http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090123/ap_on_bi_ge/wall_street_entitlement;_ylt=AqwYHTN.1KUVw8kZZ.Cx.layBhIF
By MADLEN READ, AP Business Writer Madlen Read, Ap Business Writer – Fri Jan 23, 5:48 pm ET
NEW YORK – John Thain should have known the rules.
After all, when he became CEO of the New York Stock Exchange in 2004, he replaced Richard Grasso — a man who embodied the excesses of the times and was forced out for taking a massive annual pay package of $187.5 million. Thain at the time accepted a much smaller $4 million.
But now, the Wall Street wunderkind is gaining similar notoriety. As head of Merrill Lynch, he sped up bonuses to several executives before Bank of America Corp. bought the investment bank on Jan 1. He also spent $1.2 million decorating his Manhattan office, according to media reports, as Merrill hemorrhaged money — a decision that's invoking particular rage among Americans, including President Barack Obama. Thain left his post at Bank of America on Thursday after unexpectedly big losses at Merrill Lynch; the bonuses were a likely contributing factor in his departure.
...
On Friday, citing the reports "about companies that have received taxpayer assistance, then going out and renovating bathrooms or offices," Obama said the lack of accountability and transparency at financial companies "have to be part and parcel of a reform package if we're going to be responsible in dealing with this economic crisis."
The reports of Thain's expenditures follow news just a few months ago that bailed-out American International Group Inc. spent about half a million dollars for executives to attend a beach retreat in California.
...
The difference between wages in finance and wages in other private sector industries was "excessively high" from the mid-1990s until 2006, according to a paper by New York University's Thomas Philippon and the University of Virginia's Ariell Reshef published this month by the National Bureau of Economic Research. The last time the difference was similarly excessive was around 1930, they wrote — right after the stock market crash of 1929.
Many bank CEOs and other executives gave up their bonuses late last year as the government started limiting compensation as part of its Troubled Assets Relief Program. Thain was among them, as were four other Merrill executives — but only after Thain initially sought out a $10 million bonus, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Merrill Lynch paid Thain more than $83 million in 2007 — making him the highest paid CEO on Wall Street that year. The firm then lost more than $37 billion over the course of 15 months, and was saved from collapse in a government-brokered buyout by Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America Corp.
...
And Citigroup recently said it plans to tie executive pay more closely to performance. It spent $6.6 billion on total compensation and benefits in the fourth quarter of 2008 — down 26 percent from the same quarter in 2007.
The changes were slow-moving, though, considering that the institution's problems started escalating in late 2007. For the first three quarters of the year, compensation and benefits were actually higher than in the same period a year earlier, even though Citigroup was losing money. That was before the company received a government bailout.
For all of 2008, Citigroup's spending on compensation and benefits was down 4 percent from 2007 — although its work force shrank by a much larger 14 percent. That means the company's expenses per worker were rising as the company struggled.
...
David Schmidt, a senior compensation consultant at James F. Reda & Associates, agreed that in general, retention bonuses seem unnecessary in an environment where tens of thousands of financial industry jobs have disappeared.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Friday, January 23, 2009
When is it best to buy a more fuel-efficient car?
http://features.csmonitor.com/environment/2009/01/16/earthtalk-when-is-it-best-to-buy-a-more-fuel-efficient-car/
Q: Is it better to drive an older, well-maintained car that gets about 25 miles per gallon or to buy a new car that gets about 35 miles per gallon?
– Edward Peabody, via e-mail
A: It definitely makes more sense from a green perspective to keep your old car running and well-maintained as long as you can – especially if it’s getting such good mileage. There are significant environmental costs to both manufacturing a new automobile and adding your old car to the ever-growing collective junk heap.
A 2004 analysis by Toyota found that as much as 28 percent of the carbon dioxide emissions generated during the life cycle of a typical gasoline-powered car can occur during its manufacture and transportation to the dealer; the remaining emissions occur during driving once its new owner takes possession.
An earlier study by Seikei University in Japan put the prepurchase number at 12 percent.
Regardless of which result is closer to the truth, your current car has already passed its manufacture and transport stage, so the relevant comparison has to do with its remaining carbon footprint compared with that of a new car’s manufacture, transport, and driver’s footprints – not to mention the environmental impact of disposing of your old car or selling it to a new owner who will continue to drive it. There are environmental impacts even if your old car is junked, dismantled, and sold for parts and scrap.
Don’t forget that the new hybrids – despite their lower emissions and better gas mileage – actually have a much larger environmental impact in their manufacturing compared with nonhybrids.
The batteries that hybrids use to store energy for the drivetrain are no friend to the environment – and having two engines (gas and electric) under one hood increases manufacturing emissions. And all-electric vehicles are only emission-free if the outlet providing the juice is connected to a renewable energy source, rather than a coal-burning power plant, which is more likely.
You can assess your car’s fuel efficiency or emissions by using one of many services available online. The government website FuelEconomy.gov provides fuel efficiency figures for hundreds of different vehicles dating back to 1985.
Websites like TrackYourGasMileage.com and MPGTune.com can help you track your mileage and provide ongoing tips to improve fuel efficiency for your specific make and model vehicle.
MyMileMarker.com takes it a step further, making projections about annual mileage, fuel costs, and fuel efficiency based on your driving habits. If you have an iPhone, you can keep track of your car’s carbon footprint with the new Greenmeter App from Hunter Research and Technologies. The program tracks numerous variables to make its calculations as you drive, including weather conditions, cost of fuel, vehicle weight, and more.
If you simply must change your vehicle, be it for fuel efficiency or some other reason, one option is to simply buy a used car that gets better gas mileage than your existing one.
There’s much to be said, from many environmental vantage points, about postponing replacement purchases – of anything, not just cars. It’s a good idea to keep out of the waste stream anything that has already been made and to delay the additional environmental costs of making something new.
Got an environmental question? Write: EarthTalk, c/o E – The Environmental Magazine, Box 5098, Westport, CT 06881. Or e-mail: earthtalk@emagazine.com.
Q: Is it better to drive an older, well-maintained car that gets about 25 miles per gallon or to buy a new car that gets about 35 miles per gallon?
– Edward Peabody, via e-mail
A: It definitely makes more sense from a green perspective to keep your old car running and well-maintained as long as you can – especially if it’s getting such good mileage. There are significant environmental costs to both manufacturing a new automobile and adding your old car to the ever-growing collective junk heap.
A 2004 analysis by Toyota found that as much as 28 percent of the carbon dioxide emissions generated during the life cycle of a typical gasoline-powered car can occur during its manufacture and transportation to the dealer; the remaining emissions occur during driving once its new owner takes possession.
An earlier study by Seikei University in Japan put the prepurchase number at 12 percent.
Regardless of which result is closer to the truth, your current car has already passed its manufacture and transport stage, so the relevant comparison has to do with its remaining carbon footprint compared with that of a new car’s manufacture, transport, and driver’s footprints – not to mention the environmental impact of disposing of your old car or selling it to a new owner who will continue to drive it. There are environmental impacts even if your old car is junked, dismantled, and sold for parts and scrap.
Don’t forget that the new hybrids – despite their lower emissions and better gas mileage – actually have a much larger environmental impact in their manufacturing compared with nonhybrids.
The batteries that hybrids use to store energy for the drivetrain are no friend to the environment – and having two engines (gas and electric) under one hood increases manufacturing emissions. And all-electric vehicles are only emission-free if the outlet providing the juice is connected to a renewable energy source, rather than a coal-burning power plant, which is more likely.
You can assess your car’s fuel efficiency or emissions by using one of many services available online. The government website FuelEconomy.gov provides fuel efficiency figures for hundreds of different vehicles dating back to 1985.
Websites like TrackYourGasMileage.com and MPGTune.com can help you track your mileage and provide ongoing tips to improve fuel efficiency for your specific make and model vehicle.
MyMileMarker.com takes it a step further, making projections about annual mileage, fuel costs, and fuel efficiency based on your driving habits. If you have an iPhone, you can keep track of your car’s carbon footprint with the new Greenmeter App from Hunter Research and Technologies. The program tracks numerous variables to make its calculations as you drive, including weather conditions, cost of fuel, vehicle weight, and more.
If you simply must change your vehicle, be it for fuel efficiency or some other reason, one option is to simply buy a used car that gets better gas mileage than your existing one.
There’s much to be said, from many environmental vantage points, about postponing replacement purchases – of anything, not just cars. It’s a good idea to keep out of the waste stream anything that has already been made and to delay the additional environmental costs of making something new.
Got an environmental question? Write: EarthTalk, c/o E – The Environmental Magazine, Box 5098, Westport, CT 06881. Or e-mail: earthtalk@emagazine.com.
United Nations World Food Program
wfp.org
http://beta.wfp.org/hunger
There are 963 million undernourished people in the world today. That means one in nearly seven people do not get enough food to be healthy and lead an active life. Hunger and malnutrition are in fact the number one risk to the health worldwide — greater than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined.
http://beta.wfp.org/hunger-stats
Every six seconds a child dies because she or he is hungry;
25,000 people (adults and children) die every day from hunger and related causes;
http://beta.wfp.org/howtohelp
To make donations.
http://beta.wfp.org/hunger
There are 963 million undernourished people in the world today. That means one in nearly seven people do not get enough food to be healthy and lead an active life. Hunger and malnutrition are in fact the number one risk to the health worldwide — greater than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined.
http://beta.wfp.org/hunger-stats
Every six seconds a child dies because she or he is hungry;
25,000 people (adults and children) die every day from hunger and related causes;
http://beta.wfp.org/howtohelp
To make donations.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Pollen Tablets Alleviates Hay Fever And Asthma In Children
About 20 years ago, I had allergy shots for several years. They did help, but it would have been nice if this grass pollen method had been available then.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090120074822.htm
Immunotherapy Alleviates Hay Fever And Asthma In Children
ScienceDaily (Jan. 21, 2009) — Taking one grass pollen tablet every day can alleviate hay fever and asthma in children.
These are the results of a study by medical experts in the team led by Prof. Dr. Albrecht Bufe (Experimental Pneumology) at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum. The study was carried out jointly with national colleagues and featured 253 children. Under this particular treatment, asthma symptoms declined by 64% and hay fever symptoms by 24%. The results are published in the current issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.
Low Levels Of Vitamin D Link To Cognitive Problems In Older People
I began taking vitamin D3 last year for the sake of my bones. I'm glad to see I might also be helping my brain.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090122093918.htm
ScienceDaily (Jan. 22, 2009) — Researchers from the Peninsula Medical School, the University of Cambridge and the University of Michigan, have for the first time identified a relationship between Vitamin D, the "sunshine vitamin", and cognitive impairment in a large-scale study of older people. The importance of these findings lies in the connection between cognitive function and dementia: people who have impaired cognitive function are more likely to develop dementia.
The study was based on data on almost 2000 adults aged 65 and over who participated in the Health Survey for England in 2000 and whose levels of cognitive function were assessed. The study found that as levels of Vitamin D went down, levels of cognitive impairment went up. Compared to those with optimum levels of Vitamin D, those with the lowest levels were more than twice as likely to be cognitively impaired.
Vitamin D is important in maintaining bone health, in the absorption of calcium and phosphorus, and in helping our immune system. In humans, Vitamin D comes from three main sources – exposure to sunlight, foods such as oily fish, and foods that are fortified with vitamin D (such as milk, cereals, and soya drinks). One problem faced by older people is that the capacity of the skin to absorb Vitamin D from sunlight decreases as the body ages, so they are more reliant on obtaining Vitamin D from other sources.
What Works Better For Smokers?
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090122112625.htm
ScienceDaily (Jan. 22, 2009) — A study from the University of Bath has found that smokers are twice as likely to kick the habit if they use a support group rather than trying to give up alone.
ScienceDaily (Jan. 22, 2009) — A study from the University of Bath has found that smokers are twice as likely to kick the habit if they use a support group rather than trying to give up alone.
Breastfeeding May Prevent Breast Cancer
This sounds like it could be at least part of the reason African-American women have a higher rate of breast cancer than European-Americans.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090122080721.htm
ScienceDaily (Jan. 22, 2009) — Dr. Michael Lisanti and colleagues at Thomas Jefferson University found that extended lactation protects again mammary tumor development.
Women who breastfeed for greater than two years have a significantly reduced risk of developing breast cancer later in life.
...
Educating Criminals
In general, I believe in the spread of knowledge. But one area I have a problem with is bringing to the public information about crime-solving techniques with enough detail to help criminals do a better job of escaping detection.
And I'm not giving any specifics because I don't want to be part of the problem.
And I'm not giving any specifics because I don't want to be part of the problem.
Americans Owe Five Months Of Their Lives To Cleaner Air
Maybe this will provide people incentives to clean up the horrible Atlanta air. When the air here is bad, I have a hard time breathing.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090121174116.htm
ScienceDaily (Jan. 22, 2009) — A new study by researchers at Brigham Young University and Harvard School of Public Health shows that average life expectancy in 51 U.S. cities increased nearly three years over recent decades, and approximately five months of that increase came thanks to cleaner air.
"Such a significant increase in life expectancy attributable to reducing air pollution is remarkable," said C. Arden Pope III, a BYU epidemiologist and lead author on the study in the Jan. 22 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. "We find that we're getting a substantial return on our investments in improving our air quality. Not only are we getting cleaner air that improves our environment, but it is improving our public health."
"Such a significant increase in life expectancy attributable to reducing air pollution is remarkable," said C. Arden Pope III, a BYU epidemiologist and lead author on the study in the Jan. 22 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. "We find that we're getting a substantial return on our investments in improving our air quality. Not only are we getting cleaner air that improves our environment, but it is improving our public health."
