If you occasionally need to move a ton of small things (or just one very large thing) there are numerous companies who will rent you a trailer. But how can you make sure you won't screw up? I went to U-Haul's test facility in Arizona to learn both the right and wrong way to tow a U-small trailer.
    
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Falling into a frozen lake is no laughing matter, and getting out isn't as easy as it might seem. The folks over at The Art Of Manliness have put together a great guide to surviving a fall through ice.
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Dear Lifehacker,
I'm planning on getting my own place soon, and I'm pretty flexible about when I can move. I've heard that I should wait until the Spring to start shopping for houses, but if I'm looking for rentals instead I should wait until the fall. What's up with that? Is there a best time to go house hunting?
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Sitting at a desk for several hours a day is a recipe for all sorts of pain and bodily problems. These stretches, developed by ergonomist Vivienne Fleischer, can help alleviate lower back pain without leaving you chair.
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When we shared some tips to clean your computer in a minute each day, reader Bat21 shared a brilliant tip: Use those tiny, bristled gum cleaning brushes to clean your keyboard and other gadgets too.
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Steel cut oats make for a delicious, healthy breakfast, but if you really want to turn them up, The Kitchn has a suggestion: Toast the oats first in the same pot or saucepan you plan to cook them in. They'll get a rich, nutty, sweetness that really adds to the flavor and takes next to no effort.
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A Starbucks drink here, a dinner tab there…it adds up when you get smacked with a $35 overdraft fee every time you swipe your card. The best solution is to avoid overdrafting in the first place, or to remove overdraft protection from your account, but it was too late to do that. Instead, Bob called up Bank of America.
The front-line customer service rep was helpful enough, but only had the authority to waive one of the overdraft fees. Bob remembered one of the most basic lessons in dealing with customer service: appeal to a greater authority. “I knew to ask to plead to a higher power,” he wrote to us in his letter of thanks, “and after a brief wait in the supervisor queue – I was thrilled to find out that the supervisor was willing to reverse not just a portion – but ALL of the charges. I can’t explain the feeling of euphoria that generated.”
That’s okay. Most people reading this right now will understand the euphoria and satisfaction that come from fighting to get your money back and winning. Consumer satisfaction: one of the best natural highs of all.
(Photo: Twitter user @MarkMcCune)
In a statement to the L.A. Times, a rep for Starbucks gives a vague explanation of the company’s current stance on the store that came out of nowhere.
“We are evaluating next steps and while we appreciate the humor, they cannot use our name, which is a protected trademark,” says the rep.
Some believe that the operators of the Dumb Starbucks are confusing copyright and trademark. Fair use generally covers the parodic use of copyrighted content — that’s why people can do parody covers of songs or why TV sketch shows can do spoofs of other shows and movies without worrying about getting sued or having to pay the original’s authors. Trademark parody isn’t as cut and dry, especially when the creators of an alleged parody make no attempt to hide the fact that they are merely using the parody defense to take advantage of a trademarked brand name, which the Dumb Starbucks folks did in an FAQ handed out at the store.
There are those who believe the operators of Dumb Starbucks have no interest in operating a coffee shop or of making a point about parody and copyright or trademarks, but will be revealed to be a publicity stunt for someone (or group of persons) looking to do anything to stand out.
I once knew a guy who said that with the right outfit and enough confidence, you can get through any door. Looks like a 17-year-old in Oklahoma took that lesson to heart, walking into multiple area Walmarts and walking out with wads of cash in his pocket.
KFOR-TV (yes, the same station with the homophobe restaurateur story from earlier today) reports that police in Norman, OK, recently caught the young scam artist, but not until after he’d already tricked a Walmart workers at a trio of stores to give him access to cash.
The teen had previously worked at a Walmart until he was fired (for stealing cash, obviously). But he kept the uniform and apparently realized he could use it to get more money dishonestly than he would have with an honest day’s work.
At one point he showed up in uniform to a Walmart in Edmond, OK, where the manager had him work the cash register… from which police say he stole $3,000.
He then promoted himself to manager when he visited the store in Moore, OK, in December.
According to the police report, the teen “acted as if he was a general manager from another store,” who was there to do “an inventory of the store before general managers came to inspect them after the holidays.”
