerback in America according to ESPNU, chose the Gators over Florida and Georgia.

Kaeth Angeli

Abby Elliott and Fred Armisen Dating: After Split From Elisabeth Moss

Abby Elliott and Fred Armisen Dating: After Split From Elisabeth Moss – Conflicting work schedules have made it hard for Fred Armisen and Elisabeth Moss to spend enough time with each other so they eventually decided that they should probably get a divorce.

“Both him and Elisabeth have moved on,” a source said in a statement. The couple were married in October and split in May. “It was totally amicable and friendly.”

This just goes to show how hard it is to maintain a Hollywood marriage. All too often you see the marriage end as quickly as it begin, which is not fun for anyone involved. Moss has remained low-key, but reportedly Armisen is now dating his fellow SNL cast member Abby Elliott. The two of them went out for a dinner in Los Angeles.

Abby Elliott and Fred Armisen Dating

“They are dating and it all happened after him and Elisabeth split,” says the source. “They’ve always been close friends on set and … they started hanging out.”

According to the source, the relationship is in its very early stages and they are still getting to know each other outside of the work environment. They are not exclusively dating, and as far as we can tell they have only been on one date thus far. It will be interesting to see how their date affects their work relationship.

Md. boy stabbed by stingray barb in N.C., survives infection

A 10-year-old Maryland boy survived being stabbed in the abdomen by a stingray barb in North Carolina's Outer Banks.

Candace Tokar of Thurmont says her family was watching a fisherman remove a ray's barbed stinger earlier this month when the barb snapped off and flew through the air and stabbed her son, Quentin. The barb that hit Quentin's liver was removed the next day, and he spent four days at a hospital before returning home.

But he was later admitted to Frederick Memorial Hospital and Johns Hopkins Children's Center after an infection from bacteria on the sea creature's body spread.

Surprisingly Usable Flight Search Site, Hipmunk Is a Fantastic

Web site Hipmunk re-imagines flight search, translating the information you're most interested in to a user-friendly chart of possible flights.



Most popular flight search engines are cluttered, full of text, and difficult to understand at a glance. Hipmunk takes the most important flight information you'd get at any flight search engine—travel time, layovers, price—and organizes it into an actually useful visual (rather than all-text) interface.

You can still sort results by price, number of stops, departure/arrival time, and duration, but you also get an extra search category called agony. What's "agony" entail, you ask? Hipmunk's co-founder Adam Goldstein explains that agony is:

..a combined function of price, duration, and number of stops—basically the total agony you'll experience in your butt and your savings.
If you've always dreaded searching for a flight because you don't enjoy deciphering your results, Hipmunk is a refreshingly clear alternative.

Vibram FiveFingers: Barefoot Running Shoes Selling Out Fast

If you want to run barefoot, you have two options. You can either run without wearing shoes, or you can wear a pair of Vibram FiveFingers barefoot running shoes.

For many runners, they only have the first choice. Vibram FiveFingers shoes are increasingly hard to get. Vibram created these barefoot running shoes a few years ago, but now that they have become so popular, Vibram is having a hard time keeping up with the demand.

Vibram FiveFingers

CNN reports that Vibram is a 75-year old Italian company, that is best known for making soles for high end boots. But 6 years ago, Robert Fliri approached the company with a shoe that could hardly be called a shoe. It is better described as a foot glove.

Vibram FiveFingers shoes give you the feeling of running barefoot, but protect your feet from dirt and abrasions. The shoes were brought to the market in 2006. Times Magazine named the barefoot running shoes one of the best health inventions of 2007. And last year, Christopher McDougall’s book ‘Born to Run’ praised Vibram’s new shoes, as well as the benefits of barefoot running.

This year, a study by Harvard gave even more praise to the benefits of barefoot running, which made Vibram FiveFingers barefoot shoes an even bigger hit.

