In honor of the 50th anniversary of Star Trek, the Breakroom panel does the Vulcan 'live long and prosper' sign. L-R: Kathy Lohr, Roxanne Donovan, Celeste Headlee, Jeff Breedlove, and Jessica Leigh Lebos.
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In honor of the 50th anniversary of Star Trek, the Breakroom panel does the Vulcan 'live long and prosper' sign. L-R: Kathy Lohr, Roxanne Donovan, Celeste Headlee, Jeff Breedlove, and Jessica Leigh Lebos. / On Second Thought

The Breakroom gang joins host Celeste Headlee to weigh in on the week's news. The panel includes Kennesaw State University professor Roxanne Donovan, Connect Savannah community editor Jessica Leigh Lebos, former NPR correspondent Kathy Lohr, and Jeff Breedlove, the communications director for DeKalb County commissioner Nancy Jester.

    

BREAKROOM TOPICS:

1) A recent study in the Journal of Hand Therapy shows smartphones are weakening our hands. The study found the typical 30-to-34-year-old man in 1985 could squeeze your hand with 31 pounds more force than the typical woman of that age. But today, older millennial men and women are roughly equal when it comes to grip strength.” Do you like a strong handshake?
 

2) A freelance writer may have stumbled on Kentucky Fried Chicken's secret recipe while interviewing a nephew of Colonel Sanders. The recipe was included in a family scrapbook, and you can see the page in the background of a photo the reporter took and then published in the Chicago Tribune. In an email to the Courier-Journal, a KFC spokesperson said the recipe isn't theirs. Real or not real... have you ever accidentally told a big secret?

 
 

3) One thing to do this weekend if you’re in Macon-Bibb County, Georgia is to head to a gun action. For the first time, the sheriff plans to auction off guns that were seized by police officers. Up to 90 weapons, which include pistols, rifles and shotguns, are up for sale. These guns used to be crushed and recycled, but state law now requires they be auctioned. What do you think?

4) Some 70,000 science fiction and fantasy lovers congregated in Atlanta last weekend for DragonCon. You couldn’t miss some of the amazing costumes that people wore. But many say one couple went too far by dressing up as the World Trade Center engulfed in flames on September 11. Their costumes also showed Barbies dangling out the windows. Will it ever be okay to joke about 9/11?

 

5) DragonCon celebrated some of the greatest sci-fi stories. One of them turned 50 this year. Happy Birthday to Star Trek and its intergalactic adventures. What impact has the show had on American culture.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktPb36iLsIE
 
 

6) Soul music legend Gladys Knight is suing to remove her name from the iconic Atlanta chicken and waffles restaurant. The restaurant is owned by son, who faces theft charges after the Georgia Department of Revenue raided the eatery. The suit by Knight includes an email from her son’s attorney, saying he "has no desire to fight his mother for use of her name. Is it always a bad idea to go into business with family?

 

 

 

7) President Obama’s push for diversity in courtrooms continued this week. He nominated a Muslim judge to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Meanwhile, the NAACP challenged Alabama’s practice of electing appellate judges by statewide vote, saying it’s resulted in all-white courts. That’s in a state where one of every four people is African-American. Does diversity matter when it comes to judges, who are supposed to be objective?

 

8) A new study by the University of California-Davis says breeding among bulldogs has made the dogs unhealthy and prone to early death. The Humane Society called bulldogs “the poster child for breeding gone awry.” We've talked about that before in the Breakroom. What's new is that UGA’s breeder has a plan to improve the situation. If over breeding is hurting not just bulldogs but all kinds of dogs, why do it at all? Why not just get dogs from the shelter that might be healthier, with more diverse bloodlines?

 

 

The handwritten list of 11 herbs and spices, jotted down on the back of a document Joe Ledington described as the will for Claudia Sanders, the Colonel's second wife.
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The handwritten list of 11 herbs and spices, jotted down on the back of a document Joe Ledington described as the will for Claudia Sanders, the Colonel's second wife.

English bulldogs, beloved for their typically childlike personalities, are prone to a number of congenital health problems.
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English bulldogs, beloved for their typically childlike personalities, are prone to a number of congenital health problems. / Melnote/Getty Images Photo