A Sad Day For Peanut Butter

(CNN) — "A Georgia peanut butter plant found salmonella in their products in at least 10 instances over the past two years, but sent out the contaminated peanut butter anyway, federal officials revealed Tuesday."

http://cnnwire.blogs.cnn.com/2009/01/27/peanut-plant-knowingly-sent-out-tainted-products/

How to rescue the bank bailout

Great synopsis of the bank bailout thus far and an argument for nationalization. from Joseph Stiglitz.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/26/stiglitz.finance.crisis/index.html

The $53 trillion asteroid

Let's say a giant asteroid was headed toward Earth right now and experts say it has a good chance of ending civilization as we know it. Let's also say that we've known about this asteroid for years but even as it gets closer and closer our leaders do nothing.

"Don't worry," they tell us, "The next administration will figure something out."

With the future of our country at stake, would Americans really sit back and tolerate that kind of inaction? Of course not -- we'd be sharpening our pitchforks and demanding answers.

Well there may not be a space asteroid heading toward us, but there is an economic one -- and the threat to our future is just as severe.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/03/26/beck.deficit/index.html

Who gets rich off $3 gas - who doesn't

http://money.cnn.com/2008/03/13/news/economy/gas_gallon/index.htm?postversion=2008031404

The Autumn of the Multitaskers

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200711/multitasking

Neuroscience is confirming what we all suspect: Multitasking is dumbing us down and driving us crazy. One man’s odyssey through the nightmare of infinite connectivity

by Walter Kirn

The Evolutionary Brain Glitch That Makes Terrorism Fail

"Two people are sitting in a room together: an experimenter and a subject. The experimenter gets up and closes the door, and the room becomes quieter. The subject is likely to believe that the experimenter's purpose in closing the door was to make the room quieter.

This is an example of correspondent inference theory. People tend to infer the motives -- and also the disposition -- of someone who performs an action based on the effects of his actions, and not on external or situational factors. If you see someone violently hitting someone else, you assume it's because he wanted to -- and is a violent person -- and not because he's play-acting. If you read about someone getting into a car accident, you assume it's because he's a bad driver and not because he was simply unlucky. And -- more importantly for this column -- if you read about a terrorist, you assume that terrorism is his ultimate goal."

http://www.wired.com/politics/security/commentary/securitymatters/2007/07/securitymatters_0712

Study Documents the Power of Indoor Plants

From the article:

* Americans spent an average of $147 on domestic plants for their homes last year.
* Research suggests that indoor plants reduce symptoms of fatigue, headache, cough and dry skin.
* Plant-filled rooms contain up to 60 percent fewer airborne molds and bacteria than rooms without plants, studies show.
* America’s favorite potted flowering plant is the poinsettia.
* There are more than 65,000 greenhouses in the U.S.
* Most American Christmas trees are grown in Oregon and North Carolina.
* The following plants are best at decontaminating air and balancing humidity: Areca, Reed and Dwarf date palms; Boston ferns, English ivy and Peace Lilies.


Study Documents the Power of Indoor Plants

Chinese Student Arrested for Making Video Game Map of School

And the overreaction begins...

student_arrested.html