Chemical in many antibacterial soaps linked with impaired muscle function -

Chemical in many antibacterial soaps linked with impaired muscle function - 




Introduced in the 1970s, the compound triclosan has become an increasingly popular ingredient in many antibacterial soaps and other personal-care items, such as deodorants and mouthwashes.  However, as the chemical’s popularity continues to grow, a recent report has raised concerns about some frightening risks that triclosan could pose to public health.
A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has revealed that exposure to triclosan is linked with muscle function impairments in humans and mice, as well as slowing the swimming of fish.  By reducing contractions in both cardiac and skeletal muscles, the chemical has the potential to contribute to heart disease and heart failure.
The researchers from the University of California, Davis, and the University of Colorado decided to examine the possible effects of triclosan due to recent literature raising health concerns about the chemical, as well as substantial increases in its production.
“We consider [triclosan] a high volume chemical,” Dr. Isaac Pessah, professor and chair of the Department of Molecular Biosciences in the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, as well as the study’s lead author, told FoxNews.com.  “Its production levels are quite high, and the levels in humans have been increasing since it was first used as an antibacterial agent in the early ‘70s.  So the body levels in humans – including plasma, urine and breast milk – have been steadily increasing.”
“The levels in the environment have been increasing as well, because it can’t all be trapped in the treatment plants,” Pessah added about triclosan’s prevalence.  “[Companies] try to prevent some chemicals getting out past the water treatment plants so they can dispose of them in a different way, but they can’t capture all of [triclosan] because there is so much of it.”
Primarily used in antibacterial hand soaps, triclosan can also be found in a number of bath and household products, including mouthwashes, toothpastes, deodorants, bedding, washcloths and towels, kitchen utensils and toys.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/08/14/chemical-in-many-antibacterial-soaps-linked-with-impaired-muscle-function/?test=latestnews

Hearse driver dies while taking body to funeral -

Hearse driver dies while taking body to funeral - 



Beverly Hills police say a hearse driver who was found dead with a body in the vehicle died while taking the casket to a funeral.

Lieut. Lincoln Hoshino says authorities were alerted that a body was slumped over in the driver’s seat of a hearse parked near the Beverly Hills Hotel at about 3 p.m. Monday.

Hoshino says the investigation is in its early stages but the woman appears to have died of natural causes, with no weapons or evidence of violence discovered. Coroner’s investigators will make a final determination of the cause of death.

The woman’s relatives have not been notified yet and her identity has not been released.

Police could not immediately say to which funeral home or cemetery the body was being sent.

Read more - 
http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1241619--hearse-driver-dies-while-taking-body-to-funeral

Japan just got a little bit weirder: Fukushima 'caused mutant butterflies' -

Japan just got a little bit weirder: Fukushima 'caused mutant butterflies' - 




Genetic mutations have been found in three generations of butterflies from near Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, scientists said on Tuesday, raising fears radiation could affect other species.

Around 12 per cent of pale grass blue butterflies that were exposed to nuclear fallout as larvae immediately after the tsunami-sparked disaster had abnormalities, including smaller wings and damaged eyes, researchers said.

The insects were mated in a laboratory well outside the fallout zone and 18 per cent of their offspring displayed similar problems, said Joji Otaki, associate professor at Ryukyu University in Okinawa, southwestern Japan.

That figure rose to 34 per cent in the third generation of butterflies, he said, even though one parent from each coupling was from an unaffected population.

The researchers also collected another 240 butterflies in Fukushima in September last year, six months after the disaster. Abnormalities were recorded in 52 per cent, which was "a dominantly high ratio", Otaki told AFP.

Otaki said the high ratio could result from both external and internal exposure to radiation from the atmosphere and in contaminated foodstuffs.

The results of the study were published in Scientific Reports, an online research journal from the publishers of Nature.

Otaki later carried out a comparison test in Okinawa exposing unaffected butterflies to low levels of radiation, with the results showing similar rates of abnormality, he said.

