http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-10/afri-pfc102411.php
Public release date: 24-Oct-2011
Contact: Katrina Norfleet
Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology
Physical fitness could have a positive effect on eye health
New study links active lifestyle to reduced risk of glaucoma
Rockville, MD -- Physical activity may be what the doctor orders to help patients reduce their risk of developing glaucoma. According to a recently published scientific paper, higher levels of physical exercise appear to have a long-term beneficial impact on low ocular perfusion pressure (OPP), an important risk factor for glaucoma.
Published in the Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science journal (Physical Activity and Ocular Perfusion Pressure: The EPIC-Norfolk Eye Study), this study examined the relationship between physical activity and current OPP in 5,650 men and women aged 48 to 90 who live in the U.K. and were part of initial cohort from 1993 - 1997.
Using a detailed self-administered health and lifestyle questionnaire, participants were assessed for combined physical activity at work and leisure. From 2006 to 2010, study participants were examined for eye pressure -- medically termed intraocular pressure (IOP )-- and systolic and diastolic blood pressure measurements. The results showed that moderate physical exercise performed approximately 15 years previously is associated with a 25% reduced risk of low OPP.
[...]
..
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Harsh discipline fosters dishonesty in young children
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-10/mu-hdf102411.php
Public release date: 24-Oct-2011
Contact: Chris Chipello
McGill University
Harsh discipline fosters dishonesty in young children
Study compares lie-telling behaviour in harshly punitive, mildly punitive environments
Young children exposed to a harshly punitive school environment are more inclined to lie to conceal their misbehaviour than are children from non-punitive schools, a study of three- and four-year-old West African children suggests.
The study, published in the journal Child Development, also indicates that children in a punitive environment are able to tell more convincing lies than those in a non-punitive environment.
The research, by Professor Victoria Talwar of McGill University and Professor Kang Lee of the University of Toronto, examined deceptive behaviours in two groups of children living in the same neighbourhood. One group was enrolled in a private school that used a traditional authoritarian discipline model, in which beating with a stick, slapping of the head, and pinching were administered publicly and routinely for offenses ranging from forgetting a pencil to being disruptive in class. In the other school, also private, children were disciplined with time-outs or scolding and, for more serious offenses, were taken to the principal's office for further reprimand.
[...]
In fact, the three- and four-year-old lie-tellers in the punitive school were as advanced in their ability to tell convincing lies as six- to seven-year-old lie-tellers in existing studies. "This finding is surprising," the authors note, as "existing studies have consistently found that children from punitive environments tend to suffer general delays in cognitive development."
"One possibility is that the harsh punitive environment heightens children's motivation to come up with any strategies that will help them survive in that environment," Prof. Lee says. "Lying seems particularly adaptive for the situation.
"Our study, I think, may serve as a cautionary tale for parents who sometimes would use the harshest means of punishment when they catch their children lying. It is clear that corporal punishment not only does not reduce children's tendency to lie, but actually improves their lying skills."
..
Public release date: 24-Oct-2011
Contact: Chris Chipello
McGill University
Harsh discipline fosters dishonesty in young children
Study compares lie-telling behaviour in harshly punitive, mildly punitive environments
Young children exposed to a harshly punitive school environment are more inclined to lie to conceal their misbehaviour than are children from non-punitive schools, a study of three- and four-year-old West African children suggests.
The study, published in the journal Child Development, also indicates that children in a punitive environment are able to tell more convincing lies than those in a non-punitive environment.
The research, by Professor Victoria Talwar of McGill University and Professor Kang Lee of the University of Toronto, examined deceptive behaviours in two groups of children living in the same neighbourhood. One group was enrolled in a private school that used a traditional authoritarian discipline model, in which beating with a stick, slapping of the head, and pinching were administered publicly and routinely for offenses ranging from forgetting a pencil to being disruptive in class. In the other school, also private, children were disciplined with time-outs or scolding and, for more serious offenses, were taken to the principal's office for further reprimand.
[...]
In fact, the three- and four-year-old lie-tellers in the punitive school were as advanced in their ability to tell convincing lies as six- to seven-year-old lie-tellers in existing studies. "This finding is surprising," the authors note, as "existing studies have consistently found that children from punitive environments tend to suffer general delays in cognitive development."
"One possibility is that the harsh punitive environment heightens children's motivation to come up with any strategies that will help them survive in that environment," Prof. Lee says. "Lying seems particularly adaptive for the situation.
"Our study, I think, may serve as a cautionary tale for parents who sometimes would use the harshest means of punishment when they catch their children lying. It is clear that corporal punishment not only does not reduce children's tendency to lie, but actually improves their lying skills."
..
Mood, cognition and sleep patterns improve in Alzheimer's patients after cataract surgery
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-10/aaoo-mc101911.php
Public release date: 25-Oct-2011
Contact: Mary Wade
American Academy of Ophthalmology
Mood, cognition and sleep patterns improve in Alzheimer's patients after cataract surgery
First-of-its-kind study reported at American Academy of Ophthalmology 2011 Annual Meeting
ORLANDO, Fla. –October 25, 2011 — Researchers at Tenon Hospital, Paris, France, found that patients with mild Alzheimer's disease whose vision improved after cataract surgery also showed improvement in cognitive ability, mood, sleep patterns and other behaviors. Lead researcher Brigitte Girard, MD, will discuss her team's results today at the American Academy of Ophthalmology's 2011 Annual Meeting.
This is the first study to specifically assess whether cataract surgery could benefit Alzheimer's patients, although earlier research had shown that poor vision is related to impaired mood and thinking skills in older people and that cataract surgery could improve their quality of life. Thirty-eight patients, average age 85 and all exhibiting mild dementia due to Alzheimer's disease, completed Dr. Girard's study. All participants had debilitating cataract in at least one eye and were appropriately treated with standard cataract surgery and implantation of intraocular lenses, which replace the eyes' natural lenses in order to provide vision correction. After surgery, distance and near vision improved dramatically in all but one of the Alzheimer's patients.
[...]
Sleep patterns improved and night time behavior problems decreased in most study patients. Other studies have shown that when cataracts are removed, levels of the sleep-regulating hormone melatonin become normalized. Dr. Girard notes that this may have been a key factor in the Alzheimer's patients' improved sleep patterns.
..
Public release date: 25-Oct-2011
Contact: Mary Wade
American Academy of Ophthalmology
Mood, cognition and sleep patterns improve in Alzheimer's patients after cataract surgery
First-of-its-kind study reported at American Academy of Ophthalmology 2011 Annual Meeting
ORLANDO, Fla. –October 25, 2011 — Researchers at Tenon Hospital, Paris, France, found that patients with mild Alzheimer's disease whose vision improved after cataract surgery also showed improvement in cognitive ability, mood, sleep patterns and other behaviors. Lead researcher Brigitte Girard, MD, will discuss her team's results today at the American Academy of Ophthalmology's 2011 Annual Meeting.
This is the first study to specifically assess whether cataract surgery could benefit Alzheimer's patients, although earlier research had shown that poor vision is related to impaired mood and thinking skills in older people and that cataract surgery could improve their quality of life. Thirty-eight patients, average age 85 and all exhibiting mild dementia due to Alzheimer's disease, completed Dr. Girard's study. All participants had debilitating cataract in at least one eye and were appropriately treated with standard cataract surgery and implantation of intraocular lenses, which replace the eyes' natural lenses in order to provide vision correction. After surgery, distance and near vision improved dramatically in all but one of the Alzheimer's patients.
[...]
Sleep patterns improved and night time behavior problems decreased in most study patients. Other studies have shown that when cataracts are removed, levels of the sleep-regulating hormone melatonin become normalized. Dr. Girard notes that this may have been a key factor in the Alzheimer's patients' improved sleep patterns.
..
University of North Carolina School of Medicine
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-10/uonc-sol102011.php
Public release date: 25-Oct-2011
Contact: Ramona Dubose
University of North Carolina School of Medicine
Study: Obesity limits effectiveness of flu vaccines
People carrying extra pounds may need extra protection from influenza.
New research from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill shows that obesity may make annual flu shots less effective.
The findings, published online Oct. 25, 2011, in he International Journal of Obesity, provide evidence explaining a phenomenon that was noticed for the first time during the 2009 H1N1 flu outbreak: that obesity is associated with an impaired immune response to the influenza vaccination in humans.
