United states supreme court

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin In June the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released four new drinking water health advisories related to PFAS contamination. The soundness of these advisories has since been called into question and in late July a lawsuit was filed seeking to overturn two of them. PFAS is the acronym referring to Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl substances, which the EPA describes as “a group of manufactured chemicals that have been used in industry and consumer products since the 1940s because of their useful properties.” The EPA notes there “are thousands of different PFAS, some of which have been more widely used and studied than others.” “These advisories indicate the level of drinking water contamination below which adverse health effects are not expected to occur,” the EPA said in a statement. “Health advisories provide technical information that federal, state, and local officials can use to inform the development of monitoring … [Read more...] about New Lawsuit Would Overturn EPA Advisories Seen As Precursor To More State & Federal Regulation

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin CVS Health plans to grow its business of selling individual coverage under the Affordable Care Act for 2023 to four new states. The disclosure during the company’s second quarter earnings call Wednesday morning comes a year after CVS Health’s Aetna health insurance unit announced a return to the business of selling individual coverage, also known as Obamacare, under the ACA. CVS left the ACA’s public exchanges five years ago along with other insurers that were unable to manage rising costs of uninsured patients signing up for such coverage. But the Biden administration and the Democratic-controlled Congress have made moves to bolster the health law and expand health insurance options to more Americans. Thus, health insurers like Aetna and others are expanding into new markets, boosting Obamacare enrollment to record numbers of Americans. “As we continue to build our Individual exchange business, we're on track to … [Read more...] about CVS Health Will Expand Obamacare Plans To 12 States

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Almost everyone who grew up in the United States after the end of World War II understood that an indicator of economic success if not the indicator was owning “your own home.” Homeownership attained mythic status representing not just climbing a rung up an economic ladder but a social and psychological one; owning a home meant being a full member of society. But is it really a good idea? While there are real, measurable economic gains that can be attributed to owning a home – or rather borrowing for one – has it had deleterious effects? Is it time to ask this question more seriously along with the essential one: “Is there an alternative and do we even need one?” A film by The Economist a couple years ago sets the stage for this conversation. The film’s title, “How an obsession with home ownership can ruin the economy,” might overstate the case just a bit, but it lays out in 12 minutes some of the most compelling challenges … [Read more...] about Is Home Ownership Still A Good Idea?

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin When the U.S. recorded two consecutive quarters of negative growth in Q1 and Q2 of 2022, the Biden administration was quick to point out that while the development constituted a widespread definition of recession, the official classification was indeed a different, less clear-cut one and that the U.S. had in fact not entered a recession officially until the National Bureau of Economic Research said so. So far, no unsatisfying. But government analysts might have a point when alleging that a recession only happens when there is “a significant decline in economic activity over more than a few months, which is assessed using several indicators, including the labor market, consumer and business spending, industrial production, and incomes.” Contradictory economic data has characterized the current “weird economy”— as one CNN correspondent put it —which isn’t exactly struggling, but also not exactly doing well. Looking … [Read more...] about U.S. Recession: Just A Technicality? [Infographic]

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin A U.K. boy who’s been the focus of an international legal battle has died hours after his life support was switched off. The parents of Archie Battersbee, 12, who suffered severe brain injuries in April, have been trying to keep him on life support for weeks, taking the case as far as the United Nations and the European Court of Human Rights. But doctors, and courts, argued Battersbee was “ brain stem dead ” and that further efforts to keep him alive were “futile.” He died just after midday on Saturday, almost exactly four months after he was found unconscious at home. His parents, Peter Battersbee and Hollie Dance, believe he may have been taking part in a social media challenge at the time. He has been in the care of the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel ever since. The tragic case has gripped the nation, with each legal appeal covered widely in the media. Assisted by the Christian Legal Centre, his … [Read more...] about Archie Battersbee: U.K. Boy At The Center Of Life Support Battle Dies

