| It was the tattoo artist, in the cafeteria. |
| In one of the oddest corporate ceremonies we've heard of, a tattoo artist inserted rice-sized microchips into the hands of employees at Three Square Market, a Wisconsin firm that makes cafeteria kiosks to replace vending machines. The point: convenience. Chipped employees can bypass key fobs and badges and corporate log-ons to computers. And the company would like to see payments go cashless. The pain: "It stung for about an hour and a half," company president Patrick McMullan said. The entire process took about a minute. The tattoo artist cleaned the skin, found a spot in the hand to pinch, inserted a syringe, installed the chip, then covered the spot with a bandage. The privacy concern: The chip does not have GPS in it, so the boss can't track your movements. Is it dangerous? Some Swedes have been chipped for years. |
| "They will drop her in the worst city, with no money, and say 'good luck.'" |
| Beatriz Morelos Casillas is an Ohio mother of four who has lived in the U.S. for 17 years. But she will likely be deported to Mexico after a routine traffic stop led authorities to discover her undocumented status. Thomas Homan, acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement told Congress last month that anyone in the country illegally "should look over your shoulder. You need to be worried." Her family is. Casillas is likely headed to the border state of Tamaulipas — one of the most dangerous places in Mexico. She was deported once before, limiting her rights to fight the order. "We know from experience that this is how things go," said Vernonica Dahlberg, an advocate with HOLA Ohio. "They will drop her in the worst city, with no money, and say 'good luck.'" |
| There was a time when you literally could not stop and smell the roses |
| There were no flowers anywhere on Earth until 140 million years ago. That's when primitive flowers burst onto the scene, and flowering plants took over the world. All living flowers today came from a single ancestor about that time and resembled a water lily, according to a study published Tuesday. We'll take a dozen. |
| Oil, refugees, democracy, foes |
| Venezuela appears to be sliding toward authoritarian rule under President Nicolás Maduro. Will there be repercussions in the U.S.? Yep. Here's why Americans should pay attention: |
| • | Oil: Venezuela has the world's largest oil reserves and the U.S. is its largest customer. | | • | Refugees: More Venezuelans applied for asylum in the U.S. in 2016 (18,155) than any other country. | | • | Democracy: Retrenchment in Venezuela threatens to spread to other countries with recent anti-U.S. leaders, such as Ecuador and Bolivia. | | • | U.S. foes: Maduro has moved to improve economic ties with Cuba, Russia and China. Iran and North Korea could be next. | |
| |
 |
| You've got (radioactive) mail |
| When researchers at the University of New Mexico opened their mail, they were expecting "dummy" metal sheets. Instead, they got a shipment of unlabeled plutonium, a highly carcinogenic, unstable metal which contaminated their lab. Nuclear weapons contractors have mislabeled and improperly shipped dangerous substances at least 25 times in the past five years, according to a new report. Despite endangering the public and the people who unknowingly transported the substances, there have been few consequences for the offenders. |
| Vacationers to construction company: You break it, you buy it |
| Do not mess with people's vacation. First the power went out, then the generators busted. Evacuations were mandatory last week on North Carolina's Ocracoke and Hatteras islands. Now, angry beachgoers (and local business owners) filed a class-action lawsuit against PCL Construction , the company that caused the whole mess when a steel pylon went through a power transmission line. The lawsuit alleges that both vacationers and business owners are taking a $5 million hit. It's peak season, after all. We're going to stress-eat Duck Donuts until the islands open again. |
No comments:
Post a Comment