"These results suggest that overweight and obese people would be more likely than healthy weight people to experience flu illness following exposure to the flu virus," said Melinda Beck, Ph.D., professor and associate chair of nutrition at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health and senior author of the study.
"Previous studies have indicated the possibility that obesity might impair the human body's ability to fight flu viruses. These new findings seem to give us a reason why obese people were more susceptible to influenza illness during the H1N1 pandemic compared to healthy weight people."
The study reports for the first time that influenza vaccine antibody levels decline significantly in obese people compared to healthy weight individuals. What's more, responses of CD8+ T cells (a type of white blood cell that plays a key role in the body's immune system) are defective in heavier people.
Researchers studied people at a UNC clinic who had been vaccinated in late 2009 with inactivated trivalent influenza vaccine, the common flu vaccine for that fall and winter season. Although obese, overweight and healthy weight individuals all developed antibodies to flu viruses within the first month after vaccination, the antibody levels in the blood declined more rapidly in obese and overweight individuals over time.
About 50 percent of obese participants had a four-fold decrease in antibody levels at 12 months compared to one month post vaccination. However, less than 25 percent of healthy weight participants had a four-fold decrease in antibody levels.
Also, when study participants' blood samples were tested in the lab and exposed to a flu virus 12 months after vaccination, about 75 percent of healthy weight people's CD8+ T cells still expressed interferon-γ, an infection-fighting protein. However, only about 25 percent of obese patients' cells responded by producing the protein.
[...]
..
Public release date: 25-Oct-2011
Contact: Ramona Dubose
University of North Carolina School of Medicine
Study: Obesity limits effectiveness of flu vaccines
People carrying extra pounds may need extra protection from influenza.
New research from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill shows that obesity may make annual flu shots less effective.
The findings, published online Oct. 25, 2011, in he International Journal of Obesity, provide evidence explaining a phenomenon that was noticed for the first time during the 2009 H1N1 flu outbreak: that obesity is associated with an impaired immune response to the influenza vaccination in humans.
"These results suggest that overweight and obese people would be more likely than healthy weight people to experience flu illness following exposure to the flu virus," said Melinda Beck, Ph.D., professor and associate chair of nutrition at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health and senior author of the study.
"Previous studies have indicated the possibility that obesity might impair the human body's ability to fight flu viruses. These new findings seem to give us a reason why obese people were more susceptible to influenza illness during the H1N1 pandemic compared to healthy weight people."
The study reports for the first time that influenza vaccine antibody levels decline significantly in obese people compared to healthy weight individuals. What's more, responses of CD8+ T cells (a type of white blood cell that plays a key role in the body's immune system) are defective in heavier people.
Researchers studied people at a UNC clinic who had been vaccinated in late 2009 with inactivated trivalent influenza vaccine, the common flu vaccine for that fall and winter season. Although obese, overweight and healthy weight individuals all developed antibodies to flu viruses within the first month after vaccination, the antibody levels in the blood declined more rapidly in obese and overweight individuals over time.
About 50 percent of obese participants had a four-fold decrease in antibody levels at 12 months compared to one month post vaccination. However, less than 25 percent of healthy weight participants had a four-fold decrease in antibody levels.
Also, when study participants' blood samples were tested in the lab and exposed to a flu virus 12 months after vaccination, about 75 percent of healthy weight people's CD8+ T cells still expressed interferon-γ, an infection-fighting protein. However, only about 25 percent of obese patients' cells responded by producing the protein.
[...]
..
Low fat diet with fish oil slowed growth of human prostate cancer cells
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-10/uoc--yaw102411.php
Public release date: 25-Oct-2011
Contact: Kim Irwin
University of California - Los Angeles Health Sciences
You are what you eat: Low fat diet with fish oil slowed growth of human prostate cancer cells
A low-fat diet with fish oil supplements eaten for four to six weeks prior to prostate removal slowed down the growth of prostate cancer cells -- the number of rapidly dividing cells -- in human prostate cancer tissue compared to a traditional, high-fat Western diet.
Done by researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, the short-term study also found that the men on the low-fat, fish oil supplement diet were able to change the composition of their cell membranes in both the healthy cells and the cancer cells in the prostate. They had increased levels of omega-3 fatty acids from fish oil and decreased levels of omega-6 fatty acids from corn oil in the cell membranes, which may directly affect the biology of the cells, though further studies are needed, said Dr. William Aronson, the study's first author and a researcher with UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.
The study also found that blood obtained from patients after the low-fat, fish oil diet program slowed the growth of prostate cancer cells in a test tube as compared to blood from men on the Western diet, which did not slow cancer growth.
"The finding that the low-fat, fish oil diet reduced the number of rapidly dividing cells in the prostate cancer tissue is important because the rate at which the cells are dividing can be predictive of future cancer progression," Aronson said. "The lower the rate of proliferation, the lesser the chances that the cancer will spread outside the prostate, where it is much harder to treat."
The study appeared Oct. 25, 2011 in Cancer Prevention Research, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
[...]
Diet studies often are difficult to evaluate because getting patients to comply with dietary changes can be challenging. However, the food eaten by men in both arms of this study was precisely controlled, Aronson said. The meals were prepared by chefs in the UCLA Clinical Translational Research Center and delivered in bulk to study participants several times a week. Participants also met with a dietician, kept food diaries and were required to return uneaten food.
"The key to this study was having the meals prepared and delivered to the study participants," Aronson said. "This resulted in a very high rate of compliance, making the study very well controlled."
The Western diet consisted of 40 percent of calories from fat, generally equivalent to what many Americans consume today. The fat sources also were typical of the American diet, and included high levels of omega-6 fatty acids from corn oil and low levels of fish oil that provide omega-3 fatty acids.
The low-fat diet consisted of 15 percent of calories from fat. Additionally, the men on this diet took five grams of fish oil per day in five capsules, three with breakfast and two with dinner, to provide fish oil omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3 fatty acids have been found to reduce the incidence of heart disease and fight inflammation, and inflammation has been associated with certain cancers.
"Preclinical studies suggest that lowering dietary omega-6 fatty acids from corn oil and increasing omega-3 fatty acids from fish oil decreases the risk of prostate cancer development and progression," the study states. "We found this diet intervention resulted in a decrease in omega-6 vs. omega-3 fatty acid ratios in benign and malignant prostate tissue and a decrease in malignant cell proliferation."
Aronson cautioned that he could not recommend dietary changes based on this study because of its short duration and small sample size. However, based on these results he is organizing a much larger study of 100 men with prostate cancers who have elected active surveillance, meaning they're not getting any treatment for their disease but are getting regular biopsies and check-ups.
..
Public release date: 25-Oct-2011
Contact: Kim Irwin
University of California - Los Angeles Health Sciences
You are what you eat: Low fat diet with fish oil slowed growth of human prostate cancer cells
A low-fat diet with fish oil supplements eaten for four to six weeks prior to prostate removal slowed down the growth of prostate cancer cells -- the number of rapidly dividing cells -- in human prostate cancer tissue compared to a traditional, high-fat Western diet.
Done by researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, the short-term study also found that the men on the low-fat, fish oil supplement diet were able to change the composition of their cell membranes in both the healthy cells and the cancer cells in the prostate. They had increased levels of omega-3 fatty acids from fish oil and decreased levels of omega-6 fatty acids from corn oil in the cell membranes, which may directly affect the biology of the cells, though further studies are needed, said Dr. William Aronson, the study's first author and a researcher with UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.
The study also found that blood obtained from patients after the low-fat, fish oil diet program slowed the growth of prostate cancer cells in a test tube as compared to blood from men on the Western diet, which did not slow cancer growth.
"The finding that the low-fat, fish oil diet reduced the number of rapidly dividing cells in the prostate cancer tissue is important because the rate at which the cells are dividing can be predictive of future cancer progression," Aronson said. "The lower the rate of proliferation, the lesser the chances that the cancer will spread outside the prostate, where it is much harder to treat."
The study appeared Oct. 25, 2011 in Cancer Prevention Research, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
[...]
Diet studies often are difficult to evaluate because getting patients to comply with dietary changes can be challenging. However, the food eaten by men in both arms of this study was precisely controlled, Aronson said. The meals were prepared by chefs in the UCLA Clinical Translational Research Center and delivered in bulk to study participants several times a week. Participants also met with a dietician, kept food diaries and were required to return uneaten food.
"The key to this study was having the meals prepared and delivered to the study participants," Aronson said. "This resulted in a very high rate of compliance, making the study very well controlled."
