Electrocute a Pickle

Materials Needed:

• Power cord
• Wire strippers
• Soldering iron
• Two forks
• Two alligator clips
• Plate (non-conductive)
Step 1:
Clip off the end of the power cord--the end that plugs into something, and not into the wall. Peel back the outer insulation. You will see three cords: two 'hot' (often black and white), and one 'ground (for example, green). Snip back the ground cord.
Step 2:
Strip the ends of the two remaining cords.
Step 3:
Solder alligator clips to the ends of the stripped cables.
Step 4:
Attach each alligator clip to a fork. Place these forks on a non-conductive plate--something that it not metal, tin or aluminum. Make sure that the forks do not touch anything conductive.
Step 5:
Jam the forks into the two ends of a pickle. Make sure that the two cords are not at all touching.
Step 6:
Carefully, plug in your power cord. You may want to plug this cord into a power strip, and then flip the switch on. This method provides more control, and is safer.
Step 7:
Turn on the electricity, and watch your pickle glow orange and yellow with electricity. When you are done, turn off your power strip, and unplug the cord. Only handle your equipment when you are 100 percent certain that it isn't connected to a power source.

A Few Tricks of the Trade

College/University women/men here are a few of the tricks my mother told me about for college.
1. At the end if each year if you leave holes in the walls and you want your security deposit back, you don't need spackling. Depending on the colour of your walls you can use toothpaste or worse comes to worst children's coloured clay that you can get from the dollar store.
2. If you think a specific guy/girl drugged your beer swap yours with his/hers.
3. Choose your friends carefully. Don't pick any homicidal or suicidal.
4. Read the footnotes (professors love to make exam questions out of these)
5. Don't party too much.
6. And my last piece of advice is to just go with the flow.

New Hampshire: Police: Black tar heroin in region

Crime knows no borders.

A new drug has made its way from Mexico to Haverhill, Mass., and New Hampshire police said black tar heroin has found its way over the state border.

Haverhill police arrested two men Tuesday on 5th Avenue with 22 grams of black tar heroin, a dark and sticky substance that is usually not as pure as the powdered form of the drug that comes from South America. Sgt. John Arahovites said heroin sold in the Merrimack Valley is generally powdery and he does not recall black tar heroin being trafficked in Haverhill.

Black tar heroin and regular heroin cost about the same, Arahovites said, and both are addictive.

"It's not the heroin we're generally used to," he said. "We're always worried about heroin and other drugs coming into the city."

Lawrence, Mass., police Chief John Romero said "huge amounts of drugs" run through the city, yet his top drug officers have never seen black tar heroin in the city.

While there probably aren't huge amounts of the drug in New Hampshire, police here agree that it's around.

Plaistow police Deputy Chief Kathleen Jones said they haven't arrested anyone for possession of the drug, but its possible resurgence has been discussed at regional detective meetings. She's also heard, sporadically, of it being available in Plaistow, usually from Lawrence and Lowell, Mass.

"It's not probably that we don't have any in Plaistow, just that we haven't come across it from an enforcement standpoint yet," she said. "It's so scary."

Deputy Chief William Ganley of Salem said he hasn't heard of black tar heroin since the early 1990s — and even then it was fairly infrequent. But, since heroin itself is prevalent and black tar heroin is in Haverhill, it's probably in Salem, too, Ganley said.

"The border doesn't matter," he said. "If it's coming in, our addicts are probably using it."

The border effect also has Atkinson police on the lookout.

"If they've got it in Haverhill, it's on it's way here," Lt. William Baldwin said. "There's no doubt in my mind."

Heroin's prevalence has been most visible in Newton, where five people have overdosed on the drug in the past year.

Chief Larry Streeter said yesterday that he wasn't entirely familiar with black tar heroin, but continues to do things to try to cope with the drug.

"That doesn't mean that some of the prior cases weren't black heroin," he said. "We haven't made that distinction."

Heroin continues to be a statewide concern, but black tar heroin is yet to create a specific problem in New Hampshire, according to the state Office of Alcohol and Drug Policy.

Hampstead Lt. John Frazier said he can't predict if the drug is on its way to Hampstead, but he knows it hasn't been there yet. But as far as he's concerned, heroin is heroin.

"Do you want a knife in the side of the head or to the back?" he said. "It's all bad."



Black tar heroin

Origin: Mexico

Sold: Typically on the West Coast of the United States

Description: Black and sticky, or hard like coal

Purity: Generally less pure and more crudely processed than powdered heroin from South America

Dangers: Chronic users can develop collapsed veins, infection of the heart lining and valves, abscesses, cellulitis and liver disease.

History: Heroin in general was created in 1874 and was used by doctors as pain medicine until at least 1914.

Use: Can be injected, smoked or snorted.

