It's tough to be handsome
Conventional wisdom has it that handsome men are more successful, make more money, and are perceived as more competent than the average-looking guy.
But a University of Maryland study released last week contradicts the idea of the "beauty bias."
Apparently the most attractive men can be seen as a competitive threat and find it harder to get good jobs or climb the corporate ladder. (How many top executives have you heard described as "hot"?)
So guys, if you're not CEO yet, console yourself with the fact that you're probably just too darn good-looking.
The U.S. strategic raisin reserve?
A few months ago, Disclosures reported on a U.S. Supreme Court case in which judges examined (with incredulity) whether a fisherman's disposal of undersized fish could be considered a federal offence.
Their honours are now faced with ruling on a matter of raisins.
Since 1949, raisin farmers have been obliged to hand over – without payment - a portion of their crop to something called the National Raisin Reserve, ostensibly to prevent an oversupply of the fruit and so put a floor under prices.
But one California farmer, Marvin Horne, is mad as hell and he's not going to take it any longer. He's refusing to play along, and now owes more than $650,000 (U.S.) and about a million pounds of raisins to Uncle Sam, according to The Washington Post.
His protest has now ended up in the Supreme Court, where it appears justices are again struggling to keep their jaws from hitting the floor at the absurdity of a case.
Condo units in China get fake-celeb bump
If you're looking to earn a little cash during your trip to China, it's easy, if you don't mind posing as a celebrity, athlete, or model.
Overbuilding by China's developers has left the country littered with ghost towns where unoccupied properties – particularly luxury units – can't be shifted.
But some real estate agents have devised a plan to get things moving: hire Westerners to pose as fake "famous" people to lend the complexes an international flavour, as a mini-documentary released by the New York Times discovered.
Who knows, if the scheme goes well, it may be worth importing to Canada in the near future.
Sorry, space folks, the menu's shorter
A few weeks ago Disclosures reported on the expected arrival of a special espresso machine for Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti on a resupply mission to the International Space Station.
That went according to plan, but on Tuesday the Russian Progress 59 supply capsule with its payload of more than 6,000 pounds of food, water, oxygen, and fuel spun out of control shortly after reaching space, as Bloomberg reported.
Maybe the ISS crew will be luckier with the next delivery, expected in mid-June aboard a SpaceX Dragon rocket that successfully docked the espresso mission.