Although a high amount of smoking bans are taking place nationwide to reduce smoke exposure indoors, the bans are having little impact on the number of cigarette butts thrown on the streets. With around 19.3% of adults 18 and older smoking cigarettes, it is no wonder that cigarette butts make up one third of America’s litter. Not only that, but they also account for about 28 percent of trash which washes up on beaches worldwide.
Cigarette Butt in Liter of Water Can a Kill Fish in Just Four Days
US asks scientific journals to censor bird flu studies
The US government has asked the scientific journals Nature and Science to censor data on a laboratory-made version of bird flu that could spread more easily to humans, fearing it could be used as a potential weapon.
The journals are objecting to the request, saying it would restrict access to information that might advance the cause of public health.
Why The Globalist Agenda Is Backfiring
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"For the first time in human history almost all of humanity is politically activated, politically conscious and politically interactive... The resulting global political activism is generating a surge in the quest for personal dignity, cultural respect and economic opportunity...
The major world powers, new and old, also face a novel reality: while the lethality of their military might be greater than ever, their capacity to impose control over the politically awakened masses of the world is at a historic low. To put it bluntly: in earlier times, it was easier to control one million people than to physically kill one million people; today, it is infinitely easier to kill one million people than to control one million people."
Right-wing legislation stirs democracy debate in Israel
Legislation promoted by right-wing lawmakers in Israel is raising concern that democratic values are under threat in a country that has long billed itself the only democracy in the Middle East.
One of these laws already on the books would penalize Arab citizens for teaching about Israel's birth in 1948 as a "nakba," or catastrophe, allow courts to revoke citizenship of those charged with "terrorism" and ban calls to boycott Israel or any of its settlements built in occupied territory.
Flame retardant chemical found in US soft drinks
A substance patented as a flame retardant and banned as a food ingredient throughout Europe and in Japan is present in 10% of all soft drinks in the US. The December 12, 2011 issue of Environmental Health News reviews the history of this toxic ingredient, including the fact that "extreme soda binges - not too far from what many video gamers regularly consume" have resulted in skin lesions, memory loss and nerve disorders.
Nurses Warn: Wall Street Targeting Hospitals for Profits
Private Equity’s Steward Health unit called “predatory”; Patient care down; “The cupboards are bare” - Kathy Reardon, RN, Steward Norwood Hospital
New York City - Hundreds of nurses and their supporters from across the U.S. will converge outside the offices of Cerberus Capital Management, 299 Park Avenue, on Tuesday, Dec. 20, at 12:30 p.m., to protest the practices of the multi-billion dollar private equity firm’s health care unit, Steward Health Care System. Cerberus-Steward now operates 10 hospitals in Massachusetts, has partnered with a number of physician practices here, and is now entering the health insurance market as well. Cerberus-Steward has come under increasing criticism for cornering the market with predatory practices, undercutting patient care with its push for profits.
Alarm as Dutch lab creates highly contagious killer flu
A deadly strain of bird flu with the potential to infect and kill millions of people has been created in a laboratory by European scientists – who now want to publish full details of how they did it.
"The fear is that if you create something this deadly and it goes into a global pandemic, the mortality and cost to the world could be massive," a senior scientific adviser to the US Government told The Independent, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The Fracking Industry Has Bought Off Congress: Here Are the Worst Offenders
Environmentalists and other well-adjusted citizens of Earth, I've got some good news and some bad news. The good news is that, thanks to illuminating documentaries like Josh Fox's Gasland and determined pressure from activists in and out of the mainstream, the toxic ravages of hydraulic fracturing, known as fracking, are no longer the shale gas sector's dirty secret.
The bad news is that, thanks to the United States' morally bankrupt political system and its Supreme Court's reality-defying ruling on Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the fracking lobby's power of the purse is greater than it has ever been.
I won’t sit at the back of the bus
Tanya Rosenblit recounts clash of civilizations she experienced on Israeli bus; ‘until yesterday, I was sure that I live in a free country,’ she says
Until yesterday, I was sure that I live in a free country. I was certain that a person’s dignity and freedom are supreme values in our diverse society. Indeed, there are calls against one group or another, but people, whoever they are, regardless of religion, creed or gender, will be respected, because this is the kind of society I grew up in. These are the values I learned.
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