http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-10/nios-fse100609.php
Public release date: 6-Oct-2009
Contact: Evelyn Brown
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
For safer emergencies, give your power generator some space
To subdue the steaming heat of hurricanes or to thaw out during a blizzard, gasoline-powered, portable generators are a lifeline during weather emergencies when homes are cut off without electricity. But these generators emit poisonous carbon monoxide—a single generator can produce a hundred times more of the colorless, odorless gas than a modern car's exhaust. New research from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) shows that to prevent potentially dangerous levels of carbon monoxide, users may need to keep generators farther from the house than previously believed—perhaps as much as 25 feet.
Up to half of the incidents of non-fatal carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning reported in the 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons involved generators run within 7 feet of the home, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Carbon monoxide can enter a house through a number of airflow paths, such as a door or window left open to accommodate the extension cord that brings power from the generator into the house. While some guidance recommends 10 feet from open windows as a safe operating distance, NIST researcher Steven Emmerich says the "safe" operating distance depends on the house, the weather conditions and the unit. A generator's carbon monoxide output is usually higher than an automobile's, he says, because most generators do not have the sophisticated emission controls that cars do.
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Saturday, October 10, 2009
Monash research cautions against use of anti-oxidants
http://www.monash.edu.au/news/newsline/story/1517
7 October 2009
An international team of scientists, led by Monash University researchers, has found that anti-oxidants commonly touted for their health-promoting benefits, could contribute to the early onset of Type 2 diabetes.
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"However, our studies do not negate the role of ROS in late-stage disease. There's a 'yin and yang' relationship that takes place, wherein ROS are beneficial in the early stages of Type 2 diabetes and shift to being harmful at later stages of the disease. We are now trying to find out when ROS make the switch from being 'good' to 'bad'.
"Although we need to undertake further studies in humans, our results indicate that the widespread use of anti-oxidants by the general public as a preventative measure is something that should be discouraged, particularly if you are otherwise healthy," Professor Tiganis said.
"Eat healthy and exercise as this is a natural source of ROS that promotes insulin action."
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7 October 2009
An international team of scientists, led by Monash University researchers, has found that anti-oxidants commonly touted for their health-promoting benefits, could contribute to the early onset of Type 2 diabetes.
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"However, our studies do not negate the role of ROS in late-stage disease. There's a 'yin and yang' relationship that takes place, wherein ROS are beneficial in the early stages of Type 2 diabetes and shift to being harmful at later stages of the disease. We are now trying to find out when ROS make the switch from being 'good' to 'bad'.
"Although we need to undertake further studies in humans, our results indicate that the widespread use of anti-oxidants by the general public as a preventative measure is something that should be discouraged, particularly if you are otherwise healthy," Professor Tiganis said.
"Eat healthy and exercise as this is a natural source of ROS that promotes insulin action."
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Loyal alligators display the mating habits of birds
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-10/w-lad100709.php
Public release date: 7-Oct-2009
Contact: Ben Norman
Wiley-Blackwell
Loyal alligators display the mating habits of birds
Discovery may lead to understanding of dinosaur mating habits
Louisiana, US - Alligators display the same loyalty to their mating partners as birds reveals a study published today in Molecular Ecology. The ten-year-study by scientists from the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory reveals that up to 70% of females chose to remain with their partner, often for many years.
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This new discovery gives a new insight into the complex mating system of the alligator. Parental care is typically lacking in most reptiles, but not crocodilians who display parental care though nurturing young and defending the nest.
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Public release date: 7-Oct-2009
Contact: Ben Norman
Wiley-Blackwell
Loyal alligators display the mating habits of birds
Discovery may lead to understanding of dinosaur mating habits
Louisiana, US - Alligators display the same loyalty to their mating partners as birds reveals a study published today in Molecular Ecology. The ten-year-study by scientists from the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory reveals that up to 70% of females chose to remain with their partner, often for many years.
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This new discovery gives a new insight into the complex mating system of the alligator. Parental care is typically lacking in most reptiles, but not crocodilians who display parental care though nurturing young and defending the nest.
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Study examines ethical dilemmas of medical tourism
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-10/uom-see100709.php
Public release date: 7-Oct-2009
Contact: Sylvain-Jacques Desjardins
University of Montreal
Study examines ethical dilemmas of medical tourism
University of Montreal researchers publish in Developing World Bioethics journal
This press release is available in French.
Montreal, October 7, 2009 – Medical tourism in Latin America needs to be regulated to protect consumers, according to Université de Montréal researchers. A new study published in the journal Developing World Bioethics argues that Argentinean fertility clinics are increasingly marketing themselves to international health care consumers: these clinics offer all-inclusive packages with fixed prices that feature airfare, accommodations, transfers, language interpreters and, of course, fertility treatments.
"The appeal of such packages is obvious: healthcare consumers need not worry about any of the practical details of their trip – budgeting, travel arrangements or language barriers – and can instead focus on obtaining quality medical services combined with a vacation. Non-accredited clinics in Argentina offer much more competitive prices for services in comparison with clinics in North America or Europe. For example, in vitro fertilization in the United States runs upwards of $10,000 U.S. per cycle of treatment," says Bryn Williams-Jones, a bioethics professor in the Université de Montréal's Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, who coauthored the paper with graduate students Elise Smith, Carolina Martin and Jason Behrmann.
An increasing number of private fertility clinics have opened in developing countries such as Argentina over the last decade and are attracting consumers through lower pricing. There are two subcategories of medical tourism clinics: accredited centres that are part of the broader healthcare industry and non-accredited clinics focused on medical tourism. "While the 'big players' in medical tourism, such as India and Poland, are actively involved in the fertility sector, so too now are Latin American countries such as Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Argentina," says Dr. Williams-Jones.
Reproductive tourism clinics are targeting wealthy North American or European couples through the Internet. "The main interest for these individuals to become medical tourists is the high cost, long waiting lists, or even the absence of access assisted reproductive technologies services at home," says Dr. Williams-Jones.
Developed and developing nations have encouraged the practice of medical tourism, the authors argue, because of the economic spinoffs. Legislation and professional guidelines – both local and international – are needed to regulate the conduct of private fertility clinics in order to ensure that services are safe and effective. "It is in the best interests of consumers, health professionals and policy makers that the reproductive tourism industry adopts safe and responsible medical practices," says Dr. Williams-Jones.
Public release date: 7-Oct-2009
Contact: Sylvain-Jacques Desjardins
University of Montreal
Study examines ethical dilemmas of medical tourism
University of Montreal researchers publish in Developing World Bioethics journal
This press release is available in French.
Montreal, October 7, 2009 – Medical tourism in Latin America needs to be regulated to protect consumers, according to Université de Montréal researchers. A new study published in the journal Developing World Bioethics argues that Argentinean fertility clinics are increasingly marketing themselves to international health care consumers: these clinics offer all-inclusive packages with fixed prices that feature airfare, accommodations, transfers, language interpreters and, of course, fertility treatments.
"The appeal of such packages is obvious: healthcare consumers need not worry about any of the practical details of their trip – budgeting, travel arrangements or language barriers – and can instead focus on obtaining quality medical services combined with a vacation. Non-accredited clinics in Argentina offer much more competitive prices for services in comparison with clinics in North America or Europe. For example, in vitro fertilization in the United States runs upwards of $10,000 U.S. per cycle of treatment," says Bryn Williams-Jones, a bioethics professor in the Université de Montréal's Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, who coauthored the paper with graduate students Elise Smith, Carolina Martin and Jason Behrmann.
An increasing number of private fertility clinics have opened in developing countries such as Argentina over the last decade and are attracting consumers through lower pricing. There are two subcategories of medical tourism clinics: accredited centres that are part of the broader healthcare industry and non-accredited clinics focused on medical tourism. "While the 'big players' in medical tourism, such as India and Poland, are actively involved in the fertility sector, so too now are Latin American countries such as Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Argentina," says Dr. Williams-Jones.
Reproductive tourism clinics are targeting wealthy North American or European couples through the Internet. "The main interest for these individuals to become medical tourists is the high cost, long waiting lists, or even the absence of access assisted reproductive technologies services at home," says Dr. Williams-Jones.
Developed and developing nations have encouraged the practice of medical tourism, the authors argue, because of the economic spinoffs. Legislation and professional guidelines – both local and international – are needed to regulate the conduct of private fertility clinics in order to ensure that services are safe and effective. "It is in the best interests of consumers, health professionals and policy makers that the reproductive tourism industry adopts safe and responsible medical practices," says Dr. Williams-Jones.
Friday, October 09, 2009
The Dark Energy Song
the Dark Energy Song, by Lloyd Knox, a cosmologist at UC Davis. Sung to his class and (inevitably) captured to video and posted to YouTube by a quick-thinking student.
He has the lyrics posted on his web site - click on his name above.
He has the lyrics posted on his web site - click on his name above.
Specialty hospitals cherry-pick patients, exaggerate success
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-10/ifor-shc100709.php
Public release date: 7-Oct-2009
Contact: Barry List
Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences
Specialty hospitals cherry-pick patients, exaggerate success, says INFORMS meeting paper
California cardiac care hospitals studied in INFORMS annual meeting paper
Although many specialized hospitals deliver better and faster services in cardiac care and other specialties, a paper being presented at the annual meeting of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS®) maintains that these hospitals cherry-pick patients to achieve these results, and that average patients actually receive worse care.
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Public release date: 7-Oct-2009
Contact: Barry List
Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences
Specialty hospitals cherry-pick patients, exaggerate success, says INFORMS meeting paper
California cardiac care hospitals studied in INFORMS annual meeting paper
Although many specialized hospitals deliver better and faster services in cardiac care and other specialties, a paper being presented at the annual meeting of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS®) maintains that these hospitals cherry-pick patients to achieve these results, and that average patients actually receive worse care.
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Why is U.S. healthcare so much more expensive?
An especially interesting question since we do compare favorably with other wealthy countries in such areas as life expectancy, infant mortality, etc.
http://dailyhowler.com/
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2009
Someone’s on a spaceship with Ifill: Sung to the tune of, “Someone’s in the kitchen with Dinah.”
At first, the analysts jumped for joy. They’ve always loved Kevin Drum’s work—though he sometimes makes them tear their hair. And yesterday, Kevin said he would answer their question! Just click here:
DRUM (10/8/09): [DAILY HOWLER analysts] want to know why the media isn't a wee bit more interested in why the United States pays far more per person for medical care than other rich countries. Here's the rough answer:
Huzzah! Kevin was going to answer their question! Why do the media keep avoiding the world’s most remarkable state of affairs? Kevin was going to let us know “why the media isn’t more interested!”
But then, elation turned to despair! Kevin’s answer had nothing to do with the question he himself had just posed:
DRUM (continuing directly):
* We pay our doctors about 50% more than most comparable countries.
* We pay more than twice as much for prescription drugs, despite the fact that we use less of them than most other countries.
* Administration costs are about 7x what most countries pay.
* We perform about 50% more diagnostic procedures than other countries and we pay as much as 5x more per procedure.
While the analysts love Kevin’s work, this is why he drives them mad. Do you see a single word that answers our actual question? Here’s our question: Why does the press corps keep refusing to discuss or explain our mammoth over-spending? Kevin said he would answer that question. Then, he answered something else. It’s not that what he said was wrong. It just didn’t speak to the question.
Might we go over this problem again, speaking extremely slowly?
The United States spends two to three times as much as comparable nations on health care. As any rational person can see, these OECD data—everyone cites them—define an astonishing state of affairs:
Total spending on health care, per person, 2007
United States: $7290
France: $3601
Germany: $3588
United Kingdom: $2992
Italy: $2686
Spain: $2671
Japan: $2581 (2006)
We spend two to three times what those nations spend—and get equal or lesser health outcomes. And yet, the press corps never discusses this astonishing state of affairs!
Go ahead. Try to find a single world in Kevin’s post which explains the press corps’ disinterest.
Might we state what is blindingly obvious? Progressive impulses in this society are killed by the press corps’ silence. Most voters have little awareness of this massive over-spending. It’s hard for people to get angry about something that’s never discussed in the press. Let’s make it so simple that “career liberals” can follow: When Gwen Ifill refuses to discuss this astonishing state of affairs, she protects the corporate/big money interests which live off this vast over-spending.
She protects the doctors, the pharmaceutical companies, the insurance companies. And she keeps her viewers clueless.
Kevin presents an interesting outline of our over-spending. If the New York Times or the Washington Post did a week of front-page reports about this astounding situation, they could certainly work from his outline. But they show no sign of wanting to do that. We have asked—and asked; and asked again—why they show no interest.
OK! Enough with the subtle:
Presumably, the mainstream press is avoiding this topic because it seeks to serve the large corporate interests involved in that over-spending. (To offer an earlier example of the same conduct: That’s why the pundits corps savaged Candidate Gore in 2000 when he opposed Bush’s plan to privatize Social Security.) Or maybe explanation is more innocent: Maybe the mainstream press corps’ dull sensibilities don’t allow them to see a problem with that massive over-spending on health care.
But then, Kevin seems to share that sensibility. We pay as much as five times more per procedure, he says—and that is where his analysis rests. He fails to see the obvious question:
Why the f*ck do we do that? Why the f*ck are American citizens getting looted that way?
These blindingly obvious questions never arise in the mainstream press—or in the career liberal world, for that matter. In its silence, the mainstream press thus keeps the lid on progressive sentiment. The average American might even be angry if he/she understood the fact that he spends five times as much for procedures as other people do. But Gwen Ifill isn’t going to tell Americans that. And the outrage that lurks inside that factoid doesn’t seem to move Kevin either.
Why? Why do we spend twice as much for drugs? Why do we spend five times more for procedures? In a rational world, this remarkable state of affairs would lead to strings of front-page reports.
But you don’t live in a rational world. You live in the United States, a society which is owned by corporate interests—unlike the other societies in those OECD data.
That ownership is enabled by the dulled sensibilities found in the mainstream and career liberal worlds. Or are the Ifills knowingly in the bag to Washington’s big money interests? They seemed to play that role in the Clinton/Gore years—an era which has been disappeared.
While adolescents may reason as well as adults, their emotional maturity lags
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-10/apa-wam100709.php
Public release date: 7-Oct-2009
Contact: Pam Willenz
American Psychological Association
While adolescents may reason as well as adults, their emotional maturity lags, says new research
WASHINGTON – A 16-year-old might be quite capable of making an informed decision about whether to end a pregnancy – a decision likely to be made after due consideration and consultation with an adult – but this same adolescent may not possess the maturity to be held to adult levels of responsibility if she commits a violent crime, according to new research into adolescent psychological development.
"Adolescents likely possess the necessary intellectual skills to make informed choices about terminating a pregnancy but may lack the social and emotional maturity to control impulses, resist peer pressure and fully appreciate the riskiness of dangerous decisions," said Laurence Steinberg, PhD, a professor of developmental psychology at Temple University and lead author of the study. "This immaturity mitigates their criminal responsibility."
The findings appear in the October issue of American Psychologist, published by the American Psychological Association.
Steinberg and his co-authors address this seeming contradiction in a study showing that cognitive and emotional abilities mature at different rates. They recruited 935 10- to 30- year-olds to examine age differences in a variety of cognitive and psychosocial capacities.
The participants took different tests measuring psychosocial maturity and cognitive ability to examine age patterns in numerous factors that affect judgment and decision-making. The maturity measures included tests of impulse control, sensation-seeking, resistance to peer influence, future orientation and risk perception. The cognitive battery included measures of basic intellectual abilities.
There were no differences among the youngest four age groups (10-11, 12-13, 14-15 and 16-17) on the measures of psychosocial maturity. But significant differences in maturity, favoring adults, were found between the 16- to 17-year-olds and those 22 years and older, and between the 18- to 21-year-olds and those 26 and older. Results were the same for males and females, the authors said.
"It is very difficult for a 16-year-old to resist peer pressure in a heated, volatile situation," Steinberg said. "Most times, there is no time to talk to an adult to inject some reason and reality to the situation. Many crimes committed by adolescents are done in groups with other teens and are not premeditated."
