Health Archive, Medical Archive

"Now CBS News has obtained information that indicates KBR knew about the danger months before the soldiers were ever informed." ... "Depositions from KBR employees detailed concerns about the toxin in one part of the plant as early as May of 2003. And KBR minutes, from a later meeting state “that 60 percent of the people … exhibit symptoms of exposure,” including bloody noses and rashes." ... "Gentry says it wasn’t until the last day of August in 2003 - after four long months at the facility - that he was told the plant was contaminated."

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WATCH: "KBR Accused In Toxic Scandal" via -CBSNews

"“Look, I think the burden of proof at this point is on the company,” Bayh said. “To come forward and very forthrightly explain what happened, why we should trust them, and why the health and well-being of our soldiers should continue to be in their hands.”"

-CBSNews

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Obama's Grandparents:

"– Voting against making anti-choice violence a federal crime. As the Jed Report notes, McCain voted in 1993 and 1994 against making “bombings, arson and blockades at abortion clinics, and shootings and threats of violence against doctors and nurses who perform abortions” federal crimes."

"– Opposing Colorado’s “Bubble Law.” McCain said he opposed Colorado’s “Bubble Law,” which prohibited abortion protesters from getting within 8 feet of women entering clinics [Denver Post, 2/27/00]. The law was later upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court."

"– Voting to allow those fined for violence at clinics to avoid penalties by declaring bankruptcy. NARAL Pro-Chioce America notes that McCain “voted to allow perpetrators of violence or harassment at reproductive-health clinics to avoid paying the fines assessed against them for their illegal acts by declaring bankruptcy.””

-RawStory.com

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"[McCain:] "Opening up the health insurance market to more vigorous nationwide competition, as we have done over the last decade in banking, would provide more choices of innovative products less burdened by the worst excesses of state-based regulation.""

-FaceTheNation -CBSNews

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Jim Gibbons - Nevada - Homes - Business - Health - Military - Investigation - Politics - "With the dirt flying, party backing away: GOP [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican] support for [Nevada Republican Governor] Gov. Jim Gibbons erodes after wife’s allegations revealed in filing." ... "Republicans say serious discussions are taking place around the state among political and business leaders about how to extricate the party from the increasingly messy divorce proceeding between Dawn and Jim Gibbons. They say Jim Gibbons has handled the matter poorly by attempting to evict the first lady from the mansion and not settling the matter quickly and quietly." ... "The governor’s short but eventful tenure has been marked by unforeseen challenges, as well as problems of his own making. His political appointments have drawn fire and he has been politically tone-deaf to severe problems facing the state, including the [home] foreclosure crisis and Southern Nevadans’ deteriorating confidence in the health care system following a hepatitis C outbreak at a well-known medical clinic. An FBI [Federal Bureau of Investigation] investigation of his relationship with a defense contractor remains unresolved." ... "The [divorce] filing comes after an editorial in the Elko Daily Press alleged that Gibbons was having an affair with an unidentified woman." ... "The court documents do not name Gibbons’ alleged mistress, calling her a frequent “bar, lunch, dinner, and even grocery store companion” with a “striking resemblance” to Chrissy Mazzeo, the woman who accused then-Congressman Gibbons in 2006 of getting drunk and making a pass at her in a Las Vegas [Nevada] parking garage during the final weeks of his race for governor." -By J. Patrick Coolican and David McGrath Schwartz -LasVegasSun.com

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John McCain - Media - Politics - Arizona - 2008 Election - "Tight Control on Files and Shortened Question Period." ... "[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona] Senator John McCain released his medical records on Friday under tightly controlled circumstances, allowing them to be reviewed by a small group of reporters from news organizations that his campaign chose." ... "From 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. Pacific time, about 20 reporters were permitted to view more than 1,000 pages of records in a room at a resort near the Mayo Clinic Scottsdale in Arizona. The reporters had three hours to review and take notes on the documents, from 2000 to 2008. They were not permitted to remove the documents from the room or photocopy them." ... "At 11 a.m., Mr. McCain’s doctors made themselves available in what was scheduled as a 90-minute conference call. But the questions were stopped after 45 minutes." -By Elisabeth Bumiller and Lawrence K. Altman -NYTimes 

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Obama - McCain - Russia - China - Foreign - Military - Politics - History - Health-Care - Marketplace - Arizona - Illinois - Ore- US - 2008 Election - "Obama: Bush, McCain Should 'Explain Why They Have a Problem With JFK'." ... "ABC News Sunlen Miller reports: [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Illinois Senator] Sen. Barack Obama went one step further today in his pushback against presumptive GOP [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican] presidential nominee [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain and [Republican] President Bush on appeasement, suggesting that both Republicans have a problem with presidents past who have engaged in direct diplomacy." ... ""If George Bush and John McCain have a problem with direct diplomacy, led by the president of the United States, then they can explain why they have a problem with [Democratic President] John F. Kennedy because that's what he did with [Soviet leader Nikita] Khrushchev, or [Republican President] Ronald Reagan, 'cause that's what he did with [Soviet leader Mikhail] Gorbachev, or [Republican President] Richard Nixon 'cause that's what they did with [Chinese leader Mao Tse-tung]," Obama said in Roseburg, Ore. [Oregon.] "That’s exactly the kind of diplomacy we need to keep us safe."" ... "Obama also blasted McCain's healthcare proposals during a town-hall meeting." ... ""Essentially his plan is we’re gonna dismantle the employer-based system and give everybody a tax break and then see if you can fend for yourself in the marketplace," Obama told the crowd. "He wants to give you the failed Bush health-care polices for another four years."" -ABCNEWS.com 

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Corporate - Environmental - Health - Politics - Investigation - Manufacturing - Water - Michigan - Illinois - Indiana - Minnesota - Ohio - Wisconsin - "U.S. Senators Probe Departure of EPA Midwest Administrator." ... "The circumstances surrounding the resignation of Mary Gade, formerly the U.S. [United States] EPA's [Environmental Protection Agency's]  regional administrator for the Midwest, are under investigation by an environmental committee of the U.S. Senate." ... "On May 2, the "Chicago Tribune" reported that two top aides to Johnson demanded that Gade resign or be fired by June 1, 2008. She has since submitted her resignation and is currently on administrative leave." ... "According to the Tribune's story, Gade believed her forced resignation was due to her efforts to push Dow Chemical Company to clean up dioxin contamination in Saginaw Bay and Lake Huron stemming from its Midland, Michigan chemical manufacturing plant. Dioxin is a known carcinogen." ... "The paper also reported that officials from Dow Chemical had met with EPA officials in Washington in January 2008 because they were unhappy with Gade's approach, and that Gade's handling of this issue became the subject of criticism from her superiors in Washington." ... "On January 4, 2008, Gade terminated negotiations with Dow Chemical aimed at a settlement to conduct a study and interim cleanup actions for dioxin contamination along the Tittabawassee River system, the Saginaw River and the Saginaw Bay. The negotiations under the Superfund Act began in October 2007 with the participation of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality." ... ""I am extremely disappointed with this outcome," said Gade on January 4. "EPA approached negotiations with high hopes and realistic expectations. Our team put in many long hours of good faith efforts that came to an unfortunate end today. EPA is now reviewing its options for ensuring that dioxin contamination in the river system and the Midland area can be fully addressed."" ... "An environmental attorney, Gade was appointed regional administrator of EPA Region 5 in October 2006 to oversee federal environmental programs in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin." -ENS

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Barack Obama - John McCain - 2008 Election - Oregon - Energy - Technology - US - Iraq - Military - Health Care - "Obama eager to campaign with McCain." ... "Acting even more like he has clinched the Democratic presidential nomination, [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Barack Obama said on Saturday he would be willing to campaign jointly with Republican [2008 Election Presidential Candidate] John McCain and acknowledged he needed to better introduce himself to Americans." ... "After a stop at a solar technology company in this central Oregon town [Bend, Oregon], Obama was asked if he supported a suggestion that he campaign with McCain and hold joint town hall meetings in the run-up to the November [2008] general election." ... ""I think that's a great idea. Obviously we'd have to think through the logistics on this," Obama said. "Should I be the nominee, if I have the opportunity to debate substantive issues before the voters with John McCain, that's something I'm going to welcome."" ... "Obama, who took a commanding lead in the Democratic race last week, said he looked forward to pointing out his differences with McCain, including views on the energy crisis, the Iraq war and health care." ... ""We haven't finished this primary yet so it's premature to start projecting how the general election's going to play out," he said at the news conference." (1, 2, 3) -By Deborah Charles wtih contributions by by Chris Baltimore and Todd Eastham -Reuters 

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Consumers - Food - Safety - Humans - Health - Law - Politics - Animals - Agriculture - Business - Kan - US - Japan - "Government asks court to block wider testing for mad cow." ... "The [Republican President] Bush administration on Friday urged a federal appeals court to stop meatpackers from testing all their animals for mad cow disease, but a skeptical judge questioned whether the government has that authority." ... "The government seeks to reverse a lower court ruling that allowed Arkansas City, Kan.[Kansas]-based Creekstone Farms Premium Beef to conduct more comprehensive testing to satisfy demand from overseas customers in Japan and elsewhere." ... "Less than 1 percent of slaughtered cows are currently tested for the disease under Agriculture Department guidelines. The agency argues that more widespread testing does not guarantee food safety and could result in a false positive that scares consumers." ... "Mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, can be fatal to humans who eat tainted beef. Three cases of mad cow disease have been discovered in the U.S. [United States] since 2003." -By Sam Hananel -AP via -SFGate.com

