If Laws Change, 'Penny Hoarders' Could Cash in on Thousands of Dollars

By NEAL KARLINSKY and MARY-ROSE ABRAHAM | ABC News

Joe Henry is on a first name basis with bank tellers across his hometown of Medford, Ore., scouring 15 banks a week with one thing on his mind: pennies.

Henry is often seen toting around bags of pennies, some he buys, others he changes back in for cash, which seems a little strange at first. He's not a collector, he is what's known as a "penny hoarder" and he is not alone.

Inside a shed next to his house, Henry has orange tubs filled with 200,000 pennies, and he spends hours sorting through roll after roll of the coins. But it's not just any and all pennies, Henry is only interested in those that are dated from 1982 and earlier because those are the coins made with 95 percent copper. A copper penny is worth more than other pennies -- now mostly made of zinc -- currently priced at $0.024.

"The copper has such a different sound than zinc pennies do," Henry said. "Real money has that definite sound of money and if you listen to a modern zinc penny, they don't sound the same, they sound sort of tinny."

Henry even has a $500 home counting machine to separate out the copper ones.

Much like the resurging obsession with gold, the price of copper has skyrocketed in recent years and the rising price has led to some unusual sprees. Thieves have been exploiting the value hidden in obscure items, stripping copper wiring from phone and utility cables, from construction sites, even from a 122-year-old copper bell that was stolen from a San Francisco cathedral.

In San Diego, so much copper wiring has been stolen from eight different city parks, that soccer teams can't practice because the field lights stopped working.

But penny hoarders aren't thieves, just opportunists. There are a slew of listing for pennies in bulk on eBay, but what's amazing is they include listings for $10 in pennies being sold for $20 dollars. If you think only a sucker would pay two cents for a penny, you're missing out on a business opportunity that Adam Youngs, who runs a massive penny sorting operation in Portland, Ore., has perfected.

He explained how he can sell a $100 worth of pennies for $176, when shipping and packaging are included.

Youngs' operation, the Portland Mint, is locked inside a secure facility that deals with armored cars -- selling and shipping to clients in every state -- and works in pennies by the ton. He said he has clients with deep pockets who are storing huge sacks of pennies and he has inquires from hedge funds.

"Just in face value alone, about $270,000 dollars [in pennies] right now," Youngs said. "That is just the face value, that is not even the copper value. The copper value is about three times that much."

Inside the Portland Mint. Credit: ABC News

Clients use Youngs because he separates copper pennies from the chump change -- the newer pennies that are only worth $0.01.

But in the weird world of penny hoarding, getting to the copper is a very big problem. It's illegal to melt pennies an there is an obscure federal law that makes it illegal to transport more than $5 in pennies out of the country.

Penny hoarders know this of course, but they also know something else. In what could be the biggest legislation to hit the U.S. Mint in 50 years, officials are now looking at the composition of pennies and nickels and considering an overhaul. If the laws change and the mint decides to abolish the penny, people would be free to melt them down for the copper.

A penny saved, many times over, could be a whole lot earned.

While most of us are out buying holiday presents some people are getting their gifts with a five-finger discount. Ad Week is reporting that one in every 11 people walks out the door with at least one item they didn’t pay for. With shoplifting up six percent this year, retailers stand to lose a whopping $119 billion of merchandise to shoplifters in 2011. And it’s not just kids with sticky fingers—75 percent of shoplifters are adults, most of whom have jobs. We know people are hunting for holiday deals, but this amount of theft is both surprising and sad.

Ad Week spoke with loss prevention experts on why shoplifting is the highest it’s been in five years. "Most shoplifters simply succumb to temptation, “Johnny Custer, director of field operations for Merchant Analytic Solutions, told Ad Week. “But add a sense of desperation because of the economy and holiday pressures, and you have the recipe for theft soup." Barbara Staib, a spokesperson for the National Association of Shoplifting Prevention, told Ad Week, "Seventy percent of shoplifters tell us they didn't plan to shoplift."

Exactly what are people stealing? Ad Week has compiled the top 10 most shoplifted items of 2011 and they’re truly bizarre.

1. Filet mignon

So many people are tucking choice cuts of meats under their jackets that supermarkets are now considered the stores with the most theft.

2. Jameson
Those with an unquenchable thirst for booze just help themselves to a free bottle of expensive liquor.

3. Electric tools
Apparently the the most common items men nab are electric toothbrushes and power tools. At least they’re fighting cavities.

4. iPhone 4
Electronics like smartphones and video games are high risk items, and one research group claims 100,000 laptops are stolen annually from big box stores.

5. Gillette Mach 4
Anyone who uses non-disposable razors knows they’re pretty expensive, so in tough financial times people don’t want to pay for them anymore.

6. Axe
The men’s deodorant and body wash we love to hate are often stolen in mass quantities and resold at flea markets and corner stores. Dial is popular amongst thieves too.

7. Polo Ralph Lauren
Clothing theft is up 31 percent since 2009. It’s hard to look good in a bad economy, so some score fresh threads the illegal way.