In contrast, differences in cognitive capacity measures increased from ages 11 to 16 and then showed no improvements after age 16 – exactly the opposite of the pattern found on the psychosocial measures. Certain cognitive abilities, such as the ability to reason logically, reach adult levels long before psychosocial maturity is attained, Steinberg said.
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Public release date: 7-Oct-2009
Contact: Pam Willenz
American Psychological Association
While adolescents may reason as well as adults, their emotional maturity lags, says new research
WASHINGTON – A 16-year-old might be quite capable of making an informed decision about whether to end a pregnancy – a decision likely to be made after due consideration and consultation with an adult – but this same adolescent may not possess the maturity to be held to adult levels of responsibility if she commits a violent crime, according to new research into adolescent psychological development.
"Adolescents likely possess the necessary intellectual skills to make informed choices about terminating a pregnancy but may lack the social and emotional maturity to control impulses, resist peer pressure and fully appreciate the riskiness of dangerous decisions," said Laurence Steinberg, PhD, a professor of developmental psychology at Temple University and lead author of the study. "This immaturity mitigates their criminal responsibility."
The findings appear in the October issue of American Psychologist, published by the American Psychological Association.
Steinberg and his co-authors address this seeming contradiction in a study showing that cognitive and emotional abilities mature at different rates. They recruited 935 10- to 30- year-olds to examine age differences in a variety of cognitive and psychosocial capacities.
The participants took different tests measuring psychosocial maturity and cognitive ability to examine age patterns in numerous factors that affect judgment and decision-making. The maturity measures included tests of impulse control, sensation-seeking, resistance to peer influence, future orientation and risk perception. The cognitive battery included measures of basic intellectual abilities.
There were no differences among the youngest four age groups (10-11, 12-13, 14-15 and 16-17) on the measures of psychosocial maturity. But significant differences in maturity, favoring adults, were found between the 16- to 17-year-olds and those 22 years and older, and between the 18- to 21-year-olds and those 26 and older. Results were the same for males and females, the authors said.
"It is very difficult for a 16-year-old to resist peer pressure in a heated, volatile situation," Steinberg said. "Most times, there is no time to talk to an adult to inject some reason and reality to the situation. Many crimes committed by adolescents are done in groups with other teens and are not premeditated."
In contrast, differences in cognitive capacity measures increased from ages 11 to 16 and then showed no improvements after age 16 – exactly the opposite of the pattern found on the psychosocial measures. Certain cognitive abilities, such as the ability to reason logically, reach adult levels long before psychosocial maturity is attained, Steinberg said.
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Study: Some stock repurchase plans just empty promises
http://news.illinois.edu/news/09/1007stock.html
10/7/09 | Jan Dennis, Business & Law Editor | 217-333-0568; jdennis@illinois.edu
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – A new study backs longtime speculation on Wall Street that companies sometimes ballyhoo stock repurchase programs they never plan to pursue, hoping to stir a buzz that will mislead investors and pump up sagging share prices.
But phantom repurchase programs are rare, and most are rooted in sound economic motives that generally pay off for both companies and investors, said David Ikenberry, a University of Illinois finance professor and researcher for the study.
“The good news is that the vast majority of repurchase programs are solid and well intentioned,” he said. “But there appear to be a handful where companies are indeed trying to mislead the market. They’re down on their luck and hoping a repurchase announcement will spark a price reaction that might not be warranted.”
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10/7/09 | Jan Dennis, Business & Law Editor | 217-333-0568; jdennis@illinois.edu
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – A new study backs longtime speculation on Wall Street that companies sometimes ballyhoo stock repurchase programs they never plan to pursue, hoping to stir a buzz that will mislead investors and pump up sagging share prices.
But phantom repurchase programs are rare, and most are rooted in sound economic motives that generally pay off for both companies and investors, said David Ikenberry, a University of Illinois finance professor and researcher for the study.
“The good news is that the vast majority of repurchase programs are solid and well intentioned,” he said. “But there appear to be a handful where companies are indeed trying to mislead the market. They’re down on their luck and hoping a repurchase announcement will spark a price reaction that might not be warranted.”
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Public release date: 8-Oct-2009 [ Print | E-mail | Share Share ] [ Close Window ] Contact: Keely Savoie ksavoie@thoracic.org 212-315-8620 American Th
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-10/ats-tth100509.php
Public release date: 8-Oct-2009
Contact: Keely Savoie
American Thoracic Society
Triple therapy halves exacerbations in moderate-to-severe COPD
AUDIO: ATS past president John E. Heffner, M.D., discusses the finding that triple therapy improves symptoms, functional capacity and reduces rsik of exacerbations in severe COPD.
Click here for more information.
Patients with moderate to severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) can benefit from triple therapy that includes a long-acting β-agonist (LABA), an inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) and an anti-muscarinic agent, according to researchers in Germany.
In the study, which will appear in the October 15 issue of the American Thoracic Society's American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, researchers found that adding budesonide, an ICS, and formoterol, a LABA, to the anti-muscarinic agent, tiotropium, reduced the rate of severe exacerbations in COPD patients by 62 percent. Triple therapy also resulted in significant improvements on a number of outcome parameters in COPD patients, including lung function, signs and symptoms, and quality of life.
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Public release date: 8-Oct-2009
Contact: Keely Savoie
American Thoracic Society
Triple therapy halves exacerbations in moderate-to-severe COPD
AUDIO: ATS past president John E. Heffner, M.D., discusses the finding that triple therapy improves symptoms, functional capacity and reduces rsik of exacerbations in severe COPD.
Click here for more information.
Patients with moderate to severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) can benefit from triple therapy that includes a long-acting β-agonist (LABA), an inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) and an anti-muscarinic agent, according to researchers in Germany.
In the study, which will appear in the October 15 issue of the American Thoracic Society's American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, researchers found that adding budesonide, an ICS, and formoterol, a LABA, to the anti-muscarinic agent, tiotropium, reduced the rate of severe exacerbations in COPD patients by 62 percent. Triple therapy also resulted in significant improvements on a number of outcome parameters in COPD patients, including lung function, signs and symptoms, and quality of life.
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For kidney disease patients, staying active might mean staying alive
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-10/ason-fkd100509.php
Public release date: 8-Oct-2009
Contact: Shari Leventhal
American Society of Nephrology
For kidney disease patients, staying active might mean staying alive
Lack of exercise increases risk of premature death
Getting off the couch could lead to a longer life for kidney disease patients, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society Nephrology (CJASN). The findings indicate that, as in the general population, exercise has significant health benefits for individuals with kidney dysfunction.
Many patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) die prematurely, but not from effects directly related to kidney problems. Because physical activity has known health benefits, Srinivasan Beddhu, MD (Salt Lake City VA Healthcare System and University of Utah), and his colleagues researched the question of whether or not exercise can help prolong CKD patients' lives.
The study included 15,368 adult participants (5.9% of whom had CKD) in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III, a survey of the US population. After answering a questionnaire on the frequency and intensity of their leisure time physical activity, participants were divided into inactive, insufficiently active, and active groups. On average, participants were followed for seven to nine years.
The researchers found that 28% of individuals with CKD were inactive, compared with 13.5% of non-CKD individuals. Active and insufficiently active CKD patients were 56% and 42% less likely to die during the study than inactive CKD patients, respectively. Similar survival benefits associated with physical activity were seen in individuals without CKD.
"These data suggest that increased physical activity might have a survival benefit in the CKD population. This is particularly important as most patients with stage III CKD die before they develop end stage renal disease," the authors wrote.
Public release date: 8-Oct-2009
Contact: Shari Leventhal
American Society of Nephrology
For kidney disease patients, staying active might mean staying alive
Lack of exercise increases risk of premature death
Getting off the couch could lead to a longer life for kidney disease patients, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society Nephrology (CJASN). The findings indicate that, as in the general population, exercise has significant health benefits for individuals with kidney dysfunction.
Many patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) die prematurely, but not from effects directly related to kidney problems. Because physical activity has known health benefits, Srinivasan Beddhu, MD (Salt Lake City VA Healthcare System and University of Utah), and his colleagues researched the question of whether or not exercise can help prolong CKD patients' lives.
The study included 15,368 adult participants (5.9% of whom had CKD) in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III, a survey of the US population. After answering a questionnaire on the frequency and intensity of their leisure time physical activity, participants were divided into inactive, insufficiently active, and active groups. On average, participants were followed for seven to nine years.
The researchers found that 28% of individuals with CKD were inactive, compared with 13.5% of non-CKD individuals. Active and insufficiently active CKD patients were 56% and 42% less likely to die during the study than inactive CKD patients, respectively. Similar survival benefits associated with physical activity were seen in individuals without CKD.
"These data suggest that increased physical activity might have a survival benefit in the CKD population. This is particularly important as most patients with stage III CKD die before they develop end stage renal disease," the authors wrote.
6.3 job seekers for every job opening
http://www.epi.org/quick_takes/entry/6.3_million_job_seekers_for_every_job_opening/#When:20:32:31Z
Although the number of monthly job losses has declined since last winter, it is still getting harder every month to find a job. There were 6.3 job seekers for every job opening in August, a new report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows. That ratio increased from 6 to 1 in July and from 1.7 job seekers per job opening in December 2007, the first month of the recession.
The ratio of job seekers to job openings does not include people who are currently employed but are looking for work due to a lack of job security in their current positions, so it actually understates the number of people competing for each job. – Heidi Shierholz
Although the number of monthly job losses has declined since last winter, it is still getting harder every month to find a job. There were 6.3 job seekers for every job opening in August, a new report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows. That ratio increased from 6 to 1 in July and from 1.7 job seekers per job opening in December 2007, the first month of the recession.
The ratio of job seekers to job openings does not include people who are currently employed but are looking for work due to a lack of job security in their current positions, so it actually understates the number of people competing for each job. – Heidi Shierholz
President Obama wins Nobel Peace Prize
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33237202/ns/politics-white_house/
NBC News and news services
updated 1 hour, 50 minutes ago
OSLO, Norway - President Barack Obama said Friday he was surprised and humbled to win the Nobel Peace Prize and would accept it as a "call to action" to work with other nations to solve the problems of the 21st century.
Announced just hours earlier, the stunning decision, said Nobel officials, was meant to encourage his initiatives to reduce nuclear arms, ease tensions with the Muslim world and stress diplomacy and cooperation rather than unilateralism.
In comments from the White House Rose Garden, Obama said he was not certain he had done enough to earn the award or deserved to be in the company of the "transformative figures" who received it before him.
But, he said, "I will accept this award as a call to action, a call for all nations to confront the challenges of the 21st century."
"I am both surprised and deeply humbled by the decision of the Nobel Committee," Obama said.
"Let me be clear: I do not view it as a recognition of my own accomplishments, but rather as an affirmation of American leadership on behalf of aspirations held by people in all nations."
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In its surprise choice, the Norwegian Nobel Committee cited the president's creation of a "new climate in international politics" and his work on nuclear disarmament, even though he is just nine months into his presidency.
The award took Obama and his staff by surprise. Press secretary Robert Gibbs learned from reporters that Obama had been chosen for the 2009 prize and telephoned the White House early Friday to pass along the news to his boss.
"Well, this is not how I expected to wake up this morning," Obama said. He described his interaction with his two daughters.
"After I received the news, Malia walked in and said, 'Daddy, you won the Nobel Peace Prize, and it is Bo's birthday.' And then Sasha added, 'Plus, we have a three-day weekend coming up.' So it's — it's good to have kids to keep things in perspective."
Bo is the family dog.
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The Nobel Committee lauded the change in global mood wrought by Obama's calls for peace and cooperation but recognized initiatives that have yet to bear fruit: reducing the world stock of nuclear arms, easing American conflicts with Muslim nations and strengthening the U.S. role in combating climate change.
"Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world's attention and given its people hope for a better future," Jagland said.
Obama's election and foreign policy moves caused a dramatic improvement in the image of the U.S. around the world. A 25-nation poll of 27,000 people released in July by the Pew Global Attitudes Project found double-digit boosts to the percentage of people viewing the U.S. favorably in countries around the world. That indicator had plunged across the world under President George W. Bush.
Still, the U.S. remains at war in Iraq and Afghanistan, the U.S. Congress has yet to pass a law reducing carbon emissions and there has been little significant reduction in global nuclear stockpiles since Obama took office.
"So soon? Too early. He has no contribution so far. He is still at an early stage. He is only beginning to act," said former Polish President Lech Walesa, a 1983 Nobel Peace laureate.
"This is probably an encouragement for him to act. Let's see if he perseveres. Let's give him time to act," Walesa said.
-----
Obama is the third sitting U.S. president to win the award: President Theodore Roosevelt won in 1906 and President Woodrow Wilson was awarded the prize in 1919.
Wilson received the prize for his role in founding the League of Nations, the hopeful but ultimately failed precursor to the contemporary United Nations.
The Nobel committee chairman said after awarding the 2002 prize to former Democratic President Jimmy Carter, for his mediation in international conflicts, that it should be seen as a "kick in the leg" to the Bush administration's hard line in the buildup to the Iraq war.
Five years later, the committee honored Bush's adversary in the 2000 presidential election, Al Gore, for his campaign to raise awareness about global warming.
-----
Former Peace Prize winner Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, said Obama has already provided outstanding leadership in the effort to prevent nuclear proliferation.
"In less than a year in office, he has transformed the way we look at ourselves and the world we live in and rekindled hope for a world at peace with itself," ElBaradei said. "He has shown an unshakeable commitment to diplomacy, mutual respect and dialogue as the best means of resolving conflicts."
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/10/world/10nobel.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&hp
“Obama has as president created a new climate in international politics,” the committee wrote. “Multilateral diplomacy has regained a central position, with emphasis on the role that the United Nations and other international institutions can play.”
Interviewed later in the Nobel Committee’s wood-paneled meeting room, surrounded by photographs of past winners, Mr. Jagland brushed aside concerns expressed by some critics that Mr. Obama remains untested.
“The question we have to ask is who has done the most in the previous year to enhance peace in the world,” Mr. Jagland said. “And who has done more than Barack Obama?”
He compared the selection of Mr. Obama with the award in 1971 to the then West German Chancellor Willy Brandt for his “Ostpolitik” policy of reconciliation with communist eastern Europe.
“Brandt hadn’t achieved much when he got the prize, but a process had started that ended with the fall of the Berlin Wall,” Mr. Jagland said. “We have to get the world on the right track again,” he said. Without referring specifically to the Bush era, he continued: “Look at the level of confrontation we had just a few years ago. Now we get a man who is not only willing but probably able to open dialogue and strengthen international institutions.”
NBC News and news services
updated 1 hour, 50 minutes ago
OSLO, Norway - President Barack Obama said Friday he was surprised and humbled to win the Nobel Peace Prize and would accept it as a "call to action" to work with other nations to solve the problems of the 21st century.
Announced just hours earlier, the stunning decision, said Nobel officials, was meant to encourage his initiatives to reduce nuclear arms, ease tensions with the Muslim world and stress diplomacy and cooperation rather than unilateralism.
In comments from the White House Rose Garden, Obama said he was not certain he had done enough to earn the award or deserved to be in the company of the "transformative figures" who received it before him.
But, he said, "I will accept this award as a call to action, a call for all nations to confront the challenges of the 21st century."
"I am both surprised and deeply humbled by the decision of the Nobel Committee," Obama said.
"Let me be clear: I do not view it as a recognition of my own accomplishments, but rather as an affirmation of American leadership on behalf of aspirations held by people in all nations."
-----
In its surprise choice, the Norwegian Nobel Committee cited the president's creation of a "new climate in international politics" and his work on nuclear disarmament, even though he is just nine months into his presidency.
The award took Obama and his staff by surprise. Press secretary Robert Gibbs learned from reporters that Obama had been chosen for the 2009 prize and telephoned the White House early Friday to pass along the news to his boss.
"Well, this is not how I expected to wake up this morning," Obama said. He described his interaction with his two daughters.
"After I received the news, Malia walked in and said, 'Daddy, you won the Nobel Peace Prize, and it is Bo's birthday.' And then Sasha added, 'Plus, we have a three-day weekend coming up.' So it's — it's good to have kids to keep things in perspective."
Bo is the family dog.
-----
The Nobel Committee lauded the change in global mood wrought by Obama's calls for peace and cooperation but recognized initiatives that have yet to bear fruit: reducing the world stock of nuclear arms, easing American conflicts with Muslim nations and strengthening the U.S. role in combating climate change.
"Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world's attention and given its people hope for a better future," Jagland said.
Obama's election and foreign policy moves caused a dramatic improvement in the image of the U.S. around the world. A 25-nation poll of 27,000 people released in July by the Pew Global Attitudes Project found double-digit boosts to the percentage of people viewing the U.S. favorably in countries around the world. That indicator had plunged across the world under President George W. Bush.
Still, the U.S. remains at war in Iraq and Afghanistan, the U.S. Congress has yet to pass a law reducing carbon emissions and there has been little significant reduction in global nuclear stockpiles since Obama took office.
"So soon? Too early. He has no contribution so far. He is still at an early stage. He is only beginning to act," said former Polish President Lech Walesa, a 1983 Nobel Peace laureate.
"This is probably an encouragement for him to act. Let's see if he perseveres. Let's give him time to act," Walesa said.
-----
Obama is the third sitting U.S. president to win the award: President Theodore Roosevelt won in 1906 and President Woodrow Wilson was awarded the prize in 1919.
Wilson received the prize for his role in founding the League of Nations, the hopeful but ultimately failed precursor to the contemporary United Nations.
The Nobel committee chairman said after awarding the 2002 prize to former Democratic President Jimmy Carter, for his mediation in international conflicts, that it should be seen as a "kick in the leg" to the Bush administration's hard line in the buildup to the Iraq war.
Five years later, the committee honored Bush's adversary in the 2000 presidential election, Al Gore, for his campaign to raise awareness about global warming.
-----
Former Peace Prize winner Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, said Obama has already provided outstanding leadership in the effort to prevent nuclear proliferation.
"In less than a year in office, he has transformed the way we look at ourselves and the world we live in and rekindled hope for a world at peace with itself," ElBaradei said. "He has shown an unshakeable commitment to diplomacy, mutual respect and dialogue as the best means of resolving conflicts."
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/10/world/10nobel.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&hp
“Obama has as president created a new climate in international politics,” the committee wrote. “Multilateral diplomacy has regained a central position, with emphasis on the role that the United Nations and other international institutions can play.”
Interviewed later in the Nobel Committee’s wood-paneled meeting room, surrounded by photographs of past winners, Mr. Jagland brushed aside concerns expressed by some critics that Mr. Obama remains untested.
“The question we have to ask is who has done the most in the previous year to enhance peace in the world,” Mr. Jagland said. “And who has done more than Barack Obama?”
He compared the selection of Mr. Obama with the award in 1971 to the then West German Chancellor Willy Brandt for his “Ostpolitik” policy of reconciliation with communist eastern Europe.
“Brandt hadn’t achieved much when he got the prize, but a process had started that ended with the fall of the Berlin Wall,” Mr. Jagland said. “We have to get the world on the right track again,” he said. Without referring specifically to the Bush era, he continued: “Look at the level of confrontation we had just a few years ago. Now we get a man who is not only willing but probably able to open dialogue and strengthen international institutions.”
Global survey says U.S. rises to most admired country in the world.
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/10/06/survey-us-admired/
Reuters reports that a new global survey has found that the United States is the most admired country in the world. The U.S. nabbed the top spot of this year’s National Brand Index (NBI), which ranks countries by how admired they are globally, up from number seven last year:
The United States is the most admired country globally thanks largely to the star power of President Barack Obama and his administration, according to a new poll.
It climbed from seventh place last year, ahead of France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Japan which completed the top five nations in the Nation Brand Index (NBI). “What’s really remarkable is that in all my years studying national reputation, I have never seen any country experience such a dramatic change in its standing as we see for the United States for 2009,” said Simon Anholt, the founder of NBI, which measured the global image of 50 countries each year.
When asked about why he believes the United States shot up to the top of the list, Anholt explained that it likely is because of the election of Barack Obama. “There is no other explanation,” he said.
Reuters reports that a new global survey has found that the United States is the most admired country in the world. The U.S. nabbed the top spot of this year’s National Brand Index (NBI), which ranks countries by how admired they are globally, up from number seven last year:
The United States is the most admired country globally thanks largely to the star power of President Barack Obama and his administration, according to a new poll.
It climbed from seventh place last year, ahead of France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Japan which completed the top five nations in the Nation Brand Index (NBI). “What’s really remarkable is that in all my years studying national reputation, I have never seen any country experience such a dramatic change in its standing as we see for the United States for 2009,” said Simon Anholt, the founder of NBI, which measured the global image of 50 countries each year.
When asked about why he believes the United States shot up to the top of the list, Anholt explained that it likely is because of the election of Barack Obama. “There is no other explanation,” he said.
Thursday, October 08, 2009
Eating liquorice in pregnancy may affect a child's IQ and behavior
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-10/uoe-eli100609.php
Public release date: 6-Oct-2009
Contact: Tara Womersley
University of Edinburgh
Eating liquorice in pregnancy may affect a child's IQ and behavior
Expectant mothers who eat excessive quantities of liquorice during pregnancy could adversely affect their child's intelligence and behavior, a study has shown
Expectant mothers who eat excessive quantities of liquorice during pregnancy could adversely affect their child's intelligence and behaviour, a study has shown.
A study of eight year old children whose mothers ate large amounts of liquorice when pregnant found they did not perform as well as other youngsters in cognitive tests.
They were also more likely to have poor attention spans and show disruptive behaviour such as ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder).
It is thought that a component in liquorice called glycyrrhizin may impair the placenta, allowing stress hormones to cross from the mother to the baby.
High levels of such hormones, known as glucocorticoids, are thought to affect fetal brain development and have been linked to behavioural disorders in children.
-----
Women who ate more than 500mg of glycyrrhizin per week – found in the equivalent of 100g of pure liquorice – were more likely to have children with lower intelligence levels and more behavioural problems.
-----
Public release date: 6-Oct-2009
Contact: Tara Womersley
University of Edinburgh
Eating liquorice in pregnancy may affect a child's IQ and behavior
Expectant mothers who eat excessive quantities of liquorice during pregnancy could adversely affect their child's intelligence and behavior, a study has shown
Expectant mothers who eat excessive quantities of liquorice during pregnancy could adversely affect their child's intelligence and behaviour, a study has shown.
A study of eight year old children whose mothers ate large amounts of liquorice when pregnant found they did not perform as well as other youngsters in cognitive tests.
They were also more likely to have poor attention spans and show disruptive behaviour such as ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder).
It is thought that a component in liquorice called glycyrrhizin may impair the placenta, allowing stress hormones to cross from the mother to the baby.
High levels of such hormones, known as glucocorticoids, are thought to affect fetal brain development and have been linked to behavioural disorders in children.
-----
Women who ate more than 500mg of glycyrrhizin per week – found in the equivalent of 100g of pure liquorice – were more likely to have children with lower intelligence levels and more behavioural problems.
-----
Too much of a good thing? Scientists explain cellular effects of vitamin A overdose and deficiency
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-10/foas-tmo100809.php
Public release date: 8-Oct-2009
Contact: Cody Mooneyhan
Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology
Too much of a good thing? Scientists explain cellular effects of vitamin A overdose and deficiency
New research in the FASEB Journal suggests that vitamin A has essential functions in the regulation of energy production in all cells of the body
If a little vitamin A is good, more must be better, right? Wrong! New research published online in the FASEB Journal (http://www.fasebj.org) shows that vitamin A plays a crucial role in energy production within cells, explaining why too much or too little has a complex negative effect on our bodies. This is particularly important as combinations of foods, drinks, creams, and nutritional supplements containing added vitamin A make an overdose more possible than ever before.
"Our work illuminates the value and potential harm of vitamin A use in cosmetic creams and nutritional supplements," said Ulrich Hammerling, co-author of the study, from the Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research in New York. "Although vitamin A deficiency is not very common in our society, over-use of this vitamin could cause significant disregulation of energy production impacting cell growth and cell death."
-----
"Beauty might be only skin deep, but vitamin A isn't. It goes to the nucleus of our cells and can affect our health for better or worse," said Gerald Weissmann, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of the FASEB Journal. "Using too many products enriched with vitamin A could lead to negative, even fatal, consequences."
Public release date: 8-Oct-2009
Contact: Cody Mooneyhan
Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology
Too much of a good thing? Scientists explain cellular effects of vitamin A overdose and deficiency
New research in the FASEB Journal suggests that vitamin A has essential functions in the regulation of energy production in all cells of the body
If a little vitamin A is good, more must be better, right? Wrong! New research published online in the FASEB Journal (http://www.fasebj.org) shows that vitamin A plays a crucial role in energy production within cells, explaining why too much or too little has a complex negative effect on our bodies. This is particularly important as combinations of foods, drinks, creams, and nutritional supplements containing added vitamin A make an overdose more possible than ever before.
"Our work illuminates the value and potential harm of vitamin A use in cosmetic creams and nutritional supplements," said Ulrich Hammerling, co-author of the study, from the Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research in New York. "Although vitamin A deficiency is not very common in our society, over-use of this vitamin could cause significant disregulation of energy production impacting cell growth and cell death."
-----
"Beauty might be only skin deep, but vitamin A isn't. It goes to the nucleus of our cells and can affect our health for better or worse," said Gerald Weissmann, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of the FASEB Journal. "Using too many products enriched with vitamin A could lead to negative, even fatal, consequences."
No scientific link between childhood vaccines and autism
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-10/w-nsl100809.php
Public release date: 8-Oct-2009
Contact: Amy Molnar
No scientific link between childhood vaccines and autism
A new article recently published in the Journal for Specialists in Pediatric Nursing explored vaccination history, vaccine safety monitoring systems in the U.S., and the two most publicized theoretical vaccine-related exposures associated with autism – the vaccine preservative thimerosal and the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine. A review of published research shows that there is not convincing scientific evidence supporting a relationship between vaccines and autism. The article is part of a special issue, which includes five articles focusing on the topic of autism.
-----
===============================================
What I find puzzling is why people who are so fixated on finding a link do not seem to be concerned with the possible role of pollution in the environment.
Public release date: 8-Oct-2009
Contact: Amy Molnar
No scientific link between childhood vaccines and autism
A new article recently published in the Journal for Specialists in Pediatric Nursing explored vaccination history, vaccine safety monitoring systems in the U.S., and the two most publicized theoretical vaccine-related exposures associated with autism – the vaccine preservative thimerosal and the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine. A review of published research shows that there is not convincing scientific evidence supporting a relationship between vaccines and autism. The article is part of a special issue, which includes five articles focusing on the topic of autism.
-----
===============================================
What I find puzzling is why people who are so fixated on finding a link do not seem to be concerned with the possible role of pollution in the environment.
Last time carbon dioxide levels were this high: 15 million years ago,
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-10/uoc--ltc100809.php
Public release date: 8-Oct-2009
Contact: Stuart Wolpert
University of California - Los Angeles
Last time carbon dioxide levels were this high: 15 million years ago, scientists report
You would have to go back at least 15 million years to find carbon dioxide levels on Earth as high as they are today, a UCLA scientist and colleagues report Oct. 8 in the online edition of the journal Science.
"The last time carbon dioxide levels were apparently as high as they are today — and were sustained at those levels — global temperatures were 5 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit higher than they are today, the sea level was approximately 75 to 120 feet higher than today, there was no permanent sea ice cap in the Arctic and very little ice on Antarctica and Greenland," said the paper's lead author, Aradhna Tripati, a UCLA assistant professor in the department of Earth and space sciences and the department of atmospheric and oceanic sciences.
"Carbon dioxide is a potent greenhouse gas, and geological observations that we now have for the last 20 million years lend strong support to the idea that carbon dioxide is an important agent for driving climate change throughout Earth's history," she said.
By analyzing the chemistry of bubbles of ancient air trapped in Antarctic ice, scientists have been able to determine the composition of Earth's atmosphere going back as far as 800,000 years, and they have developed a good understanding of how carbon dioxide levels have varied in the atmosphere since that time. But there has been little agreement before this study on how to reconstruct carbon dioxide levels prior to 800,000 years ago.
Tripati, before joining UCLA's faculty, was part of a research team at England's University of Cambridge that developed a new technique to assess carbon dioxide levels in the much more distant past — by studying the ratio of the chemical element boron to calcium in the shells of ancient single-celled marine algae. Tripati has now used this method to determine the amount of carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere as far back as 20 million years ago.
"We are able, for the first time, to accurately reproduce the ice-core record for the last 800,000 years — the record of atmospheric C02 based on measurements of carbon dioxide in gas bubbles in ice," Tripati said. "This suggests that the technique we are using is valid.
"We then applied this technique to study the history of carbon dioxide from 800,000 years ago to 20 million years ago," she said. "We report evidence for a very close coupling between carbon dioxide levels and climate. When there is evidence for the growth of a large ice sheet on Antarctica or on Greenland or the growth of sea ice in the Arctic Ocean, we see evidence for a dramatic change in carbon dioxide levels over the last 20 million years.
"A slightly shocking finding," Tripati said, "is that the only time in the last 20 million years that we find evidence for carbon dioxide levels similar to the modern level of 387 parts per million was 15 to 20 million years ago, when the planet was dramatically different."
Levels of carbon dioxide have varied only between 180 and 300 parts per million over the last 800,000 years — until recent decades, said Tripati, who is also a member of UCLA's Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics. It has been known that modern-day levels of carbon dioxide are unprecedented over the last 800,000 years, but the finding that modern levels have not been reached in the last 15 million years is new.
Prior to the Industrial Revolution of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the carbon dioxide level was about 280 parts per million, Tripati said. That figure had changed very little over the previous 1,000 years. But since the Industrial Revolution, the carbon dioxide level has been rising and is likely to soar unless action is taken to reverse the trend, Tripati said.
"During the Middle Miocene (the time period approximately 14 to 20 million years ago), carbon dioxide levels were sustained at about 400 parts per million, which is about where we are today," Tripati said. "Globally, temperatures were 5 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit warmer, a huge amount."
Tripati's new chemical technique has an average uncertainty rate of only 14 parts per million.
"We can now have confidence in making statements about how carbon dioxide has varied throughout history," Tripati said.
In the last 20 million years, key features of the climate record include the sudden appearance of ice on Antarctica about 14 million years ago and a rise in sea level of approximately 75 to 120 feet.
"We have shown that this dramatic rise in sea level is associated with an increase in carbon dioxide levels of about 100 parts per million, a huge change," Tripati said. "This record is the first evidence that carbon dioxide may be linked with environmental changes, such as changes in the terrestrial ecosystem, distribution of ice, sea level and monsoon intensity."
Today, the Arctic Ocean is covered with frozen ice all year long, an ice cap that has been there for about 14 million years.
"Prior to that, there was no permanent sea ice cap in the Arctic," Tripati said.
Some projections show carbon dioxide levels rising as high as 600 or even 900 parts per million in the next century if no action is taken to reduce carbon dioxide, Tripati said. Such levels may have been reached on Earth 50 million years ago or earlier, said Tripati, who is working to push her data back much farther than 20 million years and to study the last 20 million years in detail.
More than 50 million years ago, there were no ice sheets on Earth, and there were expanded deserts in the subtropics, Tripati noted. The planet was radically different.
Co-authors on the Science paper are Christopher Roberts, a Ph.D. student in the department of Earth sciences at the University of Cambridge, and Robert Eagle, a postdoctoral scholar in the division of geological and planetary sciences at the California Institute of Technology.
Public release date: 8-Oct-2009
Contact: Stuart Wolpert
University of California - Los Angeles
Last time carbon dioxide levels were this high: 15 million years ago, scientists report
You would have to go back at least 15 million years to find carbon dioxide levels on Earth as high as they are today, a UCLA scientist and colleagues report Oct. 8 in the online edition of the journal Science.
"The last time carbon dioxide levels were apparently as high as they are today — and were sustained at those levels — global temperatures were 5 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit higher than they are today, the sea level was approximately 75 to 120 feet higher than today, there was no permanent sea ice cap in the Arctic and very little ice on Antarctica and Greenland," said the paper's lead author, Aradhna Tripati, a UCLA assistant professor in the department of Earth and space sciences and the department of atmospheric and oceanic sciences.