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Oil - Corporations - Air - Environment - Ground - Water - Safety - Health - Science- Politics - "Chevron, 11 Oil Companies to Pay $423 Million in MTBE Lawsuits." ... "Water suppliers in 17 states will collect $423 million from Chevron Corp. [Corporation], BP Plc [Public limited company] and 10 other oil companies as part of a settlement of contamination claims involving the gasoline additive MTBE." ... "The suits claim the oil companies contaminated wells and underground aquifers across the country by adding methyl tertiary butyl ether, or MTBE, to gasoline as a way to reduce air pollution. They claim the oil companies hid information showing MTBE would cause ``massive'' contamination." ... "The settlement was filed yesterday with U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin in New York, who is presiding over the 59 settled lawsuits brought by 153 municipalities. The six oil companies and refineries that didn't settle include Exxon Mobil Corp. [Corporation], the world's biggest publicly traded oil company, according to Robert Gordon, a lawyer for the plaintiffs." ... "The municipalities ``will use the money to continue to treat water so that it is safe and pure,'' Gordon said in a phone interview." ... "MTBE reduces air pollution by making gasoline burn more completely in a car's engine. MTBE discharged into the air contaminates groundwater through rainfall. The additive has been banned in many states." ... "Estimates of the cost to treat contaminated water in the U.S. have reached $30 billion." ... "Scheindlin denied a request by the oil companies to dismiss the suits in 2005." ... "``Innocent water providers -- and ultimately innocent water users -- should not be denied relief from the contamination of their water supply if defendants breached a duty to avoid an unreasonable risk of harm from their products,'' Scheindlin said at the time." ... "The case is In Re: MTBE, 00-cv-1898, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan). " -By David Glovin -Bloomberg

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Water - Infrastructure - Human - Health - Safety - Enforcement - Environment - Underground - Money - History - Weather - Animals - Plants - "Aging systems releasing sewage into rivers, streams." ... "America's aging sewer systems continue to dump human waste into rivers and streams, despite years of fines and penalties targeting publicly owned agencies responsible for sewage overflows, a Gannett News Service analysis shows." ... "The analysis of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) data found that since 2003, hundreds of municipal sewer authorities have been fined for violations, including spills that make people sick, threaten local drinking water and kill aquatic animals and plants." ... "DATABASE: Sewer treatment plant reports by state[.]" ... "Local governments across the USA plan to spend billions modernizing failing wastewater systems — some of which are more than 100 years old — over the next 10 to 20 years, EPA, state and local sewer authority officials said." ... "Those improvement efforts face a huge challenge mitigating problems in what the EPA estimates to be 1.2 million miles of sewers snaking underground across the USA." ... "Waste gurgles from manholes and gushes down streams and rivers somewhere in the USA almost every day, the EPA estimates." ... "Gannett News Service analyzed enforcement and compliance records compiled by the EPA and state regulators from January 2003 to February 2008." ... "The analysis found that at least one-third of the nation's large, publicly owned sewage treatment systems were the subject of formal enforcement actions by the EPA or state regulators for sewage spills or other violations. Those enforcement actions included fines as well as orders to fix problems or expand treatment capacity. Fines totaling $35 million were assessed against 494 of the nation's 4,200 municipal facilities that treat at least 1 million gallons of sewage daily, the analysis shows." ... "An EPA 2004 report to Congress estimated that 850 billion gallons of storm water mixed with raw sewage pour into U.S. waters every year from older, combined sewer systems that were designed to overflow in wet weather. These combined systems, built by cities in the 19th and early 20th centuries, are now considered antiquated and a threat to public health and the environment, according to the EPA and environmental groups." ... "The EPA's 2002 Clean Water and Drinking Water Infrastructure Gap Analysis reported the nation's municipal sewer authorities' capital needs to meet clean water requirements from 2000 to 2019 ranged from $331 billion to $450 billion. Based on that data, the National Association of Clean Water Agencies now puts that range at $350 billion to $500 billion for the next 20 years, association spokeswoman Susan Bruninga said." -By Larry Wheeler and Grant Smith with contributions by Robert Benincasa and Dan Klepal -USATODAY

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Secret - Government - Intelligence - Terrorism - Politics - Illegal - Surveillance - Investigation - Internet - Archive - Library - Electronic - Civil Liberties - Brewster_Kahle - Censorship - San Francisco - California - Student - Health - Consumer - Telephone - Electronic - Data - National Security Letter - "FBI Targets Internet Archive With Secret 'National Security Letter', Loses." ... "The Internet Archive, a project to create a digital library of the web for posterity, successfully fought a secret government Patriot Act order for records about one of its patrons and won the right to make the order public, civil liberties groups announced Wednesday morning." ... "On November 26, 2007, the FBI [Federal Bureau of Investigation] served a controversial National Security Letter (.pdf) on the Internet Archive's founder Brewster Kahle, asking for records about one of the library's registered users, asking for the user's name, address and activity on the site." ... "The Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Internet Archive's lawyers, fought the NSL [National Security Letter], challenging its constitutionality in a December 14 complaint (.pdf) to a federal court in San Francisco [California]. The FBI agreed on April 21 to withdraw the letter and unseal the court case, making some of the documents available to the public." ... "The Patriot Act greatly expanded the reach of NSLs, which are subpoenas for documents such as billing records and telephone records that the FBI can issue in terrorism investigations without a judge's approval. Nearly all NSLs come with gag orders forbidding the recipient from ever speaking of the subpoena, except to a lawyer." ... "Brewster Kahle called the gag order "horrendous," saying he couldn't talk about the case with his board members, wife or staff, but said that his stand was part of a time-honored tradition of librarians protecting the rights of their patrons." ... ""This is an unqualified success that will help other recipients understand that you can push back on these," Kahle said in a conference call with reporters Wednesday morning." ... "Though FBI guidelines on using NSLs warned of overusing them, two Congressionally ordered audits revealed that the FBI had issued hundreds of illegal requests for student health records, telephone records and credit reports. The reports also found that the FBI had issued hundreds of thousands of NSLs since 2001, but failed to track their use. In a letter to Congress last week, the FBI admitted it can only estimate how many NSLs it has issued." -By Ryan Singel -Wired 

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US - Iraq - Afghanistan - Military - People - Politics - "U.S. deploys more than 43,000 unfit for combat." ... "More than 43,000 U.S. [United States] troops listed as medically unfit for combat in the weeks before their scheduled deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan since 2003 were sent anyway, Pentagon records show." ... "This reliance on troops found medically "non-deployable" is another sign of stress placed on a military that has sent 1.6 million servicemembers to the war zones, soldier advocacy groups say." ... ""It is a consequence of the consistent churning of our troops," said Bobby Muller, president of Veterans For America. "They are repeatedly exposed to high-intensity combat with insufficient time at home to rest and heal before redeploying."" ... "The numbers of non-deployable soldiers are based on health assessment forms filled out by medical personnel at each military installation before a servicemember's deployment." -By Gregg Zoroya -USATODAY 

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Mental - Health - PTSD - Science - Maryland - US - Iraq - Afghanistan - Veterans - Government - Financial - Politics - "Post-War Suicides May Exceed Combat Deaths, U.S. Says (Update1)." ... "The number of suicides among veterans of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan may exceed the combat death toll because of inadequate mental health care, the U.S. [United States] government's top psychiatric researcher said." ... "Community mental health centers, hobbled by financial limits, haven't provided enough scientifically sound care, especially in rural areas, said Thomas Insel, director of the National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, Maryland. He briefed reporters today at the American Psychiatric Association's annual meeting in Washington." ... "Insel echoed a Rand Corporation study published last month that found about 20 percent of returning U.S. soldiers have post-traumatic stress disorder or depression, and only half of them receive treatment. About 1.6 million U.S. troops have fought in the two wars since October 2001, the report said. About 4,560 soldiers had died in the conflicts as of today, the Defense Department reported on its Web site." ... "Based on those figures and established suicide rates for similar patients who commonly develop substance abuse and other complications of post-traumatic stress disorder, ``it's quite possible that the suicides and psychiatric mortality of this war could trump the combat deaths,'' Insel said. " -By Avram Goldstein -Bloomberg 

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People - Health - Environment - Trees - Global - Earth - Science - Politics - Book- North Carolina - "Caring for planet increasingly tied to faith groups." ... "Abraham sits at the oaks. Deborah holds court under a palm tree. Moses speaks to a bush." ... ""I would say connecting this to the Bible is important for some people," said Dr. Matthew Sleeth, a former hospital chief of staff who couldn't shake the faces of patients with seemingly increasing environment-related illnesses. So he quit his job, gave away half his belongings and began spreading the word on the urgency of people paying more attention to the environment." ... "Pointing out the symbolism of trees in Scripture has helped Sleeth link faith with personal responsibility. His book, "Serve God and Save the Planet: A Christian Call to Action," is in its seventh printing. Sleeth also has a prominent role in the publication of an upcoming "green Bible."" ... ""The change has come when people who are strong in their faith, who might be against it," Sleeth says of the deterioration of the Earth, "then go look at the Bible with this in mind and they see a different story."" ... "The statewide faith and environment conference that Sleeth will co-headline at Catawba College in Salisbury [North Carolina] this month grew out of a meeting among Greensboro [North Carolina] houses of worship at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church. Participants tried to broaden the conversation between the scientific and faith-based communities." ... ""When people realize that there is this direct tie between our own faith and being good stewards of this Earth," said John Wear, founding director of Catawba's Center for the Environment, "then it gives them a purpose that didn't exist before."" -By Nancy McLaughlin -News-Record.com

