HuckleB
HuckleB's JournalColorado may set up vaccine database to track kids
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_29621719/colorado-may-set-up-vaccine-database-track-kids"A new Colorado database tracking kids who have not been vaccinated moved ahead in the state Legislature Thursday.
But the measure faces stiff opposition. Republicans gave the bill a lengthy debate, saying a database could open the door to shaming parents who have opted not to vaccinate their children.
And a last-minute mix-up means the Democratic House will have to revisit the vaccine matter twice before sending it to the GOP Senate.
Colorado has some of the nation's loosest rules for avoiding required vaccines. Parents must simply state that they have a medical, moral or religious objection, after which their kids may attend public schools.
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Colorado needs to fix its laws, though, too. It's too easy to get out of vaccines in that state.
Heat Waves, Droughts and Heavy Rain Have Clear Links to Climate Change, Says National Academies
Connection to hurricanes, tornadoes, hail and wildfires less certain, according to extreme weather reporthttp://www.scientificamerican.com/article/heat-waves-droughts-and-heavy-rain-have-clear-links-to-climate-change-says-national-academies/
"Scientists can now say with confidence whether heat waves, such as the one that struck Russia in 2010 and caused 55,000 deaths, are linked to climate change. But when it comes to storms like Typhoon Haiyan, which battered the Philippines last year, their methods hit a brick wall of uncertainty.
The findings are included in a sweeping report the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine released last week that tries to answer the question often posed after a nasty spell of weather.
Was it triggered by humanity’s carbon emissions?
Answering it can be challenging, not least because the question is badly crafted. All scientists agree that human-caused climate change has fundamentally altered the planet. All weather is caused, to varying degrees, by both nature and climate change.
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Texas rattlesnake roundup: Why some people kill snakes for sport
In the small town of Sweetwater, Texas, thousands of rattlesnakes are killed in front of paying customers. Is it a smart revenue strategy or unnecessary animal abuse?http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/USA-Update/2016/0313/Texas-rattlesnake-roundup-Why-some-people-kill-snakes-for-sport
"Each year in Sweetwater, Texas, over 30,000 visitors come to the rural town from near and far to see thousands of rattlesnakes.
Led by the city’s Junior Chamber of Commerce, referred to as the "Jaycees," Sweetwater’s annual “World’s Largest Rattlesnake Roundup,” ends Sunday. At the roundup, fans watch the rattlesnakes slither together in a pit before handlers behead and skin the animals. And it’s not all watching: Visitors can participate by skinning the animals and making handprints on a wall with the snakes’ blood.
The Jaycees say the event is necessary to curb overpopulation, protect human safety, and keep local livestock alive.
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David Steen, an amphibian and reptiles biologist at Auburn University, tells The Washington Post that rattlesnakes typically bite only those who deliberately interfere with the snakes, such as professional exterminators and drunk people. Thus, the "human safety" argument is baseless.
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WTF?
Do not stigmatize people with mental illness.
Twice in two days, other posters have made personal attacks against me that stigmatize those with mental illness.
I don't care what you think of me, but don't promote stigma.
Please.
Facebook fools pretend no one tried to kill Obama...
... In order to attack us "leftist commies" as "violent scumbags," re: the events in Chicago.
They were praising the fake restraint of conservatives.
No awareness of the violence of Trump supporters over time, at all.
The delusions are incredible.
PS: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_threats_against_Barack_Obama
Books like that are a big part of the problem.
It is an individual making money by lying to people into to cause unjustified fear. It is not based in science, nor does the author show an understanding of the science. The book is a scam in and of itself, and very much reminiscent of the anti-vaccine movement. You know this, and yet you keep pushing this stuff. Why would you do such a thing?
http://scienceblogs.com/denialism/2013/03/29/anti-gmo-writers-show-profound-ignorance-of-basic-biology-and-now-jane-goodall-has-joined-their-ranks/
http://www.yourdoctorsorders.com/2015/03/altered-genes-drukers-new-book-is-filled-with-logical-fallacies/
http://academicsreview.org/2015/07/steven-druker-twisted-truth-in-altered-genes-book/
The perils of turning 26: when US millennials lose their parents' healthcare
The Affordable Care Act extended coverage to millions of young adults, but many are reaching the cutoff point and risk falling through the gapshttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/11/the-perils-of-turning-26-when-us-millennials-lose-their-parents-healthcare-cover
"Chanel White is dreading her 26th birthday. It is not ageing itself that she’s worried about; what she fears is losing her parents’ health insurance.
