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SCI-TECH News:
 Health
Care - Science
-  Politics
-  Economic
-  Legislation
-  History
-  Pill
- Advertising
"The Far Right's All Out Offensive Against Medical Research." ... "Opponents of fixing our broken health care system are at it again, attempting to use their same old scare tactics and falsehoods to kill a common-sense health care provision [in] the economic recovery package. Fortunately Congressional leaders have recognized these tactics for what they are and have wisely kept this provision in the legislation." ... "At issue is something called "Comparative Effectiveness Research" which basically means giving your doctor access to the latest research on what treatments and therapies work and which don't. This also helps doctors know which treatments are more expensive than others, and helps both patients and doctors decide if there is a cheaper treatment that is just as effective. As a doctor and the husband of a doctor, I know how important it is to have solid scientific research to make critical decisions for my patients." ... "When I was practicing medicine, having greater access to scientific evidenced-based research would have been truly helpful in guiding me to make the best medical decisions for my patients." ... "If an inexpensive pill that has been around a long time works substantially better than a brand new, highly-advertised and thus far more expensive pill - doctors should have that information at hand when we prescribe medications to our patients. When I do something for a patient, I want the scientific research that tells me its the best course for my patient. But the far right, led by people like Rush Limabaugh, hopes to somehow convince Americans that more and better research is a bad thing." ... "This claptrap is really about the far right laying the ground work for a far greater and more sustained attack on the Democrats' attempt to fix our health care system. As we move forward with the American people to finally fulfill the promise of Harry Truman, who over sixty years ago suggested that every American ought to have a reasonable health care plan, we will rely on the voters to remind the right wing that change is what we promised, and change is what we will deliver." -By Howard Dean -HuffingtonPost.com
 Earth
- Science
"Galaxy has 'billions of Earths': There could be one hundred billion Earth-like planets in our galaxy, a US conference has heard." ... "So far, telescopes have been able to detect just over 300 planets outside our Solar System." -BBC/News
Science
-  Journalism
- Business
"Science Journalism’s Hope and Despair: ‘Niche’ pubs growing as MSM circles the drain." (1, 2) -By Curtis Brainard -CJR.org 
 Children's
- Vaccines
-  Psychological
- Medical
- Science
-  Minnesota
"Vaccines don't cause autism, special court says." ... "The special masters who decided the case expressed sympathy for the families, some of whom have made emotional pleas describing their children's conditions, but the rulings were blunt: There's little if any evidence to support claims of a vaccine-autism link." ... "The evidence "is weak, contradictory and unpersuasive," concluded Special Master Denise Vowell. "Sadly, the petitioners in this litigation have been the victims of bad science conducted to support litigation rather than to advance medical and scientific understanding" of autism." ... "Science years ago reached the conclusion that there's no connection, but Thursday's rulings in a trio of cases still have far-reaching implications — offering reassurance to parents scared about vaccinating their babies because of a small but vocal anti-vaccine movement. Some vaccine-preventable diseases, including measles, are on the rise, and last fall a Minnesota baby who hadn't been vaccinated against meningitis died of that disease." -By Kevin Freking and Lauran Neergaard -AP via -Yahoo 
Science
-  Education
-  Book
- Religious
-  People
-  Poll
"On Darwin’s Birthday, Only 4 in 10 Believe in Evolution: Belief drops to 24% among frequent church attenders." ... "On the eve of the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth, a new Gallup Poll shows that only 39% of Americans say they "believe in the theory of evolution," while a quarter say they do not believe in the theory, and another 36% don't have an opinion either way. These attitudes are strongly related to education and, to an even greater degree, religiosity." ... "Darwin's theory has been at the forefront of religious debate since he published On the Origin of Species 150 years ago. Even to this day, highly religious individuals claim that the theory of evolution contradicts the story of creation as outlined in the book of Genesis in the Bible." ... "Implications" ... "As Darwin is being lauded as one of the most important scientists in history on the 200th anniversary of his birth (on Feb. 12, 1809), it is perhaps dismaying to scientists who study and respect his work to see that well less than half of Americans today say they believe in the theory of evolution, and that just 55% can associate the man with his theory." ... "Naturally, some of this is because of educational differences. Americans who have lower levels of formal education are significantly less likely than others to be able to identity Darwin with his theory, and to have an opinion on it either way. Still, the evidence is clear that even to this day, Americans' religious beliefs are a significant predictor of their attitudes toward Darwin's theory. Those who attend church most often are the least likely to believe in evolution, and most likely to say they do not believe in it." -By Frank Newport -Gallup.com
Medical
- Drug
- Science-  Safety
- Corporate
-  Government
- Politics
"Big Pharma fights oversight." ... "This is irritating." ""The drug and medical-device industries are mobilizing to gut a provision in the stimulus bill that would spend $1.1 billion on research comparing medical treatments, portraying it as the first step to government rationing."""Read that to mean Big Pharma doesn't want you to find out the latest name brand pill they're advertising on the TV, is ten, or a hundred times more expensive than the pill it replaced when the patent ran out. It's an old industry trick. Change the formulation just enough to get a new patent so you can justify the cost under R&D. Profits before effectiveness always. A neutral study could end that game." ... "It's a good expenditure. As one industry puts it, "Comparative research has the potential to tell us which drugs and treatments are safe, and which ones work. This is not information that the private sector will generate on its own, or that the industry wants to share."" -By Libby Spencer -TheImpolitic 
 Nuclear
- Science
- Secrets
-  Investigation
-  Military
-  Intelligence
- History
- Legal
- Politics
-  Pakistan
-  Iran
-  Libya
-  North
Korea -  US
-  British
-  Italian
-  Switzerland
- 
-  International
"Nuclear Scientist A.Q. Khan Is Freed From House Arrest." ... "Early yesterday, the Pakistani scientist at the center of one of history's worst nuclear scandals walked out of his Islamabad [Pakistan's capital] villa to declare his vindication after five years of house arrest. "The judgment, by the grace of God, is good," a smiling Abdul Qadeer Khan told a throng of reporters and TV crews." ... "Moments earlier, a Pakistani court had ordered the release of the metallurgist who had famously admitted selling nuclear secrets to Iran, Libya and North Korea. Through years of legal limbo, Khan, 72, had never been charged, and now he never will be. "The so-called A.Q. Khan affair is a closed chapter," a Pakistani government spokesman said." ... "Nearly five years after Khan's smuggling operation came to light, the international effort to prosecute its leaders is largely in shambles, yielding convictions of only a few minor participants and no significant prison time for any of them." ... "Khan's international network collapsed in 2003 after U.S. [United States], British and Italian officials halted a Libya-bound ship in the Mediterranean loaded with machine parts used to make enriched uranium." ... "That discovery was the culmination of more than a decade of secret investigation by the CIA [Central Intelligence Agency] and other agencies of the business dealings of Khan, one of Pakistan's best-known scientists and the father of the country's nuclear weapons program." ... "U.S. and U.N. [United Nations] investigators ultimately accused Khan of heading a sophisticated network of businesses and front companies that manufactured and sold components needed to make nuclear bombs. But while the factories and shipping offices were dismantled, Khan proved to be beyond Washington's reach. Pakistan's then-President Pervez Musharraf, confronted with evidence of Khan's deeds, persuaded the scientist to make a public confession but then officially pardoned him. Khan would remain under house arrest, but Pakistani officials refused to allow him to be questioned by U.S. officials or investigators of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog." ... "Efforts to prosecute alleged members of the network in Switzerland touched off a series of squabbles between Swiss and U.S. officials. Swiss prosecutors accused the [Republican President] Bush administration of withholding critical evidence needed to put three Swiss businessmen -- a father and two brothers who worked with Khan in the 1980s and 1990s -- behind bars." ... "Last month, one of the brothers confirmed in a Swiss television interview that he had been working undercover for the CIA, prompting the Swiss parliament to ask why Switzerland had not been informed about covert action inside its territory. " -By Joby Warrick -WashingtonPost