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CenterForTheEnvironment.org

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Stephen Johnson - Corporate - Government - Politics - Fetal - Human - Health - Science - Environmental - Safety - Enforcement - Emergency - Wildlife - Soil - Water - Law - Manufacturing - History - Michigan - Illinois - "EPA's top Midwest regulator forced out: Mary Gade, based in Chicago [Illinois], says [Republican President] Bush administration made her quit over Dow Chemical case." ... "The Bush administration forced its top environmental regulator in the Midwest to quit Thursday after months of internal bickering about dioxin contamination downstream from Dow Chemical's world headquarters in Michigan." ... "In an interview with the [Chicago] Tribune, Mary Gade said two top officials at the U.S. [United States] Environmental Protection Agency headquarters in Washington stripped her of her powers as regional administrator and told her to quit or be fired by June 1." ... "Gade said she had told the agency she would resign her position, based in Chicago [Illinois]." ... "For the past year, Gade has been locked in a heated dispute with Dow about long-delayed plans to clean up dioxin-saturated soil and sediment that extends 50 miles beyond its Midland, Mich. [Michigan], plant into Saginaw Bay and Lake Huron." ... "Gade, a former corporate attorney appointed by Bush in September 2006, invoked emergency powers last year to force Dow to clean up four hot spots of dioxin, including the largest amount of the cancer-causing chemical ever recorded in the United States." ... "In January, Dow urged officials at the EPA's [Environmental Protection Agency's] headquarters to intervene after Gade broke off negotiations intended to renew the terms for a more comprehensive cleanup. Neither side would reveal details, citing confidentiality agreements, but Gade said Dow resisted taking steps needed to protect human health and wildlife." ... "Though regional EPA administrators typically have wide latitude to enforce environmental laws, Gade drew fire from officials in Washington last month after she sent contractors to test soil in a Saginaw [Michigan] neighborhood where Dow had found high dioxin levels." ... "She said top lieutenants to Stephen Johnson, the national EPA administrator, repeatedly questioned her aggressive action against Dow, which long ago acknowledged it is responsible for the dioxin contamination but has resisted federal and state involvement in cleanup plans." ... "Dow dumped dioxin-contaminated waste into the waterways for most of the last century. The chemical, which is so toxic that it is measured in trillionths of a gram, was a manufacturing byproduct of the Vietnam-era herbicide Agent Orange and other chlorinated herbicides." ... "Company documents show Dow knew by the mid-1960s that it could make people sick or even kill them." ... "Citing years of independent studies, the EPA says dioxin can cause cancer, disrupt the immune system and alter fetal development." ... ""We have a responsibility to make sure people are living in a healthy and safe environment," Gade said. "This problem has been out there for more than 30 years, and it's unconscionable that action hasn't been taken."" (1, 2) -By Michael Hawthorne -ChicagoTribune 

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Agriculture - Factory - Companies - Poor - People - Nutrition - Health - US -  - World - Biofuel - Air - Soil - Water - Environment - Animals - Plants - Science - "Shortages Threaten Farmers’ Key Tool: Fertilizer." ... "Some kinds of fertilizer have nearly tripled in price in the last year, keeping farmers from buying all they need. That is one of many factors contributing to a rise in food prices that, according to the United Nations’ World Food Program, threatens to push tens of millions of poor people into malnutrition." ... "Rising demand for food and biofuels prompted farmers everywhere to plant more crops." ... "Fertilizer companies are confident the shortage will be solved eventually, noting that they plan to build scores of new factories. But that will probably create fresh problems in the long run as the world grows more dependent on fossil fuels to produce chemical fertilizers." ... "The demand for fertilizer has been driven by a confluence of events, including population growth, shrinking world grain stocks and the appetite for corn and palm oil to make biofuel. But experts say the biggest factor has been the growing demand for food, especially meat, in the developing world." ... "Fertilizer is plant food, a combination of nutrients added to soil to help plants grow. The three most important are nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. The latter two have long been available. But nitrogen in a form that plants can absorb is scarce, and the lack of it led to low crop yields for centuries." ... "That limitation ended in the early 20th century with the invention of a procedure, now primarily fueled by natural gas, that draws chemically inert nitrogen from the air and converts it into a usable form." ... "Environmental groups fear increased use, particularly of nitrogen fertilizer made using fossil fuels. Because plants do not absorb all the nitrogen, much of it leaches into streams and groundwater. That runoff has long been recognized as a major pollution problem, and it is growing." ... "A barometer of the pollution is the rising number of dead zones where rivers meet the sea. In the Gulf of Mexico, for instance, nitrogen runoff from fields in the Corn Belt washes downstream and feeds plant life in the gulf. The algae blooms suck oxygen from the water, killing other marine life." (1, 2) -By Keith Bradsher and Andrew Martin -NYTimes 

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Elizabeth Edwards - Edwards - Biden - Barack Obama - Media - Television- Corporations - Sports - Politics - 2008 Election - Pennsylvania - Freedom - Health - "Bowling 1, Health Care 0." ... "For the last month, news media attention was focused on Pennsylvania and its [2008 Election] Democratic primary. Given the gargantuan effort, what did we learn?" ... "Well, the rancor of the campaign was covered. The amount of money spent was covered. But in Pennsylvania, as in the rest of the country this political season, the information about the candidates’ priorities, policies and principles — information that voters will need to choose the next president — too often did not make the cut. After having spent more than a year on the campaign trail with my husband, [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] John Edwards, I’m not surprised." ... "Why? Here’s my guess: The vigorous press that was deemed an essential part of democracy at our country’s inception is now consigned to smaller venues, to the Internet and, in the mainstream media, to occasional articles. I am not suggesting that every journalist for a mainstream media outlet is neglecting his or her duties to the public. And I know that serious newspapers and magazines run analytical articles, and public television broadcasts longer, more probing segments." ... "But I am saying that every analysis that is shortened, every corner that is cut, moves us further away from the truth until what is left is the Cliffs Notes of the news, or what I call strobe-light journalism, in which the outlines are accurate enough but we cannot really see the whole picture." ... "Did you, for example, ever know a single fact about [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Joe Biden’s health care plan? Anything at all? But let me guess, you know [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Barack Obama’s bowling score. We are choosing a president, the next leader of the free world. We are not buying soap, and we are not choosing a court clerk with primarily administrative duties." ... "What’s more, the news media cut candidates like Joe Biden out of the process even before they got started." ... "News is different from other programming on television or other content in print. It is essential to an informed electorate. And an informed electorate is essential to freedom itself. But as long as corporations to which news gathering is not the primary source of income or expertise get to decide what information about the candidates “sells,” we are not functioning as well as we could if we had the engaged, skeptical press we deserve." ... "If voters want a vibrant, vigorous press, apparently we will have to demand it." (1, 2) -By Elizabeth Edwards-NYTimes 

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Noteworthy - Government - EPA - Opinion - Science - Politics - Food - Drug - Oceanic - Atmospheric - Climate - Health - California - Investigation - "Hundreds of EPA Scientists Report Political Interference Over Last Five Years: UCS [Union of Concerned Scientists] calls for strengthened protections for federal scientists." ... "An investigation of the Environmental Protection Agency released today found that 889 of nearly 1,600 staff scientists reported that they experienced political interference in their work over the last five years. The study, by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), follows previous UCS investigations of the Food and Drug Administration, Fish and Wildlife Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and climate scientists at seven federal agencies, which also found significant administration manipulation of federal science." ... ""Our investigation found an agency in crisis," said Francesca Grifo, director of UCS's Scientific Integrity Program. "Nearly 900 EPA scientists reported political interference in their scientific work. That's 900 too many. Distorting science to accommodate a narrow political agenda threatens our environment, our health, and our democracy itself."" ... "The UCS report comes amidst a flurry of controversial activity swirling around the EPA. Congress is currently investigating administration interference in a new chemical toxicity review process as well as California's request to regulate tailpipe emissions. And in early May, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is expected to hold a hearing on political interference in the new EPA ground-level ozone pollution standard." ... "UCS's investigation revealed political interference is most pronounced in offices where scientists write regulations and at the National Center for Environmental Assessment, where scientists conduct risk assessments that could lead to strengthened regulations." ... ""The investigation shows researchers are generally continuing to do their work," said Dr. Grifo. "But their scientific findings are tossed aside when it comes time to write regulations."" ... "Nearly 100 scientists identified the [Republican President Bush's] White House's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as the primary culprit." -UCSUSA.org

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Government - Environmental - Science - Politics - Human - Health - Law - Air - Ground - Water - Homes - Workplace - Industry - US - Global - Climate - Free Speech - Censorship - "Interference at the EPA: Science and Politics at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency." ... "The U.S. [United States] Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has the simple yet profound charge "to protect human health and the environment."  EPA scientists apply their expertise to protect the public from air and water pollution, clean up hazardous waste, and study emerging threats such as global warming. Because each year brings new and potentially toxic chemicals into our homes and workplaces, because air pollution still threatens our public health, and because environmental challenges are becoming more complex and global, a strong and capable EPA is more important than ever." ... "Yet challenges from industry lobbyists and some political leaders to the agency's decisions have too often led to the suppression and distortion of the scientific findings underlying those decisions—to the detriment of both science and the health of our nation. While every regulatory agency must balance scientific findings with other considerations, policy makers need access to the highest-quality scientific information to make fully informed decisions." ... "Concern over this problem led the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) to investigate political interference in science at the EPA. The investigation combines dozens of interviews with current and former EPA staff, analysis of government documents, more than 1,600 responses to a survey sent to current EPA scientists, and written comments from EPA scientists." ... "The results of these investigations show an agency under siege from political pressures. On numerous issues—ranging from mercury pollution to groundwater contamination to climate change—political appointees have edited scientific documents, manipulated scientific assessments, and generally sought to undermine the science behind dozens of EPA regulations." ... "These findings highlight the need for strong reforms to protect EPA scientists, make agency decision making more transparent, and reduce politicization of the regulatory process. Congress, the next president, and the next EPA Administrator must restore independence and scientific integrity to the EPA by:"

• "   * Protecting EPA Scientists: Scientists should be free to report the distortion, manipulation, and suppression of their work without fear of retribution. Congress should pass a whistleblower law that includes protection for scientists. The EPA should adopt a communications policy that lets scientists speak freely to the press about their findings."
• "   * Making the EPA More Transparent: Too many decisions are made behind closed doors with little accountability. The EPA’s scientific findings should be freely available to the public. The EPA should open up its decision-making process to congressional and public scrutiny to help reveal misuses of science[.]"
• "    * Reforming the Regulatory Process: The White House should not change scientific findings in order to weaken, delay, or prevent new public protections."
• "    * Ensuring Robust Scientific Input to EPA's Decision Making: The EPA should review and strengthen how it uses the scientific expertise of its staff and external advisory committees to create policies—especially when scientific input is critical or required by law."
• "    * Depoliticizing Funding, Monitoring, and Enforcement: Problems with funding, monitoring and enforcement also need to be addressed by Congress and the next President to ensure that the EPA is the robust environmental agency that our country needs."

