The Daily Dish | By Andrew SullivanAmerica's Dirtiest and Cleanest Cities
by Richard Florida
The American Lung Association's State of the Air report on America's most polluted cities is out. Here's a summary (pointer via Planetizen).
Six out of ten Americans live in urban areas where air pollution can cause major health problems ... Despite America's growing "green" movement, the air in many cities became dirtier during the past 12 months. The research names Pittsburgh, Los Angeles and Bakersfield as the most polluted US cities. The report finds that air pollution hovers at unhealthy levels in almost every major city, threatening people's ability to breathe and placing lives at risk ...
Many cities, like Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta, Charlotte, Philadelphia, Washington, DC and Baltimore have made considerable improvements in their air quality over the past decade. People living in some of these cities however, are breathing even dirtier air than what was reported in the Lung Association's previous report. Only one city, Fargo, North Dakota, ranked among the cleanest in all three air pollution categories covered by the research.
http://www.stateoftheair.org/2009/city-rankings/polluted-cities-ozone.html
http://www.stateoftheair.org/2009/city-rankings/cleanest-cities-ozone.html
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/05/americas-dirtiest-and-cleanest-cities.html
Wash. state woman 1st death under new suicide law - Yahoo! NewsOLYMPIA, Wash. – Linda Fleming was diagnosed with terminal cancer and feared her last days would be filled with pain and ever-stronger doses of medication that would erode her mind.
The 66-year-old woman with late-stage pancreatic cancer wanted to be clear-headed at death, so she became the first person to kill herself under Washington state's new assisted suicide law, known as "death with dignity."
"I am a very spiritual person, and it was very important to me to be conscious, clear-minded and alert at the time of my death," Fleming said in a statement released Friday. "The powerful pain medications were making it difficult to maintain the state of mind I wanted to have at my death. And I knew I would have to increase them."
With family members, her physician and her dog at her side, Fleming took a deadly dose of prescription barbiturates and died Thursday night at her home in Sequim, Wash.
Chris Carlson, who campaigned against the new law with the Coalition Against Assisted Suicide, called the death unfortunate.
"Any premature death is a sad occasion and it diminishes us all," he said.
Compassion & Choices of Washington, an advocacy group that aids people who seek to use the law, announced her death.
Last November, Washington became the second state to have a voter-approved assisted suicide law. It is based on a law adopted by Oregon voters in 1997. Since then, about 400 people have used the Oregon law to end their lives.
In December, a district judge in Montana ruled that doctor-assisted suicides are legal in that state. That decision, based on an individual lawsuit rather than a state law or voter initiative, is before the Montana Supreme Court.
Doctors in Montana are allowed to write prescriptions for life-ending drugs pending the appeal. But it's unknown whether any actually have because there's no reporting process in place.
Under the Washington law, any patient requesting fatal medication must be at least 18, declared mentally competent and be a resident of the state.
Additionally, two doctors must certify that the patient has a terminal condition and six months or less to live, and the patient must make two oral requests 15 days apart, plus a written request that is witnessed by two people. Patients must also administer the drugs themselves.
Under the Washington measure, as in Oregon, doctors and pharmacists are not required to write or fill lethal prescriptions if they oppose the law. Some hospitals have opted out, which precludes their doctors from participating on hospital property.
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Will Guantanamo Detainees Go To Colorado? : NPRA possible relocation site in the U.S. for Guantanamo detainees is the "Supermax" penitentiary in Florence, Colo. Bob Wood, publisher of the Florence Citizen tells Melissa Block how the community feels about the prospects.
The Daily Dish | By Andrew SullivanAmerica's Dirtiest and Cleanest Cities
by Richard Florida
The American Lung Association's State of the Air report on America's most polluted cities is out. Here's a summary (pointer via Planetizen).
Six out of ten Americans live in urban areas where air pollution can cause major health problems ... Despite America's growing "green" movement, the air in many cities became dirtier during the past 12 months. The research names Pittsburgh, Los Angeles and Bakersfield as the most polluted US cities. The report finds that air pollution hovers at unhealthy levels in almost every major city, threatening people's ability to breathe and placing lives at risk ...
Many cities, like Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta, Charlotte, Philadelphia, Washington, DC and Baltimore have made considerable improvements in their air quality over the past decade. People living in some of these cities however, are breathing even dirtier air than what was reported in the Lung Association's previous report. Only one city, Fargo, North Dakota, ranked among the cleanest in all three air pollution categories covered by the research.
http://www.stateoftheair.org/2009/city-rankings/polluted-cities-ozone.html
http://www.stateoftheair.org/2009/city-rankings/cleanest-cities-ozone.html
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/05/americas-dirtiest-and-cleanest-cities.html
The Daily Dish | By Andrew SullivanAmerica's Dirtiest and Cleanest Cities
by Richard Florida
The American Lung Association's State of the Air report on America's most polluted cities is out. Here's a summary (pointer via Planetizen).
Six out of ten Americans live in urban areas where air pollution can cause major health problems ... Despite America's growing "green" movement, the air in many cities became dirtier during the past 12 months. The research names Pittsburgh, Los Angeles and Bakersfield as the most polluted US cities. The report finds that air pollution hovers at unhealthy levels in almost every major city, threatening people's ability to breathe and placing lives at risk ...
Many cities, like Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta, Charlotte, Philadelphia, Washington, DC and Baltimore have made considerable improvements in their air quality over the past decade. People living in some of these cities however, are breathing even dirtier air than what was reported in the Lung Association's previous report. Only one city, Fargo, North Dakota, ranked among the cleanest in all three air pollution categories covered by the research.
http://www.stateoftheair.org/2009/city-rankings/polluted-cities-ozone.html
http://www.stateoftheair.org/2009/city-rankings/cleanest-cities-ozone.html
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/05/americas-dirtiest-and-cleanest-cities.html
