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POPSWho Picked China for the Olympics? According to the AP, “earlier this year, the Chinese Ministry of Public Security said it had disrupted two plots to attack the Olympics. It claimed one group had been planning to kidnap athletes, foreign journalists, and other visitors, while a second had been manufacturing explosives and was plotting to attack hotels, government offices, and military targets in Shanghai, Beijing, and other cities….” Just yesterday we heard about sixteen Chinese policemen who were killed in an attack on a border post in the Muslim region of Xinjiang.
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POPSNewsweek: Education system is broken As a former NYC teaching fellow (similar program to Teach for America), I agree: 1. The educational system is broken. 2. The impact of an uneducated populace cannot be underestimated. However, I strongly disagree that teachers are the single most important factor in student achievement. As a teacher in a crisis school (and now a parent), I strongly believe that PARENTS are the single most important factor in student achievement. Quality teachers ARE correlated with student achievement, because the best teachers find the highest job satisfaction in working with families that embrace the responsibility of learning. Schools with responsible, engaged parents CAN and do attract and retain good teachers. The key to solving the educational crisis is to engage and equip parents LONG before their children reach school age, since the first 5 years are the most critical years of development. For one creative way to do just that, check out tumblon.com.
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POPSFirst Years Last a Lifetime This Clinical Pediatrics abstract calls pediatricians to consider the long-term impact of early childhood experiences in order to promote "proven best intervention practices."
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POPSChina and Fannie Mae China has already been burned badly with its Blackstone and Morgan Stanley investments. But with the Big Macs and Maes, it's still the same old problem, the Chinese loaned them money which they can't pay back, however, much both sides want pretend that one day they can.
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POPSHave Some Sex Erectile dysfunction incidence was 79 cases per 1000 in men who had reported sexual intercourse less than once per week, dropping to 32 cases per 1000 in men reporting intercourse once per week and falling further to 16 per 1000 in those reporting intercourse 3 or more times per week. The study clearly indicates that regular intercourse protects men from the development of erectile dysfunction, which may, in turn, impact general health and quality of life. Article: "Regular Intercourse Protects Against Erectile Dysfunction: Tampere Aging Male Urologic Study" The American Journal of Medicine, Volume 121, Issue 7 (July 2008)
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POPSGood cholesterol may protect memory There is good and bad cholesterol. They sum it up by saying, what is good for the heart, is good for the brain. Certain changes in lifestyle can have a positive impact on raising HDL levels: Aerobic exercise, Weight loss, Smoking cessation. Removing trans fatty acids from the diet One to two drinks of alcohol a day - HDL transports cholesterol to the liver and cholesterol is known to have a protective effect on the cell membrane. It is likely that this reflects the liver's need for more cholesterol to protect itself from the alcohol. Adding monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats to the diet, and reducing or eliminating saturated fats. Adding soluble fiber to diet. Oats are a prime source. Taking Omega 3 fatty acids such as in tuna, or sardines, or suppliments. Limiting intake of dietary fat to 30–35% of total calories Taking Niacin aka Vitamin B3
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POPSplant refugees The researchers used two different climate models that predict changes in temperature and rainfall through 2100 to make their projections -- one that assumes higher and another that assumes lower greenhouse gas emissions. What the models did suggest, however, is that reducing greenhouse gases would have a significant impact on native species
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POPSTrouble in Public-Private Toll Road Paradise? In the document they RiskMetrics Group, an international corporate governance service ] authored is a report titled, "Infrastructure Funds: Managing, Financing and Accounting; In Whose Interest?" The 39-page report details a host of concerns and issues that should give pause to anyone who thinks PPP infrastructure deals are free of serious risk. We hope government officials at both the federal and state level will carefully study the RiskMetrics report. As we all know tremendous pressure is being applied by the Federal Highway Administration to push state government into public-private partnerships deals, partnerships we fear will lead to disaster. We also hope this report will give rise to a greater examination of the financial impact these partnerships will have on the public. Special caution must be exercised to ensure that public infrastructure such has highways, rails, and utilities serve the public interest above any private interest.
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POPSWasn't the smoking ban going to destroy bars? Guess what?
From the 6/11/08 East Bay Express: "Even the Bush administration's own surgeon general has concluded that there are no risk-free levels of secondhand smoke, and the federal Environmental Protection Agency considers it to be among the most lethal carcinogens. According to a 2006 report by the California EPA, secondhand smoke kills more than 50,000 people nationwide every year, including 3,400 deaths from lung cancer and 46,000 from heart disease. The costs to society are also staggering. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the United States spends more than $167 billion each year in smoke-related healthcare costs. That's a price tag of $3,702 per adult smoker. A recent study found that smoking outdoors poses risks to nonsmokers, too. Stanford University researchers discovered that under certain conditions, such as sitting near a smoker on a park bench or in an outdoor dining area, the dangers of secondhand-smoke exposure are essentially equal to those ind
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POPSWhite House Releases Climate Change Report - But Only Under Court Order Once again, the Bush administration has to be forced to do their damned job. Among the findings: “An increased frequency and severity of heat waves is expected, leading to more illness and death, particularly among the young, elderly, frail and poor.” It added that deaths from cold would decline, but said uncertainties on both projections made it impossible to characterize the overall risk. It gave high odds (essentially a two out of three chance) that Lyme disease and West Nile virus would have expanded ranges because of warming. The report gave the same odds that some food- and water-borne diseases would also increase among susceptible populations, but said “major human epidemics” were unlikely as long as public-health systems remained effective. Sounds like they should get right on that -- which, of course, was the problem.
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POPSHerbicide review 'fails' the environment The review recommends changes on labels to reduce the risk of the herbicide contaminating waterways. I'm sure that's physically impossible. Unless we can work out how to grow dry plants. There is also a cop out, saying that it is the responsibility of the States to ensure this happens. The don't mention how, apart from the warning on the label.
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POPSHigher Suicide Rates Under Conservative Government The researchers took into account periods of drought and World War II, because of their economic and psychological impact. Suicide rates were higher during periods of drought and lower during WWII. But after adjusting for these factors, the figures clearly showed the highest rates of suicide occurred when both Conservative state and federal governments were in power. Conversely, the lowest rates occurred when state and federal governments were both Labour. Middle aged and older people were most at risk. When the Conservatives ruled both state and federal governments, men were 17% more likely to commit suicide than when Labour was in power. Women were 40% more likely to kill themselves. Conservative rule traditionally implies a less interventionist and more market-orientated policy than Labour rule
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POPSIncubator fields affect baby's heart rate. The heart ? No doubt it is going to be affected, but the brain seems like it is more at risk. The brain runs at a very low frequency - between 0, and 25 Hz in a natural state -compared to MHz, and kHz for radio, and GHz for a cpu, but as with the chords in music, a frequency higher up the scale can, amplify a note it harmonizes with somewhere else on the scale. Maybe there is a link between incubator EMR. and ADHD. A kid may not need Ritlin, they might need a tune up. If you want to know more about brain frequencies, wikki has a good summary in electroencephalograpy. Below is the url : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electroencephalography#Wave_patterns
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POPSAsking A Judge To Save The World "But Walter L. Wagner and Luis Sancho contend that scientists at the European Center for Nuclear Research, or CERN, have played down the chances that the collider could produce, among other horrors, a tiny black hole, which, they say, could eat the Earth. Or it could spit out something called a “strangelet” that would convert our planet to a shrunken dense dead lump of something called “strange matter.” Their suit also says CERN has failed to provide an environmental impact statement as required under the National Environmental Policy Act."
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