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New Milk Jugs

New Milk Jugs and Nostalgic Feelings for the Milkman


Consumers are voicing their displeasure with the new milk jugs hitting the dairy section of their local Wal-Mart, Costco and Sam's Clubs, according to UPI. The familiar one-gallon milk container has not undergone an extreme makeover, it's just become more square. The new milk jugs are intended to make shipping the milk easier and more cost effective.

Why New Milk Jugs?

Consumers know that everyday groceries are increasing with nearly every other trip to the local grocery store. The price of milk has increased 26 percent in the last year, according to the Labor Department (Boston Globe). This is not exactly new news to the consumer.

Will the new new milk jugs truly help with the production and distribution costs of transporting the milk? More importantly, will that savings be passed off to the consumer? The new milk jugs will save consumers "about 10 to 20 cents per gallon," according to CBS.

When you look at the top of a traditional one-gallon milk container, you can see that it is not practical to stack milk gallons on top of one another. That's why gallons of milk are transported in hard, plastic milk crates.

The new milk jugs are square and can be stacked more easily, according to CBS. The changes are significant, when you consider Sam's Club has increased the delivery load from 80 gallons of milk to 224 gallons using the new milk jugs, Sam's Club told CBS.

Nostalgic Feelings for the Milkman

Are new packaging ideas like the new milk jugs really the answer? Or is this another economic and environmental situation when we as a society should go back to basics? Is it time to resurrect the milkman?

We used to have a square box outside of our door when I was growing up. This was in the 1970s and I lived in a suburban, not rural area. In the morning, the local milkman would leave four one quart bottles of milk in the box. The milk bottles and sealer, unlike the new milk jugs, did not use any plastic. The top was a red and white striped paper covering.

When my family finished drinking the dairy products, we would rinse out the container and put it back in the milk box for the milkman. There was no need for a recycling bin.

Original Source : http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/853351/new_milk_jugs_and_nostalgic_feelings.html?cat=3

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Le Vent Du Nord

Le Vent Du Nord's 400-Year-Old Musical Gems


As Americans get ready to celebrate the Fourth of July, many of our neighbors to the north are also observing a major historical event: This weekend marks the anniversary of Samuel de Champlain's founding of Quebec City on July 3, 1608. At 400, the picturesque Canadian city is one of the oldest in North America, and a yearlong celebration of Quebecois culture is in full swing through October.

Participating in that celebration is a band dedicated to preserving and sharing the musical heritage of francophone Canada: Le Vent du Nord (literally, "wind from the north"). All four of the band's musicians come from musical families, sing and have mastered such instruments as guitar, mandolin, fiddle, piano, accordion, acoustic bass, hurdy-gurdy and foot-tapping board. The group's new CD, Dans les airs, features songs — some more than 400 years old — from Quebec and Acadia, the name given to certain areas along the northeastern coast of America.

Because some of the songs they perform arrived on these shores with early French settlers and date back even more than 400 years, the group is sort of a collector of musical "antiques," preserving and introducing unusual material that has not yet been discovered or recorded, says accordionist Nicolas Boulerice.

"A lot of people call us guardians of the tradition," Boulerice says. "The old people want to know if you are respectful, if you sing those songs in the way of the tradition."

"We don't change the melody or lyrics much, or even the way the old people were playing it — this is its magic," adds fiddler Olivier Demers. "We want to keep the real soul of the fiddle tune." Demers also likes to point out that a lot of this music is not solely French, but a unique blend of French, Irish and Native American influences, with occasional flavoring from the U.S.

The band looks for antique musical gems wherever they go. When they heard about a "very good singer" living in the farming village of St. Guillaume, a short distance from Montreal, they knocked on the nearly 90-year-old singer's door, introduced themselves as musicians, and spent the evening in the kitchen — drinking, singing, and learning some of the precious old songs, such as "La beauté du mariage."

Traditional Quebecois percussion consists of foot-tapping on a special board. Le Vent du Nord's foot-tapper, Demers, explains that it originated in their ancestors' farmhouse kitchens. Saturday evenings were a highlight for the families, many of which had 15 to 20 children.

"Probably there was one fiddle player in every village. Sometimes they put the fiddler on a chair, and put the chair on a table in the middle of the kitchen, because it was the largest room in the house. People would dance around the table while the fiddler played and tapped his feet to keep time for dancing."

