All posts by nedhamson

Activist, writer, researcher, addicted to sharing information and facts.

13 were exposed to radiation at US plant – The Hindu

Thirteen workers at the U.S. underground nuclear waste dump in New Mexico have tested positive for radiation exposure after a recent leak released toxic particles in and around the plant, officials announced.

The accident is the first-known release of radiation since the dump began taking plutonium-contaminated waste from U.S. nuclear bomb building sites 15 years ago.

via 13 were exposed to radiation at US plant – The Hindu.

Why am I seeing this first in an Indian newspaper and not in US yet?

Yippee! Not! More Outsourcing of Jobs Made Easier! Cathay Pacific Airways service to Columbus’ Rickenbacker International Airport starting from Hong Kong – Columbus – Columbus Business First

Cathay Pacific Airways and Rickenbacker officials said Thursday the cargo airline would launch service March 21 in a Wednesday and Friday route that includes touchdowns in Hong Kong, Anchorage, Columbus, New York and Vancouver.

via Cathay Pacific Airways service to Columbus’ Rickenbacker International Airport starting from Hong Kong – Columbus – Columbus Business First.

Dear CVS: A Real ‘Health-Care Company’ Guarantees In-Store Access to Birth Control

Imagine this: You had sex and the condom broke. You definitely don’t want to get pregnant. You cannot afford to have a baby. The next morning you walk into your neighborhood pharmacy to get emergency contraception. The pharmacist looks at you and says no, he won’t give it to you, that’s not something he believes in, his buddy here behind the counter doesn’t either, and you’d better go somewhere else.

Astonishingly, this scenario does not violate a corporate-level policy governing more than 7,600 CVS/pharmacy stores in the United States. Despite recent changes from the Food and Drug Administration, certain types of emergency contraception, including but not limited to brands sold as ella and Next Choice, still require a prescription or are behind the pharmacy counter and require proof of age. When the personal beliefs of all available pharmacists on duty conflict with someone’s need for emergency contraception, CVS specifies that the person seeking emergency contraception should go to another store.

via Dear CVS: A Real ‘Health-Care Company’ Guarantees In-Store Access to Birth Control.

Chinese Strawberries and 11,000 sick kids in Germany

Eurosurveillance – View Article.

The dishes had been prepared in different regional kitchens of the catering company and were served in the schools two days before the peaks of the respective outbreaks. All affected institutions had received strawberries of one lot, imported frozen from China. The outbreak vehicle was identified within a week, which led to a timely recall and prevented more than half of the lot from reaching the consumer. This outbreak exemplifies the risk of large outbreaks in the era of global food trade. It underlines the importance of timely surveillance and epidemiological outbreak investigations for food safety.

Eurosurveillance – View Article – Import-Export of Dengue Fever

Imported dengue via travellers to currently non-endemic countries has increased steadily in recent decades, as reported by GeoSentinel, a worldwide network of travel medicine providers [8,9]. Dengue is the top cause of febrile illnesses in international travellers returning from south-east Asia [10]. Australia has seen a dramatic rise in the number of dengue cases caused by returning travellers, particularly from south-east Asia, with an increase of approximately 350% between 2004–2007 and 2008–2011 [11,12]. In Europe, various countries have also reported increased numbers of dengue in returning travellers to Europe [13-16].

via Eurosurveillance – View Article.

Wild beavers seen in England for first time in centuries | Environment | theguardian.com

A family of wild beavers has been seen in the England countryside in what is believed to be the first sighting of its kind in up to 500 years.

Three European beavers (Castor fiber), believed to be adults, have been filmed together on the River Otter in east Devon and can be seen gnawing at the base of trees, grooming themselves and playing together.

Experts said the sighting was “highly significant” as it strongly suggested a small breeding population of beavers now existed outside captivity.

via Wild beavers seen in England for first time in centuries | Environment | theguardian.com.

It’s time the Daily Mail apologised for supporting Hitler and its anti-semitic past

No shame a hallmark of uber-conservatives?

Pride's Purge

(not satire – it’s the Daily Mail!)

The Daily Mail has called on Harriet Harman to apologise for her past associations with the National Council for Civil Liberties.

Well, the Daily Mail should know all about links with dodgy people and unsavoury organisations.

Here’s Lord Rothermere – the original owner of the Daily Mail and great-grandfather of the present owner – with a good friend of his:

rothermere

.

And here are extracts from an exchange of letters between the Mail’s owner and Hitler:

Adolf Hitler letter to Lord Rothermere (7th December, 1933)
I should like to express the appreciation of countless Germans, who regard me as their spokesman, for the wise and beneficial public support which you have given to a policy that we all hope will contribute to the enduring pacification of Europe. Just as we are fanatically determined to defend ourselves against attack, so do we reject the idea…

View original post 292 more words

Deja vu all over again! Warlords With Dark Pasts Battle in Afghan Election – NYTimes.com

Ashraf Ghani, the apparent front-runner in the Afghan presidential race this year, was once unstinting in his opinion of one of the country’s most prominent warlords, Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum, calling him a “known killer.”

He said that in 2009, when General Dostum was supporting President Hamid Karzai for re-election. Now, Mr. Ghani simply calls General Dostum his running mate.

via Warlords With Dark Pasts Battle in Afghan Election – NYTimes.com.

Khalil Gibran on Lebanon: Pity the Nation | Hummus For Thought

“Pity the nation that is full of beliefs and empty of religion.

Pity the nation that wears a cloth it does not weave,

eats a bread it does not harvest,

and drinks a wine that flows not from its own wine-press.

Pity the nation that acclaims the bully as hero,

and that deems the glittering conqueror bountiful.

Pity a nation that despises a passion in its dream,

yet submits in its awakening.

Pity the nation that raises not its voice

save when it walks in a funeral,

boasts not except among its ruins,

and will rebel not save when its neck is laid

between the sword and the block.

Pity the nation whose statesman is a fox,

whose philosopher is a juggler,

and whose art is the art of patching and mimicking.

Pity the nation that welcomes its new ruler with trumpeting,

and farewells him with hooting,

only to welcome another with trumpeting again.

Pity the nation whose sages are dumb with years

and whose strong men are yet in the cradle.

Pity the nation divided into fragments,

each fragment deeming itself a nation.”

via Khalil Gibran on Lebanon: Pity the Nation | Hummus For Thought.

Khalil Gibran on Lebanon: Pity the Nation

applies to all nations

Hummus For Thought

Khalil Gibran Pity the Nation

“Pity the nation that is full of beliefs and empty of religion.

Pity the nation that wears a cloth it does not weave,
eats a bread it does not harvest,
and drinks a wine that flows not from its own wine-press.

Pity the nation that acclaims the bully as hero,
and that deems the glittering conqueror bountiful.

Pity a nation that despises a passion in its dream,
yet submits in its awakening.

Pity the nation that raises not its voice
save when it walks in a funeral,
boasts not except among its ruins,
and will rebel not save when its neck is laid
between the sword and the block.

Pity the nation whose statesman is a fox,
whose philosopher is a juggler,
and whose art is the art of patching and mimicking.

Pity the nation that welcomes its new ruler with trumpeting,
and farewells him with hooting,
only to welcome…

View original post 42 more words