"You must be the change you want to see in the world."
(Mathatma Gandhi)
"An error does not become truth by reason of multiplied propagation, nor does truth become error because nobody sees it. "
(Mohandas Gandhi)
"I believe that my handicap will only enhance my ability to help others. I know that without the suffering, the growth that I have achieved would have been impossible.' (Jerry Long, paraplegic)
"Linda S. Birnbaum, Ph.D., D.A.B.T., A.T.S., Named New Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Dr. Raynard S. Kington, acting director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), today announced the appointment of Linda S. Birnbaum, Ph.D., D.A.B.T., A.T.S., as director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). Dr. Birnbaum, who is currently a senior advisor at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), where she served for 16 years as director of the Experimental Toxicology Division, will begin her appointment in January 2009." (NIH Press Release)
This Washington Post article explains how the transition team is working to reverse some of Bush's policies quickly, including those that pertain to Environmental Protection Agency recommendations that have been ignored. We encourage our site visitors to visit President-elect Obama's website, www.change.gov, to learn more. Contact him with your story and concerns regarding our deteriorated, environmentally sick schools that are causing hidden epidemics of environmental diseases in school children / staff, at http://change.gov/page/content/americanmoment. As the only nonprofit with extensive information on the school mold issue, rest assured, we will add to your voice, as well (SMH).
"I am committed to pursuing greater funding for the EPA so that its responsibilities are carried out. Clean water, land and air, and ensuring the health and safety of our citizens, especially children, will be high priorities in an Obama Administration" (Presidential Candidate, Barack Obama, Oct., 2008)*.
Photo: Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama waves to the crowd at a rally in the rain at the University of Mary Washington,
An Iowa Dept of Health (DHS) services building has complaints of mold from its employees, following flooding. Four are ill. Yet Iowa's OSHA, typical of the national approach, doesn't seem to "get it". They obviously need the training that the GAO Audit on Mold recommends. Another example of the findings of the US GAO on Mold - the government has dropped the ball so badly that OSHA and health departments haven't got regulations or even rudimentary current information on mold and its dangers. "Mold is everywhere"? WRONG! Mold is not supposed to be growing in our buildings. Mold is not supposed to be emitting its poisonous toxins in our buildings. Dampness, which creates an overgrowth of mold and bacteria in buildings, is a proven public health threat - an accepted medical fact.People are not supposed to get sick in buildings.Sick building symptoms are becoming a silent epidemic in America. Apathy and ignorance is no excuse, when the information is available. (SMH)
Read about this Sacramento, CA State Board of Equalization mold-infested building that has sickened hundreds of employees, while over 2,300 still work in it. News stories have come out about this building for much of this year - and still, no help for all those in harm's way? Must someone become extremely ill to finally be protected, when it is possibly too late? This is the result of no laws that protect building occupants from dampness, molds and chemicals - all known exposures that harm. (SMH)
