Putting together last-minute travel plans? Find some last-minute pennies first.

As July winds to a close, it’s time to finalize the details of your late-summer travel plans. Don’t have any? These 10 infographics on where your dollars go should help you to find some extra cash here and there for a plane ticket — or maybe just a few books to help fuel your imagination.

5 Strange Signs the Economy is Improving: Men are buying new underwear with their extra cash.

Health-Care Spending vs. Health: Instead of spending on more and more expensive medical services, we should be eating better and exercising more.

The United States of Broke: A history of American debt.

Top 12 Fastest Growing Occupations: Consider taking up a career in biomedical engineering.

Credit Cards Go Social: Watch out! Credit card companies ramping up their social media strategies.

New Grad’s Guide to Spending and Saving: Some basics for the newest members of the work force.

Wasting Time and Money: Surfing the Internet sucks up more time than you might have thought.

Where Does the Money Go?: Housing takes up the most of the average consumer’s income.

A Shopper’s High: Does it really exist?

2012: Assuming the Mayans were Right: You have an emergency fund. Do you have an end of the world bucket list fund?

Image: _J_D_R

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Susan G Komen cuts off Planned Parenthood using a lame excuse and tries to claim it’s not political.

Shame on the Susan G. Komen Foundation. The organization blankets this country with all manner of pink marketing baubles proclaiming to care about women’s health, yet on January 31, SGK announced that it will cease future grant funding to Planned Parenthood, an organization that arguably does more for women’s health than any other by serving women without health care.

For SGK to claim that their focus is women’s health education and prevention and then to cease to support an organization dedicated to it is completely hypocritical, especially since it has a long history of funding Planned Parenthood. The LA Times reports that “over the last five years, Planned Parenthood has provided about 4 million breast exams and referrals for 70,000 mammograms nationwide. Funding from Komen covers about 170,000 of the breast exams and 6,400 mammogram referrals. Although mammograms and biopsies are referred out, Planned Parenthood doctors manage their patients’ cases.”

SGK tried to wriggle out of it by saying that they recently adopted criteria that prohibits the organization from funding any other that is under federal investigation, and conveniently, Planned Parenthood is the subject of a witch hunt launched by Cliff Stearns (R-Fla). To hide behind this technicality only highlights the fact that they are buckling to pro-life pressure. It shows that their concern is not women’s breast health in its entirety, but aligning itself politically behind a single issue that has nothing to do with breast cancer.

And that, Kivi Leroux Miller points out, is a giant branding mistake for which there is no going back now, ever. Before this, SGK managed to occupy neutral ground in the abortion debate, allowing them to appeal to women and sponsors on both sides of the issue, but now they have taken sides and unleashed “an entirely avoidable and deeply regrettable controversy.”

It started when SGK hired Karen Handel, an anti-Planned Parenthood, pro-life advocate, as VP for public policy in April 2011. Then Stearns launched an investigation into PP in September 2011, and soon after there was a new policy in place that conveniently cut funding to PP. Three sources within SGK told The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg that SGK manufactured that policy specifically to exclude PP, who seemed to be caught completely off guard by this decision.

After Susan G. Komen’s death, her sister, Nancy Brinker, vowed to do everything in her power to end breast cancer forever. Funding Planned Parenthood and its education and prevention services is within SGK’s power, and by ceasing funding, it just took a big step backward in the fight.

Planned Parenthood has taken all of this abuse and funding cuts, and for what? Because they provide a legal service that makes up 3 percent of their services? (And no federal or SGK funds go toward abortions, by the way.) All this does is punish millions of women who rely on Planned Parenthood – the vast majority of whom are not there for an abortion.

What will happen if funding continues to decline for Planned Parenthood and the organization is finally forced to close its doors? Will pro-life advocates calling for the demise of PP feel righteous when all the low-income or unemployed women and men, uninsured adolescents, recent college grads and freelance and contract employees who can’t afford full health care coverage have nowhere to go for competent health care?