Smog - Science - Elderly - Children - Environmental - Safety - Government- Politics - Fuel - Industry - Clean Air - Law - "Scientists: Smog contributes to premature death." ... "Short-term exposure to smog, or ozone, is clearly linked to premature deaths that should be taken into account when measuring the health benefits of reducing air pollution, a National Academy of Sciences review concludes." ... "The findings contradict arguments made by some [Republican President Bush] White House officials that the connection between smog and premature death has not been shown sufficiently and that the number of saved lives should not be calculated in determining clean air benefits." ... "The report released Tuesday by a panel of the Academy's National Research Council says government agencies "should give little or no weight" to such arguments." ... ""The committee has concluded from its review of health-based evidence that short-term exposure to ambient ozone is likely to contribute to premature deaths," the 13-member panel said." ... "It added that "studies have yielded strong evidence that short-term exposure to ozone can exacerbate lung conditions, causing illness and hospitalization and can potentially lead to death."" ... "Ground-level ozone is formed from nitrogen oxide and organic compounds created by burning fossil fuels and is demonstrated often by the yellow haze or smog that lingers in the air. Ozone exposure is a leading cause of respiratory illnesses and especially affects the elderly, those with respiratory problems and children." -AP via -CNN

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Women's - Health - Science - Life-Expectancy - Washington - "Life Expectancy Drops for Some U.S. Women: Historic Reversal, Found in 1,000 Counties, May Be Result of Smoking and Obesity." ... "For the first time since the Spanish influenza of 1918, life expectancy is falling for a significant number of American women." ... "In nearly 1,000 counties that together are home to about 12 percent of the nation's women, life expectancy is now shorter than it was in the early 1980s, according to a study published today." ... ""I think this is a harbinger. This is not going to be isolated to this set of counties, is my guess," said Christopher J.L. Murray, a physician and epidemiologist at the University of Washington who led the study. It is being published in PLoS Medicine [PDF], an open-access journal of the Public Library of Science." ... "The study found a smaller decline, in far fewer places, in the life expectancy of men in this country. In all, longevity is declining for about 4 percent of males." ... "The phenomenon appears to be not only new but distinctly American." ... "Life expectancy is not a direct measure of how long people live. Instead, it is a prediction of how long the average person would live if the death rates at the time of his or her birth lasted a lifetime." ... "About 33 percent of women are now obese, compared with 31 percent of men. Extreme obesity is twice as common in women (7 percent) as in men (3 percent)." (1, 2) -By David Brown -WashingtonPost

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Corporate - Health Care - California - Woman - "Judge Awards Canceled Cancer Patient $9 Million." ... "A woman who had her medical coverage canceled as she was undergoing treatment for breast cancer has been awarded more than $9 million in a case against one of California's largest health insurers." ... "Patsy Bates, 52, a hairdresser from Gardena [California], had been left with more than $129,000 in unpaid medical bills when Health Net Inc. canceled her policy in 2004." ... "In fact, she was in the hospital getting prepped for surgery when she first learned Health Net was dropping her." ... "Some of the documents Health Net was forced to hand over revealed that senior analyst, Barbara Fowler, single-handedly dropped hundreds of policy holders like Bates from the rolls every year." ... "The shocker: the company awarded her bonuses based on how many policy holders she dropped." ... "The company called 2003 - the year Fowler dropped Patsy Bates - "a banner year" for her, for saving the company $6 million in what they call "unnecessary health care expenses."" -CBS4.com

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Elizabeth Edwards - John McCain - Government - Health Care - Politics - Drugs - Market - Occupations - Firefighting - Telecom - Arizona - 2008 Election - "Elizabeth Edwards On Health Care: ‘This Is Not A Cheap Shot; It Is Potentially Life And Death’." ... [By Elizabeth Edwards:] "[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain accused me of taking a “cheap shot” on “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” yesterday for noting that people with preexisting conditions, such as he and I have, would not be able to get health care under his plan –- and that he perhaps was not as sensitive to this problem as he should be since he has been in government health care his whole life." ... "[Arizona Senator] Sen. McCain noted that he was not receiving government health care for the six years he was in captivity. That is true. But it has nothing to do with my point — which is that the problem with Sen. McCain’s health care plan is not how it affects us –- but how it affects the tens of millions of Americans with preexisting conditions who, unlike Sen. McCain and myself, do not have the resources to pay for quality health care." ... "That is not a cheap shot, it is a potentially life and death question for tens of million of Americans. And it is a question Sen. McCain must address." ... "McCain’s health care plan is centered around the idea that we’d be better off if more Americans bought health coverage on their own, rather than receiving it through a job or government program. But maybe since he has never purchased insurance in the individual market, he does not know the challenge it presents for Americans with preexisting conditions." ... "A recent study showed that nearly nine out of every ten people seeking individual coverage on the private insurance market never got it. Insurers will disqualify you for just taking certain medicines because of the possibility of future costs, including common drugs as Lipitor, Zocor, Nexium, and Advair. People who have had cancer are denied coverage and those who get cancer run the risk of simply being dropped by their insurer for any excuse that can be found. And insurers make it a practice to deny coverage to individuals in high risk occupations, such as firefighting, lumber work, telecom installation, and pretty much anything more risky than working in an office." -By Elizabeth Edwards -ThinkProgress.org /Wonk Room 

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Barack Obama - United States - Social Security - Health Care - Housing - Markets - Public Schools - Poverty - Race - Global- Climate - Law - Politics- 2008 Election - "[Robert Reich:] Obama for President." ... "I believe that Barack Obama should be elected President of the United States." ... "Although Hillary Clinton has offered solid and sensible policy proposals, Obama's strike me as even more so. His plans for reforming Social Security and health care have a better chance of succeeding. His approaches to the housing crisis and the failures of our financial markets are sounder than hers. His ideas for improving our public schools and confronting the problems of poverty and inequality are more coherent and compelling. He has put forward the more enlightened foreign policy and the more thoughtful plan for controlling global warming." ... "He also presents the best chance of creating a new politics in which citizens become active participants rather than cynical spectators. He has energized many who had given up on politics. He has engaged young people to an extent not seen in decades. He has spoken about the most difficult problems our society faces, such as race, without spinning or simplifying. He has rightly identified the armies of lawyers and lobbyists that have commandeered our democracy, and pointed the way toward taking it back." ... "Finally, he offers the best hope of transcending the boundaries of class, race, and nationality that have divided us. His life history exemplifies this, as do his writings and his record of public service. For these same reasons, he offers the best possibility of restoring America's moral authority in the world." -By Robert Reich 

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Mental- Health - PTSD - US - Iraq - Afghanistan - Military - "Nearly 1 In 5 Vets Reports Mental Problems: Study: 300,000 U.S. Troops Suffering From Depression, PTSD; 320,000 Have Brain Injuries." ... "The Department of Veterans Affairs said this month that its records show about 120,000 who served in the two wars [Iraq and Afghanistan] and are no longer in the military have been diagnosed with mental health problems. Of those, approximately 60,000 are suffering from PTSD, the VA said." ... "In December, CBS News correspondent Kimberly Dozier reported that veterans' advocates say symptoms of PTSD - from substance-abuse to rage to suicidal depression - are misdiagnosed or blamed on the troops themselves." ... "Veterans Affairs is responsible for care of service members after they have left the service, while the Defense Department covers active duty and reservist needs." -AP via -CBSNews 

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Brain - Health - PTSD - Science - Money - Opinion - US - Iraq - Afghanistan - Military - "One In Five Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans Suffer from PTSD or Major Depression." ... "Nearly 20 percent of military service members who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan — 300,000 in all — report symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder or major depression, yet only slightly more than half have sought treatment, according to a new RAND Corporation study." ... "In addition, researchers found about 19 percent of returning service members report that they experienced a possible traumatic brain injury while deployed, with 7 percent reporting both a probable brain injury and current PTSD or major depression." ... "Many service members said they do not seek treatment for psychological illnesses because they fear it will harm their careers. But even among those who do seek help for PTSD or major depression, only about half receive treatment that researchers consider "minimally adequate" for their illnesses." ... "In the first analysis of its kind, researchers estimate that PTSD and depression among returning service members will cost the nation as much as $6.2 billion in the two years following deployment — an amount that includes both direct medical care and costs for lost productivity and suicide. Investing in more high-quality treatment could save close to $2 billion within two years by substantially reducing those indirect costs, the 500-page study concludes." ... ""There is a major health crisis facing those men and women who have served our nation in Iraq and Afghanistan," said Terri Tanielian, the project's co-leader and a researcher at RAND, a nonprofit research organization. "Unless they receive appropriate and effective care for these mental health conditions, there will be long-term consequences for them and for the nation. Unfortunately, we found there are many barriers preventing them from getting the high-quality treatment they need."" ... "The findings are from the first large-scale, nongovernmental assessment of the psychological and cognitive needs of military service members who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan over the past six years. The RAND study is the first to comprehensively assess the current needs of returned service members from all branches of the military." ... "Researchers concluded that a major national effort is needed to expand and improve the capacity of the mental health system to provide effective care to service members and veterans. The effort must include the military, veteran and civilian health care systems, and should focus on training more providers to use high-quality, evidence-based treatment methods and encouraging service members and veterans to seek needed care." ... "Rates of PTSD and major depression were highest among Army soldiers and Marines, and among service members who were no longer on active duty (people in the reserves and those who had been discharged or retired from the military). Women, Hispanics and enlisted personnel all were more likely to report symptoms of PTSD and major depressions, but the single best predictor of PTSD and depression was exposure to combat trauma while deployed." ... "Researchers found many treatment gaps exist for those with PTSD and depression. Just 53 percent of service members with PTSD or depression sought help from a provider over the past year, and of those who sought care, roughly half got minimally adequate treatment." ... ""If PTSD and depression go untreated or are under treated, there is a cascading set of consequences," Jaycox said. "Drug use, suicide, marital problems and unemployment are some of the consequences. There will be a bigger societal impact if these service members go untreated. The consequences are not good for the individuals or society in general."" ... "Service members report many reasons for not seeking treatment. Many are worried about the side effects of medication or believe that family and friends can provide more help than a mental health professional. Even more reported that they worried seeking care might damage their career or cause their peers to lose confidence in their abilities." ... "The RAND report recommends the military create a system that would allow service members to receive mental health services confidentially in order to ease concerns about negative career repercussions." ... ""We need to remove the institutional cultural barriers that discourage soldiers from seeking care," Tanielian said. "Just because someone is getting mental health care does not mean that they are not able to do their job. Seeking mental health treatment should be seen as a sign of strength and interest in getting better, not a weakness. People need to get help as early as possible, not only once their symptoms become severe and disabling."" ... "Researchers also found an urgent need to train more mental health providers throughout the U.S. health care system on delivering evidence-based treatments to service members and veterans. While many opportunities for treatment exist for active-duty personnel, there is no system in place to monitor the quality of those services to ensure they are getting the latest science-based forms of treatment." -Rand.org 

