The social contract is a sacred thing, and, in the vacuum of constant police surveillance in which most people carry on with their daily-chores, we count on strangers to follow a few unstated or quietly stated rules that help society run with greater efficiency. Don’t sneeze into a crowd of people with one’s mouth… » 4/28/13 9:15pm 4/28/13 9:15pm

Not to alarm you this fine Sunday afternoon, but Politico has reported that Barbara Walters took quite a nasty spill Saturday night during a visit to the British Ambassador's office. The 83-year-old Walters fell down a step and cut her forehead, according to ABC, and has been hospitalized. Jeffrey W. Schneider,… » 1/20/13 3:00pm 1/20/13 3:00pm

You're young, it's your 18th birthday, and you want to celebrate with a cocktail. But not just some ordinary cocktail — you want something fancy. Something that creates a mist-like vapor and will make people think you're Morticia Addams enjoying a spooky, scary cocktail while paging through The Pit and the Pendulum. So … » 10/09/12 12:55pm 10/09/12 12:55pm

There's a new kind of dirty bomb we need to worry about while flying: poopy diapers. A Qantas plane was in mid-air between Darwin and Brisbane, Australia earlier this week when passengers began complaining that something smelled strange. Airline procedures dictate that the plane has to land ASAP when that happens, so… » 2/02/12 9:45pm 2/02/12 9:45pm

Sure, there are some New Yorkers saying that Hurricane Irene is the "worst case of overreaction" they've ever seen but there are still plenty of people in other parts of the country who are dealing with the hurricane's very real aftermath —and in case your mother, brother, uncle, and neighbor haven't told you this yet,… » 8/28/11 11:45am 8/28/11 11:45am