DOGE
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nsacpi
Expects Yuge Games
i thought you might have raised a valid point but when i went back and checked I found that active duty military are not counted in the non-farm payrolls data
Edited because I didn’t see the ten years. But $30,000 in 2014 is worth roughly $40,000 today so it already wouldn’t be that far off if it’s even true.
Then set a standard for government workers and hold them to it. Those that make it will be a benefit to our government as they do their work without me needing to pay for the lights in some expensive Washington building. It’s insane to me that some of you seem to think the answer to whether someone can be productive or not is already determined by whether or not someone works for the government.
nsacpi
Expects Yuge Games
A lot of important technological innovations are driven by government employees and funding. ARPANET, GPS and mRNA vaccines just to cite some spectacular recent examples. Going back a little further, nuclear technology, for better and worse.
Public health is another spectacular success, bringing down infant mortality and extending lifespans. Though in recent decades there has been a notable divergence between blue and red states.
Public health is another spectacular success, bringing down infant mortality and extending lifespans. Though in recent decades there has been a notable divergence between blue and red states.
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57Brave
Well-known member
E.P.A. Bans Cancer-Causing Chemicals Used in Dry Cleaning
The two solvents, known as Perc and TCE, cause kidney cancer and other ailments, and have been the subject of years of controversy.
By Hiroko Tabuchi
Dec. 9, 2024, 5:02 a.m. ET
The Environmental Protection Agency on Monday banned two solvents found in everyday products that can cause cancer and other serious diseases. It was a move long sought by environmental and health advocates, even as they braced for what could be a wave of deregulation by the incoming Trump administration.
For decades, communities close to factories, airports, dry cleaners and other sites have lived with the consequences of exposure to trichloroethylene, or TCE, a toxic chemical used in cleaners, spot removers, lubricants and glue.
TCE is known to cause liver cancer, kidney cancer and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and to damage the nervous and immune systems. It has been found in drinking water nationwide and was the subject of a 1995 book that became a movie, “A Civil Action,” starring John Travolta. The E.P.A. is banning all uses of the chemical under the Toxic Substances Control Act, which was overhauled in 2016 to give the agency greater authority to regulate harmful chemicals.
The E.P.A. also banned all consumer uses of perchloroethylene, used in dry-cleaning and in automotive-care products. Though it is less harmful than TCE, the solvent, also called Perc, can cause liver, kidney, brain and testicular cancer, and can damage kidneys, the liver and the immune system.
The E.P.A.’s ban of Perc still allows for a range of industrial uses, including in aviation and defense, with the provision that strict rules must be in place to protect workers. Both bans were initially proposed in 2023.
“It’s simply unacceptable to continue to allow cancer-causing chemicals to be used for things like glue, dry cleaning or stain removers when safer alternatives exist,” said Michal Freedhoff, assistant administrator for the E.P.A. Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention.
.
Looming over the new rules is the return of President-elect Donald J. Trump, who during his first term presided over an effort to weaken chemical regulations and named a former executive for the American Chemistry Council, an industry organization, as a top deputy at the E.P.A.’s chemical safety office, raising concerns about corporate influence in the regulatory process.
Rules that have been put in place in the final stretch of the Biden administration, like this one, are also vulnerable to the Congressional Review Act, which allows an incoming Senate to overturn any regulation finalized near the end of a presidential term.
Yet Mr. Trump said on the campaign trail that he wanted “the cleanest air and the cleanest water.” He has also said he is committed to “getting dangerous chemicals out of our environment.”
That reflects a recognition that concerns over pollution cut across party loyalties, said Jonathan Kalmuss-Katz, a senior attorney at Earthjustice, a legal nonprofit that advocated the TCE ban.
If the Trump administration tries to roll back the ban, Mr. Kalmuss-Katz said, “they’re going to encounter serious opposition from communities across the country that have been devastated by TCE, in both blue and red states.”
Nevertheless, said Wendy E. Wagner, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin School of Law, while the public is concerned about toxic chemicals, regulating them requires considerable scientific analysis, and that analysis can be vulnerable to political meddling. During the first Trump administration, she said, “we saw some of the most notorious and flagrant interventions into the scientific record.”
