The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA, a government behavioral health agency) issued a report on Friday that called energy drinks "a continuing public health concern." Yes, energy drinks like Red Bull, 5-Hour Energy, Monster, Full Throttle, CHARGE!, Neurogasm, Hardcore Energize Bullet, Facedrink, Eruption, Crakshot, Crave, Crunk, DynaPep, Rage Inferno, SLAP, and even good old Venom Death Adder.  Energy drinks are not-uncommonly used along with alcohol and other drugs, so SAMHSA (say it aloud once, it's calming) makes the distinction that, of the 20,783 ED visits in 2011, 58 percent involved energy drinks alone; the remaining also involved other drugs.

Over the past few years, as many people rushed to trade in their old phones for smartphones, Japan's philanderers have remained faithful to one particular brand: Fujitsu Ltd.'s older "F-Series" phones, which feature some attractive stealth privacy features. The aging flip-phone—nicknamed the "uwaki keitai" or "infidelity phone"—owes its enduring popularity to customers who don't believe newer smartphones are as discreet at hiding their illicit romances. Fujitsu's "privacy mode" is a layer of nearly invisible security that hides missed calls, emails and text messages from contacts designated as private. If one of those acquaintances gets in touch, the only signal of that communication is a subtle change in the color or shape of how the battery sign or antenna bars are displayed. If ignored, the call doesn't appear in the phone log. "If Tiger Woods had this Japanese feature in his phone, he wouldn't have gotten in trouble," said Mr. Natsuno, now a professor at Keio University's Graduate School of Media and Governance.

Bundestagsvizepräsident Wolfgang Thierse (SPD) hat das alltägliche Zusammenleben mit zugezogenen Schwaben in dem Berliner Stadtteil Prenzlauer Berg als mitunter "strapaziös" bezeichnet. "Ich wünsche mir, dass die Schwaben begreifen, dass sie jetzt in Berlin sind – und nicht mehr in ihrer Kleinstadt mit Kehrwoche". Thierse konkretisierte, er ärgere sich, wenn er etwa beim Bäcker erfahre, dass es keine Schrippen gebe, sondern Wecken. "Da sage ich: In Berlin sagt man Schrippen, daran könnten sich selbst Schwaben gewöhnen." Ebenso störe es ihn, wenn ihm in Geschäften "Pflaumendatschi" angeboten würden. "Was soll das? In Berlin heißt es Pflaumenkuchen", sagte Thierse der Zeitung.

Die meisten Polizisten kommen dagegen aus gut behüteten Mittelschichtfamilien. 90 Prozent haben Abitur, keine Allergien, haben von ihren Eltern einen vollständigen Impfschutz bekommen und sind verbeamtet. Sie haben keine Erfahrung mit Prekariat, Bildungsdefiziten und Arbeitslosigkeit. Polizisten haben mit der problematischen Klientel als Gegenüber biografisch nichts gemeinsam. Die »offizielle« Polizei sagt zum Bürger heute »Kunde«, und sie bezeichnet sich selbst als Dienstleistungsunternehmen.

In Momentaufnahmen zwischen Peking und Chengdu sammelt der Film Eindrücke in den etablierten Clubs in Peking bis zu improvisierten Raves in der Provinz.

The police chief said the reform to the Public Security Law, which is being studied by the Interior Ministry, would seek to “strike a balance between the protection of the rights of citizens and those of members of the security forces. Only in recognition of the immense labor of the security forces are we able to progress toward achieving a more just, safer and peaceful society.” Cosido was speaking at a meeting with the Independent Labor Union of Public Workers (CSI-F), the Spanish Confederation of Police (CEP) and the European Confederation of Independent Labor Unions (CESI), which was convened to analyze the effects of the economic crisis on the operation of security forces. The measure, Cosidó said, is designed to protect the privacy of officers and their families and guarantee their rights of honor and image. The government, he said, will be able to “take a step forward” in providing the police with more safety to go about their work, “with strict compliance with the rule of law.”

