pileofcrapola

Virginians will pay at least 24 cents more on average for a bottle of booze starting Dec. 8.

There are plenty of human foods that aren't just unhealthy for cats and dogs, but could be lethal.

How does a package of beef become contaminated with the hallucinogenic drug LSD? Authorities in Florida and in the federal government have been trying to figure that out for the last right months. Last week, local police in Tampa released their report and made the case inactive. They still have no idea how the drug got there.

The family who were drugged consisted of a pregnant woman, her boyfriend, and her 6- and 7-year-old daughters. Everyone ate the contaminated meat, which was a bottom round steak purchased at a nearby Walmart. Investigators with the Food and Drug Administration traced the beef, which came from agricultural giant Cargill, all the way back to the slaughterhouse in Georgia. No one noticed any tampering with the product once it reached Walmart, and it had traveled in a sealed container from the slaughterhouse to a distribution facility.

The best lead was surveillance camera footage from the Walmart store of the meat case where the beef was on display: two men were captured acting strangely near the case, but investigators ultimately cleared them.

At the time they were drugged, the family went to a local hospital. The mother and daughters were hyperventilating, and had breathing tubes placed. The baby was delivered by emergency cesarean section. Tampa police along with USDA and FDA agents interviewed the family and found no evidence that the parents had drugged the meat themselves. There was no sign of it in the oven (which they had not used before making the steak wraps) or elsewhere, but LSD was detected in the uneaten steak.

Tampa police close LSD investigation with no answers about tainted meat [Tampa Bay Times]

Cattle rustling is an old-timey regional term for one of the oldest crimes in human civilization: walking off with someone else’s livestock. It turns out that when animals have been bred to be docile and to trust humans, it’s not hard to drive off with them. Auction houses don’t ask for proof that the cattle you’re selling are actually yours, there are no standardized ear tags, and the unwitting public ends up eating the evidence.

NPR’s Planet Money recently shadowed one of the brave law enforcement officers fighting the cattle rustling menace, special agent in charge Jerry Flowers of the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture. He wears a white cowboy hat, jeans, and a fabulous moustache, and speaks using confusing yet folksy animal metaphors.

Cattle theft is on the rise in Oklahoma, which is surprising, because it is not 1872. The Department of Agriculture investigators have been working hard to stop the problem: according to Agent Flowers, they were “busier than a one legged Bobcat covering up his own crap on a frozen pond.”

The tools of the trade are simple: you might need some bolt cutters to cut locks and get past fences, a trailer for transporting large animals, a bucket of food, and some knowledge of how to handle cattle. That’s about it. Since ear tags, brands, tattoos, or microchips aren’t mandatory, there’s no way to definitively trace one animal throughout its life. The thieves (not “alleged” thieves–they confessed within half an hour) in this story were able to simply drop off their ill-gotten bovines at the local auction house, then return to pick up their money. They were caught only because the numbers and types of cattle they dropped off at the auction house matched up with reported thefts in the area. They were caught after stealing three cattle from a large ranch, where no one had even noticed that they were missing yet.

One victim did notice that his cattle were missing, because they were all stolen at once. He has a regular job at Walmart, and raises cattle as an investment. All nine animals were stolen, and Planet Money doesn’t specify whether they were insured.

Episode 583: Cow Noir ( Transcript) [Planet Money]

As I write this, I am clutching a bag of individually wrapped chocolate morsels and imagining the most satisfying rationing plan I can think of, as panic threatens to seize my heart and throw me into a fit of anxiety. Yes, people, there’s a global chocolate shortage on the horizon, and it’s coming for you.

Now that we’ve set the scene, let’s dial down the panic just a bit and get to the real story, which is yes, we’re chocolate gluttons and if we don’t stop shoving it in our gobs at the rate we’ve been shoving it, we could run out, eventually, reports the Washington Post.

Two of the world’s biggest chocolate makers, Mars, Inc. and Barry Callebaut, are behind the chocolate deficit message — a deficit occurs when farmers are producing less cocoa than the world is eating — saying we’re in the middle of what could be the longest streak of consecutive chocolate deficits in more than 50 years.

