What expanded your mind today?

[Hollylane]

[Hollylane]

PCBs in Fish and Shellfish


PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, are highly toxic industrial compounds. They pose serious health risks to fetuses, babies and children, who may suffer developmental and neurological problems from prolonged or repeated exposure to small amounts of PCBs. These chemicals are harmful to adults as well. Although they were banned from manufacture in the United States in 1977, PCBs are slow to break down and can persist in the environment at dangerous levels.

PCBs accumulate in the sediments at the bottoms of streams, rivers, lakes and coastal areas. These chemicals can build up in the fatty tissues of fish and other animals, and in high concentrations pose serious health risks to people who frequently eat contaminated fish. Based on available data on PCB concentrations in fish, Environmental Defense recommends limiting consumption of certain fish .
What are PCBs and where do they come from?

PCBs are man-made chlorinated industrial chemicals also known by the trade name of Aroclor. There are 209 different PCB compounds (called congeners), which can be mixed in different combinations to yield different Aroclor compounds. These mixtures tend to be chemically stable and nonflammable, with high boiling points and electrical insulating properties.

This combination of useful chemical properties made PCBs popular for a variety of industrial applications, including use in electrical transformers, hydraulic fluids, lubricants and carbonless paper. More than 1.5 billion pounds of PCBs were manufactured in the United States before they were banned, and some electrical equipment in use today still contains PCBs.

Unfortunately, the same properties that made PCBs ideal for industrial use make them slow to break down in the environment. Most PCBs do not mix with water and settle into riverbeds, lake bottoms and coastal sediments. Here they can enter the food chain and bioaccumulate in invertebrates, fish, birds and mammals -- including people.

Although these chemicals have been banned for many years, increased testing has recently shown that the problem of PCB-contaminated fish is widespread. According to the Environmental Protection Agency's National Listing of Fish and Wildlife Advisories, advisories for PCBs increased 177% between 1993 and 2003 (from 319 to 884). Thirty-nine states issued PCB advisories in 2003, up from 31 states in 1993. As of 2003, more than two million lake acres and 130,000 river miles were covered by some type of PCB advisory. Three states (Indiana, Maryland and New York) and the District of Columbia have issued statewide freshwater advisories, and seven states (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island) have issued statewide coastal advisories for PCBs.Statewide advisories urge people to limit their consumption of all fish and shellfish from freshwater or coastal areas.
What are the health risks associated with consuming PCB-contaminated fish?

According to EPA, contaminated fish are a persistent source of PCBs in the human diet. PCBs are not highly toxic with a single dose (as in a single meal), but continued low levels of exposure (for example, eating contaminated fish over an extended period of time) may be harmful. EPA rates PCBs as "probable human carcinogens," since they cause cancer in laboratory animals. Other tests on laboratory animals show damage from PCBs to their circulatory, nervous, immune, endocrine and digestive systems.

A number of studies indicate that PCBs harm people, with fetuses and young children especially susceptible to the effects of PCBs on their developing nervous systems. For example, some recent studies found that:

Children of mothers who ate fish with large amounts of PCBs from the Great Lakes had smaller head size, reduced visual recognition and delayed muscle development.

A mother's exposure to PCBs and other chemicals was linked to slight effects on her child's birth weight, short-term memory, and learning.

Older adults (49 to 86 years old) who ate fish containing PCBs and other contaminants had lower scores on several measures of memory and learning.

How can I reduce the risks of eating seafood contaminated with PCBs?

PCBs build up in fish and animal fat, and therefore proper cooking methods can help reduce your exposure:

Before cooking, remove the skin, fat (found along the back, sides and belly), internal organs, tomalley of lobster and the mustard of crabs, where toxins are likely to accumulate.
When cooking, be sure to let the fat drain away and avoid or reduce fish drippings.
Serve less fried fish; frying seals in chemical pollutants that might be in the fish's fat, while grilling or broiling allows fat to drain away.
For smoked fish, it is best to fillet the fish and remove the skin before the fish is smoked.

