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Bacteria Levels In Aircraft Shows Low Risk To Travelers, Study Shows ScienceDaily (May 2, 2008) — Popular wisdom says that aircraft provide the perfect environment for spreading disease, but few studies exist to confirm or deny this suspicion. Now, a team of researchers from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, a leading federal agency and Harvard University has measured concentrations of bacteria in the cabin air of 12 commercial passenger aircraft, and found that flying may be safer than we think. “In general, bacterial concentrations and types found during the study should not pose a risk to travelers,” says Christine Rogers,...

BILLINGS, Mont. - Pesticides, heavy metals and other airborne contaminants are raining down on national parks across the West and Alaska, turning up at sometimes dangerously high levels in lakes, plants and fish. A sweeping, six-year federal study released Tuesday found evidence of 70 contaminants in 20 national parks and monuments — from Denali in Alaska and Glacier in Montana, to Big Bend in Texas and Yosemite in California. The findings revealed that some of the Earth's most pristine wilderness is still within reach of the toxic byproducts of the industrial age. "Contaminants are everywhere. You can't get more remote...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 25, 2008 – Officials project five U.S. Army brigades and two Marine battalions will leave Iraq by the end of July, but it’s too soon to project troop levels beyond that, a senior U.S. military officer said here today. Army Lt. Gen. Carter F. Ham, the Joint Staff's director of operations, answers questions from reporters during a news briefing at the Pentagon on Feb. 25, 2008. Photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Molly A. Burgess, USN  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “There is increasing pressure on al Qaeda in Iraq everywhere inside of Iraq,” Army Lt....

WASHINGTON, Sept. 15, 2007 – President Bush said today he supports the recommendations on reducing troop levels in Iraq made earlier this week by Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of Multinational Force Iraq. During his weekly radio address, Bush voiced confidence in Petraeus’ suggestion that U.S. forces reduce their size by 5,700 troops in Iraq by Christmas, and that troop levels could be scaled down from 20 combat brigades to 15 by July. Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan C. Crocker presented their report to Congress Sept. 10-11. “I have accepted General Petraeus’ recommendations. And I have...

Source: Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Date: July 10, 2007 Low Vitamin D Levels May Be Common In Otherwise Healthy Children Science Daily — Many otherwise healthy children and adolescents have low vitamin D levels, which may put them at risk for bone diseases such as rickets. African American children, children above age nine and with low dietary vitamin D intake were the most likely to have low levels of vitamin D in their blood, according to researchers from The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. A study in the current issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition measured blood levels of...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 26, 2007 – When troops ask the military’s highest-ranking officer questions about the war in Iraq, force levels or tour lengths, Marine Gen. Peter Pace is eager to answer frankly and completely. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff fielded questions Feb. 22 and 23 from active duty, National Guard and Reserve troops in Alaska at the Army’s Fort Wainwright in Fairbanks, and at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage. After brief opening remarks, Pace told the troops he’d rather answer their questions than “talk at them.” The troops responded with questions on the global picture...

by Mickey Addison Other Articles by Mickey Addison Ordinatio Sacerdotalis 08/10/06 It was one of the few days I was really not looking forward to leading my Scripture study. I had a terrible cold and the thought of conducting a lesson on Revelation did not sound appealing. Though I was trying to put a good face on it, my priest noticed that I was not my usually boisterous self, and he asked me if I wanted a blessing. "Father, that sounds good... Thanks!" I replied. And then he laid his hands on me and prayed healing over me. Needless to say,...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE GHAZNI, Afghanistan, June 25, 2006 – An extremist-engineered explosion in eastern Afghanistan destroyed a mosque while killing three people and wounding eight, including three children, officials here announced today. The attack occurred on June 6 near the southeastern provincial capital city of Ghazni. Terrorists triggered the explosion that destroyed the Haji Adam Khan Mosque in Oal a-I Oadzi. Gov. Elhaj Sheer Alam, the Ghazni provincial governor, told reporters Taliban members attempting to construct a motorcycle-born improvised explosive device were responsible for the blast. Ghazni District Afghan National Policemen and Afghan National Army soldiers from 2nd Kandak, 1st...

SACRAMENTO Sierra Nevada snow levels are far above normal as warm temperatures hit California and flood-wary residents wait for the spring runoff, but officials predicted Thursday that reservoirs would be able to handle the extra water. The state Department of Water Resources said its last check of the 2005-2006 rainy season found a Sierra snowpack that averaged 180 percent of normal water content for this time of year. Levels were higher than that average in the northern Sierra 207 percent of normal and lower in the central and southern parts of the mountain range 169 percent and 175 percent, respectively....

WASHINGTON - Cancer-causing benzene has been found in soft drinks at levels above the limit considered safe for drinking water, the Food and Drug Administration acknowledged Wednesday. Even so, the FDA still believes there are no safety concerns about benzene in soft drinks, or sodas, said Laura Tarantino, the agency's director of food additive safety. "We haven't changed our view that right now, there is not a safety concern, not a public health concern," she said. "But what we need to do is understand how benzene forms and to ensure the industry is doing everything to avoid those circumstances." The...

