Where the rain never falls and the sun never shines,
It's dark as a dungeon, way down in the mines.
Nothing, but nothing, epitomizes the greed of big corporations more than the innocuous-sounding "surface mining" that is destroying Appalachia just to pull more tons of filthy coal from the mountains. Filthy coal, that sends megatons of carbon emissions into the air along with other pollutants, filthy coal that Minnesota Power burns at Taconite Harbor and releases into our airshed, filthy coal that could within a decade or two choke all of us trying to breathe. This we knew, or at least True knew.
But the merger of Cleveland-Cliffs with the Appalachian coal mining company with the Orwellian name of Alpha Natural Resources makes us accomplices. Last year alone in Kentucky, 50 million tons of coal were dredged from the surface of the Appalachian mountain range by, among other methods, cutting off the tops of the mountains and throwing them down into the valleys. The mountaintops are called "overburden." I shit you not.
Compare this with the five million tons of magnetite pellets being produced annually by Northshore Mining, a subsidiary of Babbitt-based Cleveland-Cliffs, now to be known as Cliffs Natural Resources, "A Leading Diversified Mining and Natural Resources Company."
It is time for residents of northern Minnesota to admit their culpability. The mountaintop leveling now supported by the merged company surely ranks right up their with the proposed Polymet copper-nickel mine that will create dead zones in our watershed.
Where is your outrage, North Shore citizens? What will you leave of earth, water and air to your children? Here's a link to the Duluth Tribune story that conveniently glosses over the devastating truth:
Duluth News Tribune | Cleveland-Cliffs announces merger with Appalachian coal company in $10 billion deal
Showing posts with label health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label health. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
New mining industry leaves Arrowhead wetlands vulnerable
MinnPost
New mining industry leaves Arrowhead wetlands vulnerable
By Elanne Palcich
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
In the late 1800s, the U.S. government claimed the land of Minnesota, and pushed the indigenous people onto reservations. The huge pine forests of northern Minnesota were cut, red earth was discovered, and immigrants from a variety of struggling northern and southern European nations moved in to become workers for the mining companies.
While the Iron Range continues to be mined, following bands of taconite rock, the Arrowhead region of Minnesota escaped the mining process. Some of the northern counties were in large part wetlands, while others remained forestland. The Arrowhead region became known for its lakes and for the quality of outdoor recreational opportunities — the vacation land of the north, where campers "hear the lapping waters, hear the whispering of the pine trees."
These northern wetlands escaped the destruction that occurred as the rest of the state turned urban or agricultural.
Scientists know that wetlands have evolved over the past 10,000 years, since the recession of the last glaciers. We also know now that wetlands sequester carbon — and that destroying wetlands releases carbon that has been stored over centuries. There is evidence that global climate change is literally being fueled by the burning of fossil fuels and the accompanying release of CO2 into the air.
A new threat in the Arrowhead
Minnesota's wetlands may hold the key to moderating climate change on a local level, except for one thing: the threat of an entirely new mining industry poised to begin in the Arrowhead.
The industrialization of the burgeoning populations of China and India is driving demand and prices for copper, nickel, platinum, and gold — precious metals bonded within sulfide ores throughout the Duluth Complex, the underlying rock formation of the Arrowhead Region.
These precious metals are very low grade — 0.4 percent copper, 0.1 percent nickel and 0.01 ounces per ton of platinum, palladium, and gold. But the current price is enough to bring a half-dozen Canadian companies into the Arrowhead, exploring in an unregulated fashion and pulling every political string for funding and support.
The international balance of economic power is changing. Just three generations after the take-over of native lands by extractive industries, Canadian companies are seeking to turn the remaining Arrowhead Region into a colonial outpost for China and India. For basically a handful of jobs, we are turning over our land and our culture so that Canadian companies and their shareholders can earn fantastic sums on precious metals while our workers will receive $40,000-a-year nonunion wages (translate into no pension and no health care) based on the price of copper. And when the price of copper drops, or the precious-metals market collapses, or the price of diesel fuel makes mining uneconomical, the Canadian companies will pull up stakes and leave northern Minnesota with an acid-mine drainage problem requiring perpetual treatment — almost forever.
No way to replace lost wetlands
The Arrowhead region of northern Minnesota is our Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. It's our Brazilian rainforest. It is the equivalent of the remaining special places left on each continent, in each country. When we lose our wetlands, there is no way to replace them. There is no way to reconstruct a process that took thousands of years to form. There is no way to recapture the carbon released when wetlands are destroyed. There is no way to rebuild the wildlife habitat and plant communities that will be eliminated.
At the same time, this new mining industry would spew hundreds of thousands of tons of CO2 into the air, further contributing to global warming.
Consider, too, that the Arrowhead is just the first piece of the metallic sulfide pie. While exploration is progressing in the Birch Lake area, along the Kawishiwi River, Partridge River, and the St. Louis River, companies are also exploring along the Rainy, Pigeon, Root, Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers, the Mille Lacs area, in the Big Sandy Watershed (Aitkin County), and in Carlton County.
Bill would set a precedent
In the meantime, U.S. 8th District Rep. James Oberstar has introduced a bill in Congress (H.R. 4292, the Superior National Forest Land Adjustment Act of 2007) that would fast track a land sale between the U.S. Forest Service and Polymet, Inc., in anticipation of the permitting of Polymet's proposed metallic sulfide mine near Hoyt Lakes. While this bill singles out Polymet for special treatment, it would also set a precedent for the selling of public lands to private mining companies nationwide, or wherever the Forest Service does not own the mineral rights. Much of the mineral estate in Superior National Forest and the Boundary Waters is owned by mining interests, not the Forest Service. What implications might this have for the future?
What exactly are those of us living here thinking? Are we in denial regarding the ecological degradation that is taking place on a global scale and how this is going to affect our future? Are we naive enough to believe propaganda about clean mining technology that is being pushed upon us by mining-company spokesmen who are set to receive huge bonuses once the sulfide industry gets up and running?
Or are we going to believe in our own ability to create an alternative future that allows us to finally acknowledge the true heritage of the Arrowhead Region — that of living in harmony with the land?
Elanne Palcich, a retired elementary school teacher, lives in Chisholm, Minn.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
The Gunsmoke Monologues: Oh those f*****g PC Police!
What the hell? If y’all want to police smokers, if you PLEASE, make them stop smoking right outside the building where I can’t escape the fumes. But, NO. This is considered on the level of “nuisance crimes” like littering our precious forests, that nobody bothers to enforce.
Smokers get to have a life and they ought to get regularly screened for lung cancer—which also attacks non-smokers but usually gets diagnosed too late to save their lives because the PC Police decree that they are Bad, that they Deserve to Die.
I used to be a smoker. In the 20th century there were allowances made. Railroads had smoking cars, clubs had smoking rooms. Now in the 21st it would be so easy to create comfortable and pleasant rooms for smokers, with our high tech options to mitigate, ventilate, and separate. But, NO. The evil Smokers must be punished. No leeway is permitted, no comfort allowed, no recognition for the social community of smokers (Think, a ciggie after sex? After dinner?). NOT, you say: They are so bad, bad, bad, even if you were once one of them.
Well, except for letting them puff away while I am trying to enter a building, any building, y’all make me want to smoke again (in a comfortable room at home with the window open or lazing on my deck). After 13 years, I Need a Smoke! In Kentucky where I come from tobacco is a good thing. For Native Americans, tobacco is a sacred thing.
Minnesota is one of the worst states in terms of trying to find a sensible solution for non-smokers and smokers alike. Ugh. I wish I could move to Canada, but with Repugs like Pawlenty, Bachmann, Bush & Cheney in charge, the dollar is tanked and so I can’t afford to leave this stupid state. Don’t forget, it wasn’t the best and the brightest who left the old country for the New World (as dear Garrison Keillor has pointed out)!
Last but not least, Minnesota “allows” corporate polluters hundreds of thousands of pounds per year for environmental pollutants discharged in the course of their business activities. The state wants to invest in more filthy coal-powered electrical plants and a copper mine (Polymet) that will destroy all life in local lakes and streams. The state has jumped on the Ethanol Bandwagon even though it is widely understood that the consequences of ethanol production will increase poverty and hunger while destroying wildlife habitat around the increasingly fragile world we inhabit.
Minnesotans, get your priorities straight. Have a little compassion for smokers, give them a filtered space to light up, and think outside the PC Police Law. If you want to be really PC, start charging those corporate giants with the “new sin” of pollution as per the Pope and letting THEM pay the big fines.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Cattle Abuse, Beef Recall Highlight Systemic Weaknesses - CommonDreams.org
Here's a link to a St. Paul Pioneer Press story about the beef recall, and a press release on the same subject from Food and Water Watch:.
Stay tuned for a post-in-progress to be called "The Lunch Box," reflections on school lunches, animal rights and those animal rights "terrorists."
Cattle Abuse, Beef Recall Highlight Systemic Weaknesses - CommonDreams.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 20, 20082:18 PM
CONTACT: Food & Water Watch Jennifer Mueller at (202) 797-6553, e-mail: news (at) fwwatch.org
Video Reveals Big Problems at Meat Plant
WASHINGTON DC - February 20 - The February 18, 2008 announcement that more than 140 million pounds of frozen ground beef produced by a plant in California was being recalled has sparked lots of media coverage, not only because of the sheer size of the recall (the largest in U.S. history) but because of the dramatic video footage of the humane handling violations at the plant that sparked the recall. To top it off, the company that produced the recalled meat, Hallmark/Westland, is the second largest supplier of ground beef to the National School Lunch Program. So it’s no surprise that this has become a pretty big story, just the latest in a string of examples of our broken food safety system. But, as always, there is more to the story that what you see on the news.
What are downer cows exactly?
The recall was instituted because the plant violated a rule that downer cattle (those that cannot walk into the slaughter plant under their own power) are not allowed into the human food supply. This is because these animals could be suffering from neurological problems and are considered to be high risk for mad cow disease. When plants try to use downers, workers end up pushing, dragging, or otherwise forcing them into the plant. That is what the video footage obtained by the Humane Society of the United States shows. In addition to being cruel and inhumane, it is illegal, and that is why the USDA shut down the plant earlier this month after the video was released.
How did the plant get away with this?