The E.P.A.’s ban was welcomed by environmental advocates like Linda Robles of Tucson, Ariz., whose daughter, Tianna, died in 2007 of a rare form of cancer and kidney failure, which Mrs. Robles believes was caused by TCE and other chemicals from Tucson International Airport and nearby military facilities.
Federal authorities discovered in the 1980s that the groundwater in Tucson’s south side, where Mrs. Robles lived with her family, was contaminated with TCE. The airport and military facilities are now Superfund sites undergoing government-led cleanup.
“They’ve been telling me for decades that they’re going to ban TCE, so it’s such a big deal it’s finally happening,” said Mrs. Robles, who campaigns for cleaner water and air. Still, “I’ll never get my daughter back,” she said.
Industry groups have criticized the new restrictions. The American Chemistry Council said in a statement that “the rule as proposed would present multiple challenges that could have far-reaching impacts on various industries and the national economy.”
The Dry Cleaning and Laundry Institute and the National Cleaners Association said in comments submitted to the E.P.A. that “any future decision to reduce or phase out the use of Perc in dry-cleaning will put an oppressive burden on thousands of cleaners.”
Dr. Freedhoff, the E.P.A. assistant administrator, said in an interview that safer alternatives were becoming readily available. “There’s simply no reason to continue to use this stuff to make glue, or as a dry cleaning aid, or to clean up grease,” she said. “The risk is just too great.”
Hiroko Tabuchi covers pollution and the environment for The Times. She has been a journalist for more than 20 years in Tokyo and New York. More about Hiroko Tabuchi
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just a little more of Trump strattling a fence - or as I would say, talking outta both sides of his mouth - that the synchophants charactorize as " brilliant" or even better " a master class "
The world aint 2015-16 anymore
The two solvents, known as Perc and TCE, cause kidney cancer and other ailments, and have been the subject of years of controversy.
By Hiroko Tabuchi
Dec. 9, 2024, 5:02 a.m. ET
The Environmental Protection Agency on Monday banned two solvents found in everyday products that can cause cancer and other serious diseases. It was a move long sought by environmental and health advocates, even as they braced for what could be a wave of deregulation by the incoming Trump administration.
For decades, communities close to factories, airports, dry cleaners and other sites have lived with the consequences of exposure to trichloroethylene, or TCE, a toxic chemical used in cleaners, spot removers, lubricants and glue.
TCE is known to cause liver cancer, kidney cancer and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and to damage the nervous and immune systems. It has been found in drinking water nationwide and was the subject of a 1995 book that became a movie, “A Civil Action,” starring John Travolta. The E.P.A. is banning all uses of the chemical under the Toxic Substances Control Act, which was overhauled in 2016 to give the agency greater authority to regulate harmful chemicals.
The E.P.A. also banned all consumer uses of perchloroethylene, used in dry-cleaning and in automotive-care products. Though it is less harmful than TCE, the solvent, also called Perc, can cause liver, kidney, brain and testicular cancer, and can damage kidneys, the liver and the immune system.
The E.P.A.’s ban of Perc still allows for a range of industrial uses, including in aviation and defense, with the provision that strict rules must be in place to protect workers. Both bans were initially proposed in 2023.
“It’s simply unacceptable to continue to allow cancer-causing chemicals to be used for things like glue, dry cleaning or stain removers when safer alternatives exist,” said Michal Freedhoff, assistant administrator for the E.P.A. Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention.
.
Looming over the new rules is the return of President-elect Donald J. Trump, who during his first term presided over an effort to weaken chemical regulations and named a former executive for the American Chemistry Council, an industry organization, as a top deputy at the E.P.A.’s chemical safety office, raising concerns about corporate influence in the regulatory process.
Rules that have been put in place in the final stretch of the Biden administration, like this one, are also vulnerable to the Congressional Review Act, which allows an incoming Senate to overturn any regulation finalized near the end of a presidential term.
Yet Mr. Trump said on the campaign trail that he wanted “the cleanest air and the cleanest water.” He has also said he is committed to “getting dangerous chemicals out of our environment.”
That reflects a recognition that concerns over pollution cut across party loyalties, said Jonathan Kalmuss-Katz, a senior attorney at Earthjustice, a legal nonprofit that advocated the TCE ban.
