Chinese investigators say nearly 60 hospitals and pharmacies in north-eastern China have been using fake blood protein in patients’ drips.
Albumin, or plasma protein, is used to treat patients suffering from shock and burns and during open-heart surgery. Experts suggest that the fake product could be life-threatening for those already in a serious condition.
[Read](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6742293.stm “Read the Story”) (BBC)
Low-carbohydrate diets may increase the risk of people suffering bowel cancer, scientists have claimed.
Researchers said they had discovered a link between consuming carbohydrate and the production of a fatty acid in the gut that protects against colorectal cancer. The acid, called butyrate, is produced by bacteria and helps kill off cancerous cells. The researchers said they found low-carbohydrate regimes could cause a four-fold reduction in the cancer-fighting bacteria.
[Read](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/north_east/6764169.stm “Read the Story”) (BBC)
| Grade | Price |
|---|---|
| Regular | $2.759 |
| Mid | $2.859 |
| Premium | $2.959 |
| Diesel | $2.799 |
| Kerosene | $2.699 |
While we were away last week, gas prices decreased 4 cents per gallon.
Gas, Salem, BP, Gas Prices
Beginning July 1, a new state law in Virginia increases the age of children who must be secured in the safety booster seat from 5 to 7. Failure to do so can result in a $50 ticket for the driver.
[Read](http://www.newsleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070618/NEWS01/706180312/1002/rss01 “Read the Story”) (Staunton News Leader)
*I just told my 7-year-old he has to ride in a booster seat, and he is not happy.*
Saturday, the mailbox contained:
* July & August 2007 issue of [Cook’s Illustrated](http://www.cooksillustrated.com “Cook’s Illustrated Website”) (Texas-Style Barbecue)
* July 2007 issue of [Popular Science](http://www.popsci.com “Popular Science Website”) (Wounds in Surgical Patients Who Are Obese)
* Summer Smash 2007 [BUDK Catalog](http://www.budk.com “BUDK Website”)
* Coupons from [Domino’s](http://www.dominos.com “Domino’s Website”)
* A [Great Courses](http://www.thegreatcourses.com “Great Courses Website”)
Friday, the mailbox contained:
* June 15, 2007 issue of [Entertainment Weekly](http://www.ew.com “Entertainment Weekly Website”) (Fun With Brad & George)
* June 2007 issue of [American Journal of Nursing](http://www.ajnonline.com “AJN Website”) (Wounds in Surgical Patients Who Are Obese)
* June 2007 issue of [Ridge Runner](http://www.bsa-brmc.org “Blue Ridge Mountains Council Website”) (New Council President)
* A subscription offer from the [Wall Street Journal](http://www.wsj.com “Wall Street Journal Website”)
* An offer from the United States Commemorative Gallery
* A subscription offer from [The Progressive](http://www.progressive.org “The Progressive Website”)
* A plea from [AmeriCares](http://www.americares.org “AmeriCares Website”)
* A plea from [America’s Second Harvest](http://www.secondharvest.org “America’s Second Harvest Website”)
It could be ivory concealed in a container, cans of caviar in a suitcase or baby chimpanzees in a crate. The smuggling of wildlife goods is a low-risk, high-profit enterprise proving increasingly attractive to crime syndicates.
Exports of wildlife, including fisheries and timber, are estimated at $150 billion to $200 billion a year. The illicit side of the business is likely worth tens of billions of dollars, experts say.
[Read](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19092695/ “Read the Story”) (AP via MSNBC)
It took only days to create what was touted as the world’s largest artificial reef in 1972, when a well-intentioned group dumped hundreds of thousands of old tires into the ocean.
But the tires turned out to be a reef killer, turning a swath of ocean floor the size of 31 football fields into a dead zone. Now divers expect to spend years hauling them to the surface.
Weather permitting, divers will spend the summer months for the next three years bringing up the 700,000 tires while leaving behind the ones that seem to have remained in place — at least for now.
The tires will be trucked to a Georgia facility where they will be burned to power a paper recycling plant at a cost to Florida of $2 million.
[Read](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19102112/ “Read the Story”) (AP via MSNBC)
Thursday, the mailbox contained:
* June 11 & 18, 2007 issue of [The New Yorker](http://www.newyorker.com “New Yorker Website”) (Summer Fiction Issue)
* July 2007 issue of [Outside](http://www.outsideonline.com “Outside Magazine Website”) (How To Do Everything)
* July/August 2007 issue of [The Atlantic](http://www.theatlantic.com “The Atlantic Website”) (Why China’s Rise Is Good For Us)
* June 11, 2007 issue of [Sporting News](http://www.sportingnews.com “Sporting News Website”) (The NBA Playoffs)
* June 10, 2007 issue of [St. John’s](http://www.stjohnsroanoke.org “St. John’s Roanoke Website”) “The Record” (Search Update)
* May, June, July 2007 issue of [Virginia Nurses Today](http://www.virginianurses.com “Virginia Nurses Today Website”) (Welcome Aboard!)
