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(c) 2010-2024 Jon L Gelman, All Rights Reserved.

Friday, October 31, 2014

Safety in Space: 2nd Catastrophic Accident The Week: 1 Dead, 1 Injured In Virgin Galactic Spacecraft Crash

Space flight has become a very high risk issue this week with the 2nd major event occurring within days. This new accident resulted in at least one fatality reports ABC News and comes days after a major explosion on the Antares Rocket on Wednesday at the Wallops Flight Center.

Read the latest ABC News report: Click here.

"One person died and another suffered a major injury after Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo spacecraft crashed in California's Mojave Desert today."

Judge eases limits on nurse who treated Ebola patients - Order Issued

A Judge ruled today that restrictions on a health care worker were far too severe. In what was becoming a political circus, a Maine Judge issued a ruling ending the grandstand political play. Today's post is shared from Reuters.com/
FORT KENT Maine (Reuters) - A Maine judge on Friday imposed limited restrictions on an American nurse who treated Ebola patients in Sierra Leone and rejected a bid by state officials for more stringent measures.
The confrontation between Kaci Hickox and officials in the state of Maine has become the focal point of a dispute pitting several U.S. states opting for strict quarantines against the federal government, which opposes such measures.
Hickox's lawyer called the ruling a "terrific win" and Maine Governor Paul LePage said that while he was disappointed, the state would abide by the judge's order.
Hickox, 33, tested negative for Ebola after returning from working for Doctors Without Borders in Sierra Leone. She also objected when the state of New Jersey put her into isolation when she arrived at Newark airport.
Charles LaVerdiere, chief judge of Maine District Court, in an earlier temporary order dated on Thursday had instructed Hickox to avoid "public places" like shopping centers and maintain a 3-foot (1-meter) distance from others at the state's request. That came hours after she defied Maine officials, left her home and went for a bike ride with her boyfriend.
On Friday, after a hearing held by telephone, LaVerdiere said Hickox only would have to continue direct monitoring of her health, coordinate travel plans with health officials and...
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Click here to read the Court Order

Investigation: Post-crash fires in small planes cost 600 lives

Today's post was shared by Take Justice Back and comes from www.usatoday.com



Trapped onboard
4-year-old died while they tried to save himThe fire ignited when the small airplane smashed into a parking lot and empty building in central Anchorage on a failed takeoff. Passersby ran to pull four burning people from the Cessna Skywagon.
But when they tried to rescue 4-year-old Miles Cavner, the airplane cabin was engulfed in fire.
As Stacie Cavner screamed that her son was burning, police officer Will Cameron spotted Miles on the cabin floor. Fire was scorching the boy's body — and keeping Cameron from saving him.
"We tried to go back in for the young boy," Cameron reflected recently on the June 1, 2010, crash, "but at that point it was too much, so we couldn't get to him."
Small-airplane fires have killed at least 600 people since 1993, burning them alive or suffocating them after crashes and hard landings that the passengers and pilots had initially survived, a USA TODAY investigation shows. The victims who died from fatal burns or smoke inhalation often had few if any broken bones or other injuries, according to hundreds of autopsy reports obtained by USA TODAY.
Fires have erupted after incidents as minor as an airplane veering off a runway and into brush or hitting a chain-link fence, government records show. The impact ruptures fuel tanks or fuel lines, or both, causing leaks and airplane-engulfing blazes.
Fires also contributed to the death of at least 308 more people who suffered burns or smoke inhalation as well as traumatic...
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Weak Oversight, Deadly Cars

Today's post was shared by Take Justice Back and comes from www.nytimes.com

WHEN regulators sleep and auto companies place profits over safety, safety defects pile up. A record number of vehicles — more than 50 million — have been recalled this year, a result of congressional hearings and Justice Department prosecutions, which exposed a mass of deadly defects that the auto industry had concealed.

From the Ford Explorer rollovers in the 1990s and Toyotas’ issue with unintended acceleration in the 2000s to the recent fatal consequences of defective General Motors ignition switches and Takata airbags, the auto companies hid defects to avoid recalls and save money. These and other major defects were first exposed by safety advocates who petitioned the government and by reporters in the tradition of Bob Irvin of The Detroit News, who wrote over 35 articles on Chevrolet engine mounts until General Motors agreed to recall 6.7 million vehicles in 1971.

