Erin
A topographic map of Ireland, after which Erin is named
Pronunciation	/ˈɛrɪn/
Gender	Female
Origin
Word/Name	Hiberno-English derivative of Irish “Éirinn”
Meaning	Ireland (West), green water, Peace
Region of origin	Gaelic & Celtic
Other names
Related names	Ehrynn, Erinn, Eryn, Erynn, Iorn
Popularity	see popular names

Look up Erin in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Erin is a Hiberno-English derivative of the Irish word "Éirinn". ("Éirinn" is the dative case of the Irish word for Ireland - "Éire", genitive "Éireann").^[1]

Poets and nineteenth-century Irish nationalists used Erin in English as a romantic name for Ireland.^[2] In this context, along with Hibernia, Erin is the name given to the female personification of Ireland.^{[citation needed]}

According to Irish mythology and folklore, the name was originally given to the island by the Milesians after the goddess Ériu.

Erin go bragh ("Éirinn go brách" in standard orthography), a slogan dating from the 1798 revolution, is often translated as "Ireland forever". The etymology of the word as it drifted throughout the Gaelic region gave rise to its use by the early Scots to both mean Ireland and "west" - as Ireland lies to the west of Scotland.^[3]

Usage as a given or family name[link]

As a given name, Erin is used for both sexes, although, given its origins, it is principally used as a feminine forename. It first became a popular given name in the United States.^{[citation needed]} Erin is also a name for Ireland in Welsh, and is one of the 20 most popular girls' names in Wales.^[4]

As a family name, Erin has been used as one of the many spellings of the name of the Scottish clan "Irwin" - which was involved in the Scottish Plantations of Ireland.^[5] However, their name was originally derived from the place of the same name near Dumfries, and means "green water", from Brittonic ir afon.^[6][7]

References[link]

Laura Närhi
Laura Närhi at the 2011 Ilosaarirock festival.
Background information
Born	(1978-01-19) January 19, 1978 (age 34) Kirkkonummi, Finland
Genres	Pop
Occupations	Singer
Associated acts	Kemopetrol
Website	www.lauranarhi.fi

Laura Närhi (born January 19, 1978^{[citation needed]}) is a Finnish pop singer. The lead singer of Kemopetrol, she started a solo career and her debut solo album Suuri sydän was released in August 2010^[1] and has sold over 30,000 copies in Finland.^[2] It peaked at number three on the Finnish Albums Chart.^[3]

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• 2010 Suuri sydän

Singles[link]

• 2002: "Kuutamolla (Se ei mee pois)"
• 2010: "Jää mun luo"
• 2010: "Tämä on totta"
• 2010: "Mä annan sut pois"
• 2011: "Kaksi irrallaan"
• 2012: "Hetken tie on kevyt"

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Laura Närhi

• Official website (Finnish)
• Laura Närhi on Myspace

This article about a Finnish singer is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. The specific problem is: Erin Brockovich's involvement in the Hinkley groundwater contamination case is not adequately described. Please help improve this article if you can; the talk page may contain suggestions. (May 2012)

Erin Brockovich
Brockovich in 2007
Born	(1960-06-22) June 22, 1960 (age 52) Lawrence, Kansas, United States
Occupation	President, Brockovich Research & Consulting[1]
Spouse	Shawn Brown (m. 1982–1987) «start: (1982)–end+1: (1988)»"Marriage: Shawn Brown to Erin Brockovich" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/Erin_Brockovich) Steven Brockovich (m. 1989–1990) «start: (1989)–end+1: (1991)»"Marriage: Steven Brockovich to Erin Brockovich" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/Erin_Brockovich) Eric L. Ellis (1999-present)

Erin Brockovich-Ellis (born June 22, 1960) is an American legal clerk and environmental activist who, despite the lack of a formal law school education, or any legal education, was instrumental in constructing a case against the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) of California in 1993. Since the release of the film that shares her story and name, she has hosted Challenge America with Erin Brockovich on ABC and Final Justice on Zone Reality. She is the president of Brockovich Research & Consulting, a consulting firm. She is currently working as a consultant for Girardi & Keese,^[2][3] the New York law firm Weitz & Luxenberg,^[4] which has a focus on personal injury claims for asbestos exposure, and Shine Lawyers in Australia.^[5]

Early life[link]

She was born Erin Pattee in Lawrence, Kansas, to Frank Pattee, an industrial engineer and Betty Jo O'Neal-Pattee, a journalist. She attended Lawrence High School then Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas, and graduated with an Associate in Applied Arts Degree from Wades Business College in Dallas, Texas. She worked as a management trainee for Kmart in 1981 but quit after a few months and entered a beauty pageant. After winning Miss Pacific Coast in 1981, she gave up pageant life. She has lived in California since 1982.

