health

As New York Skies Darken, Delivery Workers Help Each Other

June 9, 2023 Luis Feliz Leon, Labor Notes. Organize! health, Mutual Aid, New York City (NYC), Wildfires

Wildfire smoke muddled the New York City skyline on Tuesday. Many people experienced the eerie threat mainly by scrolling through social media. But others experienced it in their bodies. “My eyes were burning,” said UPS package driver Matt Leichenger, who was making deliveries in Brooklyn. “My throat was scratchy. By lunchtime, I was feeling dizzy and nauseous.” Eventually, he got himself a surgical mask, he said, pausing momentarily to cough while we spoke on the phone. “It got a little bit better, but I was still blowing snot.” News stories showed a veil of smoke stretching from Wisconsin to Alabama—but UPS didn’t say anything to its workers.

Makers Of PFAS ‘Forever Chemicals’ Covered Up Health Risks

June 8, 2023 Cristen Hemingway Jaynes, EcoWatch. Educate! Corporatism, Coverup, health, PFAS

Makers of PFAS (per and polyfluoroalkyl substances) “forever chemicals” have a lot to hide. Exposure to the toxic compounds — found in everything from nonstick cookware and personal care products, like shampoo and dental floss, to waterproof rain gear — has been shown to cause cancer, thyroid disease, liver damage and fertility issues. Recently, previously secret chemical industry documents were analyzed by researchers from the University of California San Francisco (UCSF). They found that chemical manufacturers had used tactics previously employed by the tobacco industry to suppress their knowledge of the health hazards caused by PFAS exposure, a press release from UCSF said.

Activists Demand Better Scrutiny Of Israeli Occupation’s Impact On Health

June 5, 2023 WHO Watch Team, People's Dispatch. Resist! health, Israel, Occupation, Palestine, The Nakba, WHO

As the World Health Organization (WHO) celebrated its 75th anniversary, the world also commemorated the 75th anniversary of the Nakba, which resulted in the forceful displacement of close to 800,00 Palestinians. The 76th World Health Assembly, held in Geneva from May 21-30, saw WHO members adopt a decision urging the Director-General to continue monitoring and reporting on the health conditions in Palestine. The decision received 76 votes in favor, 13 votes against, and 35 abstentions, which was similar to the voting patterns of previous years. Countries such as Zimbabwe, Cuba, Lebanon, Venezuela, and Sudan expressed concern about the health conditions in Palestine and stressed the importance of monitoring the health situation in the occupied territories.

Nonprofit Takes A Big-Picture Approach To Playspace Inequity

June 3, 2023 Amanda Loudin, Next City. Create! Children, Equity, health, wealth inequality

Researchers have been documenting the benefits of outdoor playtime for years, demonstrating it leads to improved cognitive ability, fights childhood obesity, improves mental health and promotes social skills. Yet, for far too many children, safe, well-designed playspaces are sorely lacking. This phenomenon is called playspace inequity, and it has lasting, detrimental effects on primarily Black and Brown communities in the United States. Cities around the country are recognizing the importance of playspace inequity as a public health issue, particularly as families emerge from a pandemic with wide-ranging physical and mental health impacts.

Norfolk Southern Won’t Clean Up Their Mess Unless We Make Them

May 31, 2023 Maximillian Alvarez, In These Times. Educate! East Palestine, Environmental Destruction, health, Norfolk Southern, Ohio, Railroads

It’s been over 100 days since the catastrophic derailment of a Norfolk Southern train carrying over 100,000 gallons of toxic materials occurred in East Palestine, Ohio, on Feb 3. Since then, residents of East Palestine and the surrounding area in Ohio and Pennsylvania have had their lives turned completely upside down. Entire families have been uprooted from their homes, with many having to live in hotels or wherever they can find shelter, unable to return home out of fear of exposure to chemicals that were spilled into the water and soil from the derailment and spewed into the air from Norfolk Southern’s “controlled burn” of the vinyl chloride contained within multiple derailed train cars.

People’s Health Tribunal Finds Shell And Total Energy Guilty

May 25, 2023 People's Health Dispatch. Resist! Africa, health, Mozambique, Niger Delta, Oil and Gas, Shell Oil, Total Energy

A panel of environmental and human rights activists acted as judges in a People’s Health Tribunal organized by African communities impacted by the operations of extractive corporations Shell and Total Energy. Supported by organizations like Medact, We the People, the People’s Health Movement, #STOPEACOP, and others, they found the corporations guilty of harming the health of people across Africa. Nnimmo Bassey, Jacqueline Patterson, Kanahaus Manuel, and Dimah Mahmoud condemned Shell and Total’s activities, stating that they were “extremely harmful to the livelihoods, health, right to shelter, quality of life, right to live in dignity, quality of environment, right to live free of discrimination and oppression, right to clean water, and right to self-determination.”

This Food Bank Is Bringing A HelloFresh Approach To Its Pantry

May 16, 2023 Cinnamon Janzer, Next City. Create! Food and Agriculture, Food Banks, health, Wisconsin

The Fritz Food Pantry in Madison prides itself on providing a wide variety of foods and ingredients to accommodate as many diets, allergies and food preferences as possible. Their approach speaks not just to the continuing hunger crisis exacerbated by the pandemic; food pantries like The Fritz have also been shown to have an important influence on the dietary health of their customers. But just because a variety of healthy foods and ingredients are offered doesn’t mean that every visitor has the ability to put recipes together at home. So Abby Warfel, a volunteer turned part-time pantry assistant, had an idea: assembling step-by-step, HelloFresh-inspired meal kits.

