by TheState.com
Daily Archives: 08/30/2012
400,000 and countingThat’s the number of consumers who’ve asked Trader Joe’s grocery to sell only meat raised without antibiotics. This tidal wave of support shows grocers and factory farmers that you DO want drugs out of food animals so we can better fight off antibiotic-resistant superbugs in our communities.
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1.2 million messages to lawmakers this year from consumer advocates like you! |
YOU showed us the moneyMany of you sent in photos of refund checks you got from insurance companies that wasted your money. We put together a quick, fun video featuring you and your money being reunited, thanks to a provision in the health care law that holds insurers accountable to you. But opponents still want to take away your right to a refund by gutting the law. Our video shows critics that the law works – cash doesn’t lie! Watch it now, Get antibiotics off your grill this Labor Day It can be tough shopping for meat raised without antibiotics, thanks to confusing labels and few grocers that carry a variety of no-antibiotic meat. Look for these labels so you know you’re really buying chicken, pork and beef without drugs. Can’t drive 55? How about 55 miles per gallon? That’s the new standard (54.5 mpg) required of all new cars starting in 2025, thanks to a strong push from those of you demanding better gas mileage. The new rules were just finalized, so check out details here. Fact Check: Health care law’s ‘cuts’ to Medicare You’ve likely heard politicians claim the Affordable Care Act is taking away Medicare benefits. We turned our fact checker on this claim and found out who is saving money (taxpayers), who is getting less money (health insurance companies), and who is getting more benefits (seniors). Check out the facts here. Planning on living forever? Sometimes it seems possible with all the new medical implants on the market. But surprisingly these devices are held to lower safety standards than prescription drugs. With your help we fought for new safety rules in Congress. Find out what we won, lost and what’s next.
Bank of America ends nasty practice after our report Arsenic in juice: More food testing on the way thanks to new grant Internet sloooow? Check the map to see if you’re left out of broadband coverage |
We’ll be delivering your petition signatures soon in a high profile way. If you haven’t joined our campaign, 
Did you know you can actually overdose on vitamins? Or that those ‘natural’ supplements may be anything but. Consumer Reports examines the 10 surprising dangers of vitamins and supplements in this month’s issue. 
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STOP DIABETES …
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The Blue Moon And Neil Armstrong: A Cosmic Wink?
by Judy Molland
The next full moon will be on Friday, August 31, and will be quite special because it is the second within the calendar month. (The first one was on August 1.) This full moon is called a ‘blue moon,’ and will happen in the U.S. at 9:58 am EDT, or 6:58 am PDT.
The time between one full moon and the next is close to the length of a calendar month. So the only time one month can have two full moons is when the first full moon happens in the first few days of the month. That means a blue moon has come to mean something rare. In fact, the next blue moon won’t happen until July 2015.
Can there be two blue moons in a single calendar year? Yes. It last happened in 1999. There were two full moons in January and two full moons in March and no full moon in February. So both January and March had blue moons.
The next year of double blue moons is coming up in 2018.
But wait, there’s more!
There are two other definitions for blue moon. It can be the third of four full moons in a single season. The Old Farmer’s Almanac defined a blue moon as an extra full moon that occurred in a season. One season – winter, spring, fall, summer – typically has three full moons. If a season has four full moons, then the third full moon may be called a blue moon.
The next blue moon by this definition will fall on August 21, 2013.
Or you might actually see a blue-colored moon one day, but it’s pretty unlikely. Unusual sky conditions can create them as they did in 1883, when an Indonesian volcano named Krakatoa exploded. Plumes of ash rose to the very top of Earth’s atmosphere. And the moon turned blue. Some of the ash-clouds were filled with particles about 1 micron (one millionth of a meter) wide–the right size to strongly scatter red light, while allowing other colors to pass. White moonbeams shining through the clouds emerged blue, and sometimes green.
But don’t be misled by the photo above. The secret to photos like these lies in special photographic filters.
What does all this have to do with Neil Armstrong?
Friday, the day of the blue moon, is also the day of a private funeral service for Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, who died last Saturday in Ohio at age 82.
Serendipitous timing!
Armstrong’s family has suggested paying tribute to him by looking at the moon and giving the astronaut a wink.
Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/the-blue-moon-and-neil-armstrong-a-cosmic-wink.html#ixzz252JAxBKs
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FYI … American Progress
Ohio coal miners lost a day’s pay after they were forced to attend a Romney rally on a “mandatory and unpaid” basis. The mine is owned by a major Romney donor.
Mitt Romney wants consumers to waste an extra $1.7 TRILLION on gas.
The Romney campaign laughs off a reporter’s question about their false and discredited welfare attacks.
As Hurricane Isaac bears down on New Orleans, a Romney campaign co-chair complains that the media is “obsessed with mother nature.”
The fact-free Romney campaign.
The mayor of Los Angeles had some sharp words for the GOP on immigration.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) is crying wolf on the Obama administration’s response to Hurricane Isaac.
Florida’s GOP voter suppression law brought voter registration to a standstill.
Wisconsin’s lieutenant governor backtracked on her criticism of Todd Akin after being told that Paul Ryan also tried to redefine rape: “I think there is a way to have a more forcible rape.”
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