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Psychological - Health - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - Science - Monograph - US - Iraq - Afghanistan - Military - "Invisible Wounds of War: Psychological and Cognitive Injuries, Their Consequences, and Services to Assist Recovery." ... " Since October 2001, approximately 1.64 million U.S. troops have been deployed for Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF) in Afghanistan and Iraq. Early evidence suggests that the psychological toll of these deployments — many involving prolonged exposure to combat-related stress over multiple rotations — may be disproportionately high compared with the physical injuries of combat. In the face of mounting public concern over post-deployment health care issues confronting OEF/OIF veterans, several task forces, independent review groups, and a Presidential Commission have been convened to examine the care of the war wounded and make recommendations. Concerns have been most recently centered on two combat-related injuries in particular: post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury. With the increasing incidence of suicide and suicide attempts among returning veterans, concern about depression is also on the rise." ... " The study discussed in this monograph focuses on post-traumatic stress disorder, major depression, and traumatic brain injury, not only because of current high-level policy interest but also because, unlike the physical wounds of war, these conditions are often invisible to the eye, remaining invisible to other servicemembers, family members, and society in general. All three conditions affect mood, thoughts, and behavior; yet these wounds often go unrecognized and unacknowledged. The effect of traumatic brain injury is still poorly understood, leaving a large gap in knowledge related to how extensive the problem is or how to address it." ... [full 499 page monograph available at Rand] "Not only is a higher proportion of the armed forces being deployed,but deployments have been longer,redeployment to combat has been common,and breaks between deployments have been infrequent (Hosek,Kavanagh,and Miller,2006). At the same time,episodes of intense combat notwithstanding,these operations have employed smaller forces and have produced casualty rates of killed or wounded that are historically lower than in earlier prolonged wars,such as Vietnam and Korea.Advances in both medical technology and body armor mean that more servicemembers are surviving experiences that would have led to death in prior wars (Regan,2004;Warden,2006). However,casualties of a different kind are beginning to emerge —invisible wounds,such as mental health conditions and cognitive impairments resulting from deployment experiences.These deployment experiences may include multiple deployments per individual service member and exposure to di ?cult threats,such as improvised explosive devices (IEDs)." ... "As with safeguarding physical health,safeguarding mental health is an integral component of the United States ’ national responsibilities to recruit,,prepare,and sustain a military force and to address Service-connected injuries and disabilities.But safeguarding mental health is also critical for compensating and honoring those who have served our nation." -Edited by Terri Tanielian and Lisa H. Jaycox -Rand.org

Emergency - Economy - Politics - Haiti - Bangladesh - Egypt - United States - World - Poor - People - Historical -  - Children - Health - Mind - "Riots, instability spread as food prices skyrocket." ... "Riots from Haiti to Bangladesh to Egypt over the soaring costs of basic foods have brought the issue to a boiling point and catapulted it to the forefront of the world's attention, the head of an agency focused on global development said Monday." ... ""This is the world's big story," said Jeffrey Sachs, director of Columbia University's Earth Institute." ... ""The finance ministers were in shock, almost in panic this weekend," he said on CNN's "American Morning," in a reference to top economic officials who gathered in Washington. "There are riots all over the world in the poor countries ... and, of course, our own poor are feeling it in the United States."" ... "World Bank President Robert Zoellick has said the surging costs could mean "seven lost years" in the fight against worldwide poverty." ... ""The international community must fill the at least $500 million food gap identified by the U.N.'s [United Nations] World Food Programme to meet emergency needs," he said. "Governments should be able to come up with this assistance and come up with it now."" ... ""In just two months," Zoellick said in his speech, "rice prices have skyrocketed to near historical levels, rising by around 75 percent globally and more in some markets, with more likely to come. In Bangladesh, a 2-kilogram bag of rice ... now consumes about half of the daily income of a poor family."" ... "The price of wheat has jumped 120 percent in the past year, he said -- meaning that the price of a loaf of bread has more than doubled in places where the poor spend as much as 75 percent of their income on food." ... ""This is not just about meals forgone today or about increasing social unrest. This is about lost learning potential for children and adults in the future, stunted intellectual and physical growth," Zoellick said." -CNN 

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John McCain - Criminal - Abortion - Women - Medical - Law - Parent- Federal - Money - Gay - US - Iraq - Military - 2008 Election - "McCain: More Conservative Than His Image." ... "The likely Republican presidential nominee is much more conservative than voters appear to realize. [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate John] McCain leans to the right on issue after issue, not just on the Iraq war but also on abortion, gay rights, gun control and other issues that matter to his party's social conservatives." ... "_Abortion. McCain promises to appoint judges who, in the mold of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, are likely to limit the reach of the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion. McCain's record is not spotless on abortion: He said once, in 1999, that Roe v. Wade should not be overturned." ... "But that was an aberration in an otherwise unbroken record of opposing abortion rights for women. McCain voted repeatedly to ban federal funding for abortion; he once voted against Medicaid funds for abortion even in cases of rape or incest." ... "He voted to require parental consent for abortion and voted to criminalize anyone but a parent crossing state lines with a minor to help get an abortion. McCain also supported a ban preventing women in the military from getting abortions with their own money at overseas military hospitals." ... ""I am pro-life and an advocate for the rights of man everywhere in the world," McCain told the Conservative Political Action Conference in February. "Because to be denied liberty is an offense to nature and nature's Creator."" (1, 2) -By Libby Quaid -AP via -WTOPnews.com

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Military - Mental - Health - People - US - Iraq - "Military Personnel Account for 20% of U.S. Suicides (Update2)." ... "Current and former military personnel accounted for about 20 percent of U.S. suicides in 2005, according to a government study." ... "About 1,821 current or former soldiers committed suicide in 16 states in 2005, the most recent year of available data, according to the report published today by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Almost half were diagnosed with depression and a third left suicide notes." ... "A rise in suicides among soldiers serving in the military has alarmed Pentagon planners and members of Congress as the war in Iraq enters its sixth year. An Army reportproduced last year found the rate of suicides among soldiers deployed in Iraq from 2003 to 2006 was almost 40 percent higher than the military's average suicide rate. An update of the Army's Mental Health Advisory Team report released in March found suicide rates for soldiers in 2007 remained ``above normal Army rates.''" ... "``The frequency and the length of deployments are stretching people to the limit and they can't tolerate it,'' Charles Figley, a psychologist who directs the Traumatology Institute at Florida State University, said in a telephone interview today. ``They're taking risks, taking alcohol and taking their own lives because they want to extinguish their pain.'' " (1, 2) -By Tom Randall and Rob Waters -Bloomberg 

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Food - Safety - History - "U.S. Hasn't Put Lid on Food Poisonings: Nation's Food Safety Not Improving, According to Latest CDC [Centers for Disease Control] Report That Shows No Drop in Food Poisoning Cases." ... "Efforts to improve U.S. [United States] food safety have not yet borne fruit, a new CDC report shows." ... "The CDC's Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network, called FoodNet, began tracking cases of food-borne illnesses in 1996 in 10 U.S. states. The idea is to track infection trends for the 10 most important causes of food poisoning." ... "The 2007 FoodNet numbers are here." ... "... [T]here has been no significant improvement since 2004. Compared with 2004-2006, there's been no real decline in cases of food-borne disease caused by campylobacter, listeria, salmonella, shigella, E. coli, vibrio, or yersinia bacteria." ... "Cases of infection with the waterborne parasite cryptosporidium went up...[.]" ... "2007 was also a year in which there were several widespread outbreaks of salmonella infection, including outbreaks from contaminated peanut butter, frozen pot pies, puffed vegetable snacks, and live pet turtles." -By Daniel J. DeNoon -WebMD.com 

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John McCain - Health - History - Senior - Politics - Parents - Women - Education - Science - Money - 2008 Election - WVa - "Dean: McCain's Age Worries Voters: DNC Chair Cites Health, 'Old-Fashioned' Views." ... "Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean said Thursday that swing voters participating in focus groups commissioned by the D.N.C. [Democratic National Committee] bring up [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain's age unprompted." ... ""We didn't bring it up, but they volunteered it," said Dean who explained that voters have two concerns about McCain's age. "One was a health concern, the other was, and this is really interesting . . . that his views are old-fashioned."" ... "At the age of 72, McCain would be the oldest newly elected president in U.S. [United States] history if inaugurated in 2009." ... "Referring to what Dean characterized as the party's most conservative focus group in Charleston, W. Va. [West Virginia], the DNC chairman said "the women in that group were shocked that [McCain] believed health insurance shouldn't cover birth control pills and they were shocked about his belief in abstinence only education."" (1, 2) -By Teddy Davis and Mike Elmore -ABCNEWS.com 

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Water - Transportation - Construction - Technology - History - Environmental - Health - Politics - Government - New York - "US Water Pipelines Are Breaking." ... "The infrastructure that delivers water to the nation's cities is badly aging and in need of repairs." ... "The Environmental Protection Agency says utilities will need to invest more than $277 billion over the next two decades on repairs and improvements to drinking water systems. Water industry engineers put the figure drastically higher, at about $480 billion." ... "Water utilities, largely managed by city governments, have never faced improvements of this magnitude before. And customers will have to bear the majority of the cost through rate increases, according to the American Water Works Association, an industry group." ... "Engineers say this is a crucial era for the nation's water systems, especially in older cities like New York [City, New York], where some pipes and tunnels were built in the 1800s and are now nearing the end of their life expectancies." ... ""Our generation hasn't experienced anything like this. We weren't around when the infrastructure was being built," said Greg Kail, spokesman for the water industry group. "We didn't pay for the pipes to be put in the ground, but we sure benefited from the improvements to public health that came from it."" ... "Cities have a hard time convincing residents that they should spend money on something they never see, buried hundreds of feet underground. And often, public officials pawn the responsibility off on the next person elected, Kail said." -By Colleen Long -AP via -SeattleTimes