We think this is one of the most important questions. USDA has a longstanding problem with vacancies in the ranks of its meat inspectors, so there are questions about whether there were enough USDA inspectors in this plant to do all of the things they need to, including looking at live animals before they go to slaughter. Additionally, some inspectors have raised concerns that USDA management in the plant instructed them not to go outside to check animals. Click here to read more about these concerns.
Why was the recall so big?
The amount of meat covered by this recall is so large because the USDA included all products that came from the plant for a long period of time – two years. This means that USDA is concerned that these violations may have been happening for that long, a sad commentary on their willingness to enforce their own rules. Because the recalled product is from such a long time period, most of it has probably been eaten, which makes the recall too little, too late. The other issue with this recall is that not all of the meat went to schools – some went to retail stores. For years, we have been urging USDA to include the names of stores where recalled product was sold in their public announcements. This massive recall just shows once again that this information is vital for consumers and the agency is irresponsible not to release it.
What can I do to avoid meat from plants that don’t treat animals humanely?
Check out the Eat Well Guide to find out where to buy local, sustainable meat in your area.
How do I find out if I bought meat involved in this recall?
The ground beef from Hallmark/Westland will have a stamp on it that says "Est. 336" on the package. This is the indentification number for this plant. Click here for a list of types of product types that were recalled.
###
Printer Friendly Version E-Mail This Article
Common Dreams NewsCenter is a non-profit news serviceproviding breaking news and views for the Progressive Community.
The press release posted here has been provided to Common Dreams NewsWire by one of the many progressive organizations who make up America's Progressive Community. If you wish to comment on this press release or would like more information, please contact the organization directly.*all times Eastern US (GMT-5:00) Making News?Read our Guidelines for Submitting News Releases
Common Dreams NewsCenter A non-profit news service providing breaking news & views for the progressive community. Home Newswire Contacting Us About Us Donate Sign-Up Archives
© Copyrighted 1997-2008www.commondreams.org
_
Stay tuned for a post-in-progress to be called "The Lunch Box," reflections on school lunches, animal rights and those animal rights "terrorists."
Cattle Abuse, Beef Recall Highlight Systemic Weaknesses - CommonDreams.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 20, 20082:18 PM
CONTACT: Food & Water Watch Jennifer Mueller at (202) 797-6553, e-mail: news (at) fwwatch.org
Video Reveals Big Problems at Meat Plant
WASHINGTON DC - February 20 - The February 18, 2008 announcement that more than 140 million pounds of frozen ground beef produced by a plant in California was being recalled has sparked lots of media coverage, not only because of the sheer size of the recall (the largest in U.S. history) but because of the dramatic video footage of the humane handling violations at the plant that sparked the recall. To top it off, the company that produced the recalled meat, Hallmark/Westland, is the second largest supplier of ground beef to the National School Lunch Program. So it’s no surprise that this has become a pretty big story, just the latest in a string of examples of our broken food safety system. But, as always, there is more to the story that what you see on the news.
What are downer cows exactly?
The recall was instituted because the plant violated a rule that downer cattle (those that cannot walk into the slaughter plant under their own power) are not allowed into the human food supply. This is because these animals could be suffering from neurological problems and are considered to be high risk for mad cow disease. When plants try to use downers, workers end up pushing, dragging, or otherwise forcing them into the plant. That is what the video footage obtained by the Humane Society of the United States shows. In addition to being cruel and inhumane, it is illegal, and that is why the USDA shut down the plant earlier this month after the video was released.
How did the plant get away with this?
We think this is one of the most important questions. USDA has a longstanding problem with vacancies in the ranks of its meat inspectors, so there are questions about whether there were enough USDA inspectors in this plant to do all of the things they need to, including looking at live animals before they go to slaughter. Additionally, some inspectors have raised concerns that USDA management in the plant instructed them not to go outside to check animals. Click here to read more about these concerns.
Why was the recall so big?
The amount of meat covered by this recall is so large because the USDA included all products that came from the plant for a long period of time – two years. This means that USDA is concerned that these violations may have been happening for that long, a sad commentary on their willingness to enforce their own rules. Because the recalled product is from such a long time period, most of it has probably been eaten, which makes the recall too little, too late. The other issue with this recall is that not all of the meat went to schools – some went to retail stores. For years, we have been urging USDA to include the names of stores where recalled product was sold in their public announcements. This massive recall just shows once again that this information is vital for consumers and the agency is irresponsible not to release it.
What can I do to avoid meat from plants that don’t treat animals humanely?
Check out the Eat Well Guide to find out where to buy local, sustainable meat in your area.
How do I find out if I bought meat involved in this recall?
The ground beef from Hallmark/Westland will have a stamp on it that says "Est. 336" on the package. This is the indentification number for this plant. Click here for a list of types of product types that were recalled.
###
Printer Friendly Version E-Mail This Article
Common Dreams NewsCenter is a non-profit news serviceproviding breaking news and views for the Progressive Community.
The press release posted here has been provided to Common Dreams NewsWire by one of the many progressive organizations who make up America's Progressive Community. If you wish to comment on this press release or would like more information, please contact the organization directly.*all times Eastern US (GMT-5:00) Making News?Read our Guidelines for Submitting News Releases
Common Dreams NewsCenter A non-profit news service providing breaking news & views for the progressive community. Home Newswire Contacting Us About Us Donate Sign-Up Archives
© Copyrighted 1997-2008www.commondreams.org
_
Monday, August 06, 2007
Scrubbing the air
True hates ugly, smelly, polluting and global-warming coal plants. Minnesota Power's Tac Harbor project was reviewed in this Strib story. Two points of interest:
One, "air shed." This means the area covered by polluting toxic emissions from Tac Harbor and it covers all of Cook County including our national and state forests. The glowing PowerPoint presentations by MP don't really say much about this damage. They are basically trying to keep their filthy coal plant going far into the future by posing as cutting edge clean.
Two, "scrubbing" to reduce mercury and other toxic emissions has ZERO effect on global warming. Read the story below.
True
Scrubbing the air
One, "air shed." This means the area covered by polluting toxic emissions from Tac Harbor and it covers all of Cook County including our national and state forests. The glowing PowerPoint presentations by MP don't really say much about this damage. They are basically trying to keep their filthy coal plant going far into the future by posing as cutting edge clean.
Two, "scrubbing" to reduce mercury and other toxic emissions has ZERO effect on global warming. Read the story below.
True
Scrubbing the air
Saturday, August 04, 2007
Minnesota Mad: Disgust and rage
Dear True,
No, not love and happiness, not today. I have nothing but disgust and rage for the politicians of this country, ALL of them (well, almost).
As for Mr. No New Taxes Pawlenty, he bears a great share of the responsibility for the lives lost and maimed in the Minneapolis bridge collapse, not to mention the fear and terror of the rest of us who must entrust our lives to structurally unsound bridges, having vetoed a major transportation bill in 2005 that would have addressed the state's aging road infrastructure.
As for the evil cowboy Mr. Photo Op Bush, he bears an even greater burden of this guilt, having squandered the resources paid by taxpayers in the assumption that they will be spent to keep bridges and levees and roads and waterways and sewers and .... well, everything we depend on for life and health, safe. No, better to spend a couple trillion dollars killing off people in Iraq and destroying THEIR infrastructure completely, so his Texas cronies continue to reap megaprofits from oil and get no-bid private contracts to run the war. Who gives a flying fuck that the people of Baghdad don't have any water? That Iraqis working with Americans have separate (presumably not equal) bathrooms and meals? That millions are homeless thanks to the devastation wrought by the US, that people are starving, that there is no electricity for most of the day in devastating heat? Who cares? They are only Iraqis, as one US soldier said.
As for the Congress, shame. They bear the responsibility to reign in a rogue administration, protect the Constitution, and make laws that promote the general welfare. But what do they do? They sling impeachment off the table when the constitutional crimes of this administration challenge our three-tiered government to the very core, and then they proceed to knuckle under to every illegal and outrageous demand made by Bushco. The latest: a secret FISA panel decided Bush's wiretapping was illegal and so what does Congress do? They pass a law to make it legal. I for one am sick of knowing I have no private communications unless I meet someone somewhere where there are no phones, computers, or mail and even then who knows what those satellites are picking up?
It's a sad, sad world but the worst is that it doesn't have to be that way. The American people want good government, good schools, good health care, good communities, good infrastructure, a clean and safe environment, retirement security ... and they are paying enough to get it. Even without new taxes, which in Minnesota is totally stupid because we will pay one way or another.
Us poor people pay so much in fees and sales taxes that we trump even the biggest billionaire who actually does pay tax (if any) in terms of percentage of income. However, almost any of us would gladly pay more to save the lives of loved ones and protect the world for future generations. As for Bushco, he lavishly rewards the richest of the rich, not only with absurd tax cuts but also with his shadow government which pays them billions in contracts that are scrutinized by none. Many of these contracts usurp the lawful function of government, such as intelligence gathering and military forces, and unlawful ones as well, such as murder, torture, rape and spying.These bad politicians, and that includes nearly all of them, know that people don't like what they do. They receive thousands and millions of emails, phone calls and petitions daily from people who feel they must speak out. Bush apologist Sen. Coleman responds with a knee-jerk blip but never a word on any issue. All elected officials in this mega-media, mega-business and mega-shadow government age depend on the millions these people pay them. Who will stand up to the coal industry, the nuclear industry, big oil, when they are major campaign contributors? All the major candidates are beholden to the big multinational corporations and media, without whom they could never be elected. (Except maybe John Edwards who is getting a rilli-rilli-bad media rap....)
Finally, the American people have allowed these travesties to happen. Democracy means that the grass roots don't get mowed down, even if all their heroes are assassinated: John and Bobby Kennedy, MLK, John Lennon, and YES, our beloved Paul Wellstone.... I don't have a nanosecond of doubt that they were removed by the Rich Repug Reich.
Hate and rage.
Nancye Belding
Grand Marais
No, not love and happiness, not today. I have nothing but disgust and rage for the politicians of this country, ALL of them (well, almost).
As for Mr. No New Taxes Pawlenty, he bears a great share of the responsibility for the lives lost and maimed in the Minneapolis bridge collapse, not to mention the fear and terror of the rest of us who must entrust our lives to structurally unsound bridges, having vetoed a major transportation bill in 2005 that would have addressed the state's aging road infrastructure.
