Cadmium in Kids' Jewelry: 3 Ways to Stay Safe
January 18, 2010

Cadmium is an extremely toxic heavy metal. So what the heck is it doing in children's jewelry?

Children's jewelry was supposed to get safer after a federal ban on the use of toxic lead in charms and jewelry went into effect last year. But it's not illegal to make children's products out of cadmium, despite the fact that it's clearly dangerous. And now cadmium has shown up in inexpensive children's jewelry, barely one month after a scare that Zhu Zhu Pets, the "it" toy of the Christmas season, were contaminated with antimony. (The Zhu Zhu Pets turned out to be OK.)

The federal Consumer Product Safety Commission has launched a probe of this new cadmium-tainted bling, and politicians are rushing to extend the federal ban on lead in children's products to include cadmium. But in the meantime, parents are left wondering once again whether common and popular children's products are safe. The tainted pieces in this latest investigation were bought at stores including Walmart, Claire's, and a Dollar N More store. Almost all the charms were imported from China.

Cadmium can cause cancer and kidney problems but has rarely been associated with children's health issues because most poisonings happen in men who work in smelting ore or recycling batteries. "Hopefully, it's not going to become a health issue in pediatrics," says John Rosen, a lead expert at the Children's Hospital at Montefiore Medical Center in New York. But it looks as though he's going to have to add it to the list of potential problems, at least for now. His clinic staff shows parents a photo album of lead-contaminated jewelry, Rosen says. "We tell parents to stay out of dollar stores who sell those types of cheap trinkets."

Purging a child's toy chest, alas, isn't so easy. I'm well aware of the risks posed by children's jewelry made of lead; I write about toy safety and know that a 4-year-old Minneapolis boy died four days after swallowing a lead-tainted charm in 2006. But I naively thought that manufacturers wouldn't have replaced it with something equally toxic. Now I'm looking with suspicion at the charm necklace my daughter got as a gymnastics trophy. It might have to take a permanent vacation. Here's other advice from the pros on keeping cadmium, and lead, out of your child's life:

*Don't let children use or be given cheap metal costume jewelry. "Take the jewelry away," Inez Tenenbaum, the president of the CPSC, said yesterday in a new parent guide on the dangers of heavy metals in children's jewelry.

*If you think your child may have been playing with contaminated toys or jewelry for a month or longer, be "safe rather than sorry," and test your child for lead poisoning, Rosen says. Lead testing is a blood test done in pediatricians' offices and costs $10 to $15.

Home tests kits aren't reliable enough to test for lead in products in your home. If you're concerned, find a certified lead-testing professional through your state's health or environmental protection department. (I found the right site for my state by Googling "Maryland lead testing.")

*Realize that the vast majority of children's heavy-metal exposure comes not from toys but from lead paint in buildings built before 1978. The Environmental Protection Agency explains how to test your home for lead in paint, dust, or soil.

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Can a school lunch be offensive?
January 18, 2010

Denver Public Schools had planned to serve a "Southern-style" lunch in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Instead, it will be doling out ham/turkey chef salads and P&J; sandwiches, along with a sincere apology to the community.

The school district was going to provide a Southern-style meal in memory of Martin Luther King on January 15. The lunch would have been fried chicken, collard greens, sweet potatoes and a peach crisp, according to the Denver Post. A meal that some say is an offensive caricature of black culture.

"The plan to serve a Southern-style meal in recognition of Martin Luther King Day was well intentioned, but highly insensitive in light of certain hurtful cultural stereo types still harbored in parts of our society, according to a statement released by Denver Public Schools (DPS).

Jennifer Holladay, the mother of a Denver kindergartner and past director of Teaching Tolerance, had blown the whistle on the school after seeing its menu in December, according to the published report. Holladay, who is white and whose husband is black, said she had left messages with DPS food service to complain about the menu when she first spotted it.

Lecia Brooks, interim director at the Civil Rights Memorial Center in Montgomery, Ala., told the Denver Post reporter that reducing the honor for Martin Luther King to a chicken lunch is offensive.

Martin Luther King was believed to be a lover of "southern food," with a particular sweet tooth for pecan pie, according to several published reports.

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Conan's ratings soar
January 18, 2010

Longtime members of Jay Leno's TV staff spoke up for their boss, saying he's being wrongly cast as the bad guy in NBC's late-night upheaval.

