What I learned in the New York Times during the month of July....
7/1: A federal advisory panel voted to recommend a ban on Percocet and Vicodin because of their effects on the liver. 7/2: Shi Pei Pu, the inspiration for "M. Butterfly," died. 7/3: Michael Jackson had perfume sprayed in the giraffe barn at Neverland Ranch. 7/4: Naples, Italy, hires ex-cons to act as tour guides. 7/5: At a press conference after winning Wimbledon, Serena Williams wore a T-shirt that read, "Are you looking at my titles?" 7/6: George W. Bush prized Saddam Hussein's pistol as a sort of war trophy; it will probably be on display at his presidential library. 7/7: It's standard practice for an outside group to pay for travel for New York City officials. 7/8: Porn films aren't bothering with scripts so much anymore. 7/9: The New York State Constitution does not provide for filling the lieutenant governor office in the event of a vacancy. 7/10: The finalists for the 2016 summer Olympics—Chicago, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro, and Tokyo—will be voted on in October. 7/11: Professional fighters are undergoing surgery—having collagen made from the skin of cadavers injected into their faces—so they won't bleed as easily or profusely. 7/12: According to director Leon Panetta, the CIA withheld information about a secret counterterrorism program from Congress for eight years on direct orders from former Vice President Dick Cheney. 7/13: The Swiss Post is allowing people to receive scans of unopened mail by email, which they can then have opened and scanned. 7/14: Fashion designer Issey Miyake survived the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima when he was 7 years old. 7/15: Goldman Sachs posted a quarterly profit of $3.4 billion, the richest in its 140-year history. 7/16: Walmart will begin labeling its products with environmental information. 7/17: Jumbo flying squid are swarming off San Diego. Plus: A 17-year-old Californian (16 when he started) became the youngest person to sail around the world alone. 7/18: Amazon remotely deleted copies of "1984" and "Animal Farm" from customers' Kindles after it learned that the publisher didn't have the rights to the books. 7/19: The nest G-20 meeting, in September, will be held in Pittsburgh. 7/20: More farmers' markets are installing the terminals necessary to accept paperless food stamps. 7/21: Red wine may or may not be healthier than white wine. 7/22: Since its southernmost section opened June 9, New York City's High Line park has attracted more than 300,000 visitors. 7/23: In Europe, you're only billed when you place a cell-phone call or text-message, not when you receive one; in the U.S., both the caller/sender and the recipient are charged. 7/24: A new French law would allow Sunday retail openings in large cities like Paris, Lille, and Marseille, if the mayor of the city agrees. 7/25: FINA, which governs international swimming, banned high-tech swimsuits. 7/26: Nikola Tesla tried to use electric fields to cure mentally deficient children and claimed to have invented a death ray. 7/27: Warren Buffett is the subject of an online cartoon series that teaches kids about fiscal responsibility. 7/28: The Obama administration took down the electronic billboard displaying pro-U.S. propaganda outside the American diplomatic mission in Havana. 7/29: Tomato leaves can be used in cooking to add tomato flavor. 7/30: Popular in Argentina, paco is a smokable drug made with bits of cocaine residue, mixed with industrial solvents and kerosene or rat poison. 7/31: Online research firm Acxiom estimates it has 1,500 pieces of data on every American.
Comments