A new Bush administration plan to create national standards for driver’s licenses drew heavy criticism yesterday from civil liberties groups, some Republican and Democratic lawmakers, governors, and the travel industry. The critics said the new licenses anticipated under the plan, which is aimed at screening out potential terrorists and uncovering illegal immigrants, could still be forged. They also complained that the program, known as Real ID, would be costly for states to implement, potentially restrict summer travel, and allow private companies access to the personal data of most U.S. citizens. But they also welcomed yesterday’s official announcement that states have until May 2011 before they need to begin issuing licenses that meet the department’s new guidelines, and until December 2014 to begin replacing current licenses. Drivers over the age of 50 will not have to obtain new licenses until the end of 2017. The deadline extensions give both Congress and future presidents time to reconsider what opponents have depicted as a national identification system that will infringe on privacy rights and leave room for large-scale identity theft. ‘DHS has kicked the can down the road to the next administration, and conceivably the next two or three […]
As adult obesity balloons in the United States, being overweight has become less of a health hazard and more of a lifestyle choice, the author of a new book argues. ‘Obesity is a natural extension of an advancing economy. As you become a First World economy and you get all these labor-saving devices and low-cost, easily accessible foods, people are going to eat more and exercise less,’ health economist Eric Finkelstein told AFP. In ‘The Fattening of America’, published this month, Finkelstein says that adult obesity more than doubled in the United States between 1960 and 2004, rising from 13 percent to around 33 percent. Globally, only Saudi Arabia fares worse than the United States in terms of the percentage of adults with a severe weight problem — 35 percent of people in the oil-rich desert kingdom are classified as obese, the book says, citing data from the World Health Organization and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. With the rising tide of obesity come health problems and an increased burden on the healthcare system and industry. ‘But the nasty side-effects of obesity aren’t as nasty as they used to be,’ Finkelstein said. ‘When […]
The intention was good: Maryland power companies would help customers save electricity by providing discounted or free energy-efficient light bulbs. But consumers have discovered they’re paying for the program – whether they use it or not – with a surcharge on every month’s utility bills. And only a few stores offer the discount, which means inconvenience – if the consumer bothers to try to find the bulbs at all. Even the U.S. Postal Service has complained. Post offices in Western Maryland balked when Allegheny Power mailed two compact fluorescent light bulbs to each of its 220,000 Maryland customers – in packages too large for some post offices to handle. Allegheny ratepayers paid for the bulbs through a mandatory 96 cent monthly surcharge on their bills. Other utilities, including Baltimore Gas and Electric Co., are also tacking a small surcharge onto their customers’ bills but working through retailers. BGE uses the money raised to reimburse a handful of retailers, such as Home Depot and Costco, that agree to sell the bulbs at a discount. ‘Why should we all pay for a discount we may not be able to use because we can’t get there or we may […]
A large-scale test on the effectiveness of switchgrass to make ethanol gave the native grass high marks on energy production and greenhouse gases. Switchgrass is a favorite of politicians and cellulosic ethanol advocates who say that the grass, which can grow to nine feet, is a better feedstock than corn–the source of most ethanol made today. A study published on Monday by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) found that switchgrass contains five times more energy than it takes to grow it, which makes it significantly more cost-effective than corn. The average greenhouse gas emissions from cellulosic ethanol derived from switchgrass were found to be 94 percent lower than gasoline. By contrast, corn ethanol generates slightly less greenhouse gases in its production than gasoline, according to studies. Other advantages of switchgrass are that it can grow in a range of climates and it does not require as much water as other processes. It also does not pose the same risk of raising food prices as corn ethanol. The PNAS study, funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, attempted to have a more comprehensive look at growing switchgrass for ethanol than previous studies. […]
Consuming sweets and chewing gum with sugar substitutes may help the weight-conscious slash calories, but excessive use of the sweetener sorbitol can cause extreme weight loss and other problems, according to a new report. In this week’s BMJ, Juergen Bauditz, MD, of the University of Berlin, and colleagues describe two patients with a sorbitol habit who had dramatic, unexplained weight loss until their excessive use of the sweetener was discovered. (Do you include items with sorbitol in your diet? What foods and how often? Tell us about it on WebMD’s Type 2 Diabetes Support Group board.) Sugar-Free Sweeteners and Side Effects: Case Histories One patient, a 21-year-old woman, had unexplained diarrhea and abdominal pain for eight months. She reported an unintended weight loss of 24 pounds, weighing in at about 90 pounds. After she was asked about diet, she said she chewed sugar-free gum with sorbitol daily, taking in about 18 to 20 grams a day. One stick typically has 1.25 grams. Once she eliminated sorbitol from her diet, the gastrointestinal problems stopped and she gained back more than 15 pounds. The second patient, a 46-year-old man, had been hospitalized because of diarrhea and […]
Remote Viewing the Year 2060
