M&M-Loving Bees Make Blue and Green Honey - after consuming sugar at Mars chocolate factory waste plant -

M&M-Loving Bees Make Blue and Green Honey - after consuming sugar at Mars chocolate factory waste plant - 



Hives of candy-crazy bees in France are reportedly producing honey colored blue and green.
But honey-lovers hoping for something strange to put on their English muffins are likely to be disappointed: The oddly colored honey is not for sale, according to France24.
The bees, which hail from apiaries near Ribeauvillé in France's Alsace region, have acquired a taste for processed sugars at a local biogas plant that processes waste from a Mars chocolate factory, the maker of M&Ms. Instead of mining local wildflowers for nectar, bees have been sucking up colorful sugar at the plant.
So how does their chocolate-y diet led to colorful honey? Bees make honey by collecting nectar in a special storage stomach. Upon returning to the hive, the insects complete a tongue-to-tongue transfer of their sweet cargo to hive bees, which process the sugars in their own honey stomachs. The hive bees then deposit the processed mixture in honeycombs, where moisture evaporates out, leaving behind thick, sticky honey.
With dyes from the processed sugars turning the bees' honey blue and green, beekeepers can't sell their product, France24 reported. The mixture tastes like honey, local beekeeper André Frieh told the station, but he sees the substance as something else entirely.
Agrivalor, the company that runs the biogas plant, told French24 that it will keep waste M&Ms covered in the future and that it has cleaned its containers to attempt to solve the problem.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/science/2012/10/05/mm-loving-bees-make-colorful-honey/

National Bank of Canada foreclosing Americans’ homes over CREDIT CARD Debt -

National Bank of Canada foreclosing Americans’ homes over CREDIT CARD Debt -



The National Bank of Canada is attempting to foreclose upon hundreds of American families’ homes in California over old credit card debts, according to a published report.

Bay Citizen reporter Rick Jurgens writes that the bank’s debt collection unit, Credigy Receivables, began filing foreclosure lawsuits recently that take advantage of a loophole in California’s laws that lets them go directly for a debtor’s home even if that property was not offered as collateral for a loan.

Jurgens explained that one of the people targeted by the new legal tactic is 71-year-old Helen Jones, an Oakland resident who lived in her home for 37 years before Credigy sued in 2010 over $1,636 in credit card debt her ex-husband ran up. She claimed the bank offered to settle the debt and drop the foreclosure for $7,000, and that she ultimately paid them $3,800 just to get it all over with.

They can get away with this because California has left the relatively new practice of third parties buying and selling debts virtually unregulated, creating legal space that lets banks go directly after valuable assets that were never offered as security for loans.

Read more -
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/10/05/national-bank-of-canada-foreclosing-americans-homes-over-credit-card-debt/

STUDY: Teen Drunk Driving Down Due To High Gas Prices... -

STUDY: Teen Drunk Driving Down Due To High Gas Prices... - 



A new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that drunk driving among U.S. teens declined over the past two decades due to new laws and higher gas prices.

The report suggests that as a result of higher gas prices, teens spend less time behind the wheel of a car.

According to the study, 22 percent of high school students admitted to driving after drinking in 1991, while only 10 percent of high school students admitted to it in 2011.

The report also found that other factors have contributed to less teens driving while drunk. Compliance checks of retailers and the minimum age being 21 are two other factors helping to reduce teens getting behind the wheel after drinking.

“I chalk it up to serious concerted efforts to save lives,” Jan Withers, the national president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, told Businessweek. “Parental involvement is also very important.”

The report found that male students were more likely to drink and drive than female students. It also found that boys 18 or older were most likely to drive after drinking, while 16-year old girls were least likely.

“As a parent of a teen I know that there’s nothing worse than having your child die tragically and preventably,” Thomas Frieden, the director of the CDC, said in a conference call to Businessweek. “Reducing drinking and driving is something we can all do.”

The report went on to say that the biggest way parents can help reduce the amount of drinking and driving is to get involved in community-based programs which will address the issue.

Read more - 
http://atlanta.cbslocal.com/2012/10/03/study-teen-drunk-driving-down-due-to-high-gas-prices/

Upon Further Review: Mitt Romney May Have Cheated To Win The Debate - used a cheat sheet -

Upon Further Review: Mitt Romney May Have Cheated To Win The Debate - used a cheat sheet - 


The rules of the presidential debates are clear about not bringing outside notes and presidents and aspirants have followed the rule for decades.

Video of the first eleven seconds of the debate available on YouTube shows Mitt Romney reaching into his pocket at the moment he is out of view of those in front of him, he used the lectern as a shield, and removing what appears to be folded papers from his pocket.


We see this because the camera that was broadcasting was behind Romney. Those in the audience and the moderator may have been shielded from his sleight of hand, but not the viewers.

Romney then proceeds to unfold the item in front of him.