Somehow, the young whipperscammer found himself alone in the cash room, where he helped himself to “multiple bundles of cash, stuffing them inside his pockets and clothes,” before hugging the real store manager on the way out.
It wasn’t until he tried the scam again in Norman that police finally caught up to the young man.
“He’s obviously confident in what he’s doing and has a good story,” explains a police sergeant to KFOR, who reports that the 17-year-old appears to be an aspiring actor.
This is already the second story we’ve done this month about a sketchy guy pretending to be a Walmart employee. Last week, we brought you the tale of fake Walmarter who took a hit to his genitals after he exposed them to a customer.
(emuphoto)
In what sounds like the perfect storm of awfulness and complete inedibility, a Northern California plant has announced it’s voluntarily closing after issuing a recall for 8.7 million pounds of beef. Why? Because federal officials say the plant “processed diseased and unsound animals” without a full federal inspection, resulting in products that are “unfit for human food.” Yum.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service says due to that lack of inspection, “the products are adulterated, because they are unsound, unwholesome or otherwise are unfit for human food and must be removed from commerce.”
Rancho Feeding Corp. recalled those products, which were sold to retailers and distributors, though there have been no illnesses reported yet due to the beef in question, the company and the USDA said.
The plant’s quality control manager said in a statement to the Los Angeles Times that the plant enacted the recall “out of an abundance of caution” and that the company regrets the inconvenience to its customers.
Included in the recall are products produced Jan. 1, 2013 through Jan. 7, 2014 and shipped to distribution centers and retail establishments in California, Florida, Illinois and Texas:
“Beef Carcasses” (wholesale and custom sales only)
2 per box “Beef (Market) Heads” (retail only)
4-gallons per box “Beef Blood” (wholesale only)
20-lb. boxes of “Beef Oxtail”
30-lb. boxes of “Beef Cheeks”
30-lb. boxes of ” Beef Lips”
30-lb. boxes of “Beef Omasum”
30-lb. boxes of “Beef Tripas”
30-lb. boxes of “Mountain Oysters”
30-lb. boxes of “Sweet Breads”
30- and 60-lb. boxes of “Beef Liver”
30- and 60-lb. boxes of “Beef Tripe”
30- and 60-lb. boxes of “Beef Tongue”
30- and 60-lb. boxes of “Veal Cuts”
40-lb. boxes of “Veal Bones”
50-lb. boxes of “Beef Feet”
50-lb. boxes of “Beef Hearts”
60-lb. boxes of “Veal Trim”
Beef carcasses and boxes bear the establishment number “EST. 527″ inside the USDA mark of inspection, and each box bears the case code number ending in a 3 or a 4.
California Firm Recalls Unwholesome Meat Products Produced Without the Benefit of Full Inspection [FSIS]
After recalling 8.7 million pounds of beef, California firm shuts down [Los Angeles Times]
Think about it: You probably only hear from your boss when a) you royally screwed up, b) you majorly kicked ass, or c) it's performance review time. Feedback from your supervisor is what you crave, unless you're happy flying under the radar, which certainly won't help you advance. Getting honest input from your supervisor is crucial to your relationship with your boss—and, like it or not, your relationship with your boss can make or break your career.
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Dear Lifehacker,
I'm on a family share plan with three other phones. We all share about 4GB of data every month, but I'm the one who has to make sure no one goes over. How can I set up everyone's phones to stop eating data once they go over their allotment and "encourage" them to use Wi-Fi, including my phone?
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This trade is not, strictly speaking, legal, but everyone sort of acknowledges that it happens. People all over the world got hold of iPhones before their respective countries’ telecoms officially offered them. Anyone who wanted the hottest gadgets, gray market or no, found a way to get one.
Bloomberg’s Vernon Silver picked up a phone on behalf of a woman who does domestic work for him at his home in Rome. The 32 GB iPhone 5s costs around $815 in New York City, including sales tax, but would sell for about $1,130 in Rome. The purchase required a call to his bank’s antifraud department, but such transactions are now apparently totally routine. Silver claims that cashiers at the flagship Manhattan Apple Store asked him if he wanted “only one?” unlocked iPhone, as if the $650 gadgets were McDonald’s apple pies.