As the numbers of the uninsured grow to not only encompass the poor, but creep into the middle class, this attack on PP demonstrates an extreme lack of compassion for a large number of people in this country. Boiling all these arguments down to one issue and mounting a relentless assault on an organization because they provide one service is to be willingly blind to all the other facets of women’s health care. For SGK to place its own political agenda above its stated mission is selfish, especially knowing full well how much PP relies on their funding.

SGK should really rework those marketing materials to say: “We race for the cure for women who can afford not to go to Planned Parenthood.” In big pink letters.

image: ladybugbkt via Flickr cc (some rights reserved)

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10 women making positive strides worldwide.

It is clear that the more power women have, the more positive change we will see on a global level.

“If you empower women, you can change the world,” said actress-activist Meg Ryan while trekking across northern India on a third world humanitarian mission with representatives from the international aid organization CARE. The goal is to break through barriers keeping so many women in poverty and without rights.  Like Ryan, the women on our list tap their armories to confront, protest and articulate what it takes to improve lives and the planet at large.

1. Kavita Ramdas

Leader of The Global Fund for Women, Ramdas has garnered unprecedented support for international human rights for her sisters by tripling grant assets during her tenure from $6 million to $21 million. Fluent in Hindi/Urdu, English, German and conversational Tamil, Spanish and French, she speaks the language most activists care about today: The wide ranging exportation of good will. The Fund’s grants have ranged from several hundred to kick start a business to $800,000 to halt human trafficking of females and sexual  abuse. In an interview with journalist Lynn Sherr, Ramdas says this is the moment for women in making a difference and an impact on poverty, ongoing war and militarization, which perpetuates a culture of violence against women: “Violence against women continues to be condoned on some level,” she shared. “Why is it that you have statistics like a woman being raped every six minutes in this country, in the United States?”

 2. Hillary Clinton

“Obviously, we and many other nations are quite hopeful that these ‘flickers of progress’ as President Obama called them will be ignited into a movement for change that will benefit the people of the country,” the 67th Secretary of State Clinton articulated upon arriving in reform-ready Burma as the first senior American diplomat to visit in 50 years. Taking the high road in standing by her man-boss, Clinton’s brilliance and measurable experience makes many wonder what if she had been elected president? Hillary-speak ranges from talking gay rights at the UN to gauging parliamentary elections in Russia and passionately seeking an end to the horrendous treatment of women in post-revolution Egypt. The always eloquent and former first lady proves resourcefulness and resiliency are DNA advantages which allow women like her to lead, shine and earn their very own spots in history.

3. Rachel Maddow

Demonstrating the growing popularity of the MSNBC talk show host was her edging out Michael Moore in an Alternet poll of the Most Influential Progressive Media Figures of the year. A charismatic, somewhat androgynous counterpart to the neo-conservative women of Fox News, Maddow clearly holds her own sans the biting wit and sarcasm of John Stewart or shameless flirtatious fluttering of a Piers Morgan. She’s real – the Christiane Amanpour of her time who doesn’t need to risk life and limb in wartime to gain worldwide attention. The Rachel Maddow Show is the second highest-rated program in its time slot ahead of Larry King Live, behind only Fox News Channel’s Sean Hannity Show. Whether or not they dig the liberal pundit, viewers who tune in certainly are enlightened on why crucial change in jobs, healthcare, housing and hunger are occurring so slowly – with a mirror held up to the GOP.

4. Asmaa Mahfouz

Call it the vlog that sparked a revolution – and it was delivered by one Egyptian woman who had had enough. Thousands fled to Tahrir Square, the Egyptian government tried to block Facebook and you know the rest. One of  five recipients awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in 2011, Asmaa Mahfouz went from relative obscurity to overnight becoming a hero, credited with spurring on that mass uprising. So many who watched her on YouTube were moved by her bravery. As one wrote: “Asmaa, you have inspired the whole world with your strength of spirit and courage. As you know, governments don’t speak for the people; Governments usually speak only for the rich and powerful. ” Hopefully, she can lend the same courage to combating the systematic violence against women in post-revolution Egypt – where journalists and protesters are stripped and brutalized in the same streets where women risked their lives to effect change.