As for the evil cowboy Mr. Photo Op Bush, he bears an even greater burden of this guilt, having squandered the resources paid by taxpayers in the assumption that they will be spent to keep bridges and levees and roads and waterways and sewers and .... well, everything we depend on for life and health, safe. No, better to spend a couple trillion dollars killing off people in Iraq and destroying THEIR infrastructure completely, so his Texas cronies continue to reap megaprofits from oil and get no-bid private contracts to run the war. Who gives a flying fuck that the people of Baghdad don't have any water? That Iraqis working with Americans have separate (presumably not equal) bathrooms and meals? That millions are homeless thanks to the devastation wrought by the US, that people are starving, that there is no electricity for most of the day in devastating heat? Who cares? They are only Iraqis, as one US soldier said.
As for the Congress, shame. They bear the responsibility to reign in a rogue administration, protect the Constitution, and make laws that promote the general welfare. But what do they do? They sling impeachment off the table when the constitutional crimes of this administration challenge our three-tiered government to the very core, and then they proceed to knuckle under to every illegal and outrageous demand made by Bushco. The latest: a secret FISA panel decided Bush's wiretapping was illegal and so what does Congress do? They pass a law to make it legal. I for one am sick of knowing I have no private communications unless I meet someone somewhere where there are no phones, computers, or mail and even then who knows what those satellites are picking up?
It's a sad, sad world but the worst is that it doesn't have to be that way. The American people want good government, good schools, good health care, good communities, good infrastructure, a clean and safe environment, retirement security ... and they are paying enough to get it. Even without new taxes, which in Minnesota is totally stupid because we will pay one way or another.
Us poor people pay so much in fees and sales taxes that we trump even the biggest billionaire who actually does pay tax (if any) in terms of percentage of income. However, almost any of us would gladly pay more to save the lives of loved ones and protect the world for future generations. As for Bushco, he lavishly rewards the richest of the rich, not only with absurd tax cuts but also with his shadow government which pays them billions in contracts that are scrutinized by none. Many of these contracts usurp the lawful function of government, such as intelligence gathering and military forces, and unlawful ones as well, such as murder, torture, rape and spying.These bad politicians, and that includes nearly all of them, know that people don't like what they do. They receive thousands and millions of emails, phone calls and petitions daily from people who feel they must speak out. Bush apologist Sen. Coleman responds with a knee-jerk blip but never a word on any issue. All elected officials in this mega-media, mega-business and mega-shadow government age depend on the millions these people pay them. Who will stand up to the coal industry, the nuclear industry, big oil, when they are major campaign contributors? All the major candidates are beholden to the big multinational corporations and media, without whom they could never be elected. (Except maybe John Edwards who is getting a rilli-rilli-bad media rap....)
Finally, the American people have allowed these travesties to happen. Democracy means that the grass roots don't get mowed down, even if all their heroes are assassinated: John and Bobby Kennedy, MLK, John Lennon, and YES, our beloved Paul Wellstone.... I don't have a nanosecond of doubt that they were removed by the Rich Repug Reich.
Hate and rage.
Nancye Belding
Grand Marais
Thursday, July 19, 2007
The Earthquake That Screamed “NO NUKES!!!” - CommonDreams.org
If there are any folks in Boreal Land who still think nuclear energy is clean and safe, check out this post from Common Dreams today:
The Earthquake That Screamed “NO NUKES!!!” - CommonDreams.org
The Earthquake That Screamed “NO NUKES!!!” - CommonDreams.org
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Peace, peace and only peace
Shanti. That is Hindu for peace. The Shanti prayer calls for peace to all the beings and angels, all the herbs and shrubs, and for that peace to come to me. Shanti, shanti, shanti.
Here in Cook County we are very blessed with people who lavish love on our community, our lake, our woods and their precious bounty of beauty and abundance. "Locals" and newcomers alike have worked to preserve and cherish our assets: Grand Marais harbor, inland lakes and forests, the Boundary Waters and the Gunflint Trail. Tourism is our livelihood but it also is our passion: we want to spend our working hours sharing the treasures of the boreal forest and the waters with our guests.
In the past year we have collectively acted to protect and preserve our wetlands, our towns, our forests and our harbor. We have voted down every instance in which big development might overtake us: a super-sized marina, a monster Homeland project to criminalize our borders, gunfire on the lake, deep-pockets condo developers intent on transforming Grand Marais into Disney Gate World, and many another attack by big developers from the Twin Cities and the nation all looking for the big bucks.
Cook County, home of the best and the brightest although not the richest (except for the McMansion owners who post Keep Out signs and terrorize their neighbors), is for me. We give and give and give for the people and the place that we love.
But, what are we doing about the terrible evil that the Bush administration has loosed on the world? What are we doing to bring our soldier children home from a civil war where they are forced to kill innocent civilians and traumatized at far higher levels than earlier wars because of the moral muck in which they must participate?
There will be no peace or justice or health care or prosperity until this hideous and illegal war of aggression is brought to an end. Even so we will pay for its costs for generations to come. Even so we will have to rebuild Iraq, to dismantle the huge shadow network of mercenary soldiers that brings billions in profits to Halliburton, Blackwater and other no-bid contractors. We will have to withdraw our permanent bases and let the Iraqi people have their own oil revenue rather than "sharing" it with us. We will have to demand that the Congress take back the Constitution and restore our respect as a humane society in the rest of the world. We will have to turn our swords to plowshares.
Still, good people everywhere can rise to the occasion, just as the good people of Cook County take care of each other, so will others follow when we have made peace.
Here in Cook County we are very blessed with people who lavish love on our community, our lake, our woods and their precious bounty of beauty and abundance. "Locals" and newcomers alike have worked to preserve and cherish our assets: Grand Marais harbor, inland lakes and forests, the Boundary Waters and the Gunflint Trail. Tourism is our livelihood but it also is our passion: we want to spend our working hours sharing the treasures of the boreal forest and the waters with our guests.
In the past year we have collectively acted to protect and preserve our wetlands, our towns, our forests and our harbor. We have voted down every instance in which big development might overtake us: a super-sized marina, a monster Homeland project to criminalize our borders, gunfire on the lake, deep-pockets condo developers intent on transforming Grand Marais into Disney Gate World, and many another attack by big developers from the Twin Cities and the nation all looking for the big bucks.
Cook County, home of the best and the brightest although not the richest (except for the McMansion owners who post Keep Out signs and terrorize their neighbors), is for me. We give and give and give for the people and the place that we love.
But, what are we doing about the terrible evil that the Bush administration has loosed on the world? What are we doing to bring our soldier children home from a civil war where they are forced to kill innocent civilians and traumatized at far higher levels than earlier wars because of the moral muck in which they must participate?
There will be no peace or justice or health care or prosperity until this hideous and illegal war of aggression is brought to an end. Even so we will pay for its costs for generations to come. Even so we will have to rebuild Iraq, to dismantle the huge shadow network of mercenary soldiers that brings billions in profits to Halliburton, Blackwater and other no-bid contractors. We will have to withdraw our permanent bases and let the Iraqi people have their own oil revenue rather than "sharing" it with us. We will have to demand that the Congress take back the Constitution and restore our respect as a humane society in the rest of the world. We will have to turn our swords to plowshares.
Still, good people everywhere can rise to the occasion, just as the good people of Cook County take care of each other, so will others follow when we have made peace.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
You are what you eat
Dear True,
EAT DEATH.
No, this is not a curse, or even a taunt from a vegetarian, although I am one. This is about eating nuked food. Yesterday I lunched with some special friends at the delightful Pie Place. While enjoying one another's company and the always fresh, always delicious food served up with friendliness in a gracious-home ambience, the subject of cooking summer meals came up.
I was bragging about how I could dish up a nutritious and delicious whole-grain bun Boca Burger with cheese and a side of corn on the cob in less than a minute in the microwave. High protein, high fiber, healthy food, yes? No, said my friends.
To backtrack a little, back in the early 1970's one of my yoga teachers who was also a homeopathic doc told us students that one day it would be understood by science how terribly damaging microwaves are. I believed him and for more than 25 years refused to have one of the darn things in my house. I changed my mind when my dad came to live with me because I could just nuke one of those frozen meals and he loved them. Still, I didn't cook with the dang contraption myself. It's only been in the last two or three years that I have lapsed. First, because I could so easily heat up tea and coffee without having it boil over. Then, just when I was in a big hurry, I might make a burrito with the touch of a button. Then, lo and behold, I discovered that tender vegetables can be achieved quickly and without boiling or stir-fry or steaming. And before I knew it I was a nukie junkie.
So, back to yesterday. My friends told me that recent studies have uncovered the horrible truth: microwaved food under Kirlian photography looks like a nuclear wasteland. Dead, in a horrible black shriveled shroud.
I believe them and I guess I really knew all the time that what looked so fresh and sweet really could not be, having had its molecules jiggled mercilessly with some kind of cosmic radiation. Shades of the desolate poisoned lands in Marion Zimmer Bradley's fantasy world, Darkover, left over from the Ages of Chaos where wars were fought with terrible weapons of mass destruction.
So. It's summer and yes, it is sometimes hot, even here on the North Shore. But it doesn't take a lot longer to cook your food on a grill, or stovetop, or even to roast your unshucked corn on the cob in the oven. Drag out the old crock pot for soups and sauces, or just simmer on the lowest flame on your back burner. Eat life-giving vegetables, fruits and plant proteins in all their summer bounty. Bon appetit!
Nancye Belding
Grand Marais
EAT DEATH.
No, this is not a curse, or even a taunt from a vegetarian, although I am one. This is about eating nuked food. Yesterday I lunched with some special friends at the delightful Pie Place. While enjoying one another's company and the always fresh, always delicious food served up with friendliness in a gracious-home ambience, the subject of cooking summer meals came up.
I was bragging about how I could dish up a nutritious and delicious whole-grain bun Boca Burger with cheese and a side of corn on the cob in less than a minute in the microwave. High protein, high fiber, healthy food, yes? No, said my friends.
To backtrack a little, back in the early 1970's one of my yoga teachers who was also a homeopathic doc told us students that one day it would be understood by science how terribly damaging microwaves are. I believed him and for more than 25 years refused to have one of the darn things in my house. I changed my mind when my dad came to live with me because I could just nuke one of those frozen meals and he loved them. Still, I didn't cook with the dang contraption myself. It's only been in the last two or three years that I have lapsed. First, because I could so easily heat up tea and coffee without having it boil over. Then, just when I was in a big hurry, I might make a burrito with the touch of a button. Then, lo and behold, I discovered that tender vegetables can be achieved quickly and without boiling or stir-fry or steaming. And before I knew it I was a nukie junkie.