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John Ashcroft - Criminal - Corporate - Government- Secret - Accounting - Politics - Medical - Home - "Leniency for big corporations in the U.S.." ... "Instead, many companies, from boutique outfits to immense corporations like American Express, have avoided the cost and stigma of defending themselves against criminal charges with a so-called deferred prosecution agreement, which allows the government to collect fines and appoint an outside monitor to impose internal reforms without going through a trial. In many cases, the name of the monitor and the details of the agreement are kept secret." ... "Deferred prosecutions have become a favorite tool of the [Republican President] Bush administration. But some legal experts now wonder if the policy shift has led companies, in particular financial institutions now under investigation for their roles in the subprime [home] mortgage debacle, to test the limits of corporate anti-fraud laws." ... "Some lawyers suggest that companies may be willing to take more risks because they know that, if they are caught, the chances of getting a deferred prosecution are good." ... "Deferred prosecution agreements, or DPAs, have become controversial because of a medical supply company's agreement to pay up to $52 million to the consulting firm of John Ashcroft, the former attorney general, as an outside monitor to avoid criminal prosecution." ... "Beyond financial crimes, deferred agreements have been used in lieu of prosecuting companies - though not individuals - for export control violations, obscenity violations, Medicare and Medicaid fraud, kickbacks and environmental violations." (1, 2) -By Eric Lichtblau -NYTimes via -IHT.com 

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Hillary Clinton - Barack Obama - John Edwards - John McCain - Health - 2008 Election - New York - Illinois - Ariz - "Elizabeth Edwards Backs Clinton Health Care Plan: Edwards Declines to Endorse Either Democrat, but Likes Idea of 'Dream Ticket'." ... "Elizabeth Edwards, wife of former [2008 Election] presidential candidate John Edwards, remains unwilling to endorse either of the two remaining Democratic contenders, but the health care advocate told ABC News she preferred [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and New York Senator Hillary] Sen. Clinton's health plan to [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Illinois Senator Barack] Sen. Obama's." ... "In an interview with "Good Morning America's" Robin Roberts, airing Wednesday, Edwards — who recently began work as a senior fellow at the liberal think tank, the Center for American Progress — said she believed Clinton's health care plan was more inclusive than that of the Illinois senator." ... ""You need that universality in order to get the cost savings ... I just have more confidence in Sen. Clinton's policy than Sen. Obama's on this particular issue," she said." ... "She [Elizabeth Edwards] argued that neither she, who has breast cancer, nor [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator John] McCain, R-Ariz., who had skin cancer in the past, could obtain health insurance under his health care proposal." ... "Edwards said she liked the idea of Clinton and Obama running together on a so-called dream ticket, and discounted the idea of her husband, John, accepting a place as either candidate's running mate." ... ""[Clinton and Obama] are the two strongest Democrats running. It's hard not to believe that together they are stronger than they would be apart."" (1, 2) -By Russell Goldman -ABCNEWS.com 

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Drug - Safety - Investigation - Wis - US - China - Animals - Corporation - "Reports of deaths linked to blood-thinner heparin triple." .. "The number of reports of deaths linked to all versions of the blood thinner heparin -- including a tainted version of the drug sold by Baxter International Inc. [Incorporated] -- have tripled, according to a new report released Tuesday by the U.S. [United States] Food and Drug Administration." .. "The FDA [Food and Drug Administration] said there are now 62 reports of deaths of patients who experienced one or more allergic reactions and who were infused with heparin from Jan. [January] 1, 2007 through the end of last month, the agency said. That compares to just 19 deaths from an earlier FDA report." .. "Baxter recalled the drug in February after a spike in severe allergic reactions in patients. Further investigation revealed a significant amount of an unidentified foreign substance contaminated batches of heparin." .. "The suspected ingredient originated at a Changzhou, China, plant owned by Scientific Protein Laboratories, a Baxter supplier based in Waunakee, Wis. [Wisconsin] Last month the FDA disclosed that low-cost animal cartilage made its way into Baxter's heparin but has not determined a specific link to allergic reactions." -By Bruce Japsen -ChicagoTribune 

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US - Iraq - Military - Mental - Health - Politics - "Army Worried by Rising Stress of Return Tours to Iraq." ... "Army leaders are expressing increased alarm about the mental health of soldiers who would be sent back to the front again and again under plans that call for troop numbers to be sustained at high levels in Iraq for this year and beyond." ... "Among combat troops sent to Iraq for the third or fourth time, more than one in four show signs of anxiety, depression or acute stress, according to an official Army survey of soldiers’ mental health." ... "The stress of long and multiple deployments to Iraq is just one of the concerns being voiced by senior military officers in Washington as [General] Gen. David H. Petraeus, the senior Iraq commander, prepares to tell Congress this week that he is not ready to endorse any drawdowns beyond those already scheduled through July." ... "[Republican] President Bush has signaled that he will endorse General Petraeus’s recommendation, a decision that will leave close to 140,000 American troops in Iraq at least through the summer. But in a meeting with Mr. Bush late last month in advance of General Petraeus’s testimony, the Joint Chiefs of Staff expressed deep concern about stress on the force, senior Defense Department and military officials said." ... "Among the 513,000 active-duty soldiers who have served in Iraq since the invasion of 2003, more than 197,000 have deployed more than once, and more than 53,000 have deployed three or more times, according to a separate set of statistics provided this week by Army personnel officers." -By Thom Shanker -NYTimes

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Medical - Database - Abortion - Science - Literature - Family - Education - Government- Search Engine - Funding - Maryland - US - International - Politics - "U.S. Funded Health Search Engine Blocks 'Abortion'." ... "A U.S. [United States] government-funded medical information site that bills itself as the world's largest database on reproductive health has quietly begun to block searches on the word "abortion," concealing nearly 25,000 search results." ... "Called Popline, the search site is run by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Maryland. It's funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, the federal office in charge of providing foreign aid, including health care funding, to developing nations." ... "The massive database indexes a broad range of reproductive health literature, including titles like "Previous abortion and the risk of low birth weight and preterm births," and "Abortion in the United States: Incidence and access to services, 2005."" ... "But on Thursday, a search on "abortion" was producing only the message "No records found by latest query."" ... "Stephen Goldstein, a spokesman for Johns Hopkins, said he wasn't aware of the censorship, and couldn't immediately comment. " -By Sarah Lai Stirland -Wired 

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John McCain - Edwards - Consumer - Laws - Politics - Arizona - Women - 2008 Election - "McCain's health plan fails her test: Neither Elizabeth Edwards, whose cancer is incurable, nor the presumptive Republican presidential nominee would be covered by his policy, she asserts." ... "Elizabeth Edwards, the wife of former [2008 Election] Democratic presidential contender John Edwards, said she and [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain have one thing in common: "Neither one of us would be covered by his health policy."" ... "Edwards lodged her criticism of the presumptive Republican presidential nominee's proposal Saturday at the annual meeting of the Assn. [Association] of Health Care Journalists." ... "Under McCain's plan, insurance companies "wouldn't have to cover preexisting conditions like melanoma and breast cancer," she said." ... "McCain has been treated for melanoma, the most serious type of skin malignancy. Edwards in 2004 was diagnosed with breast cancer, and announced a year ago that it had returned and spread into her bones, meaning it no longer could be cured." ... "His [McCain's health] plan would make it difficult for people with preexisting conditions, but who aren't covered by a government- or job-sponsored plan, to buy individual coverage, Edwards said." ... "Cancer survivors are routinely denied insurance when they try to purchase it as individuals, health experts say." ... "Edwards also criticized McCain's proposal because it would allow companies to sell health insurance across state lines." ... ""... Edwards said the plan would allow insurers to move their headquarters to states in which consumer protection laws are weak." -By Rong-Gong Lin II -LAtimes 

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John Edwards - Barack Obama - Hillary Clinton - Poverty - Health Care - Economics - Politics - North Carolina - 2008 Election - "Who’ll Stop the Pain?" ... "In the days after [former 2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] John Edwards’s withdrawal from the Democratic race, the political world expected his endorsement of [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Barack Obama would be forthcoming tout de suite." ... "But now two months have passed since Edwards dropped out—tempus fugit!—and still no endorsement. Why? According to a Democratic strategist unaligned with any campaign but with knowledge of the situation gleaned from all three camps, the answer is simple: Obama blew it. Speaking to Edwards on the day he exited the race, Obama came across as glib and aloof. His response to Edwards’s imprecations that he make poverty a central part of his agenda was shallow, perfunctory, pat. [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate Hillary] Clinton, by contrast, engaged Edwards in a lengthy policy discussion. Her affect was solicitous and respectful. When Clinton met Edwards face-to-face in North Carolina ten days later, her approach continued to impress; she even made headway with Elizabeth [Edwards, John Edwards's wife]. Whereas in his Edwards sit-down, Obama dug himself in deeper, getting into a fight with Elizabeth about health care, insisting that his plan is universal (a position she considers a crock), high-handedly criticizing Clinton’s plan (and by extension Edwards’s) for its insurance mandate." -By John Heilemann -NYMag.com 

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American - Workers - Health - Safety - Lawsuit - KBR Halliburton - Corporation - Government - History- Texas - Oil - Construction - Science - Iraq - Cayman Islands - Politics - "Iraq contractor fights suit over toxic exposure: Tax loophole may subject construction firm to damages." ... "When the American team arrived in Iraq in the summer of 2003 to repair the Qarmat Ali water injection plant, supervisors told them the orange, sand-like substance strewn around the looted facility was just a "mild irritant," workers recall." ... "The workers got it on their hands and clothing every day while racing for 2 1/2 months to meet a deadline to get the plant, a crucial part of Iraq's oil infrastructure, up and running." ... "But the chemical turned out to be sodium dichromate, a substance so dangerous that even limited exposure greatly increases the risk of cancer. Soon, many of the 22 Americans and 100-plus Iraqis began to complain of nosebleeds, ulcers, and shortness of breath. Within weeks, nearly 60 percent exhibited symptoms of exposure, according to the minutes of a meeting of project managers from KBR, the Houston[Texas]-based construction company in charge of the repairs." ... "Now, nine Americans are accusing KBR, then a subsidiary of the oil conglomerate Halliburton, of knowingly exposing them to the deadly substance and failing to provide them with the protective equipment needed to keep them safe." ... "But the workers, like all employees injured in Iraq, face an uphill struggle in their quest for damages. Under a World War II-era federal workers compensation law, employers are generally protected from employee lawsuits, except in rare cases in which it can be proven that the company intentionally harmed its employees or committed outright fraud." ... "KBR is citing the law, called the Defense Base Act, as grounds to reject the workers' request for damages." ... "But the company's own actions have undermined its case: To avoid payroll taxes for its American employees, KBR hired the workers through two subsidiaries registered in the Cayman Islands, part of a strategy that has allowed KBR to dodge hundreds of millions of dollars in Social Security and Medicare taxes." ... "That gives the workers' lawyer, Mike Doyle of Houston, a chance to argue to an arbitration board that KBR is not an employer protected by federal law, but a third-party that can be sued." -By Farah Stockman -Boston/Globe 

