[plschwartz]

HOUSTON (Reuters) - An exploding vending machine turned the coolant freon into phosgene, a poisonous gas used as a chemical weapon in World War One, and forced the evacuation of 10 people from a Texas hospital, officials said on Thursday.



A food service employee was working on the refrigerated soft drink machine at the Park Place Medical Center in Port Arthur, Texas, when a small explosion and fire occurred inside it on Wednesday morning, Port Arthur Fire Marshal Mark Mulliner said.

"When freon gas from the cooling system came into contact with the heat from the fire, it changed composition to a phosgene gas," Mulliner said.

Phosgene irritates the lungs, eyes, mouth and nose and, in strong enough concentrations, causes fatal amounts of fluid to build up in the lungs.

Ten people on the third floor of the hospital were evacuated for several hours while the area was ventilated, said Heather Ross of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

Two firefighters were kept in the hospital overnight for observation, Ross said.

"We were fortunate one of our officers who was first on the scene had some familiarity with phosgene and quickly evacuated the area," Mulliner said.

Ross said state Homeland Security officials had to be notified of the incident because of phosphene's possible use as a chemical weapon.

Mulliner said the incident appeared to be a "freak accident."

"I've been here 27 years and I've never seen anything like this," he said.

[eggplant43]

washingtonpost.com

Penny Pinchers Take the Cake


By Michelle Singletary

The Washington Post

Sunday, June 27, 2004; Page F01


After a two-year hiatus, I've brought back my Penny Pincher of the Year contest. The number of frugal folks and the lengths they go to to save money amazed even me.

I received hundreds of entries from all over the country, from the tried and true (reusing plastic bags) to the disgusting (bathing in someone else's used bath water is just not right, and it's not sanitary) to knee-slap funny (sisters a year apart sharing the same high school ring).

But I just love penny-pinching people. And believe me, I'm right there with them. In fact, my friends and family believe that if I didn't run this contest, I would win it.

For example, I found a way to save on birthday cake, which often goes half eaten. My husband and son have the same first name, and their birthdays are just a month apart.

This year when it came time for my husband to cut his cake -- his birthday comes first -- I refused to let him serve the part where "Happy Birthday" and "Kevin" were written in green icing. I stored the leftover cake in the freezer.

A month later, I thawed the cake to use for my son's birthday party. I tried to use leftover icing to cover the sliced section, but it kept sliding off. Still, I put on the appropriate six candles (recycled, of course) for my son and served the remainder of the cake.

I was teased unmercifully. But I didn't pay the partygoers any mind.

And don't feel sorry for my son either: Little Kevin wasn't bothered by the missing section. He didn't even recognize it as the same cake his daddy had. He was just thrilled to have a cake with his name on it. And right after blowing out his candles he said: "Oh, Mommy, this is the best birthday ever."

You're probably still shaking your head. Go ahead. However, I've got plenty of penny-pinching company. Just take a look at the winners of the 2004 Color of Money Penny Pinching Contest:

Honorable mention goes to Susan Ganger of Dublin, Ohio, who finds savings in other people's trash. "Go to a university campus on move-out day," she wrote. "Students throw out perfectly good items because they don't want to move them. There is no need to buy a dorm refrigerator as the students throw them out like they are paper. Carpet, clothing and furniture are there to be had." I thought Ganger could use something new, so she's getting a Washington Post T-shirt.

Third place goes to MaryPat Wirkus of Middletown, Conn. She wrote: "After driving my husband's car one day, I suggested he purchase new windshield wipers. The following week we were in his car driving to the store and I remarked that the passenger side of the windshield still did not wipe well. He told me no one sits on that side of the seat often, so he only bought one wiper, for the driver's side. It saved him $7." MaryPat and her husband will receive T-shirts and $15, which I hope will be used to get another wiper. I've always thought it important to see out of the entire windshield.

Tina Leap of Lusby won second place for her ingenuity, even though her penny-pinching strategy didn't work. Leap wrote: "I have two daughters to raise. They play softball and so I tried to make a sports drink -- with Kool-Aid, sugar, salt and water. It was terrible! They spat it out into the sink. We all had a good laugh." What good sports her daughters were for seeing the humor in their mother's frugality. Leap wins $25 in cash. She and the girls also get T-shirts.

Finally -- and this one really takes the cake -- first place goes to Lauren Wells, whose husband, Matt, took her for a penny-pinching ride she will never forget.

