Researchers found a six-fold increase in the risk of developing Parkinson’s in individuals exposed in the workplace to trichloroethylene (TCE). Although many uses for TCE have been banned around the world, the chemical is still used as a degreasing agent. Parkinson’s can result in limb tremors, slowed movement and speech impairment, but the exact cause [...]
Despite the recent U.S. budget crisis, the Obama administration seemed to find it reasonable to build a new massive and rather pricey prison in Bagram, Afghanistan. The estimated cost of the project is between $25,000,000 and $100,000,000 according to an announcement on FedBIzOps.Gov, a website used to announce privatized spending projects. The detention facility will [...]
On Sept. 8, 1971, an altercation ensued involving a few prisoners and guards. Inmates were furious at this perceived injustice that had happened to them. The next day a violent riot ensued. From Sept. 9 to 13, 1971, prisoners took about 40 people hostage and took control of the Attica Correctional Facility. After four days [...]
“Who creates and allows poverty to exist in the wealthiest and most powerful country in recorded history?” (Paul Thomas) The ever-popular education/poverty debate is a chick-or-egg problem; no one is quite sure which came first and how to solve the problem. When looking to fix the problem we need to focus on improving the education [...]
As if having a family member in prison isn’t hard enough, telephone companies are making it financially difficult to get in contact with their loved one. Nationwide Research Finds Excessive Prison Phone Rates Exploit Prisoners’ Families. “The report, based on several years of research that included submitting public records requests in all 50 states, [...]
A report published in the summer of 2011 by the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime asserts that somewhere between 24% to 39% of illicit amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) worldwide are consumed in East and Southeast Asia, where in particular are “now ranked among the top-three drugs of use in every single one of the [...]
It is now harder than ever to obtain a U.S. passport. Since September 11th ordering a passport now costs $135 (before September 11th it cost $25.) Along with providing their Social Security number, the State Department has proposed a new “Biographical Questionnaire” that if approved would have to be completed to receive a passport. Sample [...]
The military industrial complex is constantly expanding, learning, and experimenting with new ideas and technologies. One of the newest plans on this front is to create a 51st state in a sense, located in Colorado. The plan they which to pursue is to obtain 7 million acres (11,000 square miles) of land in the southeast [...]
In total, there are 6.9 million fewer jobs today than there were in December 2007. The unemployment rate remained at 9.1 percent for August 2011.. Unemployment to the mass media generally centers on that single point within the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) monthly employment report. There is passing mention of discouraged workers and the [...]
August 2011, Facebook created some anti-spam algorithms which were intended to ward off suspicious spam, but some environmental activists were targeted as well and unable to post on like-minded Facebook pages for three weeks. Facebook has sent apology notes out and is changing this automated system. Facebook’s spokesman Andrew Noyes says that Facebook isn’t in [...]