The Guardian reports that shoe runners tend to land on the heel of their foot, where barefoot runners tend to land on the ball of their foot. Over time, constant pressure on the heel can cause injuries, like ankle sprains, Achilles tendinitis, shin splints and even back problems.

The shoes cost around $75 to $125. Vibram is expanding its operations to try and meet demands.

But for the time being, if you see a pair of these shoes, buy them while you have the chance…or just go running barefoot.

Drug Case Charge To Roger Clemens

Roger Clemens, the larger-than-life pitcher who appeared destined for the Baseball Hall of Fame, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Washington on Thursday on charges that he lied to Congress when he said he never used performance-enhancing drugs.

Clemens became the third high-profile athlete in three years to be charged with lying about the use of banned substances and to have on-the-field accomplishments tarnished.

Roger Clemens Charge in Drug Case

Marion Jones, who won five track and field medals at the 2000 Summer Olympics, served six months in prison after pleading guilty in 2007 to making false statements to federal authorities about her use of performance-enhancing drugs. Barry Bonds, baseball’s career home run leader, is scheduled for trial in March on charges that he made false statements to a grand jury about his use of performance-enhancing drugs during the investigation of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative in California.

The 19-page indictment charged Clemens, 48, with three counts of making false statements, two counts of perjury and one count of obstruction of Congress during his testimony in a nationally televised hearing in February 2008 before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

At that hearing, Clemens and his former trainer Brian McNamee contradicted each other about whether Clemens had used steroids and human growth hormone. Andy Pettitte, Clemens’s friend and a longtime teammate, provided a written statement under oath to Congressional investigators in which he said Clemens admitted to him in 1999 or 2000 that he had used H.G.H.

Days after the hearing, the Democratic and Republican leaders of the committee asked the Justice Department to open an investigation into Clemens’s testimony.

If convicted, Clemens could face up to 30 years in prison and a $1.5 million fine, but under current sentencing guidelines, a conviction would most likely bring a 15- to 21-month sentence. He would probably receive less prison time if he accepted a plea agreement.

“Our government cannot function if witnesses are not held accountable for false statements made before Congress,” said Ronald C. Machen Jr., the United States attorney for the District of Columbia. “Today the message is clear: if a witness makes a choice to ignore his or her obligation to testify honestly, there will be consequences.”

The indictment is another blow to Major League Baseball, which is still dealing with the aftermath of the so-called steroid era, in which hundreds of players used performance-enhancing drugs without fear of penalty until the early 2000s. It also continues Clemens’s remarkable fall from grace, which included an admission that he had been unfaithful to his wife after published reports tied him to other women.

In a comment posted on his Twitter account shortly after the indictment became public, Clemens again denied using performance-enhancing drugs.

“I look forward to challenging the Government’s accusations, and hope people will keep an open mind until trial,” the message said. “I appreciate all the support I have been getting. I am happy to finally have my day in court.”

Clemens, a Texas native, became an overpowering presence with the Boston Red Sox in the second half of the 1980s, setting strikeout records and agitating hitters by throwing fastballs under their chins.

But he never won a World Series with the Red Sox, and in 1996 their general manager, Dan Duquette, declined to re-sign him, saying Clemens, 33 at the time, was “in the twilight of his career.”

Over the next decade, however, Clemens became better even as he grew older. He racked up four more of his seven Cy Young Awards and helped the Yankees win the World Series in 1999 and 2000.

In 2004, Clemens returned to Texas, pitching three seasons for the Houston Astros. After flirting several times with retirement, he returned to the Yankees in May 2007, appearing by surprise in the middle of a Sunday afternoon game at Yankee Stadium and dramatically announcing over the stadium loudspeaker that he had rejoined the team.

But five months later, Clemens was forced to confront allegations that he had used performance-enhancing drugs after the release of a report by George J. Mitchell, the former senator appointed by Commissioner Bud Selig to investigate doping in baseball.