"Carbon dioxide is a potent greenhouse gas, and geological observations that we now have for the last 20 million years lend strong support to the idea that carbon dioxide is an important agent for driving climate change throughout Earth's history," she said.
By analyzing the chemistry of bubbles of ancient air trapped in Antarctic ice, scientists have been able to determine the composition of Earth's atmosphere going back as far as 800,000 years, and they have developed a good understanding of how carbon dioxide levels have varied in the atmosphere since that time. But there has been little agreement before this study on how to reconstruct carbon dioxide levels prior to 800,000 years ago.
Tripati, before joining UCLA's faculty, was part of a research team at England's University of Cambridge that developed a new technique to assess carbon dioxide levels in the much more distant past — by studying the ratio of the chemical element boron to calcium in the shells of ancient single-celled marine algae. Tripati has now used this method to determine the amount of carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere as far back as 20 million years ago.
"We are able, for the first time, to accurately reproduce the ice-core record for the last 800,000 years — the record of atmospheric C02 based on measurements of carbon dioxide in gas bubbles in ice," Tripati said. "This suggests that the technique we are using is valid.
"We then applied this technique to study the history of carbon dioxide from 800,000 years ago to 20 million years ago," she said. "We report evidence for a very close coupling between carbon dioxide levels and climate. When there is evidence for the growth of a large ice sheet on Antarctica or on Greenland or the growth of sea ice in the Arctic Ocean, we see evidence for a dramatic change in carbon dioxide levels over the last 20 million years.
"A slightly shocking finding," Tripati said, "is that the only time in the last 20 million years that we find evidence for carbon dioxide levels similar to the modern level of 387 parts per million was 15 to 20 million years ago, when the planet was dramatically different."
Levels of carbon dioxide have varied only between 180 and 300 parts per million over the last 800,000 years — until recent decades, said Tripati, who is also a member of UCLA's Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics. It has been known that modern-day levels of carbon dioxide are unprecedented over the last 800,000 years, but the finding that modern levels have not been reached in the last 15 million years is new.
Prior to the Industrial Revolution of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the carbon dioxide level was about 280 parts per million, Tripati said. That figure had changed very little over the previous 1,000 years. But since the Industrial Revolution, the carbon dioxide level has been rising and is likely to soar unless action is taken to reverse the trend, Tripati said.
"During the Middle Miocene (the time period approximately 14 to 20 million years ago), carbon dioxide levels were sustained at about 400 parts per million, which is about where we are today," Tripati said. "Globally, temperatures were 5 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit warmer, a huge amount."
Tripati's new chemical technique has an average uncertainty rate of only 14 parts per million.
"We can now have confidence in making statements about how carbon dioxide has varied throughout history," Tripati said.
In the last 20 million years, key features of the climate record include the sudden appearance of ice on Antarctica about 14 million years ago and a rise in sea level of approximately 75 to 120 feet.
"We have shown that this dramatic rise in sea level is associated with an increase in carbon dioxide levels of about 100 parts per million, a huge change," Tripati said. "This record is the first evidence that carbon dioxide may be linked with environmental changes, such as changes in the terrestrial ecosystem, distribution of ice, sea level and monsoon intensity."
Today, the Arctic Ocean is covered with frozen ice all year long, an ice cap that has been there for about 14 million years.
"Prior to that, there was no permanent sea ice cap in the Arctic," Tripati said.
Some projections show carbon dioxide levels rising as high as 600 or even 900 parts per million in the next century if no action is taken to reduce carbon dioxide, Tripati said. Such levels may have been reached on Earth 50 million years ago or earlier, said Tripati, who is working to push her data back much farther than 20 million years and to study the last 20 million years in detail.
More than 50 million years ago, there were no ice sheets on Earth, and there were expanded deserts in the subtropics, Tripati noted. The planet was radically different.
Co-authors on the Science paper are Christopher Roberts, a Ph.D. student in the department of Earth sciences at the University of Cambridge, and Robert Eagle, a postdoctoral scholar in the division of geological and planetary sciences at the California Institute of Technology.
Unequal access: Hispanic children rarely get top-notch care for brain tumors
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-10/jhmi-uah100809.php
Public release date: 8-Oct-2009
Contact: Ekaterina Pesheva
Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions
Unequal access: Hispanic children rarely get top-notch care for brain tumors
Hispanic children diagnosed with brain tumors get high-quality treatment at hospitals that specialize in neurosurgery far less often than other children with the same condition, potentially compromising their immediate prognosis and long-term survival, according to research from Johns Hopkins published in October's Pediatrics.
More than a decade after the Institute of Medicine's landmark report Crossing the Quality Chasm, the Hopkins investigators say their findings detect persistent gaps in access to specialized care among certain patients, raising questions about how far across the chasm we have actually come.
"What was shocking to us was the finding that, despite the push over the last decade to equalize access to high-quality care, gaps are still there, particularly among Hispanics, and, if anything, they may be getting even worse," said lead investigator Raj Mukherjee, M.D., M.P.H., a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Neurosurgery at Hopkins.
Research has shown that patients treated at specialty hospitals that admit a high volume of patients with similar conditions fare better in the long and short term, investigators say. For example, studies show that patients undergoing brain surgeries in hospitals that perform the fewest neurosurgeries have up to 16 times the mortality rate of patients treated in hospitals performing the highest number.
"Given that brain tumors are the most common solid tumors in children, lack of access to specialized care simply means that thousands of pediatric patients are getting less-than-optimal treatment, putting them at risk for relapse and a host of neurological complications," says pediatric neurosurgeon George Jallo, M.D., co-author on the study and director of Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Children's Center.
-----
Public release date: 8-Oct-2009
Contact: Ekaterina Pesheva
Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions
Unequal access: Hispanic children rarely get top-notch care for brain tumors
Hispanic children diagnosed with brain tumors get high-quality treatment at hospitals that specialize in neurosurgery far less often than other children with the same condition, potentially compromising their immediate prognosis and long-term survival, according to research from Johns Hopkins published in October's Pediatrics.
More than a decade after the Institute of Medicine's landmark report Crossing the Quality Chasm, the Hopkins investigators say their findings detect persistent gaps in access to specialized care among certain patients, raising questions about how far across the chasm we have actually come.
"What was shocking to us was the finding that, despite the push over the last decade to equalize access to high-quality care, gaps are still there, particularly among Hispanics, and, if anything, they may be getting even worse," said lead investigator Raj Mukherjee, M.D., M.P.H., a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Neurosurgery at Hopkins.
Research has shown that patients treated at specialty hospitals that admit a high volume of patients with similar conditions fare better in the long and short term, investigators say. For example, studies show that patients undergoing brain surgeries in hospitals that perform the fewest neurosurgeries have up to 16 times the mortality rate of patients treated in hospitals performing the highest number.
"Given that brain tumors are the most common solid tumors in children, lack of access to specialized care simply means that thousands of pediatric patients are getting less-than-optimal treatment, putting them at risk for relapse and a host of neurological complications," says pediatric neurosurgeon George Jallo, M.D., co-author on the study and director of Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Children's Center.
-----
Liver cells grown from patients' skin cells
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-10/mcow-lcg100809.php
Public release date: 8-Oct-2009
Contact: Toranj Marphetia
Medical College of Wisconsin
Liver cells grown from patients' skin cells
Scientists at The Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee have successfully produced liver cells from patients' skin cells opening the possibility of treating a wide range of diseases that affect liver function. The study was led by Stephen A. Duncan, D. Phil., Marcus Professor in Human and Molecular Genetics, and professor of cell biology, neurobiology and anatomy, along with postdoctoral fellow Karim Si-Tayeb, Ph.D., and graduate student Ms. Fallon Noto.
"This is a crucial step forward towards developing therapies that can potentially replace the need for scarce liver transplants, currently the only treatment for most advanced liver disease," says Dr. Duncan.
Liver disease is the fourth leading cause of death among middle aged adults in the United States. Loss of liver function can be caused by several factors, including genetic mutations, infections with hepatitis viruses, by excessive alcohol consumption, or chronic use of some prescription drugs. When liver function goes awry it can result in a wide variety of disorders including diabetes and atherosclerosis and in many cases is fatal.
-----
Public release date: 8-Oct-2009
Contact: Toranj Marphetia
Medical College of Wisconsin
Liver cells grown from patients' skin cells
Scientists at The Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee have successfully produced liver cells from patients' skin cells opening the possibility of treating a wide range of diseases that affect liver function. The study was led by Stephen A. Duncan, D. Phil., Marcus Professor in Human and Molecular Genetics, and professor of cell biology, neurobiology and anatomy, along with postdoctoral fellow Karim Si-Tayeb, Ph.D., and graduate student Ms. Fallon Noto.
"This is a crucial step forward towards developing therapies that can potentially replace the need for scarce liver transplants, currently the only treatment for most advanced liver disease," says Dr. Duncan.
Liver disease is the fourth leading cause of death among middle aged adults in the United States. Loss of liver function can be caused by several factors, including genetic mutations, infections with hepatitis viruses, by excessive alcohol consumption, or chronic use of some prescription drugs. When liver function goes awry it can result in a wide variety of disorders including diabetes and atherosclerosis and in many cases is fatal.
-----
The Telltale Wombs Of Lewiston, Maine
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113571111&sc=fb&cc=fp
The Telltale Wombs Of Lewiston, Maine
October 8, 2009 by Alix Spiegel
-----
His name was Jack Wennberg, and by the mid-1970s, he had compiled data about health care practices in cities all over the state of Maine, including data showing that in the city of Lewiston, an unusually large number of women were having hysterectomies. He projected that if the rate of surgeries continued in Lewiston, 70 percent of its women would have a hysterectomy by age 70.
Wennberg discovered Lewiston's high hysterectomy rate, but he really did much more than that. Over the past 40 years, he has completely transformed our understanding of what's going on in the U.S. health care system. His research on health practices eventually expanded. He started in Vermont, then moved to Maine, until eventually he studied communities throughout America. In the process, Wennberg led us to a clearer understanding of what doctors and hospitals are doing with their patients all across the United States.
So if you're looking for a better understanding of what drives the cost of health care in this country, health researcher Wennberg is a pretty good place to start.
-----
But in his work in Maine and Vermont, Wennberg demonstrated that it's actually a lot more complicated than this. The women of Lewiston, Maine, weren't having more hysterectomies because more of them were Catholic, or because more were sick. After his initial work in Vermont and Maine, Wennberg embarked on this enormous study of patients, which showed that in terms of sickness and demographics, the populations of different communities in Maine and Vermont were actually remarkably homogenous.
This could mean just one thing, according to Wennberg. "Because we could easily see that it wasn't that patients were different between regions, so it wasn't the illness that was driving this, this must be coming from the provider side."
His insight: It was doctors, not patients, who drove medical consumption, and all kinds of things influenced the decisions a doctor makes when a patient enters his office. Sickness and patient preference play an important role, but a much smaller role than patients and the health care community had originally thought.
-----
Then there was the role of local medical culture. For example, even though it didn't make sense and wasted a lot of time and money, pediatricians in some communities felt they absolutely positively had to send even mildly sick kids to the hospital.
"Families in small Maine communities were used to the fact that if their kid had a temperature of 102 and was vomiting, that kid was going into the hospital," says Keller. "They'd been doing it for years, so they'd be aghast if they took little Tommy down and he had a temperature of 102 and the doctor said, 'Well, go home and take this.' Nobody did that!"
It was probably safer and better all around not to put the kids in the hospital, and the doctors knew this. But doctors, like the rest of us, are people, and therefore are subject to subtle influences.
For instance, it turns out that if you increase the number of doctors in an area, chances are that the use of medical services will rise. If there's one doctor in a town with 100 patients, then he'll schedule your heart checkups for once every six months, but if another doctor comes to town — and now the first doctor has 50 patients — the doctor will just schedule your heart checkups for once every three months. There's a very simple reason why, says Frank Read, an eye specialist who participated in the doctor groups.
"I don't want to be sitting on my thumbs all the time — I want to be busy. And that may unconsciously loosen my criteria for doing a procedure."
Which brings us finally to the subject that incredibly was never directly discussed during the nearly 20 years the doctors met: money. Specifically, the way money affects medical decision-making.
Keller explained that this subject was completely verboten.
"It would have been a show stopper. It would have gone right to the question of greed, and you're not going to keep a doctor at the table if you say that he's greedy."
Talking to doctors about money is difficult. It's uncomfortable both for patients and for doctors to think that this most important and intimate service could be contaminated. But the truth is the decisions made by your physician when you enter his office are profoundly influenced by the way that doctors get paid in this country. "That's just common sense. That's human nature," says Smith of the Maine Medical Association. "The payment system is an important influence."
Most of the doctors in this country are not on a salary but are paid basically like pieceworkers in a clothing factory. This is called "fee for service," and the way it affects doctor behavior is clear.
"If you pay people more, the more things they do, they're going to do more things," says Smith.
-----
Doctors exist in a fee-for-service system that encourages — and really because of the threat of malpractice and having to battle insurance companies — in some ways actually forces them to do more. More surgery. More tests. More of everything.
And while most Americans just assume that more care is good, it turns out that more isn't always better for patients.
-----
A couple of years ago Keller and some colleagues did an elegant study of one kind of back surgery in Maine, a procedure called discectomy. Keller found communities in Maine that had high rates of this surgery, communities with low rates, and communities that were somewhere in the middle. Then he followed patients who had had surgery in those communities over a five-year period to see how they fared. Keller says the conclusion was undeniable.
"In the high rate of surgery overall, the patient outcomes were the least good of those three categories. In the middle rates, the outcomes of the patients were in the middle. And in the low-rate areas — less frequent operations per capita — the outcomes were the best."
The reason that areas with more back surgery did worse, Keller says, is that doctors in those areas were operating on people whose issues were less severe; that is, patients who might not have been good candidates for an operation. So the problems associated with the surgery probably outweighed the problems of their actual sickness. For them, more wasn't better.
-----
In 2003, there was an enormous landmark study published by a Jack Wennberg protege named Elliott Fisher, who works at Dartmouth College. Fisher compared Medicare recipients with similar levels of sickness in areas throughout the whole United States. Fisher looked at places where elderly people used relatively few health care services and compared them with places where elderly people used a lot of health care services.
"The patients in the high-spending regions were getting about 60 percent more care; 60 percent more days in the hospital; twice as many specialist visits," Fisher says. "And yet when we followed patients for up to five years, if you lived in one of these higher-intensity communities, your survival [rate] was certainly no better, and in many cases a little bit worse."
This is probably because of a something called fragmentation of care. In high-use areas, it's often the case that many different doctors play a role in the care of a patient; many specialists are responsible for overseeing only a small part of the person. This increases the amount of treatments, tests and hospitalizations that people get, and exposes people to more risk of harm from medical error and side effects.
For most Americans this is an incredibly difficult idea to accept: It's hard to understand that more care isn't necessarily better for you.
But study after study has borne out the truth of this completely anti-intuitive conclusion. In fact, Fisher and other researchers estimate that almost one-third of the care given in our country today is that kind of care — care that isn't really helping people.
The United States spends more than $2 trillion on health care every year. So the cost of that 30 percent unnecessary care annually? $660 billion.
The Telltale Wombs Of Lewiston, Maine
October 8, 2009 by Alix Spiegel
-----
His name was Jack Wennberg, and by the mid-1970s, he had compiled data about health care practices in cities all over the state of Maine, including data showing that in the city of Lewiston, an unusually large number of women were having hysterectomies. He projected that if the rate of surgeries continued in Lewiston, 70 percent of its women would have a hysterectomy by age 70.
Wennberg discovered Lewiston's high hysterectomy rate, but he really did much more than that. Over the past 40 years, he has completely transformed our understanding of what's going on in the U.S. health care system. His research on health practices eventually expanded. He started in Vermont, then moved to Maine, until eventually he studied communities throughout America. In the process, Wennberg led us to a clearer understanding of what doctors and hospitals are doing with their patients all across the United States.
So if you're looking for a better understanding of what drives the cost of health care in this country, health researcher Wennberg is a pretty good place to start.