Sharp rise in CO2 levels recorded By David Shukman BBC science correspondent Scientists fear high carbon levels will trigger sudden changes US climate scientists have recorded a significant rise in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, pushing it to a new record level. BBC News has learned the latest data shows CO2 levels now stand at 381 parts per million (ppm) - 100ppm above the pre-industrial average. The research indicates that 2005 saw one of the largest increases on record - a rise of 2.6ppm. The figures are seen as a benchmark for climate scientists around the globe....

WASHINGTON, Feb. 17, 2006 – The level of U.S. forces in Iraq must be balanced so as not to create an occupying force, but to still be effective and able to maintain a secure environment, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told a House of Representatives committee here yesterday. "No country wants foreign forces permanently in their country; we have no desire to have our forces permanently in that country," Rumsfeld said at a hearing of the defense subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee. "The goal is to have sufficient forces." Having too many U.S. forces in Iraq could create a...

In a move that could bring a merlot low - and make a chardonnay shudder - a state lawmaker is proposing making zinfandel the official wine of California. State Sen. Carole Migden introduced the bill this week, saying the heady varietal is a "quintessential" California wine dating back to Gold Rush days and versatile enough to stand up to the spicy diversity of California cuisine. "It's about time we give it the recognition it deserves," ... Preliminary figures for the 2005 grape harvest put zinfandel at 10.4 percent of the crop, behind cabernet sauvignon's 12.5 percent. Chardonnay was the harvest...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 25, 2005 – Maintaining a proper balance of coalition and Iraqi forces is the key to success in returning U.S. forces home at the right time, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said today. Appearing on "Fox News Sunday," Marine Gen. Peter Pace said coalition forces must support the Iraqi forces and the country's new government while preparing them to handle the responsibilities themselves. "There's a real balance here between having sufficient forces to get the job done and having too many forces," Pace explained. "If they're Iraqi forces, they will not be too many. They'll...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 16, 2005 – The new year is likely to include troop reductions in Iraq, but exactly how quickly those reductions will occur will be based on recommendations of U.S. commanders there in conjunction with wishes of the new Iraqi government, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said here today. One day after Iraq's parliamentary elections, Rumsfeld said during a Pentagon Channel interview it's too soon to know exactly what role that new government will want the United States to play. Just as in the United States after an election, Iraq's new government is likely to take a few months...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 23, 2005 – Recent news reports that say major U.S. troop reductions in Iraq may occur next year are speculative in nature, a senior Defense Department official said today. "When we have any major force adjustments, I think we've always been very good about making those decisions known to you," DoD spokesman Bryan Whitman told Pentagon reporters. The Defense Department routinely prepares for possible contingencies, Whitman said, noting such planning could include increasing or decreasing troop levels in a certain geographic area. Currently, there are more than 150,000 U.S. troops in Iraq. "The United States military looks at...

If the Repulblican Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee wants to get a second opinion on how the war in Iraq is going, where does he turn? To the Pentagon, but not to the top brass this time. In an unusual closed-door meeting on Capitol Hill last week, Virginia's John Warner, joined by Democratic Senators Carl Levin of Michigan and Mark Dayton of Minnesota, sat across the table from 10 military officers chosen for their experience on the battlefield rather than in the political arena. Warner rounded up the battalion commanders to get at what the military calls "ground...

Arnold Fege's office at the Public Education Network is adorned with a picture of old Comiskey Park. He drives a car into work from Virginia every day adorned with a Sox sticker and license plate. "I do whatever I can to try to identify myself as one of those South Side renegades," he says. "But it's tough. This is the first time I've received any recognition since 1959." Teams like the Cubs, Yankees and Red Sox are known to have far-reaching fan bases. Finding like-minded White Sox fans in Washington has been difficult. But with the team reaching its first...

[10 year old boy who eats 3 to 6 ounces of tuna a day has neurological and brain effects. Blood tests show that his mercury level was 12 times what the EPA considered safe for a 60 pound boy. Article states that solid white albacore tuna has more mercury than chunk light tuna... U.S. source of Mercury in water is coal fired power plants... Vanity introduction since this is an excerpt] ... Ms. Davis noticed something else: Her son's fingers were starting to curl, as if he were gripping a melon. And he could no longer catch a football. A...

Business spending on technology for the rest of this year will likely continue the pace of the first half. That means final figures will hit the $1 trillion mark for only the second time, joining the peak bubble year of 2000.

WASHINGTON – Even very low doses of radiation pose a risk of cancer over a person's lifetime, a National Academy of Sciences panel concluded Wednesday. It rejected some scientists' arguments that tiny doses are harmless or may in fact be beneficial. The findings could influence the maximum radiation levels that are allowed at abandoned reactors and other nuclear sites. The conclusions also raise warnings about excessive exposure to radiation for medical purposes such as repeated whole-body CT scans. "It is unlikely that there is a threshold (of radiation exposure) below which cancers are not induced," scientists said in the report....

