The Start of a New Congress: Confusion

"When the Twentieth Amendment changed the starting date of the congressional term to January 3, it also set January 3 as the default date for Congress to first meet. Like before, Congress has the option of specifying a different meeting date by law, and for 2011, Congress has specified that it will begin on January 5 instead of January 3. But that change in start date does not change the time when the term of the old Congress ends and the new one begins. That date is January 3 at noon."

http://blog.american.com/?page_id=24119

Map: North American Dialects

Has a really cool map...

http://business.highbeam.com/5308/article-1G1-140923418/north-american-dialects-far-fading-away-theyre-getting

Chinese vs. Spanish

"Chinese takes nearly three times as long as Spanish to master, accordign to the Foreign Service Institute."

Foreign Language Proficiency Scale: ILR Scale

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ILR_scale

Cantonese vs. Mandarin

"Cantonese, a sharp, cackling dialtect full of slang and exaggerated expressions, was never the dominant language of China. But it came to dominate the Chinatowns of North America because the first immigrants came from the Cantonese-speaking southern province of Guangdong, where China first opened its ports to foreigners centuries ago. It is also the chief language of Hong Kong, the vital trading and financial center that became China's link to the West. But over the last three decades, waves of Mandarin-speaking mainland Chinese and Taiwanese immigrants have diluted the influence of both the Cantonese language and the pioneering Cantonese families who ran Chinatowns for years."

Cantonese Is Losing Its Voice
by David Pierson
http://articles.latimes.com/2006/jan/03/local/me-cantonese3

Department of State Staffing & Foreign Lanuage Shortfalls

http://www.census.gov/hhes/socdemo/language/data/acs/ACS-12.pdf

Languages Spoke in the US

Good chart on page 7...

http://www.census.gov/hhes/socdemo/language/data/acs/ACS-12.pdf

Car Accidents vs. War

Q: How many Americans have died from car accidents since the invention of the automobile? How does this compare to the number who have died in wars?

A: The comparison is stunning. Since the start of the Revolution, about a million Americans have died in wars. And since Henry Ford introduced the mass-produced motorcar in 1913, more than 2.5 million Americans have met their deaths on the road.

-Ask Marilyn, March 5, 2006

Vid: Heat Transfer in the Modern Kitchen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGKSdQJrIWY

On Modern Inflation Tracking

"Last month, MIT unveiled the Billion Prices Project, an inflation measure based on 5 million items sold by 300 online retailers in 70 countries...Google's chief economist Hal Varian decided to use Google's vast database of Web prices to construct the 'Google Price Index,' a constantly updated measure of prices changes and inflation."

Inflation Tracking is Faster Than Ever. Is That a Good Thing.
by Annie Lowrey
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/23/AR2010122305070.html

Thiel Fellowship: 20 Under 20

"Warning that America's long term economic prospects are uncertain without radical innovation in technology, Peter Thiel this week launched the Thiel Fellowship to foster the next generation of tech visionaries. The new program will support 20 entrepreneurs under 20 years old with grants of up to $100,000."

http://www.thielfoundation.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14:the-thiel-fellowship-20-under-20&catid=1&Itemid=16

The World Has Become More Peaceful

Average annual deaths in armed conflicts, worldwide -

*1950-1959: 155,000
*1990-1999: 95,000
*2000-2008: 27,000
*2002-2008: 17,000

http://www.dlc.org/ndol_ci.cfm?kaid=108&subid=900003&contentid=255223

Whacky Tax Deductions

http://finance.yahoo.com/taxes/article/111626/wacky-tax-deductions-from-chicken-wings-to-cruise-ships?mod=taxes-advice_strategy

Can Hooters Make It In Japan?

http://www.slate.com/id/2276982/

20 TED Talks for Foodies

http://www.onlineclasses.org/2010/12/09/20-great-ted-talks-for-total-foodies/

10 Best Vizualization Projects of the Year - 2010

http://flowingdata.com/2010/12/14/10-best-data-visualization-projects-of-the-year-%E2%80%93-2010/

Claims About Marketing

"If a stranger is standing nearby, shoppers are more likely to pick the expensive brand."

http://www.marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2010/12/claims-about-marketing.html

Social Status Divining Using Email

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/4pRBcE/www.bakadesuyo.com/can-we-tell-someones-social-status-by-looking

On Dr. Seuss & Green Eggs and Ham

"One way to interpret the book is as a celebration of two particularly American traits: salesmanship and open-mindedness. Sam-I-Am is the consummate entreprenuer."

