http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/extreme-floods-may-be-the-new-normal/?WT.mc_id=SA_BS_20160819
By Erika Bolstad, ClimateWire on August 18, 2016
Over the past year alone, catastrophic rain events characterized as once-in-500-year or even once-in-1,000-year events have flooded West Virginia, Texas, Oklahoma, South Carolina and now Louisiana, sweeping in billions of dollars of property damage and deaths along with the high waters.
These extreme weather events are forcing many communities to confront what could signal a new climate change normal. Now many are asking themselves: Are they doing enough to plan for and to adapt to large rain events that climate scientists predict will become more frequent and more intense as global temperatures continue to rise?
The answer in many communities is no, it’s not enough.
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One of the first shifts that must happen, many experts in hazard mitigation say, is to stop using the climate of the past to plan for the future.
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The 39-hour rain event in Louisiana, which killed at least nine people and flooded upward of 40,000 homes, was a radical weather system that would have done plenty of damage, global warming or no. The same was true for a July 30 flash flood in Ellicott City, Md., which killed two people and swept a wave of destruction through the historic downtown when 6 inches of rain fell over several hours.
Yet climate change also likely played a role, if mostly to intensify the amount of rainfall because of an increased amount of water vapor in the atmosphere caused by higher temperatures.
•••••
What climate scientists do know is that the intensity of extreme precipitation events is on the rise.
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Climate change could expose vast swaths of U.S. infrastructure to additional natural hazards that are likely to intensify as sea levels rise, temperatures increase and precipitation patterns shift, the report found. Power transmission lines, ports, refineries and wastewater treatment facilities across the country are vulnerable to climate change.
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http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-the-deadly-louisiana-flood-occurred/
•••••
The frequency and intensity of heavy rainfall events have increased globally, said Kenneth Kunkel, a climate scientist at NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information.
“Each decade, it has been higher than the previous decade, for about the last 30 to 40 years,” he said.
Both the land and the oceans have been warming up, which has increased the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere, he said. The oceanic moisture feeds into the storms that form over land. It is likely that the storm in Baton Rouge last week produced more rainfall than it would have 40 years ago, Kunkel said.
•••••
tags: extreme weather, severe weather
Tuesday, September 13, 2016
Deadly Flooding from Typhoon Lionrock Displaces Thousands in North Korea, Which Issues Rare Plea for Help Associated Press
Those poor people already suffer from their horrible government. I feel so sorry for them.https://www.wunderground.com/news/deadly-floods-displace-thousands-north-korea
Associated Press
Published: September 12, 2016
More than 100 people have died and thousands have been left homeless in North Korea after Typhoon Lionrock brought heavy rains to the country’s northern-most province.
Brigades of soldiers from around the country have been enlisted to help the victims of the disastrous flooding, but North Korea has also made a rare public call for aid, CNN reports.
"It's not unheard of, but it's rare for the North Korean government to make an open and public call for assistance," Bradley Williams, an international relations professor at City University in Hong Kong, told CNN.
•••••
Considering North Korea made this call in English, perhaps there is a distant hope that given the scale of the disaster, maybe the international community might respond," said Williams.
North Korean media have said that Typhoon Lion Rock brought the worst single case of downpours and high winds since 1945, though that claim couldn't be verified.
According to a U.N. report issued by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the floods displaced tens of thousands of people and destroyed homes, buildings and critical infrastructure.
The report said the government has confirmed 133 people were killed and another 395 missing. It said more than 35,500 houses, schools and public buildings were damaged, with 69 percent completely destroyed. It reported widespread inundation of farmland and at least 140,000 people in urgent need of assistance.
•••••
The North Korean media also said the focus of a 200-day "loyalty campaign" already underway to mobilize the nation behind leader Kim Jong Un in a mandatory show of devotion has been switched to a call for all citizens to support the recovery effort.
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Super Typhoon Meranti Blew Up Fast, Heads For Taiwan, Mainland China
http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2016/09/12/super-typhoon-meranti-blew-up-fast-heads-for-taiwan-mainland-china/
Posted by Greg Laden on September 12, 2016
Within a 24 hour time period, Typhoon Meranti cranked up from what we in the US would call a Category 1 storm to a Category 5 storm. Or stronger, if we had more categories.
Some time between late Tuesday and mid day Wednesday, the typhoon will have a run at the southern tip of Taiwan. This is the less populated part of the island, but this is a big storm and its effects will be felt over the entire country.
Interacting with Taiwan is not expected to slow down the storm too much, and some time late Thursday, possibly as a Category 3 equivalent, it will slam into China.
Then it will go inland and contribute significantly to flooding.
This is the strongest cyclone so far in this year’s Northern Hemisphere season. Under climate change, we expect some cyclones to undergo much more rapid intensification, which can be a real problem when it occurs just before making landfall. This is the case with Meranti, though, as noted, the area to be affected initially is not as dense of a population zone as it might have been. The storm is stronger than it otherwise would have been had it not been for global warming, as well.
•••••
https://weather.com/storms/typhoon/news/tropical-depression-sixteen-w-tropical-storm-typhoon-meranti-sep2016
By Chris Dolce and Tom Moore
Sept. 12, 2016
•••••
Super Typhoon Meranti is now a Category 5 storm, packing maximum sustained winds up to 185 mph, with gusts up to 225 mph, as it heads west-northwest in the western Pacific Ocean. Meranti has undergone rapid intensification since Sunday morning.
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Maximum significant wave heights near the center of Meranti are currently around 48 feet.
•••••
According to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC), Meranti's winds had increased from 85 mph to 180 mph in the 24 hours ending Monday at 11 a.m. EDT. That's a 95 mph increase in winds during that time, or more than double the rapid intensification criteria.
The 185 mph winds tie Typhoon Meranti with Tropical Cyclone Winston as the strongest tropical cyclone in the world so far this year, both topping Super Typhoon Nepartak (175 mph) in early July.
Factors leading to the rapid strengthening include low wind shear and warm ocean temperatures.
•••••
Posted by Greg Laden on September 12, 2016
Within a 24 hour time period, Typhoon Meranti cranked up from what we in the US would call a Category 1 storm to a Category 5 storm. Or stronger, if we had more categories.
Some time between late Tuesday and mid day Wednesday, the typhoon will have a run at the southern tip of Taiwan. This is the less populated part of the island, but this is a big storm and its effects will be felt over the entire country.
Interacting with Taiwan is not expected to slow down the storm too much, and some time late Thursday, possibly as a Category 3 equivalent, it will slam into China.
Then it will go inland and contribute significantly to flooding.
This is the strongest cyclone so far in this year’s Northern Hemisphere season. Under climate change, we expect some cyclones to undergo much more rapid intensification, which can be a real problem when it occurs just before making landfall. This is the case with Meranti, though, as noted, the area to be affected initially is not as dense of a population zone as it might have been. The storm is stronger than it otherwise would have been had it not been for global warming, as well.
•••••
https://weather.com/storms/typhoon/news/tropical-depression-sixteen-w-tropical-storm-typhoon-meranti-sep2016
By Chris Dolce and Tom Moore
Sept. 12, 2016
•••••
Super Typhoon Meranti is now a Category 5 storm, packing maximum sustained winds up to 185 mph, with gusts up to 225 mph, as it heads west-northwest in the western Pacific Ocean. Meranti has undergone rapid intensification since Sunday morning.
•••••
Maximum significant wave heights near the center of Meranti are currently around 48 feet.
•••••
According to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC), Meranti's winds had increased from 85 mph to 180 mph in the 24 hours ending Monday at 11 a.m. EDT. That's a 95 mph increase in winds during that time, or more than double the rapid intensification criteria.
The 185 mph winds tie Typhoon Meranti with Tropical Cyclone Winston as the strongest tropical cyclone in the world so far this year, both topping Super Typhoon Nepartak (175 mph) in early July.
Factors leading to the rapid strengthening include low wind shear and warm ocean temperatures.
•••••
August Ties July as Hottest Month Ever on Record
http://www.climatecentral.org/news/august-ties-july-as-hottest-month-on-record-20691
By Andrea Thompson
Sept. 12, 2016
In what has become a common refrain this year, last month ranked as the hottest August on record, according to NASA data released Monday. Not only that, but the month tied July as the hottest month the world has seen in the last 136 years.
August came in at 1.76˚F (0.98˚C) above the average from 1951-1980, 0.16C above August 2014, the previous record holder. The record keeps 2016 on track to be the hottest year in the books by a fair margin.
That August continued the streak of record hot months this year and tied July as the hottest month was somewhat unexpected. The seasonal temperature cycle generally reaches a peak in July, as it did this year. But August was so anomalously warm — more so even than July — that it tied that month’s overall temperature.
It was also thought that July would likely be the last record hot month of the year, given the dissipation of El Niño.
In NASA’s dataset, August marks the 11th record-setting month in a row. That streak goes back 15 months through July in data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Each agency handles the global temperature data slightly differently and uses a different period of comparison, leading to slight differences in the monthly and yearly temperature numbers. Overall, though, both datasets show clear agreement in the overall warming trend.
That trend is what Gavin Schmidt, director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, and other climate scientists emphasize. It is that excess heat that has accumulated over decades thanks to rising levels of greenhouse gases that accounts for the bulk of this year’s record warmth, with El Niño providing only a small boost.
•••••
"Monthly rankings, which vary by only a few hundredths of a degree, are inherently fragile," Schmidt said in a statement. "We stress that the long-term trends are the most important for understanding the ongoing changes that are affecting our planet."
•••••
By Andrea Thompson
Sept. 12, 2016
In what has become a common refrain this year, last month ranked as the hottest August on record, according to NASA data released Monday. Not only that, but the month tied July as the hottest month the world has seen in the last 136 years.
August came in at 1.76˚F (0.98˚C) above the average from 1951-1980, 0.16C above August 2014, the previous record holder. The record keeps 2016 on track to be the hottest year in the books by a fair margin.
That August continued the streak of record hot months this year and tied July as the hottest month was somewhat unexpected. The seasonal temperature cycle generally reaches a peak in July, as it did this year. But August was so anomalously warm — more so even than July — that it tied that month’s overall temperature.
It was also thought that July would likely be the last record hot month of the year, given the dissipation of El Niño.
In NASA’s dataset, August marks the 11th record-setting month in a row. That streak goes back 15 months through July in data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Each agency handles the global temperature data slightly differently and uses a different period of comparison, leading to slight differences in the monthly and yearly temperature numbers. Overall, though, both datasets show clear agreement in the overall warming trend.
That trend is what Gavin Schmidt, director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, and other climate scientists emphasize. It is that excess heat that has accumulated over decades thanks to rising levels of greenhouse gases that accounts for the bulk of this year’s record warmth, with El Niño providing only a small boost.
•••••
"Monthly rankings, which vary by only a few hundredths of a degree, are inherently fragile," Schmidt said in a statement. "We stress that the long-term trends are the most important for understanding the ongoing changes that are affecting our planet."
•••••
Monday, September 12, 2016
Study finds couples' division of paid and unpaid labor linked to risk of divorce
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-07/asa-sfc072516.php
Public Release: 28-Jul-2016
Study finds couples' division of paid and unpaid labor linked to risk of divorce
American Sociological Association
A new study suggests that financial factors, including couples' overall resources and wives' ability to support themselves in the event of a divorce, are not predictive of whether marriages last. Rather, it is couples' division of labor -- paid and unpaid -- that is associated with the risk of divorce.
"My results suggest that, in general, financial factors do not determine whether couples stay together or separate," said study author Alexandra Killewald, a professor of sociology at Harvard University. "Instead, couples' paid and unpaid work matters for the risk of divorce, even after adjusting for how work is related to financial resources."
•••••
s part of her study, which appears in the August issue of the American Sociological Review, Killewald compared couples married in 1974 or earlier with couples married in 1975 or later to explore whether the effects, or lack thereof, of these factors changed over time. Killewald found that, in both the old and new cohorts, financial factors did not play a role in divorce. On the other hand, while the division of labor did affect marital outcomes in both cohorts, there was some variation in terms of what division of labor was better for marriage stability.
For couples married before 1975, the higher the percentage of housework a woman did, the less likely her marriage was to end in divorce. For the more recent cohort, however, that was no longer the case. "For couples married more recently, expectations for the division of housework between spouses appear to have changed, so that men are expected to contribute at least somewhat to household labor," said Killewald, who noted that, even in the more recent marriage cohort, wives do more than 70 percent of the housework, on average. "In general, men seem to be contributing a little more than they used to, and these contributions may now be expected and appreciated by wives."
Killewald found that, for couples married after 1974, neither wives' full-time employment nor sharing the housework more evenly was associated with the risk of divorce. In this cohort, husbands' full-time employment was an important factor in marital stability, with the risk of divorce higher for men who were not employed full-time.