5. Maude Barlow

“Do not listen to those who say there is nothing you can do to the very real and large social and environmental issues of our time,” warns Maude Barlow, a charismatic Canadian who serves as national chairperson of the Council of Canadians and the Washington-based Food and Water Watch. She also founded the San Francisco-based International Forum on Globalization and a Councilor with the Hamburg-based World Future Council. Barlow practices what she preaches when it comes to water woes and climate change issues – earning 11 honorary doctorates and countless awards including the 2005 Right Livelihood Award (alternative Nobel) and the 2009 Earth Day Canada Outstanding Environmental Achievement Award. More recently, she was named the U.N Senior Advisor on Water Issues – the ideal person to convince governments that clean water is a fundamental legal human right that must be preserved through laws and immediate action.

6. Meg Ryan

It would be cliche to describe this former “Sally” as the quintessential girl next door (since it has been done repeatedly) as now she is a full fledged woman, who seeks to empower the disadvantaged – exporting good will to the third world. Ryan’s four-day trip across northern India with CARE signaled she has entered another phase of stardom, getting comfortable in her own skin to “hold hands” with some of the world’s most disadvantaged women. Ryan, like other Hollywood do-gooders (Oprah, Sandra Bullock, Angelina Jolie, Christina Applegate, Isabella Rossellini) has the gift of visibility; wherever she goes the cameras follow and that leads to public awareness.

7. Michelle Goldberg
 

Former Senior writer for Salon and current author and Senior Contributing Writer for The Daily Beast and Newsweek, Goldberg counters the radical extremism of the Michelle Bachmann’s of the world in pushing for reproductive freedom for women and affordable healthcare for all – in addition to other progressive platforms. Her first book, Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism was a New York Times bestseller and a finalist for the 2007 New York Public Library Helen Bernstein Award for Excellence in Journalism. More recently she made a solid platform in her Feminist Case for Flawed Reform – penning a manifesto of sorts  which puts forth the inequities of the health-insurance system and how legislation will further erode abortion coverage for women – a major step backward for reproductive rights. Yet feminists should support it anyway, she argues: “More than 17 million women are uninsured, and millions more are under-insured. Women are more likely to rely on their spouse’s insurance coverage leaving them vulnerable if they’re divorced or widowed, if their husband becomes old enough to qualify for Medicare or if their partner’s employer decides to drop dependent coverage, which is happening with increasing frequency.”

8. Kate Stohr

Grassroots design for the greater good is what Architecture For Humanity envisions. So with that, Stohr and co-founder, Cameron Sinclair, endeavored to direct $4 million in disaster relief and rebuilding in post-Katrina New Orleans and tsunami ravaged Southeast Asia. What started as a humanitarian non-profit has expanded into an international force with 40 chapters on five continents which networks with local partners to develop innovative models in sustainable and humanitarian design solutions. No wonder she was named one of the great green giants by Tree Hugger as well as being honored as the recipient of Wired magazine’s 2006 Rave Award for Architecture. A former journalist, she has tapped her background in project management, website development and deep understanding of urban planning issues as managing director of AFH. Smart urban planning might be the very thing that saves cities, as well as denizens who will be facing increasing shortages in resources as the U.S. continues to be late to the plate when it comes to taking action.

9. Anita Acevedo

Warm healing hands as insight into the body over western meds and cutting? Acevedo is booked months in advance as word has spread that this rolfer and former family therapist offers the integrated alternative approach to modern medicine with a track record of healing patients with herniated disks, pinched nerves, drop foot injuries, and all other debilitating neurological and physical impairments brought on by activity or age. She also has aided infants suffering from chronic earaches and colic and children with ADD, scoliosis and autism as well as teens dealing with anxiety and hormonal shifts. The fact the southerner practices in Marin County is further testament to her positioning herself in the hub of the naturopathic and homeopathic revolution in health care – teaming with psychotherapists and other well known practitioners like Dr. Todd Maderis to take away acute pain. It all was born of her own healing when she was an endurance athlete in Alaska competing in 100 mile adventure races that took a toll. “My body was compressed, achy, tight and off balance with chronic pain in my low back and my jaw was so tight I was experiencing migraines,” she recalls. “Through Dr. Rolf’s life study of manipulating and organizing connective tissue, I became taller, more flexible and graceful. Many of the unresolved childhood traumas I had been processing began to be uncovered as my body unfolded and opened.”