-----
But in his work in Maine and Vermont, Wennberg demonstrated that it's actually a lot more complicated than this. The women of Lewiston, Maine, weren't having more hysterectomies because more of them were Catholic, or because more were sick. After his initial work in Vermont and Maine, Wennberg embarked on this enormous study of patients, which showed that in terms of sickness and demographics, the populations of different communities in Maine and Vermont were actually remarkably homogenous.
This could mean just one thing, according to Wennberg. "Because we could easily see that it wasn't that patients were different between regions, so it wasn't the illness that was driving this, this must be coming from the provider side."
His insight: It was doctors, not patients, who drove medical consumption, and all kinds of things influenced the decisions a doctor makes when a patient enters his office. Sickness and patient preference play an important role, but a much smaller role than patients and the health care community had originally thought.
-----
Then there was the role of local medical culture. For example, even though it didn't make sense and wasted a lot of time and money, pediatricians in some communities felt they absolutely positively had to send even mildly sick kids to the hospital.
"Families in small Maine communities were used to the fact that if their kid had a temperature of 102 and was vomiting, that kid was going into the hospital," says Keller. "They'd been doing it for years, so they'd be aghast if they took little Tommy down and he had a temperature of 102 and the doctor said, 'Well, go home and take this.' Nobody did that!"
It was probably safer and better all around not to put the kids in the hospital, and the doctors knew this. But doctors, like the rest of us, are people, and therefore are subject to subtle influences.
For instance, it turns out that if you increase the number of doctors in an area, chances are that the use of medical services will rise. If there's one doctor in a town with 100 patients, then he'll schedule your heart checkups for once every six months, but if another doctor comes to town — and now the first doctor has 50 patients — the doctor will just schedule your heart checkups for once every three months. There's a very simple reason why, says Frank Read, an eye specialist who participated in the doctor groups.
"I don't want to be sitting on my thumbs all the time — I want to be busy. And that may unconsciously loosen my criteria for doing a procedure."
Which brings us finally to the subject that incredibly was never directly discussed during the nearly 20 years the doctors met: money. Specifically, the way money affects medical decision-making.
Keller explained that this subject was completely verboten.
"It would have been a show stopper. It would have gone right to the question of greed, and you're not going to keep a doctor at the table if you say that he's greedy."
Talking to doctors about money is difficult. It's uncomfortable both for patients and for doctors to think that this most important and intimate service could be contaminated. But the truth is the decisions made by your physician when you enter his office are profoundly influenced by the way that doctors get paid in this country. "That's just common sense. That's human nature," says Smith of the Maine Medical Association. "The payment system is an important influence."
Most of the doctors in this country are not on a salary but are paid basically like pieceworkers in a clothing factory. This is called "fee for service," and the way it affects doctor behavior is clear.
"If you pay people more, the more things they do, they're going to do more things," says Smith.
-----
Doctors exist in a fee-for-service system that encourages — and really because of the threat of malpractice and having to battle insurance companies — in some ways actually forces them to do more. More surgery. More tests. More of everything.
And while most Americans just assume that more care is good, it turns out that more isn't always better for patients.
-----
A couple of years ago Keller and some colleagues did an elegant study of one kind of back surgery in Maine, a procedure called discectomy. Keller found communities in Maine that had high rates of this surgery, communities with low rates, and communities that were somewhere in the middle. Then he followed patients who had had surgery in those communities over a five-year period to see how they fared. Keller says the conclusion was undeniable.
"In the high rate of surgery overall, the patient outcomes were the least good of those three categories. In the middle rates, the outcomes of the patients were in the middle. And in the low-rate areas — less frequent operations per capita — the outcomes were the best."
The reason that areas with more back surgery did worse, Keller says, is that doctors in those areas were operating on people whose issues were less severe; that is, patients who might not have been good candidates for an operation. So the problems associated with the surgery probably outweighed the problems of their actual sickness. For them, more wasn't better.
-----
In 2003, there was an enormous landmark study published by a Jack Wennberg protege named Elliott Fisher, who works at Dartmouth College. Fisher compared Medicare recipients with similar levels of sickness in areas throughout the whole United States. Fisher looked at places where elderly people used relatively few health care services and compared them with places where elderly people used a lot of health care services.
"The patients in the high-spending regions were getting about 60 percent more care; 60 percent more days in the hospital; twice as many specialist visits," Fisher says. "And yet when we followed patients for up to five years, if you lived in one of these higher-intensity communities, your survival [rate] was certainly no better, and in many cases a little bit worse."
This is probably because of a something called fragmentation of care. In high-use areas, it's often the case that many different doctors play a role in the care of a patient; many specialists are responsible for overseeing only a small part of the person. This increases the amount of treatments, tests and hospitalizations that people get, and exposes people to more risk of harm from medical error and side effects.
For most Americans this is an incredibly difficult idea to accept: It's hard to understand that more care isn't necessarily better for you.
But study after study has borne out the truth of this completely anti-intuitive conclusion. In fact, Fisher and other researchers estimate that almost one-third of the care given in our country today is that kind of care — care that isn't really helping people.
The United States spends more than $2 trillion on health care every year. So the cost of that 30 percent unnecessary care annually? $660 billion.
Food shortages hit millions in flood-hit India
Please donate to an organization that does disaster relief.
I recommend not designating a specific disaster, as it is common for highly publicized disasters, or the first of several closely spaced, to get more donations than needed, with not enough for others. I never did understand why there was such a fuss when an agency uses excess donations not needed for the designated disaster, for another that needs them. It just seems like the rational and humane thing to do.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33224082/ns/weather/
updated 2 hours, 22 minutes ago
NEW DELHI - Millions of poor villagers across southern India are facing an imminent food shortage following months of intense drought and recent devastating floods, aid agencies warned Thursday.
The worst floods to hit the southern Indian states of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh in a century have killed about 280 people, destroyed or washed away millions of acres of cropland and contaminated grain stocks in millions of homes.
-----
"Floods and drought have set back India's fight against poverty by years," said Jayakumar Christian, director of World Vision India, an aid agency working in the region.
Wednesday, October 07, 2009
Franken Wins Bipartisan Support For Legislation Reining In KBR’s Treatment Of Rape
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/10/07/kbr-rape-franken-amendment/
In 2005, Jamie Leigh Jones was gang-raped by her co-workers while she was working for Halliburton/KBR in Baghdad. She was detained in a shipping container for at least 24 hours without food, water, or a bed, and “warned her that if she left Iraq for medical treatment, she’d be out of a job.” (Jones was not an isolated case.) Jones was prevented from bringing charges in court against KBR because her employment contract stipulated that sexual assault allegations would only be heard in private arbitration.
Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) proposed an amendment to the 2010 Defense Appropriations bill that would withhold defense contracts from companies like KBR “if they restrict their employees from taking workplace sexual assault, battery and discrimination cases to court.” Speaking on the Senate floor yesterday, Franken said:
The constitution gives everybody the right to due process of law … And today, defense contractors are using fine print in their contracts do deny women like Jamie Leigh Jones their day in court. … The victims of rape and discrimination deserve their day in court [and] Congress plainly has the constitutional power to make that happen.
On the Senate floor, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) spoke against the amendment, calling it “a political attack directed at Halliburton.” Franken responded, “This amendment does not single out a single contractor. This amendment would defund any contractor that refuses to give a victim of rape their day in court.”
In the end, Franken won the debate. His amendment passed by a 68-30 vote, earning the support of 10 Republican senators including that of newly-minted Florida Sen. George LeMieux. “He did what a senator should do, which was he was working it,” LeMieux said in praise of Franken. “He was working for his amendment.”
Appearing with Franken after the vote, an elated Jones expressed her deep appreciation. “It means the world to me,” she said of the amendment’s passage. “It means that every tear shed to go public and repeat my story over and over again to make a difference for other women was worth it.”
In 2005, Jamie Leigh Jones was gang-raped by her co-workers while she was working for Halliburton/KBR in Baghdad. She was detained in a shipping container for at least 24 hours without food, water, or a bed, and “warned her that if she left Iraq for medical treatment, she’d be out of a job.” (Jones was not an isolated case.) Jones was prevented from bringing charges in court against KBR because her employment contract stipulated that sexual assault allegations would only be heard in private arbitration.
Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) proposed an amendment to the 2010 Defense Appropriations bill that would withhold defense contracts from companies like KBR “if they restrict their employees from taking workplace sexual assault, battery and discrimination cases to court.” Speaking on the Senate floor yesterday, Franken said:
The constitution gives everybody the right to due process of law … And today, defense contractors are using fine print in their contracts do deny women like Jamie Leigh Jones their day in court. … The victims of rape and discrimination deserve their day in court [and] Congress plainly has the constitutional power to make that happen.
On the Senate floor, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) spoke against the amendment, calling it “a political attack directed at Halliburton.” Franken responded, “This amendment does not single out a single contractor. This amendment would defund any contractor that refuses to give a victim of rape their day in court.”
In the end, Franken won the debate. His amendment passed by a 68-30 vote, earning the support of 10 Republican senators including that of newly-minted Florida Sen. George LeMieux. “He did what a senator should do, which was he was working it,” LeMieux said in praise of Franken. “He was working for his amendment.”
Appearing with Franken after the vote, an elated Jones expressed her deep appreciation. “It means the world to me,” she said of the amendment’s passage. “It means that every tear shed to go public and repeat my story over and over again to make a difference for other women was worth it.”
Domestic violence as pre-existing condition? 8 states still allow it
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/226/story/76477.html?storylink=omni_popular
Posted on Sunday, October 4, 2009
By Les Blumenthal | McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON -- Eight states and the District of Columbia don't have laws that specifically bar insurance companies from using domestic violence as a pre-existing condition to deny health coverage, according to a study from the National Women's Law Center.
The states are Idaho, Mississippi, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota and Wyoming. The study by the nonpartisan, nonprofit center focused on individual coverage, not group coverage.
Some of the states, particularly North Carolina, argue that other statutes on their books address the issue.
At least one of the health care bills circulating in Congress includes a specific federal prohibition on the use of domestic violence as a pre-existing condition. Other bills include blanket bans on pre-existing conditions.
-----
"This is insane," said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., who's been trying to convince Congress to address the issue for roughly a decade.
Murray said she couldn't remember exactly when she first learned of it, but sometime in the 1990s she recalls a private conversation she had with a woman who broke down as she explained that she couldn't flee an abusive relationship because her children were covered under her husband's health care plan and she couldn't get her own. Another woman told Murray that she didn't report that she'd been battered because she feared losing her coverage.
-----
Murray remembers three years ago when the then-Republican-controlled Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee blocked her effort to impose a federal prohibition on a 10-10 vote. All 10 who voted against her amendment were Republicans.
"Clearly, the insurance industry influenced that vote," Murray charged.
The Republicans who voted against the measure had received nearly $6 million in campaign contributions from insurance companies, health care providers, the pharmaceutical industry and health care product manufacturers in the years leading up the vote, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan group that tracks campaign contributions.
The 10 Republican senators included North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr, Georgia Sen. Johnny Isakson and Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts.
Posted on Sunday, October 4, 2009
By Les Blumenthal | McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON -- Eight states and the District of Columbia don't have laws that specifically bar insurance companies from using domestic violence as a pre-existing condition to deny health coverage, according to a study from the National Women's Law Center.
The states are Idaho, Mississippi, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota and Wyoming. The study by the nonpartisan, nonprofit center focused on individual coverage, not group coverage.
Some of the states, particularly North Carolina, argue that other statutes on their books address the issue.
At least one of the health care bills circulating in Congress includes a specific federal prohibition on the use of domestic violence as a pre-existing condition. Other bills include blanket bans on pre-existing conditions.
-----
"This is insane," said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., who's been trying to convince Congress to address the issue for roughly a decade.
Murray said she couldn't remember exactly when she first learned of it, but sometime in the 1990s she recalls a private conversation she had with a woman who broke down as she explained that she couldn't flee an abusive relationship because her children were covered under her husband's health care plan and she couldn't get her own. Another woman told Murray that she didn't report that she'd been battered because she feared losing her coverage.
-----
Murray remembers three years ago when the then-Republican-controlled Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee blocked her effort to impose a federal prohibition on a 10-10 vote. All 10 who voted against her amendment were Republicans.
"Clearly, the insurance industry influenced that vote," Murray charged.
The Republicans who voted against the measure had received nearly $6 million in campaign contributions from insurance companies, health care providers, the pharmaceutical industry and health care product manufacturers in the years leading up the vote, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan group that tracks campaign contributions.
The 10 Republican senators included North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr, Georgia Sen. Johnny Isakson and Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts.
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
Welfare Religion
Someday I might be able to reword the chorus to better reflect the fact that "Welfare Religion" refers to the fact that what is called Christianity in the U.S. is really pseudo-Christianity, the belief that all you have to do to be saved is to believe something, in other words, you get something for nothing. Which is not what Jesus said. See Matthew 25. When I worked at Waffle House between IT jobs, I had co-workers who were Christians from Egypt, and they had the same observation.
Welfare Religion
copyright Patricia M. Shannon 1996
What would Jesus think if He came to earth today?
Do you think He would be happy with all the folks who say:
"I am saved, alleluia, and I'll live forever more".
But they would never think of giving comfort to the poor.
They say they believe in Jesus and the Bible is all true,
but they ignore what He did say in Chapter 25 of Matthew:
What you do for the less fortunate, you've done it unto Me,
and where you go after you're dead depends upon your deeds.
They say "I feel so good because I have been born again.
And what's that got to do with how I treat my fellow men?
Jesus loves me, this I know, He loves only myself;
it's true, because He doesn't care how I treat anybody else.
I believe in Jesus, no need to change my ways,
just massage His ego once or twice a day.
I believe in Jesus, that is all it takes,
to get me into heaven, the perfect welfare state.
Welfare Religion
copyright Patricia M. Shannon 1996
What would Jesus think if He came to earth today?
Do you think He would be happy with all the folks who say:
"I am saved, alleluia, and I'll live forever more".
But they would never think of giving comfort to the poor.
They say they believe in Jesus and the Bible is all true,
but they ignore what He did say in Chapter 25 of Matthew:
What you do for the less fortunate, you've done it unto Me,
and where you go after you're dead depends upon your deeds.
They say "I feel so good because I have been born again.
And what's that got to do with how I treat my fellow men?
Jesus loves me, this I know, He loves only myself;
it's true, because He doesn't care how I treat anybody else.
I believe in Jesus, no need to change my ways,
just massage His ego once or twice a day.
I believe in Jesus, that is all it takes,
to get me into heaven, the perfect welfare state.
Rewriting The Bible To Eliminate Liberal Bias
At first I thought this was a satirical joke. Looking into it, it appears that the "Conservative Bible Project" is serious in the eyes of the planners, so it is an accidental joke. It seems to me people are perfectly capable of using the Bible to justify whatever they want; it doesn't seem necessary to re-write it in their own image.
Thru the years I, and others, have noticed that, in general, the more "religious" a person is, the less Christian they tend to be. (There are certainly exceptions.) Recently, I realized that religions that confer special status on believers, will be appealing to narcissists, which may be at least part of the reason for the observation. The people who think they have the right to re-write the Bible in accordance with their political aganda certainly sound like they are narcissists.
http://liberalvaluesblog.com/?p=10445
October 6, 2009 — Ron Chusid
The religious right loves to cite the Bible to justify their positions but there is one problem–all those liberal ideas which are in the Bible. Apparently the Bible, like reality, has a liberal bias. Conservapedia, which has already been writing its own facts to support their ideology, has started the Conservative Bible Project to remove all this liberal bias from the Bible. This is comparable to how they have rewritten the works of the founding fathers to deny the existence of separation of church and state. (Hat tip to Rachel Weiner)
Following are the ten principles they are using in their rewriting of the Bible:
1. Framework against Liberal Bias: providing a strong framework that enables a thought-for-thought translation without corruption by liberal bias
2. Not Emasculated: avoiding unisex, “gender inclusive” language, and other modern emasculation of Christianity
3. Not Dumbed Down: not dumbing down the reading level, or diluting the intellectual force and logic of Christianity; the NIV is written at only the 7th grade level[3]
4. Utilize Powerful Conservative Terms: using powerful new conservative terms as they develop;[4] defective translations use the word “comrade” three times as often as “volunteer”; similarly, updating words which have a change in meaning, such as “word”, “peace”, and “miracle”.
