The American Lung Association offers a variety of resources for those affected by the wildfires still burning in Southern California. The following links contain useful information on breathing guidelines, air-filtering machines, and protective masks: From the American Lung Association- [click link for full article]

The international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) called on the Thai government to halt all forced repatriation proceedings against the 7,500 ethnic Hmong refugees from Laos who are currently confined to a camp in northern Thailand’s Petchabun province. The refugees, who claim to have fled violence and persecution in Laos, are deeply fearful of being returned to their country. [click link for full article]

The advocacy groups ONE Campaign and DATA, both of which were co-founded by musician Bono, have announced they will merge in the U.S. to form a single group aimed at addressing issues related to global poverty, with a focus on Africa, Reuters reports. [click link for full article]

The “demands imposed by the retirement of millions of baby boomers will consume the federal budget and blight the prospects of the next generations” without efforts to address problems with the long-term financial stability of Medicare and other entitlement programs, columnist David Broder writes in the Washington Post. According to Broder, [click link for full article]

A Massachusetts bill that would expand abortion clinic buffer zones from 18 feet to 35 feet provides a “reasonable balance that reasonable people will support,” a Boston Globe editorial says (Boston Globe, 10/30). The state Senate passed the bill last week by voice vote. [click link for full article]

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and Democratic Caucus Chair Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) on Monday met with a group of Republican lawmakers to discuss whether a new compromise can be reached on revised legislation that would reauthorize and expand SCHIP, CongressDaily reports (Johnson, CongressDaily, 10/30). [click link for full article]

Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt (R), an abortion-rights opponent, last week convened a task force to examine the potential physical, emotional, social and economic effects of abortion on women, the AP/Joplin Globe reports. [click link for full article]

The daily commute may be taking more of a toll than people realize. A new study by researchers at the University of Southern California (USC) and the California Air Resources Board found that up to half of Los Angeles residents’ total exposure to harmful air pollutants occurs while people are traveling in their vehicles.Although the average Los Angeles driver spends about six percent (1. [click link for full article]

The National Right to Life Committee recently defended Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) after he was criticized for meeting with former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who is running for the Republican presidential nomination, to discuss Giuliani’s views on abortion, [click link for full article]

Even though it affects more than 5 million people world-wide,* pulmonary fibrosis remains a mysterious and incurable disease. A recent discovery could someday change that. Researchers have uncovered a clue as to how this devastating lung disease is formed, and how they might try to stop it. He may not be able to exercise like he used to, and he may have to use oxygen when he does, but William Griffith refuses to let pulmonary fibrosis take over his life. [click link for full article]