8. Let’s Rock Elmo
The Sesame Street toy topped the Toys’R’Us "Hot Toys" list this year, so parents are stealing this must-have toy for their kids if they can’t afford it.

9. Chanel No. 5
Who wouldn’t love a bottle of this popular woman’s fragrance? Expensive perfumes make up nearly four percent of loss in stores that carry them.

10. Nikes

As Ad Week points out, some shoppers wear flip-flops into a store, try on a pair of sneakers, and walk out wearing them. Sneaker heads will do whatever it takes to score the kicks on their wish list.

Internet has become 'surveillance machine': Assange
by Staff Writers
Hong Kong (AFP) Nov 28, 2011

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange blasted the mainstream media, Washington, banks and the Internet itself as he addressed journalists in Hong Kong on Monday via videolink from house arrest in England.

Fresh from accepting a top award for journalism from the prestigious Walkley Foundation in his native Australia on Sunday, Assange spoke to the News World Summit in Hong Kong before keeping a regular appointment with the police.

He defended his right to call himself a journalist and said WikiLeaks' next "battle" would be to ensure that the Internet does not turn into a vast surveillance tool for governments and corporations.

"Of course I'm a goddamn journalist," he responded with affected frustration when a moderator of the conference asked if he was a member of the profession.

He said his written record spoke for itself and argued that the only reason people kept asking him if he was a journalist was because the United States' government wanted to silence him.

"The United States government does not want legal protection for us," he said, referring to a US Justice Department investigation into his whistle-blower website for releasing secret diplomatic and military documents.

The former hacker criticised journalists and the mainstream media for becoming too cosy with the powerful and secretive organisations they were supposed to be holding to account.

In a 40-minute address, he also accused credit card companies such as Visa and Mastercard of illegally cutting WikiLeaks off from funding under a secret deal with the White House.

"Issues that should be decided in open court are being decided in back rooms in Washington," he said.

The Internet itself had become "the most significant surveillance machine that we have ever seen," Assange said in reference to the amount of information people give about themselves online.

"It's not an age of transparency at all ... the amount of secret information is more than ever before," he said, adding that information flows in but is not flowing out of governments and other powerful organisations.

"I see that really is our big battle. The technology gives and the technology takes away," he added.

The anti-secrecy activist then help up a handwritten sign from an aide telling him to "stop" talking or he would be late for a mandatory appointment with police.

Assange, 40, is under house arrest in England pending the outcome of a Swedish extradition request over claims of rape and sexual assault made by two women. He says he is the victim of a smear campaign.

Phew! Mayan prediction of world ending in 2012 may be a 'misreading' - it's just the start of a new era, says expert

Conspiracy theorists predict 'end of the world'
Expert says it's a misreading - it's a symbolic date
Refers to a new period in the religious calendar

By Rob Waugh

Last updated at 6:07 PM on 1st December 2011

An inscription found in the Mayan temple of Tortuguero make a prediction of an apocalyptic even in 2012 - with some conspiracy theorists predicting the world being swallowed by a black hole, the sun, or just clipped by a passing asteroid.

The Mayan inscriptions refer to Bolon Yokte 'descending from the sky' in 2012 - a god associated with war and the underworld.

But a German expert, Sven Gronemeyer, says that the whole thing could just be a misreading.

The Aztec Mayan Calendar: A well-known tablet predicts an apocalyptic event in 2012 - but rather than doomsday, a German expert says it could simply refer to the start of a new era

The tablet on which the inscription was found has a break which makes the end nearly illegible - but even so, the legible parts don't necessarily spell oncoming doomsday.

Gronemeyer said his decoding of a Mayan artefact with a reference to a 2012 date denotes a transition to a new era in the Mayan calendar - and not a possible end of the world.

The film 2012 predicted a typically understated doomsday scenario with the earth's core overheating: But the entire idea of the world ending in 2012 may be a 'misreading' an expert says

Bolon Yokte is a figure also associated with change.

Many Mayans also dismiss the apocalyptic predictions as largely a Western idea.

Rather than the end of time itself, the inscription refers to the start of a new era.

The interpretation of the hieroglyphs by Sven Gronemeyer of La Trobe University in Australia was presented for the first time at the archaeological site of Palenque in southern Mexico.

His comments came less than a week after Mexico's archaeology institute acknowledged there was a second reference to the 2012 date in Mayan inscriptions - touching off another round of talk (and panic) about whether it predicts the end of the world.

The prophecy of a war-god 'descending from the sky' in 2012 is largely a Western idea, according to many modern-day Mayans

'The elite had to prepare the land for the return of the god Bolon Yokte - it's a symbolic date, not a great leap for humanity'

Mr Gronemeyer has been studying the stone tablet found years ago at the archaeological site of Tortuguero in Mexico's Gulf coast state of Tabasco.

He said the inscription describes the return of mysterious Mayan god Bolon Yokte at the end of a 13th period of 400 years, known as Baktuns, on the equivalent of December 21, 2012.

Mayans considered 13 a sacred number. There is nothing apocalyptic in the date, he said.

The text was carved about 1,300 years ago. The stone has cracked, which has made the end of the passage almost illegible.

