Do the Residents of San Bruno need Erin Brockovich?

September 17th, 2010. By LucyC

We all read with horror the accounts of the massive San Bruno explosion on September 9th that rocked an entire California suburb, killed four people (at last count), vaporized 38 homes, damaged a further 120 and pretty much laid waste to the surrounding 15 acres of land. Residents were ordered to evacuate, many lucky to have escaped with their lives. 

The explosion took place at dinner time, 6:24 pm, on a Thursday evening. It was caused by a rupture in a natural gas line that ran underneath the community. According to reports, the residents had complained to the utility company that they had smelt gas prior to the explosion—days prior in some cases. 

You may be interested to know that the utility company that owns the gas pipeline is none other than Pacific Gas and Electric, or PG&E. Ringing any bells? Remember Erin Brockovich? She took PG&E on over the deadly toxic waste called hexavalent chromium that the company was illegally dumping and which, in turn, was essentially poisoning residents in an area of southern California. People were dying of cancer, in fact. Brockovich, immortalized by Julia Roberts in the blockbuster movie of the same name, discovered that PG&E was trying to buy land that was contaminated by hexavalent chromium. To make a long story short—Brockovich and the people she represented won the day—but it took some doing. 

Now, to be clear, I’m not saying that the San Bruno explosion was caused by some kind of oversight, deliberate or otherwise, by PG&E, but if the company had received reports Read the rest of this entry »

Pepsi, Coke, FRS “Energy” Drinks—Nothing more than Snake Oil?

September 17th, 2010. By janem

If it weren’t for lobbyists such as Public Citizen, Coca-Cola and Pepsi Co. would rule the world. Or at least control everything we consume. Hmm, I guess that does mean ruling the world.

I recently read an article in the NYT about Plumpy’nut—an edible paste comprised of peanuts, vitamins and calories—that is given to starving children and is believed by many to solve worldwide malnutrition. In fact it has been credited with greatly decreasing mortality rates in Africa during famines. Wouldn’t you know that the all-reaching arm of Pepsi wants part of the action!

According to the Times, Pepsi recently talked about playing “a more decisive role” in bringing ready-to-use foods to needy populations. The article refers to three nutritionists who warned that Pepsi-branded therapies could become “potent ambassadors for equivalently branded baby foods, cola drinks and snack foods.” This is precisely what Nestle did years ago when it muscled into the baby formula market in India. Baby formula was given to young mothers in hospitals, right after they gave birth, and guess what? They were given the formula for too long, they couldn’t produce breast milk so they had to buy Nestle’s stuff.

Anyway, back to Pepsi and how my rant began…

I was looking into the “FRS healthy energy drink” made by the good people at FRS Read the rest of this entry »

Asbestos News Roundup: 9.16.10

September 16th, 2010. By LucyC

A roundup of recent asbestos-related news and information that you should be aware of.

Asbestos Lawsuits

Bellevue, WA: The Longwell Company of Bellevue has been charged by state regulators with violating the state’s asbestos regulations. 

Longwell Company is a privately owned real estate investment and management company, that has acquired, managed and disposed of multi-family real estate assets since 1992. It was during that period that they allegedly improperly removed asbestos-containing materials, or ACMs, from 43 apartments in a single complex in December of 2009. 

The Washington State Department of Labor and Industries (L&I), has consequently fined Longwell $165,400 for violating state statutes governing ACM handling, removal and disposal. 

Washington state mandates asbestos removal only by certified contractors, a list of which can be found on L&I’s website. As the site further notes, if the contractor’s name is not on that list, they are not allowed to perform asbestos remediation or removal. (mesotheliomaweb.org) 

Taconite Miners’ Study Moves to Silver Bay

Silver Bay, MN: A meeting was held recently in Silver Bay to inform people about a University of Minnesota study on asbestos mesothelioma. The study is a continuation of research begun in 2009 in Virginia, and is testing past and present workers exposed to Read the rest of this entry »

Damn IHOP – Went for Pancakes and They’re Fasting!

September 16th, 2010. By AbiK

How the heck did that happen? I was told it was “IHOP”, and it’s a 24/7 operation, and they’re not serving pancakes. Hell, it gets worse—they’re FASTING!

Oh, my bad. Seems that this IHOP is not that IHOP. And, to be fair, I did not actually go to any IHOP.

Let me explain. First off, this IHOP is actually IHOP-KC—which stands for International House of Prayer – Kansas City. And well, it seems that the other IHOP—the one you all know that serves up pancakes with a portfolio of syrups on each table (and the never empty coffee pot™)—is a bit miffed that the Prayer IHOP is using its well-established acronym. So miffed that they’ve filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against the religious organization. They want IHOP-KC to stop using the IHOP acronym.

By the way, while I included the above video from The Onion as it just seemed apropos, IHOP–the pancake IHOP–does operate some 24/7 locations, however, the decision to open 24/7 is left to the franchisees (in case you were wondering).

So I checked out IHOP further—the one with the prayer.

There’s lots of info online about IHOP-KC. Commentary about it ranges from pure devotion to accusations of its being a cult. I don’t care what folks think about it (though it does make me reflect on that Seagram’s Bronfman sister story), it doesn’t serve pancakes. And I’m not sure I’d confuse it with a place that does. Though I can understand the other IHOP’s desire to own their brand and its symbols.

For those of you wondering what IHOP-KC is all about, here are some of their own words about themselves:

The Lord has called us to be a community of believers committed to God, each other, and to establishing a 24/7 house of prayer in Kansas City—a perpetual solemn assembly gathering corporately to fast and pray in the spirit of the tabernacle of David.

[Note, I checked with Guinness World Records for the record for longest prayer session, Read the rest of this entry »

Agent Orange: Is this Really How We Treat our Veterans?

September 15th, 2010. By Kristine B

Last month, the Department of Veterans Affairs said it was increasing the number of health problems linked to exposure to Agent Orange. If you’re not familiar, Agent Orange was a dioxin-laden defoliant used in Vietnam to take away the foliage so the Viet Cong had nowhere to hide. It was previously linked to a variety of health problems, including cancers.

New regulations allow the VA to presume that veterans who served in Vietnam between January 9, 1962 and May 7, 1975 were exposed to Agent Orange. This means the veterans only have to show they were in Vietnam during that time—they do not have to prove they were exposed to Agent Orange. The new regulations also add medical conditions such as Parkinson’s disease and ischemic heart disease to the list of conditions already linked to Agent Orange.

Basically, the new regulations mean people who were previously denied disability benefits are now eligible to receive those benefits. All they have to do is show they have one of the conditions linked to Agent Orange and show they were in Vietnam during the specified years.

Some people question the move, saying that these medical conditions could have developed in the veterans as they aged—even if they weren’t exposed to Agent Orange. They say the new regulations will cost too much money—money the government doesn’t have.

When do we actually start taking proper care of our veterans? In addition to horrific conditions at some of the VA hospitals, claims of veteran medical malpractice, poor treatment and denials of disability pay, now people don’t want to pay for medical conditions the veterans suffered simply because it could cost too much money?

Haven’t the veterans done enough for the US to warrant a small amount of money for their pain and suffering? Never mind that we used to write off veterans post-traumatic stress (PTSD) and other psychological trauma experienced by veterans—who faced horrors many Read the rest of this entry »