So, back to yesterday. My friends told me that recent studies have uncovered the horrible truth: microwaved food under Kirlian photography looks like a nuclear wasteland. Dead, in a horrible black shriveled shroud.
I believe them and I guess I really knew all the time that what looked so fresh and sweet really could not be, having had its molecules jiggled mercilessly with some kind of cosmic radiation. Shades of the desolate poisoned lands in Marion Zimmer Bradley's fantasy world, Darkover, left over from the Ages of Chaos where wars were fought with terrible weapons of mass destruction.
So. It's summer and yes, it is sometimes hot, even here on the North Shore. But it doesn't take a lot longer to cook your food on a grill, or stovetop, or even to roast your unshucked corn on the cob in the oven. Drag out the old crock pot for soups and sauces, or just simmer on the lowest flame on your back burner. Eat life-giving vegetables, fruits and plant proteins in all their summer bounty. Bon appetit!
Nancye Belding
Grand Marais
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Laura: A Yellow Rose in Texas
She’s the flower of White Southern Womanhood, our First Lady Laura Bush. A stand-by-your-man lady, even though she has gajillions more brain cells than her doofus cowboy dry drunk hubby who has delusions of bringing on Armageddon, and just might pull it off before he gets nabbed for his evil deeds and his reign of death and disaster. Still, she simpers along beside him, smiling and waving for every photo op.
She has barely uttered a peep about his disastrous policies for women or health so far in his six-year reign, except for a token wish that he might select a woman for the Supremes and some lip service to the downtrodden women of the Islamic world. WHICH had the net effect of furthering the Bozo’s Evil Caliphate proclamation.
But now, in search of a legacy, she comes on board for women’s heart health. She blindsides (apparently) the powerful American Association for Retired Persons (AARP) which has steadily lobbied for health care reform (meaning, against Bushco and cronies). She wangles a front-page story in the latest Bulletin, touting the amazing information that women need equal treatment with men for heart disease. Using that old Southern Charm she explains how she can’t really get about in public so she works out with her personal trainer and the White House exercise machines. God bless her, poor thing.
The AARP Bulletin compares Laura's crusade(?)with the projects taken on by former First Ladies, for example the Highway Beautification project of dear Lady Bird Johnson, God rest her soul. The thing is, all these other ladies decided early on what they would do and stuck to it.
And what about hubby’s supersizing support for the drug industry at the expense of seniors (aka Medicare Plan D)? Or his depriving millions of poor or low-income women and children from health access by cutting government subsidies AND caving to the big-insurance lobbies? What about that? No comment, if you please. Laura will think about it tomorrow. While she helps to put together the new presidential library, what there is of it after the classified secrets have been deleted.
She has barely uttered a peep about his disastrous policies for women or health so far in his six-year reign, except for a token wish that he might select a woman for the Supremes and some lip service to the downtrodden women of the Islamic world. WHICH had the net effect of furthering the Bozo’s Evil Caliphate proclamation.
But now, in search of a legacy, she comes on board for women’s heart health. She blindsides (apparently) the powerful American Association for Retired Persons (AARP) which has steadily lobbied for health care reform (meaning, against Bushco and cronies). She wangles a front-page story in the latest Bulletin, touting the amazing information that women need equal treatment with men for heart disease. Using that old Southern Charm she explains how she can’t really get about in public so she works out with her personal trainer and the White House exercise machines. God bless her, poor thing.
The AARP Bulletin compares Laura's crusade(?)with the projects taken on by former First Ladies, for example the Highway Beautification project of dear Lady Bird Johnson, God rest her soul. The thing is, all these other ladies decided early on what they would do and stuck to it.
And what about hubby’s supersizing support for the drug industry at the expense of seniors (aka Medicare Plan D)? Or his depriving millions of poor or low-income women and children from health access by cutting government subsidies AND caving to the big-insurance lobbies? What about that? No comment, if you please. Laura will think about it tomorrow. While she helps to put together the new presidential library, what there is of it after the classified secrets have been deleted.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Reasons Not to GlowOn Not Jumping Out of The Frying Pan Into The Eternal Fires - CommonDreams.org
True is nearly as old as Woody Guthrie. Surely old enough to remember Chernobyl and angry NIMBY debates about nuclear waste disposal.
Shock and awe, to learn that some Sixties apostates ala Newt G and Gang are now trumpeting nuclear power as the "clean" energy solution. Not, not, not. Nuclear power is even more dirty than coal mining, even more invasive than carbon emissions, even more evil than the Iraq war for oil.
There is NO safe nuclear power, whether to nuke Iran with or to create radioactive peacetime waste that won't self-destruct for a zillion years. I would have thought that we might have learned by now the dreadful lessons of Hiroshima, But. Maybe not, since the Japs were the enemy. Does it make a difference that in the 1950's American civilians were the innocent subjects of military experiments in nuclear and chemical weapons in schools and neighborhoods? That some of these citizens, including one dear friend of True, have died or nearly died from the toxic results of these cruel games akin to pulling the wings off of butterflies?
Reasons Not to GlowOn Not Jumping Out of The Frying Pan Into The Eternal Fires - CommonDreams.org
Shock and awe, to learn that some Sixties apostates ala Newt G and Gang are now trumpeting nuclear power as the "clean" energy solution. Not, not, not. Nuclear power is even more dirty than coal mining, even more invasive than carbon emissions, even more evil than the Iraq war for oil.
There is NO safe nuclear power, whether to nuke Iran with or to create radioactive peacetime waste that won't self-destruct for a zillion years. I would have thought that we might have learned by now the dreadful lessons of Hiroshima, But. Maybe not, since the Japs were the enemy. Does it make a difference that in the 1950's American civilians were the innocent subjects of military experiments in nuclear and chemical weapons in schools and neighborhoods? That some of these citizens, including one dear friend of True, have died or nearly died from the toxic results of these cruel games akin to pulling the wings off of butterflies?
Reasons Not to GlowOn Not Jumping Out of The Frying Pan Into The Eternal Fires - CommonDreams.org
Monday, July 02, 2007
Vicki offers hope, knowledge, ideas and a Qigong group for breast cancer survivors
Dear True,
Avoiding breast cancer may seem like being at the mercy of shell game hucksters. Sadly, it is Just life. The more we find out about this disease, the more baffling it can seem. But really, lots of new meds and advances are lowering the death rates after breast cancer diagnoses and raising the odds for survival.
In my case, for example, I received and am still receiving Herceptin infusions because I was "lucky" enough to have the HER2 receptive cancer cells in my breast tumor. The downside, those types do grow fast. The upside, Herceptin doubles the odds of survival. Herceptin has even been shown to be effective against non-HER2 receptive cancers. My oncologist calls it one of the handfuls of "miracles" he has seen in his decades of practice. And if that didn't make my day, there now is another drug that will zap the HER2 receptor cells should Herceptin not do a 100% job.
That is my story. For every type of breast cancer, there is another.
All differ slightly, but all have similarities. For one, there are things anyone can do to improve their chances - things that cost nothing but time. Last month I took a two-day workshop in the Chinese activity called Qigong (pronounced Chee Gong) at the Cancer Center at the Duluth Clinic. This activity may do as much as Herceptin in keeping cancer at bay. It is easy and makes me feel calm and yet energetic. Check it out by Googling Qigong cancer clinics.
I have the DVD and would like to form a weekly group in the county if anyone is interested. (free of course!)
As for True's frustration over MRIs not being routinely done to screen for breast cancer, I just don't have an opinion as to whether or not they should be done, even if free. For it is a fact that this disease can and will occur even if you throw every diagnostic device and method known to man and dog at it. Vigilance - meaning breast exams monthly and baseline mammograms, plus insistence on an ultrasound should one suspect a doctor's assessment of a lump - is the best defense against breast cancer. Still, you might get it.
If you do, stick with the Mayo Clinic and Johns Hopkins web sites, do what your doc tells you, be yourself (and that does NOT mean being little miss sunshine) and be amazed at how quickly you will heal and be done with the treatments. I was and am.
And I even got naturally curly hair out of the deal!
Love to all transcender-survivors
Vicki Biggs-Anderson
Grand Marais
Avoiding breast cancer may seem like being at the mercy of shell game hucksters. Sadly, it is Just life. The more we find out about this disease, the more baffling it can seem. But really, lots of new meds and advances are lowering the death rates after breast cancer diagnoses and raising the odds for survival.
In my case, for example, I received and am still receiving Herceptin infusions because I was "lucky" enough to have the HER2 receptive cancer cells in my breast tumor. The downside, those types do grow fast. The upside, Herceptin doubles the odds of survival. Herceptin has even been shown to be effective against non-HER2 receptive cancers. My oncologist calls it one of the handfuls of "miracles" he has seen in his decades of practice. And if that didn't make my day, there now is another drug that will zap the HER2 receptor cells should Herceptin not do a 100% job.
That is my story. For every type of breast cancer, there is another.
All differ slightly, but all have similarities. For one, there are things anyone can do to improve their chances - things that cost nothing but time. Last month I took a two-day workshop in the Chinese activity called Qigong (pronounced Chee Gong) at the Cancer Center at the Duluth Clinic. This activity may do as much as Herceptin in keeping cancer at bay. It is easy and makes me feel calm and yet energetic. Check it out by Googling Qigong cancer clinics.
I have the DVD and would like to form a weekly group in the county if anyone is interested. (free of course!)
As for True's frustration over MRIs not being routinely done to screen for breast cancer, I just don't have an opinion as to whether or not they should be done, even if free. For it is a fact that this disease can and will occur even if you throw every diagnostic device and method known to man and dog at it. Vigilance - meaning breast exams monthly and baseline mammograms, plus insistence on an ultrasound should one suspect a doctor's assessment of a lump - is the best defense against breast cancer. Still, you might get it.
If you do, stick with the Mayo Clinic and Johns Hopkins web sites, do what your doc tells you, be yourself (and that does NOT mean being little miss sunshine) and be amazed at how quickly you will heal and be done with the treatments. I was and am.
And I even got naturally curly hair out of the deal!
