oddlyenough

Japan public school under fire over Armani uniform

A Tokyo public school has adopted Giorgio Armani uniforms for students, triggering criticism in a country where hefty school fees are already burdening young parents. Taimei Elementary School in Tokyo’s upscale Ginza shopping district has announced plans to introduce the new uniform option, which costs more than 80,000 yen ($730) for a full set. A minimum set — a navy-blue jacket and matching trousers or skirt, a long-sleeve shirt and a hat — would be more than twice the price of the current uniforms.

The school’s principal, Toshitsugu Wada, told a news conference Friday that the top fashion brand would fit Taimei’s identity as “a school of Ginza.” He said he chose Armani because its boutique is near the school. Wada acknowledged the new uniform would cost more, but considered it worth it. He said his decision is unchanged despite the criticism. “I thought Taimei can use the power of the foreign fashion brand for its identity,” he said. The Armani uniform, to be launched in April, is recommended but not compulsory.

(AP)

Owls attack joggers and bikers in Canada

Police in Tsawwassen, British Columbia in Canada issued a warning for residents: Owls are swooping down from the skies and attacking joggers and bikers. Police have documented at least three attacks, beginning on Friday, when a man reported hearing a female jogger scream. The man went outside to investigate and was attacked himself when owls divebombed him twice. Later that morning, a local resident and her teenage were riding bikes when an owl flew onto the boy’s helmet and tried to take it.

“Our officers reached out to the BC Conservation Office, and apparently this is not an uncommon occurrence,” Cris Leykauf, public affairs coordinator for Delta Police, said in a statement. “Joggers and cyclists are recommended to pick a different route for the time being. And it seems they should avoid wearing toques or flashy head wear if traveling through that area.”

Owl expert Rob Hope of the Orphaned Wildlife Rehabilitation Society told the CBC that people’s hair and headgear could be confusing the owls. “Sometimes joggers or cyclists with ponytails or black fleece vests tend to be the targets and often times that’s because barred owls are hunting black and grey squirrels,” Hope said. “So a bouncing ponytail looks like a squirrel, and they don’t see the 150 or 200 pounds below — they just see the hair — and they figure it’s a squirrel so they go after them.”

(UPI)

Dairy to pay workers $5M because of missing comma

A dairy in Maine has settled a class-action suit to pay 127 workers $5 million in owed overtime pay because of a missing Oxford comma in state law. Portland’s Oakhurst Dairy and the workers reached a settlement nearly a year after a federal appeals court decision. On March 13, the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston ruled 3-0 that workers were entitled to up to $10 million in overtime back pay. The reason was a missing Oxford comma — the final comma used before a conjunction — in state law. In this case, the conjunction was the word “or.”

Judge David Barron wrote at the beginning of his 29-page ruling: “For want of a comma, we have this case.” No Oxford comma was used in a statute listing of conditions when overtime pay does not apply: “...marketing, storing, packing for shipment or distribution of” products. Without the comma, the drivers argued that it reads as a single act, and since they didn’t actually do any packing, they shouldn’t have been exempt from overtime pay. The 127 drivers filed a class-action suit in 2014. Oakhurst did not admit to wrongdoing but believed further litigation would be protracted and expensive. The settlement was filed Thursday in federal court and must be approved by a federal judge before it goes into effect.

(UPI)

Half-day old snow is safe to be eaten, says romanian study

How safe is it to eat snow? A Romanian university has published the results of just such a study. The 2017 experiment showed it was safe to eat snow that was a half-day old, and safer to eat it in the colder months. But by two days old, the snow is not safe to eat, Istvan Mathe, a professor at the Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania, told The Associated Press.

Scientists collected snow from a park and from a roundabout in Miercurea Ciuc, central Romania, in January and February and placed it in hermetically-sealed sterile containers. They then tried to grow bacteria and mold in them. The study took place in temperatures ranging from minus 1.1 degrees Celsius to minus 17.4 C (30 degrees to 0.7 degrees Fahrenheit) in the city, one of the coldest in Romania. After one day, there were five bacteria per millimeter in January, while in February that number quadrupled. “Very fresh snow has very little bacteria,” Mathe said Thursday. “After two days, however, there are dozens of bacteria.”

He said the microorganisms increase because of impurities in the air. Mathe first had the idea for the study when he saw his children eating snow. “I am not recommending anyone eats snow. Just saying you won’t get ill if you eat a bit,” he said.

(AP)