XIAM007

Making Unique Observations in a Very Cluttered World

Wednesday 9 May 2012

24 Facts That Prove That America Is A Nation Of Slobs -

24 Facts That Prove That America Is A Nation Of Slobs - 






What would our founders say if they could see us now?  Americans like to believe that the rest of the world looks up to us, but the truth is that the rest of the world is laughing at us.  It may be very difficult for us to admit, but the reality is that America has become a nation of slobs.  And I am not just talking about being overweight.  Today, Americans are physical, mental, emotional, moral, financial and political slobs.  We are addicted to entertainment, we are addicted to shopping, we are addicted to food, we are addicted to prescription drugs, and we are addicted to anything else that gives us the pleasure that we crave.  We allow our televisions to do our thinking for us and our families are falling apart.  Our lives center around pleasing ourselves, and we have become one of the most narcissistic societies in the history of the world.  We are like a middle-aged man that has totally let himself go.  You know the guy who shows up for an important event in sandals, sweatpants and a stained t-shirt?  That is us.  We are only a shadow of what we once were as a nation, and we desperately need to change course.
So what is the solution?
Well, just like any addict, the first thing that we need to do is to admit that there is  a problem.  Until we admit how dramatically we have fallen, we are never going to be ready to make the changes that are necessary.
And yes, we have fallen a long, long way as a country.
The following are 24 facts that prove that America is a nation of slobs….
#1 Right now, approximately 36 percent of all Americans are obese.  It is being projected that number will rise to 42 percent by 2030.
#2 Back in 1962, only 13 percent of all Americans were obese.


#3 Medical costs related to obesity in the United States are estimated to be approximately $147 billion a year.
#4 All over America, our infrastructure is crumbling.  For example, in the most populated county in Alabama potholes the size of pizzas now litter the roads.
#5 The average American family purchases 200 pounds of meat per family member each year.
#6 Large numbers of cows that are killed for hamburger meat in America stand ankle-deep in their own manure all day long.
#7 The average American watches 28 hours of television every week.
#8 U.S. corporations sell more fast food and more soda than anyone else in the world by a very wide margin.
#9 The average American drinks more than 600 sodas every single year.  That is by far the most in the world.
#10 Of all the major industrialized nations, America is the most obese.  Mexico is in second place.
#11 Americans take more prescription drugs than anyone else on the planet.
#12 The United States has the highest rate of illegal drug use in the entire world.
#13 According to the Pew Research Center, only 51 percent of all Americans that are at least 18 years old are currently married.  Back in 1960, 72 percent of all U.S. adults were married.
#14 The United States has the highest divorce rate in the world by a very wide margin.
#15 According to one study, one out of every four teen girls in the United States has at least one sexually transmitted disease.
#16 The United States has the highest teen pregnancy rate on the entire globe.
#17 The United States has the highest child abuse death rate on the entire globe.
#18 The United States produces more pornography than any other nation has in the history of the world.
#19 One survey found that an astounding 30 percent of all Internet traffic now goes to pornography websites.
#20 Consumer debt in America has increased by a staggering 1700% since 1971.
#21 There is more credit card debt in America than anywhere else in the world.
#22 There is more mortgage debt in America than anywhere else in the world.
#23 There is more student loan debt in America than anywhere else in the world.
#24 Nobody in the world gets more plastic surgery done than Americans do.
Have you read enough?
For even more signs that America is becoming a nation of slobs, you can check out one of my recent articles entitled “16 Signs That People Are Becoming Stupider“.
The sad truth is that this nation is a complete and total mess and the decline is accelerating.
Many want to blame our politicians for all of our problems, but replacing all of our politicians would not fix any of the things listed above.
Yes, we definitely need different leadership, but each one of us also needs to look into our own hearts.
It is not just the government that needs to change.
The American people need to change as well.
So what do you think about this article?
Am I being too harsh on the American people?
Am I not being harsh enough?
Please leave a comment with your opinion below….


Read more -
http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/24-facts-that-prove-that-america-is-a-nation-of-slobs

Navy Wants Ultraviolet Cloaking Device for Jet Fighters -

Navy Wants Ultraviolet Cloaking Device for Jet Fighters - 




The U.S. military is already investing tens of billions of dollars to make its jet fighters less visible to radars and infrared sensors. Now the Pentagon wants the defense industry to come up with a system that can cloak fighters from another telltale type of radiation: ultraviolet energy from the sun.


The Navy’s latest solicitation to research proposals asks for a “UV obscurant device” that can be “dispersed from an aircraft.” The system should be compatible with the Navy’s existing counter-measures dispensers, which are currently tailored for releasing infrared flares and radar-foiling chaff to help warplanes dodge enemy missiles.


A UV cloak would complement the Navy’s other stealth initiatives. The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the product of history’s most expensive weapons program, is designed to scatter and absorb radar waves while also sinking its engine heat into its fuel load in order to make the plane less visible to infrared sensors. The Navy plans to purchase hundreds of carrier-compatible F-35s at more than $100 million a pop.


But the F-35′s design apparently does not protect against ultraviolet sensors — that we know of. The Navy’s older Hornet fighters are probably equally vulnerable. The UV cloak seems to be a response to a particular type of “dual-band” missile seeker that zeroes in on infrared radiation at first, then switches to a UV sensor in the final moments before striking the target. The UV sensor works by looking for non-reflective shadows against the bright UV glare of the sky — like silhouettes against a lightboard.


