Environment and Health
The Lineup: Week of March 21-27, 2011
In this week’s OtherWords editorial package, an op-ed by Alice Slater, a column by Donald Kaul, and a cartoon by Khalil Bendib put Japan’s nuclear emergency into context. Get all this and more in your inbox by subscribing to our weekly newsletter. If you haven’t signed up yet, please do.
Japan’s Chaos is a Wake-up Call
Sometimes chaos comes along as a wake-up call to humanity. Japan’s double-whammy earthquake-tsunami is overwhelmingly tragic. Being at the mercy of the total chaotic effect of the elements–able to be wiped out by a wave of water from the sea–is an insult to the arrogance of modern humanity that thinks it can insulate and protect itself with technological know-how from the calamities visited upon our earth by Mother Nature.
The Dangers of Nuclear ‘Ice-Nine’
The great cautionary tale of the 19th century is Frankenstein, Mary Shelly’s novel. It’s the story of a brilliant scientist, Victor Frankenstein, who builds a monster out of spare parts and then breathes life into it.
Nuclear War and Peace
OtherWords cartoonist Khalil Bendib compares Japan’s two nuclear disasters.
Hospitals Should be Good for Your Health
The last time our nation assessed the risks of hospitals was in 1999. The Institute of Medicine found that between 44,000 and 98,000 patients died each year from medical mistakes. Around a million others suffered injuries. Nonetheless, if you were sick, where else were you going to go?
Reducing Cell-Phone Radiation Risks
Are cell phones having an impact on our brains?
An Unprecedented Attack from Polluters
As a new mother, it breaks my heart when I hear stories from parents who are struggling with their kids’ health problems. I know parents who live in fear of their child’s next asthma attack. Some can’t even let their kids play outside when local air pollution hits dangerous levels. We do everything we can to protect our kids, even before they’re born.
Tap Water’s Budget Bottleneck
Somehow, with all the recent rancor over spending cuts, pundits and politicians have largely overlooked one of our most essential public services–supplying the public with clean tap water.
Climate Science can Weather a Winter Storm
Chicago was to be Ground Zero for the end of the world. Twenty inches of snow, 35-50-mile-per-hour winds, 30-foot waves coming off Lake Michigan onto Lake Shore Drive. A wind-chill of Don’t Ask.
Our Corporate Courts
In its effort to scuttle President Barack Obama’s healthcare reform, the right wing has gone court shopping. They’ve filed their cases in the courts of judges who are known to be ideologically hostile to government regulation of health care corporations.