White, 24, is one of several million young people in the US who were able to be put on their parents’ insurance scheme after Barack Obama’s 2010 Affordable Care Act (ACA) was introduced, extending the age at which people “aged out” of a parental scheme from 18 to 25.
For White, such coverage was crucial. Months before her wedding in 2011, and at the age of just 19, she realised she was very sick. Her hands had been swelling and turning purple, her joints hurt and she was losing her hair.
She was soon diagnosed with the debilitating and potentially life-threatening autoimmune disease systemic scleroderma. She had to undergo an invasive procedure to open up her blood vessels and had a finger amputated. There were countless appointments with doctors and specialists to help figure out how to treat the complex disease as it developed. At the time of diagnosis, she was not covered by her parents’ scheme and so received all this treatment without health insurance.
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This is not to bash the ACA. Just noting that we need to improve on the improvement.
Brazil's mothers left to raise microcephaly babies alone
Source: Reuters
With the health service already under strain, abortion prohibited, and the virus hitting the poorest hardest, an absent father is yet another burden on mothers already struggling to cope with raising a child that might never walk or talk.
At a specialized microcephaly clinic in Campina Grande, psychologist Jacqueline Loureiro works with mothers to help them cope with stress and trauma. Of the 41 women she counsels, she says only 10 receive adequate financial or emotional support from their partners.
"At first many of the women say they have a partner, but as you get to know them better you realize the father is never around and the baby and mother have effectively been abandoned," Loureiro said.
Loureiro blames Brazil's macho culture, which she says is particularly strong in the northeast.
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-zika-women-idUSKCN0WD21D
Brian loves hunting fish, going swimming, and being a spider
http://www.theverge.com/2016/3/11/11204102/brian-the-amazing-fishing-spider"Say hello to Brian, full name Dolomedes briangreenei, the most recently discovered spider in Australia. (Although considering it's Australia, it's probably only the 10th most recently discovered spider now). According to a report from Mashable Australia, Brian was revealed at the World Science Festival in Brisbane on Wednesday, and loves fresh water streams, going for long swims, and sitting motionless on ponds waiting to devour its prey. How sweet!
Robert Raven, Queensland Museum's principal arachnologist, told Mashable: "These spiders sit there on the water and then all of a sudden an insect will hit the water and the spider races out to get it, grabs it, dives under the water and then swims back to the shore and starts eating it."
Water spiders like Brian in the Dolomedes genus use their legs to feel for vibrations in the water caused by prey, using these signals to hunt and kill insects and fish up to three times their size (although they're not at all dangerous to humans). This is impressive, certainly, but fish-hunting spiders are pretty common and found in many places around the world. Just check out this vintage wildlife footage of a British great raft spider, hunting and killing a stickleback:
Obviously Dolomedes briangreenei's discoverers had to do something to make their new species stand out, and settled on giving it an exotic name: Brian. This was chosen in honor of physicist Brian Greene, who was on hand at the Queensland Museum to meet his namesake, and was able to quickly establish some common ground.
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This is one cool spider.
CO2 levels reached new peak in 2015
Last year was the fourth consecutive year that carbon dioxide grew more than 2 ppm, NOAA scientists say.
http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/2016/0311/CO2-levels-reached-new-peak-in-2015
"The levels of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere increased at a record pace last year, widening concerns about the greenhouses gas’s contribution to global warming.
Measurements taken at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii showed that the annual growth rate of carbon dioxide jumped by 3.05 parts per million (ppm) in 2015.
NOAA’s announcement adds to a growing list of reminders for why countries across the world need to reduce their carbon emissions to mitigate the effects of global warming. Last year was the hottest on average since record-keeping began. The global average temperature for 2015 was 0.23 degrees Fahrenheit or 0.13 Celsius higher than 2014, which held the previous record, according to NASA.
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As of February, the average global atmospheric level of carbon dioxide was 402.59 ppm. This is a significant rise over pre-industrial times. Atmospheric carbon dioxide averaged about 280 ppm prior to 1800.
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