10. Laura Kimpton

Her mammoth Burning Man installations  go beyond her highly collected montages and encaustic works to spread messages such as “MOM” and “LOVE” and “OINK.” Her book Who Gave Birth that came out in 2010 was described by the Northern California artist as “a celebration of all MOMS and the feminine energy that comprises the true understanding that the original MOM is the earth.” Kimpton salvages recycled objects for her mixed media – found objects, bird skulls, original photos, picture frames, books and resin to let her creativity take flight. If you consider art to be effective communication, then you can see how one persuasive Kimpton picture is worth a thousand words.

Image: Perfecto Insecto, Lilianwagdy, Laura Kimpton, CARE, Architect, Council of Canadians, Paulagordon, RolfingMarin, NYDailyNews

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People tweet about how Planned Parenthood changed their lives.

Friday night, one of the remaining issues on the table before an uneasy truce prevented a government shutdown was Planned Parenthood funding.  Ultimately, to avoid halting government services, Planned Parenthood funding – which accounts for less than 1 percent of the total budget – survives to be debated another day.

This weekend, people on Twitter are voicing many opinions on both sides of the issue, ranging from staunch support for the organization to outright hatred for its very existence. Many have had the misguided belief that government funds for Planned Parenthood pay for abortion services (they don’t), and others seem to believe Senate Minority Jon Kyl’s assertion that abortions are 90% of what Planned Parenthood does. He has since retracted that statement, and the facts show that abortions account for about 3% of their total services. (The Washington Post has an infographic that accurately depicts what Planned Parenthood actually does.)

However, through all the #plannedparenthood argument clutter emerged many comments from both women and men whose lives were impacted by Planned Parenthood (and not due to abortions). Here are their stories:

NicoleBell @queenofspain I had a pre-cancerous tumor caught and treated, thanks to #PlannedParenthood. My life and my kids owe them everything.

Mahmeme @cecilyk My name is Amy & I used #PlannedParenthood to get the pill when I worked at a Catholic health system who’s insurance wouldn’t cover.

tarastantrums My name is Tara and #PlannedParenthood diagnosed my PCOS when #mayo doctors couldn’t figure it out. @QueenofSpain

alectoincarnate I am a woman who has gone to #plannedparenthood since I was 16 for my annual check-ups & birth control…

chelseatalks Me 2! “@sharonburton: My name is Sharon and I used #PlannedParenthood in my 20s and 30s for basic health care @speakerboehner. #keepitgoing”

tubaville I’ve used #plannedparenthood to monitor my health because no insurance company will cover me after uterine cancer @SpeakerBoehner #passiton

Colo_kea #raiseyourhand First gyn exam (21) was #PlannedParenthood. No insurance/money -never thought could go to “doctor” http://raiseyourhand.org/

sitarmdas I’m Sitaram Das, I’m male, and I’ve used #PlannedParenthood services.

improvperson My Name is Katie and I’ve used #plannedparenthood #duh #happymomofthree

WhetherWhatever My name is Avery and I have used services at #PlannedParenthood. Don’t cut federal funding for those with no health care.

wingwit @speakerboehner I am Carolyn and I am one of the 1 in 5 US women who has been helped by #PlannedParenthood #keepitgoing #PPNYCAction

cvharquail RT @jonniker: #plannedparenthood was there for me in 1 of darkest times of my life, & has earned my respect. Unlike many of you, congress.

lauradstead My name is Laura and I used #plannedparenthood for oral contraception & reproductive health as a teen. W/O #PP I may have been a teen mom.

sammidoll #plannedparenthood is safe for now. for all you conservative idiots, i’ve personally used it for health care and preventatives #notabortion

AshleySieb #PlannedParenthood saves lives. I’m proof and I will always fight for the the education and services the org. provides young woman and men.