These campaigners did the job the regulator should have done. Congress gave the Department of Transportation authority to regulate the auto industry through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration — including subpoena authority to find defects. But it used this authority so infrequently after the ’70s that its acting administrator, David J. Friedman, told Congress this year that he didn’t even know it had the power. The N.H.T.S.A. also failed to require companies to disclose death-claim records in civil lawsuits over the Toyota accelerations, G.M. ignition...

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Right to Die Debate Heating Up

Today's post by Brett Gowen of the California Bar is shared from fbgslaw.com
Brett Gowen

You may have heard about and seen the recent news coverage about Brittany Maynard, a 29 year old woman who is choosing to end her life after she was diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor last spring. Recently the Editorial Board of the Sacramento Bee advocated enactment of a “death with dignity law” similar to that adopted by Oregon 20 years ago. The Editorial Board contends that the Oregon model fully answers the concerns of those who have opposed “death with dignity” efforts in the past in the California.

View the Opinion piece at: http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/editorials/article3358507.html
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JOSÉ DUBON: The Human Face Behind WCAB Decision

Brett Gowen
Today's post by Brett Gowen of the California Bar is shared from fbgslaw.com

Imagine if this was you or your spouse. The California Legislature passed SB 863 and the recent Dubon case has taken the Workers’ Compensation courts out of deciding medical issues. This has effectively denied crucial medical care for thousands if not hundreds of thousands of California citizens. If the Insurance company denies a treatment and does not follow the law, you will likely not get your day in court to challenge the violations. Read the full story from C.A.A.A below:

California Applicants’ Attorneys Association (CAAA): JOSÉ DUBON: The Human Face Behind WCAB Decision; Consequences of Insurers Gaming UR System, Withholding Medical Records

The California Applicants’ Attorneys Association (CAAA), whose members represent Californians injured on the job, today released a UR DENIED story on José Dubon, the injured laborer whose case has resulted in three different Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board decisions, addressing what insurers are required to provide to Utilization Review (UR) to make the UR valid. Insurance carriers’ Utilization Review (UR) denies one in five physicians’ requests for medical treatment – up to 3,500,000 per year. The Dubon v. World Restoration case is an excellent example of the widespread failure of claims administrators to provide adequate medical records to the UR reviewer. “José Dubon’s case has produced a WCAB...

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Thursday, October 30, 2014

Halloween Food Safety Tips for Parents

Today we share a post from fda.gov
Take these simple steps to help your children have a fun – and safe – Halloween
  • Children shouldn’t snack while they’re out trick-or-treating.  Urge your children to wait until they get home and you have had a chance to inspect the contents of their “goody bags.” 
  • To help prevent children from snacking, give them a light meal or snack before they head out – don’t send them out on an empty stomach.
  • Tell children not to accept – and especially not to eat – anything that isn’t commercially wrapped.
  • Parents of very young children should remove any choking hazards such as gum, peanuts, hard candies or small toys.
  • Inspect commercially wrapped treats for signs of tampering, such as an unusual appearance or discoloration, tiny pinholes, or tears in wrappers.  Throw away anything that looks suspicious.
And follow these tips for Halloween parties at homeHalloween Pumpkin with candy
  • If juice or cider is served to children at Halloween parties, make sure it is pasteurized or otherwise  treated to destroy harmful bacteria.  Juice or cider that has not been treated will say so on the label.
  • No matter how tempting, don't taste raw cookie dough or cake batter.
  • Before going "bobbing for apples," an all-time favorite Halloween game, reduce the number of bacteria that might be present on apples and other raw fruits and vegetables by thoroughly rinsing them under cool running water. As an added precaution, use a produce brush to remove surface dirt.
  • "Scare" bacteria away by keeping all perishable foods chilled until serving time. These include, for example, finger sandwiches, cheese platters, fruit or tossed salads, cold pasta dishes with meat, poultry, or seafood, and cream pies or cakes with whipped-cream and cream-cheese frostings. Cold temperatures help keep most harmful bacteria from multiplying. And don't leave the food at room temperature for more than two-hours.

A business-nonprofit partnership remedy for high turnover

Today's post was shared by Steven Greenhouse and comes from www.washingtonpost.com

ASPEN, Colo.

