Huffington Post: laptops carry health risks

Huffington Post ran a story today, "How Hazardous Are Laptops To Your Health?." Apparently, by the research they survey, they are risky.

Vigilance pays: 10 Things the HR Department Won’t Tell You

Be vigilant!
Shine at Yahoo posts:

"10 Things the HR Department Won’t Tell You"

Do not forget the wounded warriors from Iraq and Afghanistan

Just heard the Wounded Warriors Project.

The Veterans Administration (VA) is too hastily discharging veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. Too many vets are suffering from concussions and other head injuries, and from post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD). The process of getting designated with disability status is too cumbersome.

This veteran's day I'm sending my support by publicizing these links:

Personal stories from more than just the "Front Lines of War"
A Perfect Storm: PTSD
http://www.ptsdsupport.net/a_perfect_storm-ptsd.html

Coalition for Iraq + Afghanistan Veterans
http://coalitionforveterans.org

Wounded Warriors Project
http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/

From Utne Reader:
Treating Wounded Soldiers: Beyond PTSD, March/ April, 2010
http://www.utne.com/Science-Technology/Treating-Wounded-Soldiers-PTSD-Polytrauma.aspx

From The Boston Globe, May 30, 2010:
Veteran's PTSD Rates Reportedly Higher in Current Iraq Conflict
http://www.lawyersandsettlements.com/articles/14263/veterans-disability-ptsd-2.html

Healing Veterans PTSD, blog:
http://healingveteransptsd.blogspot.com/

A name with that ubiquitous tanned newswoman in advert sidebars on so many sites

So, we now get a name with that face.
You see her in ads in the sides or the bottoms of websites, always linked with some product being pushed. For a while her image was connected with an advertising campaign about the "truth" about akai berries.
Her name is Melissa Theuriau, a sports newscaster on the French television channel, LCI.

Her image is so routinely used. I wonder whether she has given permission for the use of her likeness, here, there and everywhere in the Internet. I really doubt it.

ALERT: Lead found in New York City drinking water

This in, Thursday: Mireya Navarro in The New York Times reports:

New York City health and environmental officials on Thursday advised residents to run their tap water for at least 30 seconds before drinking or cooking with it after testing showed a rise in the percentage of homes with elevated levels of lead.

Read more at The New York Times article at their website.

States' redistricting: brace yourselves for the 2010s as a Republican decade

The coming Republican decade derives from state level Republican lawmakers' self-serving redistricting.

This will make the task of progressives' pushing for electoral victories much more difficult.

The November 2, 2010 Republican sweep of the elections handed state-level Republicans great redistricting power.
Mother Jones explains. Read: http://motherjones.com/politics/2010/11/republican-decade-congressional-redistricting

Not a fan of your new GOP-dominated House of Representatives? You'd better get used to it. After winning almost unprecedented power over the congressional redistricting process, Republicans are poised to lock in their gains for a decade or more. And there's very little the Democrats can do to stop them. This year, the Dems could draw less than half the districts the GOP does.

Advertise on MotherJones.com

The Republican wave couldn't have come at a worse time for Dems. America's once-a-decade census has wrapped up, and many states are due to change the boundaries of their congressional districts. Population-based adjustments mean that slower-growing states (like Ohio) will lose seats, while faster-growing states (like Florida) will gain them.

The only solace is that rising Hispanic populations in Sun Belt states will lead to realignment of states to blue state or purple state status. Witness the strong Latino support for Democratic candidates in this week's elections in California and Nevada.

Rand Paul shows another ugly side of his philosophies

As Daily Kos alerted us this morning, in "Rand Paul explains Republican economic philosophy," Senator-elect Paul, speaking to CNN, enunciated the essential Republican philosophy, in 30 terse seconds:

Rich people are the backbone of our economy because they are the only people who buy things and create jobs. Therefore we should cut their taxes and cut spending on everything else.

Yes, it will be unpleasant having to contend with a larger Republican share of the U.S. Senate, but the quotes out of their supposed "bright, young leaders," are going to be delicious foils for Democrats to oppose in the 2012 election. Quotes like this one and Paul's callous disregard for civil rights laws, will show the Republicans in the most unflattering light. Paul will be the poster boy for what is wrong, selfish, heartless in the Republican economic philosophy.
Christine O'Donnell and Sarah Palin are easily dismissible as light-headed; Paul will be dismissible as offering nothing to 85% of the American public.

Washington Post's go-to site (& book) explaining 2010 health care reform law

Here's a great book by the Washington Post staff, explaining in simple, straight-forward terms, how Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the March 23, 2010 health care reform law helps Americans.

See also this handy Washington Post interactive website "What does the health care bill mean to me?," explaining how the health care reform law affects you. The search tool has individualized features such as consideration of your marital status and your income level.

The health-care overhaul will change the way millions of Americans get health insurance and require nearly everyone to have health insurance or face penalties. A number of factors - including income, age, location and family size - will determine how it specifically impacts your life. This tool estimates what it could mean for your health coverage and taxes based on your income, family size and current insurance status.

These are essential tools for activists and voters, for understanding the health care reform law ("Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act"), in advance of Tuesday's midterm U.S. Congressional elections, November 2, 2010. The election will be a referendum, in part, on the legislation.