"We have reached the firm conclusion that radiation released from the Fukushima Daiichi plant damaged the genes of the butterflies," Otaki said.

The quake-sparked tsunami of March 2011 knocked out cooling systems at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, causing three reactors to go into meltdown in the world's worst atomic disaster for 25 years.

The findings will raise fears over the long-term effects of the leaks on people who were exposed in the days and weeks after the accident, as radiation spread over a large area and forced thousands to evacuate.

There are claims that the effects of nuclear exposure have been observed on successive generations of descendants of people living in Hiroshima and Nagasaki when the US dropped atom bombs in the final days of the Second World War.

But Otaki warned it was too soon to jump to conclusions, saying his team's results on the Fukushima butterflies could not be directly applied to other species, including humans.

He added he and his colleagues would conduct follow-up studies including similar tests on other animals.

Kunikazu Noguchi, associate professor in radiological protection at Nihon University School of Dentistry, also said more data was needed to determine the impact of the Fukushima accident on animals in general.

"This is just one study," Noguchi said. "We need more studies to verify the entire picture of the impact on animals."

Researchers and medical doctors have so far denied that the accident at Fukushima would cause an elevated incidence of cancer or leukaemia, diseases that are often associated with radiation exposure.

But they also noted that long-term medical examination is needed especially due to concerns over thyroid cancer among young people – a particular problem for people following the Chernobyl catastrophe.

"There are a number of unknown factors surrounding the genetic impact of radiation," said Makoto Yamada, a medical doctor who examines Fukushima residents. "We still cannot 100 per cent deny that the impact may come out in the future."

No one is officially recorded as having died as a direct result of the Fukushima disaster, but many who fled the area and those who remain, including workers decommissioning the crippled plant, worry about the long-term effects.

Scientists have warned it could be decades before it is safe for some people to return to their homes.

"Even if there is no impact now, we have to live with fear," said Sachiko Sato, a mother of two, who temporarily fled from Fukushima. "And concerns will be handed down to my children and grandchildren."----

Read more - 
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/9474312/Fukushima-caused-mutant-butterflies-in-Japan.html

The biggest Burmese python ever caught in Florida - 17 feet, 7 inches long and 164½ pounds - found in Everglades -

 The biggest Burmese python ever caught in Florida - 17 feet, 7 inches long and 164½ pounds - found in Everglades - 



The biggest Burmese python ever caught in Florida — 17 feet, 7 inches long and 164½ pounds — was found in Everglades National Park, the University of Florida announced Monday.
The snake was pregnant with 87 eggs, also said to be a record. Scientists said the python's stats show just how pervasive the invasive snakes, which are native to Southeast Asia, have become in South Florida.
"It means these snakes are surviving a long time in the wild," said Kenneth Krysko, a snake expert at the Florida Museum of Natural History, where the euthanized snake was brought. "'There's nothing stopping them and the native wildlife are in trouble."
The python had feathers in its stomach that scientists plan to use to identify the types of wildlife it was eating.
"A 17½-foot snake could eat anything it wants," Krysko said.
Tens of thousands of Burmese pythons are believed to be living in the Everglades, where they thrive in the warm, humid climate. While many were apparently released by their owners, others may have escaped from pet shops during Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and have been reproducing ever since.
The snakes kill their prey by coiling around it and suffocating it. They have been known to swallow animals as large as deer and alligators.
Authorities have taken repeated steps to try and reduce the python problem, banning their importation and allowing them to be hunted. But those efforts have done little to reduce the population.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/08/13/17-foot-long-burmese-python-caught-in-everglades/

Russian nuclear attack sub patrolled Gulf of Mexico undetected... - and operated undetected for several weeks -

Russian nuclear attack sub patrolled Gulf of Mexico undetected... - and operated undetected for several weeks - 



A Russian nuclear-powered attack submarine armed with long-range cruise missiles operated undetected in the Gulf of Mexico for several weeks and its travel in strategic U.S. waters was only confirmed after it left the region, the Washington Free Beacon has learned.