The Western diet consisted of 40 percent of calories from fat, generally equivalent to what many Americans consume today. The fat sources also were typical of the American diet, and included high levels of omega-6 fatty acids from corn oil and low levels of fish oil that provide omega-3 fatty acids.
The low-fat diet consisted of 15 percent of calories from fat. Additionally, the men on this diet took five grams of fish oil per day in five capsules, three with breakfast and two with dinner, to provide fish oil omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3 fatty acids have been found to reduce the incidence of heart disease and fight inflammation, and inflammation has been associated with certain cancers.
"Preclinical studies suggest that lowering dietary omega-6 fatty acids from corn oil and increasing omega-3 fatty acids from fish oil decreases the risk of prostate cancer development and progression," the study states. "We found this diet intervention resulted in a decrease in omega-6 vs. omega-3 fatty acid ratios in benign and malignant prostate tissue and a decrease in malignant cell proliferation."
Aronson cautioned that he could not recommend dietary changes based on this study because of its short duration and small sample size. However, based on these results he is organizing a much larger study of 100 men with prostate cancers who have elected active surveillance, meaning they're not getting any treatment for their disease but are getting regular biopsies and check-ups.
..
Income Inequality Is Hobbling the Middle Class
http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Columns/2011/10/25/Income-Inequality-Is-Hobbling-the-Middle-Class.aspx#page1
By MARK THOMA, The Fiscal Times
October 25, 2011
Income inequality in the U.S. has been rising for the last several decades, and with it concern about the consequences. For example, to what extent does the large flow of income into the hands of financial executives give them the power to influence Congress through campaign donations? How does this have an impact on the willingness of legislators to impose regulations that would stabilize the financial system but inhibit the ability of the financial industry to make the huge profits that fund political campaigns?
If economic mobility increased along with the increase in inequality, then this would at least partially offset the worries associated with the rising concentration of income. To see how,
[...]
What has happened to mobility in the U.S.? Is it any easier to move up and down the ladder than it used to be? Unfortunately, the answer is no. As Lane Kenworthy, one of the top experts on this topic notes: “Rising income and earnings inequality in the United States does not appear to have been offset by increased mobility.” He points to several ways we might increase mobility
[...]
There is another aspect of mobility that needs to be addressed. The type of mobility discussed above is within generation, or intra-generational mobility. This type of mobility refers to how easy it is to move up and down the income ladder during a person’s lifetime. Another type of mobility is how easy it is to move between social classes across generations, i.e. inter-generational mobility.
While many people believe that the U.S. is the most mobile country in the world, the evidence on inter-generational mobility tells another story. As economist Paul De Grauwe observes, contrary to what is widely believed, in recent times “many EU countries have created an environment in which it is significantly easier for the poor to climb the social ladder than it is in the U.S.”
Both types of mobility can be hampered by the concentration of wealth and power. For example, if wealth and power can be passed from generation to generation, and if the power that comes with wealth allows individuals to erect barriers that protect their businesses from competition or regulation, or to protect their position in society in other ways – for example access to better education – then the wealth that is passed from generation to generation serves as a barrier to mobility both within and across generations.
Recently, the American Family Business Foundation began pushing for a cut in estate taxes as a job-creation policy. The job creation angle is, of course, just an excuse to advocate for a cut in these taxes, and this is far from the first or the last time we’ll hear an argument from Republicans that these taxes should be reduced or eliminated entirely. But in addition to the fact that reducing estate taxes would cost us revenue at a time when we are looking to shore up our long-term finances, we should also consider the extent to which this would perpetuate existing social and power structures and erect barriers to social and economic mobility. If anything, these taxes should be increased.
[...]
tags: income inequality, wealth inequality
..
By MARK THOMA, The Fiscal Times
October 25, 2011
Income inequality in the U.S. has been rising for the last several decades, and with it concern about the consequences. For example, to what extent does the large flow of income into the hands of financial executives give them the power to influence Congress through campaign donations? How does this have an impact on the willingness of legislators to impose regulations that would stabilize the financial system but inhibit the ability of the financial industry to make the huge profits that fund political campaigns?
If economic mobility increased along with the increase in inequality, then this would at least partially offset the worries associated with the rising concentration of income. To see how,
[...]
What has happened to mobility in the U.S.? Is it any easier to move up and down the ladder than it used to be? Unfortunately, the answer is no. As Lane Kenworthy, one of the top experts on this topic notes: “Rising income and earnings inequality in the United States does not appear to have been offset by increased mobility.” He points to several ways we might increase mobility
[...]
There is another aspect of mobility that needs to be addressed. The type of mobility discussed above is within generation, or intra-generational mobility. This type of mobility refers to how easy it is to move up and down the income ladder during a person’s lifetime. Another type of mobility is how easy it is to move between social classes across generations, i.e. inter-generational mobility.
While many people believe that the U.S. is the most mobile country in the world, the evidence on inter-generational mobility tells another story. As economist Paul De Grauwe observes, contrary to what is widely believed, in recent times “many EU countries have created an environment in which it is significantly easier for the poor to climb the social ladder than it is in the U.S.”
Both types of mobility can be hampered by the concentration of wealth and power. For example, if wealth and power can be passed from generation to generation, and if the power that comes with wealth allows individuals to erect barriers that protect their businesses from competition or regulation, or to protect their position in society in other ways – for example access to better education – then the wealth that is passed from generation to generation serves as a barrier to mobility both within and across generations.
Recently, the American Family Business Foundation began pushing for a cut in estate taxes as a job-creation policy. The job creation angle is, of course, just an excuse to advocate for a cut in these taxes, and this is far from the first or the last time we’ll hear an argument from Republicans that these taxes should be reduced or eliminated entirely. But in addition to the fact that reducing estate taxes would cost us revenue at a time when we are looking to shore up our long-term finances, we should also consider the extent to which this would perpetuate existing social and power structures and erect barriers to social and economic mobility. If anything, these taxes should be increased.
[...]
tags: income inequality, wealth inequality
..
Loving the Chambered Nautilus to Death
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/25/science/25nautilus.html?_r=1&smid=fb-nytimes&WT.mc_id=SC-SM-E-FB-SM-LIN-LTC-102511-NYT-NA&WT.mc_ev=click
By WILLIAM J. BROAD
Published: October 24, 2011
It is a living fossil whose ancestors go back a half billion years — to the early days of complex life on the planet, when the land was barren and the seas were warm.
Naturalists have long marveled at its shell. The logarithmic spiral echoes the curved arms of hurricanes and distant galaxies. In Florence, the Medicis turned the pearly shells into ornate cups and pitchers adorned with gold and rubies.
Now, scientists say, humans are loving the chambered nautilus to death, throwing its very existence into danger.
“A horrendous slaughter is going on out here,” said Peter D. Ward, a biologist from the University of Washington, during a recent census of the marine creature in the Philippines. “They’re nearly wiped out.”
The culprit? Growing sales of jewelry and ornaments derived from the lustrous shell. To satisfy the worldwide demand, fishermen have been killing the nautilus by the millions, scientists fear. Now marine biologists have begun to assess the status of its populations and to consider whether it should be listed as an endangered species to curb the shell trade.
[...]
Catching the nautilus is a largely unregulated free-for-all in which fishermen from poor South Pacific countries gladly accept $1 per shell.
Scientists worry that rising demand may end up eradicating an animal that grows slowly and needs 15 years or more to reach sexual maturity — an unusually long time for a cephalopod. (Its cousins include the squid and the octopus.)
“In certain areas, it’s threatened with extermination,” said Neil H. Landman, a biologist and paleontologist at the American Museum of Natural History and the co-editor of “Nautilus: The Biology and Paleobiology of a Living Fossil,” a compendium of scientific reports.
[...]
While the dwindling stocks of a beloved species can sometimes serve as a call to action — think of whales, pandas and polar bears — the threat to the chambered nautilus has gone largely unnoticed by the public. Specimens are for sale at relatively low prices and in seeming abundance. The situation is quite unlike that of rhinoceros horns or elephant tusks, which are considered contraband.
Deceptive marketing may help. The iridescent material inside nautilus shells is sometimes machined into pleasing shapes and sold as “Osmeña pearl.” (In the Philippines — home to much nautilus fishing — the Osmeña family is a political dynasty, and its name lends cachet.)
[...]