For those curious if it could have been some else, later video sheds some light on what Romney retrieves from his lectern.

After the Romney and Obama families chat post-debate the President walks off stage, leaving his notes behind for an aide, no doubt.

But not so for Romney. The Presidential challenger goes back to his lectern to retrieve his items. It is clear that the only thing that Romney takes is paper. Not a handkerchief. Not a white flag. Nothing but paper.

So the next question is: what is Mitt Romney’s explanation for the apparent cheating?



Read more - 
http://washington.cbslocal.com/2012/10/05/upon-further-review-mitt-romney-may-have-cheated-to-win-the-debate/

A bacteria that poops gold? - yep, consumes a toxic metal to produce pure gold -

A bacteria that poops gold? - yep, consumes a toxic metal to produce pure gold - 



It won’t retrieve the global economy from the ditch, but there is bacteria that consumes a toxic metal to produce pure gold.

Our colleagues over at Slate have produced a video explaining how the super-strong bacteria Cupriavidus metallidurans goes about its precious dirty business:


The script reads, in part:

This microbial magician, named Cupriavidus metallidurans, when placed in a minilab full of gold chloride, a nasty toxin, gobbled up the poison and, in about a week, processed it out as 24-karat nuggets of the precious yellow metal.
But before you grab your lab coat and rush out to nab some of the gold -pooping bacteria, stop. It is about as rare as the precious metal itself. And if you’re thinking you can synthesize the reaction in your basement using your gold jewelry, think again. The bacteria is grown on large concentrations of gold chloride — the toxic metal in question — also known as liquid gold.

Michigan State University announced on Oct. 1 that Associate Professor of electronic art and intermedia Adam Brown and his colleague, Assistant Professor of microbiology and molecular genetics Kazem Kashefi had found that the metal-tolerant bacteria could grow in the highly toxic environment. In fact, Kashefi and Brown found that the bacteria is 25 times stronger than had been previously reported. The process, according to Kashefi, is called “microbial alchemy,” and it’s on display in an art installation called “The Great Work of the Metal Lover.”

“This is neo-alchemy. Every part, every detail of the project is a cross between modern microbiology and alchemy,” Brown said via an Oct. 1 news release. “Science tries to explain the phenomenological world. As an artist, I’m trying to create a phenomenon. Art has the ability to push scientific inquiry.”

The installation is a portable laboratory, which consists of 24-karat gold-plated hardware, glass bioreactor and the bacteria. There is also a series of images made with a scanning electron microscope. Brown placed 24-karat gold leaf from the bioreactor over areas of the image where gold deposits had been identified.

The installation is on display at the Prix Ars Electronica in Austria through Oct. 7 where it received an honorable mention.



Read more - 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/innovations/post/a-bacteria-that-poops-gold-yep-that-exists-and-its-in-an-art-exhibit-video/2012/10/04/1617f178-0e5d-11e2-bd1a-b868e65d57eb_blog.html

16 Critical Economic Issues That Obama And Romney Avoided During The Debate -

16 Critical Economic Issues That Obama And Romney Avoided During The Debate - 



Did you watch the presidential debate on Wednesday night?  It is absolutely amazing how they can have an hour and a half debate about the economy and say so little.  It seemed like both candidates were falling all over each other wanting to talk about how much they value education, but will more education really solve our problems?