"For contemporary couples, wives can combine paid and unpaid labor in various ways without threatening the stability of their marriage," according to Killewald, who said that while the gender revolution and the feminist movement have allowed women to take on traditionally male-dominated roles and responsibilities, men's roles and responsibilities have not expanded or diversified proportionately.
•••••
"Because I do not find that couples are more likely to divorce when women are better able to sustain themselves financially in the event of a divorce, public financial support -- to divorced women and other groups -- such as the earned income tax credit (EITC) or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), is unlikely to heighten divorce rates," Killewald said.
tags: relationships
Public Release: 28-Jul-2016
Study finds couples' division of paid and unpaid labor linked to risk of divorce
American Sociological Association
A new study suggests that financial factors, including couples' overall resources and wives' ability to support themselves in the event of a divorce, are not predictive of whether marriages last. Rather, it is couples' division of labor -- paid and unpaid -- that is associated with the risk of divorce.
"My results suggest that, in general, financial factors do not determine whether couples stay together or separate," said study author Alexandra Killewald, a professor of sociology at Harvard University. "Instead, couples' paid and unpaid work matters for the risk of divorce, even after adjusting for how work is related to financial resources."
•••••
s part of her study, which appears in the August issue of the American Sociological Review, Killewald compared couples married in 1974 or earlier with couples married in 1975 or later to explore whether the effects, or lack thereof, of these factors changed over time. Killewald found that, in both the old and new cohorts, financial factors did not play a role in divorce. On the other hand, while the division of labor did affect marital outcomes in both cohorts, there was some variation in terms of what division of labor was better for marriage stability.
For couples married before 1975, the higher the percentage of housework a woman did, the less likely her marriage was to end in divorce. For the more recent cohort, however, that was no longer the case. "For couples married more recently, expectations for the division of housework between spouses appear to have changed, so that men are expected to contribute at least somewhat to household labor," said Killewald, who noted that, even in the more recent marriage cohort, wives do more than 70 percent of the housework, on average. "In general, men seem to be contributing a little more than they used to, and these contributions may now be expected and appreciated by wives."
Killewald found that, for couples married after 1974, neither wives' full-time employment nor sharing the housework more evenly was associated with the risk of divorce. In this cohort, husbands' full-time employment was an important factor in marital stability, with the risk of divorce higher for men who were not employed full-time.
[Well, if men are not doing their share of housework, their wives are not likely to feel like supporting them financially too.]
"For contemporary couples, wives can combine paid and unpaid labor in various ways without threatening the stability of their marriage," according to Killewald, who said that while the gender revolution and the feminist movement have allowed women to take on traditionally male-dominated roles and responsibilities, men's roles and responsibilities have not expanded or diversified proportionately.
•••••
"Because I do not find that couples are more likely to divorce when women are better able to sustain themselves financially in the event of a divorce, public financial support -- to divorced women and other groups -- such as the earned income tax credit (EITC) or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), is unlikely to heighten divorce rates," Killewald said.
tags: relationships
Research reveals restorative justice reduces recidivism
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-07/shsu-rrr072716.php
Public Release: 28-Jul-2016
Research reveals restorative justice reduces recidivism
Sam Houston State University
Restorative justice programs, such victim-offender mediation and community impact panels, are more effective in reducing recidivism rates among juvenile offenders than traditional court processing, a study by researchers at Sam Houston State University found.
"Our results generally not only support the effectiveness of RJ (restorative justice) programming as compared to traditional juvenile court processing but also suggest that each type of RJ intervention, even those that are minimally involved, reduces recidivism risk relative to juvenile court proceedings," said Jeffrey Bouffard, a Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology and Research Director for the Correctional Management Institute of Texas at Sam Houston State University. "This pattern of results would suggest that in many cases, it may be possible to use less intensive RJ approaches and still receive promising results."
•••••
The youth in the study averaged about 15 years old and were involved in such offenses as property crimes, curfew violations, alcohol and tobacco charges, drug possession, traffic offenses, disorderly conduct, and even some violent crimes. The study suggested that juveniles could be screened for risk factors, with less serious offenders assigned to minimal restorative justice programs, such as writing a letter to the victim, while repeat offender would be required to participate in more intense face-to-face mediation with victims.
Public Release: 28-Jul-2016
Research reveals restorative justice reduces recidivism
Sam Houston State University
Restorative justice programs, such victim-offender mediation and community impact panels, are more effective in reducing recidivism rates among juvenile offenders than traditional court processing, a study by researchers at Sam Houston State University found.
"Our results generally not only support the effectiveness of RJ (restorative justice) programming as compared to traditional juvenile court processing but also suggest that each type of RJ intervention, even those that are minimally involved, reduces recidivism risk relative to juvenile court proceedings," said Jeffrey Bouffard, a Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology and Research Director for the Correctional Management Institute of Texas at Sam Houston State University. "This pattern of results would suggest that in many cases, it may be possible to use less intensive RJ approaches and still receive promising results."
•••••
The youth in the study averaged about 15 years old and were involved in such offenses as property crimes, curfew violations, alcohol and tobacco charges, drug possession, traffic offenses, disorderly conduct, and even some violent crimes. The study suggested that juveniles could be screened for risk factors, with less serious offenders assigned to minimal restorative justice programs, such as writing a letter to the victim, while repeat offender would be required to participate in more intense face-to-face mediation with victims.
The risk of surgery for patients with obstructive sleep apnea
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-07/dai-tro072816.php
Public Release: 28-Jul-2016
The risk of surgery for patients with obstructive sleep apnea
Deutsches Aerzteblatt International
Patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) face an elevated risk of perioperative complications; the risk is even higher if the diagnosis has not been made before surgery. This is so for many OSA patients, as Philipp Fassbender and colleagues point out in a review in the current issue of Deutsches Ärzteblatt International (Dtsch Arztbl Int; 2016; 113: 463-69).
Sleep apnea consists of brief respiratory pauses arising repeatedly in a particular period of time while the patient sleeps. At least one in five adults about to undergo surgery suffers from OSA. In these patients, sedation and anesthesia weaken the activation of the airway-opening muscles just as sleep does, potentially leading to airway obstruction. This elevates the risk of perioperative complications--e.g., because of difficult intubation--in patients with OSA.
Thus, as the authors stress, it is important for OSA patients to be identified before surgery, so that the anesthesia technique can be modified accordingly. The special features of OSA patients and the complications for which they are at elevated risk call for expertise and meticulous attention on the anesthesiologist's part. Local and regional anesthesia are preferable to general anesthesia for such patients. If deeper sedation is needed, the potential effect on the airways must be borne in mind.
Public Release: 28-Jul-2016
The risk of surgery for patients with obstructive sleep apnea
Deutsches Aerzteblatt International
Patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) face an elevated risk of perioperative complications; the risk is even higher if the diagnosis has not been made before surgery. This is so for many OSA patients, as Philipp Fassbender and colleagues point out in a review in the current issue of Deutsches Ärzteblatt International (Dtsch Arztbl Int; 2016; 113: 463-69).
Sleep apnea consists of brief respiratory pauses arising repeatedly in a particular period of time while the patient sleeps. At least one in five adults about to undergo surgery suffers from OSA. In these patients, sedation and anesthesia weaken the activation of the airway-opening muscles just as sleep does, potentially leading to airway obstruction. This elevates the risk of perioperative complications--e.g., because of difficult intubation--in patients with OSA.
Thus, as the authors stress, it is important for OSA patients to be identified before surgery, so that the anesthesia technique can be modified accordingly. The special features of OSA patients and the complications for which they are at elevated risk call for expertise and meticulous attention on the anesthesiologist's part. Local and regional anesthesia are preferable to general anesthesia for such patients. If deeper sedation is needed, the potential effect on the airways must be borne in mind.
USA TODAY exclusive: Hundreds allege Donald Trump doesn’t pay his bills
By now this should be no surprise.http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/06/09/donald-trump-unpaid-bills-republican-president-laswuits/85297274/
Steve Reilly, USA TODAY 8:01 p.m. EDT June 9, 2016
Donald Trump casts himself as a protector of workers and jobs, but a USA TODAY NETWORK investigation found hundreds of people – carpenters, dishwashers, painters, even his own lawyers – who say he didn’t pay them for their work.
During the Atlantic City casino boom in the 1980s, Philadelphia cabinet-builder Edward Friel Jr. landed a $400,000 contract to build the bases for slot machines, registration desks, bars and other cabinets at Harrah's at Trump Plaza.
The family cabinetry business, founded in the 1940s by Edward’s father, finished its work in 1984 and submitted its final bill to the general contractor for the Trump Organization, the resort’s builder.
Edward’s son, Paul, who was the firm’s accountant, still remembers the amount of that bill more than 30 years later: $83,600. The reason: the money never came. “That began the demise of the Edward J. Friel Company… which has been around since my grandfather,” he said.
Donald Trump often portrays himself as a savior of the working class who will "protect your job." But a USA TODAY NETWORK analysis found he has been involved in more than 3,500 lawsuits over the past three decades — and a large number of those involve ordinary Americans, like the Friels, who say Trump or his companies have refused to pay them.
At least 60 lawsuits, along with hundreds of liens, judgments, and other government filings reviewed by the USA TODAY NETWORK, document people who have accused Trump and his businesses of failing to pay them for their work. Among them: a dishwasher in Florida. A glass company in New Jersey. A carpet company. A plumber. Painters. Forty-eight waiters. Dozens of bartenders and other hourly workers at his resorts and clubs, coast to coast. Real estate brokers who sold his properties. And, ironically, several law firms that once represented him in these suits and others.
Trump’s companies have also been cited for 24 violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act since 2005 for failing to pay overtime or minimum wage, according to U.S. Department of Labor data. That includes 21 citations against the defunct Trump Plaza in Atlantic City and three against the also out-of-business Trump Mortgage LLC in New York. Both cases were resolved by the companies agreeing to pay back wages.
•••••
The actions in total paint a portrait of Trump’s sprawling organization frequently failing to pay small businesses and individuals, then sometimes tying them up in court and other negotiations for years. In some cases, the Trump teams financially overpower and outlast much smaller opponents, draining their resources. Some just give up the fight, or settle for less; some have ended up in bankruptcy or out of business altogether.
•••••
The number of companies and others alleging he hasn’t paid suggests that either his companies have a poor track record hiring workers and assessing contractors, or that Trump businesses renege on contracts, refuse to pay, or consistently attempt to change payment terms after work is complete as is alleged in dozens of court cases.
In the interview, Trump repeatedly said the cases were “a long time ago.” However, even as he campaigns for the presidency, new cases are continuing. Just last month, Trump Miami Resort Management LLC settled with 48 servers at his Miami golf resort over failing to pay overtime for a special event. The settlements averaged about $800 for each worker and as high as $3,000 for one, according to court records. Some workers put in 20-hour days over the 10-day Passover event at Trump National Doral Miami, the lawsuit contends. Trump’s team initially argued a contractor hired the workers, and he wasn’t responsible, and counter-sued the contractor demanding payment.
“Trump could have settled it right off the bat, but they wanted to fight it out, that’s their M.O.” said Rod Hannah, of Plantation, Fla., the lawyer who represented the workers, who he said are forbidden from talking about the case in public. “They’re known for their aggressiveness, and if you have the money, why not?”
•••••
In courtroom testimony, the manager of the general contractor for the Doral renovation admitted that a decision was made not to pay The Paint Spot because Trump “already paid enough.” As the construction manager spoke, “Trump’s trial attorneys visibly winced, began breathing heavily, and attempted to make eye contact” with the witness, the judge noted in his ruling.
•••••
Despite the Trumps’ assertion that their companies only refuse payment to contractors “when somebody does a bad job,” he has sometimes offered to hire those same contractors again. It’s a puzzling turn of events, since most people who have a poor experience with a contractor, and who refuse to pay and even fight the contractor in court, aren’t likely to offer to rehire them.
•••••
In the meeting, Donald Trump told his father that the company’s work was inferior, Friel said, even though the general contractor on the casino had approved it. The bottom line, Trump told Edward Friel, was the company wouldn't get the final payment. Then, Friel said Trump added something that struck the family as bizarre. Trump told his dad that he could work on other Trump projects in the future.
“Wait a minute,” Paul Friel said, recalling his family's reaction to his dad’s account of the meeting. “Why would the Trump family want a company who they say their work is inferior to work for them in the future?”
•••••
Maintaining healthy relationships
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-07/uow-mhr072816.php
Public Release: 28-Jul-2016
Maintaining healthy relationships: University of Waterloo studies identify a promising way
University of Waterloo
Thinking about the future helps overcome relationship conflicts, according to a University of Waterloo study just published online in Social Psychological and Personality Science.
