San Francisco Adopts Universal Health Plan; Beach Bacteria; Downloading Movies To DVD; Iran's Involvement In The Israel/Lebanon Crisis; Nicotine Vaccine
San Francisco Adopts Universal Health Plan
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to make the city the nation's first to provide residents with health care, regardless of their immigration or employment status.
Beach Bacteria
As many as one-and-a-half million people who visit Southern California's beaches each year are sickened by bacterial pollution, resulting in millions of dollars in public health care costs. This is according to researchers from UCLA and Stanford University, who looked at 28 beaches in L.A. and Orange Counties. The authors reported that health care costs for illnesses related to beach bacteria range from an estimated to 21 to 414 million dollars annually. Those estimates include missed work, medical treatment costs and doctor visits. Larry Mantle talks with the lead author of the study, Linwood Pendleton. He also talks with David Nahai, Chair of the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board, about what the State of California is doing to address the problem.
Downloading Movies To DVD
Movie watchers now have a new option for viewing films at home as CinemaNow, Inc. will now sell movies for downloading and viewing on standard D-V-D players. Larry and his guests discusss the new service and the anti-piracy technology that has made it possible.
Iran's Involvement In The Israel/Lebanon Crisis
Larry Mantle discusses how Iran is involved in the crisis in the Middle East.
Nicotine Vaccine
A new vaccine that promises to help smokers quit by gradually reducing their satisfaction from cigarettes is the focus of a national study at UCLA. Whereas nicotine patches or chewing gum deliver low doses of nicotine to the brain, the vaccine-NicVAX-works by producing antibodies that bind to nicotine in the body. The resulting nicotine molecules are too large to reach the brain, in effect depriving the smoker of their pleasurable experience.