Carrying value around in small, easily-portable but valuable packages is nothing new–people have always brought designer goods, jewelry, electronics, or other items that they plan to sell home “as gifts.” Whether this is okay depends on the customs regulations at your destination; after all, customs fees are part of the reason why iPhones cost more in some places than in others. Check these regulations before you load your suitcase up with gold iPhones the next time you travel.
Apple’s iPhone, the New International Currency
The makers of Uncle Ben’s rice have recalled various versions of the product that were only sold on the wholesale market following multiple incidents where numerous people fell ill after eating the rice at school lunchrooms.
The recall involves several varieties of Uncle Ben’s Infused Rice products, but only those sold at wholesale in 5-lb and 25-lb bags. Uncle Ben’s rice sold in smaller bags at supermarkets and other retail locations is not being recalled.
USA Today reports that the most recent incident involving suspected rice-related illnesses occurred last Friday, when children at three different schools in Katy, TX, experienced burning, itching rashes, headaches and nausea.
While it’s too soon to say that all the incidents are related to the same source or exactly what the problem with the rice is, it’s possible that the illnesses may be due to too much niacin (vitamin B3) in the rice. The FDA found high levels of the vitamin in the Illinois rice.
“Overexposure to niacin can lead to skin reactions such as redness and flushing, itching and dry skin,” a rep for the FDA explains. “Very large doses can cause indigestion and nausea.”
Any foodservice company or anyone that purchased the following products (in the 5-lb or 25-lb size; again, all other variations are not included in the recall) from a wholesaler or distributor should not eat, says the FDA.
Here are the recalled varieties of the rice:
UNCLE BEN’S® INFUSED® Rice Roasted Chicken Flavor (25-lbs) U3010501
UNCLE BEN’S® INFUSED® Rice Roasted Chicken Flavor (5 lbs) U0257000
UNCLE BEN’S® INFUSED® Rice Garlic & Butter Flavor (5-lbs) U0257100
UNCLE BEN’S® INFUSED® Rice Mexican Flavor (25-lbs) U0318000
UNCLE BEN’S® INFUSED® Rice Mexican Flavor (5-lbs) U0257300
UNCLE BEN’S® INFUSED® Rice Pilaf (5-lbs) U0262000
UNCLE BEN’S® INFUSED® Rice Saffron Flavor (5-lbs) U0263002
UNCLE BEN’S® INFUSED® Rice Cheese Flavor (5-lbs) U0262900
UNCLE BEN’S® INFUSED® Rice Spanish Flavor (25-lbs) U3012100
Can you remember the first time you stepped into a McDonald’s? For many Americans, the answer is probably not, and subsequent trips are probably all a blur of fry grease and hamburger patties. But for the crowds lined up outside Vietnam’s first Mickey D’s, in Ho Chi Minh City on Saturday, that memory is much more immediate.
The fast food chain opened its doors in the country for the very first time amid a blitz of fanfare and excitement, reports USA Today, with blasting techno music and hundreds lined up behind velvet ropes to get in as soon as the restaurant opened.
The new McDonald’s has 350 seats and offers the usual fare — Big Macs, french fries, Chicken McNuggets and the like — which is far from usual for a population that has a wide selection of cheaper street fare available.
It wouldn’t be a hyped opening without “free balloons, face-painting, live performers and photo-ops with Ronald McDonald” to create a “festive atmosphere” while family members of the new McDonald’s employees made sure to capture everything on camera.
It’s not like there’s no fast food there either — KFC, Burger King, Baskin-Robbins, Dairy Queen, Carl’s Jr., Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, Subway, and of course, Starbucks. And of course, some customers have encountered McDonald’s before, including a family of Americans from Indiana who’ve lived in the country for a year.
“It’s nice to see a little bit of America here,” said the mother of three kids who were up at 5:30 a.m. due to excitement on the morning of the opening.
But some Vietnamese customers aren’t all that impressed with the brand they’ve only heard about so far: A group of teens and young adults chimed in to tell the reporter that the burgers and chicken sandwiches were great. But French fries? Meh.
“We don’t really like the fries,” admitted one, with piles of leftover fries littering the group’s trays.
Add again, there’s that cheaper street food with all the local flavors the Vietnamese love.
“It’s just fast food,” said the owner of a shop down the street that serves pho noodle soup. “It doesn’t have all the delicious flavors of pho.”