If the Trump administration tries to roll back the ban, Mr. Kalmuss-Katz said, “they’re going to encounter serious opposition from communities across the country that have been devastated by TCE, in both blue and red states.”
Nevertheless, said Wendy E. Wagner, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin School of Law, while the public is concerned about toxic chemicals, regulating them requires considerable scientific analysis, and that analysis can be vulnerable to political meddling. During the first Trump administration, she said, “we saw some of the most notorious and flagrant interventions into the scientific record.”
The E.P.A.’s ban was welcomed by environmental advocates like Linda Robles of Tucson, Ariz., whose daughter, Tianna, died in 2007 of a rare form of cancer and kidney failure, which Mrs. Robles believes was caused by TCE and other chemicals from Tucson International Airport and nearby military facilities.
Federal authorities discovered in the 1980s that the groundwater in Tucson’s south side, where Mrs. Robles lived with her family, was contaminated with TCE. The airport and military facilities are now Superfund sites undergoing government-led cleanup.
“They’ve been telling me for decades that they’re going to ban TCE, so it’s such a big deal it’s finally happening,” said Mrs. Robles, who campaigns for cleaner water and air. Still, “I’ll never get my daughter back,” she said.
Industry groups have criticized the new restrictions. The American Chemistry Council said in a statement that “the rule as proposed would present multiple challenges that could have far-reaching impacts on various industries and the national economy.”
The Dry Cleaning and Laundry Institute and the National Cleaners Association said in comments submitted to the E.P.A. that “any future decision to reduce or phase out the use of Perc in dry-cleaning will put an oppressive burden on thousands of cleaners.”
Dr. Freedhoff, the E.P.A. assistant administrator, said in an interview that safer alternatives were becoming readily available. “There’s simply no reason to continue to use this stuff to make glue, or as a dry cleaning aid, or to clean up grease,” she said. “The risk is just too great.”
Hiroko Tabuchi covers pollution and the environment for The Times. She has been a journalist for more than 20 years in Tokyo and New York. More about Hiroko Tabuchi
////////////////////////
-
just a little more of Trump strattling a fence - or as I would say, talking outta both sides of his mouth - that the synchophants charactorize as " brilliant" or even better " a master class "
The world aint 2015-16 anymore
Last edited by a moderator:
57Brave
Well-known member
By Dani Blum
Published Aug. 22, 2024
Updated Dec. 6, 2024
After a yearslong lull thanks to Covid-19 precautions like isolation and distancing, whooping cough cases are climbing, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
There have been 28,120 cases of whooping cough, or pertussis, reported nationwide this year, compared to 5,889 at this time last year. There have also been more cases so far this year than were documented in all of 2019. Doctors say these estimates are most likely an undercount, as many people may not realize they have whooping cough and therefore are never tested.
The pandemic delayed routine childhood vaccinations, including those that protect against whooping cough, and led to fewer pregnant women getting vaccinated. Those factors have likely contributed to the rise in cases this year, said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
What are the symptoms?
The disease can cause sneezing, a runny nose, fever, watery eyes and fierce fits of coughing. Occasionally, these coughing spells can restrict breathing so intensely that people’s lips, tongues and nailbeds can turn blue from lack of oxygen.
Ideally, people would get tested when their symptoms are mild and they haven’t developed a cough, but it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to distinguish between run-of-the-mill sniffles and the start of pertussis, said Dr. Aaron Milstone, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center.
“Adults are having pertussis all the time, but they’re not being recognized as pertussis,” said Dr. James Cherry, a distinguished professor of pediatrics at the David Geffen School of Medicine at U.C.L.A. who has studied whooping cough. “Only a very small percentage of them ever get diagnosed.”
Doctors can take nasal swabs and run lab tests to diagnose the condition.
Infants are most at risk for getting seriously sick, particularly in their first months. They gasp for breath — the telltale “whoop” — between fits of coughing. Adults can also develop a violent cough that can come on “while you’re eating, while you’re sleeping,” Dr. Schaffner said. In severe cases, he said, people can faint from struggling to breathe or break ribs from coughing so intensely.
How does it spread?
Pertussis spreads easily when infected people sneeze or cough, and those around them breathe in tiny particles that contain bacteria. “Cough etiquette is just such a fundamental,” Dr. Milstone said. Cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze, and, because contaminated droplets can land on surfaces, wash your hands frequently.