"When romantic partners argue over things like finances, jealousy, or other interpersonal issues, they tend to employ their current feelings as fuel for a heated argument. By envisioning their relationship in the future, people can shift the focus away from their current feelings and mitigate conflicts," said Alex Huynh, a doctoral candidate in psychology and lead author of the study, which he published with Igor Grossmann from the University of Waterloo, and Daniel Yang from Yale University.
Previous research has shown that taking a step back, and adopting a distanced fly-on-the-wall-type of perspective can be a positive strategy for reconciliation of interpersonal struggles. For example, prior research by Grossmann and colleagues suggests that people are able to reason more wisely over issues of infidelity when they are asked to do so from a third-person perspective. Huynh and his collaborators investigated whether similar benefits in reasoning and relationship well-being can be induced by simply stepping back and thinking about the future.
Study participants were instructed to reflect on a recent conflict with a romantic partner or a close friend. One group of participants were then asked to describe how they would feel about the conflict one year in the future, while another group was asked to describe how they feel in the present.
•••••
The researchers found that thinking about the future affected both participants' focus on their feelings, and their reasoning strategies. As a result, participants reported more positivity about their relationship altogether. In particular, when study participants extended their thinking about the relationship a year into the future, they were able to show more forgiveness and reinterpret the event in a more reasoned and positive light.
The way people respond to conflict is an essential component for relationship maintenance, say the researchers.
•••••
The research also has potential implications for understanding how prospection, or future-thinking, can be a beneficial strategy for a variety of conflicts people experience in their everyday lives.
Public Release: 28-Jul-2016
Maintaining healthy relationships: University of Waterloo studies identify a promising way
University of Waterloo
Thinking about the future helps overcome relationship conflicts, according to a University of Waterloo study just published online in Social Psychological and Personality Science.
"When romantic partners argue over things like finances, jealousy, or other interpersonal issues, they tend to employ their current feelings as fuel for a heated argument. By envisioning their relationship in the future, people can shift the focus away from their current feelings and mitigate conflicts," said Alex Huynh, a doctoral candidate in psychology and lead author of the study, which he published with Igor Grossmann from the University of Waterloo, and Daniel Yang from Yale University.
Previous research has shown that taking a step back, and adopting a distanced fly-on-the-wall-type of perspective can be a positive strategy for reconciliation of interpersonal struggles. For example, prior research by Grossmann and colleagues suggests that people are able to reason more wisely over issues of infidelity when they are asked to do so from a third-person perspective. Huynh and his collaborators investigated whether similar benefits in reasoning and relationship well-being can be induced by simply stepping back and thinking about the future.
Study participants were instructed to reflect on a recent conflict with a romantic partner or a close friend. One group of participants were then asked to describe how they would feel about the conflict one year in the future, while another group was asked to describe how they feel in the present.
•••••
The researchers found that thinking about the future affected both participants' focus on their feelings, and their reasoning strategies. As a result, participants reported more positivity about their relationship altogether. In particular, when study participants extended their thinking about the relationship a year into the future, they were able to show more forgiveness and reinterpret the event in a more reasoned and positive light.
The way people respond to conflict is an essential component for relationship maintenance, say the researchers.
•••••
The research also has potential implications for understanding how prospection, or future-thinking, can be a beneficial strategy for a variety of conflicts people experience in their everyday lives.
All e-cigarettes emit harmful chemicals, but some emit more than others
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-07/dbnl-aee072216.php
Public Release: 27-Jul-2016
All e-cigarettes emit harmful chemicals, but some emit more than others
Berkeley Lab study identifies two additional carcinogens not previously reported in e-cigarette vapor
DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
While previous studies have found that electronic cigarettes emit toxic compounds, a new study from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has pinpointed the source of these emissions and shown how factors such as the temperature, type, and age of the device play a role in emission levels, information that could be valuable to both manufacturers and regulators seeking to minimize the health impacts of these increasingly popular devices.
The study, which was published in Environmental Science & Technology, found that the thermal decomposition of propylene glycol and glycerin, two solvents found in most "e-liquids" (the substance that is vaporized by the e-cigarette), leads to emissions of toxic chemicals such as acrolein and formaldehyde.
"Advocates of e-cigarettes say emissions are much lower than from conventional cigarettes, so you're better off using e-cigarettes," said Berkeley Lab researcher and the study's corresponding author Hugo Destaillats. "I would say, that may be true for certain users--for example, long time smokers that cannot quit--but the problem is, it doesn't mean that they're healthy. Regular cigarettes are super unhealthy. E-cigarettes are just unhealthy."
•••••
The researchers vaporized liquids consisting solely of the solvents to verify that they were the source of the emissions. In all, the researchers detected significant levels of 31 harmful chemical compounds, including two that had never been previously found in e-cigarette vapor--propylene oxide and glycidol, both of which are probable carcinogens.
•••••
Public Release: 27-Jul-2016
All e-cigarettes emit harmful chemicals, but some emit more than others
Berkeley Lab study identifies two additional carcinogens not previously reported in e-cigarette vapor
DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
While previous studies have found that electronic cigarettes emit toxic compounds, a new study from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has pinpointed the source of these emissions and shown how factors such as the temperature, type, and age of the device play a role in emission levels, information that could be valuable to both manufacturers and regulators seeking to minimize the health impacts of these increasingly popular devices.
The study, which was published in Environmental Science & Technology, found that the thermal decomposition of propylene glycol and glycerin, two solvents found in most "e-liquids" (the substance that is vaporized by the e-cigarette), leads to emissions of toxic chemicals such as acrolein and formaldehyde.
"Advocates of e-cigarettes say emissions are much lower than from conventional cigarettes, so you're better off using e-cigarettes," said Berkeley Lab researcher and the study's corresponding author Hugo Destaillats. "I would say, that may be true for certain users--for example, long time smokers that cannot quit--but the problem is, it doesn't mean that they're healthy. Regular cigarettes are super unhealthy. E-cigarettes are just unhealthy."
•••••
The researchers vaporized liquids consisting solely of the solvents to verify that they were the source of the emissions. In all, the researchers detected significant levels of 31 harmful chemical compounds, including two that had never been previously found in e-cigarette vapor--propylene oxide and glycidol, both of which are probable carcinogens.
•••••
After-hours email expectations negatively impact employee well-being
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-07/lu-aee072716.php
Public Release: 27-Jul-2016
After-hours email expectations negatively impact employee well-being
Lehigh University
Earlier this year, France passed a labor reform law that banned checking emails on weekends. New research--to be presented next week at the annual meeting of the Academy of Management--suggests other countries might do well to follow suit, for the sake of employee health and productivity.
A new study--authored by Liuba Belkin of Lehigh University, William Becker of Virginia Tech and Samantha A. Conroy of Colorado State University--finds a link between organizational after-hours email expectations and emotional exhaustion, which hinders work-family balance. The results suggest that modern workplace technologies may be hurting the very employees that those technologies were designed to help.
Using data collected from 297 working adults, Belkin and her colleagues look at the role of organizational expectation regarding "off" hour emailing and find it negatively impacts employee emotional states, leading to "burnout" and diminished work-family balance, which is essential for individual health and well-being. The study--described in an article entitled "Exhausted, but unable to disconnect: the impact of email-related organizational expectations on work-family balance"--is the first to identify email-related expectations as a job stressor along with already established factors such as high workload, interpersonal conflicts, physical environment or time pressure.
Previous research has shown that in order to restore resources used during the day at work, employees must be able to detach both mentally and physically from work.
"Email is notoriously known to be the impediment of the recovery process. Its accessibility contributes to experience of work overload since it allows employees to engage in work as if they never left the workspace, and at the same time, inhibits their ability to psychologically detach from work-related issues via continuous connectivity," write the authors.
Interestingly, they found that it is not the amount of time spent on work emails, but the expectation which drives the resulting sense of exhaustion. Due to anticipatory stress--defined as a constant state of anxiety and uncertainty as a result of perceived or anticipated threats, according to research cited in the article--employees are unable to detach and feel exhausted regardless of the time spent on after-hours emails.
"This suggests that organizational expectations can steal employee resources even when actual time is not required because employees cannot fully separate from work," state the authors.
According to the study, the expectation does not have to be explicit or conveyed through a formal organizational policy. It can be set by normative standards for behavior in the organization. The organizational culture is created through what its leaders and members define as acceptable or unacceptable behavior.
"Thus, if an organization perpetuates the 'always on' culture it may prevent employees from fully disengaging from work eventually leading to chronic stress," says Belkin, associate professor of management at Lehigh's College of Business and Economics and coauthor of the study.
•••••
Public Release: 27-Jul-2016
After-hours email expectations negatively impact employee well-being
Lehigh University
Earlier this year, France passed a labor reform law that banned checking emails on weekends. New research--to be presented next week at the annual meeting of the Academy of Management--suggests other countries might do well to follow suit, for the sake of employee health and productivity.
A new study--authored by Liuba Belkin of Lehigh University, William Becker of Virginia Tech and Samantha A. Conroy of Colorado State University--finds a link between organizational after-hours email expectations and emotional exhaustion, which hinders work-family balance. The results suggest that modern workplace technologies may be hurting the very employees that those technologies were designed to help.
Using data collected from 297 working adults, Belkin and her colleagues look at the role of organizational expectation regarding "off" hour emailing and find it negatively impacts employee emotional states, leading to "burnout" and diminished work-family balance, which is essential for individual health and well-being. The study--described in an article entitled "Exhausted, but unable to disconnect: the impact of email-related organizational expectations on work-family balance"--is the first to identify email-related expectations as a job stressor along with already established factors such as high workload, interpersonal conflicts, physical environment or time pressure.
Previous research has shown that in order to restore resources used during the day at work, employees must be able to detach both mentally and physically from work.
"Email is notoriously known to be the impediment of the recovery process. Its accessibility contributes to experience of work overload since it allows employees to engage in work as if they never left the workspace, and at the same time, inhibits their ability to psychologically detach from work-related issues via continuous connectivity," write the authors.
Interestingly, they found that it is not the amount of time spent on work emails, but the expectation which drives the resulting sense of exhaustion. Due to anticipatory stress--defined as a constant state of anxiety and uncertainty as a result of perceived or anticipated threats, according to research cited in the article--employees are unable to detach and feel exhausted regardless of the time spent on after-hours emails.
"This suggests that organizational expectations can steal employee resources even when actual time is not required because employees cannot fully separate from work," state the authors.
According to the study, the expectation does not have to be explicit or conveyed through a formal organizational policy. It can be set by normative standards for behavior in the organization. The organizational culture is created through what its leaders and members define as acceptable or unacceptable behavior.
"Thus, if an organization perpetuates the 'always on' culture it may prevent employees from fully disengaging from work eventually leading to chronic stress," says Belkin, associate professor of management at Lehigh's College of Business and Economics and coauthor of the study.
•••••
Weight loss surgery associated with increased fracture risk, even before surgery
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-07/b-wls072616.php
Public Release: 27-Jul-2016
Weight loss surgery associated with increased fracture risk
Fracture risk assessment and management should be part of weight loss care
BMJ
Severely obese patients undergoing weight loss surgery are more likely to have increased fracture risks both before and after the surgical procedure compared to obese and non-obese people who don't need surgery, finds a large study published by The BMJ this week.
Obesity may not be as protective for fracture as originally thought, say the authors, and they suggest that fracture risk assessment and management should be part of weight loss care.
Guidelines should be followed on patient adherence to dietary supplements and physical activity, and patients should be referred to bone specialists if fracture risk is considered high.
Benefits and risks of surgery should be considered on an individual basis to propose the type of surgical procedure best suited to the patient as the efficacy of weight loss surgeries differs in terms of resolution of chronic conditions, they add.
•••••
Before surgery, 10.5% patients in the weight loss surgery group had at least one fracture compared with 8.1% obese and 6.6% non-obese people in the control groups.
After a mean follow-up of 4.4 years, 4.1% of the weight loss surgery patients had at least one fracture compared with 2.7% of obese and 2.4% of non-obese groups. The median time to first fracture was 3.9 years.
These increased fracture risks remained high even after adjusting for fracture history, number of comorbidities, material and social deprivation, and area of residence.
The post-operative fracture risk changed from a pattern associated with obesity in the distal lower limb fracture, to a pattern typical of osteoporosis in the upper limb, clinical spine, pelvis, hip and femur.
The authors speculate that the increased fracture risks are due to falls and obesity related conditions, such as type 2 diabetes, as well as anatomical changes, and nutritional deficiencies induced by weight loss surgery.
This is an observational study so no firm conclusions can be made about cause and effect, and the authors note several limitations, such as being unable to match participants on body mass index, and not considering other factors that may have caused fractures, such as vitamin intake and drug use.