Pacific Gas and Electric litigation[link]

The case alleged contamination of drinking water with hexavalent chromium, also known as chromium(VI), in the southern California town of Hinkley. At the center of the case was a facility called the Hinkley Compressor Station, part of a natural gas pipeline connecting to the San Francisco Bay Area and constructed in 1952. Between 1952 and 1966, PG&E used hexavalent chromium to fight corrosion in the cooling tower. The wastewater dissolved the hexavalent chromium from the cooling towers and was discharged to unlined ponds at the site. Some of the wastewater percolated into the groundwater, affecting an area near the plant approximately 2 by 1 miles (3.2 by 1.6 km).^[6] The case was settled in 1996 for US$333 million, the largest settlement ever paid in a direct action lawsuit in US history.^{[citation needed]}

A study released in 2010 by the California Cancer Registry showed that cancer rates in Hinkley "remained unremarkable from 1988 to 2008."^[7] An epidemiologist involved in the study said that "the 196 cases of cancer reported during the most recent survey of 1996 through 2008 were less than what he would expect based on demographics and the regional rate of cancer."^[7]

Average Cr-6 levels in Hinkley were recorded as 1.19ppb with a peak of 3.09ppb. The PG&E Topock Compressor Station averaged 7.8ppb and peaks at 31.8ppb based on the PG&E Background Study.^[8] California's Public Health Goal (PHG), circa 2011, for hexavalent chromium is 0.02ppb.^[9]

Other litigation[link]

Working with Thousand Oaks, California-based lawyer Edward L. Masry, Brockovich went on to participate in other anti-pollution lawsuits. One accuses Whitman Corporation of chromium contamination in Willits, California. Another lawsuit, which lists 1,200 plaintiffs, alleges contamination near PG&E's Kettleman Hills Compressor Station in Kings County, California, along the same pipeline as the Hinkley site. The Kettleman suit settled for $335 million in 2006. After experiencing problems with mold contamination in her own home in the Conejo Valley, Brockovich became a prominent activist and educator in this area as well.

Brockovich and Masry filed suit against the Beverly Hills Unified School District in 2003, in which the district was accused of harming the health and safety of its students by allowing a contractor to operate a cluster of oil wells on campus.^[10] Brockovich and Masry alleged that 300 cancer cases were linked to the oil wells. Subsequent testing and epidemiological investigation failed to corroborate substantial link, and Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Wendell Mortimer granted summary judgment against the plaintiffs.^[11] In May 2007, the School District announced that it was to be paid $450,000 as reimbursement for legal expenses.^[12]

Brockovich assisted in the filing of a lawsuit against Prime Tanning Corp. of St. Joseph, Missouri in April 2009. The lawsuit claims that waste sludge from the production of leather, containing high levels of hexavalent chromium, was distributed to farmers in northwest Missouri to use as fertilizer on their fields. It is believed to be a potential cause of an abnormally high number of brain tumors (70 since 1996) around the town of Cameron, Missouri, which is currently being investigated by the EPA.^[13]

In June 2009, Brockovich began investigating a case of contaminated water in Midland, Texas.^[14] "Significant amounts" of hexavalent chromium were found in the water of more than 40 homes in the area, some of which have now been fitted with state-monitored filters on their water supply.^[14] Brockovich said "The only difference between here and Hinkley, is that I saw higher levels here than I saw in Hinkley."^[14]

Awards[link]

• Honorary Doctor of Laws, and Commencement Speaker at Lewis and Clark Law School, Portland in May 2005^[15]
• Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters, and Commencement Speaker at Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles on May 5, 2007^[15]
• Honorary Master of Arts, Business Communication from Jones International University^[15]

Movies[link]

Brockovich's work in bringing litigation against Pacific Gas and Electric is the focus of the 2000 feature film, Erin Brockovich, starring Julia Roberts in the title role. The film was nominated for five Academy Awards: Best Actress in a Leading Role, Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Best Director, Best Picture, and Best Writing in a Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen. Roberts won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of Erin Brockovich. Erin Brockovich herself had a cameo role as a waitress named Julia R.

Brockovich has a more extensive role in the 2012 documentary Last Call at the Oasis, which focuses not only on water pollution but also on the overall state of water scarcity as it relates to water policy in the United States.^[16]

Book[link]

Brockovich's book, entitled Take It From Me: Life's a Struggle But You Can Win, was published in October 2001, and was on the NYT Business Bestseller's List.^[17]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Site of Erin Brockovich
• The Brockovich Report - BrockovichBlog.com
• Brockovich I-Village
• Official MySpace of Erin Brockovich
• Erin Brockovich biography on the Biography Channel
• Erin Brockovich at the Internet Movie Database
• Evening with Erin Brockovich in Sydney, hosted by the Climate Change Coalition 2007
• Detail about Hinkley case at AwesomeStories.com
• Did Hinkley Residents Really Win? at salon.com
• Weitz & Luxenberg PC

