Here’s the Bush economy for you…
In the District, the richest families had incomes 12 times higher than the poorest ones early this decade, compared with seven times higher in the troubled economy of the early 1980s. The major reason for the widening gap: The highest incomes are growing more sharply than the lowest ones. Incomes at the top fifth rose 81 percent during those two decades, to an average of $157,700. Those at the bottom went up 3 percent, to an average of $12,700.
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The current discovery, reported in today’s issue of the journal Nature in a paper signed by 73 researchers, took advantage of a relatively new technique called gravitational microlensing, based on Einstein’s precept that light from a distant star is bent by the gravitational pull of intervening stars, or other large bodies, on its way toward Earth.
The “lensing incident” distorts the incoming starlight, causing it to brighten for about a month. If the intervening star has an orbiting planet — even a small one — it will cause a supplemental “blip” in brightness. To analyze these planets, astronomers must observe the microlensing event continuously for as long as it lasts.
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PFOA — a key processing agent in making nonstick and stain-resistant materials — has been linked to cancer and birth defects in animals and is in the blood of 95 percent of Americans, including pregnant women. It has also been found in the blood of marine organisms and Arctic polar bears.
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“This is one of those days when the Environmental Protection Agency is at its best. With its announcement today, the EPA is challenging an entire industry to err on the side of precaution and public safety, and invent new ways of doing business,” said Ken Cook, president of the Environmental Working Group, an advocacy organization. “As harshly as we have singled out DuPont for criticism for its past handling of PFOA pollution, today we want to single out and commend the company and acknowledge its leadership going forward.”
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‘An Inconvenient Truth’ Documents His Efforts To Raise Alarm on Effects of Global Warming
Among the film’s lessons: Earth’s glaciers are melting, the polar bears are screwed, each year sets new heat records. Al Gore sometimes flies coach. He also schleps his own bags.
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