•••••
Public Release: 27-Jul-2016
Weight loss surgery associated with increased fracture risk
Fracture risk assessment and management should be part of weight loss care
BMJ
Severely obese patients undergoing weight loss surgery are more likely to have increased fracture risks both before and after the surgical procedure compared to obese and non-obese people who don't need surgery, finds a large study published by The BMJ this week.
Obesity may not be as protective for fracture as originally thought, say the authors, and they suggest that fracture risk assessment and management should be part of weight loss care.
Guidelines should be followed on patient adherence to dietary supplements and physical activity, and patients should be referred to bone specialists if fracture risk is considered high.
Benefits and risks of surgery should be considered on an individual basis to propose the type of surgical procedure best suited to the patient as the efficacy of weight loss surgeries differs in terms of resolution of chronic conditions, they add.
•••••
Before surgery, 10.5% patients in the weight loss surgery group had at least one fracture compared with 8.1% obese and 6.6% non-obese people in the control groups.
After a mean follow-up of 4.4 years, 4.1% of the weight loss surgery patients had at least one fracture compared with 2.7% of obese and 2.4% of non-obese groups. The median time to first fracture was 3.9 years.
These increased fracture risks remained high even after adjusting for fracture history, number of comorbidities, material and social deprivation, and area of residence.
The post-operative fracture risk changed from a pattern associated with obesity in the distal lower limb fracture, to a pattern typical of osteoporosis in the upper limb, clinical spine, pelvis, hip and femur.
The authors speculate that the increased fracture risks are due to falls and obesity related conditions, such as type 2 diabetes, as well as anatomical changes, and nutritional deficiencies induced by weight loss surgery.
This is an observational study so no firm conclusions can be made about cause and effect, and the authors note several limitations, such as being unable to match participants on body mass index, and not considering other factors that may have caused fractures, such as vitamin intake and drug use.
•••••
Sugar industry's role in diet, health studies questioned
The people paying for these studies don't have to demand results pleasing to them. It will be obvious that they won't continue to fund your studies if you don't report the desired results.http://www.cbsnews.com/news/sugar-industry-scientific-heart-research-that-made-fat-look-bad/
Sept. 12, 2016
The sugar industry began funding research that cast doubt on sugar’s role in heart disease - in part by pointing the finger at fat - as early as the 1960s, according to an analysis of newly uncovered documents.
The analysis published Monday is based on correspondence between a sugar trade group and researchers at Harvard University, and is the latest example showing how food and beverage makers attempt to shape public understanding of nutrition.
In 1964, the group now known as the Sugar Association internally discussed a campaign to address “negative attitudes toward sugar” after studies began emerging linking sugar with heart disease, according to documents dug up from public archives. The following year the group approved “Project 226,” which entailed paying Harvard researchers today’s equivalent of $48,900 for an article reviewing the scientific literature, supplying materials they wanted reviewed, and receiving drafts of the article.
The resulting article published in 1967 concluded there was “no doubt” that reducing cholesterol and saturated fat was the only dietary intervention needed to prevent heart disease. The researchers overstated the consistency of the literature on fat and cholesterol, while downplaying studies on sugar, according to the analysis.
“Let me assure you this is quite what we had in mind and we look forward to its appearance in print,” wrote an employee of the sugar industry group to one of the authors.
The sugar industry’s funding and role were not disclosed when the article was published by the New England Journal of Medicine. The journal, which did not require such disclosures at the time, began requesting author disclosures in 1984.
In an editorial published Monday that accompanied the sugar industry analysis, New York University professor of nutrition Marion Nestle noted that for decades following the study, scientists and health officials focused on reducing saturated fat, not sugar, to prevent heart disease.
While scientists are still working to understand links between diet and heart disease, concern has shifted in recent years to sugar and carbohydrates, and away from fat, Nestle said.
A committee advising the federal government on dietary guidelines says the available evidence shows “no appreciable relationship” between the dietary cholesterol and heart disease, although it still recommended limiting saturated fats.
•••••
Companies including Coca-Cola Co. and Kellogg Co. as well as groups for agricultural products like beef and blueberries regularly fund studies that become a part of scientific literature, are cited by other researchers, and are touted in press releases.
Companies say they adhere to scientific standards, and many researchers feel that industry funding is critical to advancing science given the growing competition for government funds. But critics say such studies are often thinly veiled marketing that undermine efforts to improve public health.
•••••
A Walk Down Memory Lane on Republican Obstruction
I'm posting this because a Facebook friend expressed total ignorance of the way Republicans blocked President Obama's efforts to speed economic recovery. Judging by her Facebook posts, she gets her "news" from right-wing sources.http://washingtonmonthly.com/2015/02/01/a-walk-down-memory-lane-on-republican-obstruction/
I'm also using this for my own repository for this information, so I have included a variety of sources, and there is some repetition.
by Nancy LeTourneau
February 1, 2015
For some of us its pretty galling to hear Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell suggest that the way to end dysfunction in Washington is for President Obama to move to the “middle,” or to have to listen to a Republican presidential candidate opine about the lack of “adult conversations” in D.C.
For the record, here’s a little walk down memory lane of Republicans talking publicly about their strategy for obstruction:
1993 – Bill Kristol writes a memo outlining a strategy for Republicans on President Clinton’s health care reform proposal.
Faced with forceful objections in the past, the [Clinton] Administration has generally preferred to bargain and compromise with Congress so as to achieve any victory it can. But health care is not, in fact, just another Clinton domestic policy. And the conventional political strategies Republicans have used in the past are inadequate to the task of defeating the Clinton plan outright. That must be our goal…
Simple, green-eyeshades criticism of the plan…is fine so far as it goes. But in the current climate, such opposition only wins concessions, not surrender…
Any Republican urge to negotiate a “least bad” compromise with the Democrats, and thereby gain momentary public credit for helping the president “do something” about health care, should also be resisted.
2003 – Governor Deval Patrick recalls Grover Norquist’s comments on plans for a “permanent Republican majority.”
•••••
During his presentation, Norquist explained why he believed that there would be a permanent Republican majority in America.
One person interrupted, as I recall, and said, “C’mon, Grover, surely one day a Democrat will win the White House.”
Norquist immediately replied: “We will make it so that a Democrat cannot govern as a Democrat.”
2009 – As Michael Grunwald reported, these two ideas coalesced into a Republican plan on how to respond to the election of President Barack Obama.
…the Republican plot to obstruct President Obama before he even took office, including secret meetings led by House GOP whip Eric Cantor (in December 2008) and Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell (in early January 2009) in which they laid out their daring (though cynical and political) no-honeymoon strategy of all-out resistance to a popular President-elect during an economic emergency. “If he was for it,” former Ohio Senator George Voinovich explained, “we had to be against it.”
As Oceans Continue to Warm, Consequences Grow More Dire, Study Says
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/07092016/oceans-climate-change-marine-global-warming-temperatures-study-coral-reef-bleaching
By Nicholas Kusnetz
Sept. 7, 2016
The coming century will likely bring dangerous and dramatic changes to the planet's oceans, with ever strengthening storms, annual bleaching of almost all coral reefs, loss of biodiversity and severe impacts on fisheries and aquaculture unless humans slash greenhouse gas emissions.
These are the findings of a comprehensive review of the effects of warming oceans, issued Monday by International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and compiled by more than 80 scientists from 12 countries. The report chronicles how the seas have absorbed the vast majority of the excess heat trapped in the atmosphere by carbon emissions in recent decades, and how that energy is already altering the planet's weather systems and ecology, from deep ocean trenches to alpine glaciers.
"Ocean warming is one of this generation's greatest hidden challenges—and one for which we are completely unprepared," Inger Andersen, IUCN's director general, said in a statement. "The only way to preserve the rich diversity of marine life, and to safeguard the protection and resources the ocean provides us with, is to cut greenhouse gas emissions rapidly and substantially."
•••••
In many ways, the oceans have helped mitigate the effects of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere. They've absorbed more than 90 percent of the excess heat since the 1970s. If all the warmth that went into the top 1.25 miles of the ocean between 1955-2010 had instead gone into the air, the earth would have warmed 36 degrees Celsius.
Unfortunately, the report explained, the oceans are beginning to catapult that heat back into the atmosphere, with often dire consequences.
The unusually intense El Niño weather pattern in recent years—which has contributed to strong monsoons, droughts and wildfires across the globe—may be an example of a sudden release of stored energy to the surface in the Pacific Ocean. The seas are likely to warm 1 to 4 degrees Celsius by 2100, and models suggest that will translate into stronger, more frequent El Niño events, more intense hurricanes and a general amping up of the hydrological cycle, which brings moisture into the atmosphere from the ocean and then back down as precipitation.
•••••
The study, which the authors said is meant to build on the 2013 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, covered other issues as well, including ocean acidification and the potential links between warming waters and increased spread of tropical diseases. If that wasn't bad enough, the report also warned that increased ocean temperatures could unleash some 2.5 billion tons of methane hydrate—a potent greenhouse gas currently frozen into the sea floor.
•••••
The original study. It is a pdf, and I don't have time to fix the short line lengths.
https://portals.iucn.org/library/sites/library/files/documents/2016-046_0.pdf
[from p. 375]
4.2.2
Ocean warming and associated stressor
impacts
As stated above around 90% of the extra heat now
trapped within the earth system is now in the ocean
(Johnson and Lyman, 2014), a consequence of the
vastly higher heat capacity of the ocean relative to the
atmosphere and the rapid transfer of water that has
recently been in contact with the atmosphere into the
deep ocean interior.
[from p. 3780
4.2.3.1 Deoxygenation
Ocean deoxygenation is occurring now, partly as a direct
consequence of the warming (that makes oxygen less
soluble in warmer waters and which is ongoing) and partly
as a consequence of the reduced circulation rates (that
decrease the transport of oxygen into the subsurface
ocean from the atmosphere) (Keeling
et al
., 2010). The
latter appears to be happening as predicted by state-
of-the-art IPCC class models although not quite at the
same rate. Reduced oxygen levels have been observed
in much of the ocean (e.g. the Mauritanian upwelling by
west Africa, the Benguela upwelling by south-west Africa,
the Arabian Sea, the Peruvian upwelling, the equatorial
Pacific, Ulloa
et al
., 2012) and it seems likely that these
areas will expand. Aside from the direct consequences
of these zones expanding (fish mortality, species shift,
etc.) there are at least two important consequences of
these expansions which have the capacity to impact on
ocean functioning in a major way.
By Nicholas Kusnetz
Sept. 7, 2016
The coming century will likely bring dangerous and dramatic changes to the planet's oceans, with ever strengthening storms, annual bleaching of almost all coral reefs, loss of biodiversity and severe impacts on fisheries and aquaculture unless humans slash greenhouse gas emissions.
These are the findings of a comprehensive review of the effects of warming oceans, issued Monday by International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and compiled by more than 80 scientists from 12 countries. The report chronicles how the seas have absorbed the vast majority of the excess heat trapped in the atmosphere by carbon emissions in recent decades, and how that energy is already altering the planet's weather systems and ecology, from deep ocean trenches to alpine glaciers.
"Ocean warming is one of this generation's greatest hidden challenges—and one for which we are completely unprepared," Inger Andersen, IUCN's director general, said in a statement. "The only way to preserve the rich diversity of marine life, and to safeguard the protection and resources the ocean provides us with, is to cut greenhouse gas emissions rapidly and substantially."
•••••
In many ways, the oceans have helped mitigate the effects of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere. They've absorbed more than 90 percent of the excess heat since the 1970s. If all the warmth that went into the top 1.25 miles of the ocean between 1955-2010 had instead gone into the air, the earth would have warmed 36 degrees Celsius.
[I looked this up in the original document, and that's right, a rise of 36C = 65F!]
Unfortunately, the report explained, the oceans are beginning to catapult that heat back into the atmosphere, with often dire consequences.
The unusually intense El Niño weather pattern in recent years—which has contributed to strong monsoons, droughts and wildfires across the globe—may be an example of a sudden release of stored energy to the surface in the Pacific Ocean. The seas are likely to warm 1 to 4 degrees Celsius by 2100, and models suggest that will translate into stronger, more frequent El Niño events, more intense hurricanes and a general amping up of the hydrological cycle, which brings moisture into the atmosphere from the ocean and then back down as precipitation.
•••••
The study, which the authors said is meant to build on the 2013 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, covered other issues as well, including ocean acidification and the potential links between warming waters and increased spread of tropical diseases. If that wasn't bad enough, the report also warned that increased ocean temperatures could unleash some 2.5 billion tons of methane hydrate—a potent greenhouse gas currently frozen into the sea floor.