Growing Years Cut Short For Toddlers From Poor Families
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090121123228.htm
ScienceDaily (Jan. 22, 2009) — Continuous poverty during toddler years can curb the height of children by the time they reach kindergarten, even in industrialized countries, according to new research from the Université de Montréal. Regardless of hereditary factors such as maternal height and education level, according to the finding published in the Journal of Epidemiology Community Health, children from poor families are more likely to be shorter than their peers.
...
"Children from families experiencing a persistent lack of money to cover their basic needs risk facing a growth delay," says Dr. Louise Séguin, noting the possibility holds true after factoring in children's health at birth, sibling rank, maternal health and maternal education. "Children who experienced consistent poverty were more likely to have delayed growth versus children whose basic needs were met."
...
"Although Canada is an industrialized country featuring a universal healthcare system and accessible daycare, the country still features health inequalities directly related to poverty," adds Professor Maria-Victoria Zunzunegui, stressing those inequities translate to deficient nutrition, bad housing conditions that can cause breathing illnesses such as asthma that in turn can lead to shorter stature. In addition to these environmental problems, poor children are often exposed to multiple psychosocial adversities. These hardships can lead to chronic stress that can affect their health as well as their growth.
ScienceDaily (Jan. 22, 2009) — Continuous poverty during toddler years can curb the height of children by the time they reach kindergarten, even in industrialized countries, according to new research from the Université de Montréal. Regardless of hereditary factors such as maternal height and education level, according to the finding published in the Journal of Epidemiology Community Health, children from poor families are more likely to be shorter than their peers.
...
"Children from families experiencing a persistent lack of money to cover their basic needs risk facing a growth delay," says Dr. Louise Séguin, noting the possibility holds true after factoring in children's health at birth, sibling rank, maternal health and maternal education. "Children who experienced consistent poverty were more likely to have delayed growth versus children whose basic needs were met."
...
"Although Canada is an industrialized country featuring a universal healthcare system and accessible daycare, the country still features health inequalities directly related to poverty," adds Professor Maria-Victoria Zunzunegui, stressing those inequities translate to deficient nutrition, bad housing conditions that can cause breathing illnesses such as asthma that in turn can lead to shorter stature. In addition to these environmental problems, poor children are often exposed to multiple psychosocial adversities. These hardships can lead to chronic stress that can affect their health as well as their growth.
Chinese TV Censors Part of Address by Obama
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/22/world/asia/22china.html
Chinese TV Censors Part of Address by Obama
By EDWARD WONG and JONATHAN ANSFIELD
Published: January 21, 2009
BEIJING — President Obama’s 18-minute Inaugural Address on Tuesday was generally lauded by Americans for its candor and conviction. But the Chinese Communist Party apparently thought the new American president’s gilded words were a little too direct.
China Central Television, or CCTV, the main state-run network, broadcast the address live until the moment Mr. Obama mentioned “communism” in a line about the defeat of ideologies considered anathema to Americans. After the translator said “communism” in Chinese, the audio fadedout even as Mr. Obama’s lips continued to move.
CCTV then showed an anchor asking an analyst about the economic challenges that President Obama faces. The analyst was clearly caught off guard by the sudden question.
The offending line in the president’s speech was this: “Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions.”
Later, the president went on to say: “To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history, but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.”
Chinese translations of the address published Wednesday by state-run news organizations here and on prominent Web portals omitted that line and the word “communism” in the earlier line. The government, however, allowed the full English text of the address to be published.
Chinese TV Censors Part of Address by Obama
By EDWARD WONG and JONATHAN ANSFIELD
Published: January 21, 2009
BEIJING — President Obama’s 18-minute Inaugural Address on Tuesday was generally lauded by Americans for its candor and conviction. But the Chinese Communist Party apparently thought the new American president’s gilded words were a little too direct.
China Central Television, or CCTV, the main state-run network, broadcast the address live until the moment Mr. Obama mentioned “communism” in a line about the defeat of ideologies considered anathema to Americans. After the translator said “communism” in Chinese, the audio fadedout even as Mr. Obama’s lips continued to move.
CCTV then showed an anchor asking an analyst about the economic challenges that President Obama faces. The analyst was clearly caught off guard by the sudden question.
The offending line in the president’s speech was this: “Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions.”
Later, the president went on to say: “To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history, but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.”
Chinese translations of the address published Wednesday by state-run news organizations here and on prominent Web portals omitted that line and the word “communism” in the earlier line. The government, however, allowed the full English text of the address to be published.
China protest decries eating cats
I saw mention of this recently on Yahoo, but that article is not longer available.
Being a vegetarian, I can't say that eating cats and dogs is (logically) worse than eating cows and pigs, but skinning and boiling animals alive is evil.
http://www.chinapost.com.tw/china/local-news/other/2008/12/19/188363/China-protest.htm
BEIJING -- A southern Chinese province must stop the “shameful” and “cruel slaughter” of cats for food, a group of more than 40 animal lovers in Beijing said Thursday as they unfurled banners in a tearful protest.
Thousands of cats across the country have been caught in the past week by traders and transported to Guangdong province to be killed for food, said the protesters gathered at the Guangdong government’s office in Beijing.
“We are very angry because the cats are being skinned and then cooked alive. We must make them correct this uncivilized behavior,” said Wang Hongyao, who represented the group in submitting a letter to the Guangdong office.
The protesters urged the provincial government to crack down on cat traders and restaurants that serve cat meat, although no law says it is illegal to eat cats.
It has long been common for cats and dogs to be eaten in some parts of China and in some other Asian countries.
The demonstrators held up banners saying “Cooking cats alive! Shame on Guangdong!” and “Resolutely oppose cruel slaughter” as they met with a representative of the Guangdong office.
Calls to the Guangdong provincial office in Beijing rang unanswered, while the government news office in the province refused to comment.
The protest was apparently in response to Chinese media reports in recent days that carried pictures of furry felines peering out through bamboo crates and metal cages, apparently en route to Guangzhou, Guangdong’s capital. Other pictures show cats being skinned in restaurant kitchens.
About 5,000 cats were sent from Nanjing to Guangzhou, while cats from Shanghai, Hangzhou and other places were also being rounded up, the Chengdu Business Daily reported last week.
The paper said people in Guangdong eat 10,000 cats a day. No reason was given for the increased media coverage, or if there has been an increase in cat meat consumption.
Many of the protesters in Beijing were retirees who said they have been caring for strays cats. The protesters said they believed that some street cats in Beijing, “especially the fat ones,” have disappeared and were likely nabbed by cat meat dealers.
“These cats, they are like our children,” said Cui Qingzhen, a 56-year-old woman who said she has been feeding street cats for six years. “We can’t let these people do this to them.”
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Frogs Are Being Eaten To Extinction
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090120195731.htm
ScienceDaily (Jan. 21, 2009) — The global trade in frog legs for human consumption is threatening their extinction, according to a new study by an international team including University of Adelaide researchers.
The researchers say the global pattern of harvesting and decline of wild populations of frogs appears to be following the same path set by overexploitation of the seas and subsequent "chain reaction" of fisheries collapses around the world.
ScienceDaily (Jan. 21, 2009) — The global trade in frog legs for human consumption is threatening their extinction, according to a new study by an international team including University of Adelaide researchers.
The researchers say the global pattern of harvesting and decline of wild populations of frogs appears to be following the same path set by overexploitation of the seas and subsequent "chain reaction" of fisheries collapses around the world.
Smoking Linked To Most Male Cancer Deaths
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090121144103.htm
ScienceDaily (Jan. 21, 2009) — The association between tobacco smoke and cancer deaths — beyond lung cancer deaths — has been strengthened by a recent study from a UC Davis researcher, suggesting that increased tobacco control efforts could save more lives than previously estimated.
The epidemiological analysis linked smoking to more than 70 percent of the cancer death burden among Massachusetts men in 2003. This percentage is much higher than the previous estimate of 34 percent in 2001.
"This study provides support for the growing understanding among researchers that smoking is a cause of many more cancer deaths besides lung cancer," said lead author Bruce Leistikow, a UC Davis associate adjunct professor of public health sciences. "The full impacts of tobacco smoke, including secondhand smoke, have been overlooked in the rush to examine such potential cancer factors as diet and environmental contaminants. As it turns out, much of the answer was probably smoking all along."
Leistikow used National Center for Health Statistics data to compare death rates from lung cancer to death rates from all other cancers among Massachusetts males. The assessment revealed that the two rates changed in tandem year-by-year from 1979 to 2003, with the strongest association among males aged 30-to-74 years.
Smoking is a known cause of most lung cancers, and the study authors concluded that the very close relationship over twenty-five years between lung and other cancer death rates suggests a single cause for both: tobacco smoke.
Leistikow, whose research is dedicated to uncovering the causes of premature mortality, said, "The fact that lung and non-lung cancer death rates are almost perfectly associated means that smokers and nonsmokers alike should do what they can to avoid tobacco smoke. It also suggests that increased attention should be paid to smoking prevention in health care reforms and health promotion campaigns."
The current study was funded by UC Davis, the Health Research Board (Ireland) and the National Cancer Institute.
Coauthors of the study were Zubair Kabir of the Harvard School of Public Health and the Research Institute for a Tobacco-Free Society (Ireland), Gregory Connolly and Hillel R. Alpert of the Harvard School of Public Health and Luke Clancy of the Research Institute for a Tobacco-Free Society.
ScienceDaily (Jan. 21, 2009) — The association between tobacco smoke and cancer deaths — beyond lung cancer deaths — has been strengthened by a recent study from a UC Davis researcher, suggesting that increased tobacco control efforts could save more lives than previously estimated.
The epidemiological analysis linked smoking to more than 70 percent of the cancer death burden among Massachusetts men in 2003. This percentage is much higher than the previous estimate of 34 percent in 2001.
"This study provides support for the growing understanding among researchers that smoking is a cause of many more cancer deaths besides lung cancer," said lead author Bruce Leistikow, a UC Davis associate adjunct professor of public health sciences. "The full impacts of tobacco smoke, including secondhand smoke, have been overlooked in the rush to examine such potential cancer factors as diet and environmental contaminants. As it turns out, much of the answer was probably smoking all along."
Leistikow used National Center for Health Statistics data to compare death rates from lung cancer to death rates from all other cancers among Massachusetts males. The assessment revealed that the two rates changed in tandem year-by-year from 1979 to 2003, with the strongest association among males aged 30-to-74 years.
Smoking is a known cause of most lung cancers, and the study authors concluded that the very close relationship over twenty-five years between lung and other cancer death rates suggests a single cause for both: tobacco smoke.
Leistikow, whose research is dedicated to uncovering the causes of premature mortality, said, "The fact that lung and non-lung cancer death rates are almost perfectly associated means that smokers and nonsmokers alike should do what they can to avoid tobacco smoke. It also suggests that increased attention should be paid to smoking prevention in health care reforms and health promotion campaigns."
The current study was funded by UC Davis, the Health Research Board (Ireland) and the National Cancer Institute.
Coauthors of the study were Zubair Kabir of the Harvard School of Public Health and the Research Institute for a Tobacco-Free Society (Ireland), Gregory Connolly and Hillel R. Alpert of the Harvard School of Public Health and Luke Clancy of the Research Institute for a Tobacco-Free Society.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Madoff
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28756528/page/2/
prosecutors have accused him of mailing off millions of dollars in personal assets to family members while under house arrest in his Manhattan apartment
prosecutors have accused him of mailing off millions of dollars in personal assets to family members while under house arrest in his Manhattan apartment
Earlier reports mentioned that he was also found with checks he had made out to former employees. The media keep referring to Bernard Madoff as a sociopath (aka psychopath). He certainly has behaved immorally. But a sociopath wouldn't have bothered trying to help his former employees, or even relatives.
Scientists agree human-induced global warming is real
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-01/uoia-ssa011609.php
Public release date: 19-Jan-2009
Contact: Paul Francuch
francuch@uic.edu 312-996-3457
University of Illinois at Chicago
Survey: Scientists agree human-induced global warming is real
While the harsh winter pounding many areas of North America and Europe seemingly contradicts the fact that global warming continues unabated, a new survey finds consensus among scientists about the reality of climate change and its likely cause.
A group of 3,146 earth scientists surveyed around the world overwhelmingly agree that in the past 200-plus years, mean global temperatures have been rising, and that human activity is a significant contributing factor in changing mean global temperatures.
Peter Doran, University of Illinois at Chicago associate professor of earth and environmental sciences, along with former graduate student Maggie Kendall Zimmerman, conducted the survey late last year.
The findings appear today in the publication Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union.
In trying to overcome criticism of earlier attempts to gauge the view of earth scientists on global warming and the human impact factor, Doran and Kendall Zimmerman sought the opinion of the most complete list of earth scientists they could find, contacting more than 10,200 experts around the world listed in the 2007 edition of the American Geological Institute's Directory of Geoscience Departments.
Experts in academia and government research centers were e-mailed invitations to participate in the on-line poll conducted by the website questionpro.com. Only those invited could participate and computer IP addresses of participants were recorded and used to prevent repeat voting. Questions used were reviewed by a polling expert who checked for bias in phrasing, such as suggesting an answer by the way a question was worded. The nine-question survey was short, taking just a few minutes to complete.
Two questions were key: have mean global temperatures risen compared to pre-1800s levels, and has human activity been a significant factor in changing mean global temperatures.
About 90 percent of the scientists agreed with the first question and 82 percent the second.