She’s not worried about the competition, and instead says she’s willing to try out McDonald’s at some point, to be nice.
“They’re our neighbors,” she explained. “Neighbors should help each other.”
McDonald’s brings Big Macs to Vietnam [USA Today]
If a local restaurant owner goes on local TV to talk about how he hates gay people and doesn’t want them as customers, it’s not a shock that people will get angry and boycott, protest, petition… the usual stuff. But in the age of Yelp, that owner should probably also expect to find that his business is now being written up online as the “best gay club” around.
Last week, when a KFOR-TV reporter asked the owner of an Enid, OK, restaurant/bar about allegations that he wasn’t exactly the most open-minded businessman in town, he admitted, “I’ve been in business 44 years, I think I can spot a freak or a faggot… I really don’t want gays around.”
He continued to enlighten the reporter on the difference between right and wrong.
“If I reached over there and slapped the sh** out of you, you should be offended,” he explained. “But to call someone a ‘chink’ or someone call me a bigot, that doesn’t bother me.”
When the reporter asked him if he would call her a “chink,” he nervously replied, “No… not unless we were drinking.”
And so, in addition to the normal social media outrage that has arisen out of this situation, folks have taken to Yelp to create a prank page, complete with photo of the owner and a male exotic dancer, and reviews that say things like, “I thought this place was going to be cheap. But it was the all male review night and I had to whip out all my singles. Despite the lovely views and even lovelier men my burger had way [too] many sesame seeds. So I have to give it a 2 stars.”
(CNN)
Anyone who’s ever eaten an entire cake in one sitting knows that yes, it is possible for there to be too much of a good thing. And that goes for inedible things as well: The sudden success of mobile game Flappy Bird appears to have been too overwhelming for its developer, who pulled the mega popular game from app stores yesterday say he just “cannot take this anymore.”
What’s that, you haven’t even heard of Flappy Bird? Though it was first released last May, CNN notes that the game suddenly picked up steam in December and had reached bona fide viral success by January.
In it, players steer a little bird through a maze of metal pipes ( which themselves are reminiscent of Super Mario Bros). And it’s now been downloaded over 50 million times. Sometimes simplicity is the key to success, eh?
But while those who have already downloaded it can keep playing, no new users will be able to get in on the action.
“I am sorry ‘Flappy Bird’ users, 22 hours from now, I will take ‘Flappy Bird’ down,” the developer tweeted on Saturday. “I cannot take this anymore.”
He’s not saying much else about the reasons for his decision to pull the game, which he created in a few days last year and didn’t promote at all after its release.
“It is not anything related to legal issues,” he said. “I just cannot keep it anymore.”
There’s still hope for those who want to play — if you’ve got deep pockets, that is: Time.com reports that phones with Flappy Bird already downloaded on it have already popped up on eBay for as much as $1,499. Ah, priorities.
Developer yanks ‘Flappy Bird’ after game soars to success [CNN]
You could do that, but that doesn’t mean it’s a rational response or even remotely a good idea. Yet police say that late last night, that’s how a woman in Grand Rapids, Michigan made her concerns known to her local McDonald’s.
It all began when she came through the drive-thru and ordered a burger, which the restaurant prepared incorrectly. That’s unfortunate, but it happens. Employees promised her a free meal on her next visit when she complained, and she went on her way. That’s all a nice, normal fast food transaction.
Around 3 AM today, the woman came back and ordered another burger. This one was also prepared incorrectly. Instead of going through the normal complaint channels, police say that she got out of the car and fired a round into the restaurant’s window.
Fortunately, no one was injured in this altercation. The woman got back in the car and she and her companion drove off. The thing is, when she complained about the original incorrectly-made burger, she left her phone number behind. Her real phone number.
Our readers often tell us that when you don’t like something and complain about it, the last thing that you want is a coupon or voucher for more of that item. That’s true. We’d suggest requesting a refund before you start shooting, though.
Wrong burger orders lead to shot being fired at Grand Rapids McDonald’s [MLive]
Late last week AOL’s CEO Tim Armstrong announced that the company would be delaying company contributions to employee retirement accounts. That was enough to make workers grumble already, but then he added that the shift was partly due to two specific employees who had “distressed babies.” That didn’t go over so well, and the company has now reversed the benefits shift.