Criminal
-  Food
- Safety
- Science
- Consumers
- Health
-  Ga
-  Agricultural
- Corporation
-  Plant
"FDA: Plant knew peanuts laced with salmonella." ... "As far back as 2007, salmonella-laced products were shipped by a Georgia peanut company [owned by Stewart Parnell] that knew the peanuts probably were tainted and sometimes after tests confirmed that contamination, inspection records show." ... "Federal law forbids producing or shipping foods under conditions that could make it harmful to consumers' health." ... "Food and Drug Administration officials earlier had said Peanut Corp. [Corporation] of America waited for a second test to clear peanut butter and peanuts that initially were positive for salmonella. But the agency amended its report Friday, saying that the Blakely, Ga. [Georgia], plant actually shipped some products before receiving the second test and sold others after confirming salmonella." ... "The salmonella outbreak has been blamed for at least eight deaths and 575 illnesses in 43 states. The Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation. More than 1,550 products have been recalled." -By Brett J. Blackledge and Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar with contributions by Mary Clare Jalonick -AP via -Yahoo
 Barack
Obama -  Noteworthy
- Economic
- Crisis
- History
- People
- Families
-  Jobs
-  Homes
- Consumer
-  Energy
- Health
Care - Education
-  Internet
- Science
-  Transportation
-  Construction
- Government
-Legislation
- Politics
"The Action Americans Need." [By Democratic President Barack Obama] ... "By now, it's clear to everyone that we have inherited an economic crisis as deep and dire as any since the days of the Great Depression. Millions of jobs that Americans relied on just a year ago are gone; millions more of the nest eggs families worked so hard to build have vanished. People everywhere are worried about what tomorrow will bring." ... "What Americans expect from Washington is action that matches the urgency they feel in their daily lives -- action that's swift, bold and wise enough for us to climb out of this crisis." ... "Because each day we wait to begin the work of turning our economy around, more people lose their jobs, their savings and their homes. And if nothing is done, this recession might linger for years. Our economy will lose 5 million more jobs. Unemployment will approach double digits. Our nation will sink deeper into a crisis that, at some point, we may not be able to reverse." ... "That's why I feel such a sense of urgency about the recovery plan before Congress. With it, we will create or save more than 3 million jobs over the next two years, provide immediate tax relief to 95 percent of American workers, ignite spending by businesses and consumers alike, and take steps to strengthen our country for years to come." ... "This plan is more than a prescription for short-term spending -- it's a strategy for America's long-term growth and opportunity in areas such as renewable energy, health care and education. And it's a strategy that will be implemented with unprecedented transparency and accountability, so Americans know where their tax dollars are going and how they are being spent." ... "In recent days, there have been misguided criticisms of this plan that echo the failed theories that helped lead us into this crisis -- the notion that tax cuts alone will solve all our problems; that we can meet our enormous tests with half-steps and piecemeal measures; that we can ignore fundamental challenges such as energy independence and the high cost of health care and still expect our economy and our country to thrive." ... "I reject these theories, and so did the American people when they went to the polls in November and voted resoundingly for change. They know that we have tried it those ways for too long. And because we have, our health-care costs still rise faster than inflation. Our dependence on foreign oil still threatens our economy and our security. Our children still study in schools that put them at a disadvantage. We've seen the tragic consequences when our bridges crumble and our levees fail." ... "Every day, our economy gets sicker -- and the time for a remedy that puts Americans back to work, jump-starts our economy and invests in lasting growth is now." ... "Now is the time to protect health insurance for the more than 8 million Americans at risk of losing their coverage and to computerize the health-care records of every American within five years, saving billions of dollars and countless lives in the process." ... "Now is the time to save billions by making 2 million homes and 75 percent of federal buildings more energy-efficient, and to double our capacity to generate alternative sources of energy within three years." ... "Now is the time to give our children every advantage they need to compete by upgrading 10,000 schools with state-of-the-art classrooms, libraries and labs; by training our teachers in math and science; and by bringing the dream of a college education within reach for millions of Americans." ... "And now is the time to create the jobs that remake America for the 21st century by rebuilding aging roads, bridges and levees; designing a smart electrical grid; and connecting every corner of the country to the information superhighway." ... "These are the actions Americans expect us to take without delay. They're patient enough to know that our economic recovery will be measured in years, not months. But they have no patience for the same old partisan gridlock that stands in the way of action while our economy continues to slide." ... "So we have a choice to make. We can once again let Washington's bad habits stand in the way of progress. Or we can pull together and say that in America, our destiny isn't written for us but by us. We can place good ideas ahead of old ideological battles, and a sense of purpose above the same narrow partisanship. We can act boldly to turn crisis into opportunity and, together, write the next great chapter in our history and meet the test of our time." -By Barack Obama -WashingtonPost 
 Digital
-  Television
- Technology
- Law
- Wireless
- Companies
- Obama
- Consumer
"Plan to delay U.S. switch to digital TV thwarted by Republicans." ... "An attempt to delay the U.S. [United States] switch to digital-only television transmission by four months has been scuttled by the House of Representatives." ... "House Republicans voted down a bill on Wednesday that would have postponed the latest date for the transition to digital broadcasting from analog until June 12. The changeover is set for [February] Feb. 17." ... "The majority of House members voted 258-168 in favour of the bill, but it required two-thirds support to pass." ... "Republicans oppose the delay because they say it would confuse consumers, burden wireless companies and would create added costs for broadcasters. [Democratic] President Barack Obama, Senate Democrats, and consumer advocates have said the delay is necessary to accommodate people who are unprepared." -AP via -CBC.ca 
Digital
- Technology
- Law
- Politics
"Senate OKs 4-Month Delay to Digital TV Changeover: Senate votes to delay digital transition by 4 months to June 12." ... "The Senate on Monday voted unanimously to postpone the upcoming transition from analog to digital television broadcasting by four months to June 12 — setting the stage for Congress to pass the proposal as early as Tuesday." ... "The Nielsen Co. estimates that more than 6.5 million U.S. [United States] households that rely on analog television sets to pick up over-the-air broadcast signals could see their TV sets go dark next month if the transition is not postponed." (1, 2) -By Joelle Tessler with contributions by David Bauder -AP via -ABCNEWS.com
Secret
- Intelligence
- Databases
- Federal
- Military
-  Spy
- Computer
-  Search
Engine - Technology
-  EMail
-  Communications
- Terrorism
- Politics
"Intelligence Agencies' Databases Set to Be Linked: After Years of Bureaucratic Snags, System Aims to Ease Communications, Give Spies Access to More Data." ... "[United States] U.S. spy agencies' sensitive data should soon be linked by Google-like search systems, nearly five years after the intelligence community was rebuked by the 9/11 Commission for failing to "connect the dots" and detect the attack." ... "Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell has launched a sweeping technology program to knit together the thousands of databases across all 16 spy agencies. After years of bureaucratic snafus, intelligence analysts will be able to search through secret intelligence files the same way they can search public data on the Internet." ... "Mr. McConnell's new technology program is also addressing a more basic problem: Spies often have trouble emailing colleagues in other U.S. intelligence agencies, because email addresses aren't readily accessible, and messages sometimes get eaten by security filters. Mr. McConnell aims to solve that by uniting the agencies' email systems into a single system with a full directory that links names, expertise and addresses." ... "Mr. McConnell's team says this effort, called the Information Integration Program, has experienced officials working on it full-time and is designed to deliver tangible products every few months." ... "The first stage of the initiative is to merge the email systems of the six largest intelligence agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Central Intelligence Agency and the NSA [National Security Agency]." -By Siobhan Gorman -WSJ.com
Corporate
- Government
- Regulations
- Workers- Safety
- Medical
- Science
-  Environment
- History
- Earth
- Oil
-  Auto
- St.