"Any idea that Jay has forced the issue to get back on `The Tonight Show' is not true," said producer Jack Coen, who has worked with Leno for 14 years. "The network asked him to make a compromise. He's being a good soldier, and he's being trashed."

Leno, typically cast as an easygoing everyman, has faced online chatter and some reports suggesting he's wresting "Tonight" from Conan O'Brien. Tracie Fiss, a co-producer who has worked with Leno for 18 years, said her reaction to such characterizations is "frustration."

"Jay doesn't have the power to make these decisions. The decisions are made by NBC," she said.

Settlement talks continued Sunday on a deal that would let O'Brien leave NBC and "Tonight," and put Leno back into the 11:35 p.m. EST time slot he occupied for 17 years through last spring. NBC is dropping "The Jay Leno Show," his disappointing prime-time show that debuted last fall at 10 p.m.

A proposed deal would give O'Brien more than $30 million for leaving and allow him to go to another network as early as this fall, according to people familiar with the talks, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the negotiations.

After O'Brien rejected NBC's initial plan to move him and "Tonight" to midnight EST and give Leno a half-hour show at 11:30 p.m. EST, the flap became monologue fodder for them and for other late-night hosts. The exchanges, which grew increasingly pointed and with Leno often the target, have been widely reported.

Appearing by satellite last week for Leno's "Ten at Ten" question-and-answer segment, ABC's Jimmy Kimmel was asked to relate his best prank ever. Kimmel replied that he told a guy five years ago that he'd give him his show, and "then I took it back."

It was a thinly veiled reference to Leno's agreement in 2004 to surrender "The Tonight Show" to O'Brien last year.

Coen, who worked on "Tonight" with Leno and is a producer on Leno's prime-time show in charge of writing, said such barbed humor isn't unusual among comedians but contends it's being misinterpreted in news reports.

"It's interesting to be on this side of the story and see how it's being reported. They act as if he's the corporate lapdog but also the master marionette forcing these issues," Coen said.

If Leno emerges with "Tonight" but with his image scarred, it could have ramifications for him and his show.

Meanwhile, O'Brien's battle with his network certainly hasn't hurt his ratings. With his jabs at NBC network executives apparently resonating in a country filled with unemployed, viewership has soared.

"Tonight" ratings Friday were 50 percent higher than they've been this season, and O'Brien beat CBS' Letterman, according to a preliminary Nielsen Co. estimate based on large markets. In the 18-to-49-year-old demographic on which NBC relies to set advertising prices, O'Brien even beat Leno's prime-time show.

O'Brien's team sees the ratings as vindication. His manager, Gavin Polone, on Saturday compared it to when Leno, trailing Letterman in the ratings in the mid-1990s, drew attention for the memorable appearance of Hugh Grant after his arrest. Leno passed Letterman in popularity and never looked back.

"People who never watched Conan before are saying, `I'll try it,'" Polone said. "Now they're saying, `This is good, I'll stick with it.'"

It's doubtful they'll get the chance. O'Brien sounded halfway out the door on Friday's show, an exit prompted by his refusal to move his show to 12:05 a.m. at NBC's request. "By the time you see this, I'll be halfway to Rio in an NBC traffic helicopter," he said in his monologue.

___

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Haitian Voodoo Priests upset over mass burials
January 18, 2010

Haiti's voodoo priests are objecting to anonymous mass burials as an improper way to handle the tens of thousands of dead from the earthquake -- and have taken their complaint to President Rene Preval.

Dumping the dead in hurriedly excavated mass graves without proper rites is seen as desecration in a country where many believe in zombies -- dead bodies brought back to life by supernatural forces who could persecute the living.

Haitian officials say so far at least 50,000 bodies have been dumped in mass graves outside the shattered capital, Port-au-Prince, in what they view as the most efficient way to dispose of the fast-rotting corpses from Tuesday's disaster.

"It is not in our culture to bury people in such a fashion," Haiti's main voodoo leader, Max Beauvoir, said in a meeting with Preval.

Local radio is broadcasting messages for Haitians to put bodies recovered from under the rubble of collapsed buildings on the street for collection by garbage and other trucks.

"The conditions in which bodies are being buried is not respecting the dignity of these people," Beauvoir, who was educated at City College of New York and the Sorbonne in Paris, said in the Preval meeting this weekend.

More than half of Haiti's 9 million people are believed to practice voodoo, a religion with roots in Africa. Some 80 percent also are Catholic and most Haitians see no conflict between the two.