In announcing the plan — which would likely have punished employees who switched jobs in mid-year, because 401(k) matches wouldn’t be paid out until the end of the year in one lump sum — Armstrong made what many critics called a possible breach of privacy (and at the very least, an insensitive gaffe) by mentioning two examples of healthcare expenses the company had to pay for.
“Two things that happened in 2012,” Armstrong said during a town hall meeting where the changes were discussed. “We had two AOL-ers that had distressed babies that were born that we paid a million dollars each to make sure those babies were OK in general. And those are the things that add up into our benefits cost. So when we had the final decision about what benefits to cut because of the increased healthcare costs, we made the decision, and I made the decision, to basically change the 401(k) plan.”
The blowback was immediate — enough so that Armstrong announced on Saturday that the benefits plan would remain the same as before.
“We heard you on this topic,” Armstrong wrote in a letter to employees Saturday, reports the Associated Press. He also apologized for bringing up the two employees.
“On a personal note, I made a mistake and I apologize for my comments last week,” he wrote in the letter Saturday.
The wife of one of those employees, the accomplished writer Deanna Fei, responded to Armstrong in an article on Slate on Sunday, where she detailed the impact of Armstrong’s comments and apparent blame made on her family and their baby.
She writes that while Armstrong’s apology Saturday was commendable, “the damage to my family had already been done.”
Here is how we supposedly became a drain on AOL’s coffers. On Oct. 9, 2012, when I woke up in pain, my husband was at the airport about to board a flight for a work trip. I was home alone with our 1-year-old son and barely able to comprehend that I could be in labor. By the time I arrived at the hospital, my husband a few minutes behind, I was fully dilated and my baby’s heartbeat was slowing. Within 20 minutes, my daughter was delivered via emergency cesarean, resuscitated, and placed in the neonatal intensive care unit.
She goes on to describe the pain of not knowing whether it was okay to love her baby, to name her or get to know her because they didn’t know if she would survive.
Her daughter has grown into a healthy toddler, and Fei writes that she’s grateful for the healthcare AOL provided. But just because Armstrong reversed the benefits shift and apologized… it’s not enough.
“I take issue with how he reduced my daughter to a ‘distressed baby’ who cost the company too much money,” she writes. “How he blamed the saving of her life for his decision to scale back employee benefits. How he exposed the most searing experience of our lives, one that my husband and I still struggle to discuss with anyone but each other, for no other purpose than an absurd justification for corporate cost-cutting.”
AOL reverses unpopular retirement plan move [Associated Press]
My Baby and AOL’s Bottom Line: That “distressed baby” who Tim Armstrong blamed for benefit cuts? She’s my daughter. [Slate]
"If you took one-tenth the energy you put into complaining and applied it to solving the problem, you'd be surprised by how well things can work out… Complaining does not work as a strategy. We all have finite time and energy. Any time we spend whining is unlikely to help us achieve our goals. And it won't make us happier." - Randy Pausch
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The dread and utter feeling of helplessness that one gets before going in for a colonoscopy is normal. What’s not normal is being excited for the procedure. Well, that could all change now that the Food and Drug Administration approved a tiny, ingestible camera to help screen patients who have trouble with the traditional four-foot long, flexible tube used in colonoscopies.
Last week, the FDA approved Given Imaging’s PillCam COLON for patients who have experienced an incomplete colonoscopy due to anatomy issues, previous surgery, or other colon diseases. Incomplete colonoscopies occur in approximately 750,000 patients each year in the United States, The Associated Press reports.
The device uses a battery-powered camera to take high-speed photos while it takes a leisurely ten-hour ride through a patient’s intestinal tract. The small device is equipped with two miniature color video cameras and an LED light source.
Given first introduced and received FDA approval for a similar pill in 2001, but company studies found the images were no as clear as those from in-office procedures.
The PillCam, which was previously approved in 80 other countries, costs about $500. The going rate for a traditional colonoscopy is about $4,000.
Given Imaging, headquartered in Israel, produces other medical devices including pillcams to screen the small intestine and esophagus.
FDA Approves Pill Camera To Screen Colons [The Associated Press]
The state’s Organized Crime Task Force announced over the weekend that its actions against illegal cockfighting in Queens, Kings (Brooklyn), and Ulster counties had resulted in nine felony arrests and the rescue of some 3,000 roosters that had been destined for bloody battle.