Erin Burnett
Photographed outside of Bear Stearns' midtown Manhattan office on March 17, 2008
Born	Erin Isabelle Burnett (1976-07-02) July 2, 1976 (age 35) Mardela Springs, Maryland, United States
Occupation	News anchor Journalist
Years active	2003–present
Agent	CAA
Notable credit(s)	CNBC's Squawk on the Street co-anchor Street Signs anchor CNN's Erin Burnett OutFront anchor
Website
http://www.cnn.com/CNN/anchors_reporters/burnett.erin.html?iref=allsearch/

Erin Isabelle Burnett (born July 2, 1976) is a journalist and news anchor, currently the anchor of her own news show on CNN, Erin Burnett OutFront.^[1] She was previously the co-anchor of CNBC's Squawk on the Street program and the host of CNBC's Street Signs program. Burnett has also appeared on NBC's Meet the Press, Today, MSNBC's Morning Joe, and NBC Nightly News, as well as occasional appearances on The Celebrity Apprentice serving as an advisor to Donald Trump. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Burnett has hosted a number of documentaries filmed outside of the United States: "India Rising: The New Empire",^[2] "The Russian Gamble", and "Dollars & Danger: Africa, The Final Investment Frontier.^[3] She has focused extensively on the Middle East as well, reporting live from across the region and hosting documentaries including: "On Assignment: Iraq", "Big Money & the Middle East", "City of Money and Mystery" and "The Forbidden Zone".

Personal life[link]

Burnett was born and raised in Mardela Springs, Maryland. She is the youngest daughter of corporate attorney Kenneth King Burnett and Esther Margaret (Stewart).^[4][5] She attended St. Andrew's School in Middletown, Delaware, graduating in 1994,^[6] and returned in 2009 to deliver the commencement speech.^[7][8] Burnett attended Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, where she studied political science and economics, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in political economy. As an undergraduate, she played lacrosse and field hockey.^[9][10]

She is engaged to Citigroup executive David Rubulotta.^[11]

Career[link]

Early years[link]

Burnett began her career as a financial analyst for Goldman Sachs^[12] in their investment banking division, where she worked on mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance. While working as an investment-banking analyst, Burnett was offered a position at CNN as a writer and booker for CNN's Moneyline with Stuart Varney, Willow Bay, and Lou Dobbs.^[13]

Cable news career[link]

From 2005 to 2011 Burnett was the host of CNBC's Street Signs and co-anchor of Squawk on the Street.^[14] Following her debut, both shows received an increase in rating from those aged 25–54.^[15] On May 6, 2011 she left CNBC after 5-1/2 years.^[16] On October 3, 2011 Burnett returned to CNN as the anchor of a New York-based, prime time news program, called Erin Burnett OutFront.^[17][18] By May 2012, Erin Burnett OutFront averaged just 89,000 viewers in the key demographic aged 25-54, which were the lowest ratings for CNN in the 7pm time slot since October 1991. ^[19]

Host shows[link]

• Street Signs (2005–2011)
• Squawk on the Street (2005–2011)
• Bloomberg on the Markets (2003–2005)
• Erin Burnett OutFront (2011–)

Impact and controversies[link]

In August 5, 2009, Burnett used the term "serial killer" in a discussion with her host Jim Cramer regarding a report about the Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's plans to spend millions of dollars on aerial shooting to cull Australian feral camels in the outback. Cramer referred to the reported plan as "camelcide."^[20][21][22] The next day on the show, Burnett said her comment was meant as a joke.^[23]

On December 7, 2010, Burnett did an investigative report on chemical giant Transammonia^[24] doing business in Iran. She reported that a Transammonia subsidiary—100% owned by Transammonia in the United States—purchased ammonia from Iran. In the same report, Burnett said according to an economic plan released by the Iranian government, Iran was trying to increase ammonia production by 60 percent over the next five years. She also mentioned that ammonia is used for explosives, including roadside bombs in Afghanistan. On December 13, 2010, as a result of the CNBC report, Transammonia sent a press release to Congressional leaders stating that Transammonia's Swiss subsidiary would not enter into new contracts with Iranian companies, and would wind down its business with Iran "as soon as possible."^[25]

Shortly after arriving at CNN, on October 4, 2011, Burnett did a segment on the Occupy Wall Street protests titled "Seriously?" in which she mocked the protesters. Media watchdog groups, including Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, claimed Burnett's reporting was purposely inaccurate in order to paint the protesters in a negative light. In response to the criticism, CNN issued a statement saying, "We support Erin and the OutFront team and we respect that there will be a range of opinions on any given story."^[26]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Erin Burnett

• Erin Burnett biography at CNBC
• Erin Burnett at the Internet Movie Database
• Squawk on the Street official website at CNBC
• Street Signs official website at CNBC
• Erin Burnett's OutFront blog official website at CNN