Today, October 7, is World Day for Decent Work, an initiative led by the International Trade Union Confederation, the Global Progressive Forum, Social Alert and Solidar.  What is “Decent Work”? “Decent Work is a strategy to achieve sustainable development that is centered on people. Decent Work is a key element to build fair, equitable and inclusive societies […]
A report released last week by staff of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee on EPA’s handling of the massive asbestos contamination in the mining town of Libby, Montana is laden with words including “failure,” “misled,” “interference,” and “delay.” Refering to “EPA’s Failure to Declare a Public Health Emergency in Libby, Montana,” Senator Baucus […]
The recent economic downturn has left more people worried about losing their jobs, and for the 54% of our population relying on employer-sponsored insurance (ESI), losing a job also means losing health insurance. Some of those who lose ESI will be able to pay their full premiums, including the share formerly handled by their employers, […]
Bloggers worry about how a Wall Street bailout and economic turmoil might affect environmental issues, and they advocate for green avenues to help the economy. David Roberts at Gristmill compiles warnings from opinion leaders about not letting a bailout interfere with green investments, and advocates for an energy-efficiency initiative to help the economy. Alex Salta […]
By now, you’ve probably heard that VP nominee Sarah Palin has been tripped up a few times by tough questions from CBS New’s Katie Couric. Real brain twisters like: “what newspapers and magazines did you regularly read before you were tapped for this to stay informed and to understand the world?â “[Besides Roe v. Wade] what other […]
by revere, cross-posted at Effect Measure Scientists have been using genetic data to estimate when species first appeared for some time. The basic idea is to use differences between species and a guess as to how fast sequences change as a molecular clock, running it backward until they show the same sequence. The same trick […]
American News Project has just posted a new video segment about how tactics used to defend tobacco are now staving off action on climate change. In “Smoke and CO2: How to Spin Global Warming,” Danielle Ivory gives an eight-minute overview of how we went from reassurances that tobacco isn’t really harmful to insistence that we don’t […]
As our population gets older and heavier, healthcare workers are having to lift more and heavier loads as they transfer and position patients. The increased physical demands have translated into alarming rates of musculoskeletal disorders. NIOSH reports: Direct and indirect costs associated with back injuries in the healthcare industry are estimated to be $20 billion […]