Paul - Minnesota
-  Wyoming
-  Utah
- Obama
-US
- Netherlands
- World
"Bush Pushes ‘Midnight Rules’ to Support Companies as Term Ends." ... "[Republican President] George W. Bush is using the waning days of his presidency to implement a raft of pro-business regulations, triggering vows by the incoming [Democratic President Elect] Obama administration and congressional Democrats to gut the measures." ... "Bush is proposing changes to federal rules that critics say make it more difficult to protect U.S. [United States] workers from exposure to toxic chemicals, reduce the use of employee medical leave and open more land to oil and gas exploration. The effort is supported by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and trade groups representing companies including [Netherlands-based] Royal Dutch Shell Plc [Public limited company] and Dow Chemical Co. [Company.]" ... "The Interior Department today is publishing a rule that would lift a 79-year-old executive order prohibiting oil shale development in Wyoming and Utah. Yesterday, the Bush administration postponed regulations requiring cars and light trucks to be more fuel efficient by 2011." ... "Bush’s regulation on toxins, which isn’t final yet, would change the way workplace exposure to poisonous substances is measured, and is supported by associations representing companies such as Dow, the biggest U.S. chemical company, Exxon Mobil, the world’s largest oil company, and 3M Co., the St. Paul [Minnesota's capital], Minnesota-based maker of 55,000 products." ... "The change is opposed by the United Mineworkers and other unions. They argue it would delay new health protections for workers by requiring a lengthy regulatory process before new standards could be issued. " -By Holly Rosenkrantz and Mark Drajem -Bloomberg
Barack
Obama - Federal
- Stem
Cell - Health
- Money
- Legislation
- Politics
-  Colo
"Scientists eager for stem cell policy change." ... "Although [Democratic] President-elect Obama’s pledge to change federal policy on stem cell research is not likely to lead to new cures by the end of his first year — or even first term — the scientific community is eager to get moving." ... "Embryonic stem cell research is one area in which the change that Obama has promised on the campaign trail will provoke an immediate effect." ... "Once he has acted to ease the restriction on federal funding, researchers across the United States will be free to request funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and to collaborate with colleagues conducting experiments with private or state-government money and those working abroad." ... "“Just with the stroke of a pen, the new president could open up new avenues of research,” said [Colorado Democratic Representative] Rep. Diana DeGette (Colo.), the lead Democratic sponsor of legislation that would broaden funding for embryonic stem cell research." ... "Researchers believe embryonic stem cells can be made to replicate practically any human cell or tissue, thus leading to treatments for countless ailments." -By Jeffrey Young -TheHill.com
 Water
- Technology-Company
- Environment
- Minnesota
-  Texas
"Nation's First 'Underwater Wind Turbine' Installed in Old Man River." ... "The nation's first commercial hydrokinetic turbine, which harnesses the power from moving water without the construction of a dam, has splashed into the waters of the Mississippi River near Hastings, Minnesota." ... "The 35-kilowatt turbine is positioned downstream from an existing hydroelectric-plant dam and — together with another turbine to be installed soon — will increase the capacity of the plant by more than 5 percent. The numbers aren't big, but the rig's installation could be the start of an important trend in green energy." ... "And that could mean more of these "wind turbines for the water" will be generating clean energy soon." ... ""We don't require that massive dam construction, we're just using the natural flow of the stream," said Mark Stover, a vice president at Hydro Green Energy, the Houston[ Texas]-based company leading the project. "It's underwater windpower if you will, but we have 840 or 850 times the energy density of wind."" ... "Hydrokinetic turbines like those produced by Hydro Green and Verdant capture the mechanical energy of the water's flow and turn it into energy, without need for a dam." ... "Hydro Green's Stover hopes that his company's new unit will help shorten that regulatory process by generating environmental impact data that could ease concerns the turbines will disrupt river ecosystems and habitats." -By Alexis Madrigal -Wired
Government
- Market
- Politics
- US_Debt
- Technology
- Housing
"Fed unleashes greatest bubble of all." ... "Like the sorcerer’s apprentice, [Republican President Bush's] Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and his predecessor Alan Greenspan have unleashed a series of ever-larger asset bubbles they cannot control." ... "Now the Fed’s decision to cut interest rates to between zero and 0.25 percent, coupled with a promise to keep them there for an extended period, and the threat to conduct even more unconventional operations in the longer-dated Treasury market risks the biggest bubble of all, this time in U.S. government debt." ... "THE ASYMMETRIC EXPERIMENT" ... "Bubble mania is no accident. It is the direct consequence of the Fed’s asymmetric response to shifts in asset prices. Pressed to “lean against the wind” and adopt counter-cyclical interest rate and credit policies in the asset market, senior Fed policymakers have repeatedly demurred." ... "Led by Bernanke and Greenspan, officials have argued it is too hard and subjective to identify bubbles until afterwards, and not the Fed’s job to second-guess asset allocation decisions of professional investors." ... "Even if bubbles could be identified, they argue, pricking them would require swingeing rate rises that would inflict widespread damage on the rest of the economy." ... "Far less damaging to allow asset markets to follow their natural cycle and stand by to cut interest rates sharply, supply liquidity and contain the fallout when the bubble bursts." ... "But the Fed’s asymmetric policy response to rising and falling asset prices (colloquially known as the “Greenspan/Bernanke put”) directly led to much of the excessive risk-taking which has humbled the financial system over the last eighteen months." ... "More importantly, the Fed’s decision to respond to the collapse of the technology and stock market bubble by lowering rates to 1 percent and holding them there for an extended period is now widely accepted as a mistake that contributed to the bond bubble and subsequent housing market boom in the middle of the decade." ... "If the low-rate strategy was a mistake, it was a conscious one." -By John Kemp-Reuters
Global
-  Climate
- History
- Earth
- Fossil
Fuel -  Gases
- Antarctic
- Pacific
Ocean - US
- Britain
"NASA reports 2008 is ninth warmest year since 1880." ... "The year 2008 was the ninth warmest year since instrumental temperature measurements began in 1880, and all of the nine warmest years have occurred in the past 11 years, NASA [National Aeronautics and Space Administration] reported on Tuesday." ... "The new data from NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies and other government agencies on Tuesday adds to the evidence scientists have been observing about a warming Earth as fossil fuel burning emits heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere." ... "NASA also reported that the January to November global temperature was 0.76 degrees Fahrenheit above the average for the 20th Century." ... "NASA also noted that the past year was cooler than any since 2000. Scientists note that global warming is a steady trend, but within it there are natural variations." ... "The NASA report noted that "Eurasia, the Arctic and the Antarctic Peninsula were exceptionally warm, while much of the Pacific Ocean was cooler than the long-term average." It said the relatively cooler temperature in the tropical Pacific was due to a La Nina, the cool phase of a natural temperature variation." ... "Britain's Met Office on Tuesday also said that La Nina was part of the reason 2008 was slightly cooler than earlier years this decade. By Britain's accounting, 2008 was the 10th warmest year on record dating back to 1850, and all 10 of the warmest years occurred since 1997." -By Renee Schoof -McClatchyDC.com
