Threat Assessment: Week of September 12
AGAINST US
Muslim man gets bigot burger
A Houston resident going by the name "Tarek G." visited Petrol Station, a local restaurant, on the anniversary of 9/11, and was surprised when the burger he'd ordered came served in a box etched with the words "Happy September 11th" and an image of a plane crashing into the Twin Towers. After an drawn-out back-and-forth with restaurant management, he claims he got his money back (but no apology). [TPM]
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CARBON-CONSCIOUS COMPANIES FLOURISH
Companies whose policies favor reduced carbon emissions may perform better in the stock market, according to a study by the (OK, not exactly impartial) Carbon Disclosure Project. "The improved financial performance of companies with high carbon performance is a clear indicator that it makes good business sense to manage and reduce carbon emissions," the executive of the CDP told reporters. [BBC]
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LAUGHTER MAY BE THE BEST MEDICINE
Much like exercise, spicy food and sex, laughter has been found to release endorphins, the brain's feel-good chemicals, and thereby raise people's ability to cope with pain. Indeed, Oxford reserarchers have found that watching about 15 minutes of comedy in a group raised people's pain thresholds by about 10 percent. As to why this should be, one of the study's authors speculated: "We think that it is the bonding effects of the endorphin rush that explain why laughter plays such an important role in our social lives." [Scientific American]
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AGAINST US
BIG MAN SUES FAST-FOOD CHAIN OVER SMALL BOOTHS
White Castle fan Martin Kessman has one major gripe with the fast food eatery: he can't fit in the booths. The 290-pound New Yorker is suing the fast-food chain monetary damages, aruguing the chain's booths violate the rights of fat people. After complaining to White Castle's corporate headquarters, he was promised that "the booths were going to be enlarged and made comfortable for people with a little more weight,” he told reporters. But apparently that hasn't happened yet. [New York Post]
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ANIMAL EUTHANASIA WAY DOWN
These days American animal shelters euthanize three to four million dogs and cats per year, about three percent of the 135 million of the animals in the country. That's a sharp decline from the 1970s, when U.S. shelters euthanized about 25 percent of American dogs and cats. The Human Society of the United States hails the dropoff as "substantial progress," but adds: "We will make still greater progress by working together to strike at the roots of animal overpopulation." [Scientific American]
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AGAINST US
WOMAN SAVES SON'S LIFE, GETS CANNED
Claudia Rendon took time off from her job at the Aviation Institute of Maintenance to undergo surgery to transplant a kidney to her son and thus save his life. Unfortunately, she'd already used up all her vacation days for the year after the deaths of both of her parents, and upon returning to work she was fired. Her son, for his part, is extremely grateful. "She saved my life," he said. "Who else can say their mom gave them life two times?" [ThinkProgress]
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Man gets thumb transplant … using own big toe
A 29-year-old British man, James Byrne, has had his big toe attached in the place of a lost thumb. Byrne had severed his thumb while sawing a piece of wood, and attempts to re-attach it were unsuccessful. "[My doctor] said to me, 'You will have a thumb even if I have to take your toe,'" said Byrne. "I thought he was joking, but he was serious and nine months later here it is." [Guardian]
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AGAINST US
California water district buys good press
California's Central Basin Municipal Water District has used nearly $200,000 in taxpayer funds to pay for promotional stories "written in the image of real news," according to a Los Angeles Times investigation. The articles run on a website called News Hawk Review, which, though it looks like a legitimate media outlet, is actually a PR front. Not only do readers get taken in by the site; so does Google. The search engine offers stories about the Central Basin district whenever people search for "water conservation" or "recycled water." [LA Times]
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GOVT TO AMP UP PORK INSPECTIONS
The Department of Agriculture USDA will start doing more rigorous testing to detect antibiotics in pork, the agency announced this week. The change comes after a 2010 inspector general report warned "the effects of these residues on human beings who consume such meat are a growing concern," adding that residue of penicillin in meat could cause reactions in people who are allergic to the drug. Updated tests on the meat are now better at scanning for 14 kinds of antibiotics, and can detect three others that the prior tests couldn't. [Wall Street Journal]
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AGAINST US
MEN LOSE MOJO WHEN KIDS COME ALONG
Becoming a father actually lowers men's testosterone levels, according to a new study out of Northwestern University. High levels of the hormone can increase a man's sex drive and increase the need for social dominance – traits far from helpful when it comes to raising a child. "Fatherhood and the demands of having a newborn baby require many emotional, psychological and physical adjustments," said one of the study's authors in a statement. "Our study indicates that a man's biology can change substantially to help meet those demands." [Reuters]
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IRAN TO RELEASE U.S. PRISONERS
Iran president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Tuesday that this week he will release two Americans hikers from prison in Iran. The men, who were jailed for eight years on espionage charges, have always denied spying and claim they wandered into Iranian territory while hiking. Their release is intended as a humanitarian gesture. [New York Times]