Uncle Sam-I-Am
by Tunku Varadarajan
http://online.wsj.com/public/page/news-lifestyle-arts-entertainment.html (1/18/06; WSJ)

The Theory of Self Interest

"The world out there is bitterly competitive, and those who do not pursue their own interests ruthlessly are likely to be swept aside by others who do...Some economists go so far as to say that self-interest explains virtually all behavior...As Gordon Tullock of the University of Arizona has written, for example, 'the average human being is about 95 percent selfish in the narrow sense of the terms.'"

Economic Scene
by Robert Frank
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/17/business/17scene.html

What % of the Population are Loners?

"A third of us are loners, including a disproportionately large share of blacks, men, and Democrats."

Washington Post Poll

On Craving an Eames Chair

A 50-Year-Old Chair Design and, for 30 Years, a Craving
by Katherine Salant
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/11/AR2008011101696.html

When a Dollar Isn't a Dollar

"Americans are accustomed to the idea that the dollar is good anywhere. Overseas, however, that guarantee carries less wight. In many countries, the dollar's value depends not just on global economic forces that move international currency markets, but also on the age, condition, and denomination of the bills themselves. Roughly 75% of the 5.5 billion $100 bills in print are circulating abroad."

In Some Places, US Money Isn't As Sound as a Dollar
by Michael Phillips
http://online.wsj.com/google_login.html?url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB116241659064510586.html%3Fmod%3Dgooglenews_wsj

On Test Taking

"Tests represent fear-based learning, the opposite of learning based on desire. To compensate for my no-testing policy, I assign tons of homework...For 25 years of testing the waters by not testing, I've been telling my students not to worry about answering questions. Be braver and bolder: Question the answers."

Teach to the Test? What Test?
by Colman McCarthy
http://news.infoshop.org/article.php?story=2006no_tests

Budget Allocations

Budget allocations that Money Management International (MMI) recommends:

*Personal Debt: 14%
*Housing: 27%
*Food: 21%
*Transportation: 8%
*Utilities: 6%
*Clothing: 4%
*Misc.: 1%
*Savings: 7%
*Insurance: 6%
*Personal Care: 3%
*Health: 3%

http://www.seattlepi.com/money/285312_singletary16.html

"Stroke Belt" & Fried Fish

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20101223/sc_livescience/friedfishmayexplainstrokebeltmystery

Mating Habits Around Japan

"Females who draw the greatest pleasure from the sexual act hail from Hokkaido, Iwate, and Gifu...gals of Akita, Fukushima and Yamanashi were most likely to lapse into unconsciousness resulting from sexual ecstasy...As for as who can be seduced the most quickly, gals from Hokkaido were found to have the roundest heels, followed by gals from Saitama and Shiga."

Pornography Meets Geography in Nationwide Sex Survey
by Masuo Kamiyama
Wataru Irokawa in Asahi Geino
http://www.littlespeck.com/region/CForeign-Jp-041113.htm

Sex in the Syllabus

*Undergraduates taking Cyberporn and Society at the State University of New York at Buffalo survey Internet porn sites.

*At New York University, assignments for Anthropology of the Unconscious include discussing X-rated Japanese comic books.

*In Cinema and the Sex Act at the University of California, Berkeley, undergrads are required to view clips from Hollywood NC-17 releases like Showgirls and underground stag reals.

Sex in the Syllabus
by Lisa Takeuchi Cullen
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1176976,00.html

Females Don't Always Go for Hottest Mate

"Instead of choosing mates who will increase the genetic quality of their offspring, females make choices that will increase their number of offspring...mating with 'sexy' males isn't necessarily the way to a plethora of descendants."