In 2013, the people of the world gobbled about 70,000 metric tons more cocoa than it produced, putting us on track to consume 1 million metric tons by 2020, the chocolate-makers say. And by 2030, the deficit could reach as high as 2 million metric tons.

So what’s causing the cocoa hold-up? Dry weather in West Africa where more than 70% of the world’s cocoa is produced has cut production there, while a fungal disease dubbed “frosty pod” has wiped out an estimated 30%-40% of global cocoa production.

And the more hits the cocoa crops take, the less attractive it becomes to farmers, who could end up switching to crops that are easier to grow and more profitable, like corn.

The recent affinity for dark chocolate is also cutting into the cocoa supply, as it contains more cocoa per bar than the average milk chocolate bar. Our predilections end up costing us more in the end, as cocoa prices have climbed more than 60% since 2012, the year we started eating more chocolate than could be produced. When the supplies cost more, the product costs consumers more, as chocolate-makers have had to increase the price of chocolate bars to adjust.

Do your part, stop eating chocolate. Just kidding, I can’t ask you to do something I can’t do myself. Start hoarding.

The world’s biggest chocolate-maker says we’re running out of chocolate [The Washington Post]

In normal dogs, the average range of pH levels is from 6.5 pH to 7.0 pH. Urine is considered acidic if it falls below 6 and basic if it is above 7. There are certain breeds of dogs that have a natural tendency for their urine to be acidic, leading to lawn problems for you and urinary problems for them. Though a trip to your vet is likely best, dietary changes can be just as effective. To protect your pup's health and neutralize her urine (and protect your lawn at the same time), start with Step 1 below.

Steps

Modifying Your Dog's Diet and Lifestyle

1. Choose a low-protein dog food. Select dog foods that have a low protein content ranging from 8 to 12%, and read the product labels to ensure that no animal entrails or byproducts were used as an ingredient. It would be best to choose those that use only lamb meat or rice as an ingredient.
   
   
   
   • Dog foods that are usually recommended by veterinarians for kidney problems (including urinary problems and stone formation) are Waltham's Royal Canin URINARY SO, Hill's Prescription Diet u/d or k/d, Purina Canine NF, and Eukanuba Veterinary Diets' Early Stage Kidney Formula.
2. Consider making your own dog food. If you want to make your own home made dog food, be sure to include only food ingredients with very low to moderate purine levels that are acceptable to breeds that are prone to stone formation. Too much purine could aggravate their urinary tract.^[1]
   
   
   
   • Very low level foods with almost zero levels of purine include: milk, eggs, pasta, nuts, fruits, whole grain, cereals, breads, rice, and most vegetables (except legumes).
   • Foods with moderate level of purines that are acceptable (but should be limited) to stone-forming breeds include chicken meat, turkey meat, lean pork, lean beef, fish with white meat, oats and cows’ milk and its derivatives, such as yogurt, sour cream, buttermilk, probiotic supplements and cheeses.
3. Know what foods to avoid. Once more, do not give your dog foods rich in purines. It would be best to always look at the composition of your dog food, and ensure that you’re not feeding your dog foods containing these ingredients:
   
   
   
   • Entrails (kidneys, liver, brain, intestines)
   • Seafood (like mussels, sardines, mackerel, and scallops)
   • Selected vegetables -- legumes, mushrooms, peas, spinach, and cauliflower
4. Introduce fruits and vegetables to your dog. Some foods, like fruits and vegetables, are high in natural bases and contain molecules, such as malate or citrate that are metabolized by the liver to produce bicarbonate. This can start the neutralization process naturally.
   
