Publication Items

By NANCY BAZILCHUK

Dairy cows that generate electricity, forests that are certified "green," and hunters and journalists armed with loaded guns (but not pointed at each other!) are just a few of the highlights planned for SEJ's 16th Annual Conference on Oct. 25-29, in Burlington, Vermont.

 

 By PERRY BEEMAN

I write this as the Winter Olympics end. Some athletes landed hard on the ice or snow and went home without the oversized jewelry they sought. Others turned an ice version of shuffleboard and a snow version of skateboarding into gold medals.

Many were inspired, and inspiring. It brought back memories of the speech '80 U.S. Olympic hockey coach Herb Brooks gave in the movie "Miracle." He wanted the young Americans to discard their fear of the Soviets, and said bluntly, "This is YOUR time!"

New evidence indicates the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry fails to protect communities from dangers such as the now-disappearing plumes of toxic groundwater carrying cancer-causing chemicals far beyond the Kelly Air Force Base near San Antonio, TX.

NYT: "The goal is to open up a system in which the agency failed to inform the public that a widely prescribed heartburn drug was especially toxic to babies; that a diabetes medicine and a painkiller increased heart attack risks; and that antidepressants increased suicidal thoughts and behavior in children and teenagers."