Oops! Bracelets appear to say ‘Better Do Drugs’

AP

A New York state company will stop production of Red Ribbon Week bracelets and discard its remaining inventory of the rubber wrist bands because of an unintended message printed on them.

The bracelets, handed out last week to students in the WACO school district in southeast Iowa, carried the anti-drug slogan “I’ve Got BETTER Things to DO than DRUGS.”

The issue was the unintended message of the all-uppercase words: Better Do Drugs.

Mark Taxel, executive vice president of Hauppauge, N.Y.-based Positive Promotions, said no one noticed how the words looked on the bracelets before they were distributed. Only two complaints were received about the bracelets, he said.

Taxel said the company doesn’t want to put out a message that could be misconstrued. He said a new bracelet would be produced in all capital letters.

Darrell Smith, superintendent of the WACO school district, welcomed Taxel’s decision, saying two complaints is “two too many.”

The World Is Not Enough for Humans

By David Biello

Since 1987 annual emissions of carbon dioxide—the leading greenhouse gas warming the globe—have risen by a third, global fishing yields have declined by 10.6 million metric tons and the amount of land required to sustain humanity has swelled to more than 54 acres (22 hectares) per person. Yet, Earth can provide only roughly 39 acres (15 hectares) for every person living today, according to the United Nation’s Environmental Program’s (UNEP) Global Environment Outlook, released this week. “There are no major issues,” the report’s authors write of the period since their first report in 1987, “for which the foreseeable trends are favorable.”

Despite some successes—such as the Montreal Protocol’s 95 percent reduction in chemicals that damage the atmosphere’s ozone layer and a rise in protected reserves of habitat to cover 12 percent of the planet—humanity’s impact continues to grow. For example:

Biodiversity—The planet is in the grips of the sixth great extinction in its 4.5-billion-year history, this one largely man-made. Species are becoming extinct 100 times faster than the average rate in the fossil record. More than 30 percent of amphibians, 12 percent of birds and 23 percent of our own class, mammals, are threatened.

Climate—Average temperatures have climbed 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit (0.76 degree Celsius) over the past century and could increase as much as 8.1 degrees F (4.5 degrees C) over the next unless “drastic” steps are taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from, primarily, burning fossil fuels. Developed countries will need to reduce this globe-warming pollution by 60 to 80 percent by mid-century to stave off dire consequences, the report warns. “Fundamental changes in social and economic structures, including lifestyle changes, are crucial if rapid progress is to be achieved.”

Food—The amount of food grown per acre has reached one metric ton, but such increasing intensity is also driving rapid desertification of formerly arable land as well as reliance on chemical pesticides and fertilizers. In fact, four billion out of the world’s 6.5 billion people could not get enough food to eat without such fertilization. Continuing population growth paired with a shift toward eating more meat leads the UNEP to predict that food demand may more than triple.

Water—One in 10 of the world’s major rivers, including the Colorado and the Rio Grande in the U.S., fail to reach the sea for at least part of the year, due to demand for water. And that demand is rising; by 2025, the report predicts, demand for fresh water will rise by 50 percent in the developing world and 18 percent in industrialized countries. At the same time, human activity is polluting existing fresh waters with everything from fertilizer runoff to pharmaceuticals and climate change is shrinking the glaciers that provide drinking water for nearly one third of humanity. “The escalating burden of water demand,” the report says, “will become intolerable in water-scarce countries.”

The authors—388 scientists reviewed by roughly 1,000 of their peers—view the report as “an urgent call for action” and decry the “woefully inadequate” global response to problems such as climate change. “The amount of resources needed to sustain [humanity] exceeds what is available,” the report declares.

“The systematic destruction of the earth’s natural and nature-based resources has reached a point where the economic viability of economies is being challenged,” Achim Steiner, UNEP’s executive director, said in a statement. “The bill we hand our children may prove impossible to pay.”

Minorities less likely to trick-or-treat

WASHINGTON – Two-thirds of parents say their children will trick-or-treat this Halloween, but fewer minorities will let their kids go door to door, with some citing safety worries, a poll shows.

The survey found that 73 percent of whites versus 56 percent of minorities said their children will trick-or-treat.

That disparity in the survey is similar to the difference in how people view the safety of their neighborhoods, according to the poll by The Associated Press and Ipsos. Lower-income people and minorities are more likely to worry that it might not be safe to send their children out on Halloween night.

Overall, 86 percent of those questioned in the survey said their neighborhoods are safe for trick-or-treating. Ninety-one percent of whites, compared with 75 percent of minorities, said they felt their kids would be secure when they went out seeking candy in their area.

Similarly, 93 percent of people earning $50,000 or more said their communities are safe for trick-or-treating, compared with 76 percent of those making less than $25,000.

Even many people who view their neighborhoods as safe take precautions.