[AmazonWoman1]

This expanded my mind today.I have repeatedly seen how one of the main things destroying our society is the removal of the feminine characteristics through making them negative traits has greatly affected our society.Our referencing qualities such as nurturing ,empathy etc. in a demeaning way eventually removes them from the balancing of life that was intended.This eventually leads to dehumanizing those possessing those qualities until they are acted against in a violent way.I love how Eve Ensler put that together with how we treat our earth.I think it started in the bible when they said "Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”This is the genesis 1.26.I so love what she did to make people aware & generate a space for more positive energy in the universe.I hope it can do something to help to protect the Ultimate Mother of all Mother Earth Many thanks to her & I hope people share this with everyone to get the thought out to reverse the trend.I hope you can locate an event near you to participate in on the website listed at the end.Namaste

http://www.care2.com/causes/eve-ensl...ofeminist.html

Eve Ensler is famous for her development of The Vagina Monologues, which has become a worldwide sensation performed in dozens of languages, but she’s more than just a playwright. She’s also an activist who’s passionately concerned about violence against women, and recently, she turned her sights to environmental devastation and the connections between harming the environment and hurting women. Is she going to take up nature as her next critical cause?

Ensler sees a parallel between the treatment of women and that of the environment, echoing observations and rhetoric made for decades. Just like women, nature is considered lesser when contrasted with men (as representatives of development and culture), and women are exploited, abused and discarded just as natural resources are. Sometimes these links are even more explicit, as Ensler points out with her work in the Congo, where women are deliberately made targets of violence to destabilize communities, making it easier for mining companies to take advantage of their resources.

Her observations are reminiscent of some of the core ideals of ecofeminism, a social movement that also explicitly links violence against women with violence against the environment, seeing both as a consequence of patriarchy. By reducing both women and nature to raw resources for capitalist exploitation, ecofeminists argue, patriarchal society has created a world of subjugation and abuse. While ecofeminism has been criticized for failing to consider real-world conditions for women, and for leaning heavily on rhetoric linking women with traditionally gendered tasks, the movement has provoked fascinating discussion about how people interact with women and the environment.

It is women who tend to suffer more in the wake of environmental devastation caused by exploitation of resources and related activities. Not just because women can be on the front lines of violence related to these activities, such as rising rape and domestic violence rates in mining towns, but also because women are often tasked with coping with the costs of climate change and environmental destruction. They’re the ones forced to go further afield to find water, fuel, and food to support their families, for example, while also performing routine household tasks. They’re also more likely to be living in poverty, which means they have decreased access to resources that might help them adapt.

By explicitly identifying conservation issues, and climate change in particular, as women’s issues as well as environmental ones, Ensler is making an important point, and it’s one people may listen to thanks to her high profile. Women are disproportionately affected by environmental destruction, and yet don’t receive support or assistance to help them survive, whether that’s in the form of counseling for victims of domestic violence or assistance with locating clean-burning fuels.

Fighting violence against women should also include addressing environmental issues, and vice versa, argue Ensler and many of those who share her sentiments. They argue that the treatment of women and the earth reflects a specific mindset that needs to be countered in order to achieve the goal of a safer and more peaceful society, and while this is only part of a much larger puzzle, it’s definitely a contributor to global issues that could benefit from a fresh take. Conservation and fighting violence against women aren’t just about changing routines and making new policies, but also about shifting mindsets.



Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/eve-ensl...#ixzz2LyyFAagv

[Jesse]

http://www.ted.com/talks/elif_shafak...f_fiction.html

Listening to stories widens the imagination; telling them lets us leap over cultural walls, embrace different experiences, feel what others feel. Elif Shafak builds on this simple idea to argue that fiction can overcome identity politics.
Elif Shafak explicitly defies definition -- her writing blends East and West, feminism and tradition, the local and the global, Sufism and rationalism, creating one of today's most unique voices in literature.

[Hollylane]

Bad sleep 'dramatically' alters body

[Jesse]

http://www.ted.com/talks/candy_chang...i_want_to.html

In her New Orleans neighborhood, artist and TED Fellow Candy Chang turned an abandoned house into a giant chalkboard asking a fill-in-the-blank question: “Before I die I want to ___.” Her neighbors' answers -- surprising, poignant, funny -- became an unexpected mirror for the community. (What's your answer?)
Candy Chang creates art that prompts people to think about their secrets, wishes and hopes -- and then share them. She is a TED Senior Fellow.

