THE PROBLEM Congestion caused by commuters carries an annual price tag of $121 billion in wasted time and fuel costs. The average American who drives to work wastes 38 hours in traffic each year. THE INNOVATION City planning authorities increasingly prioritize pedestrians and cyclists over cars. A commitment to public transportation also signals the end of the age when cars […]
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What’s most important—and troubling— is the decades-long, systemic expansion of the economic distance between the richest of the rich and the poorest of the poor, and the long, backward slide for the majority of those in-between.
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A Florida man has been arrested and convicted of running a prostitution ring, thanks to the honesty of his 7-year-old son. Robert Burton, 34, was pulled over during a traffic stop while driving with his son and two unnamed women. When police asked who the women were, the boy replied, “Those are my daddy’s hos.” Burton last week was sentenced […]
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Average cost of a hospital stay in the United States: $12,000 In Germany: $5,000
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A Vancouver woman saw the bicycle that was stolen from her put up for sale on Craigslist. She called, met the seller, and asked for a test ride. “And then I just got on it and rode away,” said Kayla Smith.
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Share of the world’s wealth that will be held by the richest 1% across the globe by 2016, according to a report from the antipoverty charity Oxfam: 50%
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Estimated amount of gasoline wasted in U.S. traffic jams each day, in gallons: 12,600,000
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Percentage of the average “knowledge worker’s” time that is spent reading and writing emails: 28
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Somali pirates who tried to storm a luxury cruise ship were sent packing by a group of retired British and German tourists wielding deck chairs. When the armed pirates pulled up to the ship off the coast of Somalia, the elderly passengers picked up whatever deck furniture they could find to repel the invaders. The pirates peppered the boat with […]
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An Australian man hid naked inside a top-loading washing machine to surprise his girlfriend, and had to be freed by police, who used olive oil as a lubricant.
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