Love to all transcender-survivors
Vicki Biggs-Anderson
Grand Marais
Thursday, June 28, 2007
The breast cancer shell game: one in eight
Dear True,
Like most all women I am terrified of breast cancer. I’m a glutton for every news story about the latest research and that’s how I know about the shell game: a con trick that deceives the eye and hides the ball under movable walnut shells. The mark has to guess, based on deceptive information.
One in eight women will have it. Like every other person on the planet I have lost beloved friends and relatives to this dreadful disease that devours the necessary equipment designed to nurture babies and goes on in many cases to metastasize either sooner or later. I also have a treasury of friends who are survivors, and looking at those who survived and those who perished it seems like a lottery.
Evaluating the conventional wisdom that every woman hears from her doc: do self-examinations, have mammograms, it is readily apparent that neither technique does an even adequate job.
Mammograms catch about 80 percent of cancerous tumors according to one study, by any measure not good enough. Self-examinations are fraught with terror and error. As one who has the so-called “fibrocystic breast disease” which means lumpy breasts, I never have a clue about where a real, hard lump might be hiding beneath the constantly movable cysts. Still I am told that I should keep doing the self-exams. Pfui. The last time I went for a doc appointment based on my self-exam many years ago the (female) doc told me, in essence, that I was deluded. “Pt feels lump” was written in my chart.
Some say that breast X-rays for women in their 40’s could cause more harm than good. Others (American Cancer Society) ask for annual MRI’s for women “at high risk for breast cancer.” But the same study adds that too many women perceive themselves at overly high risk. Say WHAT? In other words, women are overly fearful of breast cancer without good reason. What is good reason? The “risk” factors are absurd, at least in absence of DNA work. Mother or sister with breast cancer? Hmm, it seems now that Dad’s genes are just as potent as killers. And what of those who are adopted, or have no sisters? Too bad for them.
MRI imaging is by far the most accurate method of finding cancerous lumps. But the corporate health care system decrees that only the “highest risk” candidates deserve this expensive diagnosis. The official excuses for not making the MRI universally available? It costs too much (of course)… but the one that really bugs me is this: it has too many false positives (5 percent) that cause psychological damage to the women.
Hello, hello? NO woman on this earth would prefer a false positive to a false negative. If there is a way to routinely catch the cancers in their earliest stage with great accuracy, there is NO excuse to withhold it from the women like me who don’t make it to the highest risk categories. We can deal with the false positive, trust me on this…. I live with personal false positives all the time with my “diseased” breasts.
In 1990 I lost one I loved a lot, who had thought she was cured. The conventional wisdom at the time was that lumpectomy was as good as mastectomy, now discredited. Within a month after a “clean” CAT scan following chemo and radiation, she was diagnosed with metastatic liver cancer and she lived only six more months.
So many of us have died. Others struggle to survive. A woman in Cook County has advanced breast cancer despite her annual mammograms; it was just very fast-growing. I demand ZERO TOLERANCE for shell games, for who gets the lucky dice and the state-of-the art tests. “Significant” family history? Does it include aunts on both sides, as in my case? Probably not. Anyway nobody has offered me a genetic test or biopsy or MRI.
Zero tolerance for me means, not allowing any woman to die because of the health insurance shell game, ably enabled by the sensational press. Or, as in my case, because I don’t have any health insurance at all.
It wouldn’t be so bad if there weren’t other options that work better, but there most definitely ARE. MRI is only one. There are several types of breast cancer, and I have checked out Wikipedia to learn more and so, my dear woman friend and sister, can you. Learn about the five stages, Zero through Four, gene expression profiling, a baffling array of treatment and prevention options including double mastectomy for those at highest risk, radiation, and systemic therapy including chemo or hormones like tamoxifen. Wikipedia says that some “natural” remedies like flaxseed or traditional Chinese medicine may be beneficial. What do you know about “viral” breast cancer? The confusing and contradictory studies of risk factors like diet, alcohol use, X-ray mammography and a bewildering array of other possibly insignificant variables?
Nancye Belding
Grand Marais
Here are a couple of links you can explore first:
In New Cancer Guideline, a Host of Uncertainties - New York Times
Benefits of Mammograms For Women in 40s Challenged - washingtonpost.com
Like most all women I am terrified of breast cancer. I’m a glutton for every news story about the latest research and that’s how I know about the shell game: a con trick that deceives the eye and hides the ball under movable walnut shells. The mark has to guess, based on deceptive information.
One in eight women will have it. Like every other person on the planet I have lost beloved friends and relatives to this dreadful disease that devours the necessary equipment designed to nurture babies and goes on in many cases to metastasize either sooner or later. I also have a treasury of friends who are survivors, and looking at those who survived and those who perished it seems like a lottery.
Evaluating the conventional wisdom that every woman hears from her doc: do self-examinations, have mammograms, it is readily apparent that neither technique does an even adequate job.
Mammograms catch about 80 percent of cancerous tumors according to one study, by any measure not good enough. Self-examinations are fraught with terror and error. As one who has the so-called “fibrocystic breast disease” which means lumpy breasts, I never have a clue about where a real, hard lump might be hiding beneath the constantly movable cysts. Still I am told that I should keep doing the self-exams. Pfui. The last time I went for a doc appointment based on my self-exam many years ago the (female) doc told me, in essence, that I was deluded. “Pt feels lump” was written in my chart.
Some say that breast X-rays for women in their 40’s could cause more harm than good. Others (American Cancer Society) ask for annual MRI’s for women “at high risk for breast cancer.” But the same study adds that too many women perceive themselves at overly high risk. Say WHAT? In other words, women are overly fearful of breast cancer without good reason. What is good reason? The “risk” factors are absurd, at least in absence of DNA work. Mother or sister with breast cancer? Hmm, it seems now that Dad’s genes are just as potent as killers. And what of those who are adopted, or have no sisters? Too bad for them.
MRI imaging is by far the most accurate method of finding cancerous lumps. But the corporate health care system decrees that only the “highest risk” candidates deserve this expensive diagnosis. The official excuses for not making the MRI universally available? It costs too much (of course)… but the one that really bugs me is this: it has too many false positives (5 percent) that cause psychological damage to the women.
Hello, hello? NO woman on this earth would prefer a false positive to a false negative. If there is a way to routinely catch the cancers in their earliest stage with great accuracy, there is NO excuse to withhold it from the women like me who don’t make it to the highest risk categories. We can deal with the false positive, trust me on this…. I live with personal false positives all the time with my “diseased” breasts.
In 1990 I lost one I loved a lot, who had thought she was cured. The conventional wisdom at the time was that lumpectomy was as good as mastectomy, now discredited. Within a month after a “clean” CAT scan following chemo and radiation, she was diagnosed with metastatic liver cancer and she lived only six more months.
So many of us have died. Others struggle to survive. A woman in Cook County has advanced breast cancer despite her annual mammograms; it was just very fast-growing. I demand ZERO TOLERANCE for shell games, for who gets the lucky dice and the state-of-the art tests. “Significant” family history? Does it include aunts on both sides, as in my case? Probably not. Anyway nobody has offered me a genetic test or biopsy or MRI.
Zero tolerance for me means, not allowing any woman to die because of the health insurance shell game, ably enabled by the sensational press. Or, as in my case, because I don’t have any health insurance at all.
It wouldn’t be so bad if there weren’t other options that work better, but there most definitely ARE. MRI is only one. There are several types of breast cancer, and I have checked out Wikipedia to learn more and so, my dear woman friend and sister, can you. Learn about the five stages, Zero through Four, gene expression profiling, a baffling array of treatment and prevention options including double mastectomy for those at highest risk, radiation, and systemic therapy including chemo or hormones like tamoxifen. Wikipedia says that some “natural” remedies like flaxseed or traditional Chinese medicine may be beneficial. What do you know about “viral” breast cancer? The confusing and contradictory studies of risk factors like diet, alcohol use, X-ray mammography and a bewildering array of other possibly insignificant variables?
Nancye Belding
Grand Marais
Here are a couple of links you can explore first:
In New Cancer Guideline, a Host of Uncertainties - New York Times
Benefits of Mammograms For Women in 40s Challenged - washingtonpost.com
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Steelworkers demand inquiry into mesothelioma study
Here's the latest link from our Mining Correspondent Lori Andresen:
http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/articles/?id=44438
Steelworkers demand inquiry into mesothelioma study
Duluth News TribunePublished Tuesday, June 19, 2007
United Steelworkers leaders are calling for a legislative and criminal investigation into the delayed release of information in a Minnesota Department of Health report on additional cases of mesothelioma found among Iron Range miners.
“It is unconscionable, unethical and probably criminal for a public agency to withhold information about a potential health risk to our workers,” Bob Bratulich, United Steelworkers District 11 director said Tuesday in a news release. “The United Steelworkers are extremely concerned about the health and safety of our members. We should be told the truth immediately if there is a problem with fibers in the rock of some of these operations. We need to know so that we can deal with them in a manner that protects the health of our members and the community generally, and allows those operations to continue to be productive.”
The department in March 2006 discovered that a rare, asbestos-related cancer had stricken 35 more miners than the 17 previously known.
[http://www.steelworkers-usw.org/]Health department documents obtained by the Minneapolis Star Tribune show that Department of Health had planned to disclose that information last year to mining unions, businesses, and federal regulators and others but waited until this year to disclose the information.
Bratulich called Tuesday on the state Attorney General's office and Minnesota Legislature to investigate the health department's delay in releasing the information.
Bratulich said he wants to know whether others from the Governor's Office or company officials were involved in the delay, along with health department Commissioner Dianne Mandernach and Dr. Alan Bender, head of the environmental epidemiology section that conducted the research.
In 2003, the health department found that 17 miners had developed mesothelioma between 1988 and 1996 and that commercial asbestos, not taconite dust, was the likely source.
Bratulich says he doesn't know the cause of the cancer.
However, Bratulich says the delay in releasing the information has slowed down studies aimed at determining a potential source.
http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/articles/?id=44438
Steelworkers demand inquiry into mesothelioma study
Duluth News TribunePublished Tuesday, June 19, 2007
United Steelworkers leaders are calling for a legislative and criminal investigation into the delayed release of information in a Minnesota Department of Health report on additional cases of mesothelioma found among Iron Range miners.