Special Thanks to Eagle Tribune

MadTv

The Yo-yo

It is believed that the yo-yo most likely originated in China. The first historical mention of the yo-yo, however, was from Greece in the year 500 B.C. These ancient toys were made out of wood, metal, or painted terra cotta disks and called just that, a disc. It was customary, when a child turned of age, to offer toys of their youth to certain gods. Due to the fragile nature of the material, it is presumed that the disks made of terra cotta (clay) were used for this purpose rather than for actual play. A vase painting from this time period shows a Greek youth playing with a yo-yo. Such vases, as well as an actual terra cotta disk can be found in the National Museum of Athens, Greece.



Even in ancient Egyptian temples, drawings of objects have been seen in the shape of yo-yos.

Historical records indicate that 16th century hunters in the Philippines hid up in trees and used a rock tied to a long cord, up to 20 feet in length, to throw at wild animals beneath them. The weapon was able to be pulled up and thrown back down for multiple attempts at the prey. This gave rise to the widespread idea that the practice was the true forerunner of the yo-yo, but this is a stretch of imagination and has no real basis in fact. It is extremely likely, however, that the yo-yo did travel from China not only to Greece, but also to the Philippines, where the yo-yo is known to have been a popular toy for children over a very long period of time.

The next historically dated mention of the yo-yo is a box from India made in the year 1765. This miniature box was hand-painted with the picture of a girl in a red dress playing with her yo-yo. Within the next 25 years, the yo-yo traveled from the Orient to Europe, specifically to the aristocracy (upper class) of Scotland and France and on to England. As it traveled, it became known by a variety of names.

In France, a painting dated to 1789 shows the 4 year-old, future King Louis XVII holding his l’emigrette. It was during this time of the French Revolution and the “Reign of Terror,” that many of the French aristocracy were forced to flee to Paris, Germany and across other borders when their style of life was threatened by the peasant uprisings, taking their popular yo-yos made of glass and ivory with them. L’emigrette is a French term meaning to ‘leave the country.’ Another nickname for the yo-yo at this time was de Coblenz, which was a city to which many French fled. These names reflect an important historical connection between the toy and the French Revolution.

The yo-yo’s value as a stress reliever is also seen through history. While being a fashionable toy for the French nobility, those less fortunate are said to have played with their emigrettes to reduce the understandable tension of their one-way trip to the guillotine. Dating through the 1780’s, there are drawings of General Lafayette and others with their troops flinging their yo-yos. The yo-yo arrived in Paris in 1791 as it spread through France and was called the “joujou de Normandie.” Some believe that this term may reflect possible roots for the modern American name of “yo-yo.” High interest in the toy continued as evidenced by the famous French playwright, Beaumarchais, in his treatment of “The Marriage of Figaro” in 1792. There is a scene where the nervous Figaro enters and conveys his tension, not by the conventional
wringing of his hands, but playing with his emigrette! When asked what the emigrette is good for, Figaro responds, “It is a noble toy, which dispels the fatigue of thinking.” Even on June 18, 1815, at the famous Battle of Waterloo, Napoleon and his army are known to have been seen relaxing with their yo-yos before battle.



The yo-yo craze traveled throughout Europe to England by way of Scotland and France. The English used the French word bandalore, the term quiz, and the word incroyable which means ‘a French dandy’, to identify the toy. In 1791, a print was circulated of the Prince of Wales, future George IV, whirling his bandalore. Because of the toy’s popularity as well as the prince’s power to sell, the toy also became known as the Prince of Wales’ toy and soon became a toy that any person of fashion had to own. The toy’s ongoing popularity in England is shown as late as 1862 when an illustration appeared showing two young lads terrifying an older woman with their quizzes.

The first recorded reference to any type of yo-yo in the United States was in 1866 when two men from Ohio received a patent for an invention called “an improved bandalore,” in that it was rim weighted. One year later, a German immigrant named Charles Kirchof patented and manufactured the return wheel. From then until 1911, although various patents were awarded in the United States related to the yo-yo, nothing notable occurred. In 1916, the Scientific American Supplement published an article titled “Filipino Toys” which showed it and named it a yo-yo. This was explained by some as the Filipino word for “come-come” or “to return.” Significant events were soon to happen in the United States.

Meanwhile, back in the Philippines, the natives were becoming experts at making and using the toy. They became excellent wood carvers of the yo-yo and playing with a yo-yo, beginning early in childhood, became a national pastime. Not surprisingly, it was from here that the yo-yo as we know it today was truly introduced into the United States. In the 1920s, a man named Pedro Flores brought the first Filipino yo-yo to the U.S. and in 1928, began a yo-yo company by the same name in California.

These yo-yos were hand-carved from a single piece of wood. The yo-yo was unique because it was the first yo-yo that did not have the string tied to the axle. Instead, the string was looped around the axle, allowing the yo-yo to spin or “sleep” at the end of the string. This concept is at the heart of yo-yoing today. Rather than being able to only go up and down, the yo-yo was now capable of doing an infinite number of tricks.

