U.S. Redrawn as 50 Equally Populated States; Plastic Bag Bans Making People Sick?

Don't miss a single issue of Slashback. Add slashdot@newsletters.slashdot.org to your address book. U.S. Redrawn as 50 Equally Populated States Billionaires Secretly Fund Vast Climate Denial Network Are Plastic Bag Bans Making People Sick? Amazon Sells Out Predator Drone Toy After Mocking Reviews The End Is Near for GameStop Hot Comment: 'Free' Trade, What Did You Expect? From the Vault: Torvalds Switches to a Mac Watch It: Video Games, Violence and the Lead Link Poll Booth: Compared to my immediate peers, my typing ... U.S. Redrawn as 50 Equally Populated States It's no secret that electoral reform is on the minds of many Americans and artist and urban planner Neil Freeman may have a solution-- a striking map showing 50 equally populous states (which are named after plants, songs, cities and geological features in ways guaranteed to irritate pretty much everybody). Sound Off>> Billionaires Secretly Fund Vast Climate Denial Network The Guardian reports that conservative billionaires used a secretive funding route to channel nearly $120 million to more than 100 groups casting doubt about the science behind climate change, helping build a vast network of think tanks and activist groups working to redefine climate change. Sound Off>> Are Plastic Bag Bans Making People Sick? A paper by Wharton's Jonathan Klick and Joshua Wright suggests that San Francisco's eco-friendly ban on plastic bags might actually be killing people. The academics found that food-borne illnesses in San Francisco increased 46% after the bag ban went into effect in 2007, with no such uptick in neighboring counties. Sound Off>> Amazon Sells Out Predator Drone Toy After Mocking Reviews Maisto International Inc.'s model RQ-1 Predator drone, which is a replica of the unmanned aircraft that the U.S. Air Force has used in combat over Afghanistan, Pakistan, Serbia, Iraq and Yemen, are selling out on Amazon as parody reviews highlight how the toys can help children hone killing skills. Sound Off>> The End Is Near for GameStop If the rumors prove true, next-gen consoles might not play used games. What would that mean for retailers like GameStop that make a killing off the used game market? Will gamers flock to the one console that can still play used games? GoozerNation speculates as the Mayan apocalypse draws near for used game sales. Sound Off>> 'Free' Trade, What Did You Expect? "What, you thought only the manufacturing base could outsource? Think again." --by CanHasDIY Read More>>   Torvalds Switches to a Mac Eight years ago, Linux creator Linus Torvalds said he's using an Apple Macintosh (running Linux, of course) as his main desktop, mainly for work reasons, although partly simply because he's a self-described "technology whore" and got the machine for free. Read More>>  Video Games, Violence and the Lead Link Game designer William Volk has worked on slightly violent video games through the years and has watched public outcries over video game violence since 1976. He shares his interesting perspective and theories about the link between game violence and real-life violence and what lead may have to do with it. Watch the Video>>  Compared to my immediate peers, my typing Is faster overall, despite need to correct more errors Is both faster overall and freer of errors Seems to be similar in speed and error rate Is freer of errors but slower Is slower and has more errors I don't type I have no immediate peers! Cast Your Vote>> Follow Slashdot on Twitter and Facebook. To unsubscribe, click here or send an email to: unsubscribe-213087@elabs10.com To ensure delivery of this newsletter to your inbox and to enable images, please add slashdot@newsletters.slashdot.org to your e-mail address book or safe senders list. Slashdot | 594 Howard Street, Suite 300 | San Francisco, CA 94105 To view our Privacy Policy click here.