   
   
   • Fruit that promote neutral urine include: apples, avocado, bananas, blueberries, dates, figs, melons, kiwi and pears. The fruit can be fed raw, but care should be taken to remove fruit pits before they are fed to the dog, to avoid the risk of intestinal obstruction.
   • Vegetables that promote neutral urine include: beets, celery, green beans, lettuce, okra, potato, squash, sweet potato and zucchini. Root vegetables should always be cooked, preferably steamed or boiled to increase digestibility, but without the addition of dairy products.
5. Increase your dog's water intake. Provide plenty and an around-the-clock supply of water. Concentrated urine is more acidic and has a higher tendency of forming stones -- it can easily be diluted by water. Place as many water bowls as possible inside the house and the backyard with a fresh and plentiful supply of water.
   
   
   
   • Another way to increase water intake is to wet feed your dog by putting ¾ to 1 cup of water in your dogs dry dog food just before feeding.
6. Encourage your dog to urinate more often. This can be achieved by giving your dog daily regular exercise; some dogs are shy and do not urinate inside the house, making their urine more acidic and concentrated. Taking your dog on regular walks in the morning and afternoon will ensure that the dog urinates regularly.
   
   
   
   • Just like in humans, it is not good for urine to sit in the bladder and urinary tract for long periods of time. It leads to bacteria formation, which can lead to infection. Once infection manifests, problems start to arise.^[2]

Neutralizing Dog Urine Medically

1. Try sodium bicarbonate. In other words, baking soda. For dogs that are diagnosed by a vet with high urate crystals in the urine and an acidic urine, the vet will most probably recommend supplementation of alkalinizing agents like sodium bicarbonate.
   
   
   
   • The recommended dose of sodium bicarbonate is 10 to 50 mg per kg body weight of the pet, given two to three times daily.^[3] For a 30kg Labrador, this is equivalent to 0.3grams, up to a maximum of 1.5 grams, given two to three times daily mixed with food.
   • Sodium bicarbonate should not be used if the dog suffers from congestive heart failure, high blood pressure, kidney failure, respiratory illness or vomiting. These conditions are associated with causing metabolic alkalosis, where the urine turns too alkaline.
   • If you are considering supplementing a dog who is taking a prescription medication, always check with your veterinarian first. Sodium bicarbonate can interact with other medications in a variety of (often negative) ways.
2. Alternatively, consider potassium citrate. In healthy dogs, the recommended dose of potassium citrate is 75 mg per kg of body weight, given twice daily mixed with food. Thus, an average sized Labrador weighing 30 kg would require just over two-thirds of a 3 gram sachet, or 7.5ml (one-and-a-half teaspoons) of liquid supplement, twice a day, mixed with food.^[3]
   
   
   
   • Potassium citrate is available as an oral powder, in a 3gram or 7gram sachet size, or as an oral solution containing 30% potassium citrate.
   • Caution is needed when using potassium citrate when the dog is on prescription medications. The alkaline environment created can decrease the excretion of certain drugs and cause them to build-up in the system.^[4]
   • If in doubt as to the state of your pet’s health, please opt for sodium bicarbonate as the safer option.^[5]
3. Or try Allopurinol. Another medication that can help neutralize urine by transforming uric acid into water soluble forms like allantoin, is Allopurinol. The dose for this drug is at 15 mg per kg twice a day. It is even used in humans to treat gout, kidney problems, and, of course, high levels of uric acid in the urine.^[6]
   
   
   
   • For the frequency of administration and dosing it would be best to seek the advice of your vet first. In fact, any medication you give your dog should be on the recommendation of a vet.
4. Talk to your vet. Neutralizing a dog's acidic urine requires a careful review of many different factors like health status, breed, lifestyle and diet. Before attempting any modifications in urine acidity, it's highly recommended veterinary advice or help be sought first, as the process of changing the acidity of urine is sometimes complicated. These things are often best left to professionals.
   
   
   
   • Making it too alkaline can also create problems, leading to issues different from what was initially being treated for. Too much alkaline urine can also lead to a formation of a different type of urinary stones.
   • Your vet can also help you in designing a specific feeding program and prescribe certain medications that can prevent urinary stone formation by making the urine less acidic.