In analyzing responses by sub-groups, Doran found that climatologists who are active in research showed the strongest consensus on the causes of global warming, with 97 percent agreeing humans play a role. Petroleum geologists and meteorologists were among the biggest doubters, with only 47 and 64 percent respectively believing in human involvement. Doran compared their responses to a recent poll showing only 58 percent of the public thinks human activity contributes to global warming.
"The petroleum geologist response is not too surprising, but the meteorologists' is very interesting," he said. "Most members of the public think meteorologists know climate, but most of them actually study very short-term phenomenon."
He was not surprised, however, by the near-unanimous agreement by climatologists.
"They're the ones who study and publish on climate science. So I guess the take-home message is, the more you know about the field of climate science, the more you're likely to believe in global warming and humankind's contribution to it."
Doran and Kendall Zimmerman conclude that "the debate on the authenticity of global warming and the role played by human activity is largely nonexistent among those who understand the nuances and scientific basis of long-term climate processes." The challenge now, they write, is how to effectively communicate this to policy makers and to a public that continues to mistakenly perceive debate among scientists.
Public release date: 19-Jan-2009
Contact: Paul Francuch
francuch@uic.edu 312-996-3457
University of Illinois at Chicago
Survey: Scientists agree human-induced global warming is real
While the harsh winter pounding many areas of North America and Europe seemingly contradicts the fact that global warming continues unabated, a new survey finds consensus among scientists about the reality of climate change and its likely cause.
A group of 3,146 earth scientists surveyed around the world overwhelmingly agree that in the past 200-plus years, mean global temperatures have been rising, and that human activity is a significant contributing factor in changing mean global temperatures.
Peter Doran, University of Illinois at Chicago associate professor of earth and environmental sciences, along with former graduate student Maggie Kendall Zimmerman, conducted the survey late last year.
The findings appear today in the publication Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union.
In trying to overcome criticism of earlier attempts to gauge the view of earth scientists on global warming and the human impact factor, Doran and Kendall Zimmerman sought the opinion of the most complete list of earth scientists they could find, contacting more than 10,200 experts around the world listed in the 2007 edition of the American Geological Institute's Directory of Geoscience Departments.
Experts in academia and government research centers were e-mailed invitations to participate in the on-line poll conducted by the website questionpro.com. Only those invited could participate and computer IP addresses of participants were recorded and used to prevent repeat voting. Questions used were reviewed by a polling expert who checked for bias in phrasing, such as suggesting an answer by the way a question was worded. The nine-question survey was short, taking just a few minutes to complete.
Two questions were key: have mean global temperatures risen compared to pre-1800s levels, and has human activity been a significant factor in changing mean global temperatures.
About 90 percent of the scientists agreed with the first question and 82 percent the second.
In analyzing responses by sub-groups, Doran found that climatologists who are active in research showed the strongest consensus on the causes of global warming, with 97 percent agreeing humans play a role. Petroleum geologists and meteorologists were among the biggest doubters, with only 47 and 64 percent respectively believing in human involvement. Doran compared their responses to a recent poll showing only 58 percent of the public thinks human activity contributes to global warming.
"The petroleum geologist response is not too surprising, but the meteorologists' is very interesting," he said. "Most members of the public think meteorologists know climate, but most of them actually study very short-term phenomenon."
He was not surprised, however, by the near-unanimous agreement by climatologists.
"They're the ones who study and publish on climate science. So I guess the take-home message is, the more you know about the field of climate science, the more you're likely to believe in global warming and humankind's contribution to it."
Doran and Kendall Zimmerman conclude that "the debate on the authenticity of global warming and the role played by human activity is largely nonexistent among those who understand the nuances and scientific basis of long-term climate processes." The challenge now, they write, is how to effectively communicate this to policy makers and to a public that continues to mistakenly perceive debate among scientists.
An elephant never forgets
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090120091425.htm
ScienceDaily (Jan. 20, 2009) — An African elephant never forgets – especially when it comes to the loss of its kin, according to researchers at the University of Washington. Their findings, published online in the journal, Molecular Ecology, reveal that the negative effects of poaching persist for decades after the killing has ended.
“Our study shows that it takes a long time – upwards of 20 years – for a family who has lost its kin to rebuild,” said lead researcher Kathleen Gobush, Ph.D., a research ecologist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency and a former doctoral student at the University of Washington Center for Conservation Biology.
ScienceDaily (Jan. 20, 2009) — An African elephant never forgets – especially when it comes to the loss of its kin, according to researchers at the University of Washington. Their findings, published online in the journal, Molecular Ecology, reveal that the negative effects of poaching persist for decades after the killing has ended.
“Our study shows that it takes a long time – upwards of 20 years – for a family who has lost its kin to rebuild,” said lead researcher Kathleen Gobush, Ph.D., a research ecologist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency and a former doctoral student at the University of Washington Center for Conservation Biology.
Eat your veggies!
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090120143252.htm
ScienceDaily (Jan. 20, 2009) — Findings from a new study suggest that natural pigments found in plants may help protect against bone loss in older men and women. Researchers funded by the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) reported the findings in a paper published online by The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
...
Other studies have consistently shown that fruit and vegetable intake is good for bones. Biological antioxidants in fruits and vegetables, such as carotenoids, protect cells and tissues from damage caused by naturally occurring oxygen free radicals in the body. Such plant nutrients may help protect the skeleton by reducing oxidative stress and thereby inhibiting bone breakdown or resorption.
ScienceDaily (Jan. 20, 2009) — Findings from a new study suggest that natural pigments found in plants may help protect against bone loss in older men and women. Researchers funded by the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) reported the findings in a paper published online by The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
...
Other studies have consistently shown that fruit and vegetable intake is good for bones. Biological antioxidants in fruits and vegetables, such as carotenoids, protect cells and tissues from damage caused by naturally occurring oxygen free radicals in the body. Such plant nutrients may help protect the skeleton by reducing oxidative stress and thereby inhibiting bone breakdown or resorption.
Socially Active And Not Easily Stressed? You Might Not Develop Dementia
Fortunately, I have also have some good risk factors.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090119210328.htm
ScienceDaily (Jan. 20, 2009) — A new study shows that people who are socially active and not easily stressed may be less likely to develop dementia. The research is published in the January 20, 2009, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
...
The study found that people who were not socially active but calm and relaxed had a 50 percent lower risk of developing dementia compared with people who were isolated and prone to distress. The dementia risk was also 50 percent lower for people who were outgoing and calm compared to those who were outgoing and prone to distress.
"In the past, studies have shown that chronic distress can affect parts of the brain, such as the hippocampus, possibly leading to dementia, but our findings suggest that having a calm and outgoing personality in combination with a socially active lifestyle may decrease the risk of developing dementia even further," says study author Hui-Xin Wang, PhD, with the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden.
"The good news is, lifestyle factors can be modified as opposed to genetic factors which cannot be controlled. But these are early results, so how exactly mental attitude influences risk for dementia is not clear," said Wang.
Mars May Still Be A Living Planet, Methane In Atmosphere Reveals
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090115164621.htm
ScienceDaily (Jan. 16, 2009) — A team of NASA and university scientists has achieved the first definitive detection of methane in the atmosphere of Mars. This discovery indicates the planet is either biologically or geologically active.
The team found methane in the Martian atmosphere by carefully observing the planet throughout several Mars years with NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility and the W.M. Keck telescope, both at Mauna Kea, Hawaii. The team used spectrometers on the telescopes to spread the light into its component colors, as a prism separates white light into a rainbow. The team detected three spectral features called absorption lines that together are a definitive signature of methane.
...
Methane, four atoms of hydrogen bound to a carbon atom, is the main component of natural gas on Earth. Astrobiologists are interested in these data because organisms release much of Earth's methane as they digest nutrients. However, other purely geological processes, like oxidation of iron, also release methane.
"Right now, we do not have enough information to tell whether biology or geology -- or both -- is producing the methane on Mars," Mumma said. "But it does tell us the planet is still alive, at least in a geologic sense. It is as if Mars is challenging us, saying, 'hey, find out what this means.' "
If microscopic Martian life is producing the methane, it likely resides far below the surface where it is warm enough for liquid water to exist. Liquid water is necessary for all known forms of life, as are energy sources and a supply of carbon.
"On Earth, microorganisms thrive about 1.2 to 1.9 miles beneath the Witwatersrand basin of South Africa, where natural radioactivity splits water molecules into molecular hydrogen and oxygen," Mumma said. "The organisms use the hydrogen for energy. It might be possible for similar organisms to survive for billions of years below the permafrost layer on Mars, where water is liquid, radiation supplies energy, and carbon dioxide provides carbon. Gases, like methane, accumulated in such underground zones might be released into the atmosphere if pores or fissures open during the warm seasons, connecting the deep zones to the atmosphere at crater walls or canyons."
ScienceDaily (Jan. 16, 2009) — A team of NASA and university scientists has achieved the first definitive detection of methane in the atmosphere of Mars. This discovery indicates the planet is either biologically or geologically active.
The team found methane in the Martian atmosphere by carefully observing the planet throughout several Mars years with NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility and the W.M. Keck telescope, both at Mauna Kea, Hawaii. The team used spectrometers on the telescopes to spread the light into its component colors, as a prism separates white light into a rainbow. The team detected three spectral features called absorption lines that together are a definitive signature of methane.
...
Methane, four atoms of hydrogen bound to a carbon atom, is the main component of natural gas on Earth. Astrobiologists are interested in these data because organisms release much of Earth's methane as they digest nutrients. However, other purely geological processes, like oxidation of iron, also release methane.
"Right now, we do not have enough information to tell whether biology or geology -- or both -- is producing the methane on Mars," Mumma said. "But it does tell us the planet is still alive, at least in a geologic sense. It is as if Mars is challenging us, saying, 'hey, find out what this means.' "
If microscopic Martian life is producing the methane, it likely resides far below the surface where it is warm enough for liquid water to exist. Liquid water is necessary for all known forms of life, as are energy sources and a supply of carbon.
"On Earth, microorganisms thrive about 1.2 to 1.9 miles beneath the Witwatersrand basin of South Africa, where natural radioactivity splits water molecules into molecular hydrogen and oxygen," Mumma said. "The organisms use the hydrogen for energy. It might be possible for similar organisms to survive for billions of years below the permafrost layer on Mars, where water is liquid, radiation supplies energy, and carbon dioxide provides carbon. Gases, like methane, accumulated in such underground zones might be released into the atmosphere if pores or fissures open during the warm seasons, connecting the deep zones to the atmosphere at crater walls or canyons."
Declining Male Fertility Linked To Water Pollution
A solution to over-population?
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090118200636.htm
ScienceDaily (Jan. 20, 2009) — New research strengthens the link between water pollution and rising male fertility problems. The study, by Brunel University, the Universities of Exeter and Reading and the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, shows for the first time how a group of testosterone-blocking chemicals is finding its way into UK rivers, affecting wildlife and potentially humans.
The study identified a new group of chemicals that act as ‘anti-androgens’. This means that they inhibit the function of the male hormone, testosterone, reducing male fertility. Some of these are contained in medicines, including cancer treatments, pharmaceutical treatments, and pesticides used in agriculture. The research suggests that when they get into the water system, these chemicals may play a pivotal role in causing feminising effects in male fish.
Earlier research by Brunel University and the University of Exeter has shown how female sex hormones (estrogens), and chemicals that mimic estrogens, are leading to ‘feminisation’ of male fish. Found in some industrial chemicals and the contraceptive pill, they enter rivers via sewage treatment works. This causes reproductive problems by reducing fish breeding capability and in some cases can lead to male fish changing sex.
Other studies have also suggested that there may be a link between this phenomenon and the increase in human male fertility problems caused by testicular dysgenesis syndrome. Until now, this link lacked credence because the list of suspects causing effects in fish was limited to estrogenic chemicals whilst testicular dysgenesis is known to be caused by exposure to a range of anti-androgens.
...
Senior author Professor Charles Tyler of the University of Exeter said: ”Our research shows that a much wider range of chemicals than we previously thought is leading to hormone disruption in fish. This means that the pollutants causing these problems are likely to be coming from a wide variety of sources. Our findings also strengthen the argument for the cocktail of chemicals in our water leading to hormone disruption in fish, and contributing to the rise in male reproductive problems. There are likely to be many reasons behind the rise in male fertility problems in humans, but these findings could reveal one, previously unknown, factor.”
Monday, January 19, 2009
inauguration online
http://inaugural.senate.gov/
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/01/16/inauguration.online/index.html
Tues., Jan. 20, 2009 11:30 am
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/01/16/inauguration.online/index.html
Tues., Jan. 20, 2009 11:30 am
Songs for the Day
Happy Martin Luther King day.
I think the following song is really appropriate.
"Reach Out in the Darkness", by Friends and Lovers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABxAXK4aEos
Another song appropriate to our time is "One Tin Soldier" by The Original Caste
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7jHp7OchP0
I think the following song is really appropriate.
"Reach Out in the Darkness", by Friends and Lovers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABxAXK4aEos
Another song appropriate to our time is "One Tin Soldier" by The Original Caste
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7jHp7OchP0
Saturday, January 17, 2009
2008 Global Temperature Ties As Eighth Warmest On Record
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090116163206.htm
ScienceDaily (Jan. 16, 2009) — The year 2008 tied with 2001 as the eighth warmest year on record for the Earth, based on the combined average of worldwide land and ocean surface temperatures through December, according to a preliminary analysis by NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. For December alone, the month also ranked as the eighth warmest globally, for the combined land and ocean surface temperature. The assessment is based on records dating back to 1880.