•••••
The original study. It is a pdf, and I don't have time to fix the short line lengths.
https://portals.iucn.org/library/sites/library/files/documents/2016-046_0.pdf
[from p. 375]
4.2.2
Ocean warming and associated stressor
impacts
As stated above around 90% of the extra heat now
trapped within the earth system is now in the ocean
(Johnson and Lyman, 2014), a consequence of the
vastly higher heat capacity of the ocean relative to the
atmosphere and the rapid transfer of water that has
recently been in contact with the atmosphere into the
deep ocean interior.
[from p. 3780
4.2.3.1 Deoxygenation
Ocean deoxygenation is occurring now, partly as a direct
consequence of the warming (that makes oxygen less
soluble in warmer waters and which is ongoing) and partly
as a consequence of the reduced circulation rates (that
decrease the transport of oxygen into the subsurface
ocean from the atmosphere) (Keeling
et al
., 2010). The
latter appears to be happening as predicted by state-
of-the-art IPCC class models although not quite at the
same rate. Reduced oxygen levels have been observed
in much of the ocean (e.g. the Mauritanian upwelling by
west Africa, the Benguela upwelling by south-west Africa,
the Arabian Sea, the Peruvian upwelling, the equatorial
Pacific, Ulloa
et al
., 2012) and it seems likely that these
areas will expand. Aside from the direct consequences
of these zones expanding (fish mortality, species shift,
etc.) there are at least two important consequences of
these expansions which have the capacity to impact on
ocean functioning in a major way.
Samsung Note 7 users urged to turn them off due to fire risk
http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2016/09/09/samsung-note-users-urged-turn-them-off-due-fire-risk/VwX7ghRQYlesYZ0DyZaIuI/story.html?s_campaign=email_BG_TodaysHeadline&s_campaign=
By Alan Levin Bloomberg News September 09, 2016
A US consumer agency has urged users of Samsung Electronics Co.’s Note 7 smartphones to immediately turn off and stop charging them, and aviation authorities around the world ordered passengers not to use them during flights.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission said Friday that it is talking with Samsung about undertaking an official recall of the devices as soon as possible. About three dozen of the devices, released just three weeks ago, had batteries that caught fire or exploded.
“This consumer warning is based on recent reports involving lithium-ion batteries in certain Note 7 devices that have resulted in fires,” the consumer agency said. “These incidents have occurred while charging and during normal use, which has led us to call for consumers to power down their Note 7s.”
The South Korea-based company has already announced a voluntary, worldwide recall of all 2.5 million of the smartphones it has shipped, at a cost estimated at as much as $1 billion.
The federal action came as aviation regulators in several countries and airlines advised passengers against turning on or charging the devices during flights.
The European Aviation Safety Agency on Friday issued such a warning and cautioned against packing them in checked bags, according to a posting on its website. That followed a nonbinding warning issued Thursday by the Federal Aviation Administration.
•••••
By Alan Levin Bloomberg News September 09, 2016
A US consumer agency has urged users of Samsung Electronics Co.’s Note 7 smartphones to immediately turn off and stop charging them, and aviation authorities around the world ordered passengers not to use them during flights.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission said Friday that it is talking with Samsung about undertaking an official recall of the devices as soon as possible. About three dozen of the devices, released just three weeks ago, had batteries that caught fire or exploded.
“This consumer warning is based on recent reports involving lithium-ion batteries in certain Note 7 devices that have resulted in fires,” the consumer agency said. “These incidents have occurred while charging and during normal use, which has led us to call for consumers to power down their Note 7s.”
The South Korea-based company has already announced a voluntary, worldwide recall of all 2.5 million of the smartphones it has shipped, at a cost estimated at as much as $1 billion.
The federal action came as aviation regulators in several countries and airlines advised passengers against turning on or charging the devices during flights.
The European Aviation Safety Agency on Friday issued such a warning and cautioned against packing them in checked bags, according to a posting on its website. That followed a nonbinding warning issued Thursday by the Federal Aviation Administration.
•••••
Wells Fargo Exec Who Headed Phony Accounts Unit Collected $125 Million
No surprise, normal way of doing business.http://fortune.com/2016/09/12/wells-fargo-cfpb-carrie-tolstedt/
by Stephen Gandel
Sept. 12, 2016
Wells Fargo & Co’s wfc “sandbagger”-in-chief is leaving the giant bank with an enormous pay day—$124.6 million.
In fact, despite beefed-up “clawback” provisions instituted by the bank shortly after the financial crisis, and the recent revelations of massive misconduct, it does not appear that Wells Fargo is requiring Carrie Tolstedt, the Wells Fargo executive who was in charge of the unit where employees opened more than 2 million largely unauthorized customer accounts—a seemingly routine practice that employees internally referred to as “sandbagging”—to give back any of her nine-figure pay.
On Thursday, Wells Fargo wfc agreed to pay $185 million, including the largest penalty ever imposed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, to settle claims that that it defrauded its customers. The bank’s shareholders will ultimately have to swallow the cost of that settlement. The bank also said it had fired 5,300 employees over five years related to the bad behavior.
•••••
Shortly after the financial crisis, big banks in the nation, including Wells Fargo, promised that their top bankers would not be able to keep large paydays if it was found that those rewards were gained through harmful conduct. It was supposed to be the stick to the carrot of Wall Street bonuses. But the latest example of fraud at Wells Fargo shows that the big banks are unwilling to wield those sticks, especially when it comes to their top executives.
•••••
in bringing the charges, an official from the CFPB said Wells Fargo was aware of the behavior for longer than it should have, without putting a stop to it.
•••••
Tolstedt was regularly praised for her unit’s ability to get customers to open numerous accounts. For a number of years, Wells Fargo’s proxy statement, which details executive pay, cited high “cross-selling ratios” as a reason that Tolstedt had earned her roughly $9 million in annual pay. For instance, in Wells Fargo’s 2015 proxy statement, the company said that its compensation committee had authorized Tolstedt’s $7.3 million stock and cash bonus that year, because “under her leadership, Community Banking achieved a number of strategic objectives, including continued strong cross-sell ratios, record deposit levels, and continued success of mobile banking initiatives.”
Later that year, the L.A. City Attorney’s office sued the bank because of its sales tactics, saying that many of the abusive practices came from intense pressure on Wells Fargo’s employees to get customers to open up numerous accounts. A separate class action of former employees alleges they were fired for not meeting cross-selling goals, or going along with the aggressive sales tactics.
•••••
When Tolstedt leaves Wells Fargo later this year, on top of the $1.7 million in salary she has received over the past few years, she will be walking away with $124.6 million in stock, options, and restricted Wells Fargo shares. Some of that hasn’t vested yet. But Tolstedt gets to keep all of it because she technically retired. Had she been fired, Tolstedt would have had to forfeit at least $45 million of that exit payday, and possibly more.
•••••
About the ‘Basket of Deplorables’
Brings to mind a lady I knew who couldn't understand why people assumed her parents were bad people just because they belonged to the KKK.http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/12/opinion/about-the-basket-of-deplorables.html?action=click&contentCollection=U.S.&module=Trending&version=Full®ion=Marginalia&pgtype=article
Charles M. Blow
SEPT. 12, 2016
Let’s get straight to it: Hillary Clinton’s comments Friday at a fund-raiser that half of Donald Trump’s supporters could be put in a “basket of deplorables” wasn’t a smart political play.
Candidates do themselves a tremendous disservice when they attack voters rather than campaigns. Whatever advantage is procured through the rallying of one’s own base is outweighed by what will be read as divisiveness and disdain.
Here is Clinton’s full quote:
“You know, to just be grossly generalistic, you could put half of Trump’s supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables. Right? The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic — you name it. And unfortunately there are people like that. And he has lifted them up. He has given voice to their websites that used to only have 11,000 people — now 11 million. He tweets and retweets their offensive, hateful, mean-spirited rhetoric. Now some of those folks — they are irredeemable, but thankfully they are not America.”
Then, she continued: “But the other basket — and I know this because I see friends from all over America here — I see friends from Florida and Georgia and South Carolina and Texas — as well as, you know, New York and California — but that other basket of people are people who feel that the government has let them down, the economy has let them down, nobody cares about them, nobody worries about what happens to their lives and their futures, and they’re just desperate for change. It doesn’t really even matter where it comes from. They don’t buy everything he says, but he seems to hold out some hope that their lives will be different. They won’t wake up and see their jobs disappear, lose a kid to heroin, feel like they’re in a dead end. Those are people we have to understand and empathize with as well.”
That second basket got too little attention. Context doesn’t provide the sizzle on which shock media subsists. Noted.
What Clinton said was impolitic, but it was not incorrect. There are things a politician cannot say. Luckily, I’m not a politician.
Donald Trump is a deplorable candidate — to put it charitably — and anyone who helps him advance his racial, religious and ethnic bigotry is part of that bigotry. Period. Anyone who elevates a sexist is part of that sexism. The same goes for xenophobia. You can’t conveniently separate yourself from the detestable part of him because you sense in him the promise of cultural or economic advantage. That hair cannot be split.
Furthermore, one doesn’t have to actively hate to contribute to a culture that allows hate to flourish.
It doesn’t matter how lovely your family, how honorable your work or service, how devout your faith — if you place ideological adherence or economic self interest above the moral imperative to condemn and denounce a demagogue, then you are deplorable.
And there is some evidence that Trump’s supporters don’t simply have a passive, tacit acceptance of an undesirable platform, but instead have an active set of beliefs that support what is deplorable in Trump.
•••••
In June a Reuters/Ipsos poll found: “Nearly half of Trump’s supporters described African-Americans as more ‘violent’ than whites. The same proportion described African-Americans as more ‘criminal’ than whites, while 40 percent described them as more ‘lazy’ than whites.”
A Pew poll released in February found that 65 percent of Republicans believe the next president should “speak bluntly even if critical of Islam as a whole” when talking about Islamic extremists.
•••••
A February Public Policy Polling survey found “Trump’s support in South Carolina is built on a base of voters among whom religious and racial intolerance pervades.” What the poll found about those South Carolina supporters’ beliefs was truly shocking:
• Eighty percent of likely Trump primary voters supported Trump’s proposed ban on Muslims.
• Sixty-two percent supported creating a national database of Muslims and 40 percent supported shutting down mosques in the United States.
• Thirty-eight percent wished the South had won the Civil War.
• Thirty-three percent thought the practice of Islam should be illegal in this country.
• Thirty-two percent supported the policy of Japanese internment during World War II.
• Thirty-one percent would support a ban on homosexuals entering the country.
On Saturday, Clinton issued a statement pointing out that “I regret saying ‘half’ — that was wrong.” Place the percentage where you will — or don’t — but the fact is indisputable.
I understand that people recoil at the notion that they are part of a pejorative basket. I understand the reflexive resistance to having your negative beliefs disrobed and your sense of self dressed down.
I understand your outrage, but I’m unmoved by it. If the basket fits …
Pope Francis says destroying the environment is a sin
It seems to me this would be obvious to people that believe in a God who created our world.https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/sep/01/pope-francis-calls-on-christians-to-embrace-green-agenda
I suggest reading the whole article at the following link.
Josephine McKenna in Rome
Thursday 1 September 2016
Pope Francis has called for urgent action to stop climate change and proposed that caring for the environment be added to traditional Christian works of mercy such as feeding the hungry and visiting the sick.
In a message to mark the Catholic church’s World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation that he launched last year, Francis said the worst impact of global warming was being felt by those who were least responsible for it – refugees and the poor.
•••••
Francis described man’s destruction of the environment as a sin and accused mankind of turning the planet into a “polluted wasteland full of debris, desolation and filth”.
“Global warming continues,” the pope said. “2015 was the warmest year on record, and 2016 will likely be warmer still. This is leading to ever more severe droughts, floods, fires and extreme weather events.
“Climate change is also contributing to the heart-rending refugee crisis. The world’s poor, though least responsible for climate change, are most vulnerable and already suffering its impact. ”
The pope said the faithful should use the Holy Year of Mercy throughout 2016 to ask forgiveness for sins committed against the environment and our “selfish” system motivated by “profit at any price”.
He called for care for the environment to be added to the seven spiritual works of mercy outlined in the Gospel that the faithful are asked to perform throughout the pope’s year of mercy in 2016.
“We must not be indifferent or resigned to the loss of biodiversity and the destruction of ecosystems, often caused by our irresponsible and selfish behaviour,” he said. “Because of us, thousands of species will no longer give glory to God by their very existence … We have no such right.”
The pope asked people to reflect on a society that lacked concern for social exclusion or the destruction of nature. He called for consumers to modify their modern lifestyle by reducing waste, planting trees, separating rubbish and making more use of car pooling.
“The resolve to live differently should affect our various contributions to shaping the culture and society in which we live,” he said.
•••••
“We should not think that our efforts – even our small gestures – don’t matter,” he said. “Virtue, including ecological virtue, can be infectious.”
