Issue 11 2009: November
POLITICS AND PEOPLE
Conservatives vs Liberals - Glen Beck, Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh vs Reverand Al Sharpton, Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow - politically polarizing figures, as opposed to "real people". Healthcare reform, insurance companies, lobbyists, and the "public option" - polarizing political issues, and at the forefront of American politics in 2009. Jon Meacham, Newsweek Editor, offers the following as an enduring truth: "that for many people, politics comes down to three things - protect my job, let me keep most of my money at tax time, and kill the terrorists before they come back. The recognition of that reality is the beginning of political wisdom." ..... Newsweek
WATERLESS LAUNDRY (NEARLY)
Hotels, hospitals, and commercial cleaners do tons of laundry every day, leading to outsize utility bills and deluges of wastewater. Now, Xeros, a startup company spun out of the University of Leeds in Great Britain, is commercializing a process that replaces most of the water with rice-size beads. The pellets are mixed with mere squirts of detergent and water in the rotating drum of a modified washing machine, the pellets act like chemical magnets, absorbing grime and soap as they tumble over fabric. When the wash is done, the beads are automatically collected through an opening in the drum. After a few hundred loads, the beads are recycled according to CEO Bill Westwater. Lab tests show that the process matches industry standards for cleaning while cutting water volume by 90% and energy use by about 30%. Xeros aims to sell commercial units by late next year. ..... Business Week
BALLS
The ubiquitous plaything was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame in Rochester, N.Y. earlier this month. A selection of 25 different types of balls will be on display next to 41 other classics, including the bicycle, the jump-rope, and the stick. ..... The Week
MILLIONARES
There are 237 millionares in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. That's 44 percent of all members of Congress. One percent of the public at large are millionares. ..... Politico.com
MUSLIMS IN THE MILITARY
Muslims serving in the U.S. military in Iraq and Afghanistan often use fake names on their uniforms to avoid being singled out by insurgents as traitors and to prevent reprisals against their families back home. ..... The Wall Street Journal
CONSUMER DEBT
U.S. consumer debt fell for the eighth straight month, the longest streak on record. Borrowing fell $14.8 billion in October, to $2.46 trillion, as consumers paid off credit cards...... Bloomberg.com
YOU CAN SUE FOR ANYTHING
An Indian man is suing the makers of Axe body spray, claiming that in seven years of using the product he has yet to find a girlfriend. Vaibhav Bedi, 26, says that Axe's racy marketing campaign led him to believe the product had love-potion properties and is seeking around $40,000 in damages. "The company cheated me," said Bedi, "it says women will be attracted to you if you use Axe. I used it for seven years but no girl came to me." ..... The Week
STATISTICS FROM A FARMER
Every year, Americans eat 35 million cows, 115 million pigs, and 9 billion chickens and turkeys. ..... The New Yorker
TERRORISTS IN AMERICA
The FBI's terrorist watch list now contains more than 400,000 individual names, with intelligence agencies adding about 1,600 names a day - some of them variations on previously listed names - for "reasonble suspicion" of terrorist activity. Fewer than 5 percent of the people on the list are U.S. citizens or legal residents. ..... The Washington Post
WORLD POPULATION
Higher living standards and rising levels of women's education have dramatically cut fertility rates in the developing world, with the average number of children dropping from six or more per family to between two and three. If current trends continue, says the U.N., the world's population will level off at 9 billion by 2050. ..... The Economist
JIM'S STETHASCOOP
"Advice is like snow; the softer it falls, the longer it dwells upon, and the deeper it sinks into, the mind." ..... Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) English writer
MILT'S MORSEL OF THE MONTH
"Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen." ..... Winston Churchill, quoted in the Rock Hill, S.C. Herald