The analyses in NCDC’s global reports are based on preliminary data, which are subject to revision. Additional quality control is applied to the data when late reports are received several weeks after the end of the month and as increased scientific methods improve NCDC’s processing algorithms.
NCDC’s ranking of 2008 as the eighth warmest year compares to a ranking of ninth warmest based on an analysis by NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies. The NOAA and NASA analyses differ slightly in methodology, but both use data from NOAA's National Climatic Data Center – the federal government's official source for climate data.
ScienceDaily (Jan. 16, 2009) — The year 2008 tied with 2001 as the eighth warmest year on record for the Earth, based on the combined average of worldwide land and ocean surface temperatures through December, according to a preliminary analysis by NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. For December alone, the month also ranked as the eighth warmest globally, for the combined land and ocean surface temperature. The assessment is based on records dating back to 1880.
The analyses in NCDC’s global reports are based on preliminary data, which are subject to revision. Additional quality control is applied to the data when late reports are received several weeks after the end of the month and as increased scientific methods improve NCDC’s processing algorithms.
NCDC’s ranking of 2008 as the eighth warmest year compares to a ranking of ninth warmest based on an analysis by NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies. The NOAA and NASA analyses differ slightly in methodology, but both use data from NOAA's National Climatic Data Center – the federal government's official source for climate data.
Friday, January 16, 2009
New Drug Holds Out Promise Of Normal Diet For Sufferers Of Devastating PKU Genetic Disease
I usually don't show articles like this, where the results haven't been shown to work in humans. Too many end up being false hope. But I'd really like to be able to show some positive news, and this seems very promising.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090114132734.htm
ScienceDaily (Jan. 17, 2009)
...
PKU is described by scientists as an autosomal recessive genetic disease that is characterized by a deficiency in an enzyme called phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH).
Without PAH, the body cannot metabolize the amino acid phenylalanine. It then builds up in the blood, crosses the blood–brain barrier and causes severe brain damage. Fortunately, PKU can be detected at birth in blood tests, and was one of the first treatable genetic diseases. From infancy, PKU sufferers are restricted to a low-protein diet to avoid the worst complications of the condition. This diet is essential during childhood to prevent damage to the brain while it is still growing; however, it is now also recommended for life to optimize school performance, concentration and the ability to think clearly.
...
Sarkissian is hopeful that the new injectable treatment she developed with her former supervisor and now colleague, the corresponding author Dr. Charles Scriver – Emeritus Professor of Pediatrics and their academic and industrial collaborators – will make it possible for PKU patients to eat a more normal diet.
"As we go into clinical trials, we'll see how it works in humans," she said. "Certainly in the animal models we showed that the phenylalanine levels came down to normal. The treatment itself is enzyme therapy, so patients will receive an injection once or twice a week instead of, we hope, needing to be on the diet."
New Family Of Antibacterial Agents Uncovered
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090115190456.htm
ScienceDaily (Jan. 17, 2009) — As bacteria resistant to commonly used antibiotics continue to increase in number, scientists keep searching for new sources of drugs. One potential new bactericide has now been found in the tiny freshwater animal Hydra.
The protein identified by Joachim Grötzinger, Thomas Bosch and colleagues at the University of Kiel, hydramacin-1, is unusual (and also clinically valuable) as it shares virtually no similarity with any other known antibacterial proteins except for two antimicrobials found in another ancient animal, the leech.
Hydramacin proved to be extremely effective though; in a series of laboratory experiments, this protein could kill a wide range of both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, including clinically-isolated drug-resistant strains like Klebsiella oxytoca (a common cause of nosocomial infections). Hydramacin works by sticking to the bacterial surface, promoting the clumping of nearby bacteria, then disrupting the bacterial membrane.
Grötzinger and his team also determined the 3-D shape of hydramacin-1, which revealed that it most closely resembled a superfamily of proteins found in scorpion venom; within this large group, they propose that hydramacin and the two leech proteins are members of a newly designated family called the macins.
ScienceDaily (Jan. 17, 2009) — As bacteria resistant to commonly used antibiotics continue to increase in number, scientists keep searching for new sources of drugs. One potential new bactericide has now been found in the tiny freshwater animal Hydra.
The protein identified by Joachim Grötzinger, Thomas Bosch and colleagues at the University of Kiel, hydramacin-1, is unusual (and also clinically valuable) as it shares virtually no similarity with any other known antibacterial proteins except for two antimicrobials found in another ancient animal, the leech.
Hydramacin proved to be extremely effective though; in a series of laboratory experiments, this protein could kill a wide range of both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, including clinically-isolated drug-resistant strains like Klebsiella oxytoca (a common cause of nosocomial infections). Hydramacin works by sticking to the bacterial surface, promoting the clumping of nearby bacteria, then disrupting the bacterial membrane.
Grötzinger and his team also determined the 3-D shape of hydramacin-1, which revealed that it most closely resembled a superfamily of proteins found in scorpion venom; within this large group, they propose that hydramacin and the two leech proteins are members of a newly designated family called the macins.
When I first saw this, I thought, great! Of course, eventually bacteria would probably become resistant to it, like they have all other antibiotics, but at least it would be useful for awhile.
Then I thought, once bacteria become resistant to it, what happens to the hydra?
What has happened to the mold that penicillin was derived from?
Besides the morality of what we are doing to the rest of life on earch, as we continue, when will we cause such devastation in other organisms that it harms us?
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Taxes of the Rich and Famous
http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2008/12/taxes_of_the_rich_and_famous.html
TAXES OF THE RICH AND FAMOUS....Ezra Klein is doing tax wonkery over at his place, and I can't let him have all the fun. So just for the record, here's a look at effective federal tax rates in general:
Not very progressive! Add in state and local taxes and it would look flatter still. And just to remind everyone of exactly what that "Top 400 Taxpayers" segment at the far right looks like, here are the pinkos over at the Wall Street Journal to explain it to you:
The top 400 taxpayers have greatly increased their share of individuals' income since the mid-1990s. The group accounted for 1.15% of total income in 2005....more than twice as large as its 0.49% share a decade earlier.
....The average federal income-tax rate for the group was 18.23%....well below the average income-tax rate of nearly 30% back in 1995, when Bill Clinton was in the White House.
So there you have it. The top 400 taxpayers, a group so rich and elite that I'd need scientific notation to properly represent their proportion of the population, have doubled their share of income in the past decade or two but have decreased their tax burden by nearly half. Nice work! As you can see, Warren Buffett wasn't exaggerating when he said his secretary paid a higher tax rate than he does. If she pays more than 18% — not exactly a tough hurdle when you figure that payroll taxes already account for about 8% of that — she probably does.
UPDATE: So how do the rich do it? Jonathan Stein interviews David Cay Johnston here to find out.
Posted by Kevin Drum on 12/16/08 at 1:19 PM
Workers forced to settle for fewer hours
This is a graph to go with the earlier post on involuntary part-time workers at
http://patriciashannon.blogspot.com/2009/01/truly-frightening-statistics.html
http://www.epi.org/economic_snapshots/entry/webfeatures_snapshots_20090114/
Economic Snapshot for January 14, 2009
Downtime: Workers forced to settle for fewer hours
By Ross Eisenbrey with research assistance by Kathryn Edwards
The number of involuntary part-time workers has nearly doubled just in the past year, mostly driven by full-time workers accepting cutbacks in hours.
In December, an additional 715,000 workers were classified as “involuntary part time” — either their full-time job was reduced below 35 hours a week or they had to settle for a part-time job because they couldn’t find a full-time one. That brings the total number of involuntary part-time workers to over 8 million. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, of the two types of involuntary part-timers almost 90% of the increase during the past year was the result of employers reducing worker hours, a clear indication of the economy’s rapid deterioration. If these workers see their hours restored, it will be a sign of the economy’s recovery.
Differences in Executive Compensation Between U.S. Auto Producers and Transplants Are Larger Than for Production Workers
Found this at http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2009/01/links-for-20090115.html#c145166162, posted by Bob
http://www.prospect.org/csnc/blogs/beat_the_press_archive?month=01&year=2009&base_name=differences_in_executive_compe
The Washington Post has repeatedly editorialized that auto workers at the Big Three companies should be forced to take pay cuts because they earn $57,000 a year, which is more than workers get at the foreign-owned plants in the United States. Consistent with this editorial position, the paper has an article today about efforts to lower the compensation packages of union workers.
The Post has virtually ignored the much larger gap between executive compensation at the Big Three and at the transplants. While top executives at Japanese manufacturers like Toyota only earn around $2 million a year, executives at the Big Three can earn 10 times this amount.This would seem to be a reasonable focus for those concerned about making the U.S. industry competitive.
--Dean Baker
Posted by Dean Baker on January 15, 2009 6:03 AM
====================================================================
Auto-plant labor is only about 7% of the selling price of a car. In fact, about half the cost at point of sale is added after the vehicle leaves the factory. Where are the analyses in the media of salary and wages in the rest of the process? Could the fact that plant labor is unionized have something to do with it? The salaries of the three major automaker CEO's are not significant in themselves, but there are many manangement personnel and entrepreneurs who are taking a cut somewhere along the line.
Posted by: skeptonomist | January 15, 2009 9:01 AM
http://www.prospect.org/csnc/blogs/beat_the_press_archive?month=01&year=2009&base_name=differences_in_executive_compe
The Washington Post has repeatedly editorialized that auto workers at the Big Three companies should be forced to take pay cuts because they earn $57,000 a year, which is more than workers get at the foreign-owned plants in the United States. Consistent with this editorial position, the paper has an article today about efforts to lower the compensation packages of union workers.
The Post has virtually ignored the much larger gap between executive compensation at the Big Three and at the transplants. While top executives at Japanese manufacturers like Toyota only earn around $2 million a year, executives at the Big Three can earn 10 times this amount.This would seem to be a reasonable focus for those concerned about making the U.S. industry competitive.
--Dean Baker
Posted by Dean Baker on January 15, 2009 6:03 AM
====================================================================
[The following comment followed the article]
Auto-plant labor is only about 7% of the selling price of a car. In fact, about half the cost at point of sale is added after the vehicle leaves the factory. Where are the analyses in the media of salary and wages in the rest of the process? Could the fact that plant labor is unionized have something to do with it? The salaries of the three major automaker CEO's are not significant in themselves, but there are many manangement personnel and entrepreneurs who are taking a cut somewhere along the line.
Posted by: skeptonomist | January 15, 2009 9:01 AM
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
How to lie with statistics
The first chart, with the shaded background, is the bogus chart from the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank discussed below.
The second chart is the one Spencer at Angry Bear made, showing actual recessions.
http://angrybear.blogspot.com/2009/01/honest-resarch.html
This chart from the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank is starting to appear on various web sites. Among others, Alex Tabarrok of Marginal Revolution published it.
It is an interesting looking chart, very similar to many I do.
But it struck me as odd, there was something wrong with it.
I can not remember a single recession where employment did not fall as this chart shows.
So I tried to reproduce the chart and came up with something that looks like this.[obvious differences from the first chart.
Note that it shows the 2001 recession as the mildest recession and it did experience falling employment. This line as well my line for the harshest recession in 1957 are very different than the chart published by the Minneapolis Federal Reserve and referenced by several libertarian/conservative blogs. Their harshest is about a full percentage point deeper than mine.
But the Minneapolis Fed did publish their original work and I was able to determine that there chart was not of an actual recession. Rather their lines representing the mildest and harshest recessions are completely artificial creations that have little or no relation to any actual historic event.
Rather than show the 2001 recession as the mildest recession, they went through all of the first months of the 10 post WW II recession and found the smallest observation and made that the first observation of their mildest recession line. Next they went through the second month of the ten recession and found the smallest observation in the second month of recessions and made that the second month of their mildest recession. They repeated this process for 18 times, each time making the smallest observation of that particular recession month for their line of the mildest recession. So their line might take observation one from 1957, observation two from 1981, observation three from 1973, etc., etc. Their so called harshest recession line was created using the same methodology.
Here is exactly how they described the lines in their publication:
This page places the current economic downturn into historical (post-WWII) perspective. It compares output and employment changes during the present recession with the same data for the 10 previous recessions that have occurred since 1946.
This page provides a current assessment of “how bad" the recession is relative to past recessions. It will be updated as new data are released. This page does not provide forecasts, and the information should not be interpreted as such.
The following charts provide information about both the length and depth of recessions.
Minneapolis Fed
This strikes me as a major case of intellectual dishonesty. At no point is the reader shown that their mildest and harshest recessions are completely artificial creations that have no relation to any actual recession.
The other point that strikes me is how libertarian/conservatives like Alex Tabarrok uncritically accept such biased research from fellow right wing sources without any question. It strikes me that a tenured, PhD, economist should know that there was no post WW II US recession where employment did not fall and should have recognized that there was something wrong with this chart. But more than likely, this chart will now be passed around and used by libertarian/conservatives to demonstrate that there was a post WWII recession where employment did not fall and that will become one of their standard talking points.
Am I being too harsh on the Minneapolis Fed and people who uncritically accept and pass on such biased research?
P.S. This is not the first time I have caught the Minneapolis Fed or Alex Tabarrok misrepresenting data.
================================================================================
Since I posted this article, Alex Tabarrok responded with the following comment on Angry Bear:
Alex Tabarrok says:
Today, 9:51:21 AM [1-15-09]
“I have done some further investigation of the Fed chart and contacted the Fed for clarification.
I was wrong. Spencer was right.