Last November, the expectant first-time mother from Leesburg waited a little too long to start for the hospital.

"By the time we got into the car, contractions were coming one right after the other," Wells wrote. "As soon as I got in the car, I told Matt to take the . . . toll road. He informed me that it would be just as fast to take Route 7, which is filled with traffic lights. I was in so much pain that I told him if he was being cheap, I was going to kill him. " Good thing in this case everything ended well. The couple arrived at the hospital just in time for 7-pound, 7-ounce Madeline to be delivered.

Wells says with a chuckle now that she suspected all along that her husband didn't want to pay the $2 in tolls.

"But I had to laugh," she said. "I'm fine with it now. I'm so grateful for him because he saves us a lot of money."

For her humor and restraint (I'm not sure even I wouldn't have popped the new pop), Wells wins $50, some of which I hope she will spend on Starbucks coffee, which she said she gets to have only on special occasions. The whole family will also get Washington Post T-shirts.

Congratulations to all, and many thanks to everyone who entered the contest or nominated others.

Michelle Singletary discusses personal finance Tuesdays on NPR's "Day to Day" program and online at www.npr.org. Readers can write to her at The Washington Post, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071 or send e-mail to singletarym@washpost.com.



© 2004 The Washington Post Company

[Deke40]

Wino if you need tip on best fares let me know.

And the Award for the Most Potent Pot Goes To...

LISBON (Reuters) - Cannabis in the Netherlands is almost twice as strong as in the rest of the European Union (news - web sites), where the drug's potency has remained stable, the EU drugs agency said on Friday.



Politicians' worries over the health risks of stronger cannabis prompted the Lisbon-based European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction to examine marijuana and hashish available in the bloc.


"Today's report shows that effective potency of cannabis in nearly all EU countries has remained quite stable for many years," the center said.


The potency of cannabis in most EU countries has remained at about six to eight percent tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main active ingredient.


The only exception was in the Netherlands, where potency had reached 16 percent by 2001-02, mostly because of supplies of intensively produced home-grown cannabis.


However, this did not affect the EU average since most cannabis consumed there was produced outside the bloc.

[eggplant43]

Mountain junk pile must go

A retired teacher, faced with a possible jail term, is forced to part with 1.5-acre heap of his "things"

By George Merritt

Denver Post Staff Writer


Wednesday, June 30, 2004 - Kittredge - Collection. Storage. Odds and ends. All of them are terms that might be used to describe Bob Acker's expansive mass of stuff.

But they would be too kind - at least that's what some of his neighbors believe.

For nearly 30 years, Acker has been hoarding all manner of things on his property overlooking Kittredge. There are doors off their hinges, glass out of the pane and hubcaps with no wheels.

There are rocks - all kinds of rocks. And skulls from various roadkills stacked in tin trash cans waiting for bugs and time to eat the last of the leathery skin that is still attached.

But mostly there is just stuff. And it must go.

"These people in their half-million-dollar homes didn't like me," Acker said.

No one seemed to notice the retired biology teacher's stash for decades - or seemed to care. Now there are posh mountain houses popping up all around his property.

Acker's veritable junkyard is in the way of development, authorities say, not to mention in violation of zoning laws. The 65-year-old recently agreed to get rid of it all to avoid the pokey.

"He got in the way of progress, I guess," said Jim Congrove, a Jefferson County employee running for commissioner. "But he doesn't deserve to go to jail for it."

Acker's land is within earshot of the whine of buzz saws; two houses are under construction on adjacent property.

Congrove and two of Acker's former students are helping him move everything off the property by a Sept. 30 deadline set by county authorities. He appreciates the help but is sorry he has to give up his collection.

"It is going to be a real shame to lose all these things that I had great plans for," said Acker, who plans to sell the property and move on. "I guess I'll just have less hobbies."

Every item has a story and a purpose. Pick up a random rock, and Acker has a tale.

"Oh, I got that on a trip to Topaz Mountain in Utah," he said of a hunk of topaz.

Pointing to a softball-size piece of quartz, Acker said, "This is part of a big pocket of quartz at Wigwam Creek."

"He has always been like that," said Tamara Hartman. Hartman was Acker's student in her early teens - that was 20 years ago.

"If you were still friends with him after being his student, he would take you rock hunting. All kinds of kids would go with him."