Mogadishu, Somalia's capital when Somalia was still a nation, is the poster city for what WikiTravel.org calls "the most lawless and dangerous city on Earth... Even with guards, the likelihood of being injured, kidnapped, and/or killed is still very high, including potentially by said hirable guards... Traffic drives on the right." As far as I could tell, traffic went every which way—and yes, I grant you that Mogadishu's walls are bullet-pocked in three sizes: thumb size for AK-47s, fist size for .20 caliber, and both fists for .50 caliber.

Interview mit Hans-Ludwig Kröber, einer der gefragtesten Gerichtspsychiater Deutschlands. Seine Gutachten entscheiden mit darüber, ob ein Schwerverbrecher wieder in Freiheit kommt.

Die Bundesregierung wird auf dem Europäischen Rat weitergehende Reformen vorschlagen, um die Euro-Zone institutionell zu stärken. Wie Bundesfinanzminister Wolfgang Schäuble (CDU) auf seinen Rückflug aus Asien mitreisenden Journalisten sagte, will man unter anderem die Rechte des Währungskommissars spürbar stärken. Er soll künftig ohne Rücksicht auf die übrigen Kommissionsmitglieder die Prinzipien der Stabilitätsunion durchsetzen können - nicht zuletzt, indem er Korrekturen in den nationalen Haushalte erzwingen können soll, wenn die Defizit zu hoch auszufallen drohen. „Ich habe schon in der Euro-Gruppe gesagt, wir müssen den Währungskommissar stärken“, berichtete Schäuble. „Er muss den Haushalt zurückweisen können an das nationale Parlament.“ ... „Er muss weltweit so anerkannt sein wie der Wettbewerbskommissar, der respektiert und gefürchtet wird.“ Dazu sollte er allein in den Fragen zu den Defiziten entscheiden können. „Er muss einen Haushalt zurückweisen können, sowohl nach der Aufstellung als auch nach seiner Verabschiedung.“

"Die Studie ist interessant, d.h. ich kann einzelne Phänomene, einzelne Tendenzen, da kann ich mir die Schuhe durchaus anziehen. Sie kommt bloß für meine Begriffe zu dem Ergebnis - ohne dass das da drinsteht, aber ich muss als Zuschauer zu dem Ergebnis kommen: eigentlich kann ich jede Talkshow vergessen oder auch jede Gesprächssendung. Und das glaube ich nicht." Günther Jauch, Pressekonferenz am 5. September in Berlin

A 2009 survey by Trend Monitor, a market-research firm, suggested that one in five women in Seoul had gone under the knife. [...] There are seven times more buttock operations in Brazil than the top-25 country average, and five times more vaginal rejuvenations. In Greece, penis enlargements are performed ten times more often than the average.

They are sending missionaries to eastern Germany. A recent study called Beliefs About God Across Time and Countries found that 52.1% of people asked whether they believed in God identified themselves as atheists. This compared with only 10.3% in western Germany. Indeed, the survey was unable to find a single person under the age of 28 in eastern Germany who believed in God. Obviously there are some – I think I may have even met some once – but the survey was unable to find them.

To cover London in CPUs roughly as powerful as the brains of the Android tablet I'm reading this talk from, to a density of one per square metre, should therefore cost around €150M in 2040, or €20 per citizen. To put this in perspective, in 2007 it was estimated that councils in London spent around £150M, or €190M, per year on removing chewing gum from the city streets. So for the cost of removing chewing gum, a city in 2030 will be able to give every square metre of its streets the processing power of a 2012 tablet computer (or a 2002 workstation, or a 1982 supercomputer).

It was the old days: analogue, manual focus, crappy cameras. I felt torn between the horror of what I was seeing and trying to capture it. I was also thinking, how am I going to survive this? Because sooner or later these people are going to say, "There's this guy taking pictures of us committing murder." I was 1km from my car and the nearest outsider. They killed him. And then one of them turned and said, "The white guy's photographing." Everyone leapt away, and I said, "No, it's fine, it's fine. Why did you kill him? Who is he?" I was thinking, "I'll spit on his body, I'll kick this corpse, I don't care – I'm going to survive this." Thankfully, I didn't have to do that. They pulled his ID out of his pocket: he was from another tribe. Then two of the killers posed and said, "Take a picture of us." So I took a picture and walked away. All the time I was expecting somebody to say, "Wait, that guy musn't leave." But I walked off, got into my car and got the hell out of there.