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WalMart - Employee - Health - Money - "Brain-damaged woman at center of Wal-Mart suit." ... "[Debbie]  Shank suffered severe brain damage after a traffic accident nearly eight years ago that robbed her of much of her short-term memory and left her in a wheelchair and living in a nursing home." ... "It was the beginning of a series of battles -- both personal and legal -- that loomed for Shank and her family. One of their biggest was with Wal-Mart's health plan." ... "Eight years ago, Shank was stocking shelves for the retail giant and signed up for Wal-Mart's health and benefits plan." ... "Two years after the accident, Shank and her husband, Jim, were awarded about $1 million in a lawsuit against the trucking company involved in the crash. After legal fees were paid, $417,000 was placed in a trust to pay for Debbie Shank's long-term care." ... "Wal-Mart had paid out about $470,000 for Shank's medical expenses and later sued for the same amount. However, the court ruled it can only recoup what is left in the family's trust." ... "The Shanks didn't notice in the fine print of Wal-Mart's health plan policy that the company has the right to recoup medical expenses if an employee collects damages in a lawsuit." ... "In 2007, the retail giant reported net sales in the third quarter of $90 billion." -CNN 

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John McCain - Rod Parsley - Racist - Politics - Government - Abortion - Law - Women - Parents - Health - Arizona - Ohio - 2008 Election - "McCain Spiritual Guide Accused Gov't Of Enabling 'Black Genocide'." ... "Reverend Rod Parsley of the World Harvest Church of Columbus, Ohio -- whom [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain hails as a spiritual adviser -- has suggested on several occasions that the U.S. [United States] government was complicit in facilitating black genocide." ... "In speeches that have gone largely unnoticed, Parsley (who is white) compares Planned Parenthood, the reproductive care and family planning group, to the Klu Klux Klan and Nazis, and describes the American government as enablers of murder for supporting the organization." ... ""If I were call for the sterilization or the elimination of an entire segment of society, I'd be labeled a racists or a murderer, or at very best a Nazi," says Parsley. "That every single year, millions of our tax dollars are funding a national organization built upon that very goal -- their target: African Americans. That's right, the death toll: nearly fifteen hundred African Americans a day. The shocking truth of black genocide."" ... "He goes on." ... ""Right now our own government is allowing organizations like Planned Parenthood to legally take the innocent lives of precious baby girls and baby boys and even footing the bill for it all with our tax dollars, turning every single one of us into accessories to murder," he says. "You know who their biggest fans must be, that must be the Klu Klux Klan, because the woman who founded this organization detested black people.... African Americans were number one on Margaret Sanger's list. So this 'Lady MacDeath,' as I like to call her, studied the works of Englishman Thomas Robert Malthus, and embraced his plan of eugenics."" ... "However, there are issues with Parsley's stats. While black populations in America do have higher abortion rates than white populations, there are far more abortions among white mothers than among blacks." -By Sam Stein -HuffingtonPost.com

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Barack Obama - Christian - American - Race - Politics - History - 2008 Election - Israel - Military - Terrorism - Economy - Health-Care - Climate - Housing - Poor - People - Scholarships - Family - "A More Perfect Union." ... [Partial text of Barack Obama's speech "A More Perfect Union". Read full text of speech or Watch speech.] "[Barack Obama:] I have already condemned, in unequivocal terms, the statements of Reverend Wright that have caused such controversy. For some, nagging questions remain. Did I know him to be an occasionally fierce critic of American domestic and foreign policy? Of course. Did I ever hear him make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in church? Yes. Did I strongly disagree with many of his political views? Absolutely - just as I'm sure many of you have heard remarks from your pastors, priests, or rabbis with which you strongly disagreed." ... "But the remarks that have caused this recent firestorm weren't simply controversial. They weren't simply a religious leader's effort to speak out against perceived injustice. Instead, they expressed a profoundly distorted view of this country - a view that sees white racism as endemic, and that elevates what is wrong with America above all that we know is right with America; a view that sees the conflicts in the Middle East as rooted primarily in the actions of stalwart allies like Israel, instead of emanating from the perverse and hateful ideologies of radical Islam." ... "As such, Reverend Wright's comments were not only wrong but divisive, divisive at a time when we need unity; racially charged at a time when we need to come together to solve a set of monumental problems - two wars, a terrorist threat, a falling economy, a chronic health care crisis and potentially devastating climate change; problems that are neither black or white or Latino or Asian, but rather problems that confront us all." ... "Given my background, my politics, and my professed values and ideals, there will no doubt be those for whom my statements of condemnation are not enough. Why associate myself with Reverend Wright in the first place, they may ask? Why not join another church? And I confess that if all that I knew of Reverend Wright were the snippets of those sermons that have run in an endless loop on the television and You Tube, or if Trinity United Church of Christ conformed to the caricatures being peddled by some commentators, there is no doubt that I would react in much the same way[.]" ... "But the truth is, that isn't all that I know of the man. The man I met more than twenty years ago is a man who helped introduce me to my Christian faith, a man who spoke to me about our obligations to love one another; to care for the sick and lift up the poor. He is a man who served his country as a U.S. Marine; who has studied and lectured at some of the finest universities and seminaries in the country, and who for over thirty years led a church that serves the community by doing God's work here on Earth - by housing the homeless, ministering to the needy, providing day care services and scholarships and prison ministries, and reaching out to those suffering from HIV/AIDS." ... "In my first book, Dreams From My Father, I described the experience of my first service at Trinity:" ... ""People began to shout, to rise from their seats and clap and cry out, a forceful wind carrying the reverend's voice up into the rafters....And in that single note - hope! - I heard something else; at the foot of that cross, inside the thousands of churches across the city, I imagined the stories of ordinary black people merging with the stories of David and Goliath, Moses and Pharaoh, the Christians in the lion's den, Ezekiel's field of dry bones. Those stories - of survival, and freedom, and hope - became our story, my story; the blood that had spilled was our blood, the tears our tears; until this black church, on this bright day, seemed once more a vessel carrying the story of a people into future generations and into a larger world. Our trials and triumphs became at once unique and universal, black and more than black; in chronicling our journey, the stories and songs gave us a means to reclaim memories that we didn't need to feel shame about...memories that all people might study and cherish - and with which we could start to rebuild."" ... "That has been my experience at Trinity. Like other predominantly black churches across the country, Trinity embodies the black community in its entirety - the doctor and the welfare mom, the model student and the former gang-banger. Like other black churches, Trinity's services are full of raucous laughter and sometimes bawdy humor. They are full of dancing, clapping, screaming and shouting that may seem jarring to the untrained ear. The church contains in full the kindness and cruelty, the fierce intelligence and the shocking ignorance, the struggles and successes, the love and yes, the bitterness and bias that make up the black experience in America." ... "And this helps explain, perhaps, my relationship with Reverend Wright. As imperfect as he may be, he has been like family to me. He strengthened my faith, officiated my wedding, and baptized my children. Not once in my conversations with him have I heard him talk about any ethnic group in derogatory terms, or treat whites with whom he interacted with anything but courtesy and respect. He contains within him the contradictions - the good and the bad - of the community that he has served diligently for so many years." -By BarackObama.com -read full text of Barack Obama's speech "A More Perfect Union" via HavenWorks.com

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Political - Government - Environmental - Air - Science - Health - People - Farm - Land - Animals - Clean Air Act - Law - Industry - Motor Vehicles - "Ozone Rules Weakened at Bush's Behest: EPA Scrambles To Justify Action." ... "The Environmental Protection Agency weakened one part of its new limits on smog-forming ozone after an unusual last-minute intervention by [Republican] President Bush, according to documents released by the EPA." ... "EPA officials initially tried to set a lower seasonal limit on ozone to protect wildlife, parks and farmland, as required under the law. While their proposal was less restrictive than what the EPA's scientific advisers had proposed, Bush overruled EPA officials and on Tuesday ordered the agency to increase the limit [of allowable air pollution], according to the documents." ... ""It is unprecedented and an unlawful act of political interference for the president personally to override a decision that the Clean Air Act leaves exclusively to EPA's expert scientific judgment," said John Walke, clean-air director for the Natural Resources Defense Council." ... "The president's order prompted a scramble by administration officials to rewrite the regulations to avoid a conflict with past EPA statements on the harm caused by ozone." ... "Solicitor General Paul D. Clement warned administration officials late Tuesday night that the rules contradicted the EPA's past submissions to the Supreme Court, according to sources familiar with the conversation. As a consequence, administration lawyers hustled to craft new legal justifications for the weakened standard." ... "Ozone, which is formed when pollutants such as nitrogen oxides and other chemical compounds released by industry and motor vehicles are exposed to sunlight, is linked to an array of heart and respiratory illnesses." (1, 2) -By Juliet Eilperin -WashingtonPost