Dell to cut 2,000-3,000 jobs as EMC deal closes: Bloomberg
I'm posting this because of somewhat misleading Facebook posts that I have seen.
It is SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) for companies to merge departments & lay off people when acquire another one, or merge. This is how they pay for purchase. Unfortunate, but not different from other such acquisitions & mergers.
Dell has outsourced much of its work in the past, which may be where the figures being cited for visa requests come from.
Sept. 8, 2016
Reporting by Rishika Sadam in Bengaluru; Editing by Kirti Pandey
Dell Technologies, which completed the acquisition of data storage company EMC Corp on Wednesday, will cut 2,000-3,000 jobs, Bloomberg reported.
Most of the job cuts will be in the United States, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. (bloom.bg/2c8Q5V4)
The layoffs will be mainly in supply chain, marketing and general and administrative divisions, Bloomberg said, adding that the combined company has 140,000 employees.
"As is common with deals of this size, there will be some overlaps we will need to manage and where some employee reduction will occur," Dell spokesman Dave Farmer said. He, however, declined to comment specifically on the report.
Dell, which was taken private by founder Michael Dell along with private equity firm Silver Lake Management in 2013, agreed to buy EMC for $67 billion in October last year.
Sunday, September 11, 2016
A minute of secondhand marijuana smoke may damage blood vessels
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-07/aha-amo072216.php
Public Release: 27-Jul-2016
A minute of secondhand marijuana smoke may damage blood vessels
American Heart Association Rapid Access Journal Report
American Heart Association
Rats' blood vessels took at least three times longer to recover function after only a minute of breathing secondhand marijuana smoke, compared to recovery after a minute of breathing secondhand tobacco smoke, according to new research in Journal of the American Heart Association, the Open Access Journal of the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association.
When rats inhaled secondhand marijuana smoke for one minute, their arteries carried blood less efficiently for at least 90 minutes, whereas similar exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke caused blood vessel impairment that recovered within 30 minutes.
"While the effect is temporary for both cigarette and marijuana smoke, these temporary problems can turn into long-term problems if exposures occur often enough and may increase the chances of developing hardened and clogged arteries," said Matthew Springer, Ph.D., study senior author and professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco's Division of Cardiology.
Blood vessel function was examined in rats before and after exposure to secondhand marijuana smoke at levels similar to real-world secondhand tobacco smoke.
"Arteries of rats and humans are similar in how they respond to secondhand tobacco smoke, so the response of rat arteries to secondhand marijuana smoke is likely to reflect how human arteries might respond," Springer said.
Researchers also found the mere burning of the plant material appears responsible for the impaired blood vessels, not chemicals like nicotine and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, nor rolling paper.
•••••
tags: drug use, drug abuse
Public Release: 27-Jul-2016
A minute of secondhand marijuana smoke may damage blood vessels
American Heart Association Rapid Access Journal Report
American Heart Association
Rats' blood vessels took at least three times longer to recover function after only a minute of breathing secondhand marijuana smoke, compared to recovery after a minute of breathing secondhand tobacco smoke, according to new research in Journal of the American Heart Association, the Open Access Journal of the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association.
When rats inhaled secondhand marijuana smoke for one minute, their arteries carried blood less efficiently for at least 90 minutes, whereas similar exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke caused blood vessel impairment that recovered within 30 minutes.
"While the effect is temporary for both cigarette and marijuana smoke, these temporary problems can turn into long-term problems if exposures occur often enough and may increase the chances of developing hardened and clogged arteries," said Matthew Springer, Ph.D., study senior author and professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco's Division of Cardiology.
Blood vessel function was examined in rats before and after exposure to secondhand marijuana smoke at levels similar to real-world secondhand tobacco smoke.
"Arteries of rats and humans are similar in how they respond to secondhand tobacco smoke, so the response of rat arteries to secondhand marijuana smoke is likely to reflect how human arteries might respond," Springer said.
Researchers also found the mere burning of the plant material appears responsible for the impaired blood vessels, not chemicals like nicotine and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, nor rolling paper.
•••••
tags: drug use, drug abuse
An hour of moderate exercise a day enough to counter health risks from prolonged sitting
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-07/uoc-aho072716.php
Public Release: 27-Jul-2016
An hour of moderate exercise a day enough to counter health risks from prolonged sitting
University of Cambridge
The health risks associated with sitting for eight or more hours a day - whether at work, home or commuting - can be eliminated with an hour or more of physical activity a day, according to a study from an international team of researchers.
Ever since a study back in 1953 discovered that London bus drivers were at greater risk of heart disease compared to bus conductors, scientists have found increasing evidence that lack of physical activity is a major risk factor for several diseases and for risk of early death. Recent estimates suggest that more than 5 million people die globally each year as a result of failing to meet recommended daily activity levels.
Studies in high-income countries have suggested that adults spend the majority of their waking hours sitting down. A typical day for many people is driving to work, sitting in an office, driving home and watching TV. Current physical activity guidelines recommend that adults do at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity exercise per week.
•••••
The researchers found that 60 to 75 minutes of moderate intensity exercise per day were sufficient to eliminate the increased risk of early death associated with sitting for over eight hours per day. However, as many as three out of four people in the study failed to reach this level of daily activity.
The greatest risk of early death was for those individuals who were physically inactive, regardless of the amount of time sitting - they were between 28% and 59% more likely to die early compared with those who were in the most active quartile - a similar risk to that associated with smoking and obesity. In other words, lack of physical activity is a greater health risk than prolonged sitting.
•••••
"For many people who commute to work and have office-based jobs, there is no way to escape sitting for prolonged periods of time. For these people in particular, we cannot stress enough the importance of getting exercise, whether it's getting out for a walk at lunchtime, going for a run in the morning or cycling to work. An hour of physical activity per day is the ideal, but if this is unmanageable, then at least doing some exercise each day can help reduce the risk."
•••••
Public Release: 27-Jul-2016
An hour of moderate exercise a day enough to counter health risks from prolonged sitting
University of Cambridge
The health risks associated with sitting for eight or more hours a day - whether at work, home or commuting - can be eliminated with an hour or more of physical activity a day, according to a study from an international team of researchers.
Ever since a study back in 1953 discovered that London bus drivers were at greater risk of heart disease compared to bus conductors, scientists have found increasing evidence that lack of physical activity is a major risk factor for several diseases and for risk of early death. Recent estimates suggest that more than 5 million people die globally each year as a result of failing to meet recommended daily activity levels.
Studies in high-income countries have suggested that adults spend the majority of their waking hours sitting down. A typical day for many people is driving to work, sitting in an office, driving home and watching TV. Current physical activity guidelines recommend that adults do at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity exercise per week.
•••••
The researchers found that 60 to 75 minutes of moderate intensity exercise per day were sufficient to eliminate the increased risk of early death associated with sitting for over eight hours per day. However, as many as three out of four people in the study failed to reach this level of daily activity.
The greatest risk of early death was for those individuals who were physically inactive, regardless of the amount of time sitting - they were between 28% and 59% more likely to die early compared with those who were in the most active quartile - a similar risk to that associated with smoking and obesity. In other words, lack of physical activity is a greater health risk than prolonged sitting.
•••••
"For many people who commute to work and have office-based jobs, there is no way to escape sitting for prolonged periods of time. For these people in particular, we cannot stress enough the importance of getting exercise, whether it's getting out for a walk at lunchtime, going for a run in the morning or cycling to work. An hour of physical activity per day is the ideal, but if this is unmanageable, then at least doing some exercise each day can help reduce the risk."
•••••
Importance of including purpose of medications on prescriptions
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-07/bawh-ioi072616.php
Public Release: 27-Jul-2016
Importance of including purpose of medications on prescriptions
New England Journal of Medicine perspective identifies opportunity to improve patient safety, prescription appropriateness, and convenience
Brigham and Women's Hospital
In a Perspective article in the July 28, 2016 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, Gordon D. Schiff, MD, lead author and general internist at Brigham and Women's Hospital, and his co-authors Enrique Seoane-Vazquez, PhD of the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences and Adam Wright, PhD, informatics expert at BWH call for including the purpose of medications on prescriptions to inform and enhance safety by narrowing medication choices to those indicated for a specific problem.
"Currently, even though there is a widespread commitment to sharing drug information with patients, the reason for a medication prescription is generally not recorded or shared when it is being written and is therefore missing a key piece of information," Schiff says.
The authors outline how incorporating indication into the prescription can make prescribing better and safer, stating the following reasons:
Reduce errors including mismatches, prescribing or dispensing errors, and errors related to drugs of similar names.
Enable patients to better understand and adhere to their medication regimens and question the necessity of a medication.
Provides clinicians with a system to identify therapeutic alternatives to choose the best drugs for their patients' problems.
Informs prescribers, pharmacists, caregivers and patients regarding what is being treated and what outcomes are desired.
Reconciles list of medications by indication, rather than randomly, alphabetically, or chronologically and make duplicates and discontinued medications much easier to spot.
Permits clearer assessments and comparisons to track and evaluate prescriptions and measure a drug's long term effectiveness.
The Perspective article points out that historically, patients were intentionally kept in the dark about the ingredients and indications for their drugs, which dates back to an 1833 article in the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal which explained why prescriptions should be written in Latin to protect patients from knowledge of the names of, and indications for, the prescribed drugs and allow the patient to rely on the skill of the physician.
•••••
Public Release: 27-Jul-2016
Importance of including purpose of medications on prescriptions
New England Journal of Medicine perspective identifies opportunity to improve patient safety, prescription appropriateness, and convenience
Brigham and Women's Hospital
In a Perspective article in the July 28, 2016 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, Gordon D. Schiff, MD, lead author and general internist at Brigham and Women's Hospital, and his co-authors Enrique Seoane-Vazquez, PhD of the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences and Adam Wright, PhD, informatics expert at BWH call for including the purpose of medications on prescriptions to inform and enhance safety by narrowing medication choices to those indicated for a specific problem.
"Currently, even though there is a widespread commitment to sharing drug information with patients, the reason for a medication prescription is generally not recorded or shared when it is being written and is therefore missing a key piece of information," Schiff says.
The authors outline how incorporating indication into the prescription can make prescribing better and safer, stating the following reasons:
Reduce errors including mismatches, prescribing or dispensing errors, and errors related to drugs of similar names.
Enable patients to better understand and adhere to their medication regimens and question the necessity of a medication.
Provides clinicians with a system to identify therapeutic alternatives to choose the best drugs for their patients' problems.
Informs prescribers, pharmacists, caregivers and patients regarding what is being treated and what outcomes are desired.
Reconciles list of medications by indication, rather than randomly, alphabetically, or chronologically and make duplicates and discontinued medications much easier to spot.
Permits clearer assessments and comparisons to track and evaluate prescriptions and measure a drug's long term effectiveness.
The Perspective article points out that historically, patients were intentionally kept in the dark about the ingredients and indications for their drugs, which dates back to an 1833 article in the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal which explained why prescriptions should be written in Latin to protect patients from knowledge of the names of, and indications for, the prescribed drugs and allow the patient to rely on the skill of the physician.
•••••
Vitamin D levels predict risk of brain decline in Chinese elderly
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-07/dms-vdl072716.php
Public Release: 27-Jul-2016
Vitamin D levels predict risk of brain decline in Chinese elderly
Duke-NUS Medical School
Research conducted by Duke-NUS Medical School (Duke-NUS) and Duke University has associated low vitamin D levels with increased subsequent risk of cognitive decline and impairment in the Chinese elderly.
Produced primarily in the skin upon exposure to sunlight, Vitamin D is necessary for maintaining healthy bones and muscles. It is now believed to also play a significant role in maintaining healthy brain function. An increased risk of cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases has been observed in those with low vitamin D levels, and studies from Europe and North America have linked low vitamin D levels with future cognitive decline.
•••••
Regardless of gender and extent of advanced age, individuals with lower vitamin D levels at the start of the study were approximately twice as likely to exhibit significant cognitive decline over time. In addition, low vitamin D levels at baseline also increased the risk of future cognitive impairment by 2-3 times.
"Although this study was conducted on subjects from China, the results are applicable to regions in Asia where a large proportion of the elderly are ethnically Chinese, like Singapore," said Professor David Matchar, first author of the study and Director of the Health Services and Systems Research Programme at Duke-NUS Medical School.
•••••
Public Release: 27-Jul-2016
Vitamin D levels predict risk of brain decline in Chinese elderly
Duke-NUS Medical School
Research conducted by Duke-NUS Medical School (Duke-NUS) and Duke University has associated low vitamin D levels with increased subsequent risk of cognitive decline and impairment in the Chinese elderly.
