Watercooler Sensation

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(Lead-Ridden, Toxic, Deadly) Toys For Tots

• Ah, the Holidays. It’s a time for giving. It’s a time for thinking of others. It’s a time for making someone’s day a little brighter, a little happier. Just make sure you’re not doing it by giving a four-year old a lead-covered toy. [AP]
• Turns out, due to the millions of toy recalls that have plagued the market throughout the year, charities across the country are struggling to make ends meet for the less-fortunate.
• The U.S. Marines, for example, are doing double-duty inspecting merchandise for their annual Toys for Tots drive, said 1st Sgt. Karl McCants in Jackson. McCants said every toy received will be screened.
• Meanwhile, about 150 Salvation Army Thrift Stores in the South have stopped accepting toy donations because of the recalls.
• In case you haven’t been reading the news, here are some of the toys you should avoid giving. Millions of Chinese-made toys were recalled this year due to high levels of lead, including Mattel toys featuring Big Bird and Dora the Explorer and RC2 Corp.’s Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway. Earlier, Aqua Dots, made in China and distributed in the U.S. by Spin Master, were recalled because the product was tainted with a chemical that can turn into a date-rape drug if swallowed.
• Meanwhile, About 1 million Easy-Bake ovens by Hasbro Inc. were also recalled earlier this year after reports of about 250 children getting their hands caught in the oven’s front opening
• Still want to give? Good. We thought you would. Visit http://toysfortots2007.com or http://salvationarmyusa.org. Meanwhile, a list of recalled toys can be found at http://www.cpsc.gov.

Re-think giving this year.

Billboards: One Less Thing Destroying The Planet

• A carbon positive, solar-powered billboard? Where else but in San Francisco. [LIVE SCIENCE]
• Sponsored by Pacific Gas and Electric, it boasts, “This isn’t a billboard. It’s a power plant.”
• It’s true, though. Not only do the 20 solar panels housed atop it produce enough energy to exceed the amount consumed on a daily basis by keeping itself illuminated, but on sunny days can produce 3.4 kilowatts of energy – almost enough to power an average US household for the day.
• And for those pesky times when there’s no sunlight to be found (Read: “nighttime”) the billboard is equipped with LED lights that use less than a third of the energy of traditional halophane lighting.
• Our neighbors to the North in Canada have been taking advantage of the technology for some time now, but the first to actually create power were in Africa.

Time to make the world a little more like San Francisco.

Mighty Storms, They Are A-Brewin’

• If you live on the East Coast, or parts of the West Coast for that matter, and you’ve been outside during the past few days, you know what we’re talking about: a storm’s coming — and it ain’t looking good. [USA Today]
• Unfortunately, thanks to global warming, these severe storms will likely be the norm. A study released on Monday says that “global warming could bring the USA a dramatic increase in the frequency of weather conditions that feed severe thunderstorms and tornadoes by the end of the 21st century.”
• In fact, some locations could see as much as a 100% increase in the number of days that favor severe thunderstorms, says the study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
• Sound smart at cocktail parties: A thunderstorm is described as “severe” by the National Weather Service if wind gusts reach 58 mph or faster, if hail is 0.75 of an inch in diameter or larger, or if the thunderstorm produces a tornado or tornadoes.
• The new study is the second released this year that uncovered a link between severe thunderstorms and climate change. The first one, released by NASA researchers in August, forecast an increase in the intensity of severe storms throughout the year. [Mic Check]
• In other words: let’s hope those world leaders make some strides at this week’s global warming conference in Bali, where 190 nations will gather to reach an agreement to replace the Kyoto agreement, which expires in 2012. The biggest question at stake? Whether countries will have to abide by mandatory emission cuts, or voluntary cuts.
• Embarrassing: The U.S. has been campaigning against mandatory cuts.

Better stock up on umbrellas...ella...ella.

Mommy And Daddy Don’t Love Each Other — Or The Planet — Anymore

• The newest greenhouse gases: spite, heartbreak, and the sadness of children. Well, not exactly. [Live Science] [Washington Post]
• Scientists at the National Academy of Science say that the rise in divorce rates means that more and more people are living in houses with fewer people.
• Between 1998 and 2002, divorces in the 12 countries studied accounted for 7.4 million extra households.
• The net result? “We collectively devour more space and gobble up more energy and water.”
• Says Jianguo Liu, author of the report, “married households use energy and water more efficiently than divorced ones because they share these resources — including lighting and heating — among more people.”
• In other words, you don’t need a spouse to cut consumption, just a housemate.
• But don’t stay in a bad marriage just to save the planet (duh).
• Ralph Cavanagh, a lawyer at the advocacy group Natural Resources Defense Council, states the obvious: “merging what otherwise would be separate households will reduce energy and other resource needs...The best advice to those who are miserable together is not, however, to avoid divorce for the sake of the environment, but to find someone else as quickly as possible.”

