Democracy Now 4

Tabitha Arambula

Democracy Now

March 9, 2014

            Tuesday March 4^th: Are Any Plastics Safe? Industry Tes to Hide Scary New Evidence on BPA-Free Bottles, Containers

            Many products still contain BPA-like chemicals like food packaging and other commercially available plastics. BPA is a chemical that mimics estrogen. It plays an important part in our development for the brain and our organs but having too much or too little can cause health issues later on in life. Now new evidence shows that the chemicals they used may be similar to BPA. There was a story about a father and his daughter, on how she was given a princess sippy cup and always wanted it for dinner. He worked for the environmental health field and he decided to collect sippy cups from stores like Wal Mart, Babies R US etc. He sent them in for testing and one third of them had been tested positive for BPA like chemicals. His daughter’s cup had the chemicals as well. Plastic companies are burying the truth and they borrowed the ideas from Big Tobacco companies. There were many studies that proved that most of the products by plastic companies had BPA or leached estrogen. But of course the companies try to buy science to prove that their products are safe.

 

Wed March 5^th  2014 “The Death Penalty is a Hate Crime”: Bob Autobee Speaks Out to Spare Life of Son’s Killer

            This was about a murder case. The father of the victim doesn’t want the death penalty for the accused. He did years ago when the trial first started now he says that the death penalty is a hate crime of humanity. The victim was a prison guard and the murderer who beat Eric to death in 2002. Autobee has changed his mind about the death penalty but the case is back in court after a judge decided not the jury to go with it. The murderer pled guilty in the first trial now he pled not guilty because of insanity. Autobee, the father of the guard cannot say what he wants in the victims statement. He doesn’t want the death penalty for the accused and has been picketing outside the courthouse. The murderer, Edward, was in prison for killing his just months old baby, and so he went in being a baby killer. Now they are saying that it may have been a mistake since the death was undetermined. Autobee has been trying to make changes to the Colorado laws by suggesting other alternatives in prisons. For example different color uniforms to identify the type of prisoner he is faster, and by having guards walk with dogs instead of by themselves.