Clemens was the highest-profile player cited in the report, which named him, Pettitte and roughly 100 other players for ties to steroids and human growth hormone.

The report based the accusations about Clemens and Pettitte on statements from McNamee, who said he injected Clemens with steroids and human growth hormone on numerous occasions from 1998 to 2001. (McNamee said in a sworn statement that he had also injected Clemens’s wife, Debbie, with H.G.H., at Clemens’s request.) Pettitte quickly issued a statement admitting his use of human growth hormone.

Clemens, however, was defiant and with the help of Rusty Hardin, a lawyer in Houston who shared Clemens’s brashness, began a public attack on McNamee’s credibility. Clemens went on CBS’s “60 Minutes” to deny the accusations, and in a news conference he and Mr. Hardin played a tape of a telephone conversation between McNamee and Clemens.

After several weeks of public back and forth between Mr. Hardin and lawyers for McNamee, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform summoned Clemens and McNamee to testify under oath. The committee said Clemens had questioned the credibility of the Mitchell report, which the committee had pushed baseball to compile.

Clemens swept through the halls of Congress, posing for photos with members of the committee that was investigating him and autographing their souvenirs. But that bravado worked against him, lawmakers said in interviews Thursday. He may have falsely believed that his fame would trump the testimony of Pettitte and McNamee that contradicted his own.

His chutzpah, the lawmakers said, may have led Clemens to issue outright denials when previous baseball players had evaded prosecution by using vague or equivocal language.

On Feb. 13, 2008, five months after Clemens pitched in his final major league game, he and McNamee sat next to each other before the committee and disputed each other’s account. Responses from lawmakers broke down along partisan lines, the Republicans generally siding with Clemens and the Democrats with McNamee.

Among those who testified before the grand jury were McNamee, Pettitte, David Segui — a former major leaguer who was named in the Mitchell report and has admitted using performance-enhancing drugs — and Jose Canseco, a friend and former teammate of Clemens who has also said he used performance-enhancing drugs.

Canseco wrote a book in which he linked several high-profile players, including Mark McGwire, to the use of performance-enhancers, but he has been one of the few people to come to Clemens’s defense, saying he had no knowledge that Clemens used banned substances. One intriguing piece of evidence in the Clemens case was syringes that McNamee said he stored in his basement after using them to inject Clemens with drugs.

McNamee handed over the syringes and related drug paraphernalia to federal authorities shortly after Clemens began publicly disputing his account. The authorities tested them for the presence of performance-enhancing drugs and Clemens’s DNA. The New York Times reported last year that the tests revealed the presence of steroids. The Washington Post reported that authorities detected the presence of Clemens’s DNA.

In the Yankees’ locker room in the Bronx on Thursday, Pettitte and Derek Jeter, another longtime teammate of Clemens, declined to discuss the indictment. But Jorge Posada, who caught many of Clemens’s games as a Yankee, came to his defense.

Eggs Recalled Over Salmonella

EGG RECALL LIST UPDATE - 380 million eggs coming from Wright County Egg of Galt, Iowa have been recalled in several states over potential salmonella contamination, linked to seven reported cases of Salmonella in Minnesota, eight in Colorado, 266 in California, and many more in other states.

Egg Recall List

Even if consumers have already checked their eggs based on the original egg recall list, officials at Wright County Egg suggest looking again. One end of each egg carton is stamped with a number starting with a P (which stands for plant). If the number on your carton is P1720 or P1942, look carefully at the three-digit number that typically follows it.
If that number falls within the range of 136 to 229, the eggs are part of the recall. (The numbers represent dates: The 136th day of the year was May 16; the 229th was Aug. 17.)

If you're checking eggs for the first time, also look for these plant numbers from the original recall: P1026, P1413, and P1946. That recall involved date numbers 136 to 225 (May 16 to Aug. 13).

