Shoplifting & Theft

American retailers lose ~$50 billion dollars per year courtesy of theft. Shoplifting accounts for most (36.5%) of those losses. Employee theft, administrative errors and vendor fraud are responsible for most of the balance. According to Shopify, the most-shoplifted items include:

• Electronics
• Cigarettes
• Pregnancy Tests
• Handbags
• Weight loss pills
• Pain relievers
• Infant formula
• Alcohol
• Razors

"Thou shalt not steal" is one of the Ten Commandments of the Jewish Torah (known to Christians as the first five books of the Old Testament), which are widely understood as moral imperatives by legal scholars, Jewish scholars, Catholic scholars, and Post-Reformation scholars. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states: “The seventh commandment forbids unjustly taking or keeping the goods of one's neighbor and wronging him in any way with respect to his goods. It commands justice and charity in the care of earthly goods and the fruits of men's labor. For the sake of the common good, it requires respect for the universal destination of goods and respect for the right to private property.”

• The Bible is world's most shoplifted book. Most are swiped from hotel rooms.

Dangerous Animals

The Cone Snail, sometimes referred to as the “cigarette snail,” is a mollusk that typically measures ~5 inches in length. It is considered the 9th most dangerous animal in the world by Conde Nast Traveler (CNT). If you are ever on holiday in the Caribbean, you might be unlucky enough to meet one, especially near the vicinity of a coral reef. Cone Snails are gorgeous animals defined by their peculiar shape and beautiful shell. Look, but do not touch; they are one of the most toxic creatures on earth. Fortunately, only a few people have ever had the misfortune of being stung by one (there is no antivenom). If you happen to get stung by a Cone Snail, do not bother going to the ER, you will be dead on arrival. Instead, smoke a cigarette. The Cone Snail’s highly toxic and concentrated venom causes paralysis then death in the time it takes the average smoker to finish a cigarette, hence the snails nickname.

For more information on the Cone Snail and the nine other most dangerous animals in the world, click here.

Isolation

Tristan da Cunha, a British territory measuring ~8 miles wide, is one of the most isolated and sparsely populated (~300 permanent residents) places on planet earth. It is located in the South Atlantic Ocean. Its inhabitants reside in the island's only town called Edinburgh of the Seven Seas. The closest city, Cape Town, South Africa is ~1750 miles away. You can reach Tristan da Cunha by plane…if you don’t plan on landing; there is no airport. To reach the island by boat takes ~one week. Do not plan on going for a vacation; there are no hotels. Restaurants don’t exist and if they did, you would have to bring cash; credit cards are not accepted. Bring an umbrella; it rains ~20 days per month. Do not fret about your cell phone being ruined by rainwater; there is no cell phone service. If you do manage to get to Tristan da Cunha, do not fall in love with the island; foreigners are prohibited from establishing residence or purchasing a home. Land is communally owned and managed.

For more information on Tristan da Cunha, click here.

Oymyakon, Russia

Oymyakon, Russia is one of the coldest (inhabited) places on earth. ~500 brave people live in this rural town, located in northeast Russia along the Indigirka River. The average temperature is -58 degrees Fahrenheit. The sun makes it out…for ~4 hours per day. Children attend school…if it is “warmer” than -67 degrees Fahrenheit. They had better not fall during recess; the ground is permanently frozen. In fact, the mercury has never been above freezing (32 degrees) between late October and mid-March. “On February 6, 1933, a temperature of −67.7 °C (−89.9 °F) was recorded at Oymyakon's weather station. This was the coldest officially recorded temperature in the Northern Hemisphere."

For more information on Oymyakon, click here.

Density

Osmium, a member of the platinum group of metals, is the densest material in the world. It is a byproduct of platinum and nickel refining. It was discovered in 1803 by Smithson Tennant and William Hyde Wollaston in London, England. Generally, Osmium is combined with other metals for various uses that require toughness and solidity. When paired with Iridium, an extremely dense material in its own right, the alloy is used to make the tips of fountain pens.

Click here to get more information on the top 15 most dense materials on our planet, their properties and industrial uses.

Sailors

A typical ship worker is a male Filipino. According to multiple sources, Filipinos represent between one fifth and one third of all ship workers in the world. Men constitute 98 percent of the work force. To put those statistics in context, the population of the Philippines is ~108 million. The population of the world is ~7.5 billion. Filipinos make up just over 1% of the world’s population but represent between ~20% and ~33% of all ship workers.

Click here to read about “The Strange Sexual Quirk of Filipino Seafarers,” and more.

Oh My Cod

Codfish has one of the highest protein-to-calorie ratios of any commonly consumed food. It is easy to find and available all year round in the United States. One 3.5 oz. serving of cod contains:

• 18 grams of protein
• (Just) 290 calories
• 0 grams of carbohydrates
• 0 grams of fiber
• (Only) .5 grams of saturated fat

Cod is also an excellent source of:

• Omega-3 fatty acids, important for good cardiac health
• Vitamin B, which support healthy skin & hair
• Selenium, which helps produce antioxidants that can reduce asthma, especially in children
• Vitamin C
• Potassium
• Magnesium

Cod liver oil is rich in omega 3’s. It is often sold as a dietary supplement.

Of course, Americans and Brits, in this case, have an uncanny knack for turning healthy foods unto unhealthy meals. Indeed, because of its texture, codfish is commonly used to make fish n chips, a fried delicacy. Consume cod this way and its numerous health benefits are blunted.

Click here to learn about ten other high protein low calorie foods.