Women are 60 percent more likely than men to earn a bachelor’s degree by the time they are 23, according to data recently released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The data, mined from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth of 1997, shows that by the age of 23, 23 percent of women surveyed earned a bachelor’s degree — compared with only 14 percent of men. And as the same amount of men and women are still working toward a degree, the gender gap will not narrow in the next few years, according to Bloomberg BusinessWeek.

Study co-author Jay Meisenheimer told BusinessWeek that the shift can be linked to more professional opportunities for women. ‘We’ve seen this great transformation in the workforce away from manufacturing toward more of a service economy,’ he said. ‘Now that there are more opportunities for women to work, we’re seeing a growing number completing high school and college and going on to graduate and professional programs.’

In addition gender gaps, the Bureau of Labor Statistics report (PDF) shows that there are still significant racial gaps in degree attainment. By the age of 23, 22 percent of non-Hispanic whites surveyed reported earning a bachelor’s degree, as opposed to only […]

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WASHINGTON – In many ways, the personal injury lawsuit looked routine: In late 2001, a government employee and his family sued the agency he worked for, saying it had placed them in a mold-contaminated home that made them sick and required nearly all their possessions to be destroyed.

But this was no ordinary case. The employee, Kevin M. Shipp, was a veteran Central Intelligence Agency officer. His home was at Camp Stanley, an Army weapons depot just north of San Antonio, in an area where the drinking water was polluted with toxic chemicals. The post includes a secret C.I.A. facility.

Declaring that its need to protect state secrets outweighed the Shipps’ right to a day in court, the government persuaded a judge to seal the case and order the family and their lawyers not to discuss it, and to later dismiss the lawsuit without any hearing on the merits, Mr. Shipp said.

More than half a decade later, Mr. Shipp is going public with his story. He contends that the events broke up his marriage and destroyed his career, and that C.I.A. officials abused the State Secrets Privilege doctrine in an effort to cover up their own negligence.

Jennifer Youngblood, a C.I.A. spokeswoman, denied […]

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If you want lasting vision, eat your fish and nuts: The omega-3 fatty acids in these foods may protect against two leading causes of human blindness, a new study in mice has found.

The results showed omega-3s help regulate blood vessel growth in our eyes. That means the fatty acids could help prevent eye diseases such as retinopathy, caused by an overgrowth of leaky blood vessels in the eyes, and age-related macular degeneration, caused by abnormal growth of blood vessels, said study researcher Dr. Lois Smith, an ophthalmologist at Children’s Hospital Boston.

The fatty acids also activated proteins that improve insulin sensitivity, Smith said. Those proteins are the same ones targeted by type 2 diabetes drugs such as Avandia, so the finding shows that fatty acids could be used to improve insulin sensitivity in people with diabetes, she said.

‘Although more clinical studies need to be done, it appears possible that similar to mice, patients would have improved insulin sensitivity with omega-3 fatty acids, with no increased risk of heart disease,’ Smith told MyHealthNewsDaily.

To get the same beneficial health effects as the mice in the study, humans would have to consume 2 grams a day of omega-3 compounds docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic […]

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You are what you eat, kids. This week’s news seems stuffed (pardon the pun) with reasons to pursue a healthy diet. It could help boost a toddler’s IQ and improve the symptoms of a child with ADHD. Kate Northstone at the University of Bristol reckons a toddler left to snack on sweets and crisps could be left with a lower IQ later in life.

Northstone’s team collected data on the eating habits and IQ of almost 4000 children over six years. After accounting for other known influences on IQ, the team found that three-year-old children on a diet high in fat and sugar had lower IQ scores five years later than those fed healthier diets. Eight-year-olds with fruit- and vegetable-laden diets also scored more highly on IQ tests than those on less healthy diets. The results were published today in the
Journal of Epidemiological Community Health.

Given that around 23 per cent of children start school either overweight or obese, it’s absolutely clear that healthy choices as part of their early development will stand children in good stead – not only for keeping a healthy weight as they grow up, but, as this evidence suggests, improving their ability to do well […]

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California’s treasurer just announced that the state may need to begin issuing IOUs if the governor and legislature can’t close the budget gap. And California’s not the only place that’s hurting. The Great Recession, hit not only businesses and individuals, but governments as well. The National Conference of State Legislatures estimated that 31 states are facing a combined shortfall for fiscal year 2011 of nearly $60 billion.

So, what’s being done? ‘Cities and states across the nation are selling and leasing everything from airports to zoos — a fire sale that could help plug budget holes now but worsen their financial woes over the long run,’ the Wall Street Journal reports. ‘California is looking to shed state office buildings. Milwaukee has proposed selling its water supply; in Chicago and New Haven, Conn., its parking meters. In Louisiana and Georgia, airports are up for grabs.’

If this seems shocking, it shouldn’t. For the past 30 years, there has been a deliberate effort to deregulate industry and to choke off federal support for public services and public spaces, paving the way for greater corporate control. The push to privatize is nothing new, it’s just that our economic crisis is the latest opportunity. This fire […]

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