Share of The Wold’s Wealth
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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A Little Gassy
Estimated amount of gasoline wasted in U.S. traffic jams each day, in gallons: 12,600,000
Read moreReading and Writing Emails
Percentage of the average “knowledge worker’s” time that is spent reading and writing emails: 28
Read moreDeck Chairs Thwart Pirates
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 […]
Read moreNaked Surprise
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.
Read morePOLLUTION
The European Union’s environmental agency said targets to curb pollution and climate change by 2050 would he missed without “profound changes” in technology, lifestyle and policy. The agency said poor air quality in Europe causes hundreds of thousands of early deaths a year.
Read moreSEAFLOOR SCRAPING
Bottom-trawling nets, which scrape up anything in their path in pursuit of fish, have left their mark on 20 million sq. mi. (52 million sq km) of seafloor.
Read moreHello, I’m Johnny Cash
A 60-year-old Dutch man received a brain implant to cure his obsessive-compulsive disorder, and suddenly became a fanatical Johnny Cash fan. The patient said his doctors, “kept listening simply and solely to Johnny Cash.”
Read moreH.S. Football Team of Deaf Players Wins Title
A high school football team of deaf players in Fremont, Calif., has won a league title for the first time. The Eagles of the California School for the Deaf, already national champions among schools for the deaf, won the regular North Central ll/Bay League title with a 10-2 season. Despite fielding a squad without a single player over 200 pounds, […]
Read moreIt was a bad week for . . .
. . . ordering a margarita, after heavy rains, tree disease, and cartel violence sent prices for Mexico’s limes soaring from to $14 a case to $100. “We don’t buy them [anymore],” said the owner of a San Antonio Mexican restaurant. “We substitute lemons.”
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