The U.S. Department of Labor today announced its full commitment to implementing equal employment opportunity policies for all department employees and applicants. The policies ensure equal protections for all employees and applicants regardless of race; color; religion; national origin; sex, including pregnancy and gender identity; age; disability, whether physical or mental; genetic information; status as a parent; sexual orientation; or other non-merit factor. New, robust statements signed by Secretary Solis include updated policies on prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex, including gender identity and pregnancy. Secretary Solis strongly supports fair equal employment opportunity policies, and creating diversity and fairness in the workplace. "I am expressing my personal commitment to ensure that the U.S. Department of Labor is a model workplace, free from unlawful discrimination and harassment, which fosters a work environment that fully utilizes the capabilities of every employee," said Secretary Solis. "It is my goal that we achieve and maintain a high-quality, diverse workforce at all organizational levels throughout the department."
Secretary Solis strongly supports fair equal employment opportunity policies, and creating diversity and fairness in the workplace.
"I am expressing my personal commitment to ensure that the U.S. Department of Labor is a model workplace, free from unlawful discrimination and harassment, which fosters a work environment that fully utilizes the capabilities of every employee," said Secretary Solis. "It is my goal that we achieve and maintain a high-quality, diverse workforce at all organizational levels throughout the department."
Akron-based FirstEnergy says it thinks human error by contractors working on the Perry Nuclear Power plant led to higher-than-normal radiation readings Friday. Four workers were exposed and evacuated when their personal alarms detected the higher levels. The contractors were removing a piece of equipment from underneath the reactor, which is about 35 miles northeast of Cleveland along the Lake Erie shore.
Four workers were exposed and evacuated when their personal alarms detected the higher levels. The contractors were removing a piece of equipment from underneath the reactor, which is about 35 miles northeast of Cleveland along the Lake Erie shore.
A FirstEnergy spokeman says the highest dose was about like getting two or three X-rays. No big deal. But:
The plant experienced numerous safety problems several years ago, causing the NRC to monitor its safety operations every three months in 2005, when the plant was forced to shut down briefly because of problems with pumps that circulate coolant through the reactor's core.
And back to WKSU:
FirstEnergy is asking the regulatory commission to extend the life of Perry and its other nuclear plant in Ohio – Davis Besse – another 20 years beyond its original 40-year license.
It wasn't the five days of school potentially sliced from the 2011-'12 Hillsboro School District calendar that caught the eye of some school board members Tuesday night, it was a descriptor -- "winter break." Hillsboro School District may be one of few districts in the state that still refers to the time off around December 25 as Christmas break rather than winter break. So, when the 2011-'12 calendar, containing the words "winter break" was up for approval, it didn't get past long-time board members John Peterson and Hugh O'Donnell. Peterson, a lawyer, said the issue came up about eight years ago, and he researched it at the time, including legal citations, and concluded that Christmas no longer has a religious connotation.
Hillsboro School District may be one of few districts in the state that still refers to the time off around December 25 as Christmas break rather than winter break. So, when the 2011-'12 calendar, containing the words "winter break" was up for approval, it didn't get past long-time board members John Peterson and Hugh O'Donnell.
Peterson, a lawyer, said the issue came up about eight years ago, and he researched it at the time, including legal citations, and concluded that Christmas no longer has a religious connotation.
Does this mean that institutions and organizations devoted to worshipping the man celebrated on Christmas no longer should enjoy the tax-exempt status accorded to religious institutions and organizations?
Environmental groups in the state of Florida are working overtime this week in an attempt to stop a bill from passing the Florida Legislature that would give corporations the green light to destroy the environment. The bill, HB-991, would make it easier for corporations to obtain permits for things like mining, manufacturing, and razing an entire ecosystem for companies doing business in Florida. Audubon of Florida, 1000 Friends of Florida, the Sierra Club, the Florida Wildlife Federation, the Nature Conservancy and the National Parks Conservation Association have joined forces this week, urging people to make phone calls to their representatives in an effort to stop the bill. What makes that bill so dangerous is that it shifts environmental burdens from corporations to citizens. If passed by the Republican-controlled Florida legislature, the bill would no longer require a company to prove that their activities would not harm the environment or nearby residents. Instead, residents who say that companies are polluting or otherwise destroying the environment will have to prove to the state that these things are happening.
What makes that bill so dangerous is that it shifts environmental burdens from corporations to citizens. If passed by the Republican-controlled Florida legislature, the bill would no longer require a company to prove that their activities would not harm the environment or nearby residents. Instead, residents who say that companies are polluting or otherwise destroying the environment will have to prove to the state that these things are happening.
If concern for their children and grandchildren doesn’t move your Aunt Teabag and Uncle Dittohead, perhaps arachnophobia will?
And he links to LiveScience:
Climate change may give America's venomous brown recluse spiders a choice: Move to a more northern state or face dramatic losses in range and possible extinction, a new theoretical study suggests. Currently, brown recluse spiders are found in the interior of roughly the southeastern quarter of the continental United States. Researcher Erin Saupe used two ecological computer models to predict the extent of the spider's range in 2020, 2050 and 2080 given the effects of global warming. "The actual amount of suitable habitat of the brown recluse doesn't change dramatically in the future time slices, but what is changing is where that area is located," said Saupe, who was pursuing a master's degree at the University of Kansas when she did the work. She is now a doctoral student there.
Currently, brown recluse spiders are found in the interior of roughly the southeastern quarter of the continental United States. Researcher Erin Saupe used two ecological computer models to predict the extent of the spider's range in 2020, 2050 and 2080 given the effects of global warming.
"The actual amount of suitable habitat of the brown recluse doesn't change dramatically in the future time slices, but what is changing is where that area is located," said Saupe, who was pursuing a master's degree at the University of Kansas when she did the work. She is now a doctoral student there.
The states of Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Nebraska and South Dakota are duly warned.