Tthe eggs may have been sold under any of the following brand names: Lucerne, Albertson, Mountain Dairy, Ralph's, Boomsma's, Sunshine, Hillandale, Trafficanda, Farm Fresh, Shoreland, Lund, Dutch Farms and Kemps.

Story continues below
Wright County Egg says consumers should return purchased eggs affected by the recall to the store where they were purchased. For more information, consumers can visit the Egg Safety Center, or call Wright County egg's information line at 866-272-5582, which contains a recording with recall details and instructions.

The New York Times reports that Wright County Egg, the company behind the recall, "is owned by Jack DeCoster, who has had run-ins with regulators over poor or unsafe working conditions, environmental violations, the harassment of workers and the hiring of illegal immigrants." The Times writes:

Mr. DeCoster is well known to federal regulators. In 1997, one of his companies agreed to pay a $2 million fine by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for violations in the workplace and worker housing. Officials said workers were forced to handle manure and dead chickens with their bare hands and to live in trailers infested with rats. The labor secretary in the Clinton administration, Robert B. Reich, called Mr. DeCoster's operation "an agricultural sweatshop."

Mr. DeCoster's facilities have also been periodically raided by immigration officials. In 2003, Mr. DeCoster pleaded guilty to charges of knowingly hiring immigrants who were in the country illegally and he paid more than $2 million as part of a federal settlement.

Mr. DeCoster was also charged by Iowa authorities in the 1990s with violations of environmental rules governing hog manure runoff.


The Associated Press: Egg Recall Tied To Salmonella Grows To 380 Million Eggs:

By MIKE STOBBE and MARY CLARE JALONICK (AP): Hundreds of people have been sickened in a salmonella outbreak linked to eggs in four states and possibly more, health officials said Wednesday as a company dramatically expanded a recall to 380 million eggs.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is working with state health departments to investigate the illnesses. No deaths have been reported, said Dr. Christopher Braden, a CDC epidemiologist involved in the investigation.

Initially, 228 million eggs, or the equivalent of 19 million dozen-egg cartons, were recalled by the company Wright County Egg of Galt, Iowa. But that number was increased to nearly 32 million dozen-egg cartons.

Minnesota, a state with some of the best food-borne illness investigators in the country, has tied at least seven salmonella illnesses to the eggs.

Other states have seen a jump in reports of the type of salmonella. For example, California has reported 266 illnesses since June and believes many are related to the eggs. Colorado saw 28 cases in June and July, about four times the usual number. Spikes or clusters of suspicious cases have also been reported in Arizona, Illinois, Nevada, North Carolina, Texas and Wisconsin.

Salmonella is the most common bacterial form of food poisoning. And the strain involved in the outbreak is the most common strain of salmonella, accounting for roughly 20 percent of all salmonella food poisonings.

Unfortunately, current lab tests do not allow health officials to fingerprint this form of salmonella as precisely as other kinds of food-borne illness. So determining the size of a salmonella enteritidis outbreak is a little more challenging, Braden said.

The Food and Drug Administration also is investigating.

Much of the investigation so far has been centered on restaurants in California, Colorado, Minnesota and North Carolina. They are not necessarily breakfast places -- it's possible some got sick from eating a salad dressing that had a raw egg in it, or eating soup with an undercooked egg dropped in, Braden said.

In North Carolina, a cluster of about 80 illnesses in April were linked to meringue-containing chocolate pie and banana pudding served at a Durham barbecue restaurant, health officials said.

Eggs from Wright County Egg were linked to illnesses in the four states. The eggs were distributed around the country and packaged under the names Lucerne, Albertson, Mountain Dairy, Ralph's, Boomsma's, Sunshine, Hillandale, Trafficanda, Farm Fresh, Shoreland, Lund, Dutch Farms and Kemp. It wasn't immediately clear when the eggs were produced and distributed.

The initial recall was issued last week. Eggs affected by the expanded recall were distributed to food wholesalers, distribution centers and food service companies in California, Colorado, Minnesota, Arkansas, Arizona, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Oklahoma, Oregon, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin.