Understanding the Issue

1. Know what breeds are susceptible to urinary stones. Under normal conditions acidic urine is normal, but there are breeds of dogs that tend to form rare and uncommon urinary stones because of their tendency toward acidic urine. The breeds predisposed with this condition are:
   
   
   
   • Dachshunds
   • Newfoundlands
   • English Bulldogs
   • Scottish Terriers.
   • If your dog’s breed belongs to any of the breeds mentioned above, it would be best to bring her to a vet and have her urine examined for the high presence of urinary stones or crystals.
2. Know how urate stones can affect your pooch. This urinary stone has a breed predisposition, meaning there are certain breeds that tend to be more susceptible to form this type of stone.
   
   
   
   • Dalmatians are the most susceptible breed of dog that develop this type of urinary stone, because of their poor ability to convert urate or uric acid into allantion. It is estimated based on studies that Dalmatians can only convert 30 to 40% of urate into allantion, as compared to other breeds, which can convert it up to 90%.^[7]
   • Allantoin is a more water soluble byproduct of metabolism that can easily be excreted via the urine. Dogs with liver problems also have a tendency to form this type of urinary stone, because of their impaired ability to convert urate into more water soluble byproducts.
3. Alternatively, be aware that cystine stones may result from acidic urine. This condition is more commonly observed in dogs born with a defect in cystine metabolism, resulting in cystine being present in high amounts in the urine. This type of stone does not have a breed predisposition.
   
   
   
   • Some dogs may or may not develop stones, but a high presence of cystine crystals can be detected.
   • The crystallization of cystine is higher in acidic urine, usually in the range of 5 to 6 pH. When there is a high amount of cystine crystals, the dog may be more prone to cystine stone formation.

Tips

• Please note, baking soda differs from baking powder, in that the latter contains an acidifying agent, cream of tartar, and is therefore not effective.
• As a general rule, a high protein, meat-based diet produces a more acidic urine than a herbivorous, vegetable based diet.

Sources & Citations

Cite error: <ref> tags exist, but no <references/> tag was found

Nieves Garcia came from Mexico at age 6 and spent most of her elementary school years in California classified as an "English learner" even after she had picked up the language. Now a 32-year-old mother, she didn't want her daughter labeled the same way and subjected to additional testing.

Once you know how much food, toiletries or household supplies usually cost, it's easy to tell if you are overspending. It's good practice to create a "lowest price" list, and Living Well Spending Less has a cheat sheet to get you started.

Read more...

You can probably find a microwave in almost every kitchen across the country, but not everyone is using it to its max potential. This collection of microwave tips and tricks will ensure you put those radio waves to good use.

Read more...

If you sell your car privately it is vitally important that you make sure the change in ownership is properly documented with the state. Otherwise, it could haunt you.

Read more...

It can be tough identifying the right times to fight for something. You want to stand up for what you think is right, but you also don't want to exacerbate the confrontation. These simple guidelines can help you decide when it's worth your time.

Read more...

Buying a car is a big decision to make, with a huge number of factors to consider. Whether you want that new car smell or are searching for the perfect used vehicle, you're trying to balance your wants and needs with the potential cost. Without getting swindled.

Read more...

Ebola may be spreading, but rumors about Ebola are spreading even faster. Wired runs down everything you really need to know about the virus.

Read more...

Rocks are cool enough on their own, but with just a little help you can make them even more useful. Add a little glow-in-the-dark paint, for example, and you can create a glowing guided walkway.

Read more...

I've got one kid who drives and one who's about to and I noticed something important about driver's ed classes (and other kids' parents, to be honest). They never teach when you shouldn't drive your car.

Read more...

Have you ever needed a table in your car? Maybe you're trying to eat a burger and fries without balancing them in your lap or maybe you'd just like a better place to write. Well, this handy cup holder car table might just suit your needs.

Read more...

Pet odors, stinky shoes, mildew-y wet laundry, and your everyday household odors: A spray of Fabreeze might not be enough to conquer them. Here's how to get your home and yourself smelling fresher.

Read more...

What do you do when someone asks you to cosign a loan? Depends on how closely the person is related to you but - as an attorney - my advice generally is, "RUN!"

