In the what-could-possibly-go-wrong department: Australia hopes to rid the Sydney Harbour area of black rats by introducing a different species of rat into the area, reports Reuters . The black rats are non-native invaders that probably arrived by ship 200 or so years ago, and they’re a huge nuisance near the…
Continue reading …Mitt Romney has a net worth of up to a quarter of a billion dollars, reports the Boston Globe . His campaign estimates the total to be somewhere between $190 million and $250 million in a financial disclosure filed with the FEC. The total, which hasn’t changed much over the past…
Continue reading …Among the approximately 700 people facing charges in the aftermath of the London riots is an 18-year-old accused of using her BlackBerry to incite violence. The teen allegedly used the Blackberry Messenger IM service to encourage friends to join in on the looting on Aug. 8, reports the Telegraph . An…
Continue reading …The Dow broke its up-down streak and rose for the second straight day today to wrap up a wild week. A solid retail sales report seemed to outweigh a negative one on consumer confidence, and Europe’s (maybe) stabilizing markets also helped, report MarketWatch and the Wall Street Journal . The numbers:…
Continue reading …A smartphone app currently in the works will offer a view of the New York City skyline as it once was. The app will tell you how to aim your phone toward Ground Zero; it then superimposes an image of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center as they…
Continue reading …A combination of surgery and heated chemotherapy is rising in popularity—even though patients compare it “to being filleted, disemboweled and then bathed in hot poison,” writes Andrew Pollack in the New York Times . The surgery plus heated chemo, or Hipec, involves cutting the patient open, probing the body for…
Continue reading …It may be common in France, but a kiss on the cheek has no place in Germany, says the Knigge Society, a group that advises on social behavior and etiquette. It says it has received numerous complaints on the subject, and wants to remind Germans to stick with a handshake—…
Continue reading …All this stock market turbulence should make you not only afraid but mad, writes Paul Krugman in the New York Times . That’s because deficit hawks have worsened the mess by “hijacking” the crisis to focus on their “favorite hobbyhorse,” he writes. “What the market was saying—almost shouting—was, ‘We’re…
Continue reading …Critics are impressed with certain aspects of The Help , Tate Taylor’s film about a young white woman interviewing black maids in 1960s Mississippi. But while some say the overall package is lacking, others are glowing. Compared to Kathryn Stockett’s novel of the same name, the film is “impactful in parts,…
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