MBOX EXCLUSIVE
DRAMATIC DATA: AMERICAN FAMILY IN 30-YEAR ECONOMIC DECLINE—(1) The average wage has kept up with inflation, so the average wage has the same spending power today as it had thirty years ago in 1974. graphs, data, links (2) But mortgages and rents have inflated much faster, "In just over half a decade the number of America’s working families paying more than 50 percent of their income for housing has grown 76%. nhc.org (3) 25% OF AMERICAN FAMILIES SERIOUSLY FINANCIALLY DISTRESSED—"A national team of academic scholars and other experts conclude that 30 million workers in America—one in four—are seriously distressed and dissatisfied with their personal financial situations." source   (4) MORE DATA—nhc.org

MACDICTIVE?—"American researchers are investigating the possibility that fast foods may be just as addictive as hard drugs. 'It seems that the rats ingest more and more and the changes that we see in the brain are similar to what we would see if we gave a rat morphine or heroin'." New Scientist   Big Food

  SWEET DRINKS ADD CALORIES TO DAILY DIET BUT DO NOT ACT AS FOOD—"The children did not eat any less food to compensate for the extra calories in the sodas, lemonades and other drink treats."  Journal of Pediatrics   Big Food

KRISPY KREME 'CERTIFICATES' APPEAL TO ADDICTIVE CRAVINGS?—"Customers can pick up their doughnuts right when that Krispy Kreme craving hits 'em!"  krispykreme.com   Big Food

 BLACK HOLE GALAXY? Predicted in 1925 by W. J. Sidis—
"A British-led team of astronomers have discovered an object that appears to be an invisible galaxy made almost entirely of dark matter—the first ever detected. Without any stars to give light, it could only be found using radio telescopes." PhysOrg.com  "Strong evidence for a massive galaxy totally devoid of stars has been found in the Virgo cluster, about 50 million light years away from Earth. The new galaxy, which consists of a gigantic cloud of hydrogen gas and exotic dark matter, contains enough material to give birth to tens of millions of stars. Yet something is preventing this from happening." NewScientist   Sidis: "We thus find the universe to be. . . a sort of three-dimensional checkerboard, the positive spaces counting as white (giving out light), and the negative spaces as black (absorbing light). Thus what we see is simply the white space that we are in. The surrounding black spaces are invisible." The Animate and the Inanimate, Chap. 12    ASTROBIOLOGY TODAY

GIRLS MORE LIKELY THAN BOYS TO SEEK REVENGE?—"Violent events involving preadolescent and early adolescent girls are more likely to be in response to a previous event and to involve the home environment and family member intervention." Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine

 TEFLON CONTAINS A CARCINOGEN?—"Environmental Protection Agency draft report concluded that previous studies on rats showed the chemical [perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA)] was a 'likely' carcinogen, and advised that the EPA should carry out further tests."  NewYorkTimes

CAN THESE PLANTS CLICK EDIT AND UNDO TYPING?—"In a discovery that has flabbergasted geneticists, these second-generation plants replaced the abnormal code of their parents with the regular code possessed by earlier generations." Nature  "Cress with two mutant copies of one gene seem to be able to correct the DNA they pass on, ensuring that at least a few of their offspring revert to normal." New Scientist

PSYCHOTRONICS UPDATES —(1) In the 1960s Dr. Jose Delgado flipped a switch and stopped a charging bull in his tracks (The Physical Control of the Mind, and Man's Intervention in Intracerebral Functions).] Now it's (2) REMOTE-CONTROLLED RATS—"Signals from a laptop up to 500 metres away make the rats run, climb, jump and even cross brightly lit open spaces, contrary to their instincts . . .The research arm of the US defense department is funding the work." Nature  (3) FRUIT FLIES—"We can not only passively observe but actively control behavior."  Science Daily Science Live   (4) SHARKS—"Engineers funded by the US military have created a neural implant designed to enable a shark's brain signals to be manipulated remotely, controlling the animal's movements, and perhaps even decoding what it is feeling. They hope to transform the animals into stealth spies, perhaps capable of following vessels without being spotted."  New Scientist

DEFORESTATION CAUSE OF GLOBAL WARMING?—(1) "Global deforestation increased sharply in the mid-1800s. About half of the mature tropical forests that covered the planet have been cleared." Wiki  (2) "In the 1860's the German tree was beginning to suffer from mass destruction! It had become the fashion to lop off the tip off a large tree to use as a Christmas Tree, which prevented the tree from growing further. Statutes were made to prevent people having more than one tree." source  (3) The most active period of timber harvesting in the history of Alaska's interior occurred nearly a century ago. The beginning of this era was the year 1869, when steam-powered, stern-wheeled riverboats first operated on the Yukon River." source   (4) GLOBAL WARMING SURGE CORRELATES WITH SURGE IN  DEFORESTATION—
(5) CARBON DIOXIDE RISE CORRELATES WITH DEFORESTATION AND WARMING SURGES—

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(6) TREES ABSORB CARBON DIOXIDE—"An acre of pine trees (~120 trees) has the potential to sequester roughly 5 tons of CO₂ per year." source (7) CHEMICAL RELEASED BY  TREES CAN COOL PLANET, SCIENTISTS FIND—"Scientists discover cloud-thickening chemicals in trees that could offer a new weapon in the fight against global warming. Computer models showed that the pine particles doubled the thickness of clouds some 1,000m above the forests, and would reflect an extra 5% sunlight back into space. He said: 'It might not sound a lot, but that is quite a strong cooling effect'." Guardian (UK)  (8) TREES REGULATE GASES NECESSARY FOR LIFE—Trees process gases entering and leaving the soil and the leaves. source

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"Most of the seventh-graders who responded about being driven by someone under the influence [of alcohol] are quite likely referring to their parents." napanews.com

"NRDC 's report points out that as much as 40% of all bottled water comes from a city water system, just like tap water." bottledwaterblues.com

Survey Archive

See also Life's Actual Risks