Some French songs survive in Canada long after they have been forgotten in France, such as "La fille et les dragons," a song about a young woman who leaves home to live with three dragons (a "dragon" here is not the mythical beast, but a knight or soldier). When her parents come looking for her she tells them, "one brushes my hair, the other one cleans my house, and I'm sitting on the knee of the third one. I'm very happy and don't want to return [home]."

In this song you can hear a kind of French Canadian "scat" singing — called "tsurletsu," in imitation of the flute, which was very popular. It's also called "mouth music," or "mouth reel," and is found in the Celtic tradition as well.

"It's also a way to express joy without anything [without an instrument], and everyone can do it," says Demers. "At that time, with not enough to eat and big families for working in the fields, the early settlers had a hard life. But they had their passion and their joy and the desire to survive. Without any fiddle, without anything, they got together to make this beautiful place called Quebec." And this beautiful music that has survived.

Original Source : http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91964712

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Hurricane Boris

Hurricane Boris poses no threat to land

A hurricane -- the first of 2008 -- has formed way out in the Pacific Ocean. It is far from land and expected to weaken before causing any serious damage.

Hurricane Boris was about 1,100 miles west-southwest of Baja, Calif., Tuesday morning. With sustained winds reaching 75 mph, Boris is a Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson intensity scale.

Meteorologists at the National Hurricane Center in West Miami-Dade County said Boris will likely weaken later Tuesday.

Another tropical system is dumping rain off the southwestern coast of Mexico, near Manzanillo. Forecasters are tracking that system, which they say may grow into a tropical depression later this week as it moves northwest.

Despite the activity in the Pacific, there remains little storm formation in the Atlantic Ocean as the 2008 hurricane season begins its second month.

Hurricane specialists are watching a strong tropical wave in the extreme Eastern Atlantic, near the west coast of Africa. Weather conditions are favorable for that system to grow and strengthen in the next few days.

Short-term forecasts call for clouds covering South Florida most of Tuesday with a 70 percent chance of afternoon thunderstorms. Wednesday and Thursday will likely shape up the same way, with clouds, scattered rain and highs in the mid-80s.

Original Source : http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking_dade/story/589659.html

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Joe Horn Burden Of Truth

Burden of truth lies with Horn

These are good times for gun owners.

Between the U.S. Supreme Court striking the D.C. gun ban and the clearing of Pasadena vigilante Joe Horn, I'm halfway expecting Gov. Rick Perry to issue an executive order this afternoon granting the long-held wish of open-carry petitioners to grant their right to sport handguns in hip holsters.

But seriously, folks, nothing about the Harris County grand jury's refusal yesterday to indict Horn was surprising. I wrote several months ago about how Texas law seemed to be on the side of the Pasadena retiree who in November shot to death two men who had just burglarized his neighbors' unoccupied home.

'Castle Doctrine'

What made the case so controversial is that, even though Horn seemed to mistakenly evoke the recently passed "Castle Doctrine" in a 911 recording, Horn's own life and property were never in jeopardy until he decided to disregard a dispatcher's pleadings to stay inside his home and took it upon himself — and his 12-gauge shotgun — to stop the bad guys before they "get away with it."

Police said Horn shot both burglars in the back, although a plainclothes officer who had arrived in time to witness the shooting said one of the burglars appeared to run toward Horn before angling away.

But even if Horn hadn't created a situation where he needed to defend himself, a section of the Penal Code dealing with protection of a neighbor's property basically grants Horn the right to shoot if he thought the bad guys were getting away with it.

Antiquated statute

According to the statute, deadly force is justified if the shooter "reasonably believes" it's immediately necessary to stop the burglars from escaping with the stolen property. It's also justified if the shooter "reasonably believes" that "the land or property cannot be protected or recovered by any other means."

Now, Texas law isn't known for its progressive trend-setting. Ours is the same state that had to be told recently by the nation's highest court that we can't wait until indictment to give poor people attorneys to defend themselves. But this statute appears to be particularly antiquated.

George Dix, a law professor at the University of Texas, located its predecessor in criminal code from the mid-1850s. The statute, very similar to the modern one, was found in the "Chapter of Justifiable Homicide," which also included an article explaining the circumstances under which it's justified to kill a slave.

The statute survived extensive revisions to the Penal Code in the 1970s and won't likely be changed soon. The hands of grand jurors may have been tied. Or they simply may have believed the grandpa when he claimed self-defense in a situation of his own making.