Auto
- Makers
-Emergency
- Money
- Politics
- Workers
- Environmental
- Laws
- Fuel
- Technology
- Emissions
- Government
-  Michigan
-  California
"Murky future for auto rescue amid GOP opposition." ... "A House-passed bill to speed $14 billion in loans to Detroit's [Michigan] automakers stands on shaky ground in a bailout-weary Congress, undermined by Republican opposition that could derail the emergency aid in the Senate." ... "Republicans are challenging lame-duck [Republican] President George W. Bush on the proposal, arguing that any support for the domestic auto industry should carry significant concessions from autoworkers and creditors and reject tougher environmental rules imposed by House Democrats." ... "The automakers initially asked Congress for $25 billion, then returned two weeks later to plead for as much as $34 billion. But with the {Republican President Bush] White House refusing to dole out new spending for the Big Three [Automakers], congressional Democrats agreed to use an existing program that was to help carmakers retool their factories to make more fuel-efficient cars." ... "That fund yielded only $15 billion in emergency loans, and when negotiators agreed to leave some money in the environmental program, the amount fell to $14 billion." ... "Democrats agreed to scrap language — which the White House had declared a deal-breaker — that would have forced the carmakers to drop lawsuits challenging tough emissions limits in California and other states. But they kept a provision to force the automakers to abide by those states' limits — a kind of consolation prize for environmentalists, who already were livid at the raid of the fuel-efficiency program." -By Julie Hirschfeld Davis and Ken Thomas -AP via -Yahoo
 Animals
- Federal
- Law
- Enforcement
- Science
- Politics
- History
- Global
- Climate
- Ice
- Oil
- Emissions
- Construction
- Money
"Environmentalists: New rule guts Endangered Species Act." ... "In a move environmental groups says strikes at the heart of the Endangered Species Act, the [Republican President] Bush administration on Thursday announced a new rule that would let federal agencies decide on their own whether their projects harm endangered species, instead of requiring them in many cases to get a second opinion from federal wildlife experts." ... "Opponents said the move destroys the checks and balances that have helped the gove rnment save hundreds of species from extinction under the 1973 law." ... "[Republican President Bush's] Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne said the reason for the rule change was linked to global warming." ... "Kempthorne listed the polar bear as a threatened species in May but said that the Endangered Species Act could not be used to try to halt global warming. The new regulation specifies that there is no need for consultations when the harm to endangered or threatened species is a result from a global process that's too broad to measure." ... "Kempthorne said it's impossible to pinpoint the death of any single animal from emissions from any single polluter. In fact, emissions of heat-trapping gases disperse evenly in the atmosphere around the globe and remain there for centuries. The resulting warming and melting of polar ice have put the polar bear at risk of extinction by mid-century, scientists have said." ... "The rule changes also go further and specify that federal agencies are not required to consult with the biologists of the two agencies that enforce the act — the Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Services — if they think a project such as a timber sale or construction of a power plant won't harm or kill a threatened or endangered species. The changes do not rule out voluntary consultations." ... "The Interior Department on Thursday also finalized a rule implementing another section of the Endangered Species Act to clarify that it will not protect polar bears from oil and gas development or greenhouse gas emissions." -By Renee Schoof -McClatchyDC.com
Animals
- Seas
- Global
- Climate
- Science
- Emissions
- Economy
-
-  Millennium
Ecosystem Assessment
"Fifth of world's coral reefs dead, say marine scientists: Climate change linked to warmer and more acidic seas pose biggest threat to coral survival, says report." ... "A fifth of the world's coral reefs have died or been destroyed and the remainder are increasingly vulnerable to the effects of climate change, a new study says." ... "The Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network says many surviving reefs could be lost over the coming decades as CO2 emissions continue to increase." ... "Corals are crucial to the livelihoods of millions of coastal dwellers around the world. The UN's Millennium Ecosystem Assessment says reefs are worth about $30bn annually to the global economy through tourism, fisheries and coastal protection." -By David Adam-Guardian.co.uk Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network - www.GCRMN.org
Military
- Inpector
- Safer
- Vehicles
- Technology
- Politics
- MRAPS
- US
-  Iraq
"Pentagon ignored danger of roadside bombs, report finds." ... "The military ignored steps before the invasion of Iraq that could have prevented the staggering number of casualties from roadside bombs, the Pentagon's acting inspector general charged Tuesday." ... "The IG's [Inspector General's] report says that the military knew years before the war that mines and homemade bombs, which the military calls "improvised explosive devices," would be a "threat . . . in low-intensity conflicts" and that "mine-resistant vehicles" were available." ... ""Yet the military did not develop requirements for, fund or acquire" safer vehicles, the report says. The military invaded Iraq in 2003 "without having taken available steps to acquire technology to mitigate the known mine and IED [Improvised Explosive Device] risk to soldiers and Marines."" ... "Even after the war was under way, as the devices began taking a deadly toll and field commanders pressed for vehicles that were better protected from roadside bombs, the Pentagon was slow to act, the report says." ... "The IG's office is headed by Acting Inspector General Gordon Heddell." ... "Explosive devices, including roadside bombs and mines, have caused nearly 25,000 deaths and injuries, according to the Pentagon, the top cause of death for U.S. [United States] service members in Iraq." ... "The IG report says that the military "stopped processing" a 2005 request for 1,169 MRAPS [Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles] from commanders in the field. " -By David Goldstein -McClatchyDC.com
Global
- Climate
- Floods
- Oil
- Companies
- Human
- Environmental
- Emissions
- Litigation
- Politics
- UK
- US
"Science paves way for climate lawsuits." ... "People affected by worsening storms, heatwaves and floods could soon be able to sue the oil and power companies they blame for global warming, a leading climate expert has said." ... "Myles Allen, a physicist at Oxford University, said a breakthrough that allows scientists to judge the role man-made climate change played in extreme weather events could see a rush to the courts over the next decade." ... "He said: "We are starting to get to the point that when an adverse weather event occurs we can quantify how much more likely it was made by human activity. And people adversely affected by climate change today are in a position to document and quantify their losses. This is going to be hugely important."" ... "Allen's team has used the new technique to work out whether global warming worsened the UK [United Kingdom] floods in autumn 2000, which inundated 10,000 properties, disrupted power supplies and led to train services being cancelled, motorways closed and 11,000 people evacuated from their homes - at a total cost of £1bn." ... "There may also be grounds for a case on the basis that firms have tried to misinform the public - as in US [United States] cases against tobacco firms - about the effects of their business." ... "Owen Lomas, head of environmental law at City firm Allen & Overy, said: "If you look at the extent to which certain major companies in the US are accused of having funded disinformation to cast doubt on the link between man-made emissions and global warming, that could open the way to litigation."" -By David Adam and Afua Hirsch -Guardian.co.uk