Love is green.

Why Billy Won’t Eat (Hint: Blame Sister Sally)

• We blame eating disorders on a lot of things – low self-esteem, airbrushed magazine pics – but now researchers have found a way to blame your mom (or at least your twin sister).
• A new study has found a male twin who shares the womb with a female sister is as likely to develop anorexia as girls born by themselves or female pairs of twins. And the female in a male/female set of twins is less likely to be anorexic later in life. [MSNBC] [ABC News]
• What that means: It’s a sign that prenatal hormones could be a factor in triggering the eating disorder.
• According to researchers Dr. Marco Procopio and Paul Marriott, “the male of the opposite-sex twin pair may be exposed to more estrogen in the uterus from the development of their female twin.” And thus, more likely to develop the eating disorder.
• Anorexia nervosa, a disease where people are so afraid of gaining weight that they starve themselves – sometimes to death — is usually a problem associated with the female gender. In fact, girls are more than 10 times more likely than guys to develop anorexia.
• Still, scientists say, you can’t entirely blame genetics, otherwise, in cases of female twins, both would always contract the disease (instead of just one, which is sometimes the case.)

Sorry, brother dear...

By the Numbers

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Clause.

It’s just that the massive air resistance he encountered vaporized him in less than a second. [The Local]

2.5 billion

The number of homes Santa’s got to visit on Christmas eve, according to a Swedish research firm.

34 microseconds

How long Santa’s got at each stop.

3,604 miles per second

The speed at which Santa needs to travel in order to make it to each house on time.

Kyrgyzstan

According to the same Swedish research firm, it’d be most convenient if Santa lived in Kyrgyzstan.

4.26 thousandths of a second

Santa’s sleigh, weighed down with presents and travelling at supersonic speed, would encounter such massive air resistance that the entire contraption would burst into flames and be vaporised within 4.26 thousandths of a second.

Celebrities: Unfiltered

“I regret sinking down to that level of discourse. But Paris is a terrible role model and a terrible young woman. She needs to be ignored. I work with people who have 12-, 13-, 14-year-old girls who are fascinated by her. They look up to her, and that’s not great. You can buy videotapes in which you can see her bejanis.”

— Geek Goddess Tina Fey, displaying exemplary use of the word “bejanis.” [Perez Hilton]

Speed Round

THE STRIKE

Little progress has been made in the writers strike. Get ready for “The Real World: Tulsa.” [AP]

IT’S ABOUT TIME

“Court sends summons to Mickey Mouse.” Goofy! [AP]

GAYS ARE THE NEW BLACK

NYC Mayor is sick of his gays, wants new ones. [Queerty]

THOUGHTS FROM JACK HANDLESS

See kids, this is why you don’t play with pipe bombs. [FOX]

WELL VESTED

Because nothing says we appreciate your service to our country like spiffy, blue blankets made of recycled Wal-Mart vests for the holidays. Okay, it’s kind of nice actually. [FARK][MY SA]

COURT OF PUBLIC OPINION

Taking the stand with a fake Asian accent probably isn’t going to win a jury over when you’re on trial for three counts of murder. [NYP]

SHARI LEWIS OUTRAGED

“PorkChop,” mascot of the minor league baseball team the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, was renamed due to complaints of a racial connotation associated with his name. Do they not use the spacebar in Allentown, PA? [AP]

$24 MILLION

CNN investigates the phenomena of having too much time and money, and nothing to do with either. Virtual gift giving! All MicCheck wants for Christmas is a chili pepper, a mint mojito, and maybe a slinky. [CNN]

ALL BUSINESS

Believe it or not, this was from the Business Section of the New York Times: “Bill Ash, a former assistant to Mr. Tobias, said he had told the police that Mrs. Tobias confessed to him that she had cajoled her husband into the water while he was on a cocaine binge with a promise of sex with a male go-go dancer known as Tiger.” [NY Times]

FLYING THE HIGH-TECH SKIES

Soon, you may be able to ditch the boarding pass and get onto your flight simply by showing a bar code sent to your cell phone or blackberry. [USA Today]

WE HOPE DICK’S NOT ARMED

We’re DYING to know more about this bit of scoop from the Page Six gossip pages: in a recent New York Magazine article, the founder of Spy Magazine made a “curious reference” to Lynne Cheney’s “extravagant flirtations with a friend of mine over the years.” [Page Six]

COOLEST

Congratulations to Brett Farve, Sports Illustrated’s Sportsman of the Year. [SI]

SLOW NEWS DAY

Having sufficiently covered all other important stories, CNN breaks down the anatomy of kissing. [CNN]