Darwin Revisited: Females Don't Always Go for Hottest mate
by Sharon Begley
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB114678722314044356.html?mod=mostpop

Festival of the Week: Condom-Blowing Contest

A contest to herald the Qixi Festival in Chongqing Municipality, China...

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/photo/2006-05/29/content_603247.htm

Mile High Club Business - Flamingo Air

Also, New York Aviation apparently offers three packages: the Quickie, the Young Lovers, and Romeo & Juliet for $600 to $1,000...

http://www.flamingoair.net/flight_of_fancy.html

The Neuroscience of Political Thinking

"Using M.R.I. scanners, neuroscientists have now tracked what happens in the politically partisan brain when it tries to digest damning facts about favored candidates or criticisms of them. The process is almost entirely emotional and unconscious."

A Shocker: Partisan Thought Is Unconscious
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/24/science/24find.html

Not So Pleased To Meet You

"It still happens against better judgement, but it's a prickly proposition to make new friends at a certain point in life...Hendry Adams had it right: One friend in a lifetime is much, two are many, three are hardly possible...Maybe that's because, unlike family, whose needs are nonnegotiable, and unlike a spouse, whom many single people will seek to find by any means, friends seem expendable in the hierarchy of social needs. They also take work. Friendship is a pretty full-time occupation."

Not So Pleased To Meet You
by Bob Morris
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9805E0DD143BF933A05752C0A9639C8B63

"The answer is of course subjective, varying by region and by individual defintions. To get into most private banks and wealth-management firms today, you need investible assets of at least $2 million - and most often, $10 million. In private-banking lingo, having $1 million counts as 'high net worth,' while it takes $25 million to $20 million to be 'ultra-high net worth.'"

The Rich-O-Meter
by Robert Frank
http://blogs.wsj.com/wealth/2007/02/01/the-rich-o-meter/

Also check out the Global Rich List, as mentioned in the article:
http://www.globalrichlist.com/

Hand Sanitizers, Good or Bad?

"There is a 60 percent minimum alcohol concentration that health officials deem necessary to kill most harmful bacteria and viruses...make sure that whichever of those alcohols is listed, its concentration is between 60 and 95 percent. Less than that isn't enough."

Hand Sanitizers, Good or Bad? Good, if the Alcohol Content Is Strong Enough
by Deborah Franklin
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/21/health/21cons.html

All in Your Head?

"Psychological stress has long been known to make asthma worse...When volunteers who inhaled an asthma trigger, such as cat dander, looked at asthma-related words such as 'wheeze,' their symptoms worsened - and their brain seemd to show why. Activity rose in the insula and the anterior cingulate cortex, regiosn that connect to areas that process emotions. That increased activity worsened inflammation and obstruction of the airways...These changes in brain activity might be part of a pathway by which emotions affect asthma symptoms."

All in Your Head? Yes, and Scientists Are Figuring Out Why
by Sharon Begley
http://psyphz.psych.wisc.edu/web/News/All_in_Your_Head.html

Follow Your Gut, Study Advises

"Researchers found that people who face a decision with many considerations, such as what house to buy, often do not choose wisely if they spend a lot of time consciously weighing the pros and cons. Instead, the best strategy is to gather all of the relevant information and then put the decision out of mind for a while. Then, when the time comes to decide, go with what feels right."

Thought for Thinkers
by Gareth Cook
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2006/02/17/thought_for_thinkers/

Too Complex to Exist

"It may be time for a new approach: preventing the system from becoming overly complex in the first place...once everything is connected, problems can spread as easily as solutions, sometimes more so...Taking free-market principles seriously, therefore, requires us to acknowledge that firms that are 'too big to fail' are really too big to be permitted to exist."

Too Complex to Exist
by Duncan Watts
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2009/06/14/too_complex_to_exist/

Measuring Quality of Life

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quality_of_life

Ten Laws of the Modern World

Includes such laws as:

*Moore's Law
*Metcalfe's Law
*Gilder's Law
*Ricardo's Law
*Wriston's Law
*The Laffer Curve
*Drucker's Law
*Ogilvy's Law

http://www.forbes.com/2005/04/19/cz_rk_0419karlgaard.html

Game Show Economists

"Thierry Post is part of a small, intense cadre of economists who study game shows in a variation on 'game theory,' seeking to explain the situational choices contestants make, and the clues those choices may hold for economic behavior in everyday life...In a 2002 paper notable in game-show delving, two economists calculated the 'unique subgame-perfect Nash equilibrium' -- roughly, the best way to play -- in a segment of 'The Price Is Right.' They found that contestants frequently deviated from it, acting too conservatively when worried about being eliminated."