An obscurant could blot out a plane’s UV silhouette in a shapelesss mass of ultraviolet shadow. “One concept might include a device that very rapidly generates an extended, dense cloud of material that absorbs in the UV region,” the Navy solicitation reads. The solicitation also lists “quantum dots” (tiny radiation-emitting crystals) and man-made “metamaterials” as obscurant options.


The obscurant would probably work on helicopters, too.


Read more -
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/05/navy-uv-cloak/

Three topless women and the Twin Towers': Canadians baffled by picture of WWI memorial on their new $20 dollar bill -

Three topless women and the Twin Towers': Canadians baffled by picture of WWI memorial on their new $20 dollar bill - 
O Canada! The new $20 banknote was said to be 'too pornographic' by some focus groups because it featured the naked figures representing Justice, Peace and Hope on the WWI memorial in France (right)

Canadians have been left confused over the country's new $20-dollar bill which some have said appeared to feature three naked woman and the World Trade Center towers.  
The government was rolling out the new banknote as part of an upgrade of the monetary system. It actually features the Vimy Memorial in northern France, the largest monument overseas for Canadian soldiers lost the First World War.
However many Canadians believed the bill showed the Twin Towers and three topless women along with the head of state, Queen Elizabeth II.



The Vimy Memorial, a nationalist symbol of bravery and sacrifice, was seen on the $20 when it was unveiled by the Bank of Canada in Ottawa last week. 
Focus groups, typically made up of a wide-range of citizens from different generations, had examined the note before it was made public.



According to Upi.com, one focus group member said: 'It's too pornographic. What is the woman on the top holding?'
Several reports made public after the five-year consultation period noted this concern along with others under the headline 'potential controversies'.




Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2141825/Canadas-new-20-dollar-naked-women-Twin-Towers-it.html


Gun parts found in boy's stuffed animals at Rhode Island airport -

Gun parts found in boy's stuffed animals at Rhode Island airport - 


A man traveling with his 4-year-old son claims he didn't know that the three stuffed animals his little boy put on a conveyor belt at T. F. Green International Airport in Warwick, Rhode Island, contained parts that could be assembled into a loaded handgun, the Transportation Security Administration says.
"It appears to be the result of a domestic dispute," said Rhode Island Airport Police Chief Leo Messier. An investigation by the airport police, state police and FBI determined there was no threat at any time to air safety, Messier said.
A TSA officer watched as a carry-on bag containing a stuffed teddy bear, a bunny rabbit and a Mickey Mouse toy went through a checkpoint X-ray machine Monday. The officer spotted the disassembled firearm components and ammunition concealed inside each of the stuffed animals, the TSA said.


Officers notified the Rhode Island Airport Police and conducted a search of the bag.
Inside the toys, officials say, they found the mainframe of a .40-caliber firearm, a magazine with two .40-caliber rounds, a firing pin and a slide.
The TSA says law enforcement officers interviewed the man, who stated he was unaware that there were gun parts inside the toys.
The items were confiscated and the father and son were allowed to continue their flight to Detroit.
Law enforcement agents continue to investigate the incident.
"This is just another example that threats can appear anywhere, and this is why TSA officers take a closer look at everything," the agency said in a news release. "It's also an example that shows that even though TSA has modified the screening process for children 12 and under, the security process is still just as effective."


Read more - 
http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/08/travel/stuffed-animals-gun-parts/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

Nearly 40 Percent of NYC's 911 Calls Are 'Butt Dials'... -

Nearly 40 Percent of NYC's 911 Calls Are 'Butt Dials'... - 


The city's 911 system fielded nearly four million accidental calls in 2010, which exceeded the number of times officers were dispatched to real emergencies, a consultant's report commissioned by the mayor's office found.


The inadvertent -- or "butt dial" -- calls accounted for nearly 40 percent of the 10.4 million 911 calls received in 2010. Police cars were dispatched to 3.5 million of the calls received, according to the Daily News.


The disproportionate number of accidental calls was among the findings in the consultant's report, an edited version of which was released Friday after legal efforts to force the mayor to make it public.


The report attributes the substantial number of accidental calls to the proliferation of cell phones. And it predicts the problem will only get worse.


Despite the findings, the report says the city has done nothing to account for or combat the accidental 911 calls, which are generally shorter than calls reporting actual emergencies. The influx of those calls ultimately makes overall 911 response times appear shorter, the report said.


The NYPD reported an average response time of just over one minute in 2010. But considering accidental calls accounted for nearly 40 percent of all taken that year, "utilizing this metric as currently calculated does not accurately reflect the NYPD's time spent on received and processed 911 calls," the report said.


The mayor's office has come under fire for the report findings, particularly because Mayor Bloomberg commissioned it after the city's botched response to the Christmas blizzard of two years ago as he pledged to improve emergency communications throughout the city.


Advocates say the city should try to track the cell phones that make the accidental calls and increase public awareness about the report findings.


The report also found that call operators waste time on duplicate questions and employ inconsistent questioning procedures. The system, it found, sends some responders to the wrong address and slows fire and medical dispatchers' efforts to give instructions to callers.


The report follows a years-long overhaul of the system that included a new $680 million call center that combined the operations of police, fire and medical dispatchers. City officials have said the update improved response times, eliminated inefficiencies and reduced confusion for callers, but Friday's report seemed to call some of those statements into question.


"Statistical information provided to City Hall management to demonstrate the success of the (Unified Call Taking) project contained errors and does not provide a clear picture of the effectiveness of UCT related business processes," the report said.


Read more - 
http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/City-911-System-Butt-Dial-Accidental-Calls-Report-150743725.html