 Plants
- Animals
- Food
- Water
- Soil
- Global
- Climate
- Science
- Government
- US
-  Canada
"Tree's rapid decline sounds alarm on global warming." ... "The whitebark pine, a tree found in the high elevations of the western U.S. [United States] and Canada, is being killed as a consequence of global warming and should be protected as an endangered species, an environmental group formally told the Interior Department Tuesday." ... "If the federal government accepts the scientific arguments in a petition by the Natural Resources Defense Council, it would be the first time a wide-ranging tree has been added to the list. The NRDC [Natural Resources Defense Council] also sees an endangered designation as a warning about worsening climate change." ... "The whitebark pine has declined dramatically due to a triple threat — a disease called the white pine blister rust; the mountain pine beetle, which thrives in the warmer high-altitude conditions produced by the burning of fossil fuels, and forest management practices that have allowed other trees to crowd it out, the NRDC's petition said." ... "Warming also will limit the range of the whitebark pine, the petition said. Many live more than 500 years." ... "The whitebark pine stabilizes the soil and shades the snow, providing water over longer periods for other plants. Grizzly bears, smaller mammals and birds eat its seeds, and elk, grouse and other mountain animals find shelter beneath it." -By Renee Schoof -McClatchyDC.com Gov Reference: "Whitebark Pine Communities"
 Stephen
Johnson - Religion
- Science
- Corporate
- Environmental
- Politician
- RI
"EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson: There’s ‘not a clean-cut division’ between religion and science." ... "A Philadelphia Inquirer profile of [Republican President Bush's Environmetnal Protection Agency] EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson this weekend reveals that the chief steward of our environmental protection is unwilling — or unable — to separate religion from science. The Wonk Room’s Brad Johnson notes that, when questioned by reporters, Stephen Johnson admitted he does not see a “clean-cut division” between the two:" "It’s not a clean-cut division. If you have studied at all creationism vs. evolution, there’s theistic or God-controlled evolution and there’s variations on all those themes.""Johnson’s approach at EPA has been marked by putting his faith in corporate polluters. This past summer, [Rhode Island Democratic Senator] Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI [Democratic-Rhode Island]) called on him to resign. Read more at the Wonk Room [Stephen Johnson]." -By Faiz Shakir -ThinkProgress.org/Wonk Room
Infant
- Food
- Health
- Science
- Politics
- Industrial
- Maker
- US
-  China
"FDA finds melamine traces in U.S. infant formulas." ... "The Food and Drug Administration has found trace amounts of the industrial chemical melamine in some U.S. [United States] infant formulas, but at levels 10,000 times lower than those found in Chinese-made formula." ... "In China, where faked formula killed at least four children and sickened more than 53,000, large amounts of melamine were added to watered-down milk to make it appear to have an appropriate protein content." ... "The trace amounts of melamine and cyanuric acid, a melamine by-product, were found in formula from Abbott Laboratories, Nestle and Mead Johnson, which together make more than 90% of all infant formula produced in the United States." -AP via -USATODAY
Electric
- Cars
- Industry
- Manufacturing
- Technology
- Transportation
- Infrastructure
- Jobs
- Consumer
- Military
- Historic
- San
Francisco - Sacramento
- California
- Michigan
-  Oregon
-  Washington
- US
- Global
- Planet
- Climate
- Emissions
"Recharge America with Electric Cars." ... "Today, our country is facing a set of seemingly insurmountable problems:" "• an economic meltdown of historic proportions""Yesterday, joined by San Jose [California] Mayor Chuck Reed and Oakland [California] Mayor Ron Dellums I [San Francisco, California's mayor Gavin Newsom] announced a nine-step policy plan for transforming the Bay Area into the "Electric Vehicle (EV) Capital of the U.S. [United States]" In support of this initiative Better Place, a global electric transportation company announced that it would enter the U.S. market with California as its first state, beginning in the Bay Area." ... "Commercial availability of electric cars is targeted to begin in 2012, and Better Place estimates its network investment in the Bay Area will total $1 billion when the system is fully deployed. I welcomed Better Place's announcement and anticipate many other EV companies will focus on the Bay Area as a top-priority market." ... "Electric vehicles represent an overarching, game-changing solution that allows us to transform, and recharge the American transportation sector for the 21st century. By accelerating the conversion of the car industry from its oil dependent past, to a new electric century, we can jump start the car industry, eliminate our dependence on oil, reduce our required presence in the middle east, create millions of jobs, and eliminate a significant portion of our CO2 emissions." ... "This plan ties together a triangle of influence that can get our nation back on track: Detroit [Michigan] car makers who know how to scale production, working in concert with San Francisco's culture of innovation, aided by Sacramento [California's capital] and Washington DC [America's capital] policy-making. The goal is to create a sustainable strategic advantage for the US instead of a series of bailouts." ... "As California prepares to launch this electric recharge infrastructure project, it can also serve as a blueprint for a more widely integrated solution." ... "California can generate upwards of $2.5B in new investment in jobs and the economy for the infrastructure effort, with billions more in cars and battery sales to consumers. The nation as a whole can trigger tens of billions in infrastructure, manufacturing and innovation investment. At the same time, this conversion reduces the cost to the consumer and nation per mile we drive. California, followed by the western US states of Oregon and Washington are ready to drive this effort." -By Gavin Newsom -HuffingtonPost.com
Criminal
- Computer
- Hackers
- E-Mails
- Corporation
- Technology
- California
- US
- Worldwide
"Spam traffic plunges after report blames server hosting company: The number of such e-mails falls about two-thirds worldwide after Internet providers cut off a server company accused of enabling nefarious activity." ... ""I'm not under the illusion that it's going to last forever, but it's nice to have these small victories," said Paul Ferguson, an advanced threat researcher at software security company Trend Micro Inc. who contributed to the effort." ... "He and other analysts circulated a dense report Wednesday that blamed some companies for allowing spam to proliferate. Two big providers of Internet connections named in it -- Hurricane Electric Internet Services and Global Crossing Ltd. -- acted quickly to cut ties to the core subject of the document, a little-known Silicon Valley [California] company called McColo Corp. [Corporation] that rents out servers to clients." ... "The researchers didn't say whether McColo knowingly aided criminals, but they described some of the nefarious activities conducted on some websites the company hosted. Among other things, McColo reportedly enabled its customers to control vast networks of hijacked computers to send spam and take payments for fake anti-virus software." ... "The criminal groups that allegedly used McColo are largely believed to be based overseas. The groups now have to find other service providers." -By Joseph Menn -LAtimes 
