Free Republic

In the largest watershed study of its kind, Michigan State University researchers have sampled 64 river systems in the state for E. coli and the human fecal bacteria B-theta and found that, in a nutshell, septic tanks aren't working. At least not as well as experts thought. The researchers say that "sample after sample" shows bacterial concentrations are "highest where there were higher numbers of septic systems in the watershed area," water expert Joan Rose tells Phys.org.

Today: October 04, 2006 at 11:10:13 PDT DNA May Implicate Malibu Stars' Toilets By NOAKI SCHWARTZ ASSOCIATED PRESS MALIBU, Calif. (AP) - Just whose waste is fouling the most star-studded stretch of the Southern California coast? Los Angeles County officials intend to find out, and if the evidence leads back to the toilets of some of Hollywood's rich and famous, the sewage could really hit the fan. "This is going to get messy," predicts Mark Pestrella, the public works official assigned to the project. Environmentalists and health officials suspect Malibu homeowners' leaky septic tanks are allowing what gets flushed down...

Tomorrow is the Fourth of July, when Americans celebrate Independence Day. But a YouGov survey for The Daily Telegraph suggests that the Stars and Stripes will be flying at half mast in the eyes of most Britons. There has probably never been a time when America was held in such low esteem on this side of the Atlantic. A majority of Britons think American culture and the actions of the present American administration are making the world a worse place to live in, and almost no one believes America is now, if it ever was, a beacon to the world....

The presidents of Venezuela and Bolivia, Latin America's most outspoken leaders, yesterday rebuffed demands by the European Union and other leaders at a summit in Vienna to temper their policies on foreign investment and energy, declaring that a new political era had arrived. Tony Blair, who attended the summit of European Union, Latin American and Caribbean countries, called for a "responsible approach" to the debate.