Most Stressful Cities To Live In
Detroit is the most stressful U.S. city in which to live, according to Portfolio.com’s list of places where residents are most frazzled. With an unemployment rate of 14.3%, the percentage of families in poverty at 9.9%, high numbers of murders and robberies, and even a lack of sunshine, Detroit residents have a lot to be stressed about. To come up with the ranking, the site considered local unemployment rates, personal financial data, environmental factors, health risks, crime rates and living standards.
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The Top 10 Most Stressful Cities:
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1. Detroit
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6. New York
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2. Los Angeles
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7. New Orleans
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3. Cleveland
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8. Chicago
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4. Riverside, California
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9. Birmingham, Alabama
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5. St. Louis
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10. Miami-Fort Lauderdale
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Salt Lake City ranked as Portfolio.com’s least stressful city, thanks to low levels of crime, easy commutes, high employment and good health.
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The Top 10 Least Stressful Cities:
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1. Salt Lake City
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6. Oklahoma City
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2. Virginia Beach-Norfolk, Virginia
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7. Denver
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3. Minneapolis-St. Paul
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8. San Antonio
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4. Raleigh, North Carolina
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9. Kansas City
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5. Austin, Texas
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10. Phoenix
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Consumers ‘Mad As Hell’ Over Hidden Airline Fees
The Consumer Travel Alliance, Business Travel Coalition and American Society of Travel Agents has released the results of an online survey showing widespread surprise and anger over hidden airline fees for services such as checked baggage, advance seating and priority boarding. The groups announced the launch of a new website, http://madashellabouthiddenfees.com, that will allow travelers to tell their own hidden fee stories, create YouTube videos, and sign a petition to the U.S. Department of Transportation urging it to take action to require airlines to disclose those fees in advance through every ticketing channel in which airlines sell their seats. The groups also announced that they were marking September 23rd as “Mad As Hell Day!” and planned to deliver thousands of traveler petitions to the DOT on that day. The hidden fees survey found:
· 66% of respondents said they had been surprised at the airport by unexpected fees for things such as checking bags, requesting a seat assignment, getting extra legroom, or flying standby.
· 29% said they were surprised often or nearly every time they travel via air by such fees.
· 65% said such fees placed some or a great deal of unexpected financial strain on their budget for the trip, 26% said that those fees placed a great deal of unexpected strain.
· 99% of respondents said that they think airlines should be required to disclose all of their fees in advance on every website that sells airline tickets.
· When asked to rank the fees they found most annoying, respondents rated carry-on baggage fees the most annoying, with 91% calling those fees “very annoying,” followed by seat reservation fees (88%), checked baggage fees (74%), and telephone reservation fees (67%).
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Kids Want Music In School
School choirs, drama clubs and bands are set to win the popularity contest this fall, thanks to shows like “Glee” and “Camp Rock 2.” NAMM has released the findings of an August 2010 Harris Poll in which kids said musical TV shows or movies have made them want to become involved in various musical activities. Illustrating the increased influence of music-themed entertainment programs, 31% of the kids ages 8 to 18 surveyed nationwide said they want to become involved in music-making activities thanks to their favorite musical show. The survey also found:
· 16% want to learn how to play a musical instrument.
· 14% want to audition for a school play and musical.
· 12% want to take singing lessons.
· 11% want to pursue professional singing.
As budget cuts continue to hit music education programs in schools across the country, NAMM is sponsoring activities such as a teen battle of the bands competition called SchoolJam USA to promote the importance of music making. Each of the top 10 SchoolJam USA finalists’ schools will receive funding to support their school music program. Find out more at www.wannaplaymusic.com and www.schooljamusa.com.
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TAXI!
Las Vegas taxicabs have been voted the best overall in the U.S., according to the annual taxi survey by Hotels.com. Travelers from over 50 major cities judged cabs on seven categories – cleanliness, value, quality of driving, knowledge of the area, friendliness, safety and availability. Results:
· Las Vegas: With roughly 2,000 cabs on the street at any given time and having logged over 2.1 million cab rides in July alone, Las Vegas’ cab drivers ranked in the top three of all seven categories. Sin City beat out Chicago, New York, San Francisco and Orlando with 11.7%, voting it the place with the friendliest drivers.
· New York: With over 13,000 yellow cabs roaming the streets of New York City, it comes as no surprise that 42% of voters nominated the city with the best cab availability. It also came out on top as the city with the most knowledgeable drivers (30%). Unfortunately, 39% voted the city the worst in driving, with 38% nominating New York cabbies as the least friendly of all cities surveyed.
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Top Words Of Summer 2010
Merriam-Webster has announced the Top Words of Summer 2010, based on the volume of user lookups at Merriam-Webster.com. Topping the list by a wide margin was Sarah Palin’s attention-getting pseudo word “refudiate,” a blend of refute and repudiate. Merriam-Webster’s publishers say that despite it not being a word, searchers seemed to understand what she meant since refute and repudiate were looked up “extremely frequently.” The runners-up, with definitions and the news event or story that generated interest in the word:
2. Inception: an act, process or instance of beginning. (The movie “Inception” starring Leonardo DiCaprio was released July 16th.)
3. Despicable: deserving to be despised; so worthless or obnoxious as to rouse moral indignation. (The animated comedy “Despicable Me” opened July 9th.)
4. Moratorium: a waiting period set by an authority; a suspension of activity. (The Obama administration imposed a six-month deepwater drilling moratorium in the Gulf of Mexico after the deadly Deepwater Horizon rig explosion.)
5. Austere/austerity: stern and cold in appearance or manner; morally strict, giving little or no scope for pleasure. (Greek officials warned they needed to impose austerity measures to overhaul the country’s economy and pull itself out of a debt crisis that nearly led to its bankruptcy.)
6. Cacophony: harsh or discordant sound. (Plastic horns known as vuvuzelas provided an earsplitting buzz at the World Cup soccer games.)
7. Doppelganger: a ghostly counterpart of a living person; a double or alter ego. (George Stephanopoulos referred to Elizabeth Gilbert as Julia Roberts’ doppelganger when Gilbert appeared on “Good Morning America” to discuss the film adaptation starring Roberts of her memoir, “Eat, Pray, Love.”)
8. Opulent: having a large estate or property; wealthy or plentifully provided, often to the point of ostentation. (The word was used in the media to describe Chelsea Clinton’s wedding and the New York estate on which it was held.)
9. Vapid: lacking liveliness, tang, briskness or force. (Before her confirmation as a Supreme Court justice, a 1995 paper surfaced by nominee Elena Kagan in which the law professor called the confirmation process “a vapid and hollow charade.”)
10. Frugal: characterized by or reflecting economy in the use of resources. (Frugality has been discussed in several news stories this summer.)