The graphs in the Fed's picture are Frankenstein recessions, recessions cobbled together by taking bits of pieces of each past recession and assembling them to create a mild, median, and harsh recession - none of which ever occurred. I do not think this is a good way of looking at the data - in fact I am shocked the Fed would present data in this way - on this Spencer and I agree.
I certainly was not dishonest about the data but if it had not been the Fed I probably would have taken a closer look.
I have posted a correction and a further post, in which I present all the data, here:
http://www.marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2009/01/comparing-recessions-ii.html
Alex Tabarrok
================================================================================
I agree with the commenters at Angry Bear that the only reason someone would create such a graph, and label it the way it the way they did, and put in a clarifying explanation where it would be overlooked by many or most, was to deceive people. (Note: Tabarrok did not create this chart, he copied it from the Minneapolis Fed).
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Letting Infants Watch TV Can Do More Harm Than Good
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090113074419.htm
ScienceDaily (Jan. 13, 2009) — A leading child expert is warning parents to limit the amount of television children watch before the age of two, after an extensive review published in the January issue of Acta Paediatrica showed that it can do more harm than good to their ongoing development.
Professor Dimitri A Christakis, from the Seattle Children’s Research Institute and the University of Washington, USA, has also expressed considerable concerns about DVDs aimed at infants that claim to be beneficial, despite a lack of scientific evidence.
And he points out that France has already taken the matter so seriously that in summer 2008 the Government introduced tough new rules to protect the health and development of children under three from the adverse effects of TV.
Professor Christakis’ extensive review looked at 78 studies published over the last 25 years and reiterates the findings of numerous studies he has carried out with colleagues into this specialist area.
He points out that as many as nine in ten children under the age of two watch TV regularly, despite ongoing warnings, and some spend as much as 40 per cent of their waking hours in front of a TV.
“No studies to date have demonstrated benefits associated with early infant TV viewing” says Professor Christakis, whose review looked at the effect that TV has on children’s language, cognitive skills and attentional capacity, as well as areas for future research.
“The weight of existing evidence suggests the potential for harm and I believe that parents should exercise due caution in exposing infants to excessive media” he says.
“For example, the American Academy of Paediatrics discourages TV viewing in the first two years of life, but only six per cent of parents are aware of this advice despite ongoing publicity.”
...
Watching TV programmes or DVDs aimed at infants can actually delay language development, according to a number of studies. For example, a 2008 Thai study published in Acta Paediatrica found that if children under 12 months watched TV for more than two hours a day they were six times more likely to have delayed language skills. Another study found that children who watched baby DVDs between seven and 16 months knew fewer words than children who did not.
Infants as young as 14 months will imitate what they see on a TV screen, but they learn better from live presentations. For example, one study found that children learnt Mandarin Chinese better from a native speaker than they did from a video of the same speaker.
A study of 1,300 children conducted by the author and colleagues in 2004 found a modest association between TV viewing before the age of three and attentional problems at the age of seven, after a wide range of other factors were ruled out.
In another study, the author and colleagues looked at the effects of early TV viewing on cognitive development at school age. They found that children who had watched a lot of TV in their early years did not perform as well when they underwent tests to check their reading and memory skills.
ScienceDaily (Jan. 13, 2009) — A leading child expert is warning parents to limit the amount of television children watch before the age of two, after an extensive review published in the January issue of Acta Paediatrica showed that it can do more harm than good to their ongoing development.
Professor Dimitri A Christakis, from the Seattle Children’s Research Institute and the University of Washington, USA, has also expressed considerable concerns about DVDs aimed at infants that claim to be beneficial, despite a lack of scientific evidence.
And he points out that France has already taken the matter so seriously that in summer 2008 the Government introduced tough new rules to protect the health and development of children under three from the adverse effects of TV.
Professor Christakis’ extensive review looked at 78 studies published over the last 25 years and reiterates the findings of numerous studies he has carried out with colleagues into this specialist area.
He points out that as many as nine in ten children under the age of two watch TV regularly, despite ongoing warnings, and some spend as much as 40 per cent of their waking hours in front of a TV.
“No studies to date have demonstrated benefits associated with early infant TV viewing” says Professor Christakis, whose review looked at the effect that TV has on children’s language, cognitive skills and attentional capacity, as well as areas for future research.
“The weight of existing evidence suggests the potential for harm and I believe that parents should exercise due caution in exposing infants to excessive media” he says.
“For example, the American Academy of Paediatrics discourages TV viewing in the first two years of life, but only six per cent of parents are aware of this advice despite ongoing publicity.”
...
Watching TV programmes or DVDs aimed at infants can actually delay language development, according to a number of studies. For example, a 2008 Thai study published in Acta Paediatrica found that if children under 12 months watched TV for more than two hours a day they were six times more likely to have delayed language skills. Another study found that children who watched baby DVDs between seven and 16 months knew fewer words than children who did not.
Infants as young as 14 months will imitate what they see on a TV screen, but they learn better from live presentations. For example, one study found that children learnt Mandarin Chinese better from a native speaker than they did from a video of the same speaker.
A study of 1,300 children conducted by the author and colleagues in 2004 found a modest association between TV viewing before the age of three and attentional problems at the age of seven, after a wide range of other factors were ruled out.
In another study, the author and colleagues looked at the effects of early TV viewing on cognitive development at school age. They found that children who had watched a lot of TV in their early years did not perform as well when they underwent tests to check their reading and memory skills.
Swings In North Atlantic Oscillation Variability Linked To Climate Warming
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090113101200.htm
ScienceDaily (Jan. 13, 2009) — Using a 218-year-long temperature record from a Bermuda brain coral, researchers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) have created the first marine-based reconstruction showing the long-term behavior of one of the most important drivers of climate fluctuations in the North Atlantic.
...
The research team found the variability of the NAO decade-to-decade (multi-decadal scale) has been larger, swinging more wildly, during the late twentieth century than in the early 1800s, suggesting that variability is linked to the mean temperature of the Northern Hemisphere. This confirms variability previously reported in past terrestrial reconstructions.
“When the Industrial Revolution begins and atmospheric temperature becomes warmer, the NAO takes on a much stronger pattern in longer-term behavior,” said Goodkin. “That was suspected before in the instrumental records, but this is the first time it has been documented in records from both the ocean and the atmosphere.”
...
The North Atlantic Oscillation is described by the NAO index, calculated as a weighted difference between the polar low and the subtropical high during the winter season. (For more information about the NAO index, see animation.) In a positive phase, both the low-pressure zone over Iceland and high pressure over the Azores are intensified, resulting in changes in the strength, incidence, and pathway of winter storms crossing the Atlantic. In a negative phase, a weak subtropical high and a weak Icelandic low results in fewer and weaker winter storms crossing on a more west-east pathway.
The NAO index varies from year to year, but also exhibits a tendency to remain in one phase for intervals lasting more than a decade. An unusually long period of positive phase between 1970-2000 led to the suggestion that global warming was affecting the behavior of the NAO.
“Anthropogenic (human-related) warming does not appear to be altering whether the NAO is in a positive or negative phase at multi-decadal time scales,” said WHOI paleoclimatologist Konrad Hughen. “It does seem to be increasing variability. Clearly, this has implications for the future.”
“As temperatures get warmer, there’s potential for more violent swings of the NAO — the phases becoming even more positive and even more negative,” Hughen added. “If the NAO locks more into these patterns, intense storms will become more intense and droughts will become more severe.”
The climatic influence of the NAO extends from the eastern United States to Western Europe, impacting human activities such as shipping, oil drilling, fisheries, hydroelectric power generation and coastal management. Improving the ability to predict shifts in the phase and intensity of the NAO is a prerequisite to mitigating the economic impacts of future climate change.
ScienceDaily (Jan. 13, 2009) — Using a 218-year-long temperature record from a Bermuda brain coral, researchers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) have created the first marine-based reconstruction showing the long-term behavior of one of the most important drivers of climate fluctuations in the North Atlantic.
...
The research team found the variability of the NAO decade-to-decade (multi-decadal scale) has been larger, swinging more wildly, during the late twentieth century than in the early 1800s, suggesting that variability is linked to the mean temperature of the Northern Hemisphere. This confirms variability previously reported in past terrestrial reconstructions.
“When the Industrial Revolution begins and atmospheric temperature becomes warmer, the NAO takes on a much stronger pattern in longer-term behavior,” said Goodkin. “That was suspected before in the instrumental records, but this is the first time it has been documented in records from both the ocean and the atmosphere.”
...
The North Atlantic Oscillation is described by the NAO index, calculated as a weighted difference between the polar low and the subtropical high during the winter season. (For more information about the NAO index, see animation.) In a positive phase, both the low-pressure zone over Iceland and high pressure over the Azores are intensified, resulting in changes in the strength, incidence, and pathway of winter storms crossing the Atlantic. In a negative phase, a weak subtropical high and a weak Icelandic low results in fewer and weaker winter storms crossing on a more west-east pathway.
The NAO index varies from year to year, but also exhibits a tendency to remain in one phase for intervals lasting more than a decade. An unusually long period of positive phase between 1970-2000 led to the suggestion that global warming was affecting the behavior of the NAO.
“Anthropogenic (human-related) warming does not appear to be altering whether the NAO is in a positive or negative phase at multi-decadal time scales,” said WHOI paleoclimatologist Konrad Hughen. “It does seem to be increasing variability. Clearly, this has implications for the future.”
“As temperatures get warmer, there’s potential for more violent swings of the NAO — the phases becoming even more positive and even more negative,” Hughen added. “If the NAO locks more into these patterns, intense storms will become more intense and droughts will become more severe.”
The climatic influence of the NAO extends from the eastern United States to Western Europe, impacting human activities such as shipping, oil drilling, fisheries, hydroelectric power generation and coastal management. Improving the ability to predict shifts in the phase and intensity of the NAO is a prerequisite to mitigating the economic impacts of future climate change.
Vicks® VapoRub® May Create Respiratory Distress In Young Children
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090113074140.htm
ScienceDaily (Jan. 13, 2009) — New research out of Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center suggests that Vicks® VapoRub®, the popular menthol compound used to relieve symptoms of cough and congestion, may instead create respiratory distress in infants and small children. Vicks VapoRub may stimulate mucus production and airway inflammation, which can have severe effects on breathing in an infant or toddler.
...
"The ingredients in Vicks can be irritants, causing the body to produce more mucus to protect the airway," said Bruce K. Rubin, M.D., lead author of the study and a professor in the department of pediatrics at Brenner Children's Hospital, part of Wake Forest Baptist. "Infants and young children have airways that are much narrower than those of adults, so any increase in mucus or inflammation can narrow them more severely."
...
"I recommend never putting Vicks in, or under, the nose of anybody—adult or child," Rubin said. "I also would follow the directions and never use it at all on children under age 2."
Even when directions are followed, Vicks will make people with congestion more comfortable, but it does nothing to increase airflow or actually relieve congestion, Rubin added.
"Some of the ingredients in Vicks, notably the menthol, trick the brain into thinking that it is easier to breathe by triggering a cold sensation, which is processed as indicating more airflow," he said. "Vicks may make you feel better but it can't help you breathe better."
In addition to Vicks® VapoRub®, decongestants are not recommended for young children.
"Mucus is one of the most effective ways that our body protects our air passages like the nose and bronchial tubes," Rubin said. "However, lots of mucus and inflammation can cause congestion, especially in little noses. Cough and cold medicines and decongestants are dangerous and neither effective nor safe for young children. Medications to dry up nasal passages also have problems," Rubin said. "The best treatments for congestion are a bit of saline (salt water) and gentle rubber bulb suction, warm drinks or chicken soup, and, often, just letting the passage of time heal the child."
Dr. Rubin also notes that if a child is struggling to breathe, it is a medical emergency and would require the child to be seen by a doctor as quickly as possible.
ScienceDaily (Jan. 13, 2009) — New research out of Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center suggests that Vicks® VapoRub®, the popular menthol compound used to relieve symptoms of cough and congestion, may instead create respiratory distress in infants and small children. Vicks VapoRub may stimulate mucus production and airway inflammation, which can have severe effects on breathing in an infant or toddler.
...
"The ingredients in Vicks can be irritants, causing the body to produce more mucus to protect the airway," said Bruce K. Rubin, M.D., lead author of the study and a professor in the department of pediatrics at Brenner Children's Hospital, part of Wake Forest Baptist. "Infants and young children have airways that are much narrower than those of adults, so any increase in mucus or inflammation can narrow them more severely."
...
"I recommend never putting Vicks in, or under, the nose of anybody—adult or child," Rubin said. "I also would follow the directions and never use it at all on children under age 2."
Even when directions are followed, Vicks will make people with congestion more comfortable, but it does nothing to increase airflow or actually relieve congestion, Rubin added.
"Some of the ingredients in Vicks, notably the menthol, trick the brain into thinking that it is easier to breathe by triggering a cold sensation, which is processed as indicating more airflow," he said. "Vicks may make you feel better but it can't help you breathe better."
In addition to Vicks® VapoRub®, decongestants are not recommended for young children.
"Mucus is one of the most effective ways that our body protects our air passages like the nose and bronchial tubes," Rubin said. "However, lots of mucus and inflammation can cause congestion, especially in little noses. Cough and cold medicines and decongestants are dangerous and neither effective nor safe for young children. Medications to dry up nasal passages also have problems," Rubin said. "The best treatments for congestion are a bit of saline (salt water) and gentle rubber bulb suction, warm drinks or chicken soup, and, often, just letting the passage of time heal the child."
Dr. Rubin also notes that if a child is struggling to breathe, it is a medical emergency and would require the child to be seen by a doctor as quickly as possible.