Why Game Shows Have Economists Glued to Their TVs
by Charles Forelle
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06012/636981.stm

Professional Event Smoochers

"Since they met in 1981, Keren Coxe and Alex Belinfante have dined almost exclusively at gallery openings and other cultural events...You can't ingest that much raw celery and dip without getting a name for yourself, and the Chevy Chase couple have several: "the Eaters," "the Munchers," "the Moochers," "the Art Bums," "the Cheese Critics." Whatever they're called, their voracity is legendary."

The Hunger Artists
by John Metcalfe
http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/articles/29307/the-hunger-artists

Origami As The Shape of Things to Come

"Dr. Erik Demaine, an assistant professor of computer science at MIT, is the leading theoretician in the emerging field of origami mathematics, the formal study of what can be done with a folded sheet of paper."

Origami As The Shape of Things to Come
by Margaret Wertheim
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/15/science/15origami.html

You Are What You Speak

"New research in the January 2000 issue of the journal Nature Neuroscience, found that the primary language a person is raised with affects the way he or she thinks and processes information. The researchers studied Italian and British college students found that the Italians read and process information faster, even when reading words from other languages."

http://italian.about.com/library/weekly/aa010500a.htm

Also check out:

Does Your Language Shape How You Think?
by Guy Deutscher
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/29/magazine/29language-t.html

Economy of Desire

"Setting the value of an American life at $2 million, Francis calculated that in terms of AIDS-related mortality, it cost $1,923.75 in 1992 (the peak of the AIDS crisis) for a man to have unprotected sex once with a random gay American versus less than $1 with a random woman...In a study of Mexican prostitution, when a client requested sex without a condom, a prostitute was typically paid a 24 percent premium over her standard fee...in the draft paper titled the Economics of Sexaulity, not a single man in the survey who had a relative with AIDS said he had had sex with a man in the previous five yers; not a single man in that group declared himself to be attracted to men or to consider himself homosexual. Women in that group also shunned sex with men."

The Economy of Desire
by Stephen Dubner and Steven Levitt
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/11/magazine/11wwln_freak.html

Diplomats & Parking Tickets

"Researchers who examined tens of thousands of parking tickets issued to United Nations diplomatc found those least likely to pay up were from countries where people hold a drim view of the US...diplomats were more likely to run up unpaid parking fines if they hailed from countries with a history of unchecked corruption, such as Nigeria. But a second factor - poor US image - emerged when the researchers matched the list of offenders against a 2002 world public opinion survey perfromed by the Pew Research Center."

http://www.alldeaf.com/current-events/30811-study-shows-why-diplomats-wont-pay-up.html

10 Most Wanted Government Documents

http://www.openthegovernment.org/otg/TopTenReport.pdf

Vampires a Mathematical Impossibility

"A researcher has come up with some simple math that sucks the life out of the vampire myth, proving that these highly popular creatures can't exist...On January 1, 1600, the human population was 536,870,911. If the first vampire came into existence that day and bit one person a month, there would have been two vampires by February 1, 1600. A month later there would have been four, and so on. In just two-and-a-half years the origninal human population would all have become vampires with nobody left to feed on."

http://www.livescience.com/strangenews/061025_vampire_debunk.html

Science of Attraction

"Scientists now believe that people of mixed race, particularly Eurasians, possess certain genetic advantages that lead to gerater health, and, as a result, attractiveness. In the first study of its kind, Caucasians and Japanese people rated Eurasian faces as more attractive than faces of either race."

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/the-face-of-the-future-why-eurasians-are-changing-the-rules-of-attraction-523076.html

Question of the Day: Being Better

Q: Why do some people think they're better than others?