Mr Gronemeyer said the inscription refers to the end of a cycle of 5,125 years since the beginning of the Mayan Long Count calendar in 3113 B.C.

The fragment was a prophecy of then ruler Bahlam Ajaw, who wanted to plan the passage of the god, Mr Gronemeyer said.

'For the elite of Tortuguero, it was clear they had to prepare the land for the return of the god and for Bahlam Ajaw to be the host of this initiation,' he said.

Bolon Yokte, god of creation and war, was to prevail that day in a sanctuary of Tortuguero.

'The date acquired a symbolic value because it is seen as a reflection of the day of creation,' Mr Gronemeyer said. 'It is the passage of a god and not necessarily a great leap for humanity.'

Temple of the Inscriptions Ancient Mayan Ruins: The tablet found that makes reference to the year 2012 is partially illegible - which only serves to fuel the conspiracy theories

Last week, Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology said a second inscription mentioning the 2012 date is on the carved or moulded face of a brick found at the Comalcalco ruin, near the Tortuguero site. It is being kept at the institute and is not on display.

Experts doubt the second inscription is a definite reference to the date cited as the possible end of the world, saying there is no future tense marking like there is in the Tortuguero tablet.

The institute has tried to dispel talk of a 2012 apocalypse, the subject of numerous postings and stories on the internet.

Its latest step was to arrange a special round table of Mayan experts this week at Palenque, which is where Mr Gronemeyer made his comments.

Half a German city evacuated after two-ton 'Blockbuster' RAF bomb is found at the bottom of the Rhine

45,000 people to be evacuated after WW2 bomb found in river

Seven old people's homes, two hospitals and one jail also being cleared

Biggest evacuation in German postwar history

By Allan Hall

Almost half the German city of Koblenz is under evacuation orders as experts prepare to defuse a two-ton ‘Blockbuster’ RAF bomb in the Rhine.

The 10ft bomb, one of the biggest in the wartime arsenal of Bomber Command, was discovered after 65 years when the river level dropped during the driest November on record.

The fuse is badly corroded, and the authorities are evacuating 45,000 of Koblenz’s 120,000 population to leave a security zone of a mile around the bomb - which is capable of destroying an entire city block.

Enlarge

Construction of a 350-sandbag dam was almost completed by this evening so that the detonation can take place

Evacuation: Bomb experts build a temporary dam around the undetonated explosive as authorities prepare to get people out of Koblenz

The evacuation - the biggest in German postwar history - will involve fleets of buses and 1,000 volunteers helping police and firemen.

It is due to take place on Sunday so as not to disrupt Saturday Christmas shopping.

Some 700 patients at two hospitals will have to be moved, as well as the residents of seven old people’s homes and prisoners in a local jail.

The city’s main train station will also have to be emptied as well as several hotels.

Authorities this week built a temporary dam of some 350 sandbags around the bomb which is covered by just 16 inches of water.

The plan is then for bomb disposal teams to pump the water out and get to the bomb proper to begin the delicate job of removing the detonator.

It is expected to take several hours to make the bomb safe. Should it show signs of going off, experts

The low level of the Rhine has already exposed four other unexploded bombs.

Police closed a road and a stretch of railway near Rhein bei Vallendar near Koblenz on Saturday so that three smoke bombs found in the river could be blown up.

An artificial traffic jam was created on a nearby autobahn to slow traffic while the explosion work was underway.

Preparations: Divers have been working on a sandbag barrier in Koblenz which will expose and dry the 1.8 ton WW2 bomb

Deadly: 'Blockbuster' bombs were used heavily by the RAF in the war, with 50 per cent of their weight being explosives

Fire department boss Manfred Morschhäuser told the German news agency DAPD said the area will be pumped free of water at the weekend so the bomb can be detonated.

THE RAF'S HEAVY WARTIME WEAPON

'Blockbuster' bombs, also known as cookies, got their name from the press during the Second World War through their ability to destroy entire blocks.

They typically weighed either 4,000, 8000 or 12,000lbs and usually contained 50 per cent explosive by weight.

Their primary was use was in causing extensive damage to buildings so that smaller 1.8kg incendiary bombs could reach their interiors.

In 1943, 25,000 blockbusters were used. This increased to 38,000 the following year, before returning to 25,000 in 1945.

A safe height for unleashing the 4,000lb blockbuster was said to be around 5,000ft - any lower and the aircraft risked being caught in the blast.

During the Blitz the Germans created improvised blockbuster by attaching naval mines dropped on parachutes.

In the meantime, the fire department has established a telephone hotline.

More...

Morschhäuser said: 'Several hundred callers are getting in touch each day with their questions and problems.

'Each household included in the evacuation will be notified via flier.

'And on Sunday we'll go ringing from house to house.'

A day later and just a few kilometres downriver in Neuwie a 500-kilo aerial bomb was spotted in the river. This required the evacuation of around 1,000 people living in the nearby area.

Koblenz was a German operations centre during the Second World War and was hit repeatedly by air raids carried out by RAF and U.S. bombers.

While it had heavy industry producing ball bearings and tank parts, it was also the home of Army Group B which oversaw the conquest of France.