The first raid happened late Saturday night, early Sunday at a cockfight in Queens that had been operating at that location since May 2013. Authorities initially detained 70 people at the event before ultimately charging six attendees who had brought and fought birds with felony Prohibition of Animal Fighting. The OCTF rescued 65 roosters here.
While this was going on in Queens, the OCTF raided a pet store in Brooklyn, rescuing 50 fighting birds and charging the store’s owner with Prohibition of Animal Fighting. In addition to the roosters, investigators found cockfighting paraphernalia — artificial spurs, candle wax, medical adhesive tape, and syringes used to inject performance-enhancing drugs.
The final raid occurred a couple hours up the Thruway at a 90-acre farm in Plattekill, where thousands of roosters were recovered. Authorities say the farm had operated for years under the guise of a live poultry farm, hiding thousands of cages for cockfighting birds within the center of the property to avoid detection by neighbors and law enforcement. The farm’s manager and a farmhand were arrested.
The OCTF had some help with taking down the cockfighters. The ASPCA provided assistance in the investigation and helped with evidence collection as well as removal and sheltering of the seized animals. Then everyone from the Ulster County Sheriff’s office to the NY State Police to the Department of Homeland Security provided surveillance and assistance in the raids.
“Cockfighting is a cruel, abusive and barbaric practice that tortures animals, endangers the health and safety of the public and is known to facilitate other crimes,” NY Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said in a statement. “This investigation – one of the largest in U.S. history – illustrates the prevalence of cockfighting in America, its brutal nature and the link to other illegal activities. My office will keep working to hold these individuals accountable, and put an end to illegal cockfighting.”
In New York, cockfighting and possession of a fighting bird at a cockfighting location are felonies, and each charge carries a maximum penalty of four years in jail and a fine of $25,000. Merely attending a cockfight is a misdemeanor and carries a possible sentence of up to one year in jail and a $1,000 fine.
Last week Subway announced that it would stop using azodicarbonamide, an ingredient known as a dough conditioner that’s also a chemical found in yoga mats, shoe rubber and other synthetic leather. It’s recognized as a safe ingredient in the U.S., but is banned in Europe and Australia as a food additive. But of course, Subway isn’t the only fast food restaurant to use it. So where else can you find azodicarbonamide?
Pretty much everywhere, notes CNBC:
McDonald’s: regular bun, bakery style bun, bagel and English muffin, Big Mac bun and sesame seed bun
Burger King: specialty buns, artisan-style bun, sesame seed bun, croissant, English muffin, home-style Caesar croutons and French toast sticks
Wendy’s: bagel, premium toasted bun, sandwich bun and panini bread
Arby’s: croissant, French toast sticks, harvest wheat bun, honey wheat bread, marble rye bread, mini bun, onion bread and sesame seed bun.
Jack in the Box: bakery style bun, jumbo bun, croissant, grilled sourdough bread and regular bun
Chick-fil-A: chargrilled chicken sandwich, chicken salad sandwich, and chargrilled chicken club sandwich
While Burger King, Chick-fil-A, Wendy’s, Arby’s and Jack in the Box didn’t give CNBC a comment, a few companies did pipe in about using azodicarbonamide, which again, is totally legal in the U.S.
“Azodicarbonamide is commonly used throughout the baked goods industry, and this includes some of the bread goods on our menu,” a McDonald’s spokeswoman said, pointing out that it’s approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
It sounds like azodicarbonamide will remain on the menu, as Mickey D’s will keep serving “the great tasting, quality food they expect from McDonald’s. This ingredient, like all the ingredients we use, is available to consumers on our website.”
Dunkin’ Donuts also had an answer, writing that “There are trace amounts of azodicarbonamide, a common ingredient approved as safe by the Food and Drug Administration, in three Dunkin’ Donuts bakery items, including the Danish, Croissant and Texas Toast. All of our products comply with federal, state and local food safety standards and regulations. We are evaluating the use of the ingredient as a dough conditioner in our products and currently discussing the matter with our suppliers.”
So it sounds like the chemical is here to stay at DD as well.
