Abortion Does Not Cause Mental Illness, Panel Says
National Briefing | Science and Health
By BENEDICT CAREY -- NY Times
Published: August 12, 2008
Women who choose to abort an unwanted pregnancy may experience feelings of grief and loss, but there is no evidence that a single abortion causes significant mental health problems, a panel of the American Psychological Association reported after two years of study. The findings are almost identical to a similar review by the association in 1990. “The best scientific evidence published indicates that among adult women who have an unplanned pregnancy, the relative risk of mental health problems is no greater if they have a single elective, first-trimester abortion or deliver that pregnancy,” Brenda Major, chairwoman of the panel, said in a statement. But the report also found that many of the more than 150 studies it reviewed had major flaws, and it called for better-designed studies “to help disentangle confounding factors” like income and medical history.
Related: mental health, abortion
FROM: ADVENTURES IN AGING GRACELESSLY
By Kiera Butler, an associate editor for Mother Jones.
Half of working Americans have saved $50,000 or less for their retirement. 25% have saved nothing.
A 20-year study found that attitudes about aging have more impact on life expectancy than cholesterol, smoking, or exercise.
People who had a positive attitude about getting older lived an average of 7.5 years longer than those who didn't.
In April, GlaxoSmithKline paid $720 million for a firm developing a "fountain of youth" pill.
In 2007, Americans bought nearly $30 billion worth of anti-aging products.
The American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine tells "anti-aging practitioners" that each patient can "bring $4,000 to $20,000 in annual gross revenue."
Between 1997 and 2007, the number of Botox treatments in the US rose by 4,159%.
4,500 women had "vaginal rejuvenation" surgery in 2007.
68-year-old Dave Cummings, the "world's oldest porn star," says he only uses Viagra "when I'm working for a producer who's very demanding."
Asked when old age begins, Americans aged 25 to 34 say 67; those over 45 say 77.
When 42-year-old John McCain met his 25-year-old future wife, Cindy, in 1979, he told her he was 4 years younger. She told him she was 4 years older.
18- to 49-year-olds are 35% more likely to watch the Cartoon Network than CNN.
In 1990, the typical video game player was 18. Today, he is 33.
At Los Angeles' Spa Di Da salon for kids, a "cupcake pedicure" costs $40. Leg waxing starts at $25. A baby manicure is $10.
40% of MySpace users are between 35 and 54. Site cofounder Tom Anderson made himself 4 years younger on his page.
About 35 Notre Dame alums have been entombed on campus since their alma mater began selling crypts for $10,000 last year.
A Hello Kitty tombstone costs about $1,350.
Related: aging, retirement
Keeping it real on taxes
Tax Deceptions
August 8, 2008
McCain misrepresents Obama's tax proposals again. And again, and again.
Factcheck.org
McCain has released three new ads, with a number of false and misleading claims about Obama's tax proposals.
A TV spot claims Obama once voted for a tax increase "on people making just $42,000 a year." That's true for a single taxpayer, who would have seen a tax increase of $15 for the year – if the measure had been enacted. But the ad shows a woman with two children, and as a single mother, she would not have been affected unless she made more than $62,150. The increase that Obama once supported as part of a Democratic budget bill is not part of his current tax plan anyway.
A Spanish-language radio ad claims the measure Obama supported would have raised taxes on "families" making $42,000, which is simply false. Even a single mother with one child would have been able to make $58,650 without being affected. A family of four with income up to $90,000 would not have been affected.
The TV ad claims in a graphic that Obama would "raise taxes on middle class." In fact, Obama's plan promises cuts for middle-income taxpayers and would increase rates only for persons with family incomes above $250,000 or with individual incomes above $200,000.
The radio ad claims Obama would increase taxes "on the sale of your home." In fact, home-sale profits of up to $500,000 per couple would continue to be exempt from capital gains taxes. Very few sales would see an increase under Obama's proposal to raise the capital gains rate.
A second radio ad, in English, says, "Obama has a history of raising taxes" on middle-class Americans. But that's false. It refers to a vote that did not actually result in a tax increase and could not have done so.
