"Justice has eluded Ronnell Doughty, perhaps even failed him. Hospitalized as a toddler with serious lead poisoning, he's never learned to read well, dropped out of school and has a hard time controlling his temper — tragic but all-too-common outcomes of this urban health scourge. But Doughty, now 21, has been repeatedly denied a shot at compensation for the lasting injury done him two decades ago."

Japanese authorities for years discounted and ignored warnings that precisely the kind of quake-tsunami disaster that happened at the Fukushima plant could happen at other nuclear plants.

The Obama administration has decided to delay a rule that would cut emissions from power plants at major industrial facilities, the most recent in a series of decisions since the midterm election to postpone controversial environmental regulations and steer a more business-friendly course.

"According to a recent study, noise pollution could be costing lives. A World Health Organization report finds Western Europeans lose years to death or disability from excessive sound."