Animals
- Environment
- Global
- Climate
- Gases
- Industrial
- Science
-History
"Report: Greenhouse gases imperil oceans' web of life." ... "Corals, lobsters, clams and many other ocean creatures — including some at the bottom of the food chain — may be unable to withstand the increasing acidity of the oceans brought on by growing global-warming pollution, according to a report Tuesday from the advocacy group Oceana." ... "Based on scientific findings of the past several years, Oceana's report "Acid Test" examines the far-reaching consequences of the accumulation of heat-trapping gases, particularly carbon dioxide, in the world's oceans." ... "A high level of carbon dioxide in seawater depletes the carbonate that marine animals need for their shells and skeletons. Creatures who are at risk if trends continue include corals, which provide habitats for about a quarter of the world's fish; things many people like to eat, including shrimp and lobster; and pteropods, or swimming sea snails, which are an important part of the base of polar and sub-polar food chains." ... "The acidity of the oceans' surfaces has increased 30 percent since before the Industrial Revolution, and the current trend would increase it 100 percent by the end of this century, exceeding levels of the past 20 million years, the report says." -By Renee Schoof -McClatchyDC.com Report: "Acid Test: Can We Save Our Oceans from CO2?" [PDF Full Report] - Oceana.org
 Al
Gore - Barack
Obama - Global
- Climate
- Technology
- Money
- Environmental
- Emissions
- Law
- Politics
- San
Francisco - California
"Gore urges US to try for 100% renewable energy within a decade." ... "[Democratic President-Elect] Barack Obama should set drastic targets to force the US [United States] to switch to renewable energy in an effort to slow down climate change, according to the former [Democratic] vice president Al Gore. Gore said that one of Obama's first acts as US president should be to demand a move to 100% renewable energy within 10 years." ... ""We can do that," he said during the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco [California] last Friday. "The declaration from [Democratic] President [John F] Kennedy that we would land a man on the moon and bring him back safely was thought by many to be impossible."" ... "During his presidential campaign, Obama promised to invest $150bn (£96bn) in renewables over 10 years as part of the plan to increase US energy security amid fear of oil shortages, while also cutting carbon emissions. Many hope to see those policies enacted with a far-reaching climate-change bill that would bring the US back into the global environment fold." -By Bobbie Johnson -Guardian.co.uk |
Science News Sources:
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Election - Obama
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WATCH:
"WV Vote Flipping Caught on Tape" - VideoTheVote
Political
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J
Robert Flores
-Crime
- Political
- Juvenile
- Justice
- Science
- 
Sports
- 
New
Jersey -Texas
- "Football
Charity Says It Deserved a $500,000 Govt Grant: Despite
Not Even Applying, the Charity Was Awarded a Grant; Some [Department Of
Justice] DOJ Staffers Objected." ... "A group that promotes leadership
through football says it doesn't know how it was awarded a $500,000 federal
grant to help stop juvenile crime, but that it "wasn't political."" ...
"The grant is one of a number for the Department of Justice's Office of
Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) that has come under
scrutiny after current and former employees said the official who awarded
the money ignored professional staff recommendations and played favorites
with groups connected to the [Republican] Bush White House. ABC
News conducted an investigation into the OJJDP, which aired earlier this
week on "Nightline"." ... "The National Football Foundation (NFF),
formerly based in New Jersey and now in Texas, says they did not apply
for the grant and have had no contact with J. Robert Flores, the official
who awarded the money." ... "Some OJJDP staffers said this program did
not deserve the funding." ... ""The football program, like the World Golf
Foundation, has lots of private resources and outside funding. They have
wealthy powerful people on the board," one staffer said." ... "The staffer
added that by law the OJJDP's primary focus is to fund programs that intervene
and protect kids who are on the cusp of entering into the juvenile justice
system or who are already in the system, and there is no research that
shows this program targets the most at-risk kids." (1,
2)
-By Anna Schecter -ABCNEWS.com
Health
- Science
- Environmental
- Safety
-Laws
- Manufacturing
- Industries
- 
EU
- US
- Global
-Consumers
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- Computer- Privacy
- Newborns
J
Robert Flores
- Political
- Federal
- Juvenile
- Justice
- Health
- Science
- "Questions
Surround Govt Funded Abstinence Program: Why Did
a Lower-Ranked Organization Get Money While Higher-Ranked Groups Were Denied
Funding?" ... "An organization that promotes sexual abstinence for teens
received a federal grant of over a million dollars, twice what it had requested,
despite the skepticism Department of Justice staffers had about the group
and the fact that it refused to participate in a congressionally mandated
study." ... "So why did the Best Friends Foundation receive the grant from
the Justice Department's juvenile justice office even though dozens of
competing organizations were rated higher by the office's own reviewers?
Current and former staffers say it was because of Best Friends' powerful
president and founder, Elayne Bennett." ... "Not only is Bennett the wife
of Bill Bennett, a former [Republican President] Reagan and [Republican
President] Bush administration official and conservative political commentator,
but she is also personally close to the chief administrator of the Office
of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), J. Robert Flores."
... "DOJ staffers were deeply skeptical when Best Friends applied for a
grant of around a half-million dollars last summer. For one thing, the
organization had backed out of a congressionally mandated study to examine
whether or not abstinence programs are effective." ... "Then there were
the DOJ staffers own internal reviews, which placed Best Friends behind
dozens of other competing organizations. Out of 104 grants in their category,
Best Friends ranked 53rd." ... "But those other organizations didn't have
Elayne Bennett. Bennett, say current and former DOJ staffers in the OJJDP,
often spoke on the phone with Flores and had access to him and his aides
that other juvenile organizations ordinarily wouldn't have." ... "Meanwhile,
competing with Best Friends for a federal grant from the OJJDP was a Washington
non-profit, the Rape Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN), an advocacy
group for victims of rape and sexual assault." ... "In the category of
OJJDP grants for which both organizations applied, Best Friends ranked
51st, while RAINN came in at 14th. RAINN did not receive a grant from the
OJJDP." (1, 2,
3,
4)
-By Murray Waas -ABCNEWS.com
Secret
- Surveillance
- Cellphone
- 
Tracking
- Technology
- Internet
- Financial
- Data
- Electronic
- Intelligence
- Counterterrorism
- Investigation
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- Politics
John
McCain - 
Tom
Loeffler - 
Susan
E Nelson - 
Rick
Davis -Illegal
- 2008
Election - Politics
- 
French
- US
-Military- 
Aircraft
- Technology
- 
EADS
Airbus
WATCH:
"The McCain File" ad claiming, "Some straight talk about John McCain and
his lobbyists' involvement in a deal that landed a French defense contractor
a big-money contract." via FireTheLobbyists.com
and Public Campaign Action Fund's
Youtube
channel.