Five days after the earthquake, scores of untouched corpses, now bloated and stinking, remain on streets. Red Cross officials have repeatedly said no one should fear disease from dead bodies after the earthquake that is believed to have killed up to 200,000 people.

"I don't understand why everyone is worried about a disease risk," Haitian Red Cross President Michaelle Amedee Gedeon told Reuters. "Do we have cholera in Haiti? No. Do we have the plague in Haiti? No. Rodents, water will not get contaminated. The only bad effect from the corpses is the smell."

On Sunday, more bodies appeared overnight, with locals saying they were thieves burned and shot by lynch-mobs, gangs and police. They said about 20 people were killed like that.

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Gangs: L.A.'s Newest tourist attraction
January 18, 2010

Only miles from the scenic vistas and celebrity mansions that draw sightseers from around the globe - but a world away from the glitz and glamour - a bus tour is rolling through the dark side of the city's gang turf.

Passengers paying $65 a head Saturday signed waivers acknowledging they could be crime victims and put their fate in the hands of tattooed ex-gang members who say they have negotiated a cease-fire among rivals in the most violent gangland in America.

If that sounds daunting, consider the challenge facing organizers of LA Gang Tours: trying to build a thriving venture that provides a glimpse into gang life while also trying to convince people that gang-plagued communities are not as hopeless as movies depict.

"There's a fascination with gangs," said founder Alfred Lomas, a former member of the Florencia 13 gang. "We can either address the issue head-on, create awareness and discuss the positive things that go on in these communities, or we can try to sweep it under the carpet."

Several observers have questioned the premise behind the tours, and some city politicians have been more blunt.

"It's a terrible idea," City Councilman Dennis Zine said. "Is it worth that thrill for 65 bucks? You can go to a (gang) movie for a lot less and not put yourself at risk."

More than 50 people brushed aside safety concerns for Saturday's maiden tour to hear how notorious gangs got started and bear witness to the struggling neighborhoods where tens of thousands of residents have been lured into gang life.

The unmarked chartered coach wound its way through downtown. The first sight was a stretch of concrete riverbed featured in such movies as "Terminator" and "Grease," where countless splotches of gray paint conceal graffiti that is often the mark of street gangs and tagging crews.

After that, it was on to the Central Jail, home to many a thug, past Skid Row's squalor and homeless masses and into South Los Angeles, breeding ground for some of the city's deadliest gangs.

Motoring through an industrial area, the bus enters the Florence-Firestone neighborhood, close to the birthplace of the Crips and current home to Florencia 13, a Latino gang that was accused by federal prosecutors of racist attacks against black residents.

Gray warehouses soon merge with single-story stucco homes as the bus heads south. Few gangsters risk hanging out on street corners, as local rules mean they could get arrested even for congregating, but graffiti on walls, road signs and convenience storefronts betray the presence of Florencia 13 and other gangs.

Sieglinde Lemke, 46, an American Studies professor from the University of Freiburg in Germany, said she enjoyed the opportunity to interact with former gang members.

"It brings to life the class divisions you have in America," she said. "This is an area that's blocked out of my mental map of the States. It's important to get a firsthand account of the area."

Junior high school teacher Prisca Ricks, 37, was of two minds about going on the tour after reading critical blog comments about it being "ghettotainment."

But ultimately, she was pleased she went, and said she appreciated the focus on trying to help the community.

Lomas, 45, a respected activist who has worked with the faith-based Los Angeles Dream Center to distribute hundreds of tons of food to low-income families across the inner city, left gang life about five years ago.

He stresses the aim of his nonprofit company is to bring jobs to communities along the route and to reinvest money through micro-loans and scholarships, though he's not sure how the tour will accomplish that. He also eventually wants to start a gallery and gang museum.

He said the tour will create 10 part-time jobs, mainly for ex-gang members working as guides and talking about their own struggles and efforts to reduce violence. The tour is initially scheduled to run once a month.

No tour quite like this runs elsewhere in the country. Chicago has a prohibition-era gangster tour, and another Los Angeles group buses people to infamous crime scenes, including the Black Dahlia murder.

Lomas faces a quandary as he tries to show the troubled history of the area once known as South Central, before politicians renamed it South Los Angeles in 2003 in an attempt to change its deep association with urban strife.

The tour is billed as "the first in the history of Los Angeles to experience areas that were forbidden." But tour leaders don't want it to be voyeuristic and sensational.