But the alarms sounded with new intensity last year at a conference in Dijon, France. Patricia S. De Angelis of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service reported that the United States had imported 579,000 specimens from 2005 to 2008.
When Dr. Ward, of the University of Washington, heard that, “the figure shocked the hell out of me,” he recalled.
Suddenly, a species thought to be fairly plentiful became the object of serious concern.
This summer, the Fish and Wildlife Service paid for Dr. Ward and his colleagues to begin a global census off the Philippine island of Bohol, which has long figured prominently in the shell trade.
In an e-mail in August, he said the team was working with local fishermen to set 40 traps a day but was catching two creatures at most — a tenth to a hundredth the rate of a decade ago. “A horror show,” he called it, adding that he suspected that one particular kind of nautilus “is already extinct in the Philippines” or nearly so.
“A very old species is being killed off quickly out here,” he wrote.
The captive nautiluses were X-rayed and returned to the sea.
[...]
tags: endangered species
..
By WILLIAM J. BROAD
Published: October 24, 2011
It is a living fossil whose ancestors go back a half billion years — to the early days of complex life on the planet, when the land was barren and the seas were warm.
Naturalists have long marveled at its shell. The logarithmic spiral echoes the curved arms of hurricanes and distant galaxies. In Florence, the Medicis turned the pearly shells into ornate cups and pitchers adorned with gold and rubies.
Now, scientists say, humans are loving the chambered nautilus to death, throwing its very existence into danger.
“A horrendous slaughter is going on out here,” said Peter D. Ward, a biologist from the University of Washington, during a recent census of the marine creature in the Philippines. “They’re nearly wiped out.”
The culprit? Growing sales of jewelry and ornaments derived from the lustrous shell. To satisfy the worldwide demand, fishermen have been killing the nautilus by the millions, scientists fear. Now marine biologists have begun to assess the status of its populations and to consider whether it should be listed as an endangered species to curb the shell trade.
[...]
Catching the nautilus is a largely unregulated free-for-all in which fishermen from poor South Pacific countries gladly accept $1 per shell.
Scientists worry that rising demand may end up eradicating an animal that grows slowly and needs 15 years or more to reach sexual maturity — an unusually long time for a cephalopod. (Its cousins include the squid and the octopus.)
“In certain areas, it’s threatened with extermination,” said Neil H. Landman, a biologist and paleontologist at the American Museum of Natural History and the co-editor of “Nautilus: The Biology and Paleobiology of a Living Fossil,” a compendium of scientific reports.
[...]
While the dwindling stocks of a beloved species can sometimes serve as a call to action — think of whales, pandas and polar bears — the threat to the chambered nautilus has gone largely unnoticed by the public. Specimens are for sale at relatively low prices and in seeming abundance. The situation is quite unlike that of rhinoceros horns or elephant tusks, which are considered contraband.
Deceptive marketing may help. The iridescent material inside nautilus shells is sometimes machined into pleasing shapes and sold as “Osmeña pearl.” (In the Philippines — home to much nautilus fishing — the Osmeña family is a political dynasty, and its name lends cachet.)
[...]
But the alarms sounded with new intensity last year at a conference in Dijon, France. Patricia S. De Angelis of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service reported that the United States had imported 579,000 specimens from 2005 to 2008.
When Dr. Ward, of the University of Washington, heard that, “the figure shocked the hell out of me,” he recalled.
Suddenly, a species thought to be fairly plentiful became the object of serious concern.
This summer, the Fish and Wildlife Service paid for Dr. Ward and his colleagues to begin a global census off the Philippine island of Bohol, which has long figured prominently in the shell trade.
In an e-mail in August, he said the team was working with local fishermen to set 40 traps a day but was catching two creatures at most — a tenth to a hundredth the rate of a decade ago. “A horror show,” he called it, adding that he suspected that one particular kind of nautilus “is already extinct in the Philippines” or nearly so.
“A very old species is being killed off quickly out here,” he wrote.
The captive nautiluses were X-rayed and returned to the sea.
[...]
tags: endangered species
..
Poverty’s Surge in the Suburbs
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/25/us/suburban-poverty-surge-challenges-communities.html?smid=fb-nytimes&WT.mc_id=US-SM-E-FB-SM-LIN-OCS-102511-NYT-NA&WT.mc_ev=click
By SABRINA TAVERNISE
Published: October 24, 2011
PARMA HEIGHTS, Ohio — The poor population in America’s suburbs — long a symbol of a stable and prosperous American middle class — rose by more than half after 2000, forcing suburban communities across the country to re-evaluate their identities and how they serve their populations.
The increase in the suburbs was 53 percent, compared with 26 percent in cities. The recession accelerated the pace: two-thirds of the new suburban poor were added from 2007 to 2010.
“The growth has been stunning,” said Elizabeth Kneebone, a senior researcher at the Brookings Institution, who conducted the analysis of census data. “For the first time, more than half of the metropolitan poor live in suburban areas.”
[...]
Poverty is new in Parma Heights, a quiet suburb of cul-de-sacs and clipped lawns, and asking for help can be hard. The Parma Heights Food Pantry, which began serving several dozen families a month in 2006, and now helps 260, draws a stream of casualties from the moribund economy. Many never needed food relief before.
Like Mary W., 59, who has worked all her life, most recently at a tire company in Cleveland, and was always the one to remind colleagues to donate to charity. Now she is the one who receives it.
When she first came to the pantry, “I cried my eyes out,” said Mary, who asked that her last name not be used because she did not want her children to know about her financial troubles.
At Vineyard Community Church in Wickliffe, another Cleveland suburb, Brent Paulson, the pastor, said he had to post an employee in the driveway the day the church’s food bank was open to coax people inside, they were so ashamed to ask for help.
In a sign of just how far the economic distress had spread, one volunteer saw his former boss come to the pantry, Mr. Paulson said.
[...]
..
By SABRINA TAVERNISE
Published: October 24, 2011
PARMA HEIGHTS, Ohio — The poor population in America’s suburbs — long a symbol of a stable and prosperous American middle class — rose by more than half after 2000, forcing suburban communities across the country to re-evaluate their identities and how they serve their populations.
The increase in the suburbs was 53 percent, compared with 26 percent in cities. The recession accelerated the pace: two-thirds of the new suburban poor were added from 2007 to 2010.
“The growth has been stunning,” said Elizabeth Kneebone, a senior researcher at the Brookings Institution, who conducted the analysis of census data. “For the first time, more than half of the metropolitan poor live in suburban areas.”
[...]
Poverty is new in Parma Heights, a quiet suburb of cul-de-sacs and clipped lawns, and asking for help can be hard. The Parma Heights Food Pantry, which began serving several dozen families a month in 2006, and now helps 260, draws a stream of casualties from the moribund economy. Many never needed food relief before.
Like Mary W., 59, who has worked all her life, most recently at a tire company in Cleveland, and was always the one to remind colleagues to donate to charity. Now she is the one who receives it.
When she first came to the pantry, “I cried my eyes out,” said Mary, who asked that her last name not be used because she did not want her children to know about her financial troubles.
At Vineyard Community Church in Wickliffe, another Cleveland suburb, Brent Paulson, the pastor, said he had to post an employee in the driveway the day the church’s food bank was open to coax people inside, they were so ashamed to ask for help.
In a sign of just how far the economic distress had spread, one volunteer saw his former boss come to the pantry, Mr. Paulson said.
[...]
..
Monday, October 24, 2011
Medical Professionals Protest Corporate Greed At Occupy Wall Street
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2011/10/23/medical-professionals-protest-corporate-greed-at-occupy-wall-street/#.TqQTAjBcdTM.facebook
October 23, 2011 9:12 AM
NEW YORK (WCBS 880) – Doctors and nurses are joining the Occupy Wall Street movement on Sunday afternoon at Zuccotti Park to share their frustration over a lack of adequate healthcare for the 99 percent.
Laurie Wen, executive director of the local chapter of Physicians for a National Health Program, said they’re joining the protesters because they believe the private insurance companies are making their patients sick.
“Unchecked corporate greed is making our patients sick,” she said. “Social and economic inequalities are making our patients sick. And doctors and nurses are tired of practicing in a system that is so broken.”
Doctors and nurses—all dressed in their scrubs and white coats—will give volunteer medical exams to everyone after the protest, Wen said.
tags: Occupy Wall Street, OWS
[...]
..