But the greater question is whether their decision — albeit tailored for the specific circumstances of Horn's case — will be construed more widely by some. Will some see it as a declaration of open season on all suspicious people who appear to be lurking around a neighbor's house? Are Texas gun owners suddenly deputized to take the law into their own hands?

If Joe Horn got away with it, can you? And should you even try?

These questions may be part of what compelled District Attorney Kenneth Magidson to issue a statement following the grand jury's no-bill.

Saying he respected the grand jury's decision, the DA wrote that he understood "the concerns of some in the community regarding Mr. Horn's conduct. The use of deadly force is carefully limited in Texas law to certain circumstances, and each case stands or falls on its particular facts.

"This office will continue to aggressively prosecute anyone who illegally engages in the use of force, deadly or otherwise, against another."

But the best person to answer the question of whether Horn acted appropriately is Horn himself. He didn't need a grand jury to give him an answer.

He seemed to realize early on that needlessly shooting two men — regardless of their criminal behavior and illegal immigrant status, of which Horn was unaware at the time — would weigh heavily on him.

Through his attorney, Horn said he regretted shooting and that, if he had it to do over again, he would have stayed inside.

"Was it a mistake from a legal standpoint? No. But a mistake in his life? Yes," said defense lawyer Tom Lambright.

That message shouldn't get lost in all the celebrating from gun-rights advocates and armchair vigilantes who continue to proclaim Horn a hero and invite him to move next door.

This case has never been about gun rights, or self-defense. There are few people in this state who question someone's right to protect themselves with a gun if his or her life, family's life or property are threatened.

That wasn't the case with Horn.

The little old man from Pasadena gunned down two men like dogs. For a bag of loot.

He escaped indictment, but he'll carry that burden for the rest of his life.

Original Source : http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/falkenberg/5865045.html

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Volumetrics Eating Plan To Lose Weight

Volumetrics Eating Plan to Lose Weight - Volumetric Eating Sounds Great to Me…


These The Volumetrics Eating Plan: Techniques and Recipes for Feeling Full on Fewer Calories and The Volumetrics Weight-Control Plan books sound good to me.

Both books are very well reviewed by average customers who’ve tried the Volumetrics way of eating.

Volumetrics Says 2 Cups of Grapes Will Fill You Up More Than a Handful of Raisins — Both Worth 100 Calories…


Besides, it makes sense — 2 whole cups of grapes worth 100 calories would fill me up more than a small handful of raisins that are also worth 100 calories.

This is awesome.

Today is a new day — the first day of the second half of 2008 — July 1st.

And I’m headed to the grocery store for a whole bunch of Volumetrics-type filling foods.

Fruits and veggies and soups and stuff are so good for me anyway. Why not?

It’ll help me get back down to the healthy 148 lbs. I haven’t seen in about 5 years and get me closer to the weight on the pic of my head Photoshopped atop Tyra Banks’ body I use to inspire me…

Original Source : http://www.watchfreeepisodes.com/volumetrics-for-weight-loss-volumetric-eating-plan-says-pack-on-fruits-and-veggies-and-low-energy-foods-to-feel-fuller/796/

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mygallons.com

MyGallons.com; July 1 hands-free cell phone law; EveryScape

Cell Phone Being Dialed in Car

Driving news | Don’t forget that today is July 1, the day California needs to go hands-free while driving. That means you better rush to your local phone retail outlet ad buy an earpiece—and no more talking on the cell phone (with your hand pressed to youer ear) whie driving. Don’t buy into the 30-day grace period you might have heard about, warnings and tickets will be issued on a case by case basis for now. Read: California’s hands-free cellphone law for drivers takes effect Tuesday and the Bottleneck Blog’s Hands-Free L.A. Guide about what this new law means and how it will affect you. Some think that even with a hands-free device, using a cell phone while driving is still unsafe. Read: Hands-free cellphone use while driving won’t make the roads safer, studies show. Why? Brain overload

Gas relief | Check out MyGallons.com, a website that can help you save money at the pump. Sign up for a $29.95 or $39.95 annual fee MyGallons Card, pre-purchase gas on your MyGallons Card and lock in a price before going to the pump. Then, just use the card when you get your gas. There are many major filling stations including Chevron, 76, Shell, Texaco, Exxon and more. To get the cheaper annual fee, you must agree that MyGallons will automatically replenish your account when you drop below 15 gallons. Note: It takes 1-6 weeks to get your card.