5. Combat Harmful Addiction: combating addiction by using modern terms for it, such as “gamble” rather than “cast lots”;[5] using modern political terms, such as “register” rather than “enroll” for the census
6. Accept the Logic of Hell: applying logic with its full force and effect, as in not denying or downplaying the very real existence of Hell or the Devil.
7. Express Free Market Parables; explaining the numerous economic parables with their full free-market meaning
8. Exclude Later-Inserted Liberal Passages: excluding the later-inserted liberal passages that are not authentic, such as the adulteress story
9. Credit Open-Mindedness of Disciples: crediting open-mindedness, often found in youngsters like the eyewitnesses Mark and John, the authors of two of the Gospels
10. Prefer Conciseness over Liberal Wordiness: preferring conciseness to the liberal style of high word-to-substance ratio; avoid compound negatives and unnecessary ambiguities; prefer concise, consistent use of the word “Lord” rather than “Jehovah” or “Yahweh” or “Lord God.”
Amy Sullivan wonders what they will come with for a conservative, free market interpretation of “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
Even some conservatives realize how crazy this is. Rod Dreher writes, “the insane hubris of this really staggers the mind. These right-wing ideologues know better than the early church councils that canonized Scripture? They really think it’s wise to force the word of God to conform to a 21st-century American idea of what constitutes conservatism? These jokers don’t worship God. They worship ideology.”
Air Pollution May Trigger Appendicitis
Wow, fascinating.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091005123038.htm
ScienceDaily (Oct. 6, 2009) — A new study in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) suggests that air pollution may trigger appendicitis in adults.
The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Calgary, University of Toronto and Health Canada, looked at 5191 adults admitted to hospital in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Fifty-two per cent of admissions occurred between April and September, the warmest months of the year in Canada during which people are more likely to be outside.
The dominant theory of the cause of appendicitis has been obstruction of the appendix opening, but this theory does not explain the trends of appendicitis in developed and developing countries. Appendicitis cases increased dramatically in industrialized countries in the 19th and early 20th centuries, then decreased in the middle and late 20th century, coinciding with legislation to improve air quality. The incidence of appendicitis has been growing in developing countries as they become more industrialized.
Using Environment Canada's air pollution data for Calgary, the researchers determined the levels of ozone, nitrogen dioxide and other air-borne pollutants along with temperature. They found correlations between high levels of ozone and nitrogen dioxide and the incidence of appendicitis between age groups and genders. More men than women were found to have the condition.
"For unexplained reasons, men are more likely than women to have appendicitis," write Dr. Gilaad Kaplan of the University of Calgary and coauthors. "Men may be more susceptible to the effects of outdoor air pollution because they are more likely to be employed in outdoor occupations," although they note that misclassifications of data could explain some of the difference.
While it is not known how air pollution may increase the risk of appendicitis, the authors suggest pollutants may trigger inflammatory responses. They recommend further studies to determine the link.
Monday, October 05, 2009
Apple tells Chamber iQuit over climate stance
This is heartening. The Chamber of Commerce has really been disgusting on this issue.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33184082/ns/business-us_business/
updated 6:32 p.m. ET, Mon., Oct . 5, 2009
WASHINGTON - Apple Inc on Monday became the latest company to quit the U.S. Chamber of Commerce because the technology company disagrees with the business group's climate change policy.
"We would prefer that the chamber take a more progressive stance on this critical issue and play a constructive role in addressing the climate crisis," Catherine Novelli, a vice president of government affairs at Apple, wrote in a letter dated Monday to the business group.
Novelli wrote that Apple resigned its membership in the business group "effective immediately."
Last month three big power utilities, Exelon Corp, PG&E Corp and PNM Resources Inc, said they were leaving the chamber over the group's stance on climate.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33184082/ns/business-us_business/
updated 6:32 p.m. ET, Mon., Oct . 5, 2009
WASHINGTON - Apple Inc on Monday became the latest company to quit the U.S. Chamber of Commerce because the technology company disagrees with the business group's climate change policy.
"We would prefer that the chamber take a more progressive stance on this critical issue and play a constructive role in addressing the climate crisis," Catherine Novelli, a vice president of government affairs at Apple, wrote in a letter dated Monday to the business group.
Novelli wrote that Apple resigned its membership in the business group "effective immediately."
Last month three big power utilities, Exelon Corp, PG&E Corp and PNM Resources Inc, said they were leaving the chamber over the group's stance on climate.
Discrimination by Insurers Likely Even With Reform, Experts Say
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/03/AR2009100302483_pf.html
By David S. Hilzenrath
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Any health-care overhaul that Congress and President Obama enact is likely to have as its centerpiece a fundamental reform: Insurers would not be allowed to reject individuals or charge them higher premiums based on their medical history.
But simply banning medical discrimination would not necessarily remove it from the equation, economists and health-care analysts say.
If insurers are prohibited from openly rejecting people with preexisting conditions, they could try to cherry-pick through more subtle means. For example, offering free health club memberships tends to attract people who can use the equipment, says Paul Precht, director of policy at the Medicare Rights Center.
Being uncooperative on insurance claims can chase away the chronically ill. For people who have few medical bills, it is less of a factor, said Karen Pollitz, research professor at the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute.
And to avoid patients with costly, complicated medical conditions, health plans could include in their networks relatively few doctors who specialize in treating those conditions, said Mark V. Pauly, professor of health-care management at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School.
By itself, a ban on discrimination would not eliminate the economic pressure to discriminate.
"It would probably increase the incentive for cherry-picking," Pauly said. "I'm strongly motivated to try to avoid you if I'm not allowed to charge you extra."
Cognizant of the threat, lawmakers are trying to neutralize it. For example, the bill advanced by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) calls for creation of complex mechanisms to essentially raise or lower compensation to insurers, depending on whether they attract disproportionately sick or healthy populations.
The bill assumes the problem would be greatest during the first few years; after that, part of the machinery to compensate for variations would go away.
-----
By David S. Hilzenrath
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Any health-care overhaul that Congress and President Obama enact is likely to have as its centerpiece a fundamental reform: Insurers would not be allowed to reject individuals or charge them higher premiums based on their medical history.
But simply banning medical discrimination would not necessarily remove it from the equation, economists and health-care analysts say.
If insurers are prohibited from openly rejecting people with preexisting conditions, they could try to cherry-pick through more subtle means. For example, offering free health club memberships tends to attract people who can use the equipment, says Paul Precht, director of policy at the Medicare Rights Center.
Being uncooperative on insurance claims can chase away the chronically ill. For people who have few medical bills, it is less of a factor, said Karen Pollitz, research professor at the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute.
And to avoid patients with costly, complicated medical conditions, health plans could include in their networks relatively few doctors who specialize in treating those conditions, said Mark V. Pauly, professor of health-care management at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School.
By itself, a ban on discrimination would not eliminate the economic pressure to discriminate.
"It would probably increase the incentive for cherry-picking," Pauly said. "I'm strongly motivated to try to avoid you if I'm not allowed to charge you extra."
Cognizant of the threat, lawmakers are trying to neutralize it. For example, the bill advanced by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) calls for creation of complex mechanisms to essentially raise or lower compensation to insurers, depending on whether they attract disproportionately sick or healthy populations.
The bill assumes the problem would be greatest during the first few years; after that, part of the machinery to compensate for variations would go away.
-----
The Politics of Spite
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/05/opinion/05krugman.html
The Politics of Spite
By PAUL KRUGMAN
Published: October 4, 2009
There was what President Obama likes to call a teachable moment last week, when the International Olympic Committee rejected Chicago’s bid to be host of the 2016 Summer Games.
“Cheers erupted” at the headquarters of the conservative Weekly Standard, according to a blog post by a member of the magazine’s staff, with the headline “Obama loses! Obama loses!” Rush Limbaugh declared himself “gleeful.” “World Rejects Obama,” gloated the Drudge Report. And so on.
So what did we learn from this moment? For one thing, we learned that the modern conservative movement, which dominates the modern Republican Party, has the emotional maturity of a bratty 13-year-old.
But more important, the episode illustrated an essential truth about the state of American politics: at this point, the guiding principle of one of our nation’s two great political parties is spite pure and simple. If Republicans think something might be good for the president, they’re against it — whether or not it’s good for America.
=========================================
Doesn't the Republicans patriotism and Christian values warm your heart? (sarcasm alert)
The Politics of Spite
By PAUL KRUGMAN
Published: October 4, 2009
There was what President Obama likes to call a teachable moment last week, when the International Olympic Committee rejected Chicago’s bid to be host of the 2016 Summer Games.
“Cheers erupted” at the headquarters of the conservative Weekly Standard, according to a blog post by a member of the magazine’s staff, with the headline “Obama loses! Obama loses!” Rush Limbaugh declared himself “gleeful.” “World Rejects Obama,” gloated the Drudge Report. And so on.
So what did we learn from this moment? For one thing, we learned that the modern conservative movement, which dominates the modern Republican Party, has the emotional maturity of a bratty 13-year-old.
But more important, the episode illustrated an essential truth about the state of American politics: at this point, the guiding principle of one of our nation’s two great political parties is spite pure and simple. If Republicans think something might be good for the president, they’re against it — whether or not it’s good for America.
=========================================
Doesn't the Republicans patriotism and Christian values warm your heart? (sarcasm alert)
For $503 A Year, Members of Congress Have A Top-Notch Hospital On Call In The Capitol. But They Don't Want 'Government Care'?
I'm not bothered by federal employees in general getting this plan. Many private companies subsidize their employees plans. But I am mad that Republicans in Congress get such benefits subsidized by the taxpayers, but don't want to help the many citizens who can't afford health insurance, or who have been denied benefits by their insurance company. You can bet the insurance company isn't going to deny payment for cancer treatments because they didn't put down on their application that they had acne when they were younger.
http://crooksandliars.com/susie-madrak/503-year-members-congress-have-top-no
For $503 A Year, Members of Congress Have A Top-Notch Hospital On Call In The Capitol. But They Don't Want 'Government Care'?
By Susie Madrak Friday Oct 02, 2009 11:00am
=====================================================
http://articles.latimes.com/2009/aug/02/nation/na-congress-benefits2
Congress' own healthcare benefits: membership has its privileges
Lawmakers can choose among several plans and get special treatment at federal medical facilities. In 2008, taxpayers spent about $15 billion to insure 8.5 million federal workers and their dependents.
By Mark Z. Barabak and Faye Fiore|August 02, 2009
Too much, too fast, too expensive. Those are some of the objections lawmakers have thrown up against the healthcare overhaul Democrats are attempting on Capitol Hill.
But many feel Congress is out of touch. How, they wonder, can lawmakers empathize with the underinsured or those lacking insurance when they receive a benefits package -- heavily subsidized by taxpayers -- that most Americans can only envy?
Among the advantages: a choice of 10 healthcare plans that provide access to a national network of doctors, as well as several HMOs that serve each member's home state. By contrast, 85% of private companies offering health coverage provide their employees one type of plan. Take it or leave it.
Lawmakers also get special treatment at Washington's federal medical facilities and, for a few hundred dollars a month, access to their own pharmacy and doctors, nurses and medical technicians standing by in an office conveniently located between the House and Senate chambers.
In all, taxpayers spent about $15 billion last year to insure 8.5 million federal workers and their dependents, including postal service employees, according to the Office of Personnel Management.
There are generous plans available in private industry. But the federal coverage far surpasses that enjoyed by 70 million Americans who are underinsured and financially at risk in the event of a major health crisis -- not to mention the estimated 46 million who have no medical insurance.
"For the average worker, the Federal Employees Health Benefits Plan would probably look quite attractive," said Pete Sepp, a spokesman for the National Taxpayers Union, a pinch-penny advocacy group.
Indeed, a question often surfaces: Why can't everyone enjoy the same benefits as members of Congress? The answer: The country probably couldn't afford it -- not without reforms to bring costs way, way down
Given their choices, lawmakers can tailor coverage in a way most Americans cannot. If a child has asthma, for instance, a federal employee might opt for coverage that costs a little more but has a bigger doctor network and lower office-visit fees.
The plan most favored by federal workers is Blue Cross Blue Shield, which covers a family for about $1,030 a month. Taxpayers kick in $700 and employees pay the rest. Seeing a doctor costs $20. Generic prescriptions cost $10. Immunizations are free. There is no coverage limit.
==========================================
See the first link for a description of the medical clinic on call to members of Congress.
http://crooksandliars.com/susie-madrak/503-year-members-congress-have-top-no
For $503 A Year, Members of Congress Have A Top-Notch Hospital On Call In The Capitol. But They Don't Want 'Government Care'?
By Susie Madrak Friday Oct 02, 2009 11:00am
=====================================================
http://articles.latimes.com/2009/aug/02/nation/na-congress-benefits2
Congress' own healthcare benefits: membership has its privileges
Lawmakers can choose among several plans and get special treatment at federal medical facilities. In 2008, taxpayers spent about $15 billion to insure 8.5 million federal workers and their dependents.
By Mark Z. Barabak and Faye Fiore|August 02, 2009
Too much, too fast, too expensive. Those are some of the objections lawmakers have thrown up against the healthcare overhaul Democrats are attempting on Capitol Hill.
But many feel Congress is out of touch. How, they wonder, can lawmakers empathize with the underinsured or those lacking insurance when they receive a benefits package -- heavily subsidized by taxpayers -- that most Americans can only envy?
Among the advantages: a choice of 10 healthcare plans that provide access to a national network of doctors, as well as several HMOs that serve each member's home state. By contrast, 85% of private companies offering health coverage provide their employees one type of plan. Take it or leave it.
Lawmakers also get special treatment at Washington's federal medical facilities and, for a few hundred dollars a month, access to their own pharmacy and doctors, nurses and medical technicians standing by in an office conveniently located between the House and Senate chambers.
In all, taxpayers spent about $15 billion last year to insure 8.5 million federal workers and their dependents, including postal service employees, according to the Office of Personnel Management.
There are generous plans available in private industry. But the federal coverage far surpasses that enjoyed by 70 million Americans who are underinsured and financially at risk in the event of a major health crisis -- not to mention the estimated 46 million who have no medical insurance.
"For the average worker, the Federal Employees Health Benefits Plan would probably look quite attractive," said Pete Sepp, a spokesman for the National Taxpayers Union, a pinch-penny advocacy group.
Indeed, a question often surfaces: Why can't everyone enjoy the same benefits as members of Congress? The answer: The country probably couldn't afford it -- not without reforms to bring costs way, way down
Given their choices, lawmakers can tailor coverage in a way most Americans cannot. If a child has asthma, for instance, a federal employee might opt for coverage that costs a little more but has a bigger doctor network and lower office-visit fees.
The plan most favored by federal workers is Blue Cross Blue Shield, which covers a family for about $1,030 a month. Taxpayers kick in $700 and employees pay the rest. Seeing a doctor costs $20. Generic prescriptions cost $10. Immunizations are free. There is no coverage limit.
==========================================
See the first link for a description of the medical clinic on call to members of Congress.
Why One Way Of Learning Is Better Than Another
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091001163730.htm
ScienceDaily (Oct. 2, 2009) — A new study from the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital (The Neuro) of McGill University reveals that different patterns of training and learning lead to different types of memory formation. The significance of the study, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, is that it identifies the molecular differences between spaced training (distributed over time) and massed training (at very short intervals), shedding light on brain function and guiding learning and training principles.
In every organism studied, results have shown that memory formation is highly sensitive not only to the total amount of training, but also to the pattern of trials used during training. In particular, trials distributed over time are superior at generating long-term memories than trials presented at very short intervals.
"It is a well known psychological principle that learning is better when training trials are spaced out than when given all together," says Dr. Wayne Sossin, neuroscientist at The Neuro and lead investigator of the study. "However, there are very few, if any studies that identify, at the molecular level, differences between the two types of training."
-----
ScienceDaily (Oct. 2, 2009) — A new study from the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital (The Neuro) of McGill University reveals that different patterns of training and learning lead to different types of memory formation. The significance of the study, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, is that it identifies the molecular differences between spaced training (distributed over time) and massed training (at very short intervals), shedding light on brain function and guiding learning and training principles.