October 23, 2011 9:12 AM
NEW YORK (WCBS 880) – Doctors and nurses are joining the Occupy Wall Street movement on Sunday afternoon at Zuccotti Park to share their frustration over a lack of adequate healthcare for the 99 percent.
Laurie Wen, executive director of the local chapter of Physicians for a National Health Program, said they’re joining the protesters because they believe the private insurance companies are making their patients sick.
“Unchecked corporate greed is making our patients sick,” she said. “Social and economic inequalities are making our patients sick. And doctors and nurses are tired of practicing in a system that is so broken.”
Doctors and nurses—all dressed in their scrubs and white coats—will give volunteer medical exams to everyone after the protest, Wen said.
tags: Occupy Wall Street, OWS
[...]
..
Anonymous Takes Down Massive Child Pornography Server, Leaks Usernames
http://www.geekosystem.com/anonymous-child-porn-takedown/
by Max Eddy | 11:00 am, October 23rd, 2011
In a move that we can all get behind, hacker group Anonymous has announced that they have taken down a huge cache of child pornography and released 1,589 usernames of the website’s patrons. The action came as part of Operation Darknet, which targets illicit websites that are part of an unindexed and therefore unsearchable corner of the Internet.
The server in question is owned by Freedom Hosting, and apparently services over 40 child pornography websites. The largest of these, disturbingly called Lolita City, was said to contain over 100gb of child pornography.
[...]
While attacks by the hacker group have often been divisive, going after the supporters of child pornography is something that is hard to criticize. In fact, this might be the best application of the groups’ talents; an intersection of Internet knowledge and the ability to carry out electronic attacks. Of course, preventing child pornography from being moved around the Internet doesn’t stop the predators that created the materials. Hopefully, law enforcement will take up the information gleaned by the group and start making some arrests.
tags: technology
..
by Max Eddy | 11:00 am, October 23rd, 2011
In a move that we can all get behind, hacker group Anonymous has announced that they have taken down a huge cache of child pornography and released 1,589 usernames of the website’s patrons. The action came as part of Operation Darknet, which targets illicit websites that are part of an unindexed and therefore unsearchable corner of the Internet.
The server in question is owned by Freedom Hosting, and apparently services over 40 child pornography websites. The largest of these, disturbingly called Lolita City, was said to contain over 100gb of child pornography.
[...]
While attacks by the hacker group have often been divisive, going after the supporters of child pornography is something that is hard to criticize. In fact, this might be the best application of the groups’ talents; an intersection of Internet knowledge and the ability to carry out electronic attacks. Of course, preventing child pornography from being moved around the Internet doesn’t stop the predators that created the materials. Hopefully, law enforcement will take up the information gleaned by the group and start making some arrests.
tags: technology
..
Occupy Marines
Thank you, Occupy Marines.
OccupyMarines.org
OccupyMARINES Are Marines Not Currently Serving Actively And Ask That Military Supporters Participate Only If They Are Not Currently On Active Duty; Including Service Members Within The Individual Ready Reserves (IRR). OccupyMARINES Will Not, Have Not, Requested Our Brothers And Sisters Who Are Actively Serving Within The United States Armed Services To Dishonor Themselves By Participating With Us Or OWS. We Want Your Eyes Forward So That You All Return To Us Safely.
[...]
We were asked today by a Naysayer to explain what OccupyMARINES are doing for OWS. We replied with a more accurate question to ask is what OccupyMARINES are not doing. OccupyMARINES are not sitting on our asses watching the 1% rip out the heart of America.
America Dialed 911 and We Stood Up, We Answered America’s Call.
We Have watched since September 17th this wondrous event unfold. We watched as this small demonstration took hold of the world and we quickly understood that they are not going away. So we listened more.
We listened to the demonstrators, we listened to the public respond and observed how quickly divided Americans’ were becoming. How these knucklehead Naysayers, day after day discredit what OWS is doing.
Well Nay-Sayers OccupyMARINES have a message for you. Continue sitting on your asses while the 1% laugh at you, lie to you, tell you to shut your soup coolers and mind your own business. Go ahead and quibble Naysayers while MARINES once again stand up for the future of America.
And when the day comes, when OWS hits history books across the world, and we alongside them; that day when someone asks you if you were there Nay-Sayers you are going to say: “No, I was to scared, I did not have the balls to fight for my country. I did not have the courage to confront the problems eroding America.”
“But I did feel confident enough to attack those brave souls that did stand up for America. I did fight to disregard their message.” Tell Them that when asked Naysayers, afterwards, return to your life remembering that you are insignificant to history. Do not worry Naysayers, the MARINES have your back….AGAIN.
We Support You America Keep Pushing Forward
OccupyMARINES
[...]
OccupyMARINES Asks Supporters To Express Support Of The Brave Men And Women Of The New York Police Department And The Fire Department Of New York By Providing Hot Coffee And Food To Eat; These Honorable Men And Women Are Out There Along Side Us And Deserve To Be Remembered For Their Roles In ‘Occupy’ America.
OccupyMARINES Ask Supporters To Create And Express Signs In Support Of NYPD And FDNY.
OccupyMARINES Extend Our Eternal Gratitude To New York’s Finest Out There Ensuring A Peaceful Occupation.
[...]
tags: Occupy Wall Street, OWS
..
OccupyMarines.org
OccupyMARINES Are Marines Not Currently Serving Actively And Ask That Military Supporters Participate Only If They Are Not Currently On Active Duty; Including Service Members Within The Individual Ready Reserves (IRR). OccupyMARINES Will Not, Have Not, Requested Our Brothers And Sisters Who Are Actively Serving Within The United States Armed Services To Dishonor Themselves By Participating With Us Or OWS. We Want Your Eyes Forward So That You All Return To Us Safely.
[...]
We were asked today by a Naysayer to explain what OccupyMARINES are doing for OWS. We replied with a more accurate question to ask is what OccupyMARINES are not doing. OccupyMARINES are not sitting on our asses watching the 1% rip out the heart of America.
America Dialed 911 and We Stood Up, We Answered America’s Call.
We Have watched since September 17th this wondrous event unfold. We watched as this small demonstration took hold of the world and we quickly understood that they are not going away. So we listened more.
We listened to the demonstrators, we listened to the public respond and observed how quickly divided Americans’ were becoming. How these knucklehead Naysayers, day after day discredit what OWS is doing.
Well Nay-Sayers OccupyMARINES have a message for you. Continue sitting on your asses while the 1% laugh at you, lie to you, tell you to shut your soup coolers and mind your own business. Go ahead and quibble Naysayers while MARINES once again stand up for the future of America.
And when the day comes, when OWS hits history books across the world, and we alongside them; that day when someone asks you if you were there Nay-Sayers you are going to say: “No, I was to scared, I did not have the balls to fight for my country. I did not have the courage to confront the problems eroding America.”
“But I did feel confident enough to attack those brave souls that did stand up for America. I did fight to disregard their message.” Tell Them that when asked Naysayers, afterwards, return to your life remembering that you are insignificant to history. Do not worry Naysayers, the MARINES have your back….AGAIN.
We Support You America Keep Pushing Forward
OccupyMARINES
[...]
OccupyMARINES Asks Supporters To Express Support Of The Brave Men And Women Of The New York Police Department And The Fire Department Of New York By Providing Hot Coffee And Food To Eat; These Honorable Men And Women Are Out There Along Side Us And Deserve To Be Remembered For Their Roles In ‘Occupy’ America.
OccupyMARINES Ask Supporters To Create And Express Signs In Support Of NYPD And FDNY.
OccupyMARINES Extend Our Eternal Gratitude To New York’s Finest Out There Ensuring A Peaceful Occupation.
[...]
tags: Occupy Wall Street, OWS
..
New York cops defy order to arrest hundreds of ‘Occupy Albany’ protesters
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/10/24/new-york-cops-defy-order-to-arrest-hundreds-of-occupy-protesters/
By Andrew Jones
Monday, October 24, 2011
Occupy Albany protesters in New York’s capital city received an unexpected ally over the week: The state and local authorities.
According to the Albany Times Union, New York state troopers and Albany police did not adhere to a curfew crackdown on protesters urged by Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) and Albany mayor Gerald Jennings.
Mass arrests seemed to be in the cards once Jennings directed officers to enforce the curfew on roughly 700 protesters occupying the city owned park. But as state police joined the local cops, protesters moved past the property line dividing city and state land.
With protesters acting peacefully, local and state police agreed that low level arrests could cause a riot, so they decided instead to defy Cuomo and Jennings.