"... ich würde mich allenfalls als Verfassungspatrioten mit einer hohen Wertschätzung für Rationalität bezeichnen. Wobei der letztere Aspekt in den vergangenen Jahren eine gewisse Relativierung erfahren hat. Als Dombrowski fand ich früher Friedrich den Großen besonders deshalb sympathisch, weil der keinen Nationalstaat wollte, sondern einen Rationalstaat. Heute sehe ich, dass die kalte, absolut moralfreie und bis zur äußersten Konsequenz getriebene hemmungslose Rationalität der Finanzkapitalisten uns direkt in die Katastrophe führt und verstehe endlich einen Gedanken von Adorno und Horckheimer aus deren „Dialektik der Aufklärung“, auf den ich erst spät in meinem Leben, erst vor anderthalb Jahren, gestoßen bin: „Seit je hat Aufklärung im umfassendsten Sinn fortschreitenden Denkens das Ziel verfolgt, von den Menschen die Furcht zu nehmen und sie als Herren einzusetzen. Aber die vollends aufgeklärte Erde strahlt im Zeichen triumphalen Unheils.“

Private companies will be running large parts of the UK's police service within five years, according to the world's biggest security firm. The prediction comes as it emerged that 10 more police forces were considering outsourcing deals that would see services, such as running police cells and operating IT, run by private firms. Taylor-Smith, whose company is in the running for the £1.5bn contract with West Midlands and Surrey police, said he expected forces across the country to have taken similar steps within five years . "For most members of the public what they will see is the same or better policing and they really don't care who is running the fleet, the payroll or the firearms licensing – they don't really care," he said.

At the request of Republican lawmakers, taxpayers are funding a 24-hour security camera to watch over a Rush Limbaugh bust in the Missouri Capitol building. State House Clerk Adam Crumbliss on Thursday told The Associated Press that he had authorized the $1,000 camera after Republican lawmakers expressed concerns about vandalism. Limbaugh’s statue is the only one in the Rotunda with 24-hour security.“We recognize that there was a level of controversy around it, and we want to make sure that property is protected,” Crumbliss explained.

You know what else has changed? You and I – to our shame. Entraptment is illegal  – but the question of whether law enforcement set up a legal sting or illegal entrapment is for a jury to decide. Entrapment was why juries acquitted the defendants in the Camden, VVAW, and Harrisburg cases. "How stupid did those people in Washington think we were?" a Harrisburg juror told a reporter. The feds don’t have to worry about folks like that any more. Not a single "terrorism" indictment has been thrown out for entrapment since 9/11 – not the Liberty City goofballs supposedly planning to blow up the Sears Tower who had no weapons and refused them with offered; not the Newburgh, New York outfit whose numbers included a schizophrenic who saved his own urine in bottles. (Even the judge who sentenced them said "the government made them terrorists.")

In the face of this social disintegration, we have essentially hired an army of replacement confidants, an entire class of professional carers. As Ronald Dworkin pointed out in a 2010 paper for the Hoover Institution, in the late ’40s, the United States was home to 2,500 clinical psychologists, 30,000 social workers, and fewer than 500 marriage and family therapists. As of 2010, the country had 77,000 clinical psychologists, 192,000 clinical social workers, 400,000 nonclinical social workers, 50,000 marriage and family therapists, 105,000 mental-health counselors, 220,000 substance-abuse counselors, 17,000 nurse psychotherapists, and 30,000 life coaches. The majority of patients in therapy do not warrant a psychiatric diagnosis. This raft of psychic servants is helping us through what used to be called regular problems. We have outsourced the work of everyday caring.