A: I believe some people are better than other people, so, in those cases, they're right. But the rest of the time, it's just plain wishful thinking.

-Ask Marilyn

"Morning People" and Survival

"Just as there are morning people, scientists have found morning flies and morning mice. Variations in sleep patterns among the population may have benefited the species. The whole tribe is better off if someone is up all the night, listening for a lion walking through the grass."

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/27/health/27SLEEP.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1

Pet Peeves in Customer Service

"Why are items in hotel minibars so expensive? Hotels price minibar goodies competitively with other items within the hotel, not with a convenience store down the road. So if a Coke is $8 at the hotel lounge, it will be close to that price in the minibar. Moreover, the traditional minibar carries high overhead. An employee must check what has been removed every day and refill accordingly. And many people take items and then try to avoid paying - whcih boosts the cost for everyone else."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB116171022993502237.html?mod=hpp_us_at_glance_sr

Travel Abroad Statistics

In 2005, Europeans took 1 trip per person per year; Americans and Japanese took 1 trip per eight people per year.

http://www.ppionline.org/ppi_ci.cfm?knlgAreaID=108&subsecID=900003&contentID=253904

Which Country Works the Hardest?

I like the chart going back to the 13th century showing the male peasant (UK) working 1620 hours per year. In 2004, the average American worked 1,824 hours.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Working_time

Wikipedia Article of the Day: RPI

"RPI, the Ratings Percentage Index, is a quantity used to rank sports teams based upon a team's wins and losses and its strength of schedule."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ratings_Percentage_Index

Hot Leftovers Should Cool at Room Temperature?

"According to the FDA, leftover food should be refrigerated immediately after serving, and certainly within two hours of cooking. Food bacteria can double every 30 or 40 minutes, and several outbreaks of food poisoning have been linked to meat cooked and left to cool at room temperature for too long."

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/09/health/09real.html

Some Types of Alcohol Make a Hangover Worse?

"Experts say that the type of alcohol you drink does make a difference. Among the most important is the amount of congeners - complex organic molecules, like methanol - in a particular drink. Impurities in poorly refined spirits like cheap vodka can also play a role, but congeners, which are common in darker liquors, seems to have the greatest effect...the drink that produced the most hangover symptoms was brandy, followed by red wine, rum, whiskey, white wine, gin and vodka."

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/07/health/07real.html

Which Countries Think Americans Are Rude?

http://pewglobal.org/files/pdf/247.pdf

Poll of the Week: Love at First Site

"Nearly half of all Americans say they believe in love at first site - and more than a quarter say it's happened to them."

-Washington Post national telephone survey of 1,006 adults.

Can an A-Bomb Stop a Hurricane?

"For it to actually stop a storm it would have to raise barometric pressure (the weight of the air above the ground) considerably. In fact, a nuclear blast wouldn't even cause a hiccup. To change a devastating Category 5' cane into a merely pesky Category 2, at least a half-ton of air would have to be added to every square meter of space within the hurricane's eye."

Maxim, February 2006

More Than 2.4 Million Hold Security Clearances

http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/2009/07/security_clearances.html

Gas & Weight Correlation

"Americans are spending more money on fuel these days in part because adult men and women on average are at least 24 pounds heavier than their counterparts were in 1960...collectively, today's automobiles are burning more gasoline to haul all that extra weight around - about 1 billion gallons more annually...at recent gas prices of $2.20 a gallon, that adds up to $2.2 billion more spent at the pump each year because of America's weight problem."

To Spend Less on Gas, Lose the Spare Tire
by Christopher Lee
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/25/AR2006102501776.html

Facts on Multinational Companies

*29 of the world's top 100 economies were multinational businesses rather than countries.
*There were more than 63,000 multinationals in 2000.

http://www.ppionline.org/ppi_ci.cfm?knlgAreaID=108&subsecID=900003&contentID=253303

Cool Facts of the Week: Cocoa

*70% of the world's cocoa comes from West Africa.
*America's top suppliers of finished chocolates are Canada and Mexico, and Europe accounts for almost all the rest.
*About 50,000 Americans work as chocolatiers.

