Miscellaneous Articles
Leaded Gasoline Predominant Source of Lead Exposure in Latter 20th Century
ScienceDaily (June 15, 2010) - Leaded gasoline was responsible for about two-thirds of toxic lead that African-American children in Cleveland ingested or inhaled during the latter two-thirds of the 20th century, according to a new study in Science of the Total Environment.
Researchers from Case Western Reserve University say what they've shown in Cleveland probably applies to many cities across the U.S. and reinforces concerns about the health threat for children in countries still using leaded gasoline. However, they emphasize that the results do not minimize the ongoing importance of current childhood lead exposure due to persistence and deterioration of leaded paint which was used as late as the 1960's.
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Obama vows to end homelessness in 10 years
WASHINGTON - The Obama administration on Tuesday unveiled an ambitious plan that aspires to end homelessness among some of society's most vulnerable groups within the next decade.
"Opening Doors," a "Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness," calls for ending child and family homelessness in 10 years while wiping out chronic homelessness and homelessness among veterans in five years.
According to the 74-page plan, "Stable housing is the foundation upon which people build their lives - absent a safe, decent, affordable place to live, it is next to impossible to achieve good health, positive educational outcomes or reach one's economic potential."
The plan is a significant breakthrough because there's never been a comprehensive federal effort to end homelessness with a timeline and measureable goals, said Nan Roman, the president of the National Alliance to End Homelessness.
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The Report
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Sunset Seen from the International Space Station
This spectacular image of sunset on the Indian Ocean was taken by astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The image presents an edge-on, or limb view, of the Earth's atmosphere as seen from orbit. The Earth's curvature is visible along the horizon line, or limb, that extends across the image from center left to lower right. Above the darkened surface of the Earth, a brilliant sequence of colors roughly denotes several layers of the atmosphere.
Deep oranges and yellows appear in the troposphere, which extends from the Earth's surface to 6–20 km high. This layer contains over 80 percent of the mass of the atmosphere and almost all of the water vapor, clouds, and precipitation. Several dark cloud layers are visible within this layer. Variations in the colors are due mainly to varying concentrations of either clouds or aerosols (airborne particles or droplets).
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Lobster ban urged for south of Cape
Biologists recommend 5-year moratorium
Lobster populations in a large swath of the Atlantic Ocean have declined so much that biologists are recommending a five-year ban on catching lobsters south of Cape Cod down to Virginia to allow the stock to bounce back.
The proposal is the most drastic of several options that will be considered in July by a multistate commission that regulates fishing of coastal species in the Atlantic, and it is drawing strong objections from lobstermen.
Bill Adler, executive director of the Massachusetts Lobstermen's Association, said he opposes the proposal because it would put hundreds of fishermen out of business.
Waters farther north, where most of New England's lobsters are trapped, are unaffected, because the populations there remain healthy.
Lobstermen and some scientists assert that warming waters, possibly due to climate change, have allowed disease and infections to overtake lobster populations off southern New England, killing many and pushing others farther offshore into deeper, cooler waters.
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Balls and Strikes and the Roberts Court
During his confirmation hearings for the Supreme Court in 2005, John Roberts assured senators that his job as a judge was merely "to call balls and strikes." It was a familiar, homey allusion, deliberately designed to suggest that ideology didn't - or anyway, shouldn't - play a role in deciding cases. He would be interpreting the plain meaning of the law, not making up his own.
But as fond as conservatives are of this kind of imagery, it's mostly a myth. Recently the Constitutional Accountability Center took a look at Supreme Court rulings during the Roberts era, but instead of looking at hot button social issues they looked at the kinds of rulings that, although they get less attention, actually take up the bulk of the court's time: those involving business and corporate law. The results were pretty startling.
A good guidepost to these rulings is the position taken by the United States Chamber of Commerce, which bills itself as the "voice of business." Roberts's record? In the past five years he's sided with the Chamber 70% of the time. In close cases he's sided with the Chamber a stunning 90% of the time. As an umpire, it turns out that if you're filing a case against the business community Roberts has declared a strike zone only a few inches wide.
And Roberts isn't alone. Samuel Alito and Antonin Scalia also sided with the Chamber over 70% of the time. (Alito sided with the Chamber a stunning 100% of the time in close cases.) Clarence Thomas took their side 68% of the time. And "centrist" Anthony Kennedy? He clocked in around 66%.
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Reckless Failure Of The U.S. Food And Drug Administration To Protect Against Cancer From Toxics In Cosmetics And GE Milk
CHICAGO, IL, June 16, 2010 --/WORLD-WIRE/-- The Cancer Prevention Coalition reminds the American public that the 1938 Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act explicitly stipulates: "Each ingredient used in a cosmetic product and each finished cosmetic product shall be adequately substantiated for safety prior to marketing."
In the absence of adequate evidence of safety, products must be conspicuously labeled on their principle display panel: "WARNING: THE SAFETY OF THIS PRODUCT HAS NOT BEEN DETERMINED." Furthermore, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is authorized to pursue enforcement action after a product containing dangerous ingredients has been marketed.
However, warns Samuel S. Epstein, M.D., Chairman of the Cancer Prevention Coalition, in spite of such explicit pre-and-post-marketing authority, the FDA has taken no regulatory action whatsoever over the last six decades, continuing until today, to protect the public from unknowing exposures to a wide range of toxic ingredients in cosmetic and personal care products. These include allergens, hormones, carcinogens and their precursors, and ultra-microscopic nanoparticles.
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'Food Prices to Projected to Rise in the Next Decade'
The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization(FAO), in collaboration with the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development(OECD), recently released the annual Agricultural Outlook 2010-2019. The report projects that from 2010-2019, oil and dairy prices will almost double, while wheat and coarse grain prices will increase by 15 to 40 percent more than they were between 1997 and 2006. Rising food prices will only make it harder to feed the more than 1 billion people who are hungry in the world.
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