* A subscription offer for [Dwell](http://www.dwell.com “Dwell Magazine Website”)
* A subscription offer for [The Nation](http://www.thenation.com “The Nation Website”)
* An offer from the [Appalachian Mountain Club](http://www.outdoors.org “Appalachian Mountain Club Website”)
* A plea from the [Chesapeake Bay Foundation](http://www.cbf.org “Chesapeake Bay Foundation Website”)
* A plea from [Toys For Tots](http://www.toysfortots.org “Toys For Tots Website”)
* A [Harbor Freight](http://www.harborfreightusa.com “Harbor Freight Website”) Sale Flyer
* A [Brew 2007 Conference](http://www.brew2007.com “Brew 2007 Conference Website”) Brochure
| Grade | Price |
|---|---|
| Regular | $2.799 |
| Mid | $2.899 |
| Premium | $2.999 |
| Diesel | $2.799 |
| Kerosene | $2.699 |
Gas prices were down 6 cents per gallon Wednesday.
Gas, Salem, BP, Gas Prices
Nearly 60% of eligible children whose parents applied for Medicaid in Virginia went without health care for weeks or months because of a new federal rule intended to prevent undocumented immigrants from receiving coverage. While waiting for Medicaid, nearly half of the children younger than 2 who needed immunizations were unable to get them and 25% did not obtain medical care for an illness.
The reduced care is a consequence of the Deficit Reduction Act, a 2006 law that requires people who say they are citizens to provide proof such as a passport or the combination of a birth certificate and driver’s license. The federal law requires that the applications be processed within 45 days, but hundreds of children born in the U.S. waited weeks or months longer, primarily because their parents had trouble providing identity documents.
Another issue Virginia faces is a continued decline in the numbers of children in its Medicaid program since the rules went into effect, probably leaving them without health care. Between last summer and April 1, there has been a net decrease of 11,108 children enrolled in Virginia’s Medicaid program. That follows years of an average net increase of more than 1,000 children per month, including the 12 months immediately before the rule changes. In Virginia, 376,000 children are covered by the program.
[Read](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/06/AR2007060602478.html?nav=rss_health “Read the Story”) (Washington Post)
The new Honda Accord, which will go on sale in September, will *not* be available in a gasoline-electric hybrid version, according to a company spokesman.
Honda claims that its hybrid system works better on smaller cars.
Honda previously announced that it will introduce a new hybrid car in 2009. That car will be smaller in size and less expensive than the Honda Civic Hybrid.
Hybrids accounted for 14% of Toyota Camrys sold last month, but just 1.4% of Accords, according to data from Power Information Networks.
[Read](http://www.cnn.com/2007/AUTOS/06/05/honda_dropping_hybrid/index.html?eref=rss_topstories “Read the Story”) (CNN)
Wednesday, the mailbox contained:
China’s auto parts exports have increased more than sixfold in the last five years, nearly topping $1 billion in April and emerging as one of the fastest-growing categories of Chinese industrial products sold overseas. More than half of these auto parts go to the United States; most of the rest to Europe and Japan.
The rise of Chinese auto parts exports is part of a much broader shift. China is moving up from basic goods like textiles, toys and shoes and toward higher-value industrial goods that pay better wages — but also compete more directly with products from countries like Mexico and even from advanced industrialized countries like the United States.
Feeling the pinch are small auto parts manufacturers and their employees in the United States, heavily concentrated in Ohio and mainly supplying larger auto parts companies instead of shipping directly to the big automakers. While overall American industrial production is on the upswing, the troubles of the auto parts industry could become an issue in next year’s presidential elections.
[Read](http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/07/business/07parts.html?ex=1338868800&en=58b29d6c27fe15ac&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss “Read the Story”) (New York Times)
A drought that has bared parts of the bed of Florida’s largest lake has exposed human bone fragments, pottery and even boats — and archaeologists are trying to evaluate the artifacts before water levels rise again.
Archaeologists said there have been no large-scale digs in Lake Okeechobee; most of the finds have been easily spotted along the surface, some by passers-by who called in what they found.
The state has alerted the Seminole and Miccosukee tribes of the bones, but no decision has been made on their fate. No studies have been done on the human remains, but they likely are 500 to 1,000 years old, or possibly older.
[Read](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19046682/ “Read the Story”) (AP via MSNBC)