Later in the war the city was the hub for defensive operations for German forces following D-Day. Eighty-seven per cent of Koblenz was eventually destroyed in more than two dozen air raids.

German newspaper The National reports 'an estimated 2,000 tonnes of American and British aerial bombs and other munitions are still found every year.'

Safety first: A huge dam will allow bomb squads to reach the explosive, which has an eroded fuse

Exposed: The WW2 bomb was discovered due to low water levels in Koblenz during the driest November in record

Koblenz in western Germany, population 120,000, was a hub for defence operations for German forces following D-Day

Husband shoots entire family, killing four children, after his wife returns from an abused women's shelter before turning the gun on himself

By Daily Mail Reporter

Laura Gonzalez was happy to be back at work after three weeks away that included a stay at a battered women's shelter.

She saw it as the beginning of a new life: one without her husband and the father of her four children, as she told co-workers. She wasn't going back to him this time, she said, and left for home.

Less than an hour later, her 24-year-old husband, Jose Avila, launched a brutal final assault, shooting his wife three times before he began shooting the children.

Scroll down for video

Remembrance: Laura Gonzalez barely survived after her husband went on a shooting rampage at their home Thursday, killing their four children before turning the gun on himself

Remembrance: Laura Gonzalez barely survived after her husband went on a shooting rampage at their home Thursday, killing their children before turning the gun on himself

Avila's final act was to kill himself.

Two of the children died at a hospital Thursday, a day after their two siblings were killed in the shooting that rattled the small southeast Texas town of Bay City.

Their mother is hospitalized in critical condition.

As details trickled out, a picture emerged Thursday of a family long struggling with violence, including an assault reported by Gonzalez just before Thanksgiving.

More...

After that, she went to a battered women's shelter.

'I asked her how she was doing because I knew she was at the crisis center. She said she was trying to make something of her freedom and a better life for herself and her children,' said Alejandro Gonzalez, a fellow waiter at La Casona, the Mexican restaurant where Gonzalez worked.

'She wanted to make a better life for his kids because they see all the violence,' he added, recounting the conversation he had with Gonzalez hours before Avila turned on her.

Escape: The mother of four was shot twice inside their trailer before fleeing outside where she was shot a third time by her angry husband

Although Gonzalez left the trailer home she shared with her husband after reporting the assault, Bay City Lt. Andrew Lewis said she refused to press charges.

'She was scared. She didn't have papers, he didn't have papers, and they were both scared they were going to get deported,' according to their neighbor Juan Elizondo to WFMY.

Lt Lewis said he didn't know how long she stayed at the shelter for.

Wednesday's violence unfolded on a quiet street in Bay City — a town about 65 miles southwest of Houston — just as two nearby schools were letting out.

The couple started arguing inside the trailer, and Avila shot his wife twice, Lewis said.

She ran out to the front yard, where Avila shot her a third time. Then, he turned on the children.

'We heard ... that he was walking around waving a gun,' Lewis said, describing the violent scene that unfolded on a lawn now decorated with a makeshift memorial of teddy bears, candles and prayer books.

Home: The Texas couple are said to have been residing without legal documentation, stopping the mother from pressing earlier charges against her husband for fear of deportation

At least one student witnessed the incident.

Two of the brothers, aged 3 and 5, died of their wounds at a Houston hospital Wednesday.

Their 2-year-old sister and 4-year-old brother had been on life support but died Thursday. Gonzalez was in critical condition Thursday night at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center in Houston, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Police have not officially released the names of the victims, but co-workers and neighbors identified Avila's wife as Laura Gonzalez.

The family had moved into the trailer home near Bay City's Western-style downtown about a year ago, neighbors said.

They appeared to live a quiet life. On occasion, next-door neighbor Isuro Perez heard them arguing, but it appeared to be nothing out-of-the-ordinary. Just a run-of-the-mill dispute between a married couple.

'He always plays soccer out here in this field out here, plays soccer with his kids,' Perez said, pointing to a grassy area opposite the row of trailer homes. 'They were nice people, nothing went wrong really. They were a happy family.'

Confidant: Ms Gonzalez confided in coworkers at the restaurant she worked in about her second escape from their home to a women's shelter after fighting with her husband

At work, though, Gonzalez portrayed a different picture.

Alejandro Gonzalez said he once saw her with a black eye.

And Ruby Gomez, a waitress at La Casona, said Laura Gonzalez had told her about problems she had with her husband.

'She had to leave to get the kids in the afternoon because he threatened her that if she left him he was going to kill the four kids and her,' Gomez said.

Once, Gomez said, Gonzalez told her Avila had locked her in the house and gone to work.

She escaped through a window and went to a shelter, Gomez recounted.

That was the second time she left him, and vowed not to go back.

The first time 'he convinced her that he was going to change and that he really loved his kids, and convinced her to return to live with him,' Gomez said.

Still, the tragic outcome of the relationship came as a shock to Gonzalez's co-workers and to other residents of Bay City — a town of just over 17,000 people surrounded by large ranches and farmland.

The shooting was the talk of the town Thursday, as residents drove slowly past the couple's home.