Produced primarily in the skin upon exposure to sunlight, Vitamin D is necessary for maintaining healthy bones and muscles. It is now believed to also play a significant role in maintaining healthy brain function. An increased risk of cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases has been observed in those with low vitamin D levels, and studies from Europe and North America have linked low vitamin D levels with future cognitive decline.
•••••
Regardless of gender and extent of advanced age, individuals with lower vitamin D levels at the start of the study were approximately twice as likely to exhibit significant cognitive decline over time. In addition, low vitamin D levels at baseline also increased the risk of future cognitive impairment by 2-3 times.
"Although this study was conducted on subjects from China, the results are applicable to regions in Asia where a large proportion of the elderly are ethnically Chinese, like Singapore," said Professor David Matchar, first author of the study and Director of the Health Services and Systems Research Programme at Duke-NUS Medical School.
•••••
Faces aren't always to be believed when it comes to honesty
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-07/uobc-faa072616.php
Public Release: 27-Jul-2016
Faces aren't always to be believed when it comes to honesty
University of British Columbia Okanagan campus
UBC researchers have determined that certain facial features, not the expression, influence whether people think someone is trustworthy.
UBC psychology professor Stephen Porter, who teaches psychology at UBC's Okanagan campus, and PhD student Alysha Baker, recently completed two studies determining that people often make judgments of trustworthiness based solely on the face.
"Our findings in this and our past studies suggest that your physical appearance can have major implications for your assumed credibility and other character traits, even more powerful than the manner in which you behave and the words you speak," says Porter. "The implications in social, workplace, corporate and criminal justice settings are enormous."
•••••
"A lot of information that feeds into our impressions about one's trustworthiness is deduced from the face," says Baker, who conducted much of the research. "More specifically, there are certain facial features considered that make an individual look more trustworthy--higher eyebrows, more pronounced cheekbones, rounder face--and other features that are perceived to be untrustworthy-looking--downturned eyebrows, or a thinner face."
The studies cited two real criminal cases, one with an 81-year-old woman and one with a father of a missing nine-year-old girl. People believed the elderly woman's public appeal for justice, even though it was later determined she had killed her husband. Many judged the father to be lying, based on his facial features, even though he later proved to be innocent.
•••••
Baker cautions that in some legal settings those who are untrustworthy-looking may be judged more harshly and receive different outcomes than those deemed to be trustworthy-looking. This has occurred in the United States where untrustworthy-looking men are more likely to receive the death penalty than trustworthy-looking men convicted of similar crimes.
•••••
Public Release: 27-Jul-2016
Faces aren't always to be believed when it comes to honesty
University of British Columbia Okanagan campus
UBC researchers have determined that certain facial features, not the expression, influence whether people think someone is trustworthy.
UBC psychology professor Stephen Porter, who teaches psychology at UBC's Okanagan campus, and PhD student Alysha Baker, recently completed two studies determining that people often make judgments of trustworthiness based solely on the face.
"Our findings in this and our past studies suggest that your physical appearance can have major implications for your assumed credibility and other character traits, even more powerful than the manner in which you behave and the words you speak," says Porter. "The implications in social, workplace, corporate and criminal justice settings are enormous."
•••••
"A lot of information that feeds into our impressions about one's trustworthiness is deduced from the face," says Baker, who conducted much of the research. "More specifically, there are certain facial features considered that make an individual look more trustworthy--higher eyebrows, more pronounced cheekbones, rounder face--and other features that are perceived to be untrustworthy-looking--downturned eyebrows, or a thinner face."
The studies cited two real criminal cases, one with an 81-year-old woman and one with a father of a missing nine-year-old girl. People believed the elderly woman's public appeal for justice, even though it was later determined she had killed her husband. Many judged the father to be lying, based on his facial features, even though he later proved to be innocent.
•••••
Baker cautions that in some legal settings those who are untrustworthy-looking may be judged more harshly and receive different outcomes than those deemed to be trustworthy-looking. This has occurred in the United States where untrustworthy-looking men are more likely to receive the death penalty than trustworthy-looking men convicted of similar crimes.
•••••
Even thinking about marriage gets young people to straighten up
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-07/osu-eta072716.php
Public Release: 27-Jul-2016
Even thinking about marriage gets young people to straighten up
Less delinquency for those who expect to marry within 5 years
Ohio State University
You don't have to get married to settle down and leave behind your wild ways - you just have to expect to get married soon.
Researchers found that teenagers and young adults who expected to get married within the next five years reported committing fewer delinquent acts in the next year than those who weren't thinking about wedding bells.
While other studies have shown that people commit fewer crimes when they get married, this is the first to show that people straighten up their act even before they tie the knot.
"You may start to act married even before the wedding," said Rachel Arocho, lead author of the study and a research fellow in human development and family science at The Ohio State University.
The results show the importance of marriage in today's society, even though many Americans are delaying the relationship milestone until they're older.
•••••
Public Release: 27-Jul-2016
Even thinking about marriage gets young people to straighten up
Less delinquency for those who expect to marry within 5 years
Ohio State University
You don't have to get married to settle down and leave behind your wild ways - you just have to expect to get married soon.
Researchers found that teenagers and young adults who expected to get married within the next five years reported committing fewer delinquent acts in the next year than those who weren't thinking about wedding bells.
While other studies have shown that people commit fewer crimes when they get married, this is the first to show that people straighten up their act even before they tie the knot.
"You may start to act married even before the wedding," said Rachel Arocho, lead author of the study and a research fellow in human development and family science at The Ohio State University.
The results show the importance of marriage in today's society, even though many Americans are delaying the relationship milestone until they're older.
•••••
Republicans have themselves to blame for the slow economy, study says
The Republican leadership admitted they were purposely blocking economic recovery in order to make President Obama look bad to voters, hoping to gain the presidency for a Republican. If Trump wins, they will have succeeded, but they don't seem very happy about the prospect.https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/aug/11/us-economy-recession-republicans-hillary-clinton-policy
Jana Kasperkevic
Aug. 11, 2016
The US’s slow recovery from the 2008 recession is due to Republican policies on the local, state and federal level, according to a new study published by the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute (EPI).
The new report comes as the slow pace of recovery has emerged as a key battleground between Republican candidate Donald Trump and his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, who will set out her economic policy on Thursday.
The EPI report blames the lackluster pace of recovery on Republican-led budget cuts in 2011 following the row over the US debt ceiling, the unwillingness of local officials to spend money when Republicans in Congress were advocating cuts in spending, and the refusal to expand Medicaid in 19 states.
The report comes as the Republican party once again calls for the reining in of government spending and reductions in the deficit.
“Given the degree of damage inflicted by the Great Recession and the restricted ability of monetary policy to aid recovery, historically expansionary fiscal policy was required to return the US economy to full health,” writes Josh Bivens, research and policy director at EPI.
“But this government spending not only failed to rise fast enough to spur a rapid recovery, it outright contracted, and this policy choice fully explains why the economy is only partially recovered from the Great Recession a full seven years after its official end.”
This economic recovery has been the slowest over the past four business cycles. For example, the employment recovery from the trough of the Great Recession to its pre-recession peak took 51 months. Following the recession in the 1980s, employment recovery took 11 months. In the early 1990s it took 23 months, and in the early 2000s it took 39 months.
The US government would have had to spend an additional $1tn in 2015 alone to match the spending that followed the 1980s recession, Bivens said. While such spending might run up the US deficit – something Republicans in Congress are opposed to – it would also have led to “several years of full employment” and the Federal Reserve increasing interest rates.
•••••
tags: obstructionism
Searching for evidence of Trump’s personal giving
See the link for charities Trump claimed to make donations to, and the results of the investigation.https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/2016-election/trump-charity-donations/
By David A. Fahrenthold and Danielle Rindler August 18, 2016
For months, The Washington Post has been looking for evidence to back up a key claim Donald Trump makes about himself: that, in recent years, he has given millions of dollars to charity out of his own pocket. There is no evidence of that in the files of Trump's nonprofit, the Donald J. Trump Foundation. And Trump has not released his tax returns, which would detail his recent charitable giving.
In an effort to find proof of Trump's personal giving, The Post has contacted more than 250 charities with some ties to the GOP nominee. Some got money from the Trump Foundation (). In other cases, Trump had a personal connection () to the charity or its leaders . Some were charities that DonorSearch database records () indicated he might have given to. A variety of other reasons () included media mentions, gala attendance, or involvement with Trump's TV show "Celebrity Apprentice."
So far, The Post's search has turned up little. Between 2008 and this May — when Trump made good on a pledge to give $1 million to a veterans' group — its search has identified just one personal gift from Trump's own pocket.
Charity name
Last donation
9/11 Museum
Never
Trump made a $100,000 donation from his foundation to this museum just before the New York GOP primary. He has never given his own money.
Abilis
No response
Trump's nephew Fred Trump III is a major fundraiser for this Connecticut charity.
Achilles International Foundation
Never
ACLU Foundation of Florida -- Broward
Never
When this group honored a lawyer who is friends with Trump, he sent $325 from his foundation. Trump has never given the group his own money.
AIDS Project Los Angeles
Never
AIDS Service Center NYC
Never
AIPAC Tomorrow Campaign
Never
Trump spoke to the influential pro-Israel lobbying group this year.
Thanks to
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/9/8/1568194/-Multiple-Charities-Tell-WaPo-s-Fahrenthold-They-Didn-t-Receive-Donations-Trump-Fnd-Reported-To-IRS
[See link above for more.]
Friday, September 09, 2016
The double-edged sword of wildlife-friendly yards
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-07/copo-tds071216.php
Public Release: 27-Jul-2016
The double-edged sword of wildlife-friendly yards
Increased risk of bird-window collisions
Central Ornithology Publication Office
Hundreds of millions of birds are killed in collisions with windows each year in the U.S. alone, and although high-rise buildings tend to be the biggest individual culprits, the vast number of suburban homes across the continent means that even a few deaths per house add up fast. A new study in The Condor: Ornithological Applications examines the factors that affect window collision rates at homes and shows that yards that are more attractive to birds are also the sites of more collisions.
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"Although each typical residential dwelling only causes one or a few bird-window collisions per year, the enormous number of these buildings means we are killing far more birds in our collective backyards than are dying at large office buildings and skyscrapers," according to Scott Loss of Oklahoma State University, lead author of a landmark 2014 review on the subject. "Kummer et al. provide an excellent example of how the power of citizen scientists can be harnessed to address this major conservation issue."
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Most homeowners would not want to remove their feeders and wildlife-friendly vegetation. Instead, the authors suggest that mitigation efforts should focus on evaluating the effectiveness of products such as tape and film that can be applied to window panes to prevent collisions. "As homeowners don't want to reduce the number of bird in their yards," says Kummer, "I think the next step will be to determine the best window deterrents they can use at their homes."
Public Release: 27-Jul-2016
The double-edged sword of wildlife-friendly yards
Increased risk of bird-window collisions
Central Ornithology Publication Office
Hundreds of millions of birds are killed in collisions with windows each year in the U.S. alone, and although high-rise buildings tend to be the biggest individual culprits, the vast number of suburban homes across the continent means that even a few deaths per house add up fast. A new study in The Condor: Ornithological Applications examines the factors that affect window collision rates at homes and shows that yards that are more attractive to birds are also the sites of more collisions.
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"Although each typical residential dwelling only causes one or a few bird-window collisions per year, the enormous number of these buildings means we are killing far more birds in our collective backyards than are dying at large office buildings and skyscrapers," according to Scott Loss of Oklahoma State University, lead author of a landmark 2014 review on the subject. "Kummer et al. provide an excellent example of how the power of citizen scientists can be harnessed to address this major conservation issue."
•••••
Most homeowners would not want to remove their feeders and wildlife-friendly vegetation. Instead, the authors suggest that mitigation efforts should focus on evaluating the effectiveness of products such as tape and film that can be applied to window panes to prevent collisions. "As homeowners don't want to reduce the number of bird in their yards," says Kummer, "I think the next step will be to determine the best window deterrents they can use at their homes."
Dandelions could be a sustainable source of rubber
Dandelions are beautiful.http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-07/acs-dcb072716.php
Public Release: 27-Jul-2016
Dandelions could be a sustainable source of rubber
American Chemical Society
While most farmers are actively trying to kill weeds, researchers in Ohio are trying to grow them - fast. Taraxacum kok-saghyz, a special variety of dandelion from Kazakhstan -- nicknamed "Buckeye Gold" by the researchers studying it -- may be the answer to sustainable and U.S.-based rubber-making. An article in Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), the weekly newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society, examines the plants' potential for revolutionizing the rubber industry.
