What Caught My Eye Today: Iceland, Florida, Somalia, Asteroids, Potpourri

Fred's Note:  Let's have some fun with today's posting, shall we? See if you can figure out which of these first four news items is bogus.  I've posted the answer at the end of posting for "Did You Know? #46".

Iceland - Iceland leads the world in women's rights. Great news for the approximately 160,000 women who live there.  Not so much of a big deal for the other 3.5 billion world who live elsewhere. The World Economic Forum put Iceland at the top of its ranking of global gender equality for the fifth year in a row, based on women's access to education, political office, jobs and healthcare. The United States placed 23rd, below the Philippines (5th) and Nicaragua (10th). I'm not so much surprised by where the U.S. ranks overall so much by those countries that rank higher.  Both the Philippines and Nicaragua are predominantly Catholic, which doesn't always encourage a level playing field between genders. And then there is Burundi (22nd). How the hell, did they manage to outrank us? Pakistan and Yemen came in last. Now that, I get. The analysis shows that a smaller gender gap drives economic competitiveness. So what this study suggests is that a level-playing field is generally a good thing, right? Sounds like a bunch of hokum to me. Everyone knows that if you have a leg up on someone, the last thing you want to do is let that advantage slip away.

Florida - The Florida Corrections Department has been forced to tighten its release policy after two convicted murderers used forged paperwork to walk out of a maximum security prison. Kind of makes you question the premise of the adage, "crime doesn't pay".  The prisoners were released from jail on two separate days, having submitted fake documents that reduced there life sentences to 15 years. Authorities did not realize the two had been released until they were alerted by a relative of one of the murderer's victims.  Talk about your awkward social moment.  How would you like to have been the prison official who had to take that phone call? Since their escape in late September and early October, at least 7 inmates have been found to have used forged documents to escape from prison. You'd like to think that procedures would have been adjusted after the first incident, but apparently that wasn't the case here.

Somalia - Sea captains have an unlikely new ally in their battle against Somali pirates: Britney Spears. Ships have started blasting the pop star's music at ear-splitting volume at approaching raiders. "Oops! I Did It Again" is particularly effective at foreign bandits to stop. If you ask me, Insane Clown Posse would have been a far better choice, but what do I know. According to a merchant navy official, "These guys can't stand Western culture or music, making Britney's hits perfect. It's so effective, ships' security rarely needs to resort to firing guns." What I can't get my head around is whether or not this should be construed as a compliment or insult to Britney's musical prowess.

Asteroids - The United Nations agreed to set up an "International Asteroid Warning Group" to share information with member nations if astronomers spot a deadly, earthbound asteroid. The U.N. said it would help coordinate a mission to deflect the asteroid by flying a spaceship into it. So here's my question--what's the deal for non-member nations? I'm thinking the possibility of an asteroid hitting the planet becomes public domain knowledge rather quickly.  Seriously, are we going to let an asteroid hit Romania because it isn't a member nation? What about the European nations that did sign on who just happen to border luckless Romania?

Potpourri - By the numbers edition

• Mongolia - There are 3 million horses in Mongolia compared to just 2.75 million people. Yeah, but as long as people are the only ones with opposable thumbs, I think we are okay, even if we are in the minority.
• Scotland - The world's shortest scheduled flight lasts just 47 seconds and covers just over 1 miles on Scotland's Orkney Islands. I'm thinking the on board service isn't much to write home about either.
• Legos - It would take 40 billion Lego bricks stacked one atop the other to reach the moon. Not to mention someone (or a lot of someones) with an extraordinary amount of free time (and lack of ambition to do anything productive) to stack all those bricks.
• Ketchup - Ketchup travels .02 miles per hour when poured out of a bottle. That's why I go straight for the ketchup packets.
• Infectious Disease - 13 U.S. facilities have bio-safety level 4 labs for handling outbreaks for which there is no treatment or vaccine. 30 new contagious diseases have been investigated by the Center for Disease Control in the last 12 months. 75% of recently emerging infectious diseases among humans have originated in animals. First observation. Do you think they offer facility tours? I can think of a few people I'd like to send complementary tickets to. Second observation. 30 new diseases in the past year? And those are just the ones we've stumbled upon (probably by sheer dumb luck). It's amazing that the human race has survived this long.