http://www.ppionline.org/ppi_ci.cfm?contentID=253716&knlgAreaID=108&subsecID=127&FREM=Y&sid=21573&mid=16821

Sovereign Wealth Fund Rankings

http://www.swfinstitute.org/fund-rankings/

Drivers Give Helmeted Cyclists Less Room

"This may be because drivers believe cyclists with helmets are more serious, experienced, and predictable than those without....It was found that drivers passed an average of 3.3 inches closer to cyclists with a helmet than without."

http://www.wmrc.org/node/25

Test: Human Limits

Adults can take 10 minutes at 300F...when core body temperature hits 107.6, heatstroke can't be reversed and will prove fatal...at 40% of blood loss, you'd need an immediate transfusion...

http://blogs.ngm.com/blog_central/2009/09/human-limits.html

How to Survive the Worst

I like #3 (Leave the hospital alive):

"If you need to go to the hospital, weekdays are much safer than weekends. Possible explanations are lower staffing levels and the presence of workers who are less experienced and less familiar with procedures and patients."

and #4 (...And don't go back):

"Beware of checking out of the hospital on Friday. Friday is the most common hospital discharege day, because doctors try to send patients home for the weekend. But Canadian researchers have found that indivudals released on that day show an increased independent risk of death."

Other interesting points:

*The safest seats on a plane are within five rows of any exit.
*Most fire departments use leadders that, at their maximum can extend around 80 feet into the air. Thus, you should be on or below the 7th floor to escape a fire in a building/hotel.
*The best place to have a heart attack is in a casino in Las Vegas (b/c there are so many security cameras and security personnel know CPR, etc...)
*The rear middle seat is 16% safer than any other place in a vehicle.

http://www.parade.com/news/2009/01/how-to-survive-the-worst.html

Japan's Phillips Curve Looks Like Japan

http://www.econ.queensu.ca/working_papers/papers/qed_wp_1083.pdf

Graphi: Strife & Power in the New Middle East

http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2006/07/23/weekinreview/20060723_MIDEAST_GRAPHIC.html

Which DC Office Buildings Have the Best View?

http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/blog/2010/12/high-end-view-space-rare-pricey-in.html?ed=2010-12-17&s=article_du&ana=e_du_pap

High-Dollar Art & High-Stakes Shipping/Handling

Once you buy an object worth a fortune, how do you haul it home? Read the article to find out...

Want That to Gogh?
by David Segal
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/19/AR2006051901983.html

Painkiller Index

"Certain sectors of the economy appear to be recovering, based upon observations at the autumn US Sailboat Show. Better attendance, more signed sales contracts, and the all-important Painkiller Index, which stochastically tracks the annual moving average number of Pussers Rum-based magic elixirs sold locally."

Chesapeake Rambler
by Fred Miller
November 2010; SpinSheet


Here is the recipe for a Pussers Rum Painkiller:
*Four parts pineapple juice
*One part cream of coconut
*One part orange juice
*Anywhere from two to four parts rum, depending on how strong you like it
*Serve over the rocks and top with freshly grated nutmeg

Wikipedia Article of the Day: Journalism Sourcing

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journalism_sourcing

Wikipedia Article of the Day: Economic Espionage Act of 1996

On collecting business intelligence...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_Espionage_Act_of_1996

Red = Color of Attraction

Women thought red signified men with higher status, but it did not make the males seem more likable, kind, or sociable.

"A multicultural study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General concluded that women were more attracted to photographs of men who wore the color red or whose photographs were bordered with the color red...and, apparently, red works in women's favor as well. In a 2008 University of Rochester study, a similar finding was published saying that men are more turned on by a lady in red."

WhatsUpMag.com; November 2010

Where Does a $250,000/Year Salary Go?

This article has a nice chart of where people's salaries go...

Where Does $250,000 a Year Go?
by Karen Hube
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/11/AR2010121100136.html

Too Many Laws

"Once a law is in place in the US, it's almost impossible to dislodge. Once enacted, most laws are ignored for generations, allowed to take on a life of their own without meaningful review. Decade after decade, they pile up like sediment in a harbor, bogging the country down - in dense regulation, unaffordable health care, and higher taxes and public debt. Congress could follow a simple proposal: Every law should automatically expire after 10 or 15 years. Such a universal sunset provision would force Congress and the president to justify the status quo and give political reformers an opening to reexamine trade-offs and public priorities....Accumulated law has become a defining problem of modern democracy. To an amazing degree, our government's choices are dictated by political leaders who are long dead."