"We ain't going on no tour saying, 'Look at them Crips, look at them Bloods, look at them crack heads,"' said Frederick "Scorpio" Smith, an ex-Crip helping narrate, who helped broker the cease-fire among the Grape Street Crips, 18th Street, F13 and the East Coast Crips.

Out of sensitivity to residents, passengers are banned from shooting photographs or video from the bus. The only place that is allowed is near the end of the trip, when they can step off the bus and film an outdoor area where graffiti is allowed.

Stretches of the tour have almost nothing to do with gangs, but instead exploit famous chapters of violence in the city's history, such as a deadly 1974 shootout between police and the Symbionese Liberation Army and the site of the riots that followed the acquittal of officers in the Rodney King beating.

If done right, the tour could highlight the decades-long struggle to solve the gang problem, said civil rights lawyer and gang expert Connie Rice.

Gang crime has fallen in recent years, but groups continue to grow and gain influence. Over the past quarter century, officials in Los Angeles County have spent $25 billion fighting gangs only to see the number of gangsters double to as many as 90,000 and a six-fold increase in the number of gangs.

"If it is carried out well and carefully and carried out with the consent of the community, it could teach people about the very entrenched culture that gangs now have in Los Angeles," Rice said.

City Councilwoman Jan Perry said she would rather tourists see the development potential in the neighborhoods that make up part of her district. About two years ago, she organized her own tour in the area for about 200 real estate agents and business representatives, resulting in the development of buildings with homes and businesses.

"I'd prefer we focus on showing the community in a positive light," she said

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The Face of Terror?
January 14, 2010

In New Jersey, there's a frequent air traveler who is always scrutinized by airlines and airport security. Unfortunately for him, his name is apparently on a watch list. And as CBS 2 HD found out he's only 8 years old.

According to the powers that be, Michael W. Hicks has the face of evil. Or so you might think by the way he's questioned and patted-down before he boards an airliner.

"I don't like being touched in certain spots. They go like, (pat down on the side), and go like that way," Hicks said.

Hicks is an 8-year-old Cub Scout who may not look like a terrorist, but he gets the terrorist-screening treatment every time he flies with his parents -- because his name is apparently the same as someone else's on the list.

"That's ridiculous. That's just insane. What are you talking about? Get my kid off the list," mother Najlah Feanny said.

Mikey's name is not on the "no fly" list, but apparently it is on the larger, so-called "selectee" list, which sets off a high level of security screening.

Even the late senator from Massachusetts was once detained because the name Edward Kennedy was on a list. Mikey's mother said it's happened to him since he was 2.

"You could see he was 2 and 3 and 4 and 5. Now it's scary because he's eight. What happens when he's 16?" Feanny said.

"Why would a kid be on a tourist, terrorist list?" Mikey said.

Changes are underway. In addition to passengers' names, their gender and birth dates will now be checked against lists, helping to rule out passengers who clearly need not be heavily scrutinized.

What's also odd is that the child's mother, who has worked as a photographer for Newsweek, has Secret Service clearance and the boy's father is a veteran who spent five years in the United States Navy.

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Another nightmare taser story
January 14, 2010

Two federal lawsuits each seek more than $10 million on behalf of two 12-year-old boys who allege a Kankakee police officer shocked them with a stun gun during an in-school demonstration.

The lawsuits were filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Urbana. Police officials in Kankakee placed the officer on administrative leave after he allegedly used a stun gun on students Tuesday as part of an unauthorized demonstration of the device at Kankakee Junior High School.

The lawsuits name the police officer, the city of Kankakee, Kankakee School District 111 and two teachers.

The boys' attorney, James Rowe, says they also want the officer -- identified in the suit as Lonnie Netzel -- fired and criminal charges filed in the case. Teachers Teresa LaReau and Jessica Labon are also named.
Rowe alleges that the shockings were racially motivated.

"Shocking two 12-year-olds with a taser gun for no reason is reprehensible and criminal," said James Rowe, the lawyer representing Alta Young and Stella Bender, the boys' mothers, in a statement. "This was abuse, and it was perpetrated upon students of color and only students of color."

Another mother, who asked to remain anonymous because she didn't want her son to suffer a backlash from the school district, said her 12-year-old son witnessed the incident and that it occured in a special needs classroom for learning and behaviorally challenged children.

"All the children in the class have some sort of learning or behavior disorder," the concerned parent said. "My son has Tramatic Brain Injury, if that gives you an example of what the makeup of the kids are in that class."

The Kankakee school district has not confirmed this information.

