Five great cars for families of five SUVs, crossovers and minivans give families plenty of automotive options when it comes to moving three kids. These are our favorites. Tesla makes Autopilot safer, smarter with major update Nissan brings the sport back to the 2017 Sentra with the new SR Turbo trim Going Rogue: Nissan updates its small SUV with all-new hybrid variant Porsche's new Panamera chilling in Bavaria Tiny Solo EV is a one-seat wonder Apple's mysterious car project may be hitting bumps in the road 2017 Nissan Sentra SR Turbo: Bringing sporty back Shootout: BMW M2 vs. Alfa Romeo 4C Spider The Koenigsegg Agera RS 'Naraya' is opulence distilled into a car 2017 Audi A5 Sportback: Because regular sedans aren't cool enough for whatever reason 2017 Ford Fusion Sport: A 325-horsepower midsize sleeper sedan The Shelby GTE is a decent way to spend $18,000 on your Mustang Review: 2017 Jaguar XE With its all-new XE model, Jaguar becomes more affordable and accessible to the average buyer and faces off against premium stalwarts such as the BMW 3 Series and Audi A4.

2017 Nissan Rogue: Now available as a 35-mpg hybrid Porsche's new Panamera has great performance and, finally, great looks to match 2017 Jaguar XE: This kitty's claws are out for BMW 2017 Ford Fusion Sport: A powerful and poised sleeper sedan 2017 Range Rover Evoque Convertible: A droptop for the opera, and the dunes 2017 Mercedes-AMG GLC43 Coupe: More hustle, less cargo spaceAbout the Salvage Vehicle Examination ProgramIn 2010 we introduced a new method for collection and testing cat allergen.  Laminate Flooring Brands UkFor the first time, it is possible to measure the amount of allergen a kittens will produce when it is mature. Washer And Dryer Combo SingaporeThe majority of allergies to cats are caused by Fel d1, a very small allergen found in the saliva and on the fur. Foam Blinds

Cats produce very different amounts of this allergen. A few cats have been found that produce less than 1% of the normal levels of the Fel d1 allergen. These tests measure the amount of Fel d 1 allergen in cat saliva using ELISA technology. Kittens tested with our methods have been placed in homes with mild to very severe cat allergies with excellent success. At this time, we are only marketing testing kits to breeders. Our tests use a special salivant and a proprietary method for obtaining saliva from cats/kittens. We stimulate allergen release in kitten saliva which allows us to measure future allergen production. Kittens can be tested starting at 10-12 weeks of age.Six years ago, we worked with University of California Davis & Siberian Research Inc to standardize the methods that are now used for measuring Fel d1 levels in fur and saliva in adult cats. These early tests had less than half the accuracy of our current method, and could not measure allergen levels in kittens under six months of age with any level of accuracy.

We compared results from thirty different salivants at different strengths before finding one that provided stable results. The common bittering agents such as citric acid and sulfa have error rates over 500%.  Citric acid is not appropriate even in adult cats, as it alters flow of androgens. Inaccurate test results can be caused by several biological reactions to induced salivation, which are far more common in kittens than adult cats.Using our three-part test kits, we can identify most of these testing errors. These tests are accurate in 90 percent of adult cats and 80 percent in kittens.  Allergen levels in saliva are reported in micrograms of allergen per milliliter saliva.  (Typical cats have 4-16 mcg of salivary Fel d1 allergen, though levels as high as 34 mcg have been seen).We documented allergic reactions in hundreds of individuals and mapped the reactions against the allergen levels to create the following chart .  If an individual has severe reactions to Fel d1, they can be around a cat that has “Extremely Low” levels of Fel d1.  

Someone with  mild reactions will be comfortable with a “Medium Low” cat.  Please feel free to email with questions.Hives, swelling, severe sneezing, breathing difficulties, asthma       Extremely Low        0.08–1.0 mcg Fel d1Itchy skin, light sneezing, severe runny nose,  mild asthma                 Very Low                 1.0–1.75 mcg Fel d1Runny nose, severe eye irritation, coughing                                              Low                         1.75–2.5 mcg Fel d1Mild eye irritation and stuffy nose from cat allergies                             Medium Low           2.5–3.5 mcg Fel d1No allergy symptoms                                                                                     Mild-Normal            3.5–16 mcg Fel- d1A coalition of student groups from the Arizona university system invited me recently to talk to the Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR) about Caterpillar, Inc’s role in violations of international humanitarian and human rights law in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT).  

Although an unusual setting, I accepted for a number of reasons. Although Amnesty International (AI) hasn’t focused on Caterpillar (CAT) in an action since our 2004 report, there has been a frightening surge in home demolitions and forced evictions in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem recently, as well as demolitions in ‘unrecognized’ villages like Al-‘Araqib inside Israel – which has a current AI Urgent Action in effect.  Over the past 3 weeks, the IDF has demolished dozens of structures in the OPT and the Israeli authorities continue to use CAT equipment regularly to carry out these demolitions, so AI continues to have longstanding and ongoing concerns. The day before I left for Arizona, the IDF demolished 10 residential structures and the village school in the West Bank village of Khirbet Tana.  Sixty-one (61) people including 13 children were left without shelter. CAT equipment has been used to uproot olive trees and destroy other agricultural products and land. 

During ‘Operation Cast Lead’ in the Gaza Strip two years ago, Israel used armored D9 bulldozers to demolish wide swathes of homes, factories, agricultural land and civilian infrastructure, including water pipes and networks needed for basic survival. There have been several Palestinian deaths during home demolitions, most of them occurring during the second intifada in the early 2000’s.  A Caterpillar D9 bulldozer is directly involved in the death of U.S. citizen Rachel Corrie in March 2003.  An Israeli soldier drove the armored bulldozer over Rachel as she protested an imminent home demolition in the Gaza Strip.  An IDF investigation ruled it an accident, but the Corrie family has filed a lawsuit and the current trial underway in Haifa, Israel, ‘Rachel Corrie v. the State of Israel‘, has uncovered discrepancies and short-comings in the investigation. Although produced in 2005, this news clip produced by Inigo Gilmore gives a good idea of the type of actions CAT bulldozers and equipment are still used for in the OPT:

CAT has temporarily suspended the transfer of D9 bulldozers to Israel.  However, this suspension is only temporary and there is no guarantee that the sale and transfer of CAT equipment won’t begin again once the Corrie trial is over. CAT’s role in human rights violations in the OPT continues to be relevant and these recent developments made the invitation to make the ABOR statement particularly timely. AI campaigns for global standards on business and human rights and stronger legal frameworks at the national and international levels to hold companies to account for their human rights impact. Companies, including Caterpillar, must ensure that their business operations do not undermine human rights. So far, Caterpillar’s public position is that they are unable to monitor all the uses of their equipment by their customers.  They have stated, “we expect our customers to use our products in [ways] consistent with human rights and the requirements of international humanitarian law.”

According to the ‘Respect, Protect, and Remedy’ framework on business and human rights developed by John Ruggie, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations, that’s not enough.  Ruggie elaborated the concept of human rights due diligence (pg. 17, 56-64), which sets out what corporations must do to discharge ‘their responsibility to respect’  and prevent their equipment or services from becoming complicit in or benefiting from human rights abuses.  Due diligence includes all of the following: Amnesty International takes no position on what tactics to use to achieve corporate responsibility (such as boycott and divestment initiatives, protests or direct actions); neither supporting, nor opposing them.  It is simply outside our mandate, but we do support the principle that human rights due diligence is essential to fulfilling the corporate responsibility to respect human rights and to reduce the risk that they may become complicit in violations.