In every organism studied, results have shown that memory formation is highly sensitive not only to the total amount of training, but also to the pattern of trials used during training. In particular, trials distributed over time are superior at generating long-term memories than trials presented at very short intervals.
"It is a well known psychological principle that learning is better when training trials are spaced out than when given all together," says Dr. Wayne Sossin, neuroscientist at The Neuro and lead investigator of the study. "However, there are very few, if any studies that identify, at the molecular level, differences between the two types of training."
-----
Sunday, October 04, 2009
Paradoxically, Food Insecurity May Be Underlying Contributor To Overweight
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091001095603.htm
ScienceDaily (Oct. 2, 2009) — Both household food insecurity (HFInsec) and childhood overweight are significant problems in the United States. Paradoxically, being food-insecure may be an underlying contributor to being overweight. A study of almost 8,500 low-income children ages 1 month to 5 years, published in the October 2009 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, suggests an association between household food insecurity and overweight prevalence in this low-income population. However, sex and age appear to modify both the magnitude and direction of the association.
Food insecurity is defined as the lack of access to enough food for an active, healthy life, which results from limited or uncertain access to nutritionally adequate and safe foods in socially acceptable ways. In 2004, 11% of households in the United States reported household food insecurity, and households with children younger than 6 years old and black and Hispanic households experienced higher rates of household food insecurity and hunger. Prevalence of household food insecurity and overweight has increased over time and are more prevalent in low-income families
-----
.
ScienceDaily (Oct. 2, 2009) — Both household food insecurity (HFInsec) and childhood overweight are significant problems in the United States. Paradoxically, being food-insecure may be an underlying contributor to being overweight. A study of almost 8,500 low-income children ages 1 month to 5 years, published in the October 2009 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, suggests an association between household food insecurity and overweight prevalence in this low-income population. However, sex and age appear to modify both the magnitude and direction of the association.
Food insecurity is defined as the lack of access to enough food for an active, healthy life, which results from limited or uncertain access to nutritionally adequate and safe foods in socially acceptable ways. In 2004, 11% of households in the United States reported household food insecurity, and households with children younger than 6 years old and black and Hispanic households experienced higher rates of household food insecurity and hunger. Prevalence of household food insecurity and overweight has increased over time and are more prevalent in low-income families
-----
.
Saturday, October 03, 2009
The Job Numbers for September
http://robertreich.blogspot.com/2009/10/addendum-job-numbers-for-september.html
Robert Reich
Friday, October 02, 2009
This morning's job numbers are bad enough -- 263,000 more jobs lost in September, and unemployment now at 9.8 percent -- but look behind them and the news is even grimmer. The only reason the numbers don't look worse is that 571,000 workers dropped out of the labor force. Remember, too, that the economy needs about 125,000 new jobs every month just to keep up with a growing population. So we're even further behind.
The numbers would be even worse but for the stimulus package. According to an analysis by the Economic Policy Institute, the stimulus is saving or creating between 200,000 and 250,000 jobs a month. Without it, job losses in September would have been nearly twice what they actually were.
State governments, meanwhile, continue to shed employees. Here's one of the most depressing statistics I've seen (if you need any additional ones): Some 15,600 teachers didn't return to work in September. They were laid off. So our classrooms are bigger, we have fewer teachers, and our students are presumably learning less -- at the very time when they need to be learning more than ever.
Robert Reich
Friday, October 02, 2009
This morning's job numbers are bad enough -- 263,000 more jobs lost in September, and unemployment now at 9.8 percent -- but look behind them and the news is even grimmer. The only reason the numbers don't look worse is that 571,000 workers dropped out of the labor force. Remember, too, that the economy needs about 125,000 new jobs every month just to keep up with a growing population. So we're even further behind.
The numbers would be even worse but for the stimulus package. According to an analysis by the Economic Policy Institute, the stimulus is saving or creating between 200,000 and 250,000 jobs a month. Without it, job losses in September would have been nearly twice what they actually were.
State governments, meanwhile, continue to shed employees. Here's one of the most depressing statistics I've seen (if you need any additional ones): Some 15,600 teachers didn't return to work in September. They were laid off. So our classrooms are bigger, we have fewer teachers, and our students are presumably learning less -- at the very time when they need to be learning more than ever.
Breast Milk Should Be Drunk At The Same Time Of Day That It Is Expressed
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091001091757.htm
ScienceDaily (Oct. 2, 2009) — The levels of the components in breast milk change every 24 hours in response to the needs of the baby. A new study published in the journal Nutritional Neuroscience shows, for example, how this milk could help newborn babies to sleep.
Breast milk contains various ingredients, such as nucleotides, which perform a very important role in regulating babies' sleep. The new study confirms that the composition of breast milk changes quite markedly throughout the day.
-----
"You wouldn't give anyone a coffee at night, and the same is true of milk – it has day-specific ingredients that stimulate activity in the infant, and other night-time components that help the baby to rest", explains Sánchez.
In order to ensure correct nutrition, the baby should be given milk at the same time of day that it was expressed from the mother's breast. "It is a mistake for the mother to express the milk at a certain time and then store it and feed it to the baby at a different time", points out the researcher. .
-----
ScienceDaily (Oct. 2, 2009) — The levels of the components in breast milk change every 24 hours in response to the needs of the baby. A new study published in the journal Nutritional Neuroscience shows, for example, how this milk could help newborn babies to sleep.
Breast milk contains various ingredients, such as nucleotides, which perform a very important role in regulating babies' sleep. The new study confirms that the composition of breast milk changes quite markedly throughout the day.
-----
"You wouldn't give anyone a coffee at night, and the same is true of milk – it has day-specific ingredients that stimulate activity in the infant, and other night-time components that help the baby to rest", explains Sánchez.
In order to ensure correct nutrition, the baby should be given milk at the same time of day that it was expressed from the mother's breast. "It is a mistake for the mother to express the milk at a certain time and then store it and feed it to the baby at a different time", points out the researcher. .
-----
Friday, October 02, 2009
Employment-Population Ratio, 10% Unemployment, Part Time Workers
http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2009/10/employment-population-ratio-10.html
by CalculatedRisk on 10/02/2009 11:26:00 AM
This graph shows the employment-population ratio; this is the ratio of employed Americans to the adult population.
Note: the graph doesn't start at zero to better show the change.
The general upward trend from the early '60s was mostly due to women entering the workforce.
This measure fell in September to 58.8%, the lowest level since the early '80s.
The Labor Force Participation Rate fell to 65.2% (the percentage of the working age population in the labor force). This is also the lowest since the mid-80s.
When the job market starts to recover, many of these people will reenter the workforce and look for employment - and that will keep the unemployment rate elevated for some time.
by CalculatedRisk on 10/02/2009 11:26:00 AM
This graph shows the employment-population ratio; this is the ratio of employed Americans to the adult population.
Note: the graph doesn't start at zero to better show the change.
The general upward trend from the early '60s was mostly due to women entering the workforce.
This measure fell in September to 58.8%, the lowest level since the early '80s.
The Labor Force Participation Rate fell to 65.2% (the percentage of the working age population in the labor force). This is also the lowest since the mid-80s.
When the job market starts to recover, many of these people will reenter the workforce and look for employment - and that will keep the unemployment rate elevated for some time.
Smoking During Pregnancy Puts Children At Risk Of Psychotic Symptoms
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091001081223.htm
ScienceDaily (Oct. 1, 2009) — Mothers who smoke during pregnancy put their children at greater risk of developing psychotic symptoms in their teenage years.
New research published in the October issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry shows a link between maternal tobacco use and psychotic symptoms.
-----
Smoking during pregnancy was found to be associated with an increased risk of psychotic symptoms in the children. The researchers observed a 'dose-response effect', meaning that the risk of psychotic symptoms was highest in the children whose mothers smoked the most heavily during pregnancy.
The study also examined whether alcohol use and cannabis use during pregnancy was associated with a higher risk of psychotic symptoms.
Drinking during pregnancy was associated with increased psychotic symptoms, but only in the children of mothers who had drunk more than 21 units of alcohol a week in early pregnancy. Only a few mothers in the study said they had smoked cannabis during pregnancy, and this was not found to have any significant association with psychotic symptoms.
-----
ScienceDaily (Oct. 1, 2009) — Mothers who smoke during pregnancy put their children at greater risk of developing psychotic symptoms in their teenage years.
New research published in the October issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry shows a link between maternal tobacco use and psychotic symptoms.
-----
Smoking during pregnancy was found to be associated with an increased risk of psychotic symptoms in the children. The researchers observed a 'dose-response effect', meaning that the risk of psychotic symptoms was highest in the children whose mothers smoked the most heavily during pregnancy.
The study also examined whether alcohol use and cannabis use during pregnancy was associated with a higher risk of psychotic symptoms.
Drinking during pregnancy was associated with increased psychotic symptoms, but only in the children of mothers who had drunk more than 21 units of alcohol a week in early pregnancy. Only a few mothers in the study said they had smoked cannabis during pregnancy, and this was not found to have any significant association with psychotic symptoms.
-----
Thursday, October 01, 2009
Loss of top predators causing surge in smaller predators, ecosystem collapse
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-10/osu-lot100109.php
Public release date: 1-Oct-2009
Contact: William Ripple
Oregon State University
Loss of top predators causing surge in smaller predators, ecosystem collapse
CORVALLIS, Ore. – The catastrophic decline around the world of "apex" predators such as wolves, cougars, lions or sharks has led to a huge increase in smaller "mesopredators" that are causing major economic and ecological disruptions, a new study concludes.
The findings, published today in the journal Bioscience, found that in North America all of the largest terrestrial predators have been in decline during the past 200 years while the ranges of 60 percent of mesopredators have expanded. The problem is global, growing and severe, scientists say, with few solutions in sight.
An example: in parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, lion and leopard populations have been decimated, allowing a surge in the "mesopredator" population next down the line, baboons. In some cases children are now being kept home from school to guard family gardens from brazen packs of crop-raiding baboons.
"This issue is very complex, and a lot of the consequences are not known," said William Ripple, a professor of forest ecosystems and society at Oregon State University. "But there's evidence that the explosion of mesopredator populations is very severe and has both ecological and economic repercussions."
In case after case around the world, the researchers said, primary predators such as wolves, lions or sharks have been dramatically reduced if not eliminated, usually on purpose and sometimes by forces such as habitat disruption, hunting or fishing. Many times this has been viewed positively by humans, fearful of personal attack, loss of livestock or other concerns. But the new picture that's emerging is a range of problems, including ecosystem and economic disruption that may dwarf any problems presented by the original primary predators.
"I've done a lot of work on wildlife in Africa, and people everywhere are asking some of the same questions, what do we do?" said Clinton Epps, an assistant professor at OSU who is studying the interactions between humans and wildlife. "Most important to understand is that these issues are complex, the issue is not as simple as getting rid of wolves or lions and thinking you've solved some problem. We have to be more careful about taking what appears to be the easy solution."
The elimination of wolves is often favored by ranchers, for instance, who fear attacks on their livestock. However, that has led to a huge surge in the number of coyotes, a "mesopredator" once kept in check by the wolves. The coyotes attack pronghorn antelope and domestic sheep, and attempts to control them have been hugely expensive, costing hundreds of millions of dollars.
"The economic impacts of mesopredators should be expected to exceed those of apex predators in any scenario in which mesopredators contribute to the same or to new conflict with humans," the researchers wrote in their report. "Mesopredators occur at higher densities than apex predators and exhibit greater resiliency to control efforts."
The problems are not confined to terrestrial ecosystems. Sharks, for instance, are in serious decline due to overfishing. In some places that has led to an explosion in the populations of rays, which in turn caused the collapse of a bay scallop fishery and both ecological an economic losses.
Primary or apex predators can actually benefit prey populations by suppressing smaller predators, and failure to consider this mechanism has triggered collapses of entire ecosystems.
Cascading negative effects of surging mesopredator populations have been documented for birds, sea turtles, lizards, rodents, marsupials, rabbits, fish, scallops, insects and ungulates.
The economic cost of controlling mesopredators may be very high, and sometimes could be accomplished more effectively at less cost by returning apex predators to the ecosystem.
Human intervention cannot easily replace the role of apex predators, in part because the constant fear of predation alters not only populations but behavior of mesopredators.
Large predators are usually carnivores, but mesopredators are often omnivores and can cause significant plant and crop damage.
The effects of exploding mesopredator populations can be found in oceans, rivers, forests and grasslands around the world.
Reversing and preventing mesopredator release is becoming increasingly difficult and expensive as the world's top predators continue to edge toward obliteration.
"These problems resist simple solutions," Ripple said. "I've read that when Gen. George Armstrong Custer came into the Black Hills in 1874, he noticed a scarcity of coyotes and the abundance of wolves. Now the wolves are gone in many places and coyotes are killing thousands of sheep all over the West."
"We are just barely beginning to appreciate the impact of losing our top predators," he said.
At OSU, Ripple and colleague Robert Beschta have done extensive research and multiple publications on the effect that loss of predators such as wolves and cougars have on ecosystem disruption, not only by allowing increased numbers of grazing animals such as deer and elk, but also losing the fear of predation that changes the behavior of these animals. They have documented ecosystem recovery in Yellowstone National Park after wolves were reintroduced there.
Public release date: 1-Oct-2009
Contact: William Ripple
Oregon State University
Loss of top predators causing surge in smaller predators, ecosystem collapse
CORVALLIS, Ore. – The catastrophic decline around the world of "apex" predators such as wolves, cougars, lions or sharks has led to a huge increase in smaller "mesopredators" that are causing major economic and ecological disruptions, a new study concludes.
The findings, published today in the journal Bioscience, found that in North America all of the largest terrestrial predators have been in decline during the past 200 years while the ranges of 60 percent of mesopredators have expanded. The problem is global, growing and severe, scientists say, with few solutions in sight.
An example: in parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, lion and leopard populations have been decimated, allowing a surge in the "mesopredator" population next down the line, baboons. In some cases children are now being kept home from school to guard family gardens from brazen packs of crop-raiding baboons.
"This issue is very complex, and a lot of the consequences are not known," said William Ripple, a professor of forest ecosystems and society at Oregon State University. "But there's evidence that the explosion of mesopredator populations is very severe and has both ecological and economic repercussions."
In case after case around the world, the researchers said, primary predators such as wolves, lions or sharks have been dramatically reduced if not eliminated, usually on purpose and sometimes by forces such as habitat disruption, hunting or fishing. Many times this has been viewed positively by humans, fearful of personal attack, loss of livestock or other concerns. But the new picture that's emerging is a range of problems, including ecosystem and economic disruption that may dwarf any problems presented by the original primary predators.
"I've done a lot of work on wildlife in Africa, and people everywhere are asking some of the same questions, what do we do?" said Clinton Epps, an assistant professor at OSU who is studying the interactions between humans and wildlife. "Most important to understand is that these issues are complex, the issue is not as simple as getting rid of wolves or lions and thinking you've solved some problem. We have to be more careful about taking what appears to be the easy solution."
The elimination of wolves is often favored by ranchers, for instance, who fear attacks on their livestock. However, that has led to a huge surge in the number of coyotes, a "mesopredator" once kept in check by the wolves. The coyotes attack pronghorn antelope and domestic sheep, and attempts to control them have been hugely expensive, costing hundreds of millions of dollars.
"The economic impacts of mesopredators should be expected to exceed those of apex predators in any scenario in which mesopredators contribute to the same or to new conflict with humans," the researchers wrote in their report. "Mesopredators occur at higher densities than apex predators and exhibit greater resiliency to control efforts."
The problems are not confined to terrestrial ecosystems. Sharks, for instance, are in serious decline due to overfishing. In some places that has led to an explosion in the populations of rays, which in turn caused the collapse of a bay scallop fishery and both ecological an economic losses.
Primary or apex predators can actually benefit prey populations by suppressing smaller predators, and failure to consider this mechanism has triggered collapses of entire ecosystems.
Cascading negative effects of surging mesopredator populations have been documented for birds, sea turtles, lizards, rodents, marsupials, rabbits, fish, scallops, insects and ungulates.
The economic cost of controlling mesopredators may be very high, and sometimes could be accomplished more effectively at less cost by returning apex predators to the ecosystem.