Some stopped to add something to the growing memorial. Others cried. Several prayed.

'It's going to be sad for the momma when she wakes up and finds out she lost her children,' said Gloria Carranza, a 41-year-old Bay City native who added pink and blue balloons to the memorial.

'Things like this don't happen in a small town like Bay City,' she said.

'I had to settle a beef': Terrified passengers flee as gunman opens fire on crowded New York bus and kills two

Police: Killer shot 18-year-old man in apartment before jumping aboard bus and killing another
One other victim in stable condition

By Daily Mail Reporter

A gunman slayed a man in an apartment before jumping aboard a crowded city bus and opening fire and fatally wounding another.

Police in Queens, New York have arrested the 20-year-old suspected shooter, who told them: 'I had to settle a beef.'

Witnesses described the scene as 'pandemonium', as one injured man fell from the bus and scores of terrified passengers fled.

Frightening: A gunman in Queens, New York shot a teenager dead in an apartment before jumping aboard a bus and shooting two others - one fatally

The man shot his first victim in the neck in a second-story apartment in Jamaica, Queens.

The wounded 18-year-old then jumped from a window and fell to the ground below, police said.

He managed to stumble to the nearby Royal Chicken restaurant, where workers called emergency services – but he died before reaching hospital.

The shooter had fled the scene, running to a nearby bus stop and jumping on a northbound Q111 bus around 4 p.m.

More...

Husband shoots entire family, killing four children, after his wife returns from an abused women's shelter before turning the gun on himself

Officers responding to the 911 call went to the apartment and found an ID the gunman had accidentally dropped, police said.

On the bus, the gunman began arguing with passengers and pulled out a 9mm Luger semi-automatic pistol.

He began firing and hit two men. One died on the bus.

The other, a 29-year-old man shot in the face, managed to escape while terrified fellow passengers fled.

Search: The police have cordoned off the road while investigations continue

Crime scene: Police search for bullet casings in a nearby sewer drain.The gunman began arguing with bus passengers before opening fire and killing one

He later was taken to Jamaica Hospital, where he was in stable condition, authorities said.

'The male gets on the bus and shoots two people,' Detective Martin Speechley said. 'We now have the shooter under arrest.'

Witnesses described the terrifying scenes as around 50 passengers fled the bus.

‘It was crazy. I saw people running from the bus,’ Shakeem Twitty, who was playing drums on sidewalk when he heard shots, told the New York Post.

Kevin Livingston, a manager at a nearby bank, added: ‘I saw cops running, so I came out and I saw a young man with a red coat lying on the ground.

'He was conscious, couldn’t have been more than 20. There were cops and people running everywhere.

Blocked: The crime scene stretched for blocks in Queens, New York. The 20-year-old shooter has been arrested and is being questioned, police said

‘I’m sick of it. I’m tired of seeing young black men dead of on the side of the road.’

Another witness told the New York Post: ‘It was pandemonium. I heard a shot and people started running over this way.’

Police caught the shooter and found the pistol on him.

When they asked him for a motive, the man allegedly said: ‘I had to settle a beef.'

The gunman is being questioned.

Ali Nasrey, a 27-year-old worker at Royal Chicken, said co-workers told him that the gunman was a stepfather ‘who shot his kid’.

Michael Prysner, an Iraq war veteran, found himself on the other side of the law when police cracked down on Occupy LA earlier this week. Prysner who has turned activist tells us about his experience when he was arrested.

Do Nice Guys Finish Last?

By Jonah Lehrer

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In 1948, the legendary baseball manager Leo Durocher declared that “nice guys finish last.” Although Durocher would later deny the quote, his pithy line summarizes a popular and pessimistic take on human nature. When it comes to success, we assume that making it to the top requires ethical compromises. Perhaps we need to shout and scream like Steve Jobs, or cut legal corners like Gordon Gekko: the point is that those who win the game of life don’t obey the same rules as everyone else. And maybe that’s why they’re winning.

Well, it turns out Durocher and all those pessimists were right: nice guys really do finish last, or at least make significantly less money. According to a new study in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology by Beth A. Livingston of Cornell, Timothy A. Judge of Notre Dame, and Charlice Hurst of the University of Western Ontario, levels of “agreeableness” are negatively correlated with the earnings of men.

Let’s begin by defining our terms. There are six facets to aggreeableness: trust, straightforwardness, compliance, altruism, modesty and tender-mindedness. Those are all nice character traits, right? Why would someone lacking those traits have a competitive edge in the workplace?

To understand why niceness might be a disadvantage, it helps to understand the essence of disagreeableness. Because being disagreeable doesn’t mean you behave like Ari Gold. It doesn’t mean you are a sociopath or intentionally inflict pain on others. Instead, those on the disagreeable spectrum are generally pretty decent folks, described by their peers as mostly amiable. However, these disagreeable people do consistently exhibit one special trait: They are willing to “aggressively advocate for their position during conflicts.” While more agreeable people are quick to compromise for the good of the group — conflict is never fun — their disagreeable colleagues insist on holding firm. They don’t mind fighting for what they want.