NonaNelson @Cecilyk I’m Nona & I went to Planned Parenthood for birth control because I didn’t have insurance or it wasn’t covered.

thatkristen The best (and cheapest) women’s health care I ever got was at #plannedparenthood.

andreagrimes I’m Andrea and #PlannedParenthood gave me support, care and resources when I was scared to talk to my parents about sex. @speakerBoehner

purplecrazies @Cecilyk I’m Laura and I went to Planned Parenthood for annual check ups in college because I couldn’t trust Student Health.

andrewpatner My name is Andrew and I’ve used #PlannedParenthood @speakerboehner, RT if you have too #keepitgoing @PPNYCAction

BeingMama @Cecilyk For years, the only way I afforded pelvic exams was through Planned Parenthood. Poor women’s health care is at stake.

awkwardlysocial @cecilyk and @queenofspain #plannedparenthood was my only doctor’s office while I had no insurance. UTIs are pretty painful if untreated…

noluckalaskan @Cecilyk: My name is melissa, and I’ve used #PlannedParenthood services. Consequently, my parenthood’s been planned.

starshollowgzt @CasualWednesday @QueenofSpain PP saved my life in ’71, found a pre-cancerous ovarian tumor on a routine check up

KAIZENcoach As a young woman I received the BEST care from #PlannedParenthood in contrast to private suburban M.D.’S that did not @queenofspain

karenebayne @QueenofSpain My husband and I got married very young & broke. We used #plannedparenthood to get our blood tests and birth control pills.

Cecilyk Again, with hashtag: My name is Cecily, and I have used services at #PlannedParenthood. Will again, thanks to no health insurance.

Along with these personal stories was a wave of tweets for Speaker Boehner with this message: My name is [insert name here], and I’ve used #PlannedParenthood @speakerboehner, RT if you have too.

image: clockworknate

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A common form of illusion occurs when content is seen without context. Take, for example, how we perceive the size of an object. When we see an image of, say, an apple, on its own, without another object to compare it to, we mentally assign a certain size to the fruit based on our past experience with apples. If it looks really ripe and juicy and colorful, then we see a nice, big apple. But place it next to an extra-large orange and we see a different truth: our apple may in fact be very small. Compare the apple and the orange and the illusion is shattered.

I remember the first time I visited Cairo. I was still in my teens, and coming from the Midwestern United States I was immediately stunned by, among so many things, the masses of people and the poverty relative to the States. I had the sudden realization that most of the world lived more like this and not the way I lived back home. Illusion shattered.

Think about how you live and then visit ifitweremyhome.com. We introduced this site to you last last year to give you some idea about the size of the BP oil spill (“The Oil Spill Next Door: Size Matters”). We told how, with a click of your mouse, you could place a template of the map of the spill over your hometown – voilà, context. (From where I sit, near San Francisco, the damage engulfs Lake Tahoe and reaches all the way to Reno. That was one big apple.)

The site, developed by Andy Lintner and designed by Annette Calabrese, now has more to look at with a robust system that allows for the comparison of where and how you live to the farthest reaches of our planet. (The “disasters” function now also includes last summer’s devastating Pakistan flood.) In just a few minutes you’ll be able to do some serious work on the get-some-perspective front by doing things like this: Click U.S. Click Egypt. Learn many things, like if you were born in Egypt instead of the United States, you would use an average of 89.64 percent less electricity.

Here are 10 more U.S.-to-the-other-guys comparisons (based on averages) that’ll take the shine off of some of your illusions:

1. In South Korea, you would have a 55.91 better percent chance at being employed.
2. In Russia, you would die 12.08 years sooner.
3. In Morocco, you would make 90.09 percent less money.
4. In Germany, you would have 40.64 percent less babies.
5. In Romania, you would be 83.33 percent less likely to have HIV/AIDS.
6. In Canada, you would spend 45.33 percent less money on health care.
7. In Norway, you would experience 44.44 percent less of a class divide.
8. In Australia, you would have a 23.94 percent less chance of dying in infancy.
9. In China, you would consume 90. 43 percent less oil.
10. In France, you would have 17.92 percent more free time.