Human intervention cannot easily replace the role of apex predators, in part because the constant fear of predation alters not only populations but behavior of mesopredators.
Large predators are usually carnivores, but mesopredators are often omnivores and can cause significant plant and crop damage.
The effects of exploding mesopredator populations can be found in oceans, rivers, forests and grasslands around the world.
Reversing and preventing mesopredator release is becoming increasingly difficult and expensive as the world's top predators continue to edge toward obliteration.
"These problems resist simple solutions," Ripple said. "I've read that when Gen. George Armstrong Custer came into the Black Hills in 1874, he noticed a scarcity of coyotes and the abundance of wolves. Now the wolves are gone in many places and coyotes are killing thousands of sheep all over the West."
"We are just barely beginning to appreciate the impact of losing our top predators," he said.
At OSU, Ripple and colleague Robert Beschta have done extensive research and multiple publications on the effect that loss of predators such as wolves and cougars have on ecosystem disruption, not only by allowing increased numbers of grazing animals such as deer and elk, but also losing the fear of predation that changes the behavior of these animals. They have documented ecosystem recovery in Yellowstone National Park after wolves were reintroduced there.
The making of the male brain (estrogen required)
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-10/cp-tmo092809.php
Public release date: 1-Oct-2009
Contact: Cathleen Genova
Cell Press
The making of the male brain (estrogen required)
It's often said that overly macho males suffer from "too much testosterone." But a new study in mice reveals how estrogen might share in that blame.
The report in the October 2nd issue of Cell, a Cell Press publication, reveals how early estrogen exposure "masculinizes" the brain circuitry, predisposing boys to be boys as it were. That early event is specifically critical in producing male mice that will pick fights with other males and that dutifully mark their territories with urine.
"It's been known for decades that estrogen may play a role in making males behave like males," said Nirao Shah of the University of California, San Francisco. "What we do here is to provide insight into the logic of how estrogen regulates that behavior."
The basis for differences between the sexes in such behaviors, they show, may reside in the neurons that are equipped with an enzyme, called aromatase, that converts testosterone into estrogen. The masculine brain has more of those testosterone-converting neurons in certain regions. The researchers now show that these neurons establish a unique neural circuitry in males, and that this difference in wiring depends on estrogen.
The researchers found that female mice exposed to estrogen as pups get wired to behave as "tomboys" of a sort. Their aromatase neurons now look like what is seen in the male brain, and the female mice take on aggressive and territorial behaviors typically reserved for males.
But if estrogen, the female hormone, establishes male behavior patterns, why don't girls act like boys? Shah explains that the ovaries normally don't pump out any hormone that early in life, but males do see a surge in testosterone at a young age, at least some of which gets converted by aromatase to estrogen.
The findings indicate that adult gonadal hormones are not the entire story when it comes to determining masculine versus feminine behavior, Shah said. "Rather than the gonadal hormones telling the adult brain what do to, the brain interprets signals based on its prior history," he said. Thus, female mice exposed to estrogen as pups respond to estrogen as adults by switching on the aggressive and territorial behaviors typically observed in males.
As for whether differences in early estrogen exposure or in the resulting brain circuitry can account for variation among males in stereotypically male behavior remains to be seen, Shah says.
"About eighty percent of male mice will fight with other males routinely, but there is always a fraction that fight poorly or not much at all," he said, a difference that may be explained by some combination of social experience along with early developmental events that wire the brain differently.
Testosterone itself isn't off the hook yet, however. Shah's team suspects it is also likely to have direct effects. As evidence of that, Shah notes that female mice whose brains are masculinized by exposure to estrogen in early development do fight, but they tend to fight with less intensity than males. But when these females have their ovaries -- their adulthood source of estrogen -- removed and are treated with male levels of testosterone, their will to fight goes up. "It suggests testosterone acts on its own receptor to increase the intensity of male-like fighting," Shah said.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-10/uoc--eli092909.php
Another report on the same study, gives some additional info.
Public release date: 1-Oct-2009
Contact: Cathleen Genova
Cell Press
The making of the male brain (estrogen required)
It's often said that overly macho males suffer from "too much testosterone." But a new study in mice reveals how estrogen might share in that blame.
The report in the October 2nd issue of Cell, a Cell Press publication, reveals how early estrogen exposure "masculinizes" the brain circuitry, predisposing boys to be boys as it were. That early event is specifically critical in producing male mice that will pick fights with other males and that dutifully mark their territories with urine.
"It's been known for decades that estrogen may play a role in making males behave like males," said Nirao Shah of the University of California, San Francisco. "What we do here is to provide insight into the logic of how estrogen regulates that behavior."
The basis for differences between the sexes in such behaviors, they show, may reside in the neurons that are equipped with an enzyme, called aromatase, that converts testosterone into estrogen. The masculine brain has more of those testosterone-converting neurons in certain regions. The researchers now show that these neurons establish a unique neural circuitry in males, and that this difference in wiring depends on estrogen.
The researchers found that female mice exposed to estrogen as pups get wired to behave as "tomboys" of a sort. Their aromatase neurons now look like what is seen in the male brain, and the female mice take on aggressive and territorial behaviors typically reserved for males.
But if estrogen, the female hormone, establishes male behavior patterns, why don't girls act like boys? Shah explains that the ovaries normally don't pump out any hormone that early in life, but males do see a surge in testosterone at a young age, at least some of which gets converted by aromatase to estrogen.
The findings indicate that adult gonadal hormones are not the entire story when it comes to determining masculine versus feminine behavior, Shah said. "Rather than the gonadal hormones telling the adult brain what do to, the brain interprets signals based on its prior history," he said. Thus, female mice exposed to estrogen as pups respond to estrogen as adults by switching on the aggressive and territorial behaviors typically observed in males.
As for whether differences in early estrogen exposure or in the resulting brain circuitry can account for variation among males in stereotypically male behavior remains to be seen, Shah says.
"About eighty percent of male mice will fight with other males routinely, but there is always a fraction that fight poorly or not much at all," he said, a difference that may be explained by some combination of social experience along with early developmental events that wire the brain differently.
Testosterone itself isn't off the hook yet, however. Shah's team suspects it is also likely to have direct effects. As evidence of that, Shah notes that female mice whose brains are masculinized by exposure to estrogen in early development do fight, but they tend to fight with less intensity than males. But when these females have their ovaries -- their adulthood source of estrogen -- removed and are treated with male levels of testosterone, their will to fight goes up. "It suggests testosterone acts on its own receptor to increase the intensity of male-like fighting," Shah said.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-10/uoc--eli092909.php
Another report on the same study, gives some additional info.
Detroit: Too broke to bury their dead
Well, I think what's important is how we treat people when they're alive. But I understand that for many or most people, this is a distressing situation, and it illustrates the gravity of this recession/depression.
http://money.cnn.com/2009/10/01/news/economy/_morgue/index.htm
By Poppy Harlow, CNNMoney.com anchor
Last Updated: October 1, 2009: 10:19 AM ET
DETROIT (CNNMoney.com) -- At 1300 E. Warren St., you can smell the plight of Detroit.
Inside the Wayne County morgue in midtown Detroit, 67 bodies are piled up, unclaimed, in the freezing temperatures. Neither the families nor the county can afford to bury the corpses. So they stack up inside the freezer.
Albert Samuels, chief investigator for the morgue, said he has never seen anything like it during his 13 years on the job. "Some people don't come forward even though they know the people are here," said the former Detroit cop. "They don't have the money."
Lifelong Detroit residents Darrell and Cheryl Vickers understand this firsthand. On a chilly September morning they had to visit the freezer to identify the body of Darrell's aunt, Nancy Graham -- and say their goodbyes.
The couple, already financially strained, don't have the $695 needed to cremate her. Other family members, mostly in Florida, don't have the means to contribute, either. In fact, when Darrell's grandmother passed recently, his father paid for the cremation on a credit card -- at 21% interest.
So the Vickers had to leave their aunt behind. Body number 67.
"It's devastating to a family not to be able to take care of their own," said Darrell. "But there's really no way to come up with that kind of cash in today's society. There's just no way."
The number of unclaimed corpses at the Wayne County morgue is at a record high, having tripled since 2000. The reason for the pile-up is twofold: One, unemployment in the area is approaching 28%, and many people, like the Vickers, can't afford last rites; two, the county's $21,000 annual budget to bury unclaimed bodies ran out in June.
"One way we look back at a culture is how they dispose of their dead," said the county's chief medical examiner, Carl Schmidt, who has been in his position for 15 years. "We see people here that society was not taking care of before they died -- and society is having difficulty taking care of them after they are dead."
http://money.cnn.com/2009/10/01/news/economy/_morgue/index.htm
By Poppy Harlow, CNNMoney.com anchor
Last Updated: October 1, 2009: 10:19 AM ET
DETROIT (CNNMoney.com) -- At 1300 E. Warren St., you can smell the plight of Detroit.
Inside the Wayne County morgue in midtown Detroit, 67 bodies are piled up, unclaimed, in the freezing temperatures. Neither the families nor the county can afford to bury the corpses. So they stack up inside the freezer.
Albert Samuels, chief investigator for the morgue, said he has never seen anything like it during his 13 years on the job. "Some people don't come forward even though they know the people are here," said the former Detroit cop. "They don't have the money."
Lifelong Detroit residents Darrell and Cheryl Vickers understand this firsthand. On a chilly September morning they had to visit the freezer to identify the body of Darrell's aunt, Nancy Graham -- and say their goodbyes.
The couple, already financially strained, don't have the $695 needed to cremate her. Other family members, mostly in Florida, don't have the means to contribute, either. In fact, when Darrell's grandmother passed recently, his father paid for the cremation on a credit card -- at 21% interest.
So the Vickers had to leave their aunt behind. Body number 67.
"It's devastating to a family not to be able to take care of their own," said Darrell. "But there's really no way to come up with that kind of cash in today's society. There's just no way."
The number of unclaimed corpses at the Wayne County morgue is at a record high, having tripled since 2000. The reason for the pile-up is twofold: One, unemployment in the area is approaching 28%, and many people, like the Vickers, can't afford last rites; two, the county's $21,000 annual budget to bury unclaimed bodies ran out in June.
"One way we look back at a culture is how they dispose of their dead," said the county's chief medical examiner, Carl Schmidt, who has been in his position for 15 years. "We see people here that society was not taking care of before they died -- and society is having difficulty taking care of them after they are dead."
More disaster - please donate
Please donate to your favorite disaster relief agency/agencies.
The Red Cross is helping victims of the floods in Atlanta last week.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33115387/ns/world_news-asiapacific/
updated 7:04 a.m. ET, Thurs., Oct . 1, 2009
PADANG, Indonesia - A second powerful earthquake rocked western Indonesia on Thursday as rescuers struggled to reach survivors of the previous day's quake, which killed more than 500 people and left thousands trapped under collapsed buildings.
The death toll from Wednesday's 7.6-magnitude earthquake off Sumatra island was expected to rise as rescuers dig through the rubble, sometimes by hand, in heavily populated cities. The latest, 6.8-magnitude quake damaged hundreds of additional buildings, and communications remained cut in some areas.
http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=1336
It's been a terrible week for natural disasters in Asia, with the death toll from two huge earthquakes and Typhoon Ketsana continuing to mount. The bad news got worse today with the emergence of Super Typhoon Parma, now poised strike the northern portion of the Philippines' Luzon Island as a Category 4 typhoon with 150 mph winds. Also of concern is Category 3 Typhoon Melor, which has just undergone a period of rapid intensification, and is also approaching super typhoon status. A super typhoon is a storm with 150 mph winds or higher--a strong Category 4. Melor is forecast to pass through the northern Marianas Islands north of Guam and Saipan this weekend, then curve to the north and threaten Japan next week.
Super Typhoon Parma intensified dramatically early this morning, forming a tiny "pinhole" eye (Figure 1) only seen in very intense tropical cyclones. The last Atlantic hurricane to form a pinhole eye was Hurricane Wilma, the strongest Atlantic hurricane of all time. Parma's outer spiral bands are already beginning to spread over the eastern positions of the Philippines, and beginning Friday will likely bring 2 - 4 inches of rain to the regions hard-hit by Typhoon Ketsana, including the capital of Manila. More seriously, the super typhoon may make landfall along the northeastern portion of Luzon Island in the Philippines on Saturday as a Category 4 or 5 typhoon. The uncertainty in the forecast is very high, as steering currents are expected to weaken on Friday, and the presence of Typhoon Melor to the northeast introduces an additional element of uncertainty. It is quite possible that Parma will stall near or just offshore the northern coast of Luzon Saturday through Sunday as a super typhoon, dumping rainfall in excess of a foot over northern Luzon, as forecast by the ECMWF model. Northern Luzon received 2 - 4 inches of rain from Typhoon Ketsana last week, and an additional 12+ inches of rain falling on soils already saturated from Ketsana's rains would likely cause severe flash flooding and major landslides capable of killing hundreds. Another dismal possibility is offered by the NOGAPS model, which forecasts that Parma will cross directly over Luzon north of Manila, bringing heavy rains in excess of six inches to Manila, where more than 16 inches of rain fell Saturday during Typhoon Ketsana. It is also possible that Parma will miss the Philippines, staying far enough offshore that the Philippines will not suffer a major flooding disaster. However, the odds current favor another major typhoon disaster for the Philippines this weekend.
The Red Cross is helping victims of the floods in Atlanta last week.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33115387/ns/world_news-asiapacific/
updated 7:04 a.m. ET, Thurs., Oct . 1, 2009
PADANG, Indonesia - A second powerful earthquake rocked western Indonesia on Thursday as rescuers struggled to reach survivors of the previous day's quake, which killed more than 500 people and left thousands trapped under collapsed buildings.
The death toll from Wednesday's 7.6-magnitude earthquake off Sumatra island was expected to rise as rescuers dig through the rubble, sometimes by hand, in heavily populated cities. The latest, 6.8-magnitude quake damaged hundreds of additional buildings, and communications remained cut in some areas.
http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=1336
It's been a terrible week for natural disasters in Asia, with the death toll from two huge earthquakes and Typhoon Ketsana continuing to mount. The bad news got worse today with the emergence of Super Typhoon Parma, now poised strike the northern portion of the Philippines' Luzon Island as a Category 4 typhoon with 150 mph winds. Also of concern is Category 3 Typhoon Melor, which has just undergone a period of rapid intensification, and is also approaching super typhoon status. A super typhoon is a storm with 150 mph winds or higher--a strong Category 4. Melor is forecast to pass through the northern Marianas Islands north of Guam and Saipan this weekend, then curve to the north and threaten Japan next week.
Super Typhoon Parma intensified dramatically early this morning, forming a tiny "pinhole" eye (Figure 1) only seen in very intense tropical cyclones. The last Atlantic hurricane to form a pinhole eye was Hurricane Wilma, the strongest Atlantic hurricane of all time. Parma's outer spiral bands are already beginning to spread over the eastern positions of the Philippines, and beginning Friday will likely bring 2 - 4 inches of rain to the regions hard-hit by Typhoon Ketsana, including the capital of Manila. More seriously, the super typhoon may make landfall along the northeastern portion of Luzon Island in the Philippines on Saturday as a Category 4 or 5 typhoon. The uncertainty in the forecast is very high, as steering currents are expected to weaken on Friday, and the presence of Typhoon Melor to the northeast introduces an additional element of uncertainty. It is quite possible that Parma will stall near or just offshore the northern coast of Luzon Saturday through Sunday as a super typhoon, dumping rainfall in excess of a foot over northern Luzon, as forecast by the ECMWF model. Northern Luzon received 2 - 4 inches of rain from Typhoon Ketsana last week, and an additional 12+ inches of rain falling on soils already saturated from Ketsana's rains would likely cause severe flash flooding and major landslides capable of killing hundreds. Another dismal possibility is offered by the NOGAPS model, which forecasts that Parma will cross directly over Luzon north of Manila, bringing heavy rains in excess of six inches to Manila, where more than 16 inches of rain fell Saturday during Typhoon Ketsana. It is also possible that Parma will miss the Philippines, staying far enough offshore that the Philippines will not suffer a major flooding disaster. However, the odds current favor another major typhoon disaster for the Philippines this weekend.
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