Archive for February, 2012

Kids get caffeine fix in New York’s hippest coffee shops

Friday, February 17, 2012 by:Laura Weisman
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By Sean Dreilinger/Flickr

The “Babyccino” is apparently a new trend in some of the hippest parts of New York.

The hot chocolate days for kids may be now considered passé for some hipster parents, who are giving their children coffee drinks, mixed with frothed milk, chocoloate or caramel. The drinks actually contain coffee — regular or decaf.

The coffee shops offering these special drinks are in Brooklyn, Prospect Heights and Greenwich Village, according to The Brooklyn Paper, which originally reported the trend.

Dr. Wendy Slusser of the Mattel Children’s Hospital UCLA, told The New York Post that both decaf and regular coffee have a compound that robs kids of iron.

“Even kids with mild anemia, they might not pass out, but they might not perform as well in school or learn as well,” she said.

Airline offers you Mile-High Club membership

Friday, February 17, 2012 by:Laura Weisman
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Always wanted to have sex on an airplane? Here’s your chance.

Flamingo Air, a private mom-and-pop operation in Cincinnati allows its customers to get busy during a one-hour flight over the Ohio city, according to WCPO-TV. They have a tiny compartment in the Cherokee Six behind the pilot made up as a bed, with champagne and chocolates.

Pilot Dave MacDonald and co-owner Sharon McGee see customers from all over the world book a $425 flight that will fly over just about any Cincinnati landmark you request.

But mostly people don’t care where they fly.

McDonald told WCPO:

“I have had a high heel in my ear once, been shot in the back of the head with a champagne cork, and thank God we wear headsets.” … He is the co-president of Flamingo Air and pilots many of the flights. And those are just some of the stories the pilots are willing to share. But many others, as well as the mile high client list, will stay in the cockpit forever.

“What goes on behind the curtain is no concern of our ours. It is a matter of professionalism, our customers expect that. If I ever wrote a book it would be great,” MacDonald said.

More pets died on Delta than any other airline last year

Friday, February 17, 2012 by:Kate Shellnutt
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Air travel can aggravate some pets’ health conditions. (Chronicle file)

The Consumerist reported that 35 pets died on U.S. carriers last year, with 19 of those on Delta flights.

The Atlanta-based airline transports 500,000 pet passengers a year and has banned smushed-face breeds like bulldogs since they often suffer from overheating. (Of the 16 pets that died on Delta flights the year before, six were bulldogs.)

A majority of the 2011 deaths occurred when pre-existing health conditions were aggravated by the stress of travel, the blog wrote.

“The loss of any pet is unacceptable to us,” Delta spokesman Anthony Black told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “We are working to improve the processes and procedures to ensure that every pet arrives safely at its destination.”

Delta says it has a particularly high volume of pets compared with other airlines, and carriers like Southwest and AirTran do not take pets in their checked cargo at all, the newspaper said.

Snickers, Twix candymaker will stop making king-sized bars

Thursday, February 16, 2012 by:Kate Shellnutt
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(celesteh / Flickr Creative Commons)

Giant candy bars with loads of calories may becoming a thing of the past, as major candymaker Mars announced a pledge to keep all its products at under 250 calories by the end of next year, Reuters reported.

That means its biggest bars—supersized Snickers, Twix and M&Ms—will go away by the start of 2014 to allow for more modest, chocolately indulgences, or as Mars calls it, “responsible snacking.”

The king-size Snickers bar had 540 calories, and king-size Twix (with FOUR caramel-covered cookie-candy bars) had 474.

U.S. economy being nickeled-and-pennied to death?

Thursday, February 16, 2012 by:Laura Weisman
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Too expensive to produce? (Fotolia.com)

It costs 11.2 cents to make a U.S. nickel.

Is that the dumbest thing you ever heard? Check this out: It also costs 2.4 cents to make each penny.

President Obama did promise hope and change. Hmmm. Anyway, he now wants the U.S. Treasury Department to figure out a cheaper way to make pennies and nickels, in addition to his effort to get rid of $1 coins. He spells it out in his budget, summarized by AP:

Treasury is also seeking to save money … by seeking legislation to allow the Treasury secretary to change the composition of coins to more cost-effective materials. …

Copper pennies are actually almost entirely zinc, with a 2.5 percent copper coating. Nickels, on the other hand, are mostly copper and only about a quarter nickel. (If this isn’t government thinking, I don’t know what is.)

According to CNN:

The Mint will need some time to research the best alternatives, according to administration documents.