To unload the 1.5-acre heap, estimates Dan Hillsten of 1-800-GOT-JUNK, will take about 140 dump-truck loads over the course of three weeks.

The cost: somewhere around $67,000. However, because so much material can be recycled, Hillsten estimates the cost to Acker will be around $28,000.

"It is the most amazing thing you have ever seen in your whole life," Hillsten said of Acker's property. "You can tell he is kind of a Renaissance man. But because he is interested in so many things, he does not have time to get into any of them."

For now, Acker lives on the property in the makeshift home he built over the ashes of a three-story house that burned in 1983. Hardly any rooms are accessible. Chairs, light fixtures, wood and metal blend into a homogenous mass in every would-be void.

"There is just enough room to get to the kitchen area, the bathroom and a couch to watch TV," Acker said. "I need the space for my things."

[angelize56]

Gee and I thought the 30 boxes I've been carting around for 20 some years was a lot of clutter!

[n2gun]

Eatery Offers 6-Pound Burger Challenge
The Associated Press
CLEARFIELD, Pa.

People from New York and Ohio come to Denny's Beer Barrel Pub for a pretty big hamburger: 6 pounds of beef, one large onion, two whole tomatoes, a half a head of lettuce, 1 1/4 pounds of cheese, top and bottom buns, and a cup each of mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard, relish, banana peppers and some pickles.

On Monday, the eatery hosted the Burger Challenge, which will be featured on TV's Food Network. The behemoth burger, known as Ye Olde 96er, and other large ones are featured on the menu for anyone daring enough to give it a try.

"We already had a 2- and 3-pound challenge, which I thought were awesome, but my daughter was going to Clarion University and she called and said 'Dad, I think somebody up here has a 4-pounder,' which is bigger than us and I said 'Oh yeah, well today we have a 6-pounder.' That's exactly how it was conceived," said Denny Leigey Sr., the restaurant's owner.

Those who try to tame the 6-pound hamburger have a time limit: They must do it in three hours or less.

Competitive eater Eric Badlands Booker has tried it three times. On his last try, he stayed at the restaurant for 7 1/2 hours and ate the entire burger.

Rachel Pittman, who works at Denny's, was the only woman competing this week.

"I'm probably not going to get the whole thing down, but I'm going to try to," Pittman said. "If I can get the meat down, I'll be happy."

[angelize56]

Better have a stomach pump and an emesis basin nearby!

[eggplant43]

Reminds me of the time I saw "Cool Hand Luke", and decided I could eat more than 36 hard boiled eggs, and then decided "why would I want to". Marked my first mature thought

[angelize56]

Some Military Bases On Alert For Coke's GPS Promotion

POSTED: 8:21 am EDT July 2, 2004

NEW YORK -- There's a new security threat at some of the nation's military bases -- and it looks uncannily like a can of Coke.

Specially rigged Coke cans, part of a summer promotion, contain cell phones and global positioning chips. That has officials at some installations worried the cans could be used to eavesdrop, and they are instituting protective measures.

Coca-Cola Co. says such concerns are nothing but fizz.

Mart Martin, a Coca-Cola spokesman, said no one would mistake one of the winning cans from the company's "Unexpected Summer" promotion for a regular Coke.

"The can is dramatically different looking," he said. The cans have a recessed panel on the outside and a big red button. "It's very clear that there's a cell phone device."

Winners activate it by pushing the button, which can only call Coke's prize center, he said. Data from the GPS device can only be received by Coke's prize center. Prizes include cash, a home entertainment center and an SUV.

"It cannot be an eavesdropping device," he said.

Nonetheless, military bases, including the U.S. Army Armor Center at Fort Knox, Ky., are asking soldiers to examine their Coke cans before bringing them in to classified meetings.

"We're asking people to open the cans and not bring it in if there's a GPS in it," said Master Sgt. Jerry Meredith, a Fort Knox spokesman. "It's not like we're examining cans at the store. It's a pretty commonsense thing."

Sue Murphy, a spokeswoman for Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio said personal electronic devices aren't permitted in some buildings and conference rooms on base.

"We've taken measures to make sure everyone's aware of this contest and to make sure devices are cleared before they're taken in" to restricted areas, she said.

"In the remote possibility a can were found in one of these areas, we'd make sure the can wasn't activated, try to return it to its original owner and ask that they activate it at home," she said. "It's just another measure we have to take to keep everyone out here safe and secure."

