By: Cary Briel, Skaneateles Design

A report issued by the Institute for American Values titled “The Taxpayer Costs of Divorce and Unwed Childbearing: First-Ever Estimates for the Nation and for All Fifty States” puts the cost of “divorce and unwed childbearing” in the US at 1 trillion dollars to US taxpayers over a 10 year period. See the report here.

By: Cary Briel, Skaneateles Design

Both Obama and Clinton addressed the Alliance for American Manufacturing in Pittsburgh, PA today. Both brought up and discussed Obama’s recent ‘bitter’ comment in San Francisco and attempted to make their respective cases. Whereas Obama was met with a very positive response from the audience, the response to Clinton’s case was quiet w/ some jeers from the crowd. Click here to watch the video. There is also a vid with Barack Obama speaking in Steelton, PA.

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By Cary Briel, Skaneateles Design

Time and time again studies have shown that if cities really wanted to make traffic crossings safer there’s a very simple way to do so: increase the length of the yellow light and make sure there’s a pause before the cross traffic light turns green. There are even legal limits as to how short the duration of a yellow light can be. According to Motorists.org, six US cities have been caught shortening their yellow light lengths for profit, since short lengths of the yellow at intersections have been shown to increase the number of traffic violations. The cities in question are Union City, CA, Dallas and Lubbock, TX, Nashville and Chattanooga, TN, Springfield, MO, and these are just the ones that have been caught. Read more about it here on the Motorists.org website.

By: Cary Briel, Skaneateles Design

Hot off the press of the White House website, the following photo is supposed to show Dick Cheney smiling on a recent fishing trip, and is supposed to illustrate his love for the outdoors. But, some see more reflected in his sunglasses than mountain streams and fishing poles. What do you see?

Click here for a zoomed image.

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By: Cary Briel, Skaneateles Design

This news is old, but still neat. Could you text this phrase in less than 42 seconds? “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocios! Even though the sound of it is something quite atrocious. If you say it loud enough you’ll always sound precocious.” If so, you could have earned an extra $25k for your spring wardrobe last year! On Saturday April 23, 2007, 13-year-old Morgan Pozgar was crowned the first ever National Texting Champion, and awarded $25,000 for her blazing thumbs. 300 competitors vied for the prize, being tested for both speed and accuracy. Read the full story here.