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We can thank China once more for sending us toxic products. If it isn’t kids toys it’s drywall!
Claire's bracelets have high levels of harmful cadmium
Also:
Cadmium: Walmart, Claire's pull children's jewelry from shelves
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Coastal development and overfishing contribute to decline
Climate change, coastal development and overfishing have effectively wiped out nearly a fifth of the world's coral reefs, and by the end of this century they "are unlikely to look much like the reefs that we are familiar with today," said Peter Mumby, a marine biologist at the University of Queensland in Australia, who envisions smaller and weaker reefs that harbor fewer fish.
"But there will still be reefs and they will still be very important," he said. "And so what we really have to do is take all the steps we can locally to preserve reefs for future generations, including Australia's Great Barrier Reef, shown here.
By Dave Stancliff/For the Times-Standard
Posted: 05/09/2010 01:30:19 AM PDT
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill may signal the final battle in a war on the fragile ecosystems of the coastal states that was launched decades ago by Big Oil.
Oil companies steadily destroyed the Gulf Coast's ecosystems since the 1950s, when they carved canals through the marsh to make way for drilling rigs and pipelines, according to John Lopez, director of sustainability at the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation.
No one knows exactly how much oil is escaping (estimates keep going up). Last week President Obama said, “We're dealing with a massive and potentially unprecedented environmental disaster.” Environmentally, the spill couldn't have happened at a better time to cause maximum damage to wildlife and the fishing industry.
As if that damage isn't bad enough, even the coastal land is threatened, as the dwindling marsh grasses will be killed by the oil. “The result,” said Michael Parr, vice president of the American Bird Conservancy “could mean the elimination of a natural barrier that keeps Louisiana's coastline from eroding.”
Go here to read the rest.
Related stories: Federal regulators haven’t kept up up with oil drilling expansion
Try to divert Gulf oil aborted; tar blobs hit Ala.
Photos from the Deepwater Horizon oil leak in the gulf
UPDATE:
Blogs/web sites that have picked up today’s column: (as of 10:16 a.m. PST)
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Crystal Guess talks during a news conference to launch the Women's Marijuana Movement in the State Capitol in Denver on Thursday.
Activists target women in push to legalize marijuana
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Anna Jarvis' life was consumed by the holiday she started
She started Mother’s Day then spent the rest of her life fighting the holiday’s commercial and political exploitation of it.
Photograph of Anna M. Jarvis, founder of Mother’s Day, taken in Westchester, Pennsylvania, in 1907.
When her mother died on May 23, 1905, Miss Jarvis worked untiringly to have the second Sunday in May set aside each year as a day of honor to the mothers of the nation.
© Bettmann/CORBIS
Recent incidents show the ‘culture’ of sports has taken a terrible turn
Excerpt:
Is there something in our sports culture that condones the demeaning treatment of women by athletes, like the alleged acts of Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (photo on left)?
The laws of physics actually accommodate the notion of time travel, through portals known as wormholes.
In an article in the Daily Mail this week, British cosmologist Stephen Hawking outlined not one, but three, theoretically realistic ideas for traveling through time one of which he says is even practical.
Yuma grower may be source of outbreak; 19 sickened in 23 states
Excerpt:
“Food and Drug Administration investigators are looking at a farm in Yuma, Arizona, as a possible source of a widespread E. coli outbreak in romaine lettuce.”
Key GOP senator says oil spill, immigration debate have derailed legislation
Excerpt:
“A key Republican senator negotiating with Democrats on a climate change bill said Friday it's "become impossible" to pass the legislation now because of disagreements over offshore and immigration reform.”
It just depends on what state you're in these days whether you have a chance of getting justice in the courts. If you are in Texas, it...