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Perhaps one of the most iconic portrayals of a greedy landlord is Benoit from Puccini’s La Boehme . The character arrives on the scene at the opening of the play looking to collect rent and then proudly confesses infidelity to the poor artists he’s trying to shake down. They pretend to be outraged by his immorality, eject him, and use the rent money for a night on the town. The image of the poor but righteous tenants is so compelling a modern musical adaptation of the opera is called Rent . But are housing providers really trying to squeeze every last cent from their residents? A study from Berkeley indicates that often, housing providers leave money on the table, giving discounts and often failing to keep up with the market. The study, Affordable Housing Without Public Subsidies: Rent-Setting Practices in Small Rental Properties , takes a look at how housing providers set their rents and how those rents relate to … [Read more...] about Study: Housing Providers’ Rent Increases Often Don’t Match Market

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Catch this podcast on the topic of ending zoning at Everything Urban. Today is the day Americans commonly consider our country’s “birthday,” the day which we officially declared independence from the United Kingdom. One could argue the other days would be appropriate, like the final ratification of our written Constitution on June 21, 1788, or even the burning of the ship Gaspee by a group of American tax evaders on June 9, 1722. But July 4 is now hallowed in our civil religion as the day, and it is also a good day for Americans to consider declaring their independence from another oppressive regime, the use of zoning to manage and control the use of land in American cities. The July 4 holiday is unique in that it doesn’t celebrate a battle or a person but a document, the Declaration of Independence , the central focus of which is shaking off the interference of a distant government in daily life. For people on … [Read more...] about Let’s Declare Our Independence — From Zoning

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Dispatches from Ukraine, provided by Forbes Ukraine’s editorial team. As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues and the war rages on, reliable sources of information are critical. Forbes Ukraine’s reporters gather information and provide updates on the situation. Saturday, August 6. Day 164. By Dmytro Aksyonov Mykolaiv. Russian shelling along the frontline, on the border of the Mykolaiv and Kherson regions, has killed one civilian and injured five more , says Hanna Zamazieieva , the head of the Mykolaiv regional council. Zamazieieva added that a total of 294 people in the region are currently being treated in hospitals for injuries sustained as a result of Russian attacks and 82 more are being treated at home. Ukrainian state nuclear energy company, Energoatom, reports that yesterday’s shelling on the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant has led to more extensive damage than previously thought, and … [Read more...] about Saturday, August 6. Russia’s War On Ukraine: News And Information From Ukraine

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Most of the countries at the top of a new list of the wealthiest in the world are not among the biggest or the mightiest. Many, in fact, are among the smallest: Consider Luxembourg , which tops the list published by Global Finance. Singapore, Ireland, Qatar, Macao and Switzerland follow the world’s only grand duchy. The indicators of a nation’s wealth can vary from one ranking to another — thus the differences among them — but often include a country’s Gross Domestic Product, or GDP (goods and services produced by a country during one year), the GDP per capita (the average amount of money that each person in a country earns in a year) or the gross national income, or GNI. MORE FROM FORBES Ready To Move To Europe? These 6 Countries Are The Best For American Expats To Enjoy Life By Cecilia Rodriguez Examining the per capita GDP of each country around the globe is a frequent parameter because it … [Read more...] about The Richest Countries In The World: Tiny Luxembourg At The Top

A Taiwan Navy ship is seen at the port in Keelung, Taiwan August 6, 2022. REUTERS/Jameson Wu TAIPEI  — Chinese and Taiwanese warships played high seas “cat and mouse” on Sunday ahead of the scheduled end of four days of unprecedented Chinese military exercises launched in reaction to a visit to Taiwan by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Pelosi’s visit last week to the self-ruled island infuriated China, which regards the island as its territory and which responded with test launches of ballistic missiles over the island’s capital for the first time and the cutting of some areas of dialogue with the United States. About 10 warships each from China and Taiwan sailed at close quarters in the Taiwan Strait, with some Chinese vessels crossing the median line, an unofficial buffer separating the two sides, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. The island’s defense ministry said multiple Chinese military ships, aircraft, and drones were simulating attacks on the … [Read more...] about Chinese and Taiwanese warships shadow each other as drills due to end