Category: Americas

From Hollywood picket lines in Los Angeles to nonunion construction sites in Chicago and New York, a 20-foot inflatable rat has become one of the most recognized symbols of the labor movement. At 20 feet tall, the rat was hard to miss. Looming over Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn, N.Y., the inflatable rodent’s red eyes and […]

Fake cigarettes, brake parts and condoms are only some of an increasing number of dangerous counterfeit goods now on the US market. The days of seemingly harmless knockoffs like Rolex watches, Louis Vuitton purses and Nike sneakers are giving way to a new generation of fake goods that are being smuggled into the US at […]

Barack Obama has the finger point. Hillary Clinton has the karate chop. John McCain is ground into the floor. Voters can tell a lot about presidential candidates from their body language. Experts explain how. In their first one-on-one debate, the different styles of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama were readily apparent. As Clinton emphasized the […]

The chewed-up gum that befouls American sidewalks costs taxpayers millions of dollars in cleanups. Now researchers in Illinois say they have developed an alternative that doesn’t stick to shoes. Will consumers bite? The guys were out to bust some gum. John Vann and Tony Muniz uncased their weapons-–5-foot-long hoses with brass-bristled nozzles. Then they blasted […]

The peace symbol, one of the world’s most famous symbols, is turning 50, and, as often happens by that age, it’s gotten a few facelifts. When Sergio Elizondo decided to open a café in New York City’s trendy Tribeca neighborhood just over a year ago, he and his partner wanted to give it a name […]

As a collectible, barbed wire has everything it needs – a wire guru, annual conventions and a special kind of wire that is the crown jewel of every collection, the coveted Dodge Star. But recent wildfires in Texas have threatened the supply of collectible antique wire. When the attendees of the annual barbed wire show […]

As learning improv becomes a popular pastime for nonactors, classes have also sprouted up for seniors, encouraging them to loosen up, have some fun and build new social networks in their latter years. Ruth Schwartz is caught in a medical payment snafu that elderly patients know all too well. The customer service rep at her […]

Some Pacific Northwest Christians are giving up their Starbucks – and their sodas and energy drinks too – in a novel Lent observance that has its roots in ancient custom and is making a difference in developing countries. Susan Lea Smith didn’t set out to tweak a Christian tradition. In 2001 the environmental and natural […]