Unexpected results
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090112093523.htm
ScienceDaily (Jan. 13, 2009) — Removing an invasive species from sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island, a World Heritage Site, has caused environmental devastation that will cost more than A$24 million to remedy, ecologists have revealed. Writing in the new issue of the British Ecological Society's Journal of Applied Ecology, they warn that conservation agencies worldwide must learn important lessons from what happened on Macquarie Island.
Using population data, plot-scale vegetation analyses and satellite imagery, the ecologists from from the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD), the University of Tasmania, Blatant Fabrications Pty Ltd and Stellenbosch University found that after cats were eradicated from Macquarie in 2000, the island's rabbit population increased so much that its vegetation has been devastated.
According to the study's lead author, Dr Dana Bergstrom of the Australian Antarctic Division: “Satellite images show substantial island-wide rabbit-induced vegetation change. By 2007, impacts on some protected valleys and slopes had become acute. We estimate that nearly 40% of the whole island area had changed, with almost 20% having moderate to severe change.”
Rabbits were introduced to Macquarie Island in 1878 by sealing gangs. After reaching large numbers, the rabbits became the main prey of cats, which had been introduced 60 years earlier. Because the rabbits were causing catastrophic damage to the island's vegetation, Myxomatosis and the European rabbit flea (which spreads the Myxoma virus) were introduced in 1968. As a result, rabbit numbers fell from a peak of 130,000 in 1978 to less than 20,000 in the 1980s and vegetation recovered. However, with fewer rabbits as food, the cats began to eat the island's native burrowing birds, so a cat eradication programme began in 1985. Since the last cat was killed in 2000, Myxomatosis failed to keep rabbit numbers in check; their numbers bounced back and in little over six years rabbits substantially altered large areas of the island.
According to Bergstrom: “Increased rabbit herbivory has caused substantial damage at both local and landscape scales including changes from complex vegetation communities, to short, grazed lawns or bare ground.”
ScienceDaily (Jan. 13, 2009) — Removing an invasive species from sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island, a World Heritage Site, has caused environmental devastation that will cost more than A$24 million to remedy, ecologists have revealed. Writing in the new issue of the British Ecological Society's Journal of Applied Ecology, they warn that conservation agencies worldwide must learn important lessons from what happened on Macquarie Island.
Using population data, plot-scale vegetation analyses and satellite imagery, the ecologists from from the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD), the University of Tasmania, Blatant Fabrications Pty Ltd and Stellenbosch University found that after cats were eradicated from Macquarie in 2000, the island's rabbit population increased so much that its vegetation has been devastated.
According to the study's lead author, Dr Dana Bergstrom of the Australian Antarctic Division: “Satellite images show substantial island-wide rabbit-induced vegetation change. By 2007, impacts on some protected valleys and slopes had become acute. We estimate that nearly 40% of the whole island area had changed, with almost 20% having moderate to severe change.”
Rabbits were introduced to Macquarie Island in 1878 by sealing gangs. After reaching large numbers, the rabbits became the main prey of cats, which had been introduced 60 years earlier. Because the rabbits were causing catastrophic damage to the island's vegetation, Myxomatosis and the European rabbit flea (which spreads the Myxoma virus) were introduced in 1968. As a result, rabbit numbers fell from a peak of 130,000 in 1978 to less than 20,000 in the 1980s and vegetation recovered. However, with fewer rabbits as food, the cats began to eat the island's native burrowing birds, so a cat eradication programme began in 1985. Since the last cat was killed in 2000, Myxomatosis failed to keep rabbit numbers in check; their numbers bounced back and in little over six years rabbits substantially altered large areas of the island.
According to Bergstrom: “Increased rabbit herbivory has caused substantial damage at both local and landscape scales including changes from complex vegetation communities, to short, grazed lawns or bare ground.”
Getting Less Sleep Associated With Lower Resistance To Colds
This fits my own experience.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090112201127.htm
ScienceDaily (Jan. 13, 2009) — Individuals who get less than seven hours of sleep per night appear about three times as likely to develop respiratory illness following exposure to a cold virus as those who sleep eight hours or more, according to a report in the January 12 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Studies have demonstrated that sleep deprivation impairs some immune function, according to background information in the article. Research indicates that those who sleep approximately seven to eight hours per night have the lowest rates of heart disease illness and death.
Monday, January 12, 2009
What's in a label?
People's emotions and attitudes are so easily manipulated by labels.
Two articles in the Sat., Jan. 10, 2009 AJC (Atlanta-Journal Constitution) really show this. They both begin on the first page of the Metro section.
One is on the state fining gas stations who "gouged" consumers during the gas shortages when hurricanes Gustav & Ike hit last Sept. Now, I don't have a problem with anti-gouging laws, but it is obvious that they are anti-capitalistic. We have been taught to worship "capitalism", or at least worship the word, in opposition to "socialism". One of the tenets of capitalism is that you are free, or even "should" charge as much as your customers will pay. Not allowing a business to do so obviously curtails their "freedom", another useful work for manipulating opinion. But most people fine with anti-gouging laws because it benefits them.
In contrast is an article on a Republican forum on the planned changes to trash pickup in my county of Gwinnett Georgia. The plan will enforce residential trash collection and promote recycling. The county had planned to make recyling mandatory. According to the articel, many audience referred to the mandatory recycling plan, suspended by court order, as "little more than 'trickle-down socialism'" because it mandated recycling. (The county is under state mandate to reduce its share of trash going to landfills.)
I've lived long enough to know that many or most of those who oppose mandatory recycling, will enthusiastically support anti-price-gouging laws. In other words, socialism is fine when it helps their pocketbook, but evil when it helps their community, state, country, and world. So I would say the correct label for them is "unpatriotic".
Two articles in the Sat., Jan. 10, 2009 AJC (Atlanta-Journal Constitution) really show this. They both begin on the first page of the Metro section.
One is on the state fining gas stations who "gouged" consumers during the gas shortages when hurricanes Gustav & Ike hit last Sept. Now, I don't have a problem with anti-gouging laws, but it is obvious that they are anti-capitalistic. We have been taught to worship "capitalism", or at least worship the word, in opposition to "socialism". One of the tenets of capitalism is that you are free, or even "should" charge as much as your customers will pay. Not allowing a business to do so obviously curtails their "freedom", another useful work for manipulating opinion. But most people fine with anti-gouging laws because it benefits them.
In contrast is an article on a Republican forum on the planned changes to trash pickup in my county of Gwinnett Georgia. The plan will enforce residential trash collection and promote recycling. The county had planned to make recyling mandatory. According to the articel, many audience referred to the mandatory recycling plan, suspended by court order, as "little more than 'trickle-down socialism'" because it mandated recycling. (The county is under state mandate to reduce its share of trash going to landfills.)
I've lived long enough to know that many or most of those who oppose mandatory recycling, will enthusiastically support anti-price-gouging laws. In other words, socialism is fine when it helps their pocketbook, but evil when it helps their community, state, country, and world. So I would say the correct label for them is "unpatriotic".
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Spirituality, not religion, makes kids happy
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28579289/
updated 1:43 p.m. ET, Fri., Jan. 9, 2009
The link between spirituality and happiness is pretty well-established for teens and adults. More spirituality brings more happiness. Now a study has reached into the younger set, finding the same link in "tweens" and in kids in middle childhood.
Specifically, the study shows that children who feel that their lives have meaning and value and who develop deep, quality relationships — both measures of spirituality, the researchers claim — are happier.
Personal aspects of spirituality (meaning and value in one's own life) and communal aspects (quality and depth of inter-personal relationships) were both strong predictors of children's happiness, said study leader Mark Holder from the University of British Columbia in Canada and his colleagues Ben Coleman and Judi Wallace.
However, religious practices were found to have little effect on children's happiness, Holder said.
...
"Enhancing personal meaning may be a key factor in the relation between spirituality and happiness," the researchers stated. Strategies aimed at increasing personal meaning in children — such as expressing kindness towards others and recording these acts of kindness, as well as acts of altruism and volunteering — may help to make children happier, Holder suggests.
These findings were detailed in the Dec. 11 online edition of the Journal of Happiness Studies.
updated 1:43 p.m. ET, Fri., Jan. 9, 2009
The link between spirituality and happiness is pretty well-established for teens and adults. More spirituality brings more happiness. Now a study has reached into the younger set, finding the same link in "tweens" and in kids in middle childhood.
Specifically, the study shows that children who feel that their lives have meaning and value and who develop deep, quality relationships — both measures of spirituality, the researchers claim — are happier.
Personal aspects of spirituality (meaning and value in one's own life) and communal aspects (quality and depth of inter-personal relationships) were both strong predictors of children's happiness, said study leader Mark Holder from the University of British Columbia in Canada and his colleagues Ben Coleman and Judi Wallace.
However, religious practices were found to have little effect on children's happiness, Holder said.
...
"Enhancing personal meaning may be a key factor in the relation between spirituality and happiness," the researchers stated. Strategies aimed at increasing personal meaning in children — such as expressing kindness towards others and recording these acts of kindness, as well as acts of altruism and volunteering — may help to make children happier, Holder suggests.
These findings were detailed in the Dec. 11 online edition of the Journal of Happiness Studies.
Friday, January 09, 2009
Et tu, WSJ?
You know a Republican president is bad when the Wall Street Journal has an article on it in one of their blogs. The table in the original article is sortable by any column.
http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2009/01/09/bush-on-jobs-the-worst-track-record-on-record/
January 9, 2009, 12:04 pm
Bush On Jobs: The Worst Track Record On Record
President George W. Bush entered office in 2001 just as a recession was starting, and is preparing to leave in the middle of a long one. That’s almost 22 months of recession during his 96 months in office.
His job-creation record won’t look much better. The Bush administration created about three million jobs (net) over its eight years, a fraction of the 23 million jobs created under President Bill Clinton’s administration and only slightly better than President George H.W. Bush did in his four years in office.
Here’s a look at job creation under each president since the Labor Department started keeping payroll records in 1939. The counts are based on total payrolls between the start of the month the president took office (using the final payroll count for the end of the prior December) and his final December in office.
Because the size of the economy and labor force varies, we also calculate in percentage terms how much the total payroll count expanded under each president. The current President Bush, once taking account how long he’s been in office, shows the worst track record for job creation since the government began keeping records. –Sudeep Reddy
Scientists Refute Argument Of Climate Skeptics
Global monthly and annual mean near-surface temperatures between 1850 and June 2008 in relation to the average temperature in the period between 1961 and 1990, based on the air temperature measurement data of weather stations. (Credit: HadCRUT)
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090109115047.htm
ScienceDaily (Jan. 9, 2009) — Scientists at the GKSS Research Centre of Geesthacht and the University of Bern have investigated the frequency of warmer than average years between 1880 and 2006 for the first time. The result: the observed increase of warm years after 1990 is not a statistical accident.
Between 1880 and 2006 the average global annual temperature was about 15°C. However, in the years after 1990 the frequency of years when this average value was exceeded increased.
...
With the help of the so called „Monte-Carlo-Simulation“ the coastal researchers Dr. Eduardo Zorita and Professor Hans von Storch at the GKSS-Research Centre together with Professor Thomas Stocker from the University of Bern estimated that it is extremely unlikely that the frequency of warm record years after 1990 could be an accident and concluded that it is rather influenced by a external driver.
The fact that the 13 warmest years since 1880 could have occured by accident after 1990 corresponds to a likelihood of no more than 1:10,000.
These likelihood can be illustrated by using the game of chance "heads or tails": the likelihood is the same as 14 heads in a row.
Setting the record straight
The Republican propaganda machine is trying to paint Jimmy Carter as a terrible president, worse than GW Bush. I have lived thru both, and I know it's a lie.
Another commenter on
http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2009/01/paul-krugman-th/comments/page/2/#comments
summarized things well:
Stephen Kriz says...
Someone needs to investigate the "deep events" that occur when a Democratic administration is coming into office following a Republican administration and vice versa. There is an ugly pattern here:
* In 1960, Kennedy was handed a failed Bay of Pigs invasion already planned by Ike and a CIA stirring up trouble in Laos. This set the stage for a troubled foreign policy.
* In 1976, Carter was handed an economy that was in the tank with out of control inflation and low growth. George H.W. Bush was CIA chief and put in place Team B, which exaggerated the Soviet threat.
* In 1992, Clinton was handed the largest budget deficit in history to date, and Bush had already started to gin up pointless investigations into Clinton's past, starting with the passport file flap, that would plague Clinton's presidency.
Compare this to incoming Republican administrations:
* In 1968, Nixon had a budget surplus, the Vietnam War was winding down and Henry Kissinger, working for LBJ, gave Nixon inside information about the Paris Peace talks that would give Nixon credit for ending the war.
* In 1980, George H.W. Bush, working behind the scenes in an October Surprise, negotiated with our enemy, Iran, to hold the hostages longer so that Reagan would get credit for their release.
* In 2000, George W. Bush inherited a budget surplus, a booming economy and a world at peace.
You think any of this is coincidence???
Posted by: Stephen Kriz | Link to comment | January 09, 2009 at 02:18 PM
Truly frightening statistics
When I first quickly read a comment in
http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2009/01/the-employment.html#comments
referring to the percent increase in part-time workers since last Dec., I thought it was 7+%, bad enough, but we are in a recession, so not astonishing. After reading a response, I realized it was a 73.7% increase, truly incredible and frightening.