Read more...

Are you a full time employee of the company you work for, or are you an independent contractor? There are some key risks and rewards for how you classify yourself. This infographic shows you why your job classification matters.

Read more...

If you're in the mood to expand your mind, Brain Pump is a simple site that plays random educational videos one after the other, on a myriad of topics. You'll start off by learning about procrastination, then move into something like astronomy, or history, or math, randomized per visitor.

Read more...

An Army veteran beaten by a man he met at a bar died Saturday afternoon, nearly a week after being hospitalized with burns so bad that parts of both arms had to be amputated, police and his partner said.

An Idaho biology teacher is facing possible disciplinary action after killing and skinning a rabbit in class to show students where their food comes from.

A Texas woman whose four pit bulls entered her neighbors' yard through a hole in the fence and killed their 10-year-old beagle is suing them for $1 million.

AT&T Mobility, the nation's second-largest cellular provider, says it's no longer attaching hidden Internet tracking codes to data transmitted from its users' smartphones. The practice made it nearly impossible to shield its subscribers' identities online.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has taken the death penalty off the table for four people charged in the gang-related slaying of a reserve Virginia police officer.

Fauquier Now

Condos, office space OK'd at Manassas newspaper office Fauquier Now The Manassas City Council this week unanimously approved a new five-story mixed-use building in the historic downtown area. The new building, called Old Town Heights, will be built at 9009 Church St. and will replace the old News & Messenger building. and more »

While I could maybe probably run four miles and definitely eat a dozen doughnuts, I couldn’t accomplish both in the same day, much less the same hour. That’s why it’s somewhat amazing that a two-time Krispy Kreme Challenge winner has managed to run two miles to Krispy Kreme, stop and eat 12 doughnuts, then run two more miles in only an hour. And without losing the contents of his stomach, to boot. Or not to boot. You get it.

The Man With The Iron Stomach, as I have just named the 38-year-old Alabama man, has accomplished this win twice, both times without barfing, reports AL.com.

He’s got some practice for the running side of things, saying he competes in 40 races every year, though the doughnut race is the the most gluttonous. Being in good shape from all that running is an important part of his training for the Krispy Kreme race, he said in an interview. It’s held by United Cerebral Palsy, an organization he supports and the reason why he runs the race.

“It’s mostly being in general good shape. There’s two components — running and eating. You can do one or the other, but the skill is to do both.”

Again, I couldn’t do both of those in a single day, so kudos to you, MWTIS.

And speaking of his lucky stomach, he doesn’t have to see anyone else getting sick either, because he is always in front. Oh, snap.

“Fortunately, when you’re in the lead, there is no one in front of you so I’ve been lucky to not see anything,” he explained.

His final advice: “Enjoy the sugar rush, the impending sugar crash after, and try to avoid throwing up on your shoes.”

The 2-time Krispy Kreme Challenge champion explains how one prepares for 12 doughnuts and 4 miles in 1 hour [AL.com]

As Thanksgiving approaches, perhaps you dread having your turkey with a side of the latest conspiracy theory served up by that uncle (there’s always one) who is convinced the government is spying in from helicopters overhead. This year, though, that relative has some evidence on his side. He’s wrong about the helicopters, as far as we know, but a new report finds that law enforcement agencies actually are using aircraft to scoop up Americans’ mobile phone calls from the skies.

The Wall Street Journal uncovered the program and published their findings this week. The program, managed by the U.S. Marshals Service under the auspices of the Justice Department, uses a high-tech trick to collect cell phone data far and wide, before zeroing in on actual suspect behavior.

Here’s how it works: the Marshals have small aircraft, usually Cessnas, based at a handful of airports around the country. Those planes have devices on board — called “dirtboxes” — that basically fool phones down on the ground into thinking they’re cell towers. A dirtbox is kind of like the electronic version of a duck lure: it’s a fake that can convince phones that it’s the real thing.