The Marine Corps said all personnel had been advised of the cans and to keep them away from secure areas.

Paul Saffo, research director at The Institute for the Future, a technology research firm, compared the concern about the Coke cans to when the Central Intelligence Agency banned Furbies, the stuffed toys that could repeat phrases.

"There's things generals should stay up late at night worrying about," he said. "A talking Coke can isn't one of them."

But Bruce Don, a senior analyst at the Rand Corp. said the military's concern is rational and appropriate.

"There's a lot of reason to worry about how that technology could be taken advantage of by a third party without Coke's knowledge," he said.

"I wouldn't worry if one was in my refrigerator, but if you had a sensitive discussion or location, it's not inconceivable the thing could be used for something it was not designed for," he said.

Martin said Thursday the world's largest soft drink maker has received phone calls inquiring about the promotion from Hill Air Force Base in Ogden, Utah, and from a military base in Anchorage, Alaska. The callers did not mention any concerns, and Coke has not been contacted by the bases in Ohio and Kentucky, Martin said.

Asked if Coke would curtail the promotional campaign because of the security issues raised, Martin said, "No. There's no reason to."

[Cédric]

Odd news from an odd country

Country Faces Anti-Drunkenness Clampdown


By Astrid Zweynert
LONDON (Reuters) - Rowdy drunks will face spot fines from Thursday and some pubs could be closed down in a police crackdown on alcohol-fueled violence in Britain.

The nationwide campaign is part of a government drive to stamp out excessive boozing, which has resulted in Britons being condemned as the worst binge drinkers in Europe.

Concern is mounting that some of Britain's city center areas are becoming virtual no-go areas Friday and Saturday nights as gangs of drunken youths roam the streets.

The problem may only get worse, many believe, when licensing laws dictating opening hours are relaxed next year.

Under the latest initiative, drunks face 40 pound ($74) spot fines for anti-social behavior, while rowdy pubs can be closed for 24 hours and may even lose their license.

The campaign will also use "sting" operations to target shops selling alcohol to under-age drinkers.

"The message to people who are going to go out and get wasted (drunk) is that police have a wide range of powers to use, from fixed penalty notices through to the full weight of the court," said Stephen Green of the Association of Chief Police Officers.

More than 70 areas in England and Wales, including major cities such as Manchester and London, will take part in the eight-week crackdown.

Official figures show alcohol accounts for about half of all violent crime in Britain, with up to 70 percent of emergency hospital admissions at weekends due to excessive drinking.

Prime Minister Tony Blair has said he is determined that binge drinking should not become a "new British disease," as alcohol abuse costs the country an estimated 20 billion pounds ($35 billion) a year in crime, health and social problems.

Anti-alcohol abuse campaigners say tougher action is needed to make Britain's powerful drinks industry more responsible, especially ahead of the coming relaxation of licensing laws which will in theory allow 24-hour drinking.

"The drinks trade is still left to regulate itself when it comes to marketing, promotions and packaging of products," said Lee Lixenberg, a spokesman for Alcohol Concern.

"There is a need to stop them running cheap drink promotions, for example," he added, referring to early-evening "happy hours" which encourage rapid drinking.

Blair said in May the drinks industry may be required to pay for the costs of alcohol misuse, such as extra policing and clean-up operations.

[eggplant43]

"Clean-up operations". I don't even want to think about that one.

[n2gun]

Smoker Ignites Portable Toilet Explosion
The Associated Press
BLACKSVILLE, W.Va.

Warning: smoking in the toilet can be dangerous.

A portable toilet exploded Tuesday after a man who was inside it lit a cigarette.

Emergency workers said the man was not severely injured and drove himself to Clay-Battelle Community Health Center. He was later transferred to Ruby Memorial Hospital. His name and condition were not available Wednesday.

The explosion, which occurred in Blacksville, resulted from a buildup of methane gas inside the portable toilet. The methane did not "take too kindly" to the lit cigarette, said a spokeswoman for Monongalia Emergency Medical Services.



__
Watch where you light up.

[~Candy~]

One more reason to smoke outside

Come to think of it, how long did he plan on being in there

[hotskates]

Didn't anyone tell that guy that smoking can be hazardous to your health

[angelize56]

"Trans-port-a-potty"!