[Hollylane]

New Cars Increasingly Out of Reach for Many Americans

Looking to buy a new car, truck or crossover? You may find it more difficult to stretch the household budget than you expected, according to a new study that finds median-income families in only one major U.S. city actually can afford the typical new vehicle.

The typical new vehicle is now more expensive than ever, averaging $30,500 in 2012, according to TrueCar.com data, and heading up again as makers curb the incentives that helped make their products more affordable during the recession when they were desperate for sales.

According to the 2013 Car Affordability Study by Interest.com, only in Washington could the typical household swing the payments, the median income there running $86,680 a year. At the other extreme, Tampa, Fla., was at the bottom of the 25 large cities included in the study, with a median household income of $43,832.

The study looked at a variety of household expenses, such as food and housing, and when it comes to purchasing a new vehicle, it considered more than just the basic purchase price, down payment and monthly note, factoring in such essentials as taxes and insurance.

( More From CNBC: 10 Super-Hot Cars That You Will Never Drive )

Bottom line? A buyer in the capital can purchase a car with a sticker price of $31,940, slightly more than the new vehicle average for the 2013 model year and about what it would cost for a mid-range Ford Fusion sedan or a stripped-down BMW X1 crossover. The buyer in Tampa? They'll just barely cover the cost of a basic Kia Rio, with $14,516 to spend.

"If you live in New York City or San Francisco, you're probably going to have to pay a lot for housing, but you don't have to pay a lot for a car," said Mike Sante, the managing editor of Interest.com, a financial decision-making website.

Affordability has been a matter of growing concern for the auto industry in recent years as prices have continued to move upward. Even the most basic of today's cars are generally loaded with features that were once found on high-line models a few decades back - if they were available at all - such as air conditioning, power windows, airbags and electronic stability control, as well as digital infotainment systems. They also have to meet ever tougher federal safety, emissions and mileage standards that have added thousands to the typical price tag.

( More From CNBC: Must-Have Super Car: $1.6 Million and Not Yet Legal )

"The average compact car of today has the features of a midsize model somebody might be trading in - but it may be just as expensive," said David Sargent, director of automotive operations for J.D. Power and Associates.

That is one reason why many buyers have been downsizing in recent years, said Bill Fay, general manager of Toyota, though he added that "there is still a lot of affordability in the marketplace."

Perhaps, but industry planners have come to recognize that they are targeting a much smaller segment of the American public than in decades past. That's one reason why most manufacturers are offering more downsized models.

They also are working with their dealers to offer certified pre-owned programs where buyers can stretch their budget by purchasing a two- or three-year-old vehicle that has gone through an extensive inspection and, if necessary, repairs and replacements. Such vehicles may cost slightly more than a conventional used model but usually include a like-new warranty.

( More From CNBC: The Detroit Auto Show's Hottest Cars )

While the typical new vehicle will likely nudge up this year, Interest.com editor Sante stressed that car costs are one of the most controllable parts of a household's budget. "You're better off driving something more affordable and saving or investing the difference."

If the typical new car costs $30,550, with an average monthly payment of $550, the five cities most able to meet - or come close - are:

1) Washington

Average Household Income: $86,680

Affordable Purchase Price: $31,940

Maximum monthly payment: $628

2) San Francisco

Average Household Income: $71,975

Affordable Purchase Price: $26,786

Maximum monthly payment: $537

3) Boston

Average Household Income: $69.455

Affordable Purchase Price: $26,025

Maximum monthly payment: $507

4) Baltimore

Average Household Income: $65,463

Affordable Purchase Price: $24,079

Maximum monthly payment: $468

5) Minneapolis

Average Household Income: $63,352

Affordable Purchase Price: $24,042

Maximum monthly payment: $470

At the other end of the scale, those five cities least able to handle a car payment are:

21) Phoenix

Average Household Income: $50,058

Affordable Purchase Price: $17,243

Maximum monthly payment: $348

22) San Antonio

Average Household Income: $48,699

Affordable Purchase Price: $17,137

Maximum monthly payment: $334

23) Detroit

Average Household Income: $48,968

Affordable Purchase Price: $17,093

Maximum monthly payment: $332

24) Miami

Average Household Income: $45,407

Affordable Purchase Price: $15,188

Maximum monthly payment: $295

25) Tampa

Average Household Income: $43,832

Affordable Purchase Price: $14,516

Maximum monthly payment: $282