“We don’t have those resources, and these people were not causing trouble,” a state official said. “The bottom line is the police know policing, not the governor and not the mayor.”
[...]
..
By Andrew Jones
Monday, October 24, 2011
Occupy Albany protesters in New York’s capital city received an unexpected ally over the week: The state and local authorities.
According to the Albany Times Union, New York state troopers and Albany police did not adhere to a curfew crackdown on protesters urged by Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) and Albany mayor Gerald Jennings.
Mass arrests seemed to be in the cards once Jennings directed officers to enforce the curfew on roughly 700 protesters occupying the city owned park. But as state police joined the local cops, protesters moved past the property line dividing city and state land.
With protesters acting peacefully, local and state police agreed that low level arrests could cause a riot, so they decided instead to defy Cuomo and Jennings.
“We don’t have those resources, and these people were not causing trouble,” a state official said. “The bottom line is the police know policing, not the governor and not the mayor.”
[...]
..
Forget the top 1% — Look at the top 0.1%
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2011/10/forget-the-top-1-look-at-the-top-0-1/
Just today, I overheard someone say that income inequality must not be that bad, because you only need a few $100,000 to be in the 99th percentile (see CNN/Money) — that works out to be about $343k to make the top 1%.
That is factually accurate, but misses the full wealth disparity issue. To see where the big bucks are, you need to look into the top 0.5%, 0.1%, 0.01% and lastly, and lastly, the top 0.001%.
The details of this were delightfully illustrated by Catherine Mulbrandon at TBP conference.
Top 1% = $368,238 (20.9% of income)
Top 0.5% = $558,726 (16.8% of income)
Top 0.1% = $1,695,136 (10.3% of income)
Top 0.01% = $9,141,190 (5% of income)
[...]
tags: income inequality
..
Just today, I overheard someone say that income inequality must not be that bad, because you only need a few $100,000 to be in the 99th percentile (see CNN/Money) — that works out to be about $343k to make the top 1%.
That is factually accurate, but misses the full wealth disparity issue. To see where the big bucks are, you need to look into the top 0.5%, 0.1%, 0.01% and lastly, and lastly, the top 0.001%.
The details of this were delightfully illustrated by Catherine Mulbrandon at TBP conference.
Top 1% = $368,238 (20.9% of income)
Top 0.5% = $558,726 (16.8% of income)
Top 0.1% = $1,695,136 (10.3% of income)
Top 0.01% = $9,141,190 (5% of income)
[...]
tags: income inequality
..
Truth
"The truth may be puzzling. It may take some work to grapple with. It may be counterintuitive. It may contradict deeply held prejudices. It may not be consonant with what we desperately want to be true. But our preferences do not determine what's true." - Carl Sagan.
[...]
..
[...]
..
On the menu, but not on your plate
http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2011/10/23/on_the_menu_but_not_on_your_plate/?page=full
By Jenn Abelson and Beth Daley
Globe Staff / October 23, 2011
The sliver of raw fish sold as white tuna at Skipjack’s in Foxborough was actually escolar, an oily, cheaper species banned in Japan because it can make people sick. The Alaskan butterfish at celebrity chef Ming Tsai’s Blue Ginger in Wellesley was really sablefish, traditionally a staple at Jewish delicatessens, not upscale dining establishments.
At Chau Chow Seafood Restaurant in Dorchester, the $23 flounder fillet turned out to be a Vietnamese catfish known as swai - nutritionally inferior and often priced under $4 a pound.
Those were among the findings of a five-month Globe investigation into the mislabeling of fish. It showed that Massachusetts consumers routinely and unwittingly overpay for less desirable, sometimes undesirable, species - or buy seafood that is simply not what it is advertised to be. In many cases, the fish was caught thousands of miles away and frozen, not hauled in by local fishermen, as the menu claimed. It may be perfectly palatable - just not what the customer ordered. But sometimes mislabeled seafood can cause allergic reactions, violate dietary restrictions, or contain chemicals banned in the United States.
The Globe collected fish from 134 restaurants, grocery stores, and seafood markets from Leominster to Provincetown, and hired a laboratory in Canada to conduct DNA testing on the samples. Analyses by the DNA lab and other scientists showed that 87 of 183 were sold with the wrong species name - 48 percent.
The results underscore the dramatic lack of oversight in the seafood business compared with other food industries such as meat and poultry. Nationally, mislabeled fish is estimated to cost diners and the industry up to hundreds of millions of dollars annually, according to the National Fisheries Institute, a trade group.
It happens for a range of reasons, from outright fraud to a chef’s ignorance to the sometimes real difficulty of discerning one fillet from another. But industry specialists say money is commonly the motivator: It’s a way to increase profits - a cheaper fish sold as something more pricey - on the assumption that customers will not detect the difference.
[...]
All 23 white tuna samples tested as some other type of fish, usually escolar, which is nicknamed the “ex-lax’’ fish by some in the industry because of the digestion problems it can cause.
[...]
Frozen fish at grocery stores was far less frequently misidentified, with some sellers - including Walmart, Trader Joe’s, and BJ’s Wholesale Club - passing muster in all instances. At restaurants, mahi mahi and swordfish were correctly labeled in all samples tested.
The Globe chose to focus most of its testing on certain species, such as red snapper and tuna, because they have been identified by regulators as more likely to be mislabeled, so the findings do not represent all types of fish sold.
Seafood substitution can take place anywhere along the international route most wild and farmed fish take to a diner’s plate in the United States. The practice is carried out by fishermen, importers, wholesalers, restaurants, and stores.
[...]
Recent studies indicate that between 20 percent and 70 percent or more of snapper, cod, grouper, and wild salmon are mislabeled at restaurants and stores. Oceana, a nonprofit based in Washington, D.C., that is campaigning against seafood fraud, also discovered mislabeling this year when it conducted DNA tests of fresh and frozen fish at 15 Boston-area supermarkets. Nearly one in five fillets tested had the wrong species name, according to Oceana. Atlantic cod was the most frequently misrepresented fish.
Seafood substitution makes it harder for consumers to accept that some species, including red snapper, are overfished, since it regularly appears on restaurant menus.
“If people see something on the menu all the time, they may have no idea it is disappearing from the ocean,’’ said Beth Lowell, an Oceana campaign director.
[...]
Beyond the economic toll, fish mislabeling can have serious health and environmental consequences.
In 2007, two customers at a Chicago restaurant were hospitalized after eating a toxin found in puffer fish. They had ordered monkfish.
That same year, a large shipment of escolar from Indonesia was labeled Atlantic cod and exported to Hong Kong. More than 600 people reportedly fell ill after eating it. Consumption of escolar can cause severe gastrointestinal problems because of the type of oil it contains.
The Globe found escolar being sold as white tuna, super-white tuna, or albacore at merchants such as FuGaKyu in Brookline, Kowloon in Saugus, H Mart supermarket in Burlington, and Oishii Sushi Bar in Chestnut Hill.
[...]
Beyond the economic toll, fish mislabeling can have serious health and environmental consequences.
In 2007, two customers at a Chicago restaurant were hospitalized after eating a toxin found in puffer fish. They had ordered monkfish.
That same year, a large shipment of escolar from Indonesia was labeled Atlantic cod and exported to Hong Kong. More than 600 people reportedly fell ill after eating it. Consumption of escolar can cause severe gastrointestinal problems because of the type of oil it contains.
The Globe found escolar being sold as white tuna, super-white tuna, or albacore at merchants such as FuGaKyu in Brookline, Kowloon in Saugus, H Mart supermarket in Burlington, and Oishii Sushi Bar in Chestnut Hill.
[...]
The Globe investigation also uncovered repeated instances where a nutritional fish was replaced by a less healthy offering.
For example, nearly all of the sushi restaurants surveyed replaced wild-caught red snapper with tilapia, a farm-raised species usually from Asia that has a significantly higher concentration of the fatty acid Omega 6, which some research suggests increases the risk of heart disease.
[...]
Mislabeling can also result in consumers unknowingly eating species of fish whose existence may be in peril.
The Globe-sponsored testing showed that yellowfin tuna wontons at the chain restaurant Not Your Average Joe’s in Westborough were filled with chunks of southern bluefin tuna. That’s a critically endangered species, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, a worldwide environmental network of governments, scientists, and nonprofits.
[...]
..