People can be contagious for around a day before their symptoms start, and for up to three weeks after they start coughing, he said.
How do you treat whooping cough?
Doctors typically prescribe antibiotics, but people need to take them in the first three weeks of an infection. Antibiotics might shorten symptoms if people take the medication before a cough starts. But once you have a cough, “treatment doesn’t actually make that cough go away any faster,” Dr. Milstone said. “But it makes you contagious for a lot less time.”
People who get seriously sick from whooping cough may end up in the hospital, but most people can manage symptoms at home. Doctors often recommend people drink plenty of fluids to avoid becoming dehydrated, and use a humidifier to loosen mucus and ease coughs.
Pertussis is sometimes referred to as “the hundred-day cough” — and doctors say there’s some truth to that name. Even with treatment, symptoms can persist for weeks or even months.
“This is one where prevention really is worth a whole lot more than treatment,” Dr. Schaffner said.
How can you protect yourself?
The vaccines that protect against pertussis also protect against diphtheria and tetanus. The shots are widely considered safe and effective. Among children who have received all their doses on schedule, 98 percent are fully protected from pertussis a year after their last shot, and around 71 percent are fully protected five years after their last dose.
Health officials recommend women be vaccinated during every pregnancy. The vaccine produces antibodies that are transferred to the fetus; this will protect newborns before they are old enough to get their first dose as part of routine vaccinations, at 2 months old. “By vaccinating pregnant women, you can prevent virtually all deaths from pertussis,” Dr. Cherry said. Research shows vaccination during pregnancy prevents roughly 78 percent of pertussis cases and about 90 percent of hospitalizations in infants younger than 2 months.
Anyone who is around a newborn — grandparents, babysitters, nannies — should be up-to-date on their vaccination, said Dr. Sean O’Leary, a professor of pediatrics-infectious diseases at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.
The C.D.C. recommends additional doses throughout early childhood, with five doses total by age 6, as well as a booster dose starting at age 11.
Adults 19 and older should get another shot every 10 years, health officials say. Technically, this can be a shot that protects against tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis, or a shot that just protects against tetanus and diphtheria. But Dr. Milstone said he recommended getting the shot that protects against all three, to minimize the risk of getting sick with whooping cough or spreading the disease to vulnerable infants.
Immunity wanes over time, with some estimates showing that the vaccines become less effective after a few years.
If you’re not sure if you’ve been vaccinated, or how long it’s been since your last vaccine, ask your health provider or try checking local or regional immunization registries, which keep records of some shots.
If you are an adult who has never been vaccinated, the C.D.C. says you should get a dose as soon as possible.
/////////////////////
So yeah, probably a good idea to scrap the CDC.
Because you know, RFK, Elon and Trump say ...
Published Aug. 22, 2024
Updated Dec. 6, 2024
After a yearslong lull thanks to Covid-19 precautions like isolation and distancing, whooping cough cases are climbing, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
There have been 28,120 cases of whooping cough, or pertussis, reported nationwide this year, compared to 5,889 at this time last year. There have also been more cases so far this year than were documented in all of 2019. Doctors say these estimates are most likely an undercount, as many people may not realize they have whooping cough and therefore are never tested.
The pandemic delayed routine childhood vaccinations, including those that protect against whooping cough, and led to fewer pregnant women getting vaccinated. Those factors have likely contributed to the rise in cases this year, said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
What are the symptoms?
The disease can cause sneezing, a runny nose, fever, watery eyes and fierce fits of coughing. Occasionally, these coughing spells can restrict breathing so intensely that people’s lips, tongues and nailbeds can turn blue from lack of oxygen.
Ideally, people would get tested when their symptoms are mild and they haven’t developed a cough, but it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to distinguish between run-of-the-mill sniffles and the start of pertussis, said Dr. Aaron Milstone, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center.
“Adults are having pertussis all the time, but they’re not being recognized as pertussis,” said Dr. James Cherry, a distinguished professor of pediatrics at the David Geffen School of Medicine at U.C.L.A. who has studied whooping cough. “Only a very small percentage of them ever get diagnosed.”
Doctors can take nasal swabs and run lab tests to diagnose the condition.