One of the challenges that advocates are discussing here at an anti-poverty conference in Aspen — yes, I realize the irony — is getting buy-in from the private sector. How do you convince companies that social spending and government “handouts” are good for the bottom line?

Randy Osmun has a pitch: reduced employee turnover.

Osmun is the executive director of The Source, an innovative nonprofit in Grand Rapids, Mich. Companies pay The Source to bring caseworkers — some partly funded by the state — on site. Caseworkers connect employees with whatever social services or philanthropic support they need, which means anything from donated baby goods to food stamps to an affordable loan so they don’t patronize a payday lender. The goal is to stabilize workers’ home lives and thereby create more reliable employees.

“This is different than charity,” he says. “I can say to an employer, ‘Look, Joe is a great guy, he’s been through a lot, and you should really give him a break.’ But that’s just not how employers think. They don’t want your problems in their facility. What they want is resilient, dedicated, hard-working employees who come to them without problems.”

The program began in 2003, when local chief executives started talking about why their turnover rates were so high, especially among low-wage, entry-level workers. Realizing that poverty produces complications and...

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CDC Issues Revised Interim U.S. Guidance for Monitoring and Movement of Persons with Potential Ebola Virus Exposure

CDC Issues Revised Interim U.S. Guidance for Monitoring and Movement of Persons with Potential Ebola Virus Exposure

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued today revised Interim U.S. Guidance for Monitoring and Movement of Persons with Ebola Virus Exposure. This guidance (hyperlink to the guidance here) provides new information public health authorities and other partners can use to determine appropriate public health actions based on Ebola exposure risk factors and clinical presentation. It also includes criteria for monitoring exposed people and for when movement restrictions may be needed.

In determining the right approach, we have put the health and safety of Americans first and foremost, and our deliberations have been informed by our most knowledgeable and experienced public health and homeland security professionals. As with everything we have done to respond to the threat of Ebola both at home and abroad, we have been guided by the best science available.

Coordinated public health actions are essential to stop and reverse the spread of Ebola virus. CDC announced last week that public health authorities will begin active post-arrival monitoring of travelers whose travel originates in Liberia, Sierra Leone, or Guinea and arrive at one of the five airports in the United States doing enhanced screening. The revised interim guidance released today is intended to guide state and local health officials with decisions about managing the movement of individuals being monitored, including travelers from the countries with widespread transmission and others who may have been exposed in the United States.

Active post-arrival monitoring means that travelers without febrile illness or symptoms consistent with Ebola will be contacted daily by state and local health departments for 21 days from the date of their departure from Liberia, Sierra Leone, or Guinea. Six states (New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey, and Georgia), where approximately 70% of incoming travelers are headed, will start active monitoring today, with the remainder of the states starting in the days following.

This guidance also outlines appropriate public health actions for those individuals classified as “some risk.” These include health care workers who are providing direct care to Ebola patients in West Africa or others, such as observers, who enter an Ebola treatment area where Ebola patients are being cared for. Additional precautions, such as direct active monitoring, are recommended for those classified as “some risk.” In addition, the guidance recommends public health authorities determine on an individualized case-by-case basis whether additional restrictions, such as controlled movement, workplace exclusions, or restrictions on other activities, are appropriate. This daily health consultation will give additional confidence to the community that a returning health care worker is asymptomatic and therefore not contagious.

Returning health care workers should be treated with dignity and respect. They, along with our civilian and military personnel in the region, are working tirelessly on the frontlines against Ebola, and their success is what ultimately will enable us to eliminate the threat of additional domestic Ebola cases. We must not prevent or unduly discourage them from undertaking this indispensable and selfless work.

Guidance for returning health care workers from West Africa should be distinguished from health care workers providing care for Ebola patients in the United States. There are important differences between providing care or performing public health tasks in Africa versus in a U.S. hospital. A U.S. hospital provides a more controlled setting than a field hospital in West Africa. A U.S. healthcare worker would be able to anticipate most procedures that would put them at risk of exposure and wear additional personal protective equipment as recommended. In some places in Africa, the same may not be true and workers may not have the ability to prepare for potential exposures.

This guidance is interim guidance and could be updated or changed as new information becomes available.

TO QUARANTINE OR NOT: ‘TIS THE QUESTION

Today's post is shared from Julius Young boxerlaw.com

It’s certainly not impossible to think that California airline workers or healthcare workers could have frontline exposure to carriers of the Ebola virus. While this is principally a public health issue, it could morph into a significant workers’ comp issue.