To tease apart the relationship between agreeableness and income, the researchers began with a data set consisting of nearly 9,000 people who entered the labor force over the last decade. The subjects were repeatedly interviewed about their career and given a battery of cognitive and personality tests. Levels of agreeableness, for instance, were measured with a standard set of questions, such as, “Do you feel that agreeable describes you as a person, where 1 means quarrelsome and 5 means agreeable?” or “How much do you feel that difficult describes you as a person, where 1 means cooperative and 5 means difficult?” These ratings were then compared to income data.

The results were bleak. The first thing the researchers discovered is that women entering the workforce earn much less than men. Even after controlling for education, marital status, hours worked per week and workforce continuity, young women still earned $4,787 less than their male colleagues, an average loss of nearly 14 percent. But the news was also dismal for aggreeable men, who earned nearly $7,000 less than their disagreeable peers. (Agreeable women weren’t nearly as bad off, earning only 1,100 less.)

In a series of follow-up studies, the researchers replicated their results, showing that agreeable men earn less even after controlling for a long list of variables, including other personality traits and the possibility that nice people choose less lucrative professions. The researchers summarize their data:

Overall, across the first three studies, men who are one standard deviation below the mean on agreeableness earn an average of 18.31 percent ($9,772) more than men one standard deviation above the mean on agreeableness. Meanwhile, the “disagreeableness premium” for women was only 5.47 percent ($1,828). Thus, the income premium for disagreeableness is more than three times stronger for men than for women.

What’s driving this depressing correlation? In their final study, the researchers conducted an experiment on 460 undergrads in a business management class at a large Southern university. The students were given eight hypothetical job candidates, all of whom were described as smart, insightful and conscientious. However, their levels of agreeableness were varied, so that some candidates were described as much more trusting, altruistic and humble than others. The undergrads were then asked which of these male and female candidates should be fast-tracked for management.

Once again, the results were unforunate: Those candidates with higher levels of agreeableness were much less likely to get fast-tracked, especially if they were male. (Women were slightly less likely to get picked for promotion regardless of their personality.)

This suggests that nice guys finish last because people are subtly biased against them. Although agreeable people are less likely to get fired, and are just as likely to supervise others, they appear far less effective at negotiating pay increases, thus suggesting that the main financial benefit of disagreeableness is a willingness to stubbornly fight for what’s wanted, even if it makes others uncomfortable. In addition, the researchers argue that agreeableness is particularly costly for men because it violates our gender expectations. Since we assume men will selfishly pursue their interests — please pardon the lazy generalizations — we tend to look down on those who do not, which leads to a “backlash” against unselfish and altruistic men. In other words, we expect the worst and punish the best.

But the news isn’t all bad for nice guys. A new study points out that kindness is the single most salient variable that women look for when choosing a significant other. (Not surprisingly, those looking for a quick fling care most about looks.) So being agreeable won’t make you rich. But it just might help you fall in love, which will make you much happier than a marginal boost in income.

Ray Lewis, retired Captain from the Philadelphia Police department, was arrested at Occupy Wall Street on November 17. He was arrested along with other demonstrators by NYPD during a protest. During the eleven hours he was detained he says secretly many members of NYPD support the Occupy movement. Marina Portnaya reports.

New interview with writer Erich von Däniken, covering the subjects of Maya culture, 2012, crop circles and possible connections with other star systems...

Japan Nuclear Meltdown: Maybe Worse than Thought?

Agence France Presse

Tokyo - Molten nuclear fuel at Japan's Fukushima plant might have eaten two thirds of the way through a concrete containment base, its operator said, citing a new simulation of the extent of the March disaster.

Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) said their latest calculations showed the fuel inside the No. 1 reactor at the tsunami-hit plant could have melted entirely, dropping through its inner casing and eroding a concrete base.

In the worst-case scenario, the molten fuel could have reached as far as 65 centimetres (2 feet) through the concrete, leaving it only 37 centimetres short of the outer steel casing, the report, released Wednesday, said.

Until now, TEPCO had said some fuel melted through the inner pressure vessel and dropped to the containment vessel, without saying how much and what it did to the concrete, citing a lack of data.

"Almost no fuel remains at its original position," TEPCO said in the report.

Two other reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi plant also went into meltdown when the tsunami knocked out cooling systems at the plant.

However, only about 60 percent of their fuel dropped through to the concrete floor and caused less damage, the report projected.

The molten fuel in the three reactors is believed to have stayed cool and stable because water has been injected into the vessels, the utility said.

TEPCO added, however, that it has yet to closely study many areas of the damaged reactors due to high level of radiation and stressed its findings were based on modelling.

The exact position of the fuel believed to have eaten its way through the concrete and to what extent it is being exposed to the cooling water is not known.

"Uncertainly involved in the analysis is significant due to the uncertain nature of the original conditions and data used," the report said.

"Using (realistically assumed) conditions for the evaluation, the concrete could have been penetrated, but (the fuel) stayed inside the casing," it said.

Fukushima Daiichi has spewed radioactive materials across eastern Japan since it was inundated by the huge waves of March 11.

The world's worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986 has not directly claimed any lives, but has left tens of thousands of people displaced and rendered tracts of land uninhabitable, possibly for decades.