“The lottery of birth is responsible for much of who we are,” says the site’s homepage. It then asks the questions: “If you were not born in the country you were, what would your life be like? Would you be the same person?” Good questions, to be sure. How about this one: If you are who you are, but become better informed about the experiences of others with whom you share the planet, would you do anything differently?

Image: Dano

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With a science-hostile Congress moving into Washington next month, now – before reactionary attempts to turn back the nascent clock – is a good time to revisit the benefits of stem cell research.

By way of a quick review, work here in the United States is still in a relatively embryonic stage, so to speak, as it was only in March 2009 that President Barack Obama issued Executive Order 13505 – “Removing Barriers to Responsible Scientific Research Involving Human Stem Cells.” The EO revoked one signed by President George W. Bush in 2007, as well as Presidential statement in 2001 that limited federal funding of research involving human embryonic stem cells. Obama’s order instructed the Director of NIH to “develop guidelines for the support and conduct of responsible, scientifically worthy human stem cell research, including human embryonic stem cell research, to the extent permitted by law.”

It’s that last bit about the law where the new Congress has the ability to stop and reverse forward motion. Here’s a primer on the progress and opportunities we stand to lose if backward thinkers have their way:

1.  Cures for common diseases

Topping the list is the role that stem cell research and regenerative medicine might – most researchers, in fact, say will likely – play in developing cures for disease that might otherwise be incurable. (Note that: otherwise incurable.) Here’s a short list:

• Parkinson’s Disease
• Alzheimer’s Disease
• Heart Diseases
• Diabetes
• Cancer

Know anyone suffering from something on this list? Most people do. And how about this recent headline from the peer-reviewed journal Blood, a publication of the American Society of Hematology: “Evidence for the cure of HIV infection by CCR5 32/32 stem cell transplantation.” Know what that means? Yeah. The AFP reported this just yesterday: “A US cancer patient who received a stem cell transplant has been cured of HIV.” Stay tuned on this one.

2. Reversing birth defects

Studies are showing that by injecting stem cells directly into the brain, neural birth defects may be reversible. This research into treating birth defects is pretty new, but teams have been developing therapies for rodents with real or simulated birth defects in the brain, says MIT’s Technology Review. “Even though most of the transplanted cells did not survive, they induced the brain’s own cells to carry out extensive repairs.”

3. Repairing stroke damage

Science Daily reports that according to a new study by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine, neural cells from human embryonic stem cells “helped repair stroke-related damage in the brains of rats and led to improvements in their physical abilities after a stroke.” This is big news. “The great thing about these cells is that they are available in unlimited supply and are very versatile,” said a senior scientist on the project. “The neural cells the group generated grew indefinitely in the lab and could be an ongoing source of cells for treating stroke or other injuries.”

4. Dealing with spinal cord injuries

Just this fall, a patient suffering from a spinal cord injury was injected with two million human embryonic stem cells. “The hope,” says CBS News Healthwatch, is that “one day this treatment may help the paralyzed walk again.” The procedure took place at the Shepherd Center spinal cord and brain injury rehabilitation facility in Atlanta. The idea is that the cells will become specialized nerve cells which can then be injected directly into the injured area of the spinal cord.  If the treatment works, the progenitor cells will produce new oligodendrocytes (cells that produce myelin, which allows impulses to move along nerves) in the injured area of the patient’s spine, allowing for new movement.

5. Organ repair and replacement

Growing whole organs and critical tissue is a seemingly sci-fi scenario that’s a lot closer than we think – with the help of stem cell research. This new technology could make possible “a virtually inexhaustible supply of organ replacements, thereby doing away with the need to wait for organ donors and removing the risk of rejection.” Entire hearts, lungs, etc., aside, tissue generation has an entire host of curative possibilities.

6. Burn victim relief

Here’s an area where there’s already been a significant payoff as cultivated stem cells are today being used to generate skin grafts. Also, patients whose eyes have been damaged in chemical accidents have had their sight restored using their own stem cells. Embryonic stem cell research plays a significant role helping scientists understand and put to use adult stem cells, as well.