Thankfully the USA has only seen a handful of Ebola infections, and several of those infected have recovered with intensive treatment.

California does not have direct flights from West African countries, so the level of controversy here has been somewhat lower.

But nationally, even with those limited cases there has been a great deal of confusion and even hysteria.

The Obama Administration and the Governors of New York, New Jersey and Maine have been clashing over what precautions should be instituted.

A nurse, Kaci Hickox, who volunteered in West Africa was quarantined against her will. Hickox proved adept at garnering media attention, and gained widespread public sympathy. This generated  a political outcry from politicians , CDC officials , and editorial writers who contend mandatory quarantine was unnecessary and counterproductive.

Yet,  it seemed curious that U.S. military are being sent to Italy for quarantine after helping in West Africa but that the Obama Administration did not support quarantine of those returning to the USA who are known to have had direct contact with African Ebola victims.

The...

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Threat of Lawsuit Could Test Maine’s Quarantine Policy

A nurse who cared for Ebola patients in Sierra Leone was headed for a legal showdown with the State of Maine on Wednesday over whether the state can quarantine her against her will.

The dispute is heightening a national debate over how to balance public health and public fears against the rights and freedoms of health care workers, and troops, returning from West Africa.

“This is a tipping point in this whole process,” the nurse, Kaci Hickox, said in an interview, one of several she did from her home in northern Maine on Wednesday, as state troopers and television trucks stood outside.

“So many states have started enacting these policies that I think are just completely not evidence-based. They don’t do a good job of balancing the risks and benefits when thinking about taking away an individual’s rights.”

But Maine’s health commissioner, Mary Mayhew, said at a news conference late Wednesday that the state was seeking an immediate court order enforcing a 21-day quarantine of Ms. Hickox after she declared that she would leave her home if state officials did not lift the restrictions by Thursday morning.

“While we certainly respect the rights of one individual, we must be vigilant in protecting 1.3 million Mainers, as well as anyone who visits our great state,” Gov. Paul LePage, a Republican, said in a statement issued earlier in the day. In Maine and elsewhere, the fight over Ebola was poised to be one of the final defining...

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EPA Finalizes List of Polluted Water Bodies in New Jersey; PCBs, Arsenic, and Phosphorus are Most Common Pollutants

From Raritan Bay to the Maurice River in Cumberland County, New Jersey continues to struggle with meeting federal water standards. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has approved the 2012 list of waters in New Jersey that are considered either impaired or threatened by pollutants. An impaired water body does not meet federally-approved water quality standards even after pollution controls have been put in place. A threatened water body is expected to be impaired within two years. The list helps establish regulatory priorities for addressing threats from water pollution.

“Identifying and prioritizing the state’s most seriously polluted waters are important steps in the effort to reduce water pollution,” said Judith Enck, EPA Regional Administrator. “Since the Clean Water Act was adopted, water quality in New Jersey’s rivers, lakes and streams has improved, but we still have a very long way to go. By investing in infrastructure and by implementing green infrastructure to control stormwater runoff, communities throughout New Jersey can improve water quality. Also, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection is tackling a decades-old problem by putting in place more stringent regulatory controls at combined sewage outfalls in the Camden and NY/NJ harbor areas. As New Jersey finalizes and fully implements these permits, we expect to see improvements in water quality.”

The most common pollutants causing impairment in New Jersey water bodies include polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) (14% of impairments), arsenic (13%), phosphorus (9%), and low dissolved oxygen (8%). New Jersey’s 2012 list identifies 1770 instances in which a pollutant is causing an impairment of a water body that keeps it from supporting its “designated use” for drinking water, swimming and recreation, fishing or other activities specified by the state. Seventeen water body/pollutant combinations that were on New Jersey’s impaired waters list in 2010 were not included in the 2012 list, in many cases due to the work of state and local government agencies and local community groups to improve water quality.

The list notes the most common sources of water pollutants, which include urban/stormwater runoff, combined sewer overflows from systems that capture both domestic sewage and stormwater, and air pollution. A pollutant may come from more than one source.

The Clean Water Act requires states to assess the quality of their waters and to report their findings to the EPA every two years. The list is compiled by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and is a valuable tool for reaching the Clean Water Act goal of “fishable and swimmable” waters for all of New Jersey.