Still, the Treasury will have a hard time making pennies pay for themselves, according to CNN Money’s Chris Isidore. As he notes, “the administrative cost of minting 4.3 billion pennies costs almost a half-cent per coin by itself, leaving precious little room to make a penny for less than a cent, no matter the raw material used.”

So what is the cheapest and best material we should we make pennies from? Wood? Recycled aluminum? Plugged nickels? Give us your suggestions in the comments.

‘Colbert Report’ shut down for family emergency

Thursday, February 16, 2012 by:Laura Weisman
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Comedy Central’s “The Colbert Report” abruptly halted production for Wednesday and Thursday, sending an email to audience members who had tickets for the rest of the week’s tapings, The Huffington Post reports.

Today, word comes that there was a family emergency in the Colbert family, according to the Wall Street Journal:

Stephen Colbert has suspended production of his satirical comedy show temporarily because of an emergency in Mr. Colbert’s family, according to people familiar with the show.

The show is expected to resume production soon, perhaps as early as next week, the people added.

The Huffington Post reported Wednesday:

Third Beat and Mediaite are reporting that audience members were informed late Tuesday night via email, “Due to unforeseen circumstances, we have cancelled our taping for the date of your ticket reservation, February 15, 2012.” And ColbertNation.com has been updated with a rerun scheduled for Thursday night’s episode.

Stephen Colbert’s website, Colbert Nation, offers no explanation.

Third Beat noted:

“The Daily Show has suspended production last-minute due to personal reasons twice during Jon Stewart’s reign: once when his second child was born, and once when a staff member passed away suddenly. If this week’s reasons are of a similar nature, it would be a first for the Colbert Report.”

The most expensive Starbucks drink ever is…

Thursday, February 16, 2012 by:amyrolph@seattlepi.com (Amy Rolph)
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That would be a java chip frappuccino in a trenta venti cup with 16 shots of espresso, a shot of soy milk, caramel flavoring, banana puree, strawberry puree, vanilla beans, matcha powder, protein powder, with caramel and mocha drizzled on top.

That’s what a young man named Logan Warren ended up ordering when he asked a barista to make him the most expensive drink possible. (He had a gift card, after all — why not guzzle it down in one giant cup?)

The total on the bill? $23.60.

Of course, Warren might regret actually finishing the drink, which he described as “tolerable, but not good.”

“Imagine a coffee-based health food smoothie that will put you in the hospital if you drink it all,” he wrote. “That’s how it tastes…like Jillian Michaels with a touch of Chuck Norris.”

Update from Starbucks: It wasn’t a trena-sized cup — that’s a no-no for frappuccinos. But the company is thrilled Warren still had so much fun concocting his birthday beverage.

We’re pleased to hear this My Starbucks Rewards customer was able to find great value in his free birthday beverage and develop a unique creation. As you can see by the receipt, which is dated March 2011, the base beverage was a Venti Frappuccino, not a Trenta. Our Trenta-size cup is only available for Starbucks® Iced Coffee, Tazo® Shaken Iced Tea and Iced Tea Lemonades. To ensure consistent service, this policy has been reinforced with our store partners (employees).

Read more via The Daily What.

Lovers busted for vehicular Valentine’s Day bondage

Thursday, February 16, 2012 by:Mike Moffitt
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Nikolas Harbar and Stephanie Pelzner: just having role-playing fun

Nikolas Harbar and Stephanie Pelzner: just having role-playing fun

It wasn’t your usual Valentine’s Day date.

No, 31-year-old Nikolas Harbar and 26-year-old Stephanie Pelzner of Portland, Ore., decided to dispense with the candle-lit dinner, the flowers and the chocolates, and instead take a walk on the wild side.

Or to be precise, a ride on the wild side. In a Subaru Legacy. With Pelzer in the backseat – naked, tied up and her mouth covered with duct tape.

The kinky couple parked at New Seasons Market in the city, where a passer-by made the understandable error of mistaking foreplay for a kidnapping in progress.

The responsible citizen took down the plate and phoned the authorities.

Naturally, police suspected sexual assault or worse. An alert was issued and eventually nine cruisers took off in pursuit.

At 12:56 p.m., police returning to the address of the registered car owner spotted the Suburu with Pelzner still naked and bound in the back. Harbar told officers that “they were doing some Valentine’s Day role playing,” according to the police report. Officers confirmed the story with Pelzner, who said she was a willing participant.

Even so, police were not amused about the wild goose chase. They decided to arrest the pair for disorderly conduct in the second degree.

Harbar and Pelzner were booked into Multnomah County Jail, where there’s no safeword for getting out of its particular brand of B&D.

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