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AGAINST US
Right-Wing media exploit 9/11 to bash Obama
President Obama has called on Americans to treat the anniversary of 9/11 as a "national day of service;" This didn't sit well with Fox Nation and the conservative publication Human Events. Fox excerpted a Human Events post on 9/11 stating that Obama has "[attempted] to transform the day into a celebration of socialism." "The Americans who died on September 11, 2001, were not engaged in 'volunteering and service,'" the post also says. "They had jobs." [Media Matters]
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Scientists unlock near-death experiences
All of the unusual sensations of a near-death experience – going toward a white light, feeling that one's soul has left the body, and more – can be explained by science, according to a Cambridge University. The hallucination of moving toward a bright light, or "tunnel vision," can be caused by depleted blood and oxygen flow to the eye. Out-of-body experiences, too, can be explained: studies have induced the feeling by stimulating particular parts of the brain. [Scientific American]
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AGAINST US
Sea radiation from Fukushima worse than thought
Three times the expected amount of radioactive substances have been released into the sea due to the nuclear crisis at Japan's Fukushima plant, according to the Japan Atomic Energy Agency. Radioactive materials were first detected in the water on March 21. [Yomiuri]
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FARMERS' MARKETS GOOD FOR BUSINESS
Buying food locally at farmer's markets isn't just good for your health – it could also give a boost to the economy. According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, support for FMs – increased funding, assistance meeting certification standards, upping towns' capacity for the markets – could add as many as 13,500 jobs for every 500 markets supported over the next five years. [Union of Concerned Scientists]
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Lawbreaking Amish sent to jail
Even the Amish have to abide by the law: eight members of the traditional sect have been jailed after refusing to pay fines stemming from a failure to display safety triangles on their buggies. The men wouldn't pay the fine on religious grounds, saying that they are barred from wearing or using bright colors and from relying on man-made symbols for their safety. The men were given dark-colored jumpsuits for their brief stays in the slammer, so as to avoid the traditional orange. [Reuters https://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/14/us-amish-jailed-idUSTRE78D3ZC20110914]
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AGAINST US
Huge red crabs attack Antarctic ecosystems
More than a million massive red crabs have invaded Palmer Deep, a basin in the continental shelf of the Antarctic Peninsula. Not only do the crabs unsettle sediment with their long legs, but they are also chowing down on the water's urchins, sea lillies and starfish. The crabs' arrival is likely a result of climate change; they come from waters north of the Antarctic and have moved in as water temperatures continue to rise. [New Scientist https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn20876-giant-red-crabs-invade-the-antarctic-abyss.html]
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Robot to take on Ironman triathalon
A Japanese robot named Evolta will take on Hawaii's Ironman triathlon course, swimming, running and biking for a full week beginning on October 21. The robot was created by Panasonic, and is powered by a special rechargeable battery mounted on its back. The robot will have a full week, or 168 hours, to complete the race, ten times as long as human competitors receive. "Evolta's height is just one-tenth of a grown man, so we figured out that it would take it 10 times more time," said Tomotaka Takahashi, the robot's creator. "This is very tough even for a sportsman, but I think it is worth a challenge." [Huffington Post https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/15/japan-robot-to-attempt-ha_n_963510.html]
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AGAINST US
Student debt continues to climb
Mother Jones compiled data on debt caused by student loans… and the results are worrisome. Student debt has quintupled between 2000 and 2011 and, as of 2010, Americans' outstanding student debt exceeded that of their credit card debt for the first time. [Mother Jones https://motherjones.com/contributor/2011/09/student-debt-charts]
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Christian college kids disagree with "Let him die!" cheers
Many viewers of Monday night's Republican debate were taken aback when Tea Party audience members cheered their answer to Wolf Blitzer's question about health insurance; when Blitzer asked if a 30-year-old who gets in an accident – and doesn't have health insurance – should be allowed to die, audience members cheered "Yes!" and "Let him die!" ThinkProgress visited Liberty University, a conservative Christian college, to ask students for their thoughts on the issue. Liberty students overwhelmingly said that the "Christian thing to do" is to provide health care to those in need. [ThinkProgress https://thinkprogress.org/health/2011/09/15/319953/liberty-university-students-health-insurance/]
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U.S. SAT scores drop in 2011
The average reading score for this year's SAT – 497 – is the lowest on record, according to the College Board. The average math and writing scores were down as well, to 514 and 489, respectively. For the first time, the College Board predicted the score that students needed in order to have a 65 percent chance of averaging a B-minus or above during their first year of college; only 43 percent of the class of 2011 met that score. [New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/15/education/15sat.html?_r=1&ref=us ]