Growing Problem: Superbugs at the Beach

MRSA is a superbug. Imagine the stress- the hard work of being infectious, all the mutating to look after, never knowing when you'll find your next host. Suddenly some punk lab tech gets a gleam in his eye and tries to take you down with all the resources of his fat GlaxoSmithKline bankroll.

It takes a toll on a superbug, and now MRSA is headed to the beach for some umbrella drinks and sand-borne disease vector action. Oops!

Infectious Superbug Invades Beaches LiveScience.com, NY - 7 hours ago It has become a deadly and growing problem in hospitals in recent years. "MRSA is in the water and potentially in the sand," Plano told a group of reporters ...

Worrisome Trend: Overweight Hockey Fans in Quebec

Editor's note: This blog is now tracking Worrisome Trends. It's important...

Another day, another hockey problem to report. Too many hockey fans in Quebec eat too much junk food at the rink, and that is making them fat. According to many Québécois, the pommes frites must be controlled!

I am holding back here, knowing the the heady mix of Canada, hockey, obesity, junk food and nannystatism on display is going to egg me on to make some uncalled-for cracks. There is enough blame to go around, I guess.

Let's just say this: I am beginning to think hockey is a bad influence on Western Civilization.

Arena junk food offside Times Colonist, Canada - Feb 6, 2009 The plan to clean up the grease at arena canteens is well-intentioned, but unlikely to dramatically change a worrisome trend. Studies show the area has the ...

Growing Problem: Abandoned Chihuahuas

Paris Hilton's crimes are many, and they have been enumerated and dissected many times in the pages of our finest celebrinewsweeklies and online gossip rags. Most of us know more about the failings of Ms. Hilton than we do about our own.

Well, Paris' tawdry parade of thin talents and seedy morals might be coming to an end. She has finally gone one dirty deed too far: She is causing people to abandon their chihuahuas. That is low!

Paris Hilton blamed for causing epidemic Oneindia, India - 2 hours ago But because some people think they are then realise they're wrong there's a growing problem of abandoned Chihuahuas," the Daily Star quoted Chihuahua Club ...

Ominous Trend: Economy Down, Bear Poaching Up

New feature! This blog will now track "ominous trends"- so you don't have to.

Being up on emerging Ominous Trends puts you at the cutting edge of all the newest, hippest Growing Problems. Ominous Trends are the tidbits you store away for the next time some fool says "How bad can things get?" or "Everything will work out fine". Whip out one of these factoids and snap Mr./Ms. Optimism back into reality land.

In reality land, bears are meeting an untimely demise. Thanks economy.

Economy Drives Illegal Poaching Trend KIMA CBS 29, WA - Feb 9, 2009 Another ominous trend: bears being shot out of season and without tags so poachers can sell their paws and gall bladders to buyers in Asia. ...

Growing Problem: Lymphedema

All the ladies are down with Cardiovascular Disease, a well known straight-up player when it comes to health issues. CD has all of the foundations, the swanky benefits, the logo, the ribbon-shaped magnets. When Cardiovascular Disease comes to town, there is always an idling Lincoln waiting for the G5 and a pre-booked room near the top of the Marriott.

Everyone forgets about Lymphedema. Lymphedema flies coach with seats near the lavatories. Lymphedema has to ask himself multiple times a day, as he passes yet another "I Heart the Fight Against Cardiovascular Disease" t-shirt on another comely young lass, "Am I not a debilitating, painful and possibly fatal disease as well?"

Now this- cardiologists are actually calling Lymphedema "The Other Vascular Disease."

Lymphedema's agent is trying to buy up all the copies of this press release. Disease is gonna be peeossed.

Vascular Experts Call for Increased Awareness of Growing Problem ... PR Newswire (press release), NY - 10 minutes ago PHOENIX, Feb. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Although major advances have been made in the prevention and treatment of cancer, more attention needs to be given to one ...

Growing Problem: Graffiti in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, UK

You may recall just a few days ago I sent up a warning flare over the growing problem of graffiti as it relates to our current World Financial Crisis™. I brought to your attention the fact that Iceland is now not only broke, but covered in an thick coat of Krylon™.

It seems that just as your country starts spiralling the drain of bank and currency failures and dropping precipitously toward the maw of the In-sink-erator™ of Financial Dismemberment, a group of wily vandals yells "Don't let the door hit you on the way out!" and goes on a righteous graffiti tagging spree. What a mess!

Is it unseemly to quote from a post that is only three days old? I said, quote:

"Keep an eye out for more sad stories like this as the economic drama unfolds."

Turned out I was even more prescientious than I knew! The next victim on the block is the UK. Bank insolvency? Check. Now here comes the the graffiti. Sorry Britain- sometimes I hate to be right.

Cash reward for naming Beaconsfield graffiti vandals Buckinghamshire Advertiser, UK - 48 minutes ago Graffiti is a growing problem in the town with some areas such as the railway embankment, Maxwell Road, and The Mead, particularly badly hit. ...

