by Rebecca Reindel Holidays are interesting times of the year. Many of us fill our schedule with time to visit friends and family across the nation, and even across the globe. When our plans involve air travel, many of us line-up alongside the baggage carousel station while we wait for our prized possessions to roll […]
Months of a severe drought in East Africa have led to famine in two regions in Southern Somalia. According to the UN’s definition, famines can only be declared under the following conditions: At least 20 per cent of households in an area face extreme food shortages with a limited ability to cope; acute malnutrition rates […]
Though the disaster at Japan’s Fukushima Daichi nuclear plant has faded from the headlines, cleanup work continues amid high radiation levels. TIME’s Krista Mahr reports that Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has just released a document that includes an April estimate that 1600 workers will be exposed to high levels of radiation while […]
[Updated 9/21/11: see below] Ka-chunk, ka-chunk, ka-chunk, ka-chunk, ka-chunk……is the familar sound around house framing and roofing jobs of the pnuematic nail gun. !Expletive! Expletive! Argh….Expletive!….is the cursing yelps from guys whose fingers, hands, and other body parts are punctured by nails inadvertently shot from these construction tools. An estimated 37,000 individuals in the US […]
By Kim Krisberg We’re talking about it all wrong. Health reform, that is. We (reformers) think we’re answering the questions that will change opponents’ minds, when there’s no answer that will ever satisfy. My head hurts just thinking about it (though a giant, energy-efficient light bulb flickered on over my head after I thought about […]
What do Kraft Foods Global, Tyson Foods, Sea World and Lucas Oil Production Studio have in common? They are four of the 147 employers identified by OSHA as “severe violators” of worker health and safety standards. Earlier this month, federal OSHA posted on its website a document listing employers in 30 States who meet the […]
This post is part of the Birth Control Blog Carnival put on by the National Women’s Law Center. Yesterday I wrote about new Institute of Medicine recommendations regarding preventive health services for women that should be covered by all new health plans without requiring cost-sharing. One of the IOM’s recommendations was that all FDA-approved contraceptive […]
One of the provisions of the Affordable Care Act is a requirement that new health plans cover preventive services for women without deductibles or co-payments. The Department of Health and Human Services asked the Institute of Medicine to review what preventive services are important to women’s health and well-being and make recommendations about which of […]
Thanks to Ken Ward at Coal Tatto for alerting me to a hearing conducted last week in the House Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs, Stimulus Overight and Government Spending, of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform called “EPA’s Appalachian Energy Permitorium: Job Killer or Job Creator?” The majoirity of the witnesses were at the ready […]
As debt-ceiling negotiations continue and members of both parties express a desire for “leaner” government, James Kwak at The Atlantic offers an important reminder: Measuring the size of the US government by how much money it spends can be misleading. Social Security and Medicare, both of which are extremely popular, account for a huge chunk […]