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Barack Obama - Religious - Justice - Homeless - Poor - Health - Illinois - Politics - 2008 Election - "On My Faith and My Church." [By Barack Obama, 2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate:] ... "The pastor of my church, [Reverend] Rev. Jeremiah Wright, who recently preached his last sermon and is in the process of retiring, has touched off a firestorm over the last few days. He's drawn attention as the result of some inflammatory and appalling remarks he made about our country, our politics, and my political opponents." ... "Let me say at the outset that I vehemently disagree and strongly condemn the statements that have been the subject of this controversy. I categorically denounce any statement that disparages our great country or serves to divide us from our allies. I also believe that words that degrade individuals have no place in our public dialogue, whether it's on the campaign stump or in the pulpit. In sum, I reject outright the statements by Rev. Wright that are at issue." ... "Because these particular statements by Rev. Wright are so contrary to my own life and beliefs, a number of people have legitimately raised questions about the nature of my relationship with Rev. Wright and my membership in the church. Let me therefore provide some context." ... "As I have written about in my books, I first joined Trinity United Church of Christ nearly twenty years ago. I knew Rev. Wright as someone who served this nation with honor as a United States Marine, as a respected biblical scholar, and as someone who taught or lectured at seminaries across the country, from Union Theological Seminary to the University of Chicago [Chicago, Illinois]. He also led a diverse congregation that was and still is a pillar of the South Side and the entire city of Chicago. It's a congregation that does not merely preach social justice but acts it out each day, through ministries ranging from housing the homeless to reaching out to those with HIV/AIDS." ... "Most importantly, Rev. Wright preached the gospel of Jesus, a gospel on which I base my life. In other words, he has never been my political advisor; he's been my pastor. And the sermons I heard him preach always related to our obligation to love God and one another, to work on behalf of the poor, and to seek justice at every turn." ... "The statements that Rev. Wright made that are the cause of this controversy were not statements I personally heard him preach while I sat in the pews of Trinity or heard him utter in private conversation. When these statements first came to my attention, it was at the beginning of my presidential campaign. I made it clear at the time that I strongly condemned his comments. But because Rev. Wright was on the verge of retirement, and because of my strong links to the Trinity faith community, where I married my wife and where my daughters were baptized, I did not think it appropriate to leave the church." ... "Let me repeat what I've said earlier. All of the statements that have been the subject of controversy are ones that I vehemently condemn. They in no way reflect my attitudes and directly contradict my profound love for this country." -By Barack Obama -HuffingtonPost.com

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Hillary Clinton - Children - Healthcare - Legislation - History - 2008 Election - Mothers - Iowa - Massachusetts - Utah - "Clinton role in health program disputed." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Hillary Clinton, who has frequently described herself on the campaign trail as playing a pivotal role in forging a children's health insurance plan, had little to do with crafting the landmark legislation or ushering it through Congress, according to several lawmakers, staffers, and healthcare advocates involved in the issue." ... "In campaign speeches, Clinton describes the State Children's Health Insurance Program, or SCHIP, as an initiative "I helped to start." Addressing Iowa voters in November, Clinton said, "in 1997, I joined forces with members of Congress and we passed the State Children's Health Insurance Program." Clinton regularly cites the number of children in each state who are covered by the program, and mothers of sick children have appeared at Clinton campaign rallies to thank her." ... "But the Clinton White House, while supportive of the idea of expanding children's health, fought the first SCHIP effort, spearheaded by Senators Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, and Orrin G. Hatch, Republican of Utah, because of fears that it would derail a bigger budget bill. And several current and former lawmakers and staff said Hillary Clinton had no role in helping to write the congressional legislation, which grew out of a similar program approved in Massachusetts in 1996." ... ""The White House wasn't for it. We really roughed them up" in trying to get it approved over the Clinton administration's objections, Hatch said in an interview. "She may have done some advocacy [privately] over at the White House, but I'm not aware of it."" ... ""I do like her," Hatch said of Hillary Clinton. "We all care about children. But does she deserve credit for SCHIP? No - Teddy does, but she doesn't."" -By Susan Milligan -BostonGlobe 

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Stephen L Johnson - Corporate - Government - Politics - Environmental - Air - Health - Science - Clean Air Act - Law - History - Vehicles - Manufacturing - Power Plants - Children - "EPA Tightens Pollution Standards: But Agency Ignored Advisers' Guidance." ... "The Environmental Protection Agency yesterday limited the allowable amount of pollution-forming ozone in the air to 75 parts per billion, a level significantly higher [meaning more polluting] than what the agency's scientific advisers had urged for this key component of unhealthy air pollution." ... "[Republican President Bush's Environmental Protection Agency] Administrator Stephen L. Johnson also said he would push Congress to rewrite the nearly 37-year-old Clean Air Act to allow regulators to take into consideration the cost and feasibility of controlling pollution when making decisions about air quality, something that is currently prohibited by the law. In 2001, the Supreme Court ruled that the government needed to base the ozone standard strictly on protecting public health, with no regard to cost." ... "The new pollution rules -- one of the most important environmental decisions facing the Bush administration in the president's final year in office -- will be a major factor in determining the quality of the air Americans will breathe for at least a decade. The standards, which are aimed at protecting both public health and welfare, are designed to limit the amount of nitrogen oxides and other chemical compounds released into the air by vehicles, manufacturing facilities and power plants. In sunlight, the pollutants form ozone." ... "Johnson said he did "what was required by the law and the recent scientific evidence," but his decision to set a lower but still less-restrictive limit than what the EPA's advisory committees had recommended sparked a backlash from Democratic lawmakers, public health advocates and his own independent advisers." ... "Nearly a year ago, EPA's Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee reiterated in writing that its members were "unanimous in recommending" that the agency set the standard no higher than 70 parts per billion (ppb) and to consider a limit as low as 60 ppb. EPA's Children's Health Protection Advisory Committee and public health advocates lobbied for the 60-ppb limit because children are more vulnerable to air pollution." ... "EPA and other scientists have shown that ozone has a direct impact on rates of heart and respiratory disease and resulting premature deaths. The agency calculates that the new standard of 75 ppb would prevent 1,300 to 3,500 premature deaths a year, whereas 65 ppb would avoid 3,000 to 9,200 deaths annually. " -By Juliet Eilperin -WashingtonPost

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Federal - Food - Safety - History - Agriculture - Animal - Corporation - Politics - California - "House grills meat packing chief: 'Downer' cow beef may have been consumed." ... "The president of the company that was the subject of the largest meat recall in U.S. history admitted Wednesday that "downer" cattle -- cows that cannot stand because of sickness or injury -- were slaughtered by his company and could have made it into the food supply." ... "Steve Mendell of California-based Westland/Hallmark Meat Packing Co. made the concession to the House Oversight and Investigations subcommittee after he was shown a video provided by the Humane Society of the United States that featured a downer cow being slaughtered in a kill box." ... "Under pressure from federal agriculture officials, the company recalled 143 million pounds of ground beef last month and laid off 220 workers." ... "Ailing cows are at greater risk of carrying E. coli, salmonella bacteria and the fatal neurological disorder known as mad cow disease." -By Whitney Blair Wyckoff -LAtimes  -ChicagoTribune 

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Water - Drugs - Human - Health - Environmental - Science - Investigation - Industry - Consumer - Safety - Federal - Law - Earth - Wildlife - California - New Jersey - Michigan - Ky - "Sex Hormones, Mood Stabilizers Found In Drinking Water Of 41 M Americans." ... "A vast array of pharmaceuticals _ including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones _ have been found in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans, an Associated Press investigation shows." ... "To be sure, the concentrations of these pharmaceuticals are tiny, measured in quantities of parts per billion or trillion, far below the levels of a medical dose. Also, utilities insist their water is safe." ... "But the presence of so many prescription drugs _ and over-the-counter medicines like acetaminophen and ibuprofen _ in so much of our drinking water is heightening worries among scientists of long-term consequences to human health." ... "In the course of a five-month inquiry, the AP discovered that drugs have been detected in the drinking water supplies of 24 major metropolitan areas _ from Southern California to Northern New Jersey, from Detroit [Michigan] to Louisville, Ky. [Kentucky.]" ... "How do the drugs get into the water?" ... "People take pills. Their bodies absorb some of the medication, but the rest of it passes through and is flushed down the toilet. The wastewater is treated before it is discharged into reservoirs, rivers or lakes. Then, some of the water is cleansed again at drinking water treatment plants and piped to consumers. But most treatments do not remove all drug residue." ... "And while researchers do not yet understand the exact risks from decades of persistent exposure to random combinations of low levels of pharmaceuticals, recent studies _ which have gone virtually unnoticed by the general public _ have found alarming effects on human cells and wildlife." ... "The federal government doesn't require any testing and hasn't set safety limits for drugs in water." ... "The AP's investigation also indicates that watersheds, the natural sources of most of the nation's water supply, also are contaminated." ... "Even users of bottled water and home filtration systems don't necessarily avoid exposure. Bottlers, some of which simply repackage tap water, do not typically treat or test for pharmaceuticals, according to the industry's main trade group. The same goes for the makers of home filtration systems." ... "Pharmaceuticals also permeate aquifers deep underground, source of 40 percent of the nation's water supply." -By Jeff Donn, Martha Mendoza, and Justin Pritchard -AssociatedPress via -HuffingtonPost.com

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Science - Military - Pills - History - San Diego - California - US - Iraq - Kuwait - "Gulf War Illness Strongly Linked to Chemical Exposure." ... "A new scientific review finds a strong association between exposure to certain chemicals and the Gulf War illness suffered by many veterans." ... "The class of chemicals, known as acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (AChEIs), are found in pesticides, nerve agents and in pills given to soldiers to protect against nerve agents. The review, which was conducted by researchers at the University of California, San Diego, looked at 115 papers on the topic." ... "Veterans of the 1990-1991 Persian Gulf War have a higher rate of "chronic multi-symptom health problems" than either non-deployed military personnel or those deployed in other regions. In fact, 26 percent to 32 percent of personnel deployed to the Persian Gulf during this period have chronic health problems, a range that may actually understate the magnitude of the problem, according to the study, published in this week's issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences." ... "Although the exact causes remain unknown, evidence is mounting to suggest that exposure to organophosphate and carbamate acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (AChEIs), including pyridostigmine bromide (PB), pesticides and nerve agents, may be responsible." ... "SOURCES: Joy Ray Miller, Pharm.D., assistant professor, pharmacy practice, Irma Lerma Rangel College of Pharmacy, Texas A&M Health Science Center, Kingsville; March 10-14, 2008, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences" -By Amanda Gardner -HealthDay.com via -WashingtonPost

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Dick Cheney's - Halliburton KBR - Corporation - US - Iraq -