“It is unconscionable, unethical and probably criminal for a public agency to withhold information about a potential health risk to our workers,” Bob Bratulich, United Steelworkers District 11 director said Tuesday in a news release. “The United Steelworkers are extremely concerned about the health and safety of our members. We should be told the truth immediately if there is a problem with fibers in the rock of some of these operations. We need to know so that we can deal with them in a manner that protects the health of our members and the community generally, and allows those operations to continue to be productive.”
The department in March 2006 discovered that a rare, asbestos-related cancer had stricken 35 more miners than the 17 previously known.
[http://www.steelworkers-usw.org/]Health department documents obtained by the Minneapolis Star Tribune show that Department of Health had planned to disclose that information last year to mining unions, businesses, and federal regulators and others but waited until this year to disclose the information.
Bratulich called Tuesday on the state Attorney General's office and Minnesota Legislature to investigate the health department's delay in releasing the information.
Bratulich said he wants to know whether others from the Governor's Office or company officials were involved in the delay, along with health department Commissioner Dianne Mandernach and Dr. Alan Bender, head of the environmental epidemiology section that conducted the research.
In 2003, the health department found that 17 miners had developed mesothelioma between 1988 and 1996 and that commercial asbestos, not taconite dust, was the likely source.
Bratulich says he doesn't know the cause of the cancer.
However, Bratulich says the delay in releasing the information has slowed down studies aimed at determining a potential source.
Monday, June 18, 2007
State kept quiet on cancer in 35 miners
Dear True,
The fibers of most concern come from the east end of the range, near the Peter Mitchell mine ( where PolyMet is proposed). One wonders about the whole Duluth Complex.
Here's a link as well as the text from the Strib story sent by Lori Andresen, our Mining Correspondent:
http://www.startribune.com/462/story/1250516.html
State kept quiet on cancer in 35 miners
The state Health Department found that additional Iron Range miners had a deadly asbestos-related cancer, then sat on the information for a year.
By David Shaffer, Star Tribune
Last update: June 16, 2007 – 7:22 PM
The Minnesota Health Department suppressed research about additional deadly cancers among Iron Range miners for a year, even though a top government scientist warned that the findings raised significant new health issues.
The department discovered in March 2006 that a rare, asbestos-related cancer had stricken 35 more miners than the 17 previously known. All of the miners have died. The state didn't release the new information until March of this year, a decision that some health experts are now criticizing.
The findings sparked renewed concern about taconite dust and lung cancer among the 4,000 workers in the state's iron ore industry.
Health Department documents obtained by the Star Tribune show that officials had planned last year to disclose the information to mining unions, businesses, federal regulators and others. But state Health Commissioner Dianne Mandernach rejected those plans last fall.
Documents also show that the department feared that public disclosure of the findings would create controversy.
In an interview Wednesday, Mandernach defended the yearlong delay, saying the department had needed time to plan new studies of mining and disease.
The cancer, called mesothelioma, is deadly. It strikes the lung lining and develops decades after exposure to asbestos fibers.
Mandernach said that releasing the findings without having a plan for further studies could "excite and cause tremendous concern before you have all of your ducks in a row."
But public-health experts and others said the department shouldn't have waited.
"Whether or not they had a plan in place is neither here nor there," said Dr. Ian Greaves, an associate professor of environmental health at the University of Minnesota who is an expert in lung diseases.
"They're a public agency that serves the public, and I think it's overreaching to think they should take an attitude that they know best. ... This sounds very paternalistic in some ways."
Yearlong delay is unusual
For decades, mine dust has been a concern because some taconite fibers are chemically identical to asbestos. Mine operations also used commercial asbestos on such things as pipes and boilers, creating another source of exposure.
In 2003, Health Department researchers found that 17 miners had developed mesothelioma between 1988 and 1996, and that commercial asbestos, not taconite dust, was a more likely culprit. Some critics said the Health Department didn't look hard enough at mine dust.
That contentious history is reflected in department e-mails, memos and notes released under the state public-records law. They show that officials worried about public reaction to the latest research, which covered 1997 to 2005.
"Many will believe that they confirm the health hazards of the miners that have long been feared and predicted," said a March 2006 talking-points memo by Dr. Alan Bender, who heads the environmental epidemiology section that conducted the research.
Another briefing paper, prepared last year for the commissioner, said: "Release of the findings is likely to generate demands that the government do more to protect workers."
Bender, who has long advocated more research into occupational hazards, urged at the time that the findings be released.
For years, the Health Department has regularly released public-health research. Officials could not cite another case in which findings were withheld for a year.
New study released quickly
Just this month, the department quickly released another study based on the same cancer-tracking registry used in the Iron Range research. That study found no cancer clusters in Washington and Dakota counties, where groundwater pollution is a growing concern. The findings were made public shortly after the work was done.
State Rep. Denny McNamara serves on a committee that reviewed the Iron Range findings in April. He said he didn't know the release of the mesothelioma research had been delayed a year until a reporter called him. He said the Legislature should have been told earlier.
"I know in the Dakota County one, we pushed for that in a very expedited manner," said McNamara, R-Hastings. "I wouldn't want them to do anything different in the same situation, no matter what geographic area."
Fear of information leaks
Internal documents show that the Health Department drafted a news release in June 2006 about the 35 additional cases of mesothelioma, but planned to release it only if word of the findings leaked out.
The documents reveal that department officials were so concerned about a possible leak that they excluded two prominent University of Minnesota researchers from scientific consultation because they had been critical of the Health Department in the past.
The two scientists are Greaves, the lung-disease expert, and Prof. William Toscano, head of the division of environmental health sciences in the School of Public Health. In interviews, the scientists said they had never leaked anything. They expressed fresh criticism of the department's actions.
"People need to know this," Toscano said of the mine- disease findings. "I can't imagine people not wanting to know this information."
That's also the view of the United Steelworkers, which represents many miners. "It is a basic right to know what the government knows about exposures and problems that can affect your health," said Mike Wright, the union's director of health, safety and environment.
State officials also withheld the findings from the federal Mine Health and Safety Administration, which last year was considering stricter limits on asbestos dust in mines. The rule revision languished after a West Virginia mine explosion last year refocused the agency's efforts toward coal-mine safety.
The federal safety group declined to comment on the Health Department's action, but said the agency welcomes the opportunity to review new research "that may assist us in our efforts to draft a more comprehensive asbestos regulation."
Federal regulators have repeatedly detected elevated asbestos since 2003 in the Northshore Mining Co. plant in Silver Bay, Minn.
In January, the company talked with state officials about a new miner health study, which the company would pay for. Yet no one told company officials about the additional mesothelioma cases even then, said Dana Byrne, vice president-public affairs for Northshore's parent company, Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.
The Northshore study is in addition to the state's plan to study dust exposure in Iron Range miners who developed mesothelioma and those who didn't. In another state study, researchers plan to compare cancer risks of different types of mineral fibers based on animal testing. The department hopes to pay for the research out of existing budgets and by seeking a federal grant.
Plans for both studies were prominently noted in the Health Department's March announcement. The 35 new cancer cases were mentioned -- but not until the fifth paragraph.
David Shaffer • 612-673-7090 • dshaffer@startribune.com
© 2007 Star Tribune. All rights reserved.
The fibers of most concern come from the east end of the range, near the Peter Mitchell mine ( where PolyMet is proposed). One wonders about the whole Duluth Complex.
Here's a link as well as the text from the Strib story sent by Lori Andresen, our Mining Correspondent:
http://www.startribune.com/462/story/1250516.html
State kept quiet on cancer in 35 miners
The state Health Department found that additional Iron Range miners had a deadly asbestos-related cancer, then sat on the information for a year.
By David Shaffer, Star Tribune
Last update: June 16, 2007 – 7:22 PM
The Minnesota Health Department suppressed research about additional deadly cancers among Iron Range miners for a year, even though a top government scientist warned that the findings raised significant new health issues.
The department discovered in March 2006 that a rare, asbestos-related cancer had stricken 35 more miners than the 17 previously known. All of the miners have died. The state didn't release the new information until March of this year, a decision that some health experts are now criticizing.
The findings sparked renewed concern about taconite dust and lung cancer among the 4,000 workers in the state's iron ore industry.
Health Department documents obtained by the Star Tribune show that officials had planned last year to disclose the information to mining unions, businesses, federal regulators and others. But state Health Commissioner Dianne Mandernach rejected those plans last fall.
Documents also show that the department feared that public disclosure of the findings would create controversy.
In an interview Wednesday, Mandernach defended the yearlong delay, saying the department had needed time to plan new studies of mining and disease.
The cancer, called mesothelioma, is deadly. It strikes the lung lining and develops decades after exposure to asbestos fibers.
Mandernach said that releasing the findings without having a plan for further studies could "excite and cause tremendous concern before you have all of your ducks in a row."
But public-health experts and others said the department shouldn't have waited.
"Whether or not they had a plan in place is neither here nor there," said Dr. Ian Greaves, an associate professor of environmental health at the University of Minnesota who is an expert in lung diseases.
"They're a public agency that serves the public, and I think it's overreaching to think they should take an attitude that they know best. ... This sounds very paternalistic in some ways."
Yearlong delay is unusual
For decades, mine dust has been a concern because some taconite fibers are chemically identical to asbestos. Mine operations also used commercial asbestos on such things as pipes and boilers, creating another source of exposure.
In 2003, Health Department researchers found that 17 miners had developed mesothelioma between 1988 and 1996, and that commercial asbestos, not taconite dust, was a more likely culprit. Some critics said the Health Department didn't look hard enough at mine dust.
That contentious history is reflected in department e-mails, memos and notes released under the state public-records law. They show that officials worried about public reaction to the latest research, which covered 1997 to 2005.
"Many will believe that they confirm the health hazards of the miners that have long been feared and predicted," said a March 2006 talking-points memo by Dr. Alan Bender, who heads the environmental epidemiology section that conducted the research.
Another briefing paper, prepared last year for the commissioner, said: "Release of the findings is likely to generate demands that the government do more to protect workers."
Bender, who has long advocated more research into occupational hazards, urged at the time that the findings be released.
For years, the Health Department has regularly released public-health research. Officials could not cite another case in which findings were withheld for a year.
New study released quickly
Just this month, the department quickly released another study based on the same cancer-tracking registry used in the Iron Range research. That study found no cancer clusters in Washington and Dakota counties, where groundwater pollution is a growing concern. The findings were made public shortly after the work was done.
State Rep. Denny McNamara serves on a committee that reviewed the Iron Range findings in April. He said he didn't know the release of the mesothelioma research had been delayed a year until a reporter called him. He said the Legislature should have been told earlier.