The list specifically includes impaired waters for which the development of budgets for the amount of water pollution allowed is necessary. The budgets define the maximum amount of a pollutant that a water body can receive and still meet water quality standards. They are developed by states and approved by the EPA once the agency determines that the budget will allow the water body to achieve water quality standards.

A complete list of New Jersey’s impaired waters, including the Hackensack River, the Passaic River, and Lake Hopatcong is available at:http://www.state.nj.us/dep/wms/bwqsa/2012_draft_303d_list.pdf

….
Jon L. Gelman of Wayne NJ is the author of NJ Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson-Reuters) and co-author of the national treatise, Modern Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson-Reuters). For over 4 decades the Law Offices of Jon L Gelman  1.973.696.7900  jon@gelmans.com  have been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered occupational accidents and illnesses.

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

New Testing Reveals Hidden Dangerous Chemicals in Popular Halloween Costumes and "Trick or Treat" Bags

Study Finds Costumes and Party Supplies Sold by Top Retailers Contain Hazardous Additives

(Ann Arbor, MI) -- A study released today by the Ecology Center's HealthyStuff.org project has found elevated levels of toxic chemicals in popular Halloween costumes, accessories and party supplies. The nonprofit Ecology Center tested 106 Halloween products for substances linked to asthma, birth defects, learning disabilities, reproductive problems, liver toxicity and cancer. The products were purchased from top national retailers including CVS, Kroger, Party City, Target, Walmart, and Walgreens.
Media Resources:
"We found that seasonal products, like thousands of other products we have tested, are full of dangerous chemicals," said Jeff Gearhart, HealthyStuff.org research director. "Poorly regulated toxic chemicals consistently show up in seasonal products. Hazardous chemicals in consumer products pose unnecessary and avoidable health hazards to children, consumers, communities, workers and our environment."
HealthyStuff.org tested Halloween products for chemicals based on their toxicity or tendency to build up in people and the environment. These chemicals include lead, bromine (brominated flame retardants), chlorine (vinyl/PVC plastic), phthalates, arsenic, and tin (organotins).
Some products contained multiple chemical hazards, including a Toddler Batman Muscle Costume whose belt contained 29% regulated phthalates, 340 ppm tin, and lead in the lining of the mask at 120 ppm. Overall, 39% of the vinyl products contained tin at levels suggesting organotin stabilizers, which are endocrine disruptors and can damage the developing brain and immune system.
“As a mom, I was disturbed to learn that some products children will be using for Halloween tested positive for toxic chemicals,” said Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (New York). “Testing of these products is a step in the right direction, but much more needs to be done to better inform consumers so that we are keeping our families safe. I will continue to advocate for legislation in Congress to ensure that my sons and millions of other children are not exposed to toxic chemicals.”
Exposure to toxic chemicals is cumulative and comes from many sources, including diet, air, dust and direct contact with products. Moreover, chemicals being released from products throughout their life cycle are increasingly being recognized as important sources of exposure. In conjunction with the release, advocates with the Mind the Store campaign launched a new national online petition to major retailers calling on them to eliminate these hazardous chemicals in consumer products such as Halloween costumes and accessories.
"Our nation's biggest retailers have a responsibility to their customers to sell safe products, especially when it comes to our children," said Mike Schade, Mind the Store Campaign Director for Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families. "Their considerable market share gives them the power and the responsibility to demand safer chemicals and products from their suppliers. This new testing underscores the need for big retailers to ensure products on their shelves, such as Halloween costumes, don't contain toxic chemicals."
The Mind the Store Campaign, coordinated by Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families, is challenging the nation's top ten US retailers to get tough on toxic chemicals. Chemicals highlighted in the new HealthyStuff.org Halloween study are on the Hazardous 100+ list of dangerous chemicals, which advocates have been calling for retailers to disclose, eliminate, and safely substitute. Over the past year, both Walmart and Target have made strides in launching new initiatives to disclose and limit the use of certain toxic chemicals.
The results of this study are available on the easy-to-use consumer website - www.HealthyStuff.org and build on recent HealthyStuff studies on back-to-school products, summer seasonal and beach products and university-themed products. The majority of these seasonal or specialty products contain one or more toxic chemicals. Due to the fact that many consumer products are largely unregulated, the items tested sometimes have levels of toxic chemicals that exceed the regulated levels set for children's products and toys.
In addition to finding many products with chemical hazards, HealthyStuff.org test data shows that many Halloween products do not contain dangerous substances, proving that safer products can be made. For example, the results show shifts in some products away from hazardous phthalate plasticizers to less hazardous non-phthalate plasticizers. The represents a market shift in the face of growing consumer and regulatory pressure.
Highlights of findings from HealthyStuff.org's Halloween product study:
  • Thirty-three of the 106 tested Halloween products contained polyvinyl chloride (vinyl or PVC) components.
  • Seventeen of the vinyl products were tested for phthalate plasticizers. Of these, two items contained phthalates that were recently banned by the Consumer Product Safety Commission in children's products. One of these was a Toddler Batman Muscle Costume purchased at Walmart. In the costume's yellow belt, HealthyStuff.org measured 29% regulated phthalates (290,000 ppm) and 340 ppm tin. Lead was detected in the mask inner lining at 120 ppm. Overall, five percent of all products were measured to have lead exceeding 100 ppm.
  • The study also documented an ongoing shift away from phthalate plasticizers in flexible vinyl products. Tests showed that fifteen of the vinyl items tested were plasticized with the less toxic chemical DOTP.
  • Ten percent of the products contained levels of bromine consistent with brominated flame retardants. Two Disney-themed Trick-or-Treat bags purchased at Kroger, for example, contained 28,000 ppm and 6,000 ppm bromine, respectively. Halloween light sets purchased at Walgreen's and CVS contained similarly high amounts of bromine.
  • Many of the products with brominated flame retardants also contained high levels of antimony, suggesting an antimony-based flame retardant was used in addition to the brominated chemicals.
  • Thirty-nine percent of the vinyl products, ranging from dress-up shoes to a skeleton "light stick," contained tin at levels suggesting organotin stabilizers. Vinyl products were twice as likely to contain tin as non-vinyl materials. Some forms of organotins are endocrine disruptors; other forms can impact the developing brain and damage the immune system.
To analyze the Halloween products, researchers used a High Definition X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) analyzer, Infrared Spectroscopy and laboratory testing. XRF is an accurate device that has been used by the Environmental Protection Agency to screen packaging, the Food & Drug Administration to screen food, and many State and County Health Departments to screen for residential lead paint. Additional samples were analyzed by laboratories using EPA test methods.
Complete product sample data, photos of products tested, and more information about what consumers can do is available now at www.HealthyStuff.org.
Non-Toxic Halloween Tips
  1. Contact your favorite retailer and ask them to sell non-toxic supplies.
  2. Avoid vinyl products: select cloth and natural materials for costumes and decorations.
  3. Make up and masks: Use paint and pencils made from clay or other natural ingredients, or make your own.
  4. Trick or Treating: use old pillowcases or reusable shopping bags
  5. Pumpkins: Roast and eat the seeds and compost the pumpkin when you're done.
  6. Decorations: Avoid plastics and instead use paper, cardboard, leaves or other natural and recyclable materials for your decorations.
More detailed tips available at HealthyStuff.org.

