Science writer Susan Freinkel chronicles the rise of plastic in consumer culture â and its effects on the environment and our health â in Plastic: A Toxic Love Story. Freinkel says plastics leach potentially harmful chemicals into our bloodstream â and that scientists are now figuring out what that does to our bodies.
http://www.npr.org/2011/04/19/135245835/our-toxic-love-hate-relationship-with-plastics?sc=fb&cc=fp
"Attorneys general in all 50 states are investigating improper foreclosure procedures that may cause sweeping consequences for the banks and institutions that bought mortgage-backed securities during the housing boom — and affect the cases of thousands of homeowners facing eviction.
Since the housing bust two years ago, when millions of homeowners fell behind on their loans, the foreclosure industry has grown into a multibillion-dollar business. To deal with the thousands of defaulted loans needing to be processed, banks relied on thousands of temporary employees who often had little experience and training to handle the foreclosure paperwork.
This resulted in many mistakes being made throughout the foreclosure process. Reports of sloppy documentation — including the questionable notarization of documents, the loss of key paperwork needed to begin foreclosure proceedings and missing paperwork on original mortgages — temporarily halted foreclosure proceedings across much of the country in early October. It also triggered at least five separate federal investigations into the ways mortgage lenders have handled foreclosures.
On today’s Fresh Air, Gretchen Morgenson, who covers the world financial markets for The New York Times, untangles the complex foreclosure mess and explains the flawed paperwork trail that has led to the reexamination of hundreds of thousands of foreclosure cases."
From http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130835119&sc=tumblr&cc=freshair#
"I could have sworn we had heard the last of the great Toxic covers long before now. But French folkpop experimentalist Lozninger’s comprehensive melodic and tonal deconstruction of the otherwise over-covered tune turns the Britney Spears original into something delicious, almost unrecognizable, and not yet heard: swirling and moody, an underwater city draped with softly rippling seaweed." From http://coverlaydown.com/2009/07/new-artists-old-songs-mailbox-overflow-covers-of-britney-kanye-supertramp-johnny-cash-more/