After all, 53 percent of all Americans with a bachelor’s degree under the age of 25 were either unemployed or underemployed in 2011.  So perhaps they should just both agree that education is a good thing and start talking about how to create more jobs for all of us.  If you want to grade the debate from a technical standpoint, clearly Romney was the winner of the debate.  Romney was full of energy and was generally sharp with his answers.  Obama looked like he had just popped a couple of antidepressants and was ready for nap time.  As a result, this might have been the worst blowout in the history of presidential debates.  A CNN/ORC International poll that was taken right after the debate found that 67 percent of all Americans that had watched the debate thought that Romney was the winner.  Never before had any presidential candidate crossed the 60 percent mark in the history of their post-debate polling.  So Romney definitely had a big night.  But the reality is that both candidates were telling the American people what they want to hear.  If either Obama or Romney told the truth about what we are facing they would lose votes, and in a race this tight both of them really want to avoid doing that.  Obama and Romney both desperately want to win this election, and the words that are coming out of their mouths have been carefully crafted to appeal to the “undecided voters” in the swing states.  If you actually believe that they can deliver on everything that they are promising, then you must not have been paying much attention to U.S. politics over the past several decades.
Perhaps the biggest failure on Wednesday night was debate moderator Jim Lehrer of PBS.  His questions were about as far from “hard hitting” as you could get.
The hour and a half debate was almost entirely about the economy, and yet almost all of the critical economic issues were ignored.
Yes, Obama and Romney have slight differences when it comes to tax rates and regulations, but those small differences are not going to do much to change the direction of this country one way or another.
Meanwhile, there were some really huge issues about the economy that were not addressed at all last night….
1 – In an hour and a half debate about the economy, the Federal Reserve was not mentioned a single time.
2 – In an hour and a half debate about the economy, Ben Bernanke was not mentioned a single time.
3 – In an hour and a half debate about the economy, quantitative easing was not mentioned a single time.
4 – In an hour and a half debate about the economy, the term “derivatives” was not used a single time.  Considering the fact that derivatives could bring down our financial system at any moment, this is an issue that should be talked about.
5 – In an hour and a half debate about the economy, there was no mention of the millions of jobs that have been shipped out of the country.  Considering the fact that both Obama and Romney have played a role in this, it is probably a topic they both want to avoid.  Overall, the United States has lost more than 56,000 manufacturing facilities since 2001.
6 – In an hour and a half debate about the economy, neither candidate mentioned that the velocity of money has plunged to a post-World War II low.
7 – In an hour and a half debate about the economy, the fact that the rest of the world is beginning to reject the U.S. dollar as a reserve currency was not mentioned a single time, but this has enormous implications for our economy in the years ahead.
8 – The fact that the Social Security system is headed for massive trouble was only briefly touched on during the debate.  At the moment, there are approximately 56 million Americans that are collecting Social Security benefits.  By 2035, that number is projected to grow to an astounding 91 million.  Overall, the Social Security system is facing a134 trillion dollar shortfall over the next 75 years.  When are our politicians going to honestly address this massive problem?
9 – In an hour and a half debate about the economy, the nightmarish drought the country is experiencing right now was not mentioned a single time.
10 – In an hour and a half debate about the economy, the financial meltdown in Europe was basically totally ignored.  But considering the fact that Europe has a larger economy and a much larger banking system than we do, perhaps someone should have asked Obama and Romney what they plan to do when the financial system of Europe implodes.
11 – In an hour and a half debate about the economy, the student loan debt bubble was only briefly mentioned.
12 – In an hour and a half debate about the economy, there was not a single word about the fact that the gap between the wealthy and the poor is now larger than it has been at any point since the Great Depression.
13 – In an hour and a half debate about the economy, there was no mention of TARP (which they both supported at the time).  Would they both bail out the big banks if another financial crisis erupted?
14 – In an hour and a half debate about the economy, there was no mention of the economic stimulus packages (which they both supported at the time).  Would they both want more “economic stimulus” if we entered another recession?
15 – In an hour and a half debate about the economy, neither candidate talked about the fact that most of the jobs our economy is producing now are low income jobs.  In fact, since the end of the last recession, 58 percent of the jobs that have been created are low paying jobs.
16 – In an hour and a half debate about the economy, neither candidate mentioned that more than 100 million Americans are enrolled in at least one welfare program run by the federal government or that more than half of all Americans are now at least partially financially dependent on the government.  I can’t blame Romney for avoiding this point though – he probably wanted to avoid the phrase “47 percent” at all costs.
Is this really the best that America can do?
Tens of millions of Americans tuned in hoping to become more informed about the candidates, and instead what they got was an hour and a half of tap dancing as Obama and Romney constantly tossed out buzzwords such as “education”, “energy independent” and “middle class”.
I honestly don’t know how you can possibly have a debate about the economy without talking about the Federal Reserve, quantitative easing, the trade deficit, Europe or the decline of the U.S. dollar.
But it just happened right in front of our eyes.
I don’t think that I can ever remember another presidential debate that lacked substance as much as this one did.
So what did you all think about the debate?  Please feel free to post a comment with your thoughts below….

Read more - 
http://www.infowars.com/16-critical-economic-issues-that-obama-and-romney-avoided-during-the-debate/

Dog tracks down ailing owner at hospital - TWICE -

Dog tracks down ailing owner at hospital  - TWICE - 




Zander, a husky, was so upset when his owner was hospitalized the pooch tracked him down and paid him a visit.

John Dolan was hospitalized with a skin condition last week. His wife says their dog Zander took it hard. She says the dog sulked and even cried.

Then Zander, seemingly decided he had to be by his owner's bedside. Zander broke out of the Bay Shore home and made his way to the Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center more than 2 miles away.

The four-legged friend likely went under the Robert Moses Parkway and across a busy four-lane road to get there. A hospital employee found the dog on the street outside of building where Dolan was being treated.

The Dolans got the 7-year-old husky from a shelter and nursed him back from starvation five years ago. Dolan says the dog has been like a son ever since.

The couple believes Zander traced John's scent to the hospital. A few days later Zander tried a second visit. He was found on his walk there.

The Dolans say this proves shelter dogs can be fantastic dogs and care for their owners as well as the owners care for the dogs.
New York News | NYC Breaking News
Read more: http://www.myfoxny.com/story/19740226/dog-tracks-down-ailing-owner-at-hospital