One Nation, Under Too Many Laws
by Philip Howard
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/10/AR2010121007132.html

List of the Day: States With Limited Recognition

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_states_with_limited_recognition

Weird Word of the Day: Koonago

http://wapedia.mobi/en/Koonago

Also, the Straight Dope's analysis of "tentacle porn" --

"What turned tentacle porn into a genre of its own was the manga series Urotsukidoji, begun in 1986 by cartoonist Toshido Maeda, and its subsequent anime adaptations. The reason for the reliance on tentacles was simple. Till 1993 Japanese law prohibited straightforward depictions of penises and intercourse. So Maeda was obliged to come up with a substitute: tentacles."

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2968/whats-the-deal-with-japanese-tentacle-porn

2010's Best Cookbooks

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/08/dining/08books.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=a210

The Big Bang Theory of Art

"A new study, published this week in Proceedings of the Royal Society, suggests that artists, from poets to painters to puppeteers, have, on average, twice as many sexual partners as non-artists...the greater the artisitc endevour, the larger the sexual appetites. The study also suggests a link between artistic sexuality and schizophrenia...Artisitic ability may have evolved as a form of mating display, a courtship technique to attract partners...Artists may not actually have wilder sex lives than mere mortals; they may simply be better at misrepresenting what they do in bed."

The Big Bang Theory of Art
by Ben Macintyre
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/ben_macintyre/article744712.ece

On South Korea's "Sea Women"

"The sea women on Cheju Island are among the most skillful and toughest natural divers...but the 1,700-year history of Cheju's sea women will probably end. In 2003, 5,650 sea women were registered in Cheju, of whome 85 percent were over 50 years old. Only two were under 30."

South Korea's "Sea Women" Trap Prey and Turn Tables
by Norimitsu Onishi
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/15/international/asia/15udo.html

Realtor vs. Real Estate Agent vs. Broker

Realtors, Real Estate Agents, and Brokers: What's the Difference?
by Ellen Beck
http://washingtonexaminer.com/business/2009/06/realtors-real-estate-agents-and-brokers-what-s-difference

Also:
Whom Can You Trust When You Sell or Buy
by Harvey Jacobs
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/07/AR2011010700033.html

On "Phantom Interest" or "Imputed Interest"

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/23/AR2009102300026.html

Five Marks of a Great Leader

1. Moral courage
2. Judgement
3. A sense of priority
4. The disposal and concentration of effort
5. Humor

http://www.forbes.com/global/2005/0509/014.html

How to Choose a Bulb

Get help in choosing a lightbulb...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/artsandliving/homeandgarden/features/2007/bulb-040507/bulb.html

Chart: How Cargo Travels Through the Shipping System

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/graphic/2006/02/26/GR2006022600087.html

Beware Your Trail of Digital Fingerprints

Watch out for the metadata...

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/07/business/07link.html

Fact of the Week: "Green" Products

More than 95% of consumer products claiming to be green are committing at least one of the “sins” of greenwashing, according to a new study released today by environmental marketingcompany TerraChoice. Greenwashing is defined as the act of misleading consumers about the environmental practices of a company or the environmental benefits of a product or service.

http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/index.cfm/go/news.display/id/21313

Museum of the Week: Octopus Ball Museum

"Toshio Yamaoka, president of Yamaoka Kinzoku Kogyo, makers of the finest takoyaki frying plates in Japan, is dedicating the twilight years of his life to promoting the pleasures of eating octous balls to the rest of the world. He set up his takoyaki museum in a corner on the second floor of his company's three-story factory in Moriguchi, Osaka Prefecture."

-Mainichi Daily, 9/22/06

What's The Real Federal Deficit?

A good discussion on cash vs. accrual accounting and the tricks that are played...

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-08-02-deficit-usat_x.htm