Travel tech | Have you heard about EveryScape? It’s a web-mapping tool that not only lets you see the outside of the shop and the street when you punch in an address—but also shows you in the inside of the shop. Read: EveryScape maps local businesses from the inside out.

Original Source : http://travel.latimes.com/daily-deal-blog/index.php/mygallonscom-july-1--2146/

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Tivo Announced

TiVo Gets Announced... Does Anybody Care?



We knew it was happening, but Channel 7 today officially launched the Australian version of TiVo. We weren't there, but we've grabbed a copy of the press release and had a read of Asher Moses' piece on SMH, and have to say that we're not inspired.

For a start, the press release is full of smacktalk. Now, I know Channel 7 enjoys the smacktalk, but in a press release? Have a read for your self:
"The TiVo HD DVR brings you all the features, and more, that until now were only available to pay television customers. Why pay monthly fees for pay television when 56% of pay television viewing is on the free channels anyway?"
But the real disappointment isn't in the press release. It's in the details. Like the fact that some of TiVo's core features will be gimped at launch, only to be switched on at a later date for a fee in the "tens of dollars".
According to the SMH's reports, at launch (it hits Harvey Norman shelves on July 29) there will be no home networking features and no music or movie downloads either. Seven claim that it's to keep it simple for consumers. Although they apparantly admitted that it's to get a bit more cash from your pocket.

There's obviously no mention in the press release on whether you can skip ads you've recorded, but we're going to say that you can't.

Despite all the negativity, it does have the standard TiVo features like Season Pass, Kidzone and Record by Actor or Director. And things like movie and music downloads will be expanding as the service grows in the next 12 months. They're also planning on releasing an external hard drive attachment next year to expand the amount you can record.

But what do you guys think? Is $699 for a DVR too much? Especially if you have to pay more within a year to unlock more functions? Let us know in comments.

Original Source : http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2008/07/tivo_gets_announced_does_anybody_care.html

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Phiengchai Sisouvanh Synhavong Arrested

Police: Woman's baby was cut from womb


KENNEWICK, Wash. - Kennewick police report that a pregnant woman was fatally stabbed multiple times in the chest and her nearly full-term baby was cut from her womb. Police have arrested a 23-year-old woman.

The baby boy has been hospitalized at Deaconess Medical Center in Spokane in critical condition.

Court documents say 27-year-old Araceli Camacho Gomez, of Pasco, had her hands and feet bound with yarn and suffered "massive trauma to her stomach area" late Friday night. An autopsy showed she died of the chest wounds, but had other wounds "consistent with the cutting of the body to remove an unborn child."

Her body was found early Saturday in Kennewick's Columbia Park.

A 23-year-old Kennewick woman, Phiengchai Sisouvanh Synhavong, has been arrested for investigation of first-degree murder and is accused of trying to pass the infant boy off as her own in calls made late Friday night to emergency dispatchers. She was being held without bail Monday, with another court appearance scheduled Wednesday.

Court documents say blue mechanic's gloves soaked in blood, a boxcutter, bloody paper towels, yarn, a mucus bulb, baby bottle and baby socks were among some of the items found in Sisouvanh Synhavong's purse.

They didn't say whether the boxcutter was used to cut or stab Gomez and police refused to discuss details Monday.

Court documents allege that Sisouvanh Synhavong called 911 at 11:04 p.m. Friday saying she was by JCPenney, had just given birth and that she thought the baby had died.

The call ended, but the woman called again a few minutes later. Dispatchers were able to trace the calls, and she was found in a parking lot with the baby, holding what appeared to be an umbilical cord. A "significant amount of blood and pieces of human tissue" were found in the back seat, documents said.

The site was a mile or two from the spot where Gomez's body was later found, but it wasn't immediately clear whether Gomez was killed at the site where her body was found, or was killed elsewhere and the body dumped there.

Sisouvanh Synhavong and the baby were taken to Kennewick General Hospital, where medical tests showed she had not recently given birth.

Original Source : http://www.nwcn.com/topstories/stories/NW_063008WAB_kennewick_body_KC.edf6adb.html

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Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

Finding Fido tales wanted

Stylists at a local salon are looking for the best story about how your dog became part of the family. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang Salon will choose the pet/owner pair with the most heartfelt or humorous story to be announced at a fundraiser on July 20. The deadline for stories is July 16.

Michele Baker of All About Pets will provide a complimentary grooming service to the lucky pet, and his owner will receive a complimentary haircut, color and style and makeup application from Kiss Kiss Bang Bang Salon.