She said her son told her that the first boy screamed and said, "why did you do that?"

The officer responded: "You volunteered."

The second boy fell down over a chair and the third boy laughed.

"Now my son is scared of police officers."

The Netzel allegedly Tased a few students in the finger a week earlier, and allegedly has a history of intimidation. He is a 19-year-veteran of the Kankaee police force who has worked as a school -resources officer for years.

In one of the more gruesome incidents detailed in the lawsuit, Netzel allegedly laid out sheets of newspaper and asked a boy to sit on it before being Tased, in case he defecated or urinated.

Kankakee School District 11 Superintendent Colleen Lange said in a statement that the school board is conducting a full investigation into the alleged incident.

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Help Haiti Quake Victims
January 14, 2010

Want to help victims of the earthquake in Haiti? Click here for a list of organizations accepting donations.

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Yelling at the boss relieves stress
January 14, 2010

Telling your boss what you really think of them is good for your health -- and helps managers improve, according to research published on Wednesday.

Firms should be even be encouraged to let employees regularly rate their line managers, to produce "happy, healthy, stress-free employees," said the study presented at a conference of the British Psychological Society.

Researchers split a group of 150 bosses into two groups, one of which received feedback on their management skills from some 500 staff, and another group which did not.

"When managers received feedback from their staff, they were more likely to change their management style and subsequently be seen as more effective line managers," said the study.

Employees benefit as it allows them to let off steam, said expert Emma Donaldson-Feilder, presenting the research at a conference in Brighton.

"The consequences of stress are pervasive; those under stress may experience psychological symptoms, such as anxiety or depression, physiological symptoms, such as palpitations or raised blood pressure and/or cognitive symptoms such as reduced mental capacity.

"Stress is a significant cause of sickness absence and this puts pressure on those left behind to run the business, creating a cycle of uncomfortable pressure with costs to the individual and to the company," she said.

Donaldson-Feilder and her colleagues are developing a number of resources including a questionnaire that staff can use to rate their line manager and learning materials for managers, which will be available free online.

"Without holding a mirror up to a person, they can have blind spots about how they come across and if they think they are already good enough, why should they change," she said.

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Netflix hooks up with Wii
January 14, 2010

It's a triple crown for Netflix. Beginning in the spring, the Wii will become the last of the three current video game consoles to get instant viewing of Netflix movies and TV shows over the Internet.

Wii owners who have a broadband connection and a Netflix subscription that costs at least $9 a month will be able to watch those programs with no extra charge.
Nintendo Co. and Netflix Inc., which wouldn't give an exact launch date for the service, were set to announce the deal on Wednesday.

To watch flicks through the gaming system, Wii users will need a special "instant-streaming" disc that Netflix will mail out in the spring. They will then be able to use the Wii's motion controller to navigate through their Netflix account and pick what they want to watch. This setup is similar to the way Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 3 currently streams Netflix programs.

Owners of Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 can also stream Netflix, but the service is only available to Xbox Live "Gold" members, who pay $50 a year mainly to play games online.

The Wii is a great catch for Netflix because it gives it access to the living rooms of millions of potential new subscribers. It is easily the most popular gaming console in the U.S. with 26 million sold in the country through December, according to Nintendo.

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings has long said his company's goal is to offer movie streaming on as many devices as possible, including all three gaming consoles. Letting subscribers watch movies over the Internet is an increasingly important service for Netflix, which is based in Los Gatos, Calif., even though the company says it expects to keep renting DVDs for another couple of decades.

Part of the reason for that is because it'll take some time for movies to become available for streaming. The company has about 17,000 movies and TV shows available for Internet watching, compared with more than 100,000 DVD titles it rents out.

In another sign of its commitment to streaming, Netflix said last week it will delay sending out Warner Bros.' latest movies by nearly a month so it can get rights to show its subscribers more movies over the Internet.

In addition to the three gaming systems, Netflix streaming is already available on devices such as the Roku digital video player, along with some Blu-ray players and Internet-connected TV sets. It's also available on computers.

But consoles represent an important entry point into millions of homes because so many people already own them. And offering service through the systems will likely also prompt existing Netflix subscribers who haven't tried streaming over the Internet to do so.

Hastings called the Nintendo deal a "big step forward" in advancing its streaming service.

Reggie Fils-Aime, president of Nintendo of America, said the company's first priority is always gaming, but it also wants to "continue to surprise our customers" by offering other activities.

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