"I know in the Dakota County one, we pushed for that in a very expedited manner," said McNamara, R-Hastings. "I wouldn't want them to do anything different in the same situation, no matter what geographic area."
Fear of information leaks
Internal documents show that the Health Department drafted a news release in June 2006 about the 35 additional cases of mesothelioma, but planned to release it only if word of the findings leaked out.
The documents reveal that department officials were so concerned about a possible leak that they excluded two prominent University of Minnesota researchers from scientific consultation because they had been critical of the Health Department in the past.
The two scientists are Greaves, the lung-disease expert, and Prof. William Toscano, head of the division of environmental health sciences in the School of Public Health. In interviews, the scientists said they had never leaked anything. They expressed fresh criticism of the department's actions.
"People need to know this," Toscano said of the mine- disease findings. "I can't imagine people not wanting to know this information."
That's also the view of the United Steelworkers, which represents many miners. "It is a basic right to know what the government knows about exposures and problems that can affect your health," said Mike Wright, the union's director of health, safety and environment.
State officials also withheld the findings from the federal Mine Health and Safety Administration, which last year was considering stricter limits on asbestos dust in mines. The rule revision languished after a West Virginia mine explosion last year refocused the agency's efforts toward coal-mine safety.
The federal safety group declined to comment on the Health Department's action, but said the agency welcomes the opportunity to review new research "that may assist us in our efforts to draft a more comprehensive asbestos regulation."
Federal regulators have repeatedly detected elevated asbestos since 2003 in the Northshore Mining Co. plant in Silver Bay, Minn.
In January, the company talked with state officials about a new miner health study, which the company would pay for. Yet no one told company officials about the additional mesothelioma cases even then, said Dana Byrne, vice president-public affairs for Northshore's parent company, Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.
The Northshore study is in addition to the state's plan to study dust exposure in Iron Range miners who developed mesothelioma and those who didn't. In another state study, researchers plan to compare cancer risks of different types of mineral fibers based on animal testing. The department hopes to pay for the research out of existing budgets and by seeking a federal grant.
Plans for both studies were prominently noted in the Health Department's March announcement. The 35 new cancer cases were mentioned -- but not until the fifth paragraph.
David Shaffer • 612-673-7090 • dshaffer@startribune.com
© 2007 Star Tribune. All rights reserved.
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Deadly Dust: Study Suggests Cancer Risk from Depleted Uranium - CommonDreams.org - Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community
True has been dismayed at the number of young environmentalists who think nuclear energy is a "clean" alternative to carbon emissions. He will be passing along studies that suggest enormous damages to health of all beings from spent uranium, which can never be safely disposed of. True was alive in World War II when the Bomb dropped on Japan devastated a generation or two in its impact, long after the immediate death toll. Perhaps the young don't read history? School funding has been sadly diminished over the past quarter-century.
Deadly Dust: Study Suggests Cancer Risk from Depleted Uranium - CommonDreams.org - Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community
Deadly Dust: Study Suggests Cancer Risk from Depleted Uranium - CommonDreams.org - Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community
Monday, May 07, 2007
UN Scientists Warn Time Is Running Out to Tackle Global Warming
There is NO time to waste on corporate lobbying, NO time to waste on reducing carbon emissions, NO time to waste on global warming. It is here, it is now, and it must be dealt with here and now. IF we want our children and grandchildren to know this planet as we know it, IF we want to have biological diversity and even enough food to eat while enormous forces of nature re-define our environment.
Eight years? So far it is four years and counting of a Repug Reich war over oil profits that apparently cannot be reined in. So far the big oil profiteers have reduced life forms on the planet not only by their disastrous carbon emissions but also by dumping toxic wastes in equatorial waters, by lobbying for oil drilling in coastal waters and the Alaskan wilderness, by oil spills that kill aquatic life and pollute the oceans, and by robbing other nations of the oil revenues which in many cases are their only assets.
True urges everybody to look to their carbon footprint personally, but MUCH more important, to speak out against the huge international corporations that want to devour the planet wholesale.
Here's the link:
UN Scientists Warn Time Is Running Out to Tackle Global Warming
Eight years? So far it is four years and counting of a Repug Reich war over oil profits that apparently cannot be reined in. So far the big oil profiteers have reduced life forms on the planet not only by their disastrous carbon emissions but also by dumping toxic wastes in equatorial waters, by lobbying for oil drilling in coastal waters and the Alaskan wilderness, by oil spills that kill aquatic life and pollute the oceans, and by robbing other nations of the oil revenues which in many cases are their only assets.
True urges everybody to look to their carbon footprint personally, but MUCH more important, to speak out against the huge international corporations that want to devour the planet wholesale.
Here's the link:
UN Scientists Warn Time Is Running Out to Tackle Global Warming
Saturday, May 05, 2007
Urgent FDA Warning re antidepressants for kids
There's still time to call legislators who are on the conference committee regarding HF6, "safe" schools (i.e. "war is peace"-get it?) regarding the dangerous TEENSCREEN legislation authored by a board member of the Teenscreen group herself!
Controversy and conflict of interest abound on this one, let alone the irresponsible and dangerous consequences to
our children, let alone parent's rights. CALL NOW the numbers listed at the end of this email. It is vitally important that
the legislators are not swayed by those who stand to make money on this deal. See the latest from the FDA below.
NOTE: THE ONLY PEOPLE WHO HAVE COME OUT IN SUPPORT OF THIS LEGISLATION ARE THOSE WHO STAND TO MAKE MONEY FROM IT. WHERE ARE THE PARENTS AND STUDENTS WHO HAVE SUPPOSEDLY BENEFITTED FROM THIS? THEY DON'T EXIST!
Can this be any more clear??? Call your legislator NOW. See this week's articles on this issue below:
FDA News
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEMay 2, 2007
Media Inquiries: Sandy Walsh, 301-827-6242Consumer Inquiries: 888-INFO-FDA
FDA Proposes New Warnings About Suicidal Thinking, Behavior in Young Adults Who Take Antidepressant Medications
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today proposed that makers of all antidepressant medications update the existing black box warning on their products' labeling to include warnings about increased risks of suicidal thinking and behavior, known as suicidality, in young adults ages 18 to 24 during initial treatment (generally the first one to two months).
The proposed labeling changes also include language stating that scientific data did not show this increased risk in adults older than 24, and that adults ages 65 and older taking antidepressants have a decreased risk of suicidality. The proposed warning statements emphasize that depression and certain other serious psychiatric disorders are themselves the most important causes of suicide.
"Today's actions represent FDA's commitment to a high level of post-marketing evaluation of drug products," said Steven Galson, M.D., MPH, director of FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. "Depression and other psychiatric disorders can have significant consequences if not appropriately treated. Antidepressant medications benefit many patients, but it is important that doctors and patients are aware of the risks."
People currently prescribed antidepressant medications should not stop taking them. Those who have concerns should notify their health care providers.
The proposed labeling changes apply to the entire category of antidepressants. Results of individual placebo-controlled scientific studies are reasonably consistent in showing a slight increase in suicidality for patients taking antidepressants in early treatment for most of the medications. Available data are not sufficient to exclude any single medication from the increased risk of suicidality.
The proposed labeling update follows similar labeling changes made in 2005 that warned of a suicidality risk in children and adolescents who use antidepressants. At that time, FDA asked manufacturers to add a black box warning to the labeling of all antidepressants to describe this risk and to emphasize the need for appropriate monitoring and close observation, particularly for younger patients taking these medications. In addition, FDA directed manufacturers to develop Medication Guides, FDA-approved user-friendly information for patients, families and caregivers, that could help improve monitoring. Medication Guides are intended to be distributed at the pharmacy with each prescription or refill of a medication.
Also in 2005, FDA began a comprehensive review of 295 individual antidepressant trials that included over 77,000 adult patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and other psychiatric disorders, to examine the risk of suicidality in adults who are prescribed antidepressants.
In December 2006, FDA's Psychopharmacologic Drugs Advisory Committee agreed that labeling changes were needed to inform health care professionals about the increased risk of suicidality in younger adults using antidepressants. Additionally, the committee noted product labeling needed to reflect the apparent beneficial effect of antidepressants in older adults and to remind health care professionals that the disorders themselves are the most important cause of suicidality.
FDA has been developing language to revise product labeling and update the Patient Medication Guides for these products. Manufacturers of antidepressants will now have 30 days to submit their revised product labels and revised Medication Guides to FDA for review.
Products involved in today's action include:
Anafranil (clomipramine)Asendin (amoxapine)Aventyl (nortriptyline)Celexa (citalopram hydrobromide)Cymbalta (duloxetine)Desyrel (trazodone HCl)Elavil (amitriptyline)Effexor (venlafaxine HCl)Emsam (selegiline)Etrafon (perphenazine/amitriptyline)fluvoxamine maleateLexapro (escitalopram hydrobromide)Limbitrol (chlordiazepoxide/amitriptyline)Ludiomil (maprotiline)Marplan (isocarboxazid)Nardil (phenelzine sulfate) nefazodone HClNorpramin (desipramine HCl)Pamelor (nortriptyline)Parnate (tranylcypromine sulfate)Paxil (paroxetine HCl)Pexeva (paroxetine mesylate)Prozac (fluoxetine HCl)Remeron (mirtazapine)Sarafem (fluoxetine HCl)Seroquel (quetiapine)Sinequan (doxepin)Surmontil (trimipramine)Symbyax (olanzapine/fluoxetine)Tofranil (imipramine)Tofranil-PM (imipramine pamoate)Triavil (perphenazine/amitriptyline)Vivactil (protriptyline)Wellbutrin (bupropion HCl)Zoloft (sertraline HCl)Zyban (bupropion HCl)
For more information:
Antidepressant use in children, adolescents, and adults, including the draft labeling and draft
Medication Guides www.fda.gov/cder/drug/antidepressants/default.htm
FDA's Psychopharmacologic Drugs Advisory Committee, including transcripts from the December 2006 meeting www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/ac/cder06.html#Psychopharmacologic
21,211 Total Signatures - TeenScreen petition: http://www.petitiononline.com/TScreen/petition.html
From: Parents Against TeenScreen [mailto:parents_against_teenscreen@earthlink.net] Sent: Thursday, May 03, 2007 6:37 AMTo: Parents Against TeenScreenSubject: Yo Minnesota - More
Go Minnesota Go!