Melody Bomgardner, a senior editor at C&EN, takes a look at the work of Katrina Cornish, a researcher currently studying Buckeye Gold at the Ohio State University. While it might look like a regular dandelion, this variety's roots contain 10-15 percent natural rubber. The goal is to cultivate these dandelions to the point where they can become an industrial rubber crop. Currently, rubber trees that grow on plantations in Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia take years to grow, making it hard for producers to adapt to changes in the market. Also, transporting the material is costly to both the industry and the environment. With Buckeye Gold, crops can be grown locally, and they mature much faster than rubber trees.
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High chance that current atmospheric GHGs commit to warmings greater than 1.5C (2.7F) over land
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-07/cfe-hct072616.php
Public Release: 27-Jul-2016
High chance that current atmospheric GHGs commit to warmings greater than 1.5C over land
Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
Current levels of atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations already commit the planet to air temperatures over many land regions being eventually warmed by greater than 1.5°C, according to new research published today (27 July 2016) in the journal Scientific Reports.
The results of the new study have implications for international discussions of what constitutes safe global temperature thresholds, such as 1.5°C (2.7F) or 2°C (3.6F) of warming since pre-industrial times. The expected extra warming over land will influence how we need to design some cities. It could also impact on the responses of trees and plants, and including crops.
The research was carried out by scientists from the UK's Centre for Ecology & Hydrology and the University of Exeter, UK.
The research team found two main reasons behind the result.
First, even if it was possible to keep carbon dioxide concentrations fixed at their current 400 parts-per-million concentration levels, then the planet would continue to warm towards new equilibrium higher temperatures. At present, the climate is out of equilibrium, with the oceans drawing down very large amounts of heat from the atmosphere. However this will decline as the planet is bought towards a stable climatic state.
Second, warming rates over land are far higher than those when averaged globally which include temperatures over the oceans. This is a feature observed in meteorological measurements and reproduced across a large suite of climate models.
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Public Release: 27-Jul-2016
High chance that current atmospheric GHGs commit to warmings greater than 1.5C over land
Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
Current levels of atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations already commit the planet to air temperatures over many land regions being eventually warmed by greater than 1.5°C, according to new research published today (27 July 2016) in the journal Scientific Reports.
The results of the new study have implications for international discussions of what constitutes safe global temperature thresholds, such as 1.5°C (2.7F) or 2°C (3.6F) of warming since pre-industrial times. The expected extra warming over land will influence how we need to design some cities. It could also impact on the responses of trees and plants, and including crops.
The research was carried out by scientists from the UK's Centre for Ecology & Hydrology and the University of Exeter, UK.
The research team found two main reasons behind the result.
First, even if it was possible to keep carbon dioxide concentrations fixed at their current 400 parts-per-million concentration levels, then the planet would continue to warm towards new equilibrium higher temperatures. At present, the climate is out of equilibrium, with the oceans drawing down very large amounts of heat from the atmosphere. However this will decline as the planet is bought towards a stable climatic state.
Second, warming rates over land are far higher than those when averaged globally which include temperatures over the oceans. This is a feature observed in meteorological measurements and reproduced across a large suite of climate models.
•••••
Thursday, September 08, 2016
Sperm Whales Found Full of Car Parts and Plastics
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/03/160331-car-parts-plastics-dead-whales-germany-animals/
By Wajeeha Malik
PUBLISHED March 31, 2016
Fishing gear and an engine cover are just some of the startling contents found inside the stomachs of sperm whales that recently beached themselves on Germany’s North Sea coast.
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when whales and dolphins ingest lots of marine litter, either accidentally or because they mistake the trash for prey, it can cause physical damage to their digestive systems. The trash may eventually give the animals the sensation of being full and reduce their instinct to feed, leading to malnutrition.
While the garbage may not have been lethal for these whales, “the plastic debris in their stomachs is a horrible indictment of humans,” adds Hal Whitehead, a whale researcher at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, Canada.
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By Wajeeha Malik
PUBLISHED March 31, 2016
Fishing gear and an engine cover are just some of the startling contents found inside the stomachs of sperm whales that recently beached themselves on Germany’s North Sea coast.
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when whales and dolphins ingest lots of marine litter, either accidentally or because they mistake the trash for prey, it can cause physical damage to their digestive systems. The trash may eventually give the animals the sensation of being full and reduce their instinct to feed, leading to malnutrition.
While the garbage may not have been lethal for these whales, “the plastic debris in their stomachs is a horrible indictment of humans,” adds Hal Whitehead, a whale researcher at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, Canada.
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Number Of Hungry U.S. Kids Drops To Lowest Level Since Before Great Recession
Pam Pessler
Sept. 7, 2016
It's rare to get good news when it comes to hunger. But the government says there was a big drop last year in the number of people in the country struggling to get enough to eat, especially children.
Overall, 15.8 million U.S. households, or 12.7 percent, experienced what the government calls "food insecurity" at some point during 2015. That's compared to about 17.4 million households — or 14 percent — in 2014, according to a new report by the Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service.
When a family is "food insecure," that means they have a difficult time getting enough to eat, or the right kinds of food to eat, because they lack money or other resources.
The percentage of families that faced actual hunger — or "very low food security" — also declined. In 2015, at least some members of about 6.3 million households missed meals or experienced hunger. In 2014, about 6.9 million households had very low food security.
Most of the time, these families shield children from hunger. The adults will go without meals so the kids can eat. Still, the government says there were about 274,000 households in 2015 in which children went hungry at some point during the year. As bad as that was, it was the lowest level since before the Great Recession and a big decline from 2014 — when 422,000 families reported that their children went hungry at some point.
"These numbers are great," says Duke Storen, senior director at the No Kid Hungry campaign, a national nonprofit effort to reduce childhood hunger. Storen says he wasn't surprised by the decline because the economy has been improving, but he thinks there are other reasons as well.
"We're seeing more children participating in the programs that are available to them, like school breakfast," he says.
Indeed, the Agriculture Department credits food aid, such as free or reduced-price school meals and SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly known as food stamps), for keeping more people from going hungry. About 59 percent of food-insecure families said they received some government food assistance in the month before they were surveyed last year.
Overall, the government found that hunger and food insecurity declined in just about every category — in black families and Hispanic families, in families with children and in those without. Even so, those on the front lines say they're seeing some pockets of growing need.
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The Urgent Issue Clinton and Trump Aren’t Talking About
I suggest reading the whole article.https://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Columns/2016/09/06/Urgent-Issue-Clinton-and-Trump-Aren-t-Talking-About
By David Dayen
September 6, 2016
here is something very scary going on during this election. Something that, if it continues, threatens the entire world. And we shouldn’t be complacent about it.
I’m not talking about Donald Trump.
I’m talking about the near-total inattention to the danger to the planet posed by climate change. The evidence continues to mount that we are in an epic warming cycle that will force mass migration from coastal areas and deserts, the largest population transfer in world history. And yet it’s treated by the public — and yes this is a problem about the public, not politicians — as an afterthought, something confined to a distant future, with no connection to the nation’s real problems.
I’ve heard climate change described as a uniquely intractable problem for our political system, because its march is long and slow, and its solutions demand near-term sacrifice to prevent a crisis that isn’t completely visible. Thinking globally, the countries that will begin to be swallowed up by a warming planet have little institutional power, and the international cooperation needed to reduce emissions borders on the unprecedented.
But that calculus has changed to some degree as the consequences of climate change accelerate. The results are visible. In fact, if we find ourselves on many parts of the East Coast, we only have to look down. Tropical Storm Hermine’s coastal trip over the holiday weekend forced many would-be beachgoers along the shore to shelter in place. But along Tybee Island, Georgia, the only road inland can wash out on a sunny day in the middle of June, severing the connection to the mainland.
“Sunny day flooding” is now a fact of life along more and more of the Atlantic and Gulf coastlines, an everyday hazard of water popping up through storm drains or in basements. That means when the rains come to a place like Louisiana, the devastation multiplies. But it also means that toxic weather events aren’t the only concern anymore; everyday life means dealing with the hardship of rushing water. And these aren’t backwaters (pardon the pun) but places like Miami and Norfolk, Virginia.
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Granted, Donald Trump sucks the oxygen out of a room, to be sure, and the media devotes almost no time to the issue, even when events like the Louisiana flooding are staring them in the face. Also, the scope of the effort suffers from partisan polarization that has only become prevalent in the last decade; 2008 Republican presidential candidate John McCain vowed to cut carbon emissions, even with Sarah Palin at his side.
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As someone who doesn’t write nearly enough about climate change, I consider myself part of the problem. When Bernie Sanders claimed that climate change was our most pressing national security threat, he was not only correct, but echoing the sentiments of the Pentagon leadership. A day of complacency equals another kiloliter of water washing up on shore.
Rather than programs and policies, in this case the first step really is a mass mobilization. It should not be this easy to go through an entire presidential campaign without the warming planet at the center of the debate. If it is, that’s on us collectively; that’s our problem to solve. Only by making voices impossible to ignore will we even get to the part where we devise a plan before it’s too late, and avoid the catastrophic consequences tumbling out in unpredictable ways, smashing our future hopes.
So Just How Will Trump Pay for His Big Military Buildup?
I would hope this is obvious to most people, but I've lived long enough to know that is not so.https://www.thefiscaltimes.com/2016/09/07/So-Just-How-Will-Trump-Pay-His-Big-Military-Buildup
By Rob Garver
September 7, 2016
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In remarks in Philadelphia on Wednesday, Trump pledged, “As soon as I take office I will ask Congress to fully eliminate the defense sequester and will submit a new budget to rebuild our military. It is so depleted. We will rebuild our military.”
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“I will ask that savings be accomplished through common sense reforms that eliminate government waste and budget gimmicks and that protect, absolutely protect hard-earned benefits for Americans.”
“Common sense” of course, is in the eye of the beholder, and if anything has become clear in recent years, it’s that a president can’t wave a magic wand and suddenly get members of Congress to work together in harmony.
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Trump did hit on two legitimate sources of funding, identifying the billions of dollars in improper payments that the federal government doles out every year and the hundreds of billions in uncollected taxes that the Treasury never receives.
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However, he ignores the fact that Congress has known about the improper payments problem for years -- the issue is spread across dozens of federal agencies -- and has done little or nothing to address it. There is no obvious reason why lawmakers would spring into action just because President Trump told them to.
Also, the idea that a Congress that has spent the past decade beating down the Internal Revenue Service with budget cuts and investigations -- and which is currently considering impeachment of its commissioner -- would provide that agency with new authority to investigate non-payment of taxes and to go after the lost revenue doesn’t pass the laugh test.
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Wednesday, September 07, 2016
Witnesses confuse innocent and guilty suspects with 'unfair' lineups
I hope a nurse who lives in my area, whom I've never met, never commits a crime where eye witness testimony is used, because I sometimes have people come up to me in public thinking I am her.http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-07/afps-wci072616.php
Public Release: 26-Jul-2016
Witnesses confuse innocent and guilty suspects with 'unfair' lineups
Association for Psychological Science
Police lineups in which distinctive individual marks or features are not altered can impair witnesses' ability to distinguish between innocent and guilty suspects, according to new research in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.
The research, conducted by a team of psychology researchers from the University of Warwick in the UK, builds on existing eyewitness identification studies suggesting that so-called "unfair lineups," in which the police suspect stands out, make witnesses more willing to identify that suspect.
"Worse still, it could impair their ability to distinguish between guilty and innocent suspects and distort their ability to judge the trustworthiness of their identification decision," says Melissa Colloff, lead author on the study.
In contrast to film and TV depictions in which a witness views a police lineup via a one-way mirror, lineups today typically involve the witness looking at and evaluating digital photos. Using digital images gives the police the ability to disguise distinguishing features.
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the researchers compared the three techniques - pixelating part of the face, hiding part of the face, or manipulating the photos so they contain the same feature (e.g., adding a beard) - with digital lineups that were not manipulated.
Participants watched a brief video of a crime and were told to pay attention as they would be asked questions about it later. Afterward, they completed several distractor tasks that were unrelated to the study. They were then presented with a lineup composed of two rows of three photos and were told that the culprit may or may not be present in the lineup.
The participants were asked to select one of the photos in the lineup as the culprit or choose the option labelled "not present." Finally, they rated how confident they were in making their identification (1 = completely uncertain, 100 = completely certain).
The results showed that participants were more willing to identify the suspect when they viewed a lineup in which the suspect alone had a distinguishing feature compared with the altered lineups.
More importantly, they were less able to distinguish between actual guilty suspects and innocent suspects (i.e., those who shared the culprit's distinctive feature) when they viewed lineups that had not been altered compared with altered lineups.
"When the suspect was the only person with the distinctive feature, this actually made people more likely to confuse who was guilty and who was innocent," Colloff explains. "That's because they weren't really using their memory of the culprit's face, they were just picking the only plausible option - the only one with the scar that they remembered from the crime video - and this made it difficult for people to tell the difference between the real culprit and an innocent suspect who had a similar feature."
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