The fundraiser, Bucks for Barks, will be from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. July 20 at Kiss Kiss Bang Bang Salon in Fishers. The salon will have games, food and fun for the whole family, including pets. Cost is a per-person donation of $10 or one item from the Humane Society Wish List. All proceeds will be given to the Survivor Program at the Humane Society for Hamilton County.

The Wish List can be viewed on the Web site at www.hamiltonhumane.com. Items on the list that the Humane Society is in urgent need of include:

» New carpet samples with bound edges (to line cat cages).

» New collars and leashes, specifically small- and medium-size collars and 6-foot flat nylon leashes.

» Folding crates (new or very gently used folding style only), specifically 36- and 42-inch sizes.

» Poop scoopers, specifically two-piece scoops with spades.

» Vetrap bandaging tape.

» Pill pockets.

» Kitten replacement milk (KMR)

» Small, medium and large Kongs to fill with treats.

» Band-Aids of all sizes.

» Antiseptic ointment.

» Eye wash.

» Cross cut paper shredder.

The Survivor Program was established to give shelter animals with life-threatening illnesses or injuries the life-saving medical care they might need.

Each time an animal needs medical attention, the question is whether or not the shelter has enough funding. It is the Survivor Program funding that allows the Humane Society to approve the medical treatment needed to save an animal's life when there is no time for questions.

The Humane Society Web site states that the average cost of emergency medical care and treatment is:

» $250-$350 to treat a heartworm-positive dog.

» $250-$350 to save one puppy with parvovirus.

» $200-$300 to provide in-patient, supportive care to a cat or dog.

» $300-$500 to stabilize and treat an animal hit by a car.

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is a company that believes not only in style, but also in lifestyle. The salon hopes to expand and enrich its services, enhance the lives of people in the community and extend public awareness.

Those interested in sending their stories should mail them by July 16 to Kiss Kiss Bang Bang Salon, 8395 E. 116th St., Suite 137, Fishers, IN 46074. If you have any questions, contact Kiss Kiss Bang Bang Salon at (317) 915-0100.

Original Source : http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080627/LOCAL0102/806270343/1003/BUSINESS


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New Slipknot Masks

NEW SLIPKNOT MASKS REVEALED TODAY

On July 1, SLIPKNOT, the Grammy Award winning, multi-platinum nine man hard rock enigma, will unveil its new imagery in an exclusive partnership with AOL Music, the web's most trafficked online music destination*. This highly anticipated debut kicks-starts the launch of Slipknot's new album, All Hope Is Gone, which is set for release on Roadrunner Records on August 26th. Masks are an integral part of the band's identity and to reflect this point, AOL Music's Spinner.com will host a retrospective photo gallery of Slipknot masks throughout their career, spanning all three previous albums and including the most recent controversial "Purgatory Masks." The Slipknot mask unveiling will be featured on the main page of Spinner.com worldwide for 24 hours.

Slipknot is a groundbreaking nine-piece machine born out of Des Moines, IA. The band has sold over 10 million albums worldwide. Their last studio album VOL. 3: (THE SUBLIMINAL VERSES) was released in May 2004, debuted at #2 on the Billboard Top 200 Chart, selling over 240,000 copies its first week and 1.5 million copies in the U.S. to date. The album broke new ground for the band and spawned the hit singles "Duality," "Vermilion" and "Before I Forget." In November 2005 the band released SLIPKNOT 9.0: LIVE, a gold-certified double live album. December 2006 saw the release of the DVD Voliminal: Inside the 9. Certified platinum, it is a vivid, brutally honest glimpse of the world inside the band.

Original source : http://www.imperiumi.net/news_2.php?id=7444

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Ganja Queen

Ganja Queen: Drug Trial of an Aussie Surfer Girl

In Australia, all the party kids go to Bali, where they surf and maybe smoke a little marijuana. Ganja Queen is the terrifying tale of Aussie gal Schapelle Corby, accused of being a a drug smuggler when the Bali cops found pounds of pot in her surf bag.

This is the biggest Australian story since Ned Kelly killed all those policemen, with her Indonesian trial broadcast live on Aussie TV.

You can see Ganja Queen tonight on HBO, as part of the summer documentary series. Grab the HBO Documentary Films Series widget and stay up to date on the complete series.

Original Source : http://wonkette.com/400033/ganja-queen-a-terrible-lesson-for-stoners
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