It is only the second time since 2009 that a Russian attack submarine has patrolled so close to U.S. shores.

The stealth underwater incursion in the Gulf took place at the same time Russian strategic bombers made incursions into restricted U.S. airspace near Alaska and California in June and July, and highlights a growing military assertiveness by Moscow.

The submarine patrol also exposed what U.S. officials said were deficiencies in U.S. anti-submarine warfare capabilities—forces that are facing cuts under the Obama administration’s plan to reduce defense spending by $487 billion over the next 10 years.

The Navy is in charge of detecting submarines, especially those that sail near U.S. nuclear missile submarines, and uses undersea sensors and satellites to locate and track them.

The fact that the Akula was not detected in the Gulf is cause for concern, U.S. officials said.

The officials who are familiar with reports of the submarine patrol in the Gulf of Mexico said the vessel was a nuclear-powered Akula-class attack submarine, one of Russia’s quietest submarines.

A Navy spokeswoman declined to comment.

Read more - 
http://freebeacon.com/silent-running/

Executive Branch Porn Problem - the epidemic of U.S. government employees viewing porn on government networks -

Executive Branch Porn Problem - the epidemic of U.S. government employees viewing porn on government networks - 



Allen W. Dulles, former director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) wrote in “The Craft of Intelligence,” “sex and hard-headed intelligence operations rarely mix well.” Perhaps the boys at the Pentagon need a refresher course.

This past week, the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency warned its staff not to view porn on U.S. government computers. The Pentagon also released a report on April’s Secret Service Colombian scandal. The two are connected.

In April, I said the Colombian scandal exposed a national security problem, the epidemic of U.S. government employees viewing porn — child porn — on government networks. I suggested readers type “Transportation Security Administration,” “U.S. State Department,” “Pentagon,” “Immigration and Customs Enforcement” and “child porn” into Google’s search field to understand the scope. I neglected to include “Missile Defense Agency.”

Bloomberg quotes a cybersecurity expert saying the Missile Defense Agency’s use of porn is concerning because “many pornographic websites are infected and criminals and foreign intelligence services such as Russia’s use them to gain access and harvest data.”

The only possible response is: Duh.

In 2006, the deputy press secretary for the Department of Homeland Security was arrested for trying to seduce online someone he thought was a teenage girl. Four years later, the Securities and Exchange Commission found that 17 of 31 employees caught accessing porn at work since 2008 — one for up to eight hours a day — were senior staff.

In 2010, the Boston Globe reported that senior Pentagon staff were downloading child porn. Instead of generating a media storm, the story died. Senior staff were watching the sexual torture of small children on Pentagon computers, and Americans were not outraged?

The latest revelation of missile-defense staff using porn should have America extremely alarmed. It is not yet confirmed if child porn was involved.

Of the Colombian Secret Service scandal, Rep. Darrell E. Issa, chairman of the House Committee on Government Oversight and Reform, asked if women younger than 18 (i.e., trafficked children) were involved. Mr. Issa must demand to know the same of the Missile Defense Agency.

Read more - 
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/aug/10/executive-branch-porn-problem/

Kangaroo escapes zoo with help of fox and boar... -

Kangaroo escapes zoo with help of fox and boar... - 



A kangaroo is on the run in Germany after breaking out of a wildlife park, with a fox and a wild boar as his suspected accomplices.

Michael Hoffmann, assistant head of the Hochwildschutzpark Hunsrück west of Frankfurt, said on Monday the male kangaroo was one of three that escaped overnight on Saturday with the inadvertent help of the menagerie that lives in the local woods.

Hoffmann said the kangaroos got out of their enclosure after a young fox snuck into the park and dug a hole next to the cage's fencing. Two of the three were then able to escape the park entirely through another hole dug by a wild boar under the exterior fence.

"We've got two of them back; now we're just looking for the third."