By Jenn Abelson and Beth Daley
Globe Staff / October 23, 2011
The sliver of raw fish sold as white tuna at Skipjack’s in Foxborough was actually escolar, an oily, cheaper species banned in Japan because it can make people sick. The Alaskan butterfish at celebrity chef Ming Tsai’s Blue Ginger in Wellesley was really sablefish, traditionally a staple at Jewish delicatessens, not upscale dining establishments.
At Chau Chow Seafood Restaurant in Dorchester, the $23 flounder fillet turned out to be a Vietnamese catfish known as swai - nutritionally inferior and often priced under $4 a pound.
Those were among the findings of a five-month Globe investigation into the mislabeling of fish. It showed that Massachusetts consumers routinely and unwittingly overpay for less desirable, sometimes undesirable, species - or buy seafood that is simply not what it is advertised to be. In many cases, the fish was caught thousands of miles away and frozen, not hauled in by local fishermen, as the menu claimed. It may be perfectly palatable - just not what the customer ordered. But sometimes mislabeled seafood can cause allergic reactions, violate dietary restrictions, or contain chemicals banned in the United States.
The Globe collected fish from 134 restaurants, grocery stores, and seafood markets from Leominster to Provincetown, and hired a laboratory in Canada to conduct DNA testing on the samples. Analyses by the DNA lab and other scientists showed that 87 of 183 were sold with the wrong species name - 48 percent.
The results underscore the dramatic lack of oversight in the seafood business compared with other food industries such as meat and poultry. Nationally, mislabeled fish is estimated to cost diners and the industry up to hundreds of millions of dollars annually, according to the National Fisheries Institute, a trade group.
It happens for a range of reasons, from outright fraud to a chef’s ignorance to the sometimes real difficulty of discerning one fillet from another. But industry specialists say money is commonly the motivator: It’s a way to increase profits - a cheaper fish sold as something more pricey - on the assumption that customers will not detect the difference.
[...]
All 23 white tuna samples tested as some other type of fish, usually escolar, which is nicknamed the “ex-lax’’ fish by some in the industry because of the digestion problems it can cause.
[...]
Frozen fish at grocery stores was far less frequently misidentified, with some sellers - including Walmart, Trader Joe’s, and BJ’s Wholesale Club - passing muster in all instances. At restaurants, mahi mahi and swordfish were correctly labeled in all samples tested.
The Globe chose to focus most of its testing on certain species, such as red snapper and tuna, because they have been identified by regulators as more likely to be mislabeled, so the findings do not represent all types of fish sold.
Seafood substitution can take place anywhere along the international route most wild and farmed fish take to a diner’s plate in the United States. The practice is carried out by fishermen, importers, wholesalers, restaurants, and stores.
[...]
Recent studies indicate that between 20 percent and 70 percent or more of snapper, cod, grouper, and wild salmon are mislabeled at restaurants and stores. Oceana, a nonprofit based in Washington, D.C., that is campaigning against seafood fraud, also discovered mislabeling this year when it conducted DNA tests of fresh and frozen fish at 15 Boston-area supermarkets. Nearly one in five fillets tested had the wrong species name, according to Oceana. Atlantic cod was the most frequently misrepresented fish.
Seafood substitution makes it harder for consumers to accept that some species, including red snapper, are overfished, since it regularly appears on restaurant menus.
“If people see something on the menu all the time, they may have no idea it is disappearing from the ocean,’’ said Beth Lowell, an Oceana campaign director.
[...]
Beyond the economic toll, fish mislabeling can have serious health and environmental consequences.
In 2007, two customers at a Chicago restaurant were hospitalized after eating a toxin found in puffer fish. They had ordered monkfish.
That same year, a large shipment of escolar from Indonesia was labeled Atlantic cod and exported to Hong Kong. More than 600 people reportedly fell ill after eating it. Consumption of escolar can cause severe gastrointestinal problems because of the type of oil it contains.
The Globe found escolar being sold as white tuna, super-white tuna, or albacore at merchants such as FuGaKyu in Brookline, Kowloon in Saugus, H Mart supermarket in Burlington, and Oishii Sushi Bar in Chestnut Hill.
[...]
Beyond the economic toll, fish mislabeling can have serious health and environmental consequences.
In 2007, two customers at a Chicago restaurant were hospitalized after eating a toxin found in puffer fish. They had ordered monkfish.
That same year, a large shipment of escolar from Indonesia was labeled Atlantic cod and exported to Hong Kong. More than 600 people reportedly fell ill after eating it. Consumption of escolar can cause severe gastrointestinal problems because of the type of oil it contains.
The Globe found escolar being sold as white tuna, super-white tuna, or albacore at merchants such as FuGaKyu in Brookline, Kowloon in Saugus, H Mart supermarket in Burlington, and Oishii Sushi Bar in Chestnut Hill.
[...]
The Globe investigation also uncovered repeated instances where a nutritional fish was replaced by a less healthy offering.
For example, nearly all of the sushi restaurants surveyed replaced wild-caught red snapper with tilapia, a farm-raised species usually from Asia that has a significantly higher concentration of the fatty acid Omega 6, which some research suggests increases the risk of heart disease.
[...]
Mislabeling can also result in consumers unknowingly eating species of fish whose existence may be in peril.
The Globe-sponsored testing showed that yellowfin tuna wontons at the chain restaurant Not Your Average Joe’s in Westborough were filled with chunks of southern bluefin tuna. That’s a critically endangered species, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, a worldwide environmental network of governments, scientists, and nonprofits.
[...]
..
Police brutality charges sweep across the US
I have not been the victim of police brutality, and I was glad of police presence at some protests I have participated in the past, but I did notice that the older and more worn-out my Dodge Dart got, the less polite I tended to be treated if I got stopped for something like a burned-out light bulb. The car lasted almost 25 years, well over 220,000 miles, with the original engine, not even re-built.
www.guardian.co.uk
Paul Harris in New York
guardian.co.uk, Saturday 22 October 2011 18.30 EDT
Officer Michael Daragjati had no idea that the FBI was listening to his phone calls. Otherwise he would probably not have described his arrest and detention of an innocent black New Yorker in the manner he did.
Daragjati boasted to a woman friend that, while on patrol in Staten Island, he had "fried another nigger". It was "no big deal", he added. The FBI, which had been investigating another matter, then tried to work out what had happened.
According to court documents released in New York, Daragjati and his partner had randomly stopped and frisked a black man who had become angry and asked for Daragjati's name and badge number. Daragjati, 32, and with eight years on the force, had no reason to stop the man, and had found nothing illegal. But he arrested him and fabricated an account of him resisting arrest. The man, now referred to in papers only as John Doe because of fears for his safety, spent two nights in jail. He had merely been walking alone through the neighbourhood.
The shocking story has added to a growing sense that there are serious problems of indiscipline and law-breaking in US police forces. Last week the feminist author Naomi Wolf was arrested outside an awards ceremony in Manhattan. She had been advising Occupy Wall Street protesters of their rights to continue demonstrating outside the event. Instead, as she joined the protest, she was carted off to jail in her evening gown. That incident is only the most high-profile of many apparently illegal police actions around the protests. One senior officer, deputy inspector Anthony Bologna, created headlines worldwide when he pepper-sprayed young women behind a police barricade.
A report from the New York Civil Liberties Union recently looked at police use of Taser stun guns in the state, and revealed that in 60% of incidents where they were used, the incident did not meet the recommended criteria for such a weapon. Some cases involved people already handcuffed and 40% involved "at risk" subjects such as children, the elderly or mentally ill. "This disturbing pattern of misuse and abuse endangers lives," said the NYCLU's executive director, Donna Lieberman.
[...] [See above link for details of several other incidents.]
"There is a widespread, continuing pattern of officers ordering people to stop taking photographs or video in public places, and harassing, detaining and arresting those who fail to comply," said Chris Calabrese, of the American Civil Liberties Union. Campaigners say the spread of camera phones is why so many incidents of brutality are appearing.
[...]
Kamau said that many police departments still had a culture of secrecy and many officers believed that there was little likelihood of punishment even if caught. "The police fill in the blanks. They say what happened and they will be believed," he said.
[...]
..
A Silicon Valley School That Doesn’t Compute
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/23/technology/at-waldorf-school-in-silicon-valley-technology-can-wait.html
By MATT RICHTEL
Published: October 22, 2011
LOS ALTOS, Calif. — The chief technology officer of eBay sends his children to a nine-classroom school here. So do employees of Silicon Valley giants like Google, Apple, Yahoo and Hewlett-Packard.