The Toxic Legacy Of US Foreign Policy In Vieques, Puerto Rico

April 30, 2023 Monisha Rios, Black Agenda Report. Educate! health, Puerto Rico, Wars and Militarism, Women's Rights

Puerto Ricans had no say in the U.S. war of conquest with Spain over its colonial possessions or in the Treaty of Paris that dictated they were to become the property of a new empire. The United States acted according to a well-crafted strategic narrative of white saviorism and American exceptionalism without concern for the people whose land it stole. It wanted to further its control to the south and east via its expansionist foreign policy – and it needed to extend military power beyond its violently acquired borders to do so; the Monroe Doctrine of 1823, known as the cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy, provided the impetus.

Increased Wellness And Economic Return Of Universal Broadband

April 29, 2023 Ry Marcattilio-McCracken, Institute for Local Self-Reliance. Create! Broadband, health, rural communities, The South

The Southern Rural Black Women’s Initiative (SRBWI) in partnership with the Institute for Local Self-Reliance Community Broadband Networks initiative present Increased Wellness and Economic Return of Universal Broadband Infrastructure: A Telehealth Case Study of Ten Southern Rural Counties. As the title suggests, the report has particular relevance for Black women living in rural broadband deserts, detailing how universal, affordable, broadband infrastructure would return $43 million per year using telehealth across 10 counties in the Black Belt of Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi. In addition to demonstrating how robust broadband infrastructure could pay for itself in short order, the report highlights how investments in broadband would open up untold access to healthcare, educational opportunities, economic development, community engagement, and other benefits along the way.

Monsanto’s Evil Is Not Gone, It’s Just In Disguise

April 18, 2023 Lee Camp, Mintpress News. Resistance Report Bayer, health, India, Monsanto

Monsanto has been voted the evilest corporation in the world several times over. Yet, we don’t hear anything about them now. What happened? Did they complete the evil? Did they retire after all their evil wrapped up? No, not so much. Monsanto was one of the most hated companies in the Americas. There were protests just a few years ago, attracting hundreds of thousands into the streets – which is not easy to do. The most shocking thing was that at Monsanto’s lowest point, even the mainstream media started revealing the truth. Here’s from Reuters ten years ago: Monsanto’s genetically modified seeds and the resulting crops have damaged public and environmental health and destroyed traditional farming communities all over the world.

The Toxic Legacy Of The Nuclear Age

April 11, 2023 Alice Slater, Peace and Planet News. Educate! climate crisis, Environment, health, Indigenous Sovereignty, Nuclear Waste

The world is awash in radioactive waste. We simply haven’t a clue where to put it. The best we have come up with in the United States is a harebrained scheme to ship the lethal carcinogenic garbage from nuclear weapons and civilian nuclear power plants, by rail and by truck, from the four corners of the continent, and bury it in a hole in the ground in Nevada at Yucca Mountain. Citizens groups, like the proverbial boy with his finger in the dike, have been holding off the onslaught of this devastating disposal solution, preventing the legislation from passing in the Congress. Deadly plutonium remains toxic for 250,000 years and there is no way of guaranteeing that the Yucca site could prevent radioactive seepage into the ground water over this unimaginable period of time.

The State Of East Palestine, Ohio From The Eyes Of A Local

March 22, 2023 Katie F., The Real News. Educate! East Palestine, health, pollution, Railroads

Timothea is a long-time resident of East Palestine, Ohio and a victim of the Norfolk Southern train derailment. The train transporting toxic chemicals was 150 cars-long, 20-25% longer than the average length of trains in 2017, and it was operated by three conductors, with only 4 paid sick days each– just half of the national average. Of course, the release of 100,000 gallons of chemicals into a town only 3 square miles in size might have been avoided had our so-called “socialist” leaders fought for the rights of the railroad workers to secure a more favorable contract that was already years overdue. Now, Timothea and her community are stuck with the consequences.

Urgent: Imprisoned Diplomat Alex Saab’s Life Is In Danger

March 19, 2023 Free Alex Saab, Popular Resistance. Resist! Alex Saab, health, Human Rights, Kidnapping, Political Prisoner, US Sanctions

Today the Free Alex Saab Movement makes an urgent call to the world to denounce the alarming health condition of Venezuelan diplomat Alex Saab, which endangers his life. In July 2021, the Working Group against Torture and several UN rapporteurs expressed their concern about the irreparable deterioration of Alex Saab's health condition. Let us recall that in Cape Verde, on July 7, 2021, after many refusals, Alex Saab was visited by his family doctor, who in his report detected a worrying health condition of the Venezuelan official, especially because Saab is a stomach cancer survivor.

The Filthy Emissions Of Railroad Locomotives

March 14, 2023 Sarah Lazare, Workday Magazine. Organize! health, Railroad, Unions, Worker Rights and Jobs

After working as a rail crew transportation driver for nearly 13 years, Larry Hopkins says he is starting to worry about his health. “Every day that I work, I’m being exposed to the diesel fumes that are bad for our communities,” says the 56-year-old who was born in Blytheville, Arkansas, and now lives on the southwest side of Chicago. Hopkins works for Hallcon Corporation driving railroad crews, conductors, and engineers to and from rail yards and hotels. His primary pickup and drop-off point used to be Corwith Yard, southwest Chicago’s massive intermodal rail yard that was once the largest in the world.

Empty Tables

March 13, 2023 Beverly Gologorsky, Tom Dispatch. Educate! Class Struggle, Food and Agriculture, Food Insecurity, health, SNAP Program

My long-dead father used to say, “Every human being deserves to taste a piece of cake.” Though at the time his words meant little to me, as I grew older I realized both what they meant, symbolically speaking, and the grim reality they disguised so charmingly. That saying of his arose from a basic reality of our lives then — the eternal scarcity of food in our household, just as in so many other homes in New York City’s South Bronx where I grew up. This was during the 1940s and 1950s, but hunger still haunts millions of American households more than three-quarters of a century later.

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