Read more - 
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/aug/13/kangaroo-escapes-fox-boar-germany

US. Gov't to buy $170M in Pork, Lamb, and Catfish to help drought-stricken farmers... -

US. Gov't to buy $170M in Pork, Lamb, and Catfish to help drought-stricken farmers... - 



President Barack Obama will announce on Monday that the Department of Agriculture intends to buy up to $170 million of pork, lamb, chicken and catfish to help support farmers suffering from the drought, a White House official said.
The food purchases will go toward "food nutrition assistance" programs, like food banks. 
During a visit to Iowa, a political swing state that the Democrat hopes to win in the Nov. 6 election, Obama will press Congress to pass a farm bill with short-term relief measures for the ranchers and farmers hurt by the drought. 
The president will also direct the Department of Defense to "encourage" its vendors to speed up purchases of lamb, pork and beef and freeze it for later use. 
"This is a win-win. Farmers and ranchers will have an opportunity to sell more of their products at this critical time and taxpayers will get a better price on food that would have been purchased later," the official said. 
"The president has directed his administration to continue exploring every possible avenue to provide relief to communities struggling with this historic natural disaster." 
Obama will tour an Iowa farm to view the effects of the drought. The state is one of a handful of political swing states, including Ohio, Florida, and Colorado, that could hold the key to victory in his race with Republican Mitt Romney for the White House.

Read more - 
http://nbcpolitics.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/08/13/13250065-in-iowa-obama-to-announce-measures-to-soothe-drought-pain?lite

The Queen skips olympic ceremony - Queen praises athletes but will not be there -

The Queen skips olympic ceremony - Queen praises athletes but will not be there - 



In a message to British and Commonwealth athletes released by Buckingham Palace, the sovereign also thanked the volunteers who have given such a “warm welcome” to people from around the world.
The Queen will not attend tonight’s closing ceremony, as Buckingham Palace said there was no official role for a Head of State in the ceremony.
Instead, she is expected to watch it at Balmoral, where she and the Duke of Edinburgh are spending their traditional summer break before returning to London for the start of the Paralympic Games later this month.
Prince Harry, the Duchess of Cambridge and the Princess Royal will represent the Royal family at the Olympic Stadium.
The Queen wrote: “As the 2012 London Olympic Games come to a close, I offer my congratulations to the athletes of Great Britain and the Commonwealth, whose efforts across the range of Olympic disciplines have truly captured the public's imagination and earned their admiration.

Read more -
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/queen-elizabeth-II/9470902/Olympics-closing-ceremony-Queen-praises-athletes-but-will-not-be-there.html

Paul Ryan: Former Wienermobile Driver, Future Vice President? -

Paul Ryan: Former Wienermobile Driver, Future Vice President? - 



With November's presidential election drawing close, the tickets are now set, with President Obama and Vice President Biden set to take on Gov. Mitt Romney and newly named Vice President nominee, Wisconsin Representative Paul Ryan.

According to a report last year by National Public Radio, the 42-year-old Representative from Wisconsin has a few ties to the automotive world.

Ryan hails from Janesville, Wisconsin, the former home of a GM assembly plant that once built big trucks and SUVs. The plant, which had been assembling machinery of some kind since the early part of the 20th century, was closed at the end of 2008 as GM prepared to enter bankruptcy.

Earlier in that year, Ryan had voted in favor of the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, a $700 billion spending program authorized by Congress to stabilize the banking industry as the nation plunged into financial crisis in the same year. Some of the TARP monies were used to invest in General Motors and Chrysler--and much of that money remains locked up in GM shares today. At current share prices, the GM shares would represent a loss of more than $17 billion--and some pundits credit the TARP program with creating the Tea Party conservative movement within Ryan's own Republican party.

But Ryan's deepest connection to the world of cars could be from his teenage years, when the Republican nominee for Vice President worked for Oscar Meyer. Ryan drove the Wienermobile--and as only NPR could observe from that remote province of America called Washington, D.C., "for those who've never seen it, it's a car shaped like a hot dog on a bun."

Read more -
http://www.thecarconnection.com/news/1078422_paul-ryan-former-wienermobile-driver-future-vice-president