TEPCO and the Japanese government have pledged to bring all the plant's reactors to a state of cold shutdown by the end of 2011.

Cancer: the Forbidden Cures - Full Documentary from Jason Greenwood on Vimeo.

In the last 100 years dozens of doctors, scientists and researchers have come up with the most diverse, apparently effective solutions against cancer, but none of these was ever taken into serious consideration by official medicine. Most of them were in fact rejected out-front, even though healings were claimed in the thousands, their proposers often being labeled as charlatans, ostracized by the medical community and ultimately forced to leave the country. At the same time more than 20,000 people die of cancer every day, without official medicine being able to offer a true sense of hope to those affected by it. Why?

The whistle-blowing website Wikileaks has begun releasing sensational information on the multi billion dollar global spying industry. The database contains hundreds of documents shining a light on the methods being used by secret services all over the world. Here's the video of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange speaking to journalists and students at a press conference at City University London in central London on December 1, 2011. Along with a number of other guest speakers, Mr Assange spoke of the Wikileaks ongoing investigation of surveillance software companies and their alleged use by governments around the world.

The whistleblowing website Wikileaks has begun releasing sensational information on the multi billion dollar global spying industry. The database contains hundreds of documents shining a light on the methods being used by secret services all over the world.

Military personnel are being asked to prepare to man Britain's borders when public sector workers stage a mass walkout next Wednesday, Sky sources have said.

It comes as Heathrow Airport bosses warned the strike on November 30 could cause "gridlock" as passengers are forced to remain on planes as queues build inside terminals.

Civil servants have also been approached to help out, with up to 18,000 immigration officials are expected to take part in the walkout.

Passengers travelling through Heathrow next week have been told they may have to queue for up to 12 hours during the strike.

And chiefs at airport operator BAA are even suggesting to airlines that they fly their planes half full.

The warning came in a letter to all airlines which fly to Heathrow from chief operating officer Normand Boivin.

He said BAA had "reluctantly concluded" that the UK Border Agency would be unable to provide a contingency plan to support normal operations.

Mr Boivin warned: "Modelling of the impacts of strike action on passenger flows at Heathrow show that there are likely to be very long delays of up to 12 hours to arriving passengers.

Every independent trade union can ballot under very strict rules. If they can't do that over an issue as important as their pensions then what can they take industrial action over?

Alan Johnson MP backs the right to strike

"The delays at immigration are likely to be so long that passengers could not be safely accommodated within the terminals and would need to be held on arriving aircraft.

"This, in turn, would quickly create gridlock at the airport with no available aircraft parking stands, mass cancellations for departing aircraft and diversions outside the UK for arriving aircraft," he told The Daily Telegraph.

British Airways say their customers will be able to switch their flights free of charge if they are concerned.

In a statement the airline said: "We understand there will be a significant risk of severe delays in passing through passport control, with potential knock-on effects on wider airport operations."

BA said it plans to run a normal schedule and is doing everything it can to protect customers.

The UK Border Agency has asked staff working in embassies and high commissions in South Africa, India and Russia to return to Britain to help with cover for their striking colleagues.

In a statement UKBA said securing the border was its priority.

Passengers queue outside Terminal 3 to have their boarding passes checked.

Passengers may face a longer wait at Heathrow Airport

Ministers have condemned the planned strike over public sector pensions which could see two million workers stay away from work.

But the TUC said the Government's estimate that the strike could cost the UK £500m in lost revenue was "fantasy economics".

Striking workers have been given support from former Labour home secretary Alan Johnson, who joined a union when he worked as a postman and went on to take full-time union posts.

"Every independent trade union can ballot under very strict rules. If they can't do that over an issue as important as their pensions then what can they take industrial action over?" he told the BBC.

"On this issue, I think the Government generally want to negotiate a settlement but they started off badly."

However, Labour leader Ed Miliband has called instead for compromise between the Government and union leaders.

"I am very concerned about the cost of these strikes and that is why both sides must work to stop these strikes happening," he said.

food

Nuclear Taco Hat Predicts How Unpleasant the Morning After Spicy Foods Will Be

You know it's coming, but this sensor hat developed by altLab for their hack project at Codebits 2011 will give you a better idea of just how unpleasant your morning will be the day after eating spicy foods.

Inspired by the nuclear taco eating challenge at the previous year's Codebits, as well as those beer helmets, the team at altLab wondered if a piece of headgear could be devised that would measure just how hot spicy foods are. What they came up with was the Nuclear Taco Sensor Hat, complete with a bottle of milk and yogurt on each side to help quench the fire.

Those bottles are also used to determine just how spicy a nuclear taco really is. Fluid intake sensors measure how much milk and yogurt are being consumed, while humidity and temperature sensors provide measurements of other physical reactions to the heat like sweating. An Arduino ties everything together, collating the data into a measurement on a chart that ranges from "no sweat" to "melt down." A webcam records the wearer's reactions the whole time, while a set of red LEDs shining on their face glow brighter the more uncomfortable they get. All-in-all you end up with a device that can accurately predict your not-too-distant unpleasant future for a mere $80. [altLab via Hack a Day]

Arab State Urges Citizens To Leave Syria

Tensions flare as Arab League ultimatum passes deadline

Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet.com
Friday, November 25, 2011

Yet another indication that Syria could be the next target of a NATO-led military assault arrived today with the news that the United Arab Emirates is the latest country to urge its citizens to leave, as a deadline imposed by the Arab League for Syria to respond to its demand to send in observers passed without comment.

