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...Some countries, such as Indonesia and the Philippines, are blighted by geography. But other disaster-prone nations like Japan manage to surmount these disadvantages. In some ways, natural disasters give these developed economies an excuse for technological improvement. So while Japan invests in high-tech skyscrapers designed to withstand the inevitable next earthquake, the West Sumatran capital of Padang - which scientists long predicted would be shaken by a killer quake because it sits astride one of the world's most active fault lines - was crowded with poorly built buildings that crumbled when the earth shuddered on Sept. 30. Similarly...
Chances are we won't get that lucky again in earthquake-prone San Francisco or in any of the cities around the world that sit on unstable land. According to a 2008 study by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), there's a more than 99% chance that a quake of magnitude 6.7 or higher will hit California over the next 30 years and a nearly 50% chance that a magnitude 7.5 or higher quake will hit the state over the same period. Tokyo, Tehran, Istanbul, Seattle, St. Louis - all are major cities built on land that has experienced massive quakes...
Read "Kids Who Lack Self-Control More Prone to Obesity Later...
Otherwise, a funny punch line for a not-so-interesting statistic. We get that our age group is underinsured, but until you get that hospital bill after celebrating your roommate’s step-sister's half-birthday a too little hard, you’re probably not so prone to understand the risks...
Despite what you're thinking, I don't want to be the dictator. That's mostly because I'm already prone to bad haircuts. But also because instead of an actual dictator, I think what we need is to recognize that social mores require government nudges like the ones Bloomberg creates and Obama adviser Cass Sunstein advocates. We live in a connected age in which our liberties bump against one another. I know this is all easy to say since I'm not a smoker, a soda drinker or a columnist whom politicians listen...