Clipmarks | BobbyDelray's 'children' clips

Are the Chinese Trying to Poison Our Children (Aqua Dots)

Thu, 08 Nov 2007 16:15:35 GMT

clipped by: BobbyDelray

Millions of Chinese-made toys for children have been pulled from shelves in North America and Australia after scientists found they contain a chemical that converts into a powerful date rape drug when ingested. Two children in the U.S. and three in Australia were hospitalized after swallowing the beads.

Millions of Aqua Dots art sets were recalled on Nov. 7 after several children in the U.S. and Australia were hospitalized. The toys contain beads coated with a chemical that converts into a powerful date rape drug when ingested.

Scientists say a chemical coating on the beads, when ingested, metabolizes into the so-called date rape drug gamma hydroxy butyrate. When eaten, the compound - made from common and easily available ingredients - can induce unconsciousness, seizures, drowsiness, coma and death.

The two U.S. children who swallowed Aqua Dot beads went into nonresponsive comas, commission spokesman Scott Wolfson said Wednesday afternoon.

Tags: toy, containing, 'date-rape', drug, pulled, aqua, dots, chinese, children

Sexual Predator Lures Teen To Fisherman's Wharf

Tue, 06 Nov 2007 18:24:41 GMT

clipped by: BobbyDelray

Clip Source: www.foxreno.com

SAN FRANCISCO --

registered sex offender was in custody Monday after he was found over the weekend on San Francisco's famed Fisherman's Wharf with a missing 15-year-old Sacramento girl who police believe he met on a telephone party line.

Authorities said the teenager disappeared from her Sacramento home Thursday, touching off a state-wide search following the discovery in her room of the phone number of 31-year-old Anthony Butler, a registered sex offender.

The pair apparently fled Sacramento sometime over the weekend and headed to the Bay Area.

"This is a serious wakeup call for not only my family, but any family," said Philip Watkins, the girl's uncle. "They (parents) need to be really careful with the Internet…There are guys out there pretending to be someone they are not and will destroy a family just like he did mine."

Tags: internet, crimes, against, children, sexual, predator

Global Warming Bad for Kids

Mon, 29 Oct 2007 19:24:18 GMT

clipped by: BobbyDelray

Clip Source: www.usatoday.com

Global warming is likely to disproportionately harm the health of children, and politicians should launch "aggressive policies" to curb climate change, the American Academy of Pediatrics said today.

•Air pollution does more damage to children's lungs, causing asthma and respiratory ailments, because their lungs are still developing, they breathe at a higher rate than adults and are outdoors more.

•Waterborne infections, such as diarrhea and other gastrointestinal problems, hit children especially hard. These infections rise sharply with more rain, which is expected as the climate warms.

•As mosquitoes are able to move to higher ground, the malaria zone is expanding. Kids are especially vulnerable; 75% of malaria deaths occur in children younger than 5.

The report briefly mentions that mass migrations are expected as regions become uninhabitable. "Children fare very poorly in these major population shifts," says Irwin Redlener, director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness

Tags: global warming, children, pollution, waterbrone infections