But the school’s chief teaching tools are anything but high-tech: pens and paper, knitting needles and, occasionally, mud. Not a computer to be found. No screens at all. They are not allowed in the classroom, and the school even frowns on their use at home.
Schools nationwide have rushed to supply their classrooms with computers, and many policy makers say it is foolish to do otherwise. But the contrarian point of view can be found at the epicenter of the tech economy, where some parents and educators have a message: computers and schools don’t mix.
This is the Waldorf School of the Peninsula, one of around 160 Waldorf schools in the country that subscribe to a teaching philosophy focused on physical activity and learning through creative, hands-on tasks. Those who endorse this approach say computers inhibit creative thinking, movement, human interaction and attention spans.
[...]
Three-quarters of the students here have parents with a strong high-tech connection. Mr. Eagle, like other parents, sees no contradiction. Technology, he says, has its time and place: “If I worked at Miramax and made good, artsy, rated R movies, I wouldn’t want my kids to see them until they were 17.”
[...]
..
By MATT RICHTEL
Published: October 22, 2011
LOS ALTOS, Calif. — The chief technology officer of eBay sends his children to a nine-classroom school here. So do employees of Silicon Valley giants like Google, Apple, Yahoo and Hewlett-Packard.
But the school’s chief teaching tools are anything but high-tech: pens and paper, knitting needles and, occasionally, mud. Not a computer to be found. No screens at all. They are not allowed in the classroom, and the school even frowns on their use at home.
Schools nationwide have rushed to supply their classrooms with computers, and many policy makers say it is foolish to do otherwise. But the contrarian point of view can be found at the epicenter of the tech economy, where some parents and educators have a message: computers and schools don’t mix.
This is the Waldorf School of the Peninsula, one of around 160 Waldorf schools in the country that subscribe to a teaching philosophy focused on physical activity and learning through creative, hands-on tasks. Those who endorse this approach say computers inhibit creative thinking, movement, human interaction and attention spans.
[...]
Three-quarters of the students here have parents with a strong high-tech connection. Mr. Eagle, like other parents, sees no contradiction. Technology, he says, has its time and place: “If I worked at Miramax and made good, artsy, rated R movies, I wouldn’t want my kids to see them until they were 17.”
[...]
..
Party of Pollution
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/21/opinion/party-of-pollution.html
By PAUL KRUGMAN
Published: October 20, 2011
Last month President Obama finally unveiled a serious economic stimulus plan — far short of what I’d like to see, but a step in the right direction. Republicans, predictably, have blocked it. But the new plan, combined with the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations, seems to have shifted the national conversation. We are, suddenly, focused on what we should have been talking about all along: jobs
So what is the G.O.P. jobs plan? The answer, in large part, is to allow more pollution. So what you need to know is that weakening environmental regulations would do little to create jobs and would make us both poorer and sicker.
Now it would be wrong to say that all Republicans see increased pollution as the answer to unemployment. Herman Cain says that the unemployed are responsible for their own plight — a claim that, at Tuesday’s presidential debate, was met with wild applause.
Both Rick Perry and Mitt Romney have, however, put weakened environmental protection at the core of their economic proposals, as have Senate Republicans. Mr. Perry has put out a specific number — 1.2 million jobs — that appears to be based on a study released by the American Petroleum Institute, a trade association, claiming favorable employment effects from removing restrictions on oil and gas extraction. The same study lies behind the claims of Senate Republicans.
But does this oil-industry-backed study actually make a serious case for weaker environmental protection as a job-creation strategy? No.
[...]
Moreover, even if you take the study’s claims at face value, it offers little reason to believe that dirtier air and water can solve our current employment crisis. All the big numbers in the report are projections for late this decade. The report predicts fewer than 200,000 jobs next year, and fewer than 700,000 even by 2015.
You might want to compare these numbers with a couple of other numbers: the 14 million Americans currently unemployed, and the one million to two million jobs that independent estimates suggest the Obama plan would create, not in the distant future, but in 2012.
More pollution, then, isn’t the route to full employment. But is there a longer-term economic case for less environmental protection? No. Serious economic analysis actually says that we need more protection, not less.
The important thing to understand is that the case for pollution control isn’t based on some kind of aesthetic distaste for industrial society. Pollution does real, measurable damage, especially to human health.
[...]
How big are these damages? A new study by researchers at Yale and Middlebury College brings together data from a variety of sources to put a dollar value on the environmental damage various industries inflict. The estimates are far from comprehensive, since they only consider air pollution, and they make no effort to address longer-term issues such as climate change. Even so, the results are stunning.
For it turns out that there are a number of industries inflicting environmental damage that’s worth more than the sum of the wages they pay and the profits they earn — which means, in effect, that they destroy value rather than create it. High on the list, by the way, is coal-fired electricity generation, which the Mitt Romney-that-was used to stand up to.
As the study’s authors say, finding that an industry inflicts large environmental damage compared with its apparent economic return doesn’t necessarily mean that the industry should be shut down. What it means, instead, is that “the regulated levels of emissions from the industry are too high.” That is, environmental regulations aren’t strict enough.
Republicans, of course, have strong incentives to claim otherwise: the big value-destroying industries are concentrated in the energy and natural resources sector, which overwhelmingly donates to the G.O.P. But the reality is that more pollution wouldn’t solve our jobs problem. All it would do is make us poorer and sicker.
..
By PAUL KRUGMAN
Published: October 20, 2011
Last month President Obama finally unveiled a serious economic stimulus plan — far short of what I’d like to see, but a step in the right direction. Republicans, predictably, have blocked it. But the new plan, combined with the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations, seems to have shifted the national conversation. We are, suddenly, focused on what we should have been talking about all along: jobs
So what is the G.O.P. jobs plan? The answer, in large part, is to allow more pollution. So what you need to know is that weakening environmental regulations would do little to create jobs and would make us both poorer and sicker.
Now it would be wrong to say that all Republicans see increased pollution as the answer to unemployment. Herman Cain says that the unemployed are responsible for their own plight — a claim that, at Tuesday’s presidential debate, was met with wild applause.
Both Rick Perry and Mitt Romney have, however, put weakened environmental protection at the core of their economic proposals, as have Senate Republicans. Mr. Perry has put out a specific number — 1.2 million jobs — that appears to be based on a study released by the American Petroleum Institute, a trade association, claiming favorable employment effects from removing restrictions on oil and gas extraction. The same study lies behind the claims of Senate Republicans.
But does this oil-industry-backed study actually make a serious case for weaker environmental protection as a job-creation strategy? No.
[...]
Moreover, even if you take the study’s claims at face value, it offers little reason to believe that dirtier air and water can solve our current employment crisis. All the big numbers in the report are projections for late this decade. The report predicts fewer than 200,000 jobs next year, and fewer than 700,000 even by 2015.
You might want to compare these numbers with a couple of other numbers: the 14 million Americans currently unemployed, and the one million to two million jobs that independent estimates suggest the Obama plan would create, not in the distant future, but in 2012.
More pollution, then, isn’t the route to full employment. But is there a longer-term economic case for less environmental protection? No. Serious economic analysis actually says that we need more protection, not less.
The important thing to understand is that the case for pollution control isn’t based on some kind of aesthetic distaste for industrial society. Pollution does real, measurable damage, especially to human health.
[...]
How big are these damages? A new study by researchers at Yale and Middlebury College brings together data from a variety of sources to put a dollar value on the environmental damage various industries inflict. The estimates are far from comprehensive, since they only consider air pollution, and they make no effort to address longer-term issues such as climate change. Even so, the results are stunning.
For it turns out that there are a number of industries inflicting environmental damage that’s worth more than the sum of the wages they pay and the profits they earn — which means, in effect, that they destroy value rather than create it. High on the list, by the way, is coal-fired electricity generation, which the Mitt Romney-that-was used to stand up to.
As the study’s authors say, finding that an industry inflicts large environmental damage compared with its apparent economic return doesn’t necessarily mean that the industry should be shut down. What it means, instead, is that “the regulated levels of emissions from the industry are too high.” That is, environmental regulations aren’t strict enough.
Republicans, of course, have strong incentives to claim otherwise: the big value-destroying industries are concentrated in the energy and natural resources sector, which overwhelmingly donates to the G.O.P. But the reality is that more pollution wouldn’t solve our jobs problem. All it would do is make us poorer and sicker.
..
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