"We are undertaking this additional recall to further protect the safety of consumers -- this voluntary measure is consistent with our commitment to egg safety, and it is our responsibility," Wright County Egg officials said in a statement Wednesday evening.

In an earlier statement, company officials said the FDA is "on-site to review records and inspect our barns." The officials said they began the recall Aug. 13.

The most common symptoms of salmonella are diarrhea, abdominal cramps and fever within eight hours to 72 hours of eating a contaminated product. It can be life-threatening, especially to those with weakened immune systems.

This form of salmonella can be passed from chickens that appear healthy. And it grows inside eggs, not just on the shell, Braden noted.

Thoroughly cooking eggs can kill the bacteria. But health officials are recommending people throw away or return the recalled eggs.

Associated Press writers Ken Ritter in Las Vegas, Bob Christie in Phoenix, Betsy Blaney in Lubbock, Judith Kohler in Denver and Todd Richmond in Madison contributed to this report.


Previously:

UPDATE: Egg Recall Covers 228 Million Eggs Due To Salmonella Outbreak (8/18/10, 10:43am EST):

BY MARY CLARE JALONICK: WASHINGTON (AP) -- An Iowa egg producer is recalling 228 million eggs after being linked to an outbreak of salmonella poisoning.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said eggs from Wright County Egg in Galt, Iowa, were linked to several illnesses in Colorado, California and Minnesota. The CDC said about 200 cases of the strain of salmonella linked to the eggs were reported weekly during June and July, four times the normal number of such occurrences.

State health officials say tainted eggs have sickened at least 266 Californians and seven in Minnesota.

The eggs were distributed around the country and packaged under the names Lucerne, Albertson, Mountain Dairy, Ralph's, Boomsma's, Sunshine, Hillandale, Trafficanda, Farm Fresh, Shoreland, Lund, Dutch Farms and Kemp.

The Food and Drug Administration is investigating.

In a statement, company officials said the FDA is "on-site to review records and inspect our barns." The officials said they began the recall Aug. 13.

The most common symptoms of salmonella are diarrhea, abdominal cramps and fever within eight hours to 72 hours of eating a contaminated product. It can be life-threatening, especially to those with weakened immune systems.


Previously:

The Associated Press reports:

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - State health officials say seven salmonella cases in Minnesota have been linked to a multistate egg recall.

The salmonella cases were identified in two restaurant outbreaks in May and in July. Health officials believe the eggs are the likely source.

The eggs from Wright County Egg of Galt, Iowa were delivered to food distribution centers and food service companies in eight states, including Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa.

Minnesota Public Radio reports that for every confirmed salmonella case, state health officials estimate there are 38 unconfirmed cases.

The affected eggs are also being recalled in California, Colorado, Nebraska, Illinois, and Missouri.

The affected cartons come in varying sizes and carry plant numbers P1026, P1413 and P1946, followed by a date code ranging from 136 to 225. The stamps with the date codes and plant numbers can be found on the end of the egg carton, and the eggs may be sold under any of the following brand names: Lucerne, Albertson, Mountain Dairy, Ralph's, Boomsma's, Sunshine, Hillandale, Trafficanda, Farm Fresh, Shoreland, Lund, Dutch Farms and Kemps.

In a statement, Wright County Egg says consumers should return purchased eggs affected by the recall to the store where they were purchased, Food Safety News reports:

"Our primary concern is keeping Salmonella out of the food supply and away from consumers. As a precautionary measure, Wright County Egg also has decided to divert its existing inventory of shell eggs to a breaker, where they will be pasteurized to kill any Salmonella bacteria present," the statement said.

"Consumers who believe they may have purchased these shell eggs should not eat them but should return them to the store where they were purchased for a full refund. This recall is of shell eggs only. Other egg products produced by Wright County Eggs are not affected."