The government of South Korea has ordered all government employees to start wearing thick underwear—the high-tech thermal kind preferred—to stave off quickly rising energy consumption levels.
As of January 17th, public servants in South Korea must turn off all heating devices from 11:00am to 12:00am and 5:00pm to 6:00pm…
Continue reading… “South Korean Government: ‘Wear Thick Underwear’”
Social networking ranked as one of the most popular distractions while driving.
One in five Americans with a smartphone admits to using the internet while driving, with social networking ranking as one of the most popular distractions that’s taking eyes off the road.
Continue reading… “1 in 5 Americans Use the Internet While Driving”
As US politicians continue to cry for fiscal austerity and weaker industry oversight, keep this next one in mind: As New York Times reports the Department of Interior has done such a poor job keeping track of how much oil and natural gas has been produced from public lands that the people have lost billions of dollars in revenue…
Ecstasy tablets seized at the Belem International Airport in Belem.
The problem of so-called “designer drugs” is running out of control in many regions of the world, the U.N. global drugs watchdog said Wednesday. The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) said detailed instructions for how to make designer drugs, which are slightly altered to bypass existing control systems, are often shared via the Internet.
Continue reading… “Designer Drug Abuse Out of Control in Many Regions of the World”
Some chemicals are more detrimental than others.
This week Europe proposed to add seven more chemicals to the list of substances of very high concern (SVHC). The addition of a chemical to the SVHC list enables European regulators to ban the chemical from the market unless it is proven that the risks are adequately controlled, or there is not a feasible substitute and the socio-economic benefits justify the risk. The proposal contains more of the usual suspects such as phthalates, glycol ethers, and a chromate (the “Erin Brockovich chemical”), as well as some potentially difficult to replace chemicals like a widely used reducing agent and a common universal solvent…
Continue reading… “Europe Proposes Seven New Chemical Substances of Very High Concern”
Increasing numbers of parents are controlling the diets of their babies and toddlers.
With one in ten children under two overweight, in the U.S. the obesity crisis is getting worse each year. But some parents are so worried about preventing the problem, they are putting their babies on diets.
Writing on the New York Times blog, Mark Bittman reviews McDonald’s nightmarish attempt at making oatmeal (a foodstuff with one ingredient):
Air pollution in Bejing, China.
Dirty air triggers more heart attacks than using cocaine and poses as high a risk of sparking a heart attack as alcohol, coffee and physical exertion, scientists said on Thursday.
Continue reading… “Air Pollution Triggers More Heart Attacks Than Cocaine”
Alaska State Rep Sharon Cissna, a breast cancer survivor who has had a mastectomy, was barred from flying home to Juneau from Seattle by the TSA when she refused to allow a screener to touch the scars from her operation. She drove home instead. Apparently she is always selected for an invasive “hand screening” because the “irregularities” presented by her prosthesis when viewed through the pornoscanner raise the TSA’s suspicions. As others have observed, the War on Terror is really a War on the Unusual — it’s the systematic erosion of rights for people with nonstandard appearance, health, itineraries, and beliefs, without regard to whether those “irregularities” are correlated with terrorist activity. It’s as though the TSAhas said, “All terrorists are engaged in something unusual, therefore all unusual occurrences should be viewed as potential terrorism.”
An alarming trend on YouTube.
Videos on YouTube showing cutting and other self-injury methods are an alarming new trend, attract millions of hits and could serve as a how-to for troubled viewers, a study warns.
A coal truck drives through an railroad tressel near downtown Welch, W.Va.
Nestled within America’s once-thriving coal country, 87-year-old Ed Shepard laments a prosperous era gone by, when shoppers lined the streets and government lent a helping hand. Now, here as in one-fourth of all U.S. counties, West Virginia’s graying residents are slowly dying off.
Continue reading… “1 in 4 U.S. Counties Are Dying”
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
Learn More about this exciting program.