Spaniens Regierung will sich gegen künftige Proteste wappnen und greift deshalb zu drakonischen Maßnahmen: Laut einem Gesetzesentwurf können künftig auch friedliche Demonstrationen oder Protestlager als "Anschlag auf die Staatsgewalt" gelten. Und wer via Facebook oder Twitter zur Störung der öffentlichen Ordnung aufruft, dem könnten schon bald zwei Jahre Haft drohen... Die Reform des Strafgesetzbuches bezieht sich vor allem auf die Härte der Strafe. Sie sieht vor, Vandalismus mit Terrorismus gleichzustellen. Vandalismus soll künftig mit dem Strafmaß der kale borroka bestraft werden, was auf baskisch "Straßenkämpfe" bedeutet. Dies hätte zur Folge, dass die Mindeststrafe für die  Störung der öffentlichen Ordnung von einem auf zwei Jahre erhöht würde. Richter hätten damit auch die Möglichkeit, einstweilige Freiheitsstrafen anzuordnen. Außerdem sieht das Gesetz vor, Mitglieder krimineller Organisationen zu einer Haftstrafe von über zwei Jahren verurteilen zu können. Außerdem soll jeder, der über Kommunikationsmedien wie das Internet oder soziale Netzwerke dazu aufruft, die öffentliche Ordnung zu stören, als Mitglied einer kriminellen Organisation eingestuft werden.

With the acceleration of Chinese medical expertise over the last decade, organs once considered scraps no longer went to waste. It wasn’t public knowledge exactly, but Chinese medical schools taught that many otherwise wicked criminals volunteered their organs as a final penance. Right after the first shots the van door was thrust open and two men with white surgical coats thrown over their uniforms carried a body in, the head and feet still twitching slightly. The young doctor noted that the wound was on the right side of the chest as he had expected. When body #3 was laid down, he went to work.

In its annual report for 2011, issued on Wednesday, the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas released a startling report revealing that 52 percent of all the assets held by the entire banking industry have now become aggregated into the hands of just five companies, and the top 10 institutions have swollen so large that they possess wealth that equates to roughly half of America’s annual gross domestic product (GDP).

Why does it matter, if Invisible Children was funded by controversial donors? Two reasons - one, we can assume those donors thought IC aligned with their agenda - which is antagonistic to LGBT rights. Two, it fits an emerging pattern in which Invisible Children appears selectively concerned about crimes committed by Joseph Kony but indifferent to crimes, perhaps on a bigger scale, committed by their provisional partner, the government of Uganda - whose president shot his way into power using child soldiers, before Joseph Kony began using child soldiers. Like Kony, the government of Uganda was also indicted by the International Criminal Court in 2005, for human rights abuses and looting in the DRC Congo. Like Kony, the Ugandan army preys upon civilians and is currently accused, by Western human rights groups, with raping and looting in the DRC Congo, where it is hunting for Kony. In the late 1990s, Uganda helped spark a conflict in DRC Congo that, by the middle of the next decade it is estimated, had killed up to 5.4 million civilians, more than any conflict since World War Two.

In Prenzlauer Berg eskaliert der Streit um die Öffnungszeiten der Spätverkaufsläden: Ein 58-jähriger Bauarbeiter hat nach eigenen Angaben 48 Geschäfte ausfindig gemacht, die sonntags bis in die Nacht ihre Lebensmittel, Alkoholika und Zigaretten, Zeitschriften und Haushaltswaren verkaufen. Die Adressenliste ging dem Ordnungsamt und dem Gewerbeaußendienst beim Landeskriminalamt (LKA) zu. Der Bauarbeiter betont, ihm gehe es um „Gerechtigkeit“. Die Verstöße habe er bei Fahrradtouren notiert. Der Laden „Kollwitz 66“ in der Kollwitzstraße startete eine Gegenkampagne: „Wir bedauern, dass die bisherige liberale Praxis gegenüber ,Spätis‘ in Berlin dank einer Einzelperson offenbar beendet werden soll“, stand auf einem Aushang im Schaufenster. Dieser enthielt auch den Namen des Beschwerdeführers samt Telefonnummer, obwohl diese nicht im Telefonbuch steht. Ein Foto des Aushangs gelangte ins Online-Netzwerk Facebook. Seitdem „klingelt die ganze Nacht das Telefon“, beklagt G., der die Polizei alarmierte. Das Protestschreiben wurde aus dem Schaufenster entfernt, kursiert aber noch immer im Internet.