Growing Problem: Inattentiveness in Business Dealings

Now here is an interesting article. It is in English, yet I can not even get the general gist of it. It mainly seems to concern success and paying attention, and paying more attention leading to success. King Midas is also referenced. I think this person is angling to write a book about the "Midas Touch" and make that their business concept trademark.

Anyway, the message here is that being more attentive can stop growing problems. Good luck with that book, and as for the link to your burgeoning business idea- you're welcome!

How Attentiveness Makes Your Touch the Midas Touch 마인드스포츠올림피아드, South Korea - 12 hours ago Attentiveness is important because it fosters improvements, necessary adjustments, and short-circuits growing problems before they turn into over-grown ...

Growing Problem: Hockey is Too Violent

Last time we checked in on hockey, the goalies were getting so rotund that opposing teams couldn't squeeze a puck into the goal anymore. Kind of made for a low-scoring game.

No matter- seems there is more time for fighting now. Hockey violence is increasing to levels that make attending a hockey game feel a lot like watching that scene in A Clockwork Orange- you know the one. Your average hockey game now consists of men crushing other men against "the boards," hitting and slapping other players with their "hockey stick," and then at random intervals ripping off all of their protective gear, flinging it about, and furtively whomping each other until they are sent toothless and bloodied to continue their game at the nearest ICU.

Or at least, that's my impression from only reading the headline of this article.

Panel: Ban fighting in hockey at all levels London Free Press, Canada - 2 hours ago “Our goal is to move forward from this and work to find solutions to a growing problem”. Echlin has hands-on experience with concussion this season. ...

Growing Problem: Graffiti in Iceland

It's a pattern repeated in countless countries across the globe- your banking system has a complete meltdown, half of all personal wealth is destroyed overnight, the government declares insolvency, and then the whole place is hit by a wave of unsightly graffiti.

Keep an eye out for more sad stories like this as the economic drama unfolds.

Reykjavik City Graffiti Tracking and Cleaning Project with GPS Mapping GISuser.com (press release), MD - 4 hours ago In 2007, the Reykjavik community began to notice a growing problem on the city streets: graffiti. Faced with this issue, the city’s department of public ...

Growing Problem: "Car Key Burglary" in Britain

This will be my excuse the next time I play "hide the car keys from myself"- they've surely been burgled by a wily Brit!

80% of serial burglars are STILL handed a soft sentence Daily Mail, UK - 4 hours ago Police said homeowners should be aware of the growing problem of 'car key burglary', in which car keys are stolen from their home. ...

Growing Problem: "Couch Surfing" Homeless Teens

Homeless teens- not a nice phenomenon. But what to do?

Well, I'm no advocate for the homeless, but how about not creating cool nicknames for teen homelessness like "couch surfing"?

Skigen seeks more for couch-surfing teens VillageSoup Belfast,  USA - 15 minutes ago Rather than “struggle,” as she has done, a shelter, or safe homes, could be the answer for an apparently growing problem. That's the issue Skigen's group ...

Growing Problem: Canadians Eat too Much Sugar

You would think that life in Canada is sweet enough, but no, Canadians can't just enjoy what life north of the border has to offer, they have to load up on sugar just to make it through the day. Sugar in their coffee, sugar in their Cinnabons, sugar in their hockey, sugar in their Saskatchewan.

Canadians! While sugar alone does make most of life worth living, you might also want to find some activities besides eating sugar to give your Canadian lives meaning- think volunteering, getting a hobby, or coddling a Castro brother or two.

I know you can do it.

Are Canadians eating too much sugar for breakfast? Canada.com, Canada - 2 hours ago I am one of those mentioned that really enjoys my coffee sweet so I can understand that sugar consumption is a growing problem. Although the morning sugar ...

Growing Problem: Agressive Panhandling in Edmonton

Panhandlers in Edmonton, Canada used to be polite chaps and lassies, begging for a bit of a handout with a polite doff of the cap or a wee curtsy. It seems they've now taken a turn for the worse, and are now in fact quite churlish.

I say!

Edmonton moves to ban pushy panhandling Canada.com, Canada - 48 minutes ago ... Edmonton city council gave the go-ahead Wednesday for the creation of rules to ban what police say is a growing problem of aggressive panhandling. ...

Growing Problem: Torn ACLs

Of all the ligaments, I think we can all agree that the ACL is the most poorly designed. The ol' anterior cruciate ligament is as weak as it is important, and folds like a blue corn taco at the first sign of trouble. All you wanna do is play a little sports, and bam- it's staple time.

ACL Injury Prevention Program is First in Nation to Tackle Growing Problem ... PR Newswire (press release), NY - 2 hours ago ROCHESTER, NY, Feb. 9 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The nation's first - and only - program aimed at taking a wide-scale community prevention approach to ...