The following is non-seasonally adjusted figures from
http://www.bls.gov/webapps/legacy/cpsatab5.htm
(Of course, comparisons between the same months in different years is by definition seasonally adjusted)
So the figure for Dec. 2007 is 4,750,000
For Dec. 2008, 8,250,000
===========================================================================
DOL Seal U.S. Department of Labor
Photos representing the workforce
www.bls.gov
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Data extracted on: January 9, 2009 (4:29:15 PM)
Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey
Series Id: LNU02032194
Not Seasonally Adjusted
Series title: (Unadj) Employment Level - Persons At Work 1-34 Hours, Economic
Reasons, All Industries
Labor force status: Employed
Type of data: Number in thousands
Age: 16 years and over
Hours at work: 1 to 34 hours
Reasons work not as scheduled: Economic reasons
Worker status/schedules: At work part time
Year Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Annual
1998 4299 4042 4011 3649 3602 4033 4025 3508 3112 3086 3159 3455 3665
1999 3815 3594 3703 3316 3281 3641 3537 3238 2948 2832 3045 3332 3357
2000 3574 3343 3360 3064 3171 3400 3308 3151 2893 2874 3287 3302 3227
2001 3732 3481 3394 3163 3315 3977 3725 3326 3835 4035 4125 4467 3715
2002 4564 4514 4225 4018 3942 4251 4352 4249 3929 3965 4160 4385 4213
2003 5135 5061 4784 4609 4409 4798 4870 4377 4455 4394 4682 4833 4701
2004 5270 4764 4868 4411 4427 4623 4648 4395 4073 4407 4398 4516 4567
2005 4903 4487 4514 4150 4171 4600 4578 4402 4230 3915 4067 4183 4350
2006 4597 4403 4097 3787 3968 4456 4450 4104 3735 4010 4054 4281 4162
2007 4726 4417 4384 4205 4315 4469 4516 4494 4137 4028 4374 4750 4401
2008 5340 5114 5038 5071 5096 5697 6054 5736 5701 6267 7135 8250 5875
http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2009/01/the-employment.html#comments
referring to the percent increase in part-time workers since last Dec., I thought it was 7+%, bad enough, but we are in a recession, so not astonishing. After reading a response, I realized it was a 73.7% increase, truly incredible and frightening.
The following is non-seasonally adjusted figures from
http://www.bls.gov/webapps/legacy/cpsatab5.htm
(Of course, comparisons between the same months in different years is by definition seasonally adjusted)
So the figure for Dec. 2007 is 4,750,000
For Dec. 2008, 8,250,000
===========================================================================
DOL Seal U.S. Department of Labor
Photos representing the workforce
www.bls.gov
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Data extracted on: January 9, 2009 (4:29:15 PM)
Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey
Series Id: LNU02032194
Not Seasonally Adjusted
Series title: (Unadj) Employment Level - Persons At Work 1-34 Hours, Economic
Reasons, All Industries
Labor force status: Employed
Type of data: Number in thousands
Age: 16 years and over
Hours at work: 1 to 34 hours
Reasons work not as scheduled: Economic reasons
Worker status/schedules: At work part time
Year Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Annual
1998 4299 4042 4011 3649 3602 4033 4025 3508 3112 3086 3159 3455 3665
1999 3815 3594 3703 3316 3281 3641 3537 3238 2948 2832 3045 3332 3357
2000 3574 3343 3360 3064 3171 3400 3308 3151 2893 2874 3287 3302 3227
2001 3732 3481 3394 3163 3315 3977 3725 3326 3835 4035 4125 4467 3715
2002 4564 4514 4225 4018 3942 4251 4352 4249 3929 3965 4160 4385 4213
2003 5135 5061 4784 4609 4409 4798 4870 4377 4455 4394 4682 4833 4701
2004 5270 4764 4868 4411 4427 4623 4648 4395 4073 4407 4398 4516 4567
2005 4903 4487 4514 4150 4171 4600 4578 4402 4230 3915 4067 4183 4350
2006 4597 4403 4097 3787 3968 4456 4450 4104 3735 4010 4054 4281 4162
2007 4726 4417 4384 4205 4315 4469 4516 4494 4137 4028 4374 4750 4401
2008 5340 5114 5038 5071 5096 5697 6054 5736 5701 6267 7135 8250 5875
Will Americans put on "recession pounds"?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090109/hl_nm/us_financial_obesity;_ylt=AswvdoxPWyF2wEBjPJ4HeTbVJRIF
By Ed Stoddard Ed Stoddard – Fri Jan 9, 10:46 am ET
DALLAS (Reuters) – Americans may reduce the amount they spend on food in response to a sour economy but some experts fear they may pick up weight in the process.
The specter of "recession pounds" is a concern weighing on health professionals, who point to numerous studies linking obesity and unhealthy eating habits to low incomes.
They fear that as people cut food spending they will cut back on healthy but relatively expensive items such as fresh fish, fruit, vegetables and whole grains, in favor of cheaper options high in sugar and saturated fats.
"People ... are going to economize and as they save money on food they will be eating more empty calories or foods high in sugar, saturated fats and refined grains, which are cheaper," said Adam Drewnowski, the director of the Nutrition Sciences Program at the University of Washington in Seattle.
"Things are going to get worse," he told Reuters in a telephone interview. "Obesity is a toxic result of a failing economic environment."
Drewnowski's own research has highlighted the link between income and obesity.
"In Seattle we have found that there are fivefold differences in obesity rates depending on the zip code -- the low-income zip codes have a much higher proportion of obese people," he said.
He added that studies in California suggested that a 10 percent rise in poverty translates into about a 6 percent increase in obesity among adults.
The rate of new cases of diabetes soared by about 90 percent in the United States in the past decade, fueled by growing obesity and sedentary lifestyles, U.S. health officials said in October.
Nine of the 10 states with the highest rates of new cases of diabetes were in the South, a region with huge pockets of poverty and glaring income disparities.
America already tops the global obesity scales. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over one third of U.S. adults -- more than 72 million people -- and 16 percent of U.S. children are obese.
The unfolding recession could inflate U.S. waistlines further as more and more people fall onto hard times and seek cheaper food.
"The reality is that when you are income constrained the first area you try to address is having enough calories in your diet. And cheap sources of calories tend to be high in total fats and sugars," said Eileen Kennedy, the dean of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University outside Boston.
RECESSION-PROOF BIG MACS
There is anecdotal evidence to support such concerns including the success of U.S. fast-food giant McDonald's, which has a low-priced menu that is high in fat and calories.
Chief Executive Jim Skinner said in October that the world's largest hamburger chain "continues to be recession resistant" after it posted a better-than-expected third-quarter profit, helped by a 7 percent jump in global sales.
It has successfully used its Dollar Menu to maintain its hold on cash-strapped customers.
One such customer is Dianthe Clements, 36, a mother of two in Washington, D.C., who struggles to make ends meet stocking shelves in a shop where she makes $11.27 an hour.
"Some nights we go to McDonald's, they have those value meals. Sometimes we will have just cereal," she told Reuters.
By contrast, other chains associated with healthier eating such as Austin-based grocery retailer Whole Foods has seen its fortunes sag with the economy.
Whole Foods, which thrived prior to the economic crisis by selling organic, natural and gourmet food at premium prices, has been hit as cost-conscious consumers trade down to lower-priced stores.
In November it said that sales at established stores were up 0.4 percent in the September quarter, compared with an 8.2 percent rise in the year-earlier period.
"We associate poverty with obesity because energy dense foods are less expensive. More poverty does not have to translate into more obesity but it certainly could," said Dr. Robert Eckel, the former president of the Dallas-based American Heart Association.
Drewnowski said it was possible to eat in an affordable and healthy way, partly by relying on the basic foods which saw America through the Depression of the 1930s.
"The answer lies in affordable but nutrient-rich foods such as ground beef, beans, milk, nuts, cheese, carrots, potatoes, canned tomatoes, soups, and rice," he said, calling it "a diet for a new Depression."
(Reporting by Ed Stoddard; Additional reporting by Lucia Mutikani in Washington; Editing by Eddie Evans)
By Ed Stoddard Ed Stoddard – Fri Jan 9, 10:46 am ET
DALLAS (Reuters) – Americans may reduce the amount they spend on food in response to a sour economy but some experts fear they may pick up weight in the process.
The specter of "recession pounds" is a concern weighing on health professionals, who point to numerous studies linking obesity and unhealthy eating habits to low incomes.
They fear that as people cut food spending they will cut back on healthy but relatively expensive items such as fresh fish, fruit, vegetables and whole grains, in favor of cheaper options high in sugar and saturated fats.
"People ... are going to economize and as they save money on food they will be eating more empty calories or foods high in sugar, saturated fats and refined grains, which are cheaper," said Adam Drewnowski, the director of the Nutrition Sciences Program at the University of Washington in Seattle.
"Things are going to get worse," he told Reuters in a telephone interview. "Obesity is a toxic result of a failing economic environment."
Drewnowski's own research has highlighted the link between income and obesity.
"In Seattle we have found that there are fivefold differences in obesity rates depending on the zip code -- the low-income zip codes have a much higher proportion of obese people," he said.
He added that studies in California suggested that a 10 percent rise in poverty translates into about a 6 percent increase in obesity among adults.
The rate of new cases of diabetes soared by about 90 percent in the United States in the past decade, fueled by growing obesity and sedentary lifestyles, U.S. health officials said in October.
Nine of the 10 states with the highest rates of new cases of diabetes were in the South, a region with huge pockets of poverty and glaring income disparities.
America already tops the global obesity scales. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over one third of U.S. adults -- more than 72 million people -- and 16 percent of U.S. children are obese.
The unfolding recession could inflate U.S. waistlines further as more and more people fall onto hard times and seek cheaper food.
"The reality is that when you are income constrained the first area you try to address is having enough calories in your diet. And cheap sources of calories tend to be high in total fats and sugars," said Eileen Kennedy, the dean of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University outside Boston.
RECESSION-PROOF BIG MACS
There is anecdotal evidence to support such concerns including the success of U.S. fast-food giant McDonald's, which has a low-priced menu that is high in fat and calories.
Chief Executive Jim Skinner said in October that the world's largest hamburger chain "continues to be recession resistant" after it posted a better-than-expected third-quarter profit, helped by a 7 percent jump in global sales.
It has successfully used its Dollar Menu to maintain its hold on cash-strapped customers.
One such customer is Dianthe Clements, 36, a mother of two in Washington, D.C., who struggles to make ends meet stocking shelves in a shop where she makes $11.27 an hour.
"Some nights we go to McDonald's, they have those value meals. Sometimes we will have just cereal," she told Reuters.
By contrast, other chains associated with healthier eating such as Austin-based grocery retailer Whole Foods has seen its fortunes sag with the economy.
Whole Foods, which thrived prior to the economic crisis by selling organic, natural and gourmet food at premium prices, has been hit as cost-conscious consumers trade down to lower-priced stores.
In November it said that sales at established stores were up 0.4 percent in the September quarter, compared with an 8.2 percent rise in the year-earlier period.
"We associate poverty with obesity because energy dense foods are less expensive. More poverty does not have to translate into more obesity but it certainly could," said Dr. Robert Eckel, the former president of the Dallas-based American Heart Association.
Drewnowski said it was possible to eat in an affordable and healthy way, partly by relying on the basic foods which saw America through the Depression of the 1930s.
"The answer lies in affordable but nutrient-rich foods such as ground beef, beans, milk, nuts, cheese, carrots, potatoes, canned tomatoes, soups, and rice," he said, calling it "a diet for a new Depression."
(Reporting by Ed Stoddard; Additional reporting by Lucia Mutikani in Washington; Editing by Eddie Evans)
NUMBER OF HOMELESS FAMILIES CLIMBING DUE TO RECESSION
http://www.cbpp.org/1-8-09hous.htm
January 8, 2008
New data indicate that the number of homeless families with children has climbed in recent months and continues to mount. Although the recovery package that Congress will consider in coming weeks is expected to include measures to restore several million jobs, an unusually large number of people are still likely to fall into severe poverty and to be at risk of homelessness, due to the depth of the recession. As a result, it is important that the package include funding for effective homelessness prevention strategies. Such measures could be included for a cost equal to just one-half of one percent of the cost of the overall package.
Goldman Sachs projects that the unemployment rate will rise to 9 percent by the fourth quarter of 2009 and continue rising into 2010. If unemployment reaches 9 percent and the increase in poverty, relative to the increase in the unemployment rate, is within the range that occurred in the last three recessions, the number of poor Americans will rise by 7.5 – 10.3 million. Moreover, the number of people in “deep poverty” — with incomes below half of the poverty line — will rise by an estimated 4.5 – 6.3 million if unemployment reaches 9 percent. This would represent an increase of about 900,000 – 1.1 million families with children that fall into deep poverty and thus are at risk of housing instability and homelessness.[1]
New figures suggest that hardship and homelessness are already growing:
In July - November 2008, compared with the same period in 2007, the number of families entering New York City homeless shelters jumped by 40 percent.[2]
Massachusetts reports a 32 percent increase between November 2007 and November 2008 in the number of homeless families residing in state-supported emergency shelters.[3]
In Connecticut, family homeless shelters turned away 30 percent more families due to lack of bed space in September 2008 than in September 2007.[4]
Hennepin County, Minnesota (Minneapolis) reports a 20 percent increase between the first 10 months of 2008 and the comparable period in 2007 in the number of homeless families in emergency shelters.[5]
Los Angeles County reports a 12 percent increase between September 2007 and September 2008 in the number of families receiving welfare assistance who are known to be homeless.[6]
Two recent national surveys support these data. In a fall 2008 survey by the U.S. Conference of Mayors, 16 of the 22 cities that provided data on the number of homeless families with children reported an increase in 2008, some of them substantial. (Louisville reported a 58 percent increase.)[7] In another national survey, one in five responding school districts reported having more homeless children in the fall of 2008 than over the course of the entire 2007-2008 school year.[8]
January 8, 2008
New data indicate that the number of homeless families with children has climbed in recent months and continues to mount. Although the recovery package that Congress will consider in coming weeks is expected to include measures to restore several million jobs, an unusually large number of people are still likely to fall into severe poverty and to be at risk of homelessness, due to the depth of the recession. As a result, it is important that the package include funding for effective homelessness prevention strategies. Such measures could be included for a cost equal to just one-half of one percent of the cost of the overall package.