Arab State Urges Citizens To Leave Syria syria

“Emiratis who are already in Syria are advised to avoid large gatherings of people, exercise caution and leave Syrian territory because of the current circumstances there,” Director of Nationals’ Affairs at the Ministry Ambassador Eissa Abdullah Al-Kalbani said.

The warning follows similar advisories by the U.S. Embassy in Damascus, which urged its citizens to leave Syria “immediately,” while Turkey’s foreign ministry told its citizens to avoid traveling through the country on their return home from Saudi Arabia.

Today’s deadline for Syria to accept an ultimatum issued by the Arab League that would have allowed 500 observers to enter Syria in a monitoring capacity passed without response.

Although the Arab League said it would give the Syrian regime until the end of the day to accept the proposal, crippling sanctions are set to be imposed on Saturday that would suspend all commercial flights to Syria, which is why other governments are telling their citizens to leave while they still can.

The Arab League ultimatum was described by Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu as the “last chance” for the Syrian government.

In an identical pattern to how U.S. warships surrounded Libya in the days before the NATO bombardment began, the aircraft carrier George H.W. Bush was repositioned off the coast of Syria in recent days having moved from its usual theater of operations in the Straits of Hormuz.

On Wednesday, French foreign minister Alain Juppé assured Syrian opposition forces that NATO powers are planning to launch a military intervention by imposing “humanitarian corridors or humanitarian zones” in the name of protecting civilians from the alleged abuses of the al-Assad regime.

Although, like Libya, the situation in Syria is clearly descending into a civil war, with attacks on both sides, western powers have doggedly tried to portray the chaos as a series of atrocities by the Assad’s troops, downplaying attacks by Syrian rebel forces such as the one reported today that killed ten Syrian troops.

*********************

Paul Joseph Watson is the editor and writer for Prison Planet.com. He is the author of Order Out Of Chaos. Watson is also a regular fill-in host for The Alex Jones Show.

Occupy Edmonton camp swept by police

CBC News

Posted: Nov 25, 2011 5:33 AM MT

Edmonton police move in to dismantle the Occupy camp early Friday morning. (Briar Stewart/CBC)

Edmonton police moved in and dismantled the Occupy camp in a downtown park early Friday morning, resulting in at least three arrests.

"We were all sleeping in the white tent," said Mahad Mohamed. "They woke us up and told us to move."

About 45 officers arrived to remove the protesters and their camp in what appeared to be a peaceful eviction, which took about 90 minutes. Police erected a fence around the perimeter of the camp and most of the officers have left the scene.

The CBC's Andrea Huncar reported that three protesters were arrested on trespassing charges. One protester attempted to handcuff himself to a stove.

The three were released at about 7 a.m. after being issued trespassing fines of $287.

Occupy Edmonton protesters said earlier this week they would not willingly leave the downtown park where they had been camped out since mid-October.

"We will peacefully resist this latest eviction attempt," Mike Hudema had said on Tuesday.

The protesters said they were prepared to stay at the site for years if need be.

"We're building a community here," said Hudema. "We aren't harming anybody."

Melcor Developments Ltd., the owner of the park at Jasper Avenue and 102nd Street, wanted the protesters to stop camping at the site, citing safety concerns over the use of fires and wood-burning stoves.

"During the six-week occupation, there were dozens of calls to police, fire and ambulance to attend to issues at the site," Melcor said in a press release Friday.

"Given the seriousness of the many infractions, and the risks to personal safety, Melcor determined that it was imperative to end the unauthorized trespass on the property."

Melcor thanked the police and the city for helping to end the occupation "in as safe, orderly and peaceful manner as possible."

The Edmonton eviction follows similar moves by police in Vancouver, Ottawa, Toronto and Montreal.

The Occupy movement was spawned by a suggestion in Canada's Adbusters magazine, which prompted protesters to occupy a park near New York's financial district. The Occupy Wall Street movement inspired similar efforts around the world. The movement — which held an international day of protest Oct. 15 — protests income inequality and social injustice.

Victim’s husband: Shooting in Myrtle Beach could have been much worse

By Kurt Knapek

A 55-year-old Marston, N.C., woman who had just finished Black Friday shopping for Christmas presents with her sister and son at Wal-Mart in Myrtle Beach, was shot in the foot during a robbery in a nearby parking lot.

The shooting was one of several Black Friday-related criminal investigations across the country overnight. No other incidents were reported in Horry and Georgetown counties.

Police are still searching for two suspects in the Myrtle Beach shooting that happened at 1:13 a.m. Friday in front of the Osaka Japanese Steakhouse on 794 Oak Forest Lane, according to an incident report from the Myrtle Beach Police Department.

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