By design, as the WSJ explains, mobile phones automatically connect through the cell tower with the strongest available signal as their users move around. But if a plane with a dirtbox is circling overhead, it can convince the phone that it has the closest, strongest signal. That means any phone in range to detect its signal will be sending its unique identifying information to the plane, and not to the best available cell tower.

The theory is that law enforcement agencies can use the technology to zero in on the locations of criminal suspects under active investigation — a specific cell phone identified by a dirtbox can be located to within ten feet. That would tell you not only what building your bad guy is in, but also what room.

In reality, though, the devices are not just magically zeroing on criminal users. Instead, they’re a massive net collecting all signals in the area, after which it sorts through them to find the ones it actually wants and then, as the WSJ says, “‘lets go’ of the non-suspect phones.” The mechanism is less like bringing a magnet to look for a needle in a haystack, and more like bringing a magnet to look for a needle in a needle factory.

The dirtboxes don’t just attract and capture information, either; they can also (unintentionally) interrupt calls or (intentionally) jam signals and retrieve data — like texts and pictures — from a targeted phone.

The WSJ reports that law enforcement has “tried to minimize the potential for harm, including modifying the software to ensure the fake tower doesn’t interrupt anyone calling 911 for emergency help.”

Experts in the field told the WSJ that the U.S. military and intelligence communities use similar devices overseas, to locate terrorist suspects. They also said that in this country, the program has been effective in tracking down alleged drug dealers and murderers. However, they declined to tell the WSJ in which cases the dirtbox tech was instrumental to catching a suspect.

In terms of a “collect it all first, sort it out later” attitude, the air surveillance program is similar to the NSA’s now infamous collection of nationwide records outlining who called whom, when, and for how long. However, in terms of execution, it’s more invasive — up there with NSA programs that have tampered with the electronics or various software that consumers use.

Without actually admitting it exists, a Justice Department official defended the practice to the WSJ after their first report ran.

The official insisted to the WSJ that the DoJ does not maintain a database of the general public’s phone information, and that the technology is used “only in furtherance of ordinary law enforcement operations, such as the apprehension of wanted individuals, and not to conduct domestic surveillance or intelligence-gathering.” The official added that it would be “utterly false” to mix up the DoJ’s skynet program with the NSA’s bulk records database.

However, the WSJ points out, the Marshals do seem to have the capability. The Boeing subsidiary that makes the devices has said in a regulatory filing that some of their machines do have the ability to store information for later cross-referencing, and someone familiar with the tech told the WSJ that when these tools are used overseas, they store data.

With or without data storage, however, the process is likely to increase tensions between the tech community and intelligence agencies. The two sides have been in conflict over issues of surveillance and law enforcement requests since the NSA’s data collection gained widespread public attention in 2013.

Americans’ Cellphones Targeted in Secret U.S. Spy Program [Wall Street Journal]
U.S. Defends Marshals in Wake of Secret Cellphone Spying Report [Wall Street Journal]

While you might be thinking what you’re seeing hopping around town is a tiny kangaroo, New York pet owners say it might be their pet wallaby, Indy. He left home eight months ago and has apparently been enjoying a bit of a walkabout, as he’s been spotted in a handful towns in the area where his family lives. Advice if you see him? Try luring him with Triscuits.

“He knows what dinner is and we’re hoping he shows up at someone’s back door,” Indy’s owner explains to the Journal News.

If he does come around looking for grub, he’ll probably run away, she adds. She just asks anyone who see him to speak in a calm voice and say, “Indy come,” and “home.

He likes all crackers, apparently, including Triscuits and Wheat Thins, as well as apple slices and toasted wheat bread.

“It’s nice that he’s still alive after eight months and that he wasn’t hit by a car or attacked by a coyote,” she said, though with winter coming, lower temperatures could prove a test for the little guy.

She gave the Journal News her phone number and asks anyone to see him to call — and to save her number in your phone under “Kangaroo” or “Wallaby” just in case. Which makes sense — see a wallaby, call Wallaby.

Missing pet wallaby still out playing road warrior [Journal News]

A Baltimore firefighter whose body was found in a vacant building died of smoke inhalation.