Over at Starbucks, there’s a change coming as the chain is transitioning the chemical out of its foods like the butter croissants and chocolate croissants.
“Our new La Boulange Bakery goods do not contain the ingredients. Our goal is to transition all the stores to La Boulange. We’re about halfway through that transition,” a Starbucks spokeswoman told CNBC.
What’s the big deal, anyway, if it’s legal for use in food? The nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest is lobbying the United States Department of Agriculture to consider putting the kibosh in it, saying that when the chemical is baked in bread it produces the carcinogen urethane and “leads to slightly increased levels of urethane in bread that pose a small risk to humans” when azodicarbonamide is used at its maximum limit.
A World Health Organization report states: “Case reports and epidemiological studies in humans have produced abundant evidence that azodicarbonamide can induce asthma, other respiratory symptoms, and skin sensitization in exposed workers. Adverse effects on other systems have not been studied.”
Whether you care about it or not, it’s always better to know what’s in your food and then make a decision whether or not to eat it. The more you knoooooow [cue shooting star, rainbow].
That Chemical Subway Ditched? McDonald’s, Wendy’s Use it Too [CNBC]
The AP reviewed air safety documents and media reports for the last two decades and found at least 150 incidents in which a commercial flight either landed at the incorrect airport or began to land before realizing a mistake was made.
According to the AP, many of these goofed landings and approaches occurred at night when a pilot sees an airport’s runway lights and mistakenly believes that it is the one at which he’s supposed to land. And in almost all cases, the air traffic controller on the ground gave the pilot clearance to land based on what the pilot sees and relays to the controller, rather than any automated system.
“You’ve got these runway lights, and you are looking at them, and they’re saying: ‘Come to me, come to me. I will let you land.’ They’re like the sirens of the ocean,” explains a former Air Force pilot who now teaches aviation safety at the University of Southern California.
“Do You Know the Way to San Jose?” isn’t just a Burt Bacharach/Hal David/Dionne Warwick classic, it’s also a valid question to ask of several pilots who have confused the runway at San Jose’s Moffett Field with the nearby Mineta San Jose International Airport.
In a 2012 report discovered by the AP, a San Jose air traffic controller writes that airport confusion “occurs several times every winter in bad weather,” with planes being cleared to land at Mineta while they were actually preparing to land at Moffett.
And San Jose isn’t alone in this sort of mix-up. Last summer, a commercial flight headed for San Antonio International in Texas was actually about to land at Lackland Air Force Base. Someone pointed this out at the last minute to the pilot, who aborted the landing and headed to the correct airport. When he spoke to the San Antonio tower about the goof, he recalled that “They did not seem too concerned…. and said this happens rather frequently there.”
While the AP found 35 mistaken landings and 115 approaches at wrong airports in news reports and NASA’s Aviation Safety Reporting System, it believes there are others, as reports to the NASA database are voluntary. Reporters requested FAA documents that would reveal a more accurate number but were turned down, claiming that some of the information in those reports may be used in eventual enforcement actions against pilots.
The potential problems with landing at the wrong airport don’t just involve having to move passengers and cargo to the correct destination or the embarrassment of admitting an error.
A training captain for a major airline explains to the AP that when a pilot lands at the wrong airport, they don’t know the length or condition of the runway on which they are about to touch down.
“There could be a bloody big hole in the middle of the runway,” he says. “There could be a barrier across it. There could be vehicles working on it.”
Prince William County community calendar, Feb. 9 to 15, 2014 Washington Post Sunday, Feb. 9. “Operation Urgent Fury: Invasion of Grenada,” photographs and artifacts chronicling the invasion of Grenada. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. daily, National Museum of the Marine Corps, 18900 Jefferson Davis Hwy., Triangle. Free. 877-635-1775. Dale City ... and more » |
Washington Post (blog) |
Bull Run ice chunks are deposited in strange locations (PHOTOS) Washington Post (blog) An ice block rests on a log near the Stone Bridge at the Manassas Battlefield Park. A flood last week broke up the ice cover on Bull Run and scattered the ice blocks in some strange places. (Kevin Ambrose). During a run Saturday morning at the Manassas ... |
We all get busy and end up with too many things that need to get done. Sometimes, though, we don't really need to do it all. If you find yourself overwhelmed with your to-do list, remove something from it.
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