A current commercial campaign for Geico insurance depicts modern-day cavemen who get offended when people assume they're uneducated. A similar theme could hold true when it comes to illegal aliens, according to a new study. Contrary to the stereotype of undocumented migrants as single males with very little education who perform manual labor in agriculture or construction, the Pew Hispanic Center report shows that most of the illegal population lives in families, a quarter has at least some college education and that illegal workers can be found in many sectors of the U.S. economy. "Not all of the unauthorized population...

We are, I fear, in the last days of Howard Dean's tenure as chairman of the Democratic National Committee. It was too good to last. Party chairmen are supposed to raise money and keep their mouths shut. Dean has been failing on both counts. Through April 30th this year, the Democrats had raised only $20.9 million, compared to $44.7 million for the Republicans. Dean was on a West Coast fund-raising swing last week. Turnout in Seattle and San Francisco, hotbeds of liberalism both, was less than the DNC expected. "There is an increasing whiff of desperation permeating the finance side...

Study: Herb Helps Curb Binge Drinking By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN, Associated Press Writer Tue May 17, 8:25 PM ET BOSTON - A group of 20-something drinkers seemed to lose the urge to binge-drink when they took pills made from kudzu, that ubiquitous vine that blankets the South, researchers reported. The finding, described as groundbreaking by one expert, might one day lead to a way to attack the binge-drinking problem. Researcher Scott Lukas, with Harvard-affiliated McLean Hospital, had no trouble finding volunteers for the study, which required them to hang out in an "apartment," complete with television, recliner and fridge stocked with...

While you're watching the political commercials and listening to the politicians spin their web around unsuspecting and misinformed people...here's a "Reality" lesson in economics from David R. Kamerschen,Ph.D, Distinguished Professor of Economics, 536 Brooks Hall, University of Georgia, Athens, GA. http://www.uga.edu/ Top 1% earn 21% of all income; pay 37-1/2% of all taxes Top 5% earn 35% of all income; pay 56-1/2% of all taxes Top10% earn 46% of all income; pay 67% of all taxes Top 25% pay 84% of all taxes Top 50% pay 96-1/2% of all taxes Bottom 50% pay 3-1/2% of all taxes Just in case...

Who's Smarter? by Cindy Osborne The Hollywood group is at it again. Holding anti-war rallies, screaming about the Bush Administration, running ads in major newspapers, defaming the President and his Cabinet every chance they get, to anyone and everyone who will listen. They publicly defile them and call them names like "stupid" , "morons", and "idiots". Jessica Lange went so far as to tell a crowd in Spain that she hates President Bush and is embarrassed to be an American. So, just how ignorant are these people who are running the country? Let's look at the biographies of these "stupid",...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Many U.S. residents carry unhealthy levels of pesticides in their bodies, with children, women and Mexican Americans disproportionately exposed to the toxic chemicals, according to a study released Tuesday. The Pesticide Action Network analyzed data collected by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in a study of more than 2,648 people tested for levels of 34 pesticides, the environmental group said. The PAN study - called "Chemical Trespass: Pesticides in Our Bodies and Corporate Accountability" - found that a large percentage of people who had their blood and urine tested carried pesticides above levels...

Brace for shock at pump Gas prices may reach highest level in history By NELSON ANTOSH and JENALIA MORENO Aug. 21, 2003, 10:42PM The highest gasoline prices in history appear to be just down the road. Dwindling supplies in the face of increased demand threaten to push pump prices over the national record set last mid-March, when markets were shaken by the prospects of a war with Iraq. On Thursday, the markets "went ballistic," says Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst for the Oil Price Information Service in Lakewood, N.J. That means the highest pump prices ever seen are just a...

Blair pledges to halve asylum levels Tony Blair's pledge to halve the number of asylum seekers arriving in Britain by September has been dismissed as "pie in the sky" by a leading expert. Mr Blair's prediction suggests that he believes recent moves such as placing British Customs officers at Calais will have a significant effect. Mr Blair said: "I would like to see us reduce it by 30% to 40% in the next few months and I think by September of this year we should have it halved. I think we can get below that then, in the years to...

Source: CSIRO Australia Date: 2003-01-22 Long-lost Records Confirm Rising Sea Level The discovery of 160 year old records in the archives of the Royal Society, London, has given scientists further evidence that Australian sea levels are rising. Observations taken at Tasmania's Port Arthur convict settlement 160 years ago by an amateur meteorologist have been compared with data from a modern tide gauge. "There is a rate of sea level rise of about 1mm a year, consistent with other Australian observations," says Dr David Pugh, from the UK's Southampton Oceanography Centre. "This is an important result for the Southern Hemisphere, and...

Thursday, 28 November, 2002, 00:11 GMT Warning over fish mercury levels Mercury is found in some marlin, swordfish and tuna Eating certain types of fish can increase the risks of having a heart attack, a study suggests. A team of international researchers has found a direct link between mercury and heart disease. High levels of mercury are found in shark, swordfish, king mackerel and marlin. It is also found at lower levels in fresh or frozen tuna. These new findings do not affect our current advice for people to try to eat fish twice a week Belinda Linden, British Heart...