Abortion-Law
- History
-Politics
- Women's
- Health
- Science
- New
York
John
McCain - Barack
Obama - US
- Iran- Military
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- Intelligence
- Politics
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- Iraq
-
- Ariz
- 
Ill
- 2008
Election
John
McCain - Rick
Davis - Criminal
- Government
- Money
- Politics
- Foreign
- Military
- 
Satellite
- Imagery
- Technology
- 
Israel
- 
Ukraine
- Russia
- Switzerland
- Arizona- US
- 2008
Election - "Lobbying
labyrinth in McCain camp." ... "Rick Davis, the manager
of [Arizona Republican] Senator John McCain's [2008 Election] presidential
campaign, is a typical Washington insider in many ways, having long worked
as both a lobbyist and a political operative along the intersection of
politics, policy and money." ... "Take Davis's involvement with one of
his lesser-known lobbying clients, an Israeli company, Imagesat, which
sells satellite imagery. Along with lobbying for it, Davis became a consultant
to a private investment firm that had a financial
stake in it. That connection opened the door for him to get in on the ground
floor of other investments made by the firm, Pegasus Capital Advisors."
... "... Davis's business partner, Paul Manafort
[of the Davis Manafort lobbying firm], has met with the United States ambassador
in Ukrain e, a time when he was advising Viktor Yanukovich,
that country's onetime prime minister, a State Department official said.
Yanukovich's party was opposed by both the [Republican President] Bush
administration and McCain because it was closely tied to Vladimir Putin
[Russia's former President]." ... "Davis Manafort
received $120,000 from late 2004 to mid-2005 to lobby for Imagesat on both
defense and domestic security issues. Davis and Christian Ferry,
now McCain's deputy campaign manager, were the two lobbyists on the project,
the records show." ... "Along with his work as a lobbyist, Davis at the
time was also drawing a salary as the part-time president of the Reform
Institute, a Washington group that McCain helped found to reduce "the influence
of special interests" in politics and government." ... "In November 2005,
Pegasus bought a stake in a company called Traxys, which trades in industrial
metals." ... "In January 2006, just two months later, the subject of metals
trading came up in association with a social meeting Davis helped arrange
near Davos, Switzerland. At that meeting, first reported by The Washington
Post, McCain met the Russian aluminum magnate, Oleg Deripaska, who has
been barred from entering the United States apparently because of alleged
criminal ties." (1, 2)
-By Barry Meier with contributions by Kate Zernike
and Andrew E. Kramer -NYTimes
via -IHT.com
Oceans
- Global
- Climate
- Science
- Environmental
- Atmospheric
- Industrial
- Factories
- Cars
- History
- Animals
- Seattle
- Washington
- California- Oregon
- US
- Canada
- 
Mexico
- "Acidified
seawater showing up along coast ahead of schedule."
... "Climate models predicted it wouldn't happen until the end of the century."
... "So a team led by Seattle [Washington] researchers was stunned to discover
that vast swaths of acidified seawater already are showing up along the
Pacific Coast as greenhouse-gas emissions upset the oceans' chemical balance."
... "In surveys from Vancouver Island [British Columbia, Canada] to the
tip of Baja California [Mexico], reported Thursday in the online journal
Science Express, the scientists found the first evidence that large amounts
of corrosive water are reaching the continental shelf — the shallow sea
margin where most marine creatures live." ... "Off Northern California,
the acidified water was only four miles from shore." ... ""What we found
... was truly astonishing," said oceanographer Richard Feely, of the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Pacific Marine Environmental
Laboratory in Seattle. "This means ocean acidification may be seriously
impacting marine life on the continental shelf right now."" ... "All along
the coast, the scientists found regions where the water was acidic enough
to dissolve the shells and skeletons of clams, corals and many of the tiny
creatures at the base of the marine food chain. Acidified water also can
kill fish eggs and a wide range of marine larvae." ... ""Entire marine
ecosystems are likely to be affected," said co-author Debby Ianson, an
oceanographer at Fisheries and Oceans Canada." ... "Though it hasn't received
as much attention as global warming, ocean acidification is a flip side
of the same phenomenon. The increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide from
power plants, factories and cars that is raising temperatures worldwide
also is to blame for the increasing acidity of the world's oceans." ...
"Normally, seawater is slightly alkaline. When carbon dioxide from the
atmosphere dissolves into the water, it forms carbonic acid — the weak
acid that helps give soda pop its tang. The process also robs the water
of carbonate, a key ingredient in the formation of calcium carbonate shells."
... "Since the Industrial Revolution, when humans began pumping massive
amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, Feely estimates the oceans
have absorbed 525 billion tons of the man-made greenhouse gas — about one-third
of the total released during that period." ... "By keeping some of the
carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, the oceans have blunted the temperature
rise due to global warming. But they've suffered for that service, with
a more than 30-percent increase in acidity." ... "The acidified water upwelling
along the coast today was last exposed to the atmosphere about 50 years
ago, when carbon-dioxide levels were much lower than they are now. That
means the water that will rise from the depths over the coming decades
will have absorbed more carbon dioxide and will be even more acidic." -By
Sandi Doughton -SeattleTimes
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
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
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
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
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
Hillary
Clinton - 
Indiana
- Workers
- 2008
Election - US
- China- Military
- Technology
- Manufacturing
- Corporation
- "Clinton
blasts Bush for not stopping a project Bill OK'd."
... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Hillary Clinton
loves to tell the story about how the Chinese government bought a good
American company in Indiana, laid off all its workers and moved its critical
defense technology work to China." ... "It’s a story with a dramatic, political
ending. Republican President George W. Bush could have stopped it, but
he didn’t." ... "If she were president, Clinton says, she’d fight to protect
those jobs. It’s just the kind of talk that’s helping her win support from
working-class Democrats worried about their jobs and paychecks, not to
mention their country’s security." ... "What Clinton never includes in
the oft-repeated tale is the role that prominent Democrats played in selling
the company and its technology to the Chinese. She never mentions that
big-time Democratic contributor George Soros [who also contributed to Republican
John McCain's 2000 Presidential Candidacy] helped put together the deal
to sell the company or that the sale was approved by her husband's [former
Democratic President Bill Clinton's] administration." ... "In response,
the Clinton campaign said that Bill Clinton's administration had gotten
assurances at the time it approved the deal that production would remain
inside the United States, and that the shift of jobs to China didn't occur
until under the Bush administration." ... "In 2001, it [the Chinese manufacturing
company] closed its original plant in Anderson, Ind[Indiana]." ... "And
in 2003, it decided to close the Valparaiso [Indiana] plant, laying off
its 225 workers." ... "Indiana politicians asked the Bush administration
to intervene." ... "The [Republican President Bush] administration didn't
block the move." -By
Steven
Thomma -McClatchyDC.com
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
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
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:"
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
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
Corporate
- Hackers
- Manufacture
- Electronics
- Technology
- California
- Texas
- US
- Global
- TV
- Telecom
- Media
- 
Copyright- Enforcement
- 
German
- Canada
- UK
- Israeli
- Intelligence
- Spying
- "Rupert
Murdoch Firm Goes on Trial for Alleged Tech Sabotage."
