One in seven Americans lives on food stamps
Washington: Believe it or not, one in seven Americans – 15 percent of the country – now need government-provided food stamps simply to survive, according to latest government figures.
Nearly 46 million Americans receive food stamps out of a population of some 311 million people, the US Department of Agriculture, which administers what’s officially called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programme reported Thursday.
The continued high unemployment and the weak US economy have contributed to the explosive growth of the food stamp programme with no end in sight to the monthly increases, CNN said noting that 27 million people were dependent on food stamps in October 2007.
Under the food stamps programme, an eligible individual gets $200 a month in food stamps – in the form of a debit card that can be used at supermarkets and stores to buy authorised food.
A two-person household gets $367 a month. A three-person household gets $526 a month. And a four-person household gets $668 a month. (IANS)
No entry for UK Dy Speaker’s rickshaw
London: British police refused access to an India-style rickshaw in which House of Commons deputy speaker Nigel Evans was travelling to reach his house in the Commons estate.
He reportedly urged the police to waive strict security rules and allow the rickshaw driver to take him into Parliament after a night out, The Sun reported today. Evans, a Conservative MP from Ribble Valley, wanted to be dropped off at his luxurious grace-and-favour lodgings deep within the Commons estate so he could get the driver’s 5 pounds fare, but the police refused to allow access. As one of three deputy speakers, Evans is responsible for ensuring order in the chamber.
A spokesman for the MP – who had spent the evening in London’s West End – confirmed: “He did get a rickshaw back to the Commons.
He needed the fare because he didn’t have any cash on him.” A Metropolitan Police spokeswoman said: “A vehicle was refused entry as it was not an authorised vehicle.” Cycle-rickshaws are used for short distance travel on Oxford Street and other places in London and elsewhere in the UK. They are often criticised for holding up traffic. (PTI)
Now, an online game where Putin tackles forest fires
Moscow: A new game has appeared online where Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is the main character who drives cars, tackles forest fires and “wastes terrorists in the outhouse.”
Putin also drives a Russia-made Lada Kalina car in the “Like Putin” game.
The goal of the game is to boost “VVP”, an abbreviation which means both the Russian term for gross domestic product (GDP) and the prime minister’s initials.
A two-dimensional Putin figure moves along various locations to gather bonuses, hearts and medals.
Political experts, however, said the game is just part of Putin’s election campaign.
Another analyst Alexei Makarkin said: “I’m not quite sure that such things are somehow initiated by Putin or his circle. His image probably became something absolutely different from Putin himself.”
A government source said they were not notified about plans to make Putin an online game character.
Alexei Kabakov, the head of the Agency One company, which created the game, said it was created as a promotion stunt for the company.
“We were afraid that the reaction would be bad, but it seems to me that we made an enjoyable game. We were thinking about a striking move to promote our agency… And Vladimir Putin immediately came to our minds,” he said. (IANS)
Swede tried to build nuke reactor in his kitchen
STOCKHOLM: A Swedish man was arrested after he tried to build a nuclear reactor in his kitchen and documented his efforts on the Internet, authorities and the man said Thursday.
Richard Handl, 31, from Angelholm in southern Sweden, gathered materials including smoke detectors, clock and watch hands and via purchases on the Internet.
“I was just curious to see if it was possible, it is just a hobby,” said Handl, currently unemployed but previously a worker in a ventilation systems factory.
He documented his efforts on a blog and his Facebook page.
He got as far as mixing some ingredients on a cooker — americum, radium, beryllium and 96 percent sulphuric acid.
“The boiling explosion was about 3 or 4 months ago and the police came two weeks ago,” he said.
After the incident, which he tagged “The Meltdown” on his blog, he said he “cleaned up the mess on the cooker and then I bought some more radium and continued the experiment.”
The Radiation Safety Authority said in a statement the authorities raided Handl’s flat on July 20 after hearing that he was handling nuclear materials in an unsafe way.
“There were no raised levels of radiation in the apartment and the neighbors were not exposed to radiation,” research chief Leif Moberg said in the statement.
Handl reported the raid laconically on his website, writing “Project canceled!”
He was detained and shortly after freed. “I am still a suspect for crime against the radiation safety law,” he said. (Agencies)
Meet the 7-yr-old girl who can’t stop giggling
London: A British girl aged 7 is leaving her family members in stitches with her continuous giggles, which cropped up after she underwent brain surgery to remove a tumour.
Enna Stephens of New Marske, Cleveland, is recovering well from the surgery, which has temporarily damaged the part of her brain that controls expressions of emotion, and now anything amusing sets her off.
Her parents had been warned the surgery could make her feel depressed or angry as patients often suffer short-term personality changes, but in Enna’s case, it became one big laugh.
“Enna would giggle for 15 minutes at a time, constantly through the day. When she first came round after the operation she was giggling,” the Sun quoted Vana, Enna’s mother as saying.
“One time her grandma held a banana like a phone to make her laugh and she was in stitches for ages. She kept giggling all the time. It was so lovely to hear after all she had been through.
“She still laughs and giggles a lot and once she starts she can’t stop. We take her to hospital visits and she bursts into hysterics,” Vana, a police research officer, added. (ANI)
Business executives rate Paris best for flings
PARIS: Paris is the favourite spot for flings among globe-trotting business executives in Europe, according to a survey released.
The French capital was named by 52 percent of respondents as the city of choice for a sexual encounter when on business trips without their spouse or regular partner on Thursday.
Next in the list was Milan, followed by Barcelona, Brussels, London, Geneva and Berlin.
The need to keep infidelities secret came lower than other motives for off-base hook-ups, behind loneliness and the fact that being away from home gave an added sense of freedom, according to extramarital dating agency Gleeden.com which conducted the survey. (PTI)