Nearly two-thirds of the people in the survey said their households will distribute Halloween treats to children who come to call. Seventy percent of people in the poll who consider themselves liberals and 67 percent of the moderates questioned said they would hand out treats, compared with 55 percent of conservatives.

Of those adults whose children will not trick-or-treat this year, one-quarter cited safety worries and about one-half said they do not celebrate Halloween.

“It’s demonic,” said Donna Stitt, 37, a nursing aide from Barto, Pa., with four young children. “People are celebrating the dead. I’m not into that.”

© Copyright 2007 Associated Press

1963 Bicycle Safety Video

Sheep costume turns man into human torch

Surveillance video shows what happens when a man who dressed as a cotton-ball sheep catches on fire at a Halloween party

*Click here for FLAMING SHEEP video!

Man Dies After Hands Get Stuck In Machine

A man has died after his hands became trapped in machinery at a power station in south Wales

Gwent Police were called. The worker, who was not a local man, suffered serious injuries at the AES Fifoots Point power plant in Nash.

He was taken to Royal Gwent Hospital but died shortly after arriving.

His family has been informed.

South Wales Fire and Rescue Service and ambulance workers attended the scene to extricate the worker from the machinery.

Police Inspector Robert Witherall said: “At 3.05pm yesterday, Gwent Police received a call from the ambulance service to the effect a man had been involved in an industrial accident at the power station where he had serious injuries.”

Gwent Police and the Health and Safety Executive are carrying out an investigation into the death.

Anchovy Rounds Recipe

Can anyone find a more depressing recipe?? Huh?

Instructions:

Make some toast, cut it in rounds, butter it when cold. Curl an anchovy round a stewed olive, and put it on the toast. Make a little border of yolk of egg boiled and chopped.

The Belgian Cookbook (1915)

“I Learned It By Watching You” Anti-Drug PSA

I couldn’t find the one I really wanted… “Jimmy, did you even look for a job today?”

Why Study Home Economics? (1955)

This is MINDBLOWING. What were we thinking???

Second-Grader Commits Suicide in New Jersey

djlocalnews@the dailyjournal.com

VINELAND — A 7-year-old boy who died at home Wednesday hanged himself, the prosecutor’s office said.The boy, who was reported to be a very good student, might have been upset about receiving a poor mark at school earlier in the day, sources said. The Cunningham Elementary second-grader hanged himself in the bedroom of his East Chestnut Avenue home, Cumberland County Prosecutor Ronald J. Casella said. Neither the boy nor his family has been formally identified by official sources.Detective Lt. Tom Ulrich said several family members were in the home when the boy died. According to reports, his body was discovered after he failed to answer his parent’s call to dinner. Neighbors said he was an outwardly fun-loving boy who played in the large yard of his family’s two-story, wood-frame house along Chestnut Avenue, near the former Newcomb Hospital. The family lived there for about two years without much interaction with neighbors. But all appeared well from a distance, said neighbors bordering the family’s home. The family left the house Wednesday night after the incident, according to neighbors who declined to give their names. Attempts to contact the family at their home Thursday were unsuccessful. Administrators at Cunningham were not available for comment Thursday evening, but letters were sent home with second-grade students that afternoon notifying parents of the student’s death, said Linda Santagata, Vineland assistant superintendent of student personnel services. The boy was not identified in the letter, but school officials wanted parents to understand their child “might come home sad,” Santagata said. The letter explained that a student at the school died, the children were notified, and parents were encouraged to speak with their children about death and how to cope. Attached to the letter was an article from the National Psychology Association concerning how to talk to children about death and grieving. Nine counselors in the district joined Cunningham’s two counselors, social worker and Santagata to speak with any students. The counselor’s office, open to all of the school’s 500 students, was filled with people all day. The counseling will be available for as long as it’s needed, Santagata said, adding young children might not fully grasp the depth of the situation. “Children that age may not understand the concept of death. They just know they suddenly feel sad,” she said. Faculty meetings were held at the beginning and end of the school day to allow teachers and students to speak and grieve. Santagata said the staff was “very upset.” Vineland spokesperson John Sbrana said the district — between administration, counselors and social workers — has a strong crisis team for incidents like the death of a student. “It’s a terrible tragedy,” he said. “We’re reaching out to the family as much as we can. It’s an unspeakable thing to happen to a family.” Principal Monica Dannenberger and assistant principal Debra Bechtel visited the home on Chestnut Avenue to comfort the family. Santagata said Bechtel and Dannenberger talked to them about not feeling “guilt about something they might not have seen” coming. Santagata said the boy had a normal home life, was doing well in school and in the Gifted and Talented program, and was well-liked by friends. He never had to be disciplined for any reason, she added. She wouldn’t talk about whether a sudden change in his personal or school life might have been the cause. Charges likely won’t be filed, police said Thursday. “It is tragic when a child dies, no matter what the circumstance,” Lt. Ulrich said. Staff writers Kristi Funderburk, Miles Jackson and Tim Zatzariny Jr. contributed to this report.