7. Developing new drugs

New drugs can be tested on stem cells to test safety before testing on humans, or even animals, for that matter. In fact, as CNN reports, some researchers are saying embryonic stem cells could end animal testing altogether. Says one expert, “It could save a lot of time and effort of taking the wrong drugs through, or it may allow drugs through which are lost at an early stage, because they affect the animal cells but don’t have an effect on human cells.”

8. (If the science isn’t enough) It’s the economy, stupid

States that support stem cell research have seen significant corporate investment and job creation. Estimates in California, for example, are that $1 billion in investment in stem cell research is not unreasonable. The commercial potential is overwhelming, according those who are in the business.

9. It’s the economy, stupid II

Oh, and don’t we have a little problem with healthcare expenditures in this country? Don’t most experts believe that the amount of money we’re paying out as a society for the sick and dying is going to bankrupt us if action is not taken? How about more healthy people? Seems like something we should be looking into.

10. (If the economics isn’t enough) It’s just the right thing to do

Stem cell research is inherently innovative and efficient, and a practical and a conscious demonstration of caring for those who are sick. These people are not only taxing the system, but they are taxing themselves and their families with trauma and anguish. Scientific progress and human quality of life are inexorably linked in our times and acting to improve and care for the entire system, the whole connected fabric of our existence, is a moral imperative. Consider that more than 100 million Americans suffer from ailments and diseases that may be cured with embryonic stem cell therapy. Alleviating human suffering. It’s the right thing to do.

Image: kaibara87

The post 10 Reasons Not to Turn Our Backs on Stem Cell Research appeared first on EcoSalon.

Herbal remedies marketed to pets might actually be dangerous to your dog or cat. Obviously, we prefer to give our animals natural herbs when possible. Our companion animals’ bodies work different from ours, and some products that work for people are toxic to pets. But with hundreds of “natural” or “herbal” options, how do you know which ones are truly safe?

The first place to start is with your veterinarian. There are even holistic vets who can help evaluate your pet’s condition and determine the best natural course of action. When you’re out shopping, read labels thoroughly and consult with the sales staff at holistic stores. But buyer, beware: Some of the commonly marketed products are ineffective and even dangerous.

Here are some of the most commonly recommended natural treatments that are actually toxic to dogs and cats:

• Pennyroyal oil is recommended as a natural flea repellent but is highly toxic to dogs. In addition to skin problems and allergic reactions, in concentrated doses, it can kill.
• Comfrey is suggested for bone health and conditions like hip dysplasia and arthritis. However, it can damage your pet’s liver and has been banned from use in Canada.
• Tea tree oil, touted as the skin-problem solution for cats, is highly toxic to cats, dogs, and other small animals.
• Garlic works as a natural insect repellent. However, in large doses, it’s toxic to both dogs and cats, causing anemia or even death. The jury is out on whether or not garlic can be used safely, but with the toxic potential, why risk it?

Image: Smoobs

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A new study has found that the American health care sector accounts for 8 percent of the country’s carbon dioxide emissions.

The study, conducted by University of Chicago researchers and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, measured how much carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases the health care industries (hospitals, scientific research, pharmaceuticals, etc) released. It is the first-of-its-kind calculation of health care’s carbon footprint.

Using the environmental input-output life cycle assessment (EIOLCA) model of environmental impact developed by the Green Design Institute at Carnegie-Mellon University, the researchers were able to determine exactly how much health care activities directly and indirectly affected the environment.

Not surprisingly, hospitals release the largest amount of carbon emissions, mainly due to their high energy needs for temperature control, ventilation and lighting in large and often aging and poorly structured hospital buildings. But interestingly, the second largest contributor of carbon emissions was the pharmaceutical industry, primarily because of associated manufacturing and transportation.

While the researchers realize that hospitals and pharmaceutical companies are more concerned with treating people than the environment, they hope that the results of this study will encourage them to look at ways of providing health care and researching and developing drugs in a more environmentally friendly way.

Image: tacitrequiem

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