Also check out the following links to see letters from a lot of people opposed to Teen Screen:
Several are from the St. Cloud Times, St. Cloud, Minn.:
http://www.sctimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070503/OPINION/105030023/1006/NEWS01
http://www.sctimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070503/OPINION/105030026/1006/NEWS01%C2%A0
http://www.sctimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070503/OPINION/105030025/1006
http://www.sctimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070503/OPINION/105030024/1006
Finally, this link updates the status of TeenScreen in the Minnesota House and Senate and provides some contact information:
http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2007/NEW01624.html
Bev Miller
Controversy and conflict of interest abound on this one, let alone the irresponsible and dangerous consequences to
our children, let alone parent's rights. CALL NOW the numbers listed at the end of this email. It is vitally important that
the legislators are not swayed by those who stand to make money on this deal. See the latest from the FDA below.
NOTE: THE ONLY PEOPLE WHO HAVE COME OUT IN SUPPORT OF THIS LEGISLATION ARE THOSE WHO STAND TO MAKE MONEY FROM IT. WHERE ARE THE PARENTS AND STUDENTS WHO HAVE SUPPOSEDLY BENEFITTED FROM THIS? THEY DON'T EXIST!
Can this be any more clear??? Call your legislator NOW. See this week's articles on this issue below:
FDA News
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEMay 2, 2007
Media Inquiries: Sandy Walsh, 301-827-6242Consumer Inquiries: 888-INFO-FDA
FDA Proposes New Warnings About Suicidal Thinking, Behavior in Young Adults Who Take Antidepressant Medications
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today proposed that makers of all antidepressant medications update the existing black box warning on their products' labeling to include warnings about increased risks of suicidal thinking and behavior, known as suicidality, in young adults ages 18 to 24 during initial treatment (generally the first one to two months).
The proposed labeling changes also include language stating that scientific data did not show this increased risk in adults older than 24, and that adults ages 65 and older taking antidepressants have a decreased risk of suicidality. The proposed warning statements emphasize that depression and certain other serious psychiatric disorders are themselves the most important causes of suicide.
"Today's actions represent FDA's commitment to a high level of post-marketing evaluation of drug products," said Steven Galson, M.D., MPH, director of FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. "Depression and other psychiatric disorders can have significant consequences if not appropriately treated. Antidepressant medications benefit many patients, but it is important that doctors and patients are aware of the risks."
People currently prescribed antidepressant medications should not stop taking them. Those who have concerns should notify their health care providers.
The proposed labeling changes apply to the entire category of antidepressants. Results of individual placebo-controlled scientific studies are reasonably consistent in showing a slight increase in suicidality for patients taking antidepressants in early treatment for most of the medications. Available data are not sufficient to exclude any single medication from the increased risk of suicidality.
The proposed labeling update follows similar labeling changes made in 2005 that warned of a suicidality risk in children and adolescents who use antidepressants. At that time, FDA asked manufacturers to add a black box warning to the labeling of all antidepressants to describe this risk and to emphasize the need for appropriate monitoring and close observation, particularly for younger patients taking these medications. In addition, FDA directed manufacturers to develop Medication Guides, FDA-approved user-friendly information for patients, families and caregivers, that could help improve monitoring. Medication Guides are intended to be distributed at the pharmacy with each prescription or refill of a medication.
Also in 2005, FDA began a comprehensive review of 295 individual antidepressant trials that included over 77,000 adult patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and other psychiatric disorders, to examine the risk of suicidality in adults who are prescribed antidepressants.
In December 2006, FDA's Psychopharmacologic Drugs Advisory Committee agreed that labeling changes were needed to inform health care professionals about the increased risk of suicidality in younger adults using antidepressants. Additionally, the committee noted product labeling needed to reflect the apparent beneficial effect of antidepressants in older adults and to remind health care professionals that the disorders themselves are the most important cause of suicidality.
FDA has been developing language to revise product labeling and update the Patient Medication Guides for these products. Manufacturers of antidepressants will now have 30 days to submit their revised product labels and revised Medication Guides to FDA for review.
Products involved in today's action include:
Anafranil (clomipramine)Asendin (amoxapine)Aventyl (nortriptyline)Celexa (citalopram hydrobromide)Cymbalta (duloxetine)Desyrel (trazodone HCl)Elavil (amitriptyline)Effexor (venlafaxine HCl)Emsam (selegiline)Etrafon (perphenazine/amitriptyline)fluvoxamine maleateLexapro (escitalopram hydrobromide)Limbitrol (chlordiazepoxide/amitriptyline)Ludiomil (maprotiline)Marplan (isocarboxazid)Nardil (phenelzine sulfate) nefazodone HClNorpramin (desipramine HCl)Pamelor (nortriptyline)Parnate (tranylcypromine sulfate)Paxil (paroxetine HCl)Pexeva (paroxetine mesylate)Prozac (fluoxetine HCl)Remeron (mirtazapine)Sarafem (fluoxetine HCl)Seroquel (quetiapine)Sinequan (doxepin)Surmontil (trimipramine)Symbyax (olanzapine/fluoxetine)Tofranil (imipramine)Tofranil-PM (imipramine pamoate)Triavil (perphenazine/amitriptyline)Vivactil (protriptyline)Wellbutrin (bupropion HCl)Zoloft (sertraline HCl)Zyban (bupropion HCl)
For more information:
Antidepressant use in children, adolescents, and adults, including the draft labeling and draft
Medication Guides www.fda.gov/cder/drug/antidepressants/default.htm
FDA's Psychopharmacologic Drugs Advisory Committee, including transcripts from the December 2006 meeting www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/ac/cder06.html#Psychopharmacologic
21,211 Total Signatures - TeenScreen petition: http://www.petitiononline.com/TScreen/petition.html
From: Parents Against TeenScreen [mailto:parents_against_teenscreen@earthlink.net] Sent: Thursday, May 03, 2007 6:37 AMTo: Parents Against TeenScreenSubject: Yo Minnesota - More
Go Minnesota Go!
Also check out the following links to see letters from a lot of people opposed to Teen Screen:
Several are from the St. Cloud Times, St. Cloud, Minn.:
http://www.sctimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070503/OPINION/105030023/1006/NEWS01
http://www.sctimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070503/OPINION/105030026/1006/NEWS01%C2%A0
http://www.sctimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070503/OPINION/105030025/1006
http://www.sctimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070503/OPINION/105030024/1006
Finally, this link updates the status of TeenScreen in the Minnesota House and Senate and provides some contact information:
http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2007/NEW01624.html
Bev Miller
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
The USDA's unhealthful budget - baltimoresun.com
You heard it first from True: the USDA makes us fat!!! Check out this Emperor's-New-Clothes story from the Baltimore Sun:
The USDA's unhealthful budget - baltimoresun.com
The USDA's unhealthful budget - baltimoresun.com
Monday, April 30, 2007
Carbon-Neutral Is Hip, but Is It Green? - CommonDreams.org - Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community
In the Middle Ages sinners bought indulgences from the Church. This saved them from years in Purgatory. But "carbon neutral" is something new under the sun. The greedy rich now get to buy off their crushing damages to the planet by making donations to some mysterious Super Fund; this is called being "carbon neutral. "
The catch: the irreparable damages, the drastic climate changes, the loss of Mother Earth as we know her, don't get the carbon-neutral reprieve. There is no time unless all carbon emissions are stopped or drastically reduced immediately. This is fact-checked Science, folks, not to mention discoverable by heroes like Lonnie Dupre and Eric Larsen who saw first-hand the drastic harm to the Arctic last summer. Polar bears drowning, ice caps melting.
There is no time to waste. Shut down all the coal-fired plants and the nuclear ones too. Carbon emissions aren't the only way to destroy the planet and even peaceful nuclear uses can cause untold harm, as in Chernobyl, the death toll of which is incalculable because nobody knows what winds blew where.
There are plenty of renewable energy sources, notably wind and water and sun. Use them.
And for each and every person, what are you doing to reduce your carbon emissions footprint? Your poisonous waste footprint? Make a list, if you please.
True is shivering with cold to save electricity, and turning out lights and stumbling in the dark. He is actually driving the speed limit! to save on gas as well as perhaps preserve the life of some deer along the highway. He travels by car as little as possible, only for essential work and chores.
He lobbies for mass transit options (except by air) that move lots of folks for minimal damage. Trains, ships, buses... in Europe people have these choices.
True's challenge: What are YOU doing to reduce your carbon and planet-poisoning footprint? Do you accept and approve of Minnesota Power's coal-fired plant, touted as a model that reduces SOME toxic emissions but doesn't address the fact that coal is the big "sinner"?
Here's a story to read, if you like:
Carbon-Neutral Is Hip, but Is It Green? - CommonDreams.org - Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community
The catch: the irreparable damages, the drastic climate changes, the loss of Mother Earth as we know her, don't get the carbon-neutral reprieve. There is no time unless all carbon emissions are stopped or drastically reduced immediately. This is fact-checked Science, folks, not to mention discoverable by heroes like Lonnie Dupre and Eric Larsen who saw first-hand the drastic harm to the Arctic last summer. Polar bears drowning, ice caps melting.
There is no time to waste. Shut down all the coal-fired plants and the nuclear ones too. Carbon emissions aren't the only way to destroy the planet and even peaceful nuclear uses can cause untold harm, as in Chernobyl, the death toll of which is incalculable because nobody knows what winds blew where.
There are plenty of renewable energy sources, notably wind and water and sun. Use them.
And for each and every person, what are you doing to reduce your carbon emissions footprint? Your poisonous waste footprint? Make a list, if you please.
True is shivering with cold to save electricity, and turning out lights and stumbling in the dark. He is actually driving the speed limit! to save on gas as well as perhaps preserve the life of some deer along the highway. He travels by car as little as possible, only for essential work and chores.
He lobbies for mass transit options (except by air) that move lots of folks for minimal damage. Trains, ships, buses... in Europe people have these choices.
True's challenge: What are YOU doing to reduce your carbon and planet-poisoning footprint? Do you accept and approve of Minnesota Power's coal-fired plant, touted as a model that reduces SOME toxic emissions but doesn't address the fact that coal is the big "sinner"?
Here's a story to read, if you like:
Carbon-Neutral Is Hip, but Is It Green? - CommonDreams.org - Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community
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