IMIG 2014: Dr. Robert Weinberg speaks on Cancer Stem Cell Targeting Therapies


Dr. Weinberg focused on the importance of cancer stem cells in mesothelioma. The concept of a stem cell origin of cancer was first described over fifty years ago as a small subset of cells capable of re-initiating a clonal tumor, and there is evidence for both a stem cell origin of mesothelioma, and a stem cell population in the mesothelioma tumor microenvironment. These cells play an essential role in the invasion-metastasis cascade, they are risk to conventional chemotherapy, and are believed to underlie resistance and relapse in mesothelioma. Click here for a summary of the latest information on cancer stem cells in mesothelioma.

Click here to watch Dr. Weinberg’s Presentation

For Marijuana, a Second Wave of Votes to Legalize

Today's post was shared by The New York Times and comes from www.nytimes.com


KEIZER, Ore. — Two years after voters in Colorado and Washington State broke the ice as the first states to legalize sales of recreational marijuana to adults, residents of Oregon, Alaska and Washington, D.C., will vote next week on ballot measures patterned on those of the two pioneers. People on both sides of the issue say these initiatives could determine whether there will be a national tide of legalization.
A changing political landscape has weakened anti-marijuana efforts. As the libertarian movement in the Republican Party has gained force, with leaders like Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky, supporting decriminalization of marijuana and others going even further, an anchor of the conservative opposition to legalization has eroded.
And Democrats have found that supporting legalization — once an invitation to be labeled soft on crime — no longer carries the risk it once did, as public discussion of prison overcrowding and law enforcement budgets has reframed the issue.



