Friday, February 25th, 2011
Stephan: More about the desecration of the Gulf. It is becoming clearer and clearer that what BP and Halliburton have done will have consequences for a generation.
Baby bottlenose dolphins are washing up dead in record numbers on the shores of Alabama and Mississippi, alarming scientists and a federal agency charged with monitoring the health of the Gulf of Mexico.
Moby Solangi, the executive director of the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies (IMMS) in Gulfport, Mississippi, said Thursday he’s never seen such high death numbers.
‘I’ve worked with marine mammals for 30 years, and this is the first time we’ve seen such a high number of calves,’ he said. ‘It’s alarming.’
At least 24 baby dolphins have washed up on the shores of the two states since the beginning of the year — more than ten times the normal rate. Also, six older dolphins died.
In January 2009 and 2010, no calf strandings were reported, compared to four in January 2011, the institute said. During the month of February for those years, only one calf stranding was reported each year.
Blair Mase, lead marine mammal stranding coordinator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), echoed Solangi’s concern.
‘It’s not common for this time of year to recover such young animals. When you put the numbers together, it’s quite high compared to previous years.’
The occurrence has prompted NOAA to designate these deaths as […]
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Friday, February 25th, 2011
STEPHEN C. WEBSTER, - The Raw Story
Stephan: Very sadly I have to say I would not eat Gulf Coast shrimp. I am afraid BP killed the Gulf seafood business, destroying the livelihood of hundreds of small family fishing boat operations, and it is going to take years to come back.
Experts operating states apart confirm toxic content in not just shrimp, but crab and fish too
The federal government is going out of its way to assure the public that seafood pulled from recently reopened Gulf of Mexico waters is safe to consume, in spite of the largest accidental release of crude oil in America’s history.
However, testing methodologies used by the government to deem areas of water safe for commercial fishing are woefully inadequate and permit high levels of toxic compounds to slip into the human food chain, according to a series of scientific and medical professionals interviewed by Raw Story.
In two separate cases, a toxicologist and a chemist independently confirmed their seafood samples contained unusually high volumes of crude oil and harmful hydrocarbons — and some of this food was allegedly being sent to market.
One test, conducted by a chemist from Mobile, Alabama, employed a rudimentary chemical analysis of shrimp pulled from waters near Louisiana and found ‘oil and grease’ in their digestive tracts.
The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) tests, which are approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), have focused on the animal’s flesh, with samples shelled and cleaned before undergoing examination.
Unfortunately, many Gulf coast residents prepare […]
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Friday, February 25th, 2011
ROB HASTINGS, - The Independent (U.K.)
Stephan: As I wrote the other day, the attack on Planned Parenthood is going to result in a degrading of the social network. It is clear, as this report shows, that good sex education and women's reproductive services results in lowered teen pregnancy. In contrast, as the policies to be found in red states show, the conservative 'social values' agenda results in an increase in STDS, unwed pregnancies, spousal abuse, and childhood health complications
Health campaigners lauded a historic low in teenage pregnancy yesterday but warned that government cuts will soon send the numbers rising again.
Data from the Office for National Statistics revealed the rate of conceptions among women aged 15-17 fell to 3.83 per cent in 2009. This was a decline of 5.9 per cent on the previous year’s figures, and was the lowest level for almost 30 years.
However, two experts in the subject claimed that the rate will inevitably begin to increase again if reductions in sexual health services are carried out.
Simon Blake, director of the sexual health charity Brook, said that while the figures demonstrated the amount of work that has gone into reducing teen pregnancy during the past decade, the Government’s cuts are ‘short-sighted’.
‘We strongly urge the Government to ensure a continued local and national focus on teenage pregnancy as we know that if we stop focusing on delivering sexual health services the rates will go up,’ Mr Blake said. He added that further investment would in fact save money, claiming ‘for every £1 spent on contraception, £11 is saved’.
His views were echoed by Gill Frances, former chair of the Teenage Pregnancy Independent Advisory Group. said: ‘We are currently experiencing […]
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Thursday, February 24th, 2011
Stephan: This is one area where the Obama administration has continued to press probably, I think, because this is an instance where fairness and political advantage overlap.
WASHINGTON — In a major policy reversal, the Obama administration said Wednesday it will no longer defend the constitutionality of a federal law banning recognition of same-sex marriage.
Attorney General Eric Holder said President Barack Obama has concluded that the administration cannot defend the federal law that defines marriage as only between a man and a woman. He noted that the congressional debate during passage of the Defense of Marriage Act ‘contains numerous expressions reflecting moral disapproval of gays and lesbians and their intimate and family relationships – precisely the kind of stereotype-based thinking and animus the (Constitution’s)Equal Protection Clause is designed to guard against.’
The Justice Department had defended the act in court until now.
‘Much of the legal landscape has changed in the 15 years since Congress passed’ the Defense of Marriage Act, Holder said in a statement. He noted that the Supreme Court has ruled that laws criminalizing homosexual conduct are unconstitutional and that Congress has repealed the military’s ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy.
At the White House, spokesman Jay Carney said Obama himself is still ‘grappling’ with his personal view of gay marriage but has always personally opposed the Defense of Marriage Act as ‘unnecessary and unfair.’
Holder wrote to House […]
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Thursday, February 24th, 2011
ERIC W. DOLAN, - The Raw Story
Stephan: This, of course, is just what it looks like: an attempt by Pharma to take control of what -- thanks to the medical marijuana initiatives -- it realizes is a hugely profitable market. It is a completely cynical move. Big Pharma wins, and the DEA wins because this assures their budget will continue. I predict it isn't going to work.
A Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) proposal to reclassify the main psychoactive chemical in marijuana as a Schedule III substance would allow pharmaceutical companies to market the drug while still penalizing common recreational use, according to marijuana law reform advocates.
The main psychoactive chemical in marijuana, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), is currently a Schedule I substance within the US Controlled Substances Act, the most restrictive schedule with the greatest criminal penalties.
In November 2010, the DEA proposed reclassifying dronabinol, a synthetic THC, as a Schedule III substance, which would place it among substances such as hydrocodone and allow it to be dispensed with a written or oral prescription.
‘The DEA’s intent is to expand the federal government’s schedule III listing to include pharmaceutical products containing naturally derived formations of THC while simultaneously maintain existing criminal prohibitions on the plant itself,’ Paul Armentano, the deputy director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), wrote at AlterNet.
With its proposal, the DEA is responding to the demands of large pharmaceutical companies, he claimed.
Marijuana plants and THC extracts would remain illegal under the proposal, but companies would be able to purchase THC from a government-licensed provider to develop pharmaceutical products.
‘While the DEA’s forthcoming regulatory change promises […]
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