Goldman Sachs projects that the unemployment rate will rise to 9 percent by the fourth quarter of 2009 and continue rising into 2010. If unemployment reaches 9 percent and the increase in poverty, relative to the increase in the unemployment rate, is within the range that occurred in the last three recessions, the number of poor Americans will rise by 7.5 – 10.3 million. Moreover, the number of people in “deep poverty” — with incomes below half of the poverty line — will rise by an estimated 4.5 – 6.3 million if unemployment reaches 9 percent. This would represent an increase of about 900,000 – 1.1 million families with children that fall into deep poverty and thus are at risk of housing instability and homelessness.[1]
New figures suggest that hardship and homelessness are already growing:
In July - November 2008, compared with the same period in 2007, the number of families entering New York City homeless shelters jumped by 40 percent.[2]
Massachusetts reports a 32 percent increase between November 2007 and November 2008 in the number of homeless families residing in state-supported emergency shelters.[3]
In Connecticut, family homeless shelters turned away 30 percent more families due to lack of bed space in September 2008 than in September 2007.[4]
Hennepin County, Minnesota (Minneapolis) reports a 20 percent increase between the first 10 months of 2008 and the comparable period in 2007 in the number of homeless families in emergency shelters.[5]
Los Angeles County reports a 12 percent increase between September 2007 and September 2008 in the number of families receiving welfare assistance who are known to be homeless.[6]
Two recent national surveys support these data. In a fall 2008 survey by the U.S. Conference of Mayors, 16 of the 22 cities that provided data on the number of homeless families with children reported an increase in 2008, some of them substantial. (Louisville reported a 58 percent increase.)[7] In another national survey, one in five responding school districts reported having more homeless children in the fall of 2008 than over the course of the entire 2007-2008 school year.[8]
Thursday, January 08, 2009
Spookfish Uses Mirrors For Eyes
This is interesting, but could also have gone on the list of humorous titles.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090107134539.htm
ScienceDaily (Jan. 8, 2009) — A remarkable new discovery shows the four-eyed spookfish to be the first vertebrate ever found to use mirrors, rather than lenses, to focus light in its eyes.
Professor Julian Partridge from the University of Bristol, said: “In nearly 500 million years of vertebrate evolution, and many thousands of vertebrate species living and dead, this is the only one known to have solved the fundamental optical problem faced by all eyes – how to make an image – using a mirror.”
Unemployment claim statistics - maybe they are learning
When I saw the headline, I thought it was the week after Thanksgiving all over again, where they ballyhooed lower unemployment claims than expected for the week of Thanksgiving, only to be followed a week later by higher than expected unemployment claims, which was no surprise to me. They may still not be good at estimating what to expect, but at least they realize that the holiday distorted the statistics, and next week will likely be higher than "expected".
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28557005/
Weekly jobless claims drop unexpectedly
But the number of people continuing to seek aid rises sharply
updated 37 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - The number of Americans continuing to seek unemployment benefits has risen sharply, according to government data released Thursday, indicating that laid-off workers are having a harder time finding new jobs as the U.S. recession enters its second year.
The Labor Department also reported that initial applications for unemployment insurance dropped by 24,000 to a seasonally adjusted 467,000 for the week ending Jan. 3. Wall Street economists expected initial claims to increase, but analysts said the new figure reflects the difficulty the government has in making seasonal adjustments over the holiday period.
The four-week average of initial claims, which smooths out fluctuations but also includes the shortened holiday weeks, fell by 27,000 to 525,750.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28557005/page/2/
Electronic unemployment filing systems have crashed in at least three states in recent days due to the crush of Americans seeking jobless benefits.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28557005/
Weekly jobless claims drop unexpectedly
But the number of people continuing to seek aid rises sharply
updated 37 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - The number of Americans continuing to seek unemployment benefits has risen sharply, according to government data released Thursday, indicating that laid-off workers are having a harder time finding new jobs as the U.S. recession enters its second year.
The Labor Department also reported that initial applications for unemployment insurance dropped by 24,000 to a seasonally adjusted 467,000 for the week ending Jan. 3. Wall Street economists expected initial claims to increase, but analysts said the new figure reflects the difficulty the government has in making seasonal adjustments over the holiday period.
The four-week average of initial claims, which smooths out fluctuations but also includes the shortened holiday weeks, fell by 27,000 to 525,750.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28557005/page/2/
Electronic unemployment filing systems have crashed in at least three states in recent days due to the crush of Americans seeking jobless benefits.
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Vindication
Ok, at least evidence for vindication. When I read of the controversy over whether a meteorite strike or volcanic massive volcanic activity caused the extinction of the dinosaurs, I wondered whether a meteorite strike was the trigger of the volcanic activity. I never saw a theory as to why there would be that massive volcanic activity in the first place. I wrote several letters, and never got a reply. I raised the question on this blog on 5/31/2006 http://patriciashannon.blogspot.com/2006/05/dinosaur-die-off-chicken-or-egg.html and 10/25/2007 http://patriciashannon.blogspot.com/2007/10/cause-of-great-dying-250-million-years.html.
In fact, it was my frustration at seeing articles such as the previous ones, that ignored what seem to me obvious possible alternative causes of scientific events, that motivated me to start this blog in the first place.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090107085320.htm
Catastrophic Coincidence: Second Ever Example Of Contemporaneous Meteorite Impact And Flood Volcanism Discovered
ScienceDaily (Jan. 7, 2009) — Scientists have discovered only the second example of a meteorite impact that occurred at the same time as massive volcanic activity, in research published in the Journal of the Geological Society the week of Jan 12. The first time such a coincidence was observed, at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary, was the catastrophic event thought to be responsible for the extinction of the dinosaurs, 65 million years ago.
...
The relationships between meteorite impact craters, volcanism and changes in climate is a subject of much debate among scientists. Prior to the study, only one example of an impact coinciding with volcanism had been found: the Chicxulub and Boltysh impacts and the Deccan Traps flood volcanism, all of which occurred at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary. In 2002, the discovery of their coincidence with a global mass extinction led to debate over the causative links between meteorite impacts, volcanism and mass extinction events, and fuelled the search for more impacts at stratigraphic boundaries.
...
Meteorite impact craters are extremely difficult to date, but an understanding of their age and frequency is crucial to attempts to control the number of future impacts, as well as understanding the links between impacts and other catastrophic events such as large volcanic eruptions and mass extinctions. Around 90% of the Earth’s record of meteorite impacts is lost, and the researchers argue that coincidences between impacts and flood volcanism are far from rare. They suggest that, for every incidence of flood volcanism, at least one crater the size of Logoisk is likely to form, although few such coincidences are likely to be on a scale grand enough to bring about an extinction event comparable with that which destroyed the dinosaurs.
Depression may underlie "transmission" of poverty
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090107/hl_nm/us_depression_poverty;_ylt=Ag.gds6pbboxjVyFQo.2Y_jVJRIF
Wed Jan 7, 11:53 am ET
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Children from poor families are more likely than their peers to be depressed as teenagers, with effects that can ultimately make it harder to climb out from poverty, a new study suggests.
The study, which followed nearly 500 Iowa families for a decade, found that children in poorer families were at greater risk of depression symptoms by adolescence. These teenagers, in turn, were more likely to "grow up" faster -- including having sex, leaving home or getting married at an earlier-than-average age.
This cycle, the study found, eventually put kids at risk of substantial obstacles in young adulthood, such as low education levels, unemployment and a lack of stable relationships in their lives.
"The main finding shows the continuity of family adversity over generations -- from family-of-origin to a young adult's family," lead researcher K.A.S. Wickrama, a professor of human development and family studies at Iowa State University in Ames, said in a written statement.
"In other words," he said, "it's the transmission of poverty."
The findings, which appear in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior, suggest that early-life stress and depression symptoms feed each other, ultimately making the transition to adulthood a tough one, according to Wickrama's team.
Children from poor families, the researchers say, are particularly vulnerable to becoming "trapped in the self-perpetuating cycle of adverse life circumstances and poor health."
"These findings emphasize the need for federal, state, and local level policies and programs designed to reduce childhood adversity," Wickrama and his colleagues write.
Such policies, according to Wickrama, should focus on boosting at-risk children's "resiliency" -- by investing in education, for example, or in programs aimed at improving kids' psychological well-being.
"The policies and intervention programs need to focus on early intervention," Wickrama said. "That is the real lesson, because early levels of depression have a persistent influence. So you need to intervene early in childhood and adolescence -- not when they become young adults."
SOURCE: Journal of Health and Social Behavior, December 2008.
Wed Jan 7, 11:53 am ET
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Children from poor families are more likely than their peers to be depressed as teenagers, with effects that can ultimately make it harder to climb out from poverty, a new study suggests.
The study, which followed nearly 500 Iowa families for a decade, found that children in poorer families were at greater risk of depression symptoms by adolescence. These teenagers, in turn, were more likely to "grow up" faster -- including having sex, leaving home or getting married at an earlier-than-average age.
This cycle, the study found, eventually put kids at risk of substantial obstacles in young adulthood, such as low education levels, unemployment and a lack of stable relationships in their lives.
"The main finding shows the continuity of family adversity over generations -- from family-of-origin to a young adult's family," lead researcher K.A.S. Wickrama, a professor of human development and family studies at Iowa State University in Ames, said in a written statement.
"In other words," he said, "it's the transmission of poverty."
The findings, which appear in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior, suggest that early-life stress and depression symptoms feed each other, ultimately making the transition to adulthood a tough one, according to Wickrama's team.
Children from poor families, the researchers say, are particularly vulnerable to becoming "trapped in the self-perpetuating cycle of adverse life circumstances and poor health."
"These findings emphasize the need for federal, state, and local level policies and programs designed to reduce childhood adversity," Wickrama and his colleagues write.
Such policies, according to Wickrama, should focus on boosting at-risk children's "resiliency" -- by investing in education, for example, or in programs aimed at improving kids' psychological well-being.
"The policies and intervention programs need to focus on early intervention," Wickrama said. "That is the real lesson, because early levels of depression have a persistent influence. So you need to intervene early in childhood and adolescence -- not when they become young adults."
SOURCE: Journal of Health and Social Behavior, December 2008.
Monday, January 05, 2009
Non-progressive taxes - updated
http://lanekenworthy.net/2009/01/05/how-progressive-are-our-taxes/
How Progressive Are Our Taxes?
January 5, 2009
Stephen Dubner has a post on the “Freakonomics” blog titled “The next time someone tells you that taxes are not progressive…” He relays information from a new Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report, via Greg Mankiw, which lists effective federal tax rates for households at various points in the income distribution. The rates are higher for those with larger incomes. The implication is that our tax system is quite progressive.
But it doesn’t make much sense to look only at federal taxes. State and local taxes account for about a third of total tax revenues, and they tend to be less progressive than federal taxes.
If we take into account all taxes — federal, state, and local — the effective tax rate for the well-to-do is only a bit higher than for the poor. Here is one way to see this, based on data from the CBO and the Tax Foundation.
======================================================================
From a comment on the same thread. I haven't read these books yet, but I'll look for them:
mmckinl says...
If you really want the goods on personal taxes including income tax and capital gains read :
~Perfectly Legal: The Covert Campaign to Rig Our Tax System to Benefit the Super Rich - and Cheat Everybody Else ~
~ Free Lunch: How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense (and StickYou with the Bill)
Both by David Cay Johnston ~ a true American hero ...
Johnston received the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Beat Reporting "for his penetrating and enterprising reporting that exposed loopholes and inequities in the U.S. tax code, which was instrumental in bringing about reforms." He also won the Book of the Year award from Investigative Reporters & Editors.
Posted by: mmckinl | Link to comment | January 05, 2009 at 08:59 PM
Save money & help the earth
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
Is everyone remembering to turn off the water while they brush their teeth? Purifying water and pumping it to homes and businesses uses energy.
Is everyone remembering to turn off the water while they brush their teeth? Purifying water and pumping it to homes and businesses uses energy.
America's economic meltdowns
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-oe-larson4-2009jan04,0,2231879.story?track=rss
This is an interesting article on the history of previous economic meltdowns.
As it said:
"Our ancestors first interpreted panics as punishment for licentiousness. But experience showed that virtuous men and women suffered the most distress. What kind of an economic system rewarded the crooks and ruined the folks who toiled that others may eat?"
This is an interesting article on the history of previous economic meltdowns.
As it said:
"Our ancestors first interpreted panics as punishment for licentiousness. But experience showed that virtuous men and women suffered the most distress. What kind of an economic system rewarded the crooks and ruined the folks who toiled that others may eat?"
Who is fittest?
I got this quote from
http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2009/01/darwin-and-the.html#comments
The commenter attributed it to Charles Darwin, but other commenters disagreed that Darwin had said it. Regardless, if you are talking about long-term survival, it is true.
“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.”
http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2009/01/darwin-and-the.html#comments
The commenter attributed it to Charles Darwin, but other commenters disagreed that Darwin had said it. Regardless, if you are talking about long-term survival, it is true.
“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.”
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