National groups that have long advocated legalization have provided labor and money, along with help from a legal marijuana industry that did not exist in 2012. The old antidrug coalition has struggled to find traction and money. Supporters of legalization have outdone opponents’ fund-raising here in Oregon by more than 25 to 1, and in Alaska by about 9 to 1.
“The support coalition is definitely broader, and the opposition has splintered,” said Corey Cook, an...
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H&M Bans India’s Super Spinning After Report of Child Labor

Today's post was shared by Steven Greenhouse and comes from www.bloomberg.com

Hennes & Mauritz AB (HMB) will blacklist a spinning mill in southern India after a report claimed five manufacturers there use child labor and subjected workers, mostly women and girls, to “appalling” working conditions.

H&M will ban suppliers from using products made by Tamil Nadu-based Super Spinning Mills Ltd. (SSPM), the Stockholm-based company said today. A Bangladeshi supplier has used yarn produced at the mill, though H&M doesn’t have a direct business agreement, spokeswoman Lena Enocson Almroth said in an e-mail. Super was “unwilling to cooperate with H&M in a transparent way.”

The decision follows a report by the Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations, or SOMO, and the India Committee of the Netherlands which said workers face labor conditions “that amount to forced labor in the export-oriented southern Indian textile industry.” The report, which was compiled using a mixture of desk research and interviews on the ground with workers, covers five mills, including Super.

“This report is totally false,” Super Spinning Mills’ Managing Director A.S. Thirumoorthy said by phone from his office in Coimbatore in southern India. “Buyers from H&M and Decathlon regularly come and audit our facilities.”

The mill complies with all Indian...
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Cuomo’s and Christie’s Shifts on Ebola Are Criticized as Politics, Not Science

Today's post was shared by Steven Greenhouse and comes from www.nytimes.com



Shifting stances and a lack of clear standards from the governors of New York and New Jersey over their Ebola quarantine policy left critics and even some allies questioning on Monday whether the two men had fully worked through the details before they announced it.
In New York, local health officials said on Monday that they had not yet received any details of the three-day-old Ebola quarantine policy they are charged with enforcing.
In New Jersey, requests for such specifics were met with six sentences from a Friday news release.
Govs. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York and Chris Christie of New Jersey said on Friday that they were imposing their strict new mandatory quarantine because standards from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had been inadequate.
But on Monday, faced with criticism from the nurse who had been detained in Newark as the test case of the new quarantine, Mr. Christie said the C.D.C. — not New Jersey — had been responsible for hospitalizing her and giving her the Ebola test in the first place.
By Monday, the White House, the United Nations secretary general and civil-liberties groups, with varying degrees of anger, were accusing Mr. Christie and Mr. Cuomo of putting politics ahead of science, at the risk of deterring health care workers needed to treat the disease at its origin in Africa.
The governors, who recently appeared side by side to declare their resolve to protect the region from the threat of terrorism, said on Friday...
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Frustration building over lack of details on N.J. Ebola plan

Today's post is shared from northjersey.com/
Governor Christie is forcefully defending New Jersey’s mandatory quarantine policy for travelers or health workers who have come in contact with Ebola patients in West Africa, saying other states, the military and even a Nobel laureate are on his side, as a fierce national debate has ensued over how to best protect Americans from the disease.
Yet four days after he and the governor of New York announced the 21-day quarantine for high-risk travelers, neither Christie nor state health officials have offered details about how this will be accomplished.
If people are quarantined at home, can their families stay with them and still go out? If they are alone at home, is someone going to bring them food? What about high-risk travelers who are passing through the airport in Newark — should they be allowed to continue to their destination?
Those and many other questions remain unanswered — Christie officials said specifics about how the mandate will be enforced are “internal documents” and are not public.
What’s more, some of the agencies that are supposed to be enforcing the plan say they are uncertain about protocols because no policies have been presented. There is growing frustration, officials said. The Port Authority, for...
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