Infants are most at risk for getting seriously sick, particularly in their first months. They gasp for breath — the telltale “whoop” — between fits of coughing. Adults can also develop a violent cough that can come on “while you’re eating, while you’re sleeping,” Dr. Schaffner said. In severe cases, he said, people can faint from struggling to breathe or break ribs from coughing so intensely.
How does it spread?
Pertussis spreads easily when infected people sneeze or cough, and those around them breathe in tiny particles that contain bacteria. “Cough etiquette is just such a fundamental,” Dr. Milstone said. Cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze, and, because contaminated droplets can land on surfaces, wash your hands frequently.
People can be contagious for around a day before their symptoms start, and for up to three weeks after they start coughing, he said.
How do you treat whooping cough?
Doctors typically prescribe antibiotics, but people need to take them in the first three weeks of an infection. Antibiotics might shorten symptoms if people take the medication before a cough starts. But once you have a cough, “treatment doesn’t actually make that cough go away any faster,” Dr. Milstone said. “But it makes you contagious for a lot less time.”
People who get seriously sick from whooping cough may end up in the hospital, but most people can manage symptoms at home. Doctors often recommend people drink plenty of fluids to avoid becoming dehydrated, and use a humidifier to loosen mucus and ease coughs.
Pertussis is sometimes referred to as “the hundred-day cough” — and doctors say there’s some truth to that name. Even with treatment, symptoms can persist for weeks or even months.
“This is one where prevention really is worth a whole lot more than treatment,” Dr. Schaffner said.
How can you protect yourself?
The vaccines that protect against pertussis also protect against diphtheria and tetanus. The shots are widely considered safe and effective. Among children who have received all their doses on schedule, 98 percent are fully protected from pertussis a year after their last shot, and around 71 percent are fully protected five years after their last dose.
Health officials recommend women be vaccinated during every pregnancy. The vaccine produces antibodies that are transferred to the fetus; this will protect newborns before they are old enough to get their first dose as part of routine vaccinations, at 2 months old. “By vaccinating pregnant women, you can prevent virtually all deaths from pertussis,” Dr. Cherry said. Research shows vaccination during pregnancy prevents roughly 78 percent of pertussis cases and about 90 percent of hospitalizations in infants younger than 2 months.
Anyone who is around a newborn — grandparents, babysitters, nannies — should be up-to-date on their vaccination, said Dr. Sean O’Leary, a professor of pediatrics-infectious diseases at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.
The C.D.C. recommends additional doses throughout early childhood, with five doses total by age 6, as well as a booster dose starting at age 11.
Adults 19 and older should get another shot every 10 years, health officials say. Technically, this can be a shot that protects against tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis, or a shot that just protects against tetanus and diphtheria. But Dr. Milstone said he recommended getting the shot that protects against all three, to minimize the risk of getting sick with whooping cough or spreading the disease to vulnerable infants.
Immunity wanes over time, with some estimates showing that the vaccines become less effective after a few years.
If you’re not sure if you’ve been vaccinated, or how long it’s been since your last vaccine, ask your health provider or try checking local or regional immunization registries, which keep records of some shots.
If you are an adult who has never been vaccinated, the C.D.C. says you should get a dose as soon as possible.
/////////////////////
So yeah, probably a good idea to scrap the CDC.
Because you know, RFK, Elon and Trump say ...
You’re right. Without DOGE we would just have to settle for something radical like selling the empty government buildings or having basic performance standards for remote work instead of paying for supplies and utilities to man them.
One thing I genuinely believe should be required if Elon is going to have his fingers in the federal government is that he divest from Twitter/X. I don’t know how I feel about someone with as much access to Trump and apparent influence over government operations and funding being able to profit personally from government controversy being covered heavily on his website. Elected officials are talking about X users influencing the CR decision, and Musk is *heavily* promoting this. How is this not a serious issue when the person tasked with overhauling government has a financial interest in generating clicks?
I have said from the damn beginning that just because I don’t find it criminal to ask Twitter to moderate content, it was always morally (and politically) wrong. But even that point aside, surely you must see the difference between these two scenarios. I’m talking about a direct conflict of interest. It is not in the public’s interest for someone doing what Elon is purporting DOGE to be doing to have a vested interest in declaring his website the real news and public square.