These ads continue what's become a pattern of misrepresentation by the McCain campaign about his opponent's tax proposals. Some of McCain's previous false claims:
McCain falsely claimed Obama's plan would increase taxes on 23 million small-business owners, when the vast majority of them would get a cut. Any increase would actually fall only on the most affluent, a few hundred thousand business owners.
McCain falsely claimed Obama "says he'll raise taxes on electricity," though Obama has said no such thing and his tax plan contains no proposal for a tax on electricity.
As noted already, McCain falsely claimed Obama once voted for a Democratic budget bill that called for raising taxes on persons making as little as $32,000 a year, when in fact the proposal would not have affected anyone with total income under $41,500 a year, or $83,000 for a married couple with no children.
McCain stated that Obama would raise taxes "if you have an investment for your child’s education or own a mutual fund or a stock in a retirement plan." This was found to be "false" by Politifact.com and Factcheck.org.
McCain has been twisting Obama tax facts since early June, when he told a small-business gathering that : "Under Senator Obama's tax plan, Americans of every background would see their taxes rise." There may be persons of "every background" among the affluent, but McCain's phrasing was misleading. These ads continue his long-running pattern of deception on taxes.
Do Americans really think offshore drilling is the solution?
Offshore Drilling: Its All in How You Ask
by Steve Kretzmann August 7th, 2008 in Oil, US politics
Why did Barack Obama soften his stance on offshore drilling last week? I asked this question of a campaign insider, who is also a long time environmentalist. The answer back was basically: “Don’t blame Obama, we (environmentalists) didn’t do our work well in the community, which is why the American people think that offshore drilling is the answer to our energy crisis”.
A great overview of the issue just posted by the Yale Forum backs up a poll from last week conducted by The Wilderness Society.
It turns out that its really all about how you ask the question. If the choice is between investing in clean energy (wind, solar, tire gauges) and offshore drilling, then clean energy wins coming and going (76% to 19% in the TWS poll).
So the real question is: why has the mainstream media so uncritically reported the polls in which drilling is presented as the only option to lower gas prices - despite the fact that there is no way drilling will have any significant impact on the price of gas.
Organics Questioned
USDA Report Indicates That Organic Labeling Fraud Is Increasing
by Ronnie Cummins
The U.S. Department of Agriculture National Organic Program (NOP) announced August 5 that 15 of the 30 accredited organic certifiers they recently inspected failed the USDA audit and will have 12 months to make corrections or lose their accreditation with the NOP. Although the USDA euphemistically calls their enforcement actions “renewal pending subsequent audit,” it is clear that there are numerous violations of organic standards taking place in the U.S. and across the world. A number of the violations noted in the several hundred page audit related to Chinese imports certified by the French-based organic certifier Ecocert and other certifiers.
Strangely enough, Quality Assurance International (QAI), the largest organic certifier in the world, is not cited by the USDA, even though the Organic Consumers Association OCA has recently reviewed documents that indicate that QAI is indeed under investigation by the NOP. QAI has recently been in the news for sourcing ginger, contaminated with a dangerous and banned pesticide, Aldicarb, from its Chinese certification sub-contractors and then labeling it as “USDA Organic.” QAI is also under public fire, along with other certifiers, for certifying factory farm feedlot dairies supplying milk to Horizon and Aurora Organic Dairy, who in turn supply Wal-Mart, Costco, Safeway, and other organic private label organic milk brands.
For over six years the OCA, Cornucopia Institute, the Center for Food Safety and others in the organic community have called upon the USDA to implement a “Peer Review Panel” system, as required by law in the National Organic Standards, so that respected members of the organic community can monitor the USDA National Organic Program and police violations of organic standards on the part of producers, importers, and certifiers. A 2005 ANSI (American National Standards Institute) audit of the USDA’s National Organic Program found numerous problems and irregularities, according to Jim Riddle, former chair of the National Organic Standards Board.
Ronnie Cummins is the National Director of Organic Consumers Association.
Related: healthy food, Farming
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