... "Did a Rupert Murdoch company go too far and hire hackers to sabotage
rivals and gain the top spot in the global pay-TV war?" ... "This is the
question a jury will be facing in a spectacular five-year-old civil lawsuit
that is finally being tried this month in California but which has, oddly,
received little notice from U.S. [United States] media." ... "The case
involves a colorful cast of characters that includes former intelligence
agents, Canadian TV pirates, Bulgarian and German hackers, stolen e-mails
and the mysterious suicide of a Berlin [Germany's capital] hacker who had
been courted by the Murdoch company not long before his death." ... "On
the hot spot is NDS Group, a UK-Israeli firm that makes smartcards for
pay-TV systems like DirecTV. The company is a majority-owned subsidiary
of Murdoch's News Corporation. The charges stem from 1997 when NDS is accused
of cracking the encryption of rival NagraStar, which makes access cards
and systems for EchoStar's Dish Network and other pay-TV services. Further,
it’s alleged NDS then hired hackers to manufacture and distribute counterfeit
NagraStar cards to pirates to steal Dish Network's programming for free."
... "NagraStar and one of its parent companies, EchoStar, are seeking about
$101 million for damages for piracy, copyright infringement, misconduct
and unfair competition. The list of witnesses in the case includes EchoStar's
founder and CEO Charlie Ergen; several hackers and pirates; and Reuven
Hazak, an Israeli who heads security for NDS and is a former deputy head
of Shabak, or Shin Bet, Israel's domestic security agency (the equivalent
of Britain's MI5)." ... "According to court documents, the scheme began
to unravel in 2000 when law-enforcement agents in Texas seized suspicious
packages containing CD and DVD players stuffed with more than $40,000 in
cash. Parcels similar to this were being sent almost daily from Canada,
via Texas, to a hacker in California named Christopher Tarnovsky, who was
working for NDS as an engineer. The money was allegedly part of the conspiracy
between Tarnovsky and NDS Group to sabotage NagraStar's cards." -By
Kim Zetter -Wired
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
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
Global
- Climate
- Coal
- Plant
- Greenhouse
Gas - Science
- Politics
- "Bush
Announces Greenhouse Gas Strategy -- Surprise! It's Bad."
... "[Republican] President Bush delivered a speech today in which he outlined
a new strategy to "effectively combat climate change." Unfortunately, on
my initial read of excerpts
from his speech, it seems deeply, deeply flawed." ... "Bush is finally
publicly admitting that emissions should be curbed because they affect
the climate. That's fine, but his proposed response doesn't logically follow
from that statement of fact. If you think the greenhouse gas emissions
are a problem, then you should craft a solution that reduces them. But
Bush, instead, is suggesting that no mandatory caps be put in place, that
no specific targets be fixed in the near term, and that no moratorium be
called on coal plant production." ... "Essentially, he just says, let's
wait ten years and then do something." -By Alexis
Madrigal -Wired
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
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
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
Global
- Climate
- Atmosphere
- Science
- Antarctic
- Ice
- History
- UN
- San
Diego - California
- Iowa
- US
- "Dust
plays huge role in climate change: Tiny particles
heat up the atmosphere faster than scientist once believed. The good news
is this dust can be cleaned up fairly quickly." ... "Scientists know that
dust affects climate. Tiny particles create veils that reflect sunlight
and cool the atmosphere. Dark particles absorb sunshine and warm things
up. But as scientists look deeper into the dust-climate connection, they
find that they have underestimated its importance." ... "Research published
April 3 in Nature reveals the tight linkage between atmospheric dust flows
and Antarctic temperatures during ice ages over the past 800,000 years.
A research review published March 23 in Nature Geoscience online shows
that black carbon particles in the atmosphere have a more powerful global-warming
effect than any of the greenhouse gases except carbon dioxide. And these
particles are 60 percent as effective as CO2 itself. That's far more powerful
than the estimate in last year's report of the UN-sponsored Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)." ... "The good news is that black carbon
particles such as diesel soot or wood-stove smoke only stay airborne for
weeks. (It takes a century to get rid of today's CO2 emissions.) This fact
offers an opportunity for instant payback, say study authors V. Ramanathan
at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego [California] and Gregory
Carmichael at the University of Iowa in Iowa City [Iowa]. In an announcement
from Scripps, the authors note that commercially available technologies
exist to cut back soot emissions substantially. Using them would rapidly
reduce black-carbon warming. " -By Robert C. Cowen
-CSMonitor
Secret
- Fashion
- Book
- Government
- Military
- Tech
- Money
- Politics
- Calif
- 
Dick
Cheney - "Inside
the Black Budget." ... "Skulls. Black cats. A naked
woman riding a killer whale. Grim reapers. Snakes. Swords. Occult symbols.
A wizard with a staff that shoots lightning bolts. Moons. Stars. A dragon
holding the Earth in its claws."
Antarctic
- Ice
- History
- Global
- Climate
- Science
- Space
- Cameras
- "Chunk
of Antarctic ice shelf collapses, putting larger area at risk:
Rapid melting on Wilkins Shelf is attributed to global warming." ... "A
chunk of Antarctic ice about seven times the size of Manhattan [island
borough of New York City, New York] has collapsed, scientists said Tuesday,
putting an even greater portion of glacial ice at risk." ... "Satellite
images show the runaway disintegration of a 160-square-mile chunk in western
Antarctica that started Feb. 28. It was the edge of the Wilkins Ice Shelf
and had been there for perhaps 1,500 years." ... "British
Antarctic Survey scientist David Vaughan attributed the melting to
rising sea temperature due to global warming." ... "Because scientists
noticed satellite images of the event within hours of its start, they diverted
satellite cameras and flew an airplane over the ongoing collapse to capture
rare
photos and video." -AP
via -LAtimes
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
Presidential
Records Act - Government
- E-Mail
- Archives
- Computer
- Technology
- Politics
- US
- Iraq
- Military
- History
- "White
House E-Mail Battle Heats Up: Judge: [Republican
President Bush's] White House Has Three Days to Explain Why It Shouldn't
Have to Copy Its Computer Hard Drives." ... "The White House has three
days to explain why it shouldn't be required to copy its computer hard
drives to ensure no further e-mails are lost, a federal judge ordered Tuesday."
... "Already, e-mails between March and October 2003 appear to have been
lost, Judge John M. Facciola noted, because they were improperly archived
and no backup copies exist. That period includes the U.S. [United States]
invasion of Iraq." ... "E-mails by White House staff are considered part
of the nation's historical record, and federal law [the Presidential Records
Act] requires they be preserved. The White House has admitted that potentially
millions of e-mails from the past eight years have been erased, although
it has provided conflicting accounts on how many may still exist on backup
tapes." -By Justin Rood
-ABCNEWS.com
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
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
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
Science
- Military
- Pills
- History
- San
Diego - California
- US
- 