In 1928 or 1929, a businessman named Donald F. Duncan Sr. saw his first Flores yo-yo while he was in San Francisco. He saw the potential of the toy as he witnessed the crowd that Pedro was able to draw by doing a few tricks. He purchased not only the idea of the yo-yo, but the Pedro Flores company itself. And, as they say, “the rest is history.”

Donald Duncan was an excellent businessman. He developed advertising campaigns and had demonstrators working for him in the U.S., as well as Western Europe. “Duncan Yo-Yo Professionals” traveled throughout the United States teaching and demonstrating yo-yo tricks and conducting contests in an effort to promote sales. Competition grew as other companies began to see the toy’s potential. In 1932, in an effort to protect his interest, Duncan filed for and was assigned a trademark for the word “yo-yo.” Not able to use the term “yo-yo,” competitors were forced to use terms like “come-back”, “return”, “returning top”, “whirl-a-gig”, and “twirler” for their versions of the toy.

In 1946, the Duncan Company moved to Luck, Wisconsin, which quickly became known as the “Yo-Yo Capital of the World” producing 3,600 yo-yos per hour. They produced the original maple wooden yo-yos using 1,000,000 board feet per year. In 1960, plastic yo-yos that we still see today began to be manufactured. Sales grew and grew. By 1962, the Duncan Company alone sold a record 45 million yo-yos in a country with only 40 million kids, and still could not keep up with the demand. High television advertising expenses and excessive expenses in overtime wages and materials to keep up with the demand hurt profits. There was also the continual legal expense in trying to hold onto the trademarked word “yo-yo.” Competitors fought hard to use it in describing their products. Finally, in 1965, the Federal Court of Appeals ruled that Duncan’s trademark for the word “yo-yo” was no good. The term yo-yo had become so widespread that it was now a permanent part of the language and it no longer only described the toy. It, in fact, WAS the toy.

Tragically, in November of 1965, the Duncan Company could hold on no longer and was forced into bankruptcy. Although pieces of equipment were auctioned off to various buyers, Flambeau Plastics Company purchased the most valuable asset, the “Duncan” name and the goodwill that came along with it. It is the Flambeau Plastics Company that manufactures and sells the eleven different models of Duncan yo-yos today. June 6 has been deemed National Yo-Yo Day in honor of Donald Duncan Sr.’s birthday and the phenomenal influence he had in the world of yo.

Trivia enthusiasts will enjoy noting that in 1968, Abbie Hoffman was cited for contempt of Congress for “walking the dog” in an effort to entertain the House Subcommittee on Un-American Activities that was investigating him and Richard Nixon made headlines when he yo-yoed on stage at the opening of the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville in 1974. The yo-yo is, indeed, universal.

In recent years, technology has affected a multitude of the products we use, and the seemingly simple yo-yo has been no exception. Beginning in the 1970s, yo-yo manufacturers, seeing the benefit of periphery weight distribution, began rim-weighting their products for a longer spin. In 1978, Tom Kuhn patented the “No Jive 3-in-1” yo-yo, the first take-apart by hand yo-yo and the first having a replaceable axle. In 1980, Michael Caffrey patented “The yo-yo with a Brain.” In addition to a free-spinning sleeve bearing for long spin times, “The Brain” has a centrifugal spring loaded clutch mechanism that causes an automatic return of the yo-yo to the hand when the rotational spin slows to a pre-determined rate. And by the 1990s, transaxle yo-yos were available with ball-bearing axles, increasing spin times once again.

But this is not quite the end of the story. On April 12, 1985, the yo-yo was first taken into space by NASA on the Space Shuttle Discovery as part of the Toys in Space project. A basic spinning yo-yo was used to see what effect microgravity would have on it. What they discovered was that a yo-yo could be released at slow speeds and gracefully move along the string. However, the yo-yo refused to “sleep.” Without the downward force of gravity, the yo-yo could not spin against the loop at the end of the string and so, rebounded up the string. It was also found that the yo-yo must be thrown, not dropped, as there was no gravity to pull it down. And on July 31, 1992, the yo-yo (an SB-2) again made its way into space, on the Space Shuttle Atlantis, this time for an educational video including slow-motion yo-ing.

Whether the yo-yo was a Chinese, Greek or Filipino invention or some combination is difficult to prove. By the same token, it is also difficult to say with certainty whether the toy spread from country to country or whether the same basic pattern for the toy appeared in completely different parts of the world for no obvious reason. We do know that its use as a toy around the world and throughout history is unmatched. And, although the yo-yo has gone through periods of hibernation in its trek through the ages, its popularity, just like the toy itself, always comes back.

Beavers Yea

The Yogurt Explosion

Have you noticed the huge expansion in the yogurt aisle in recent months? I sure have. It seems that there are so many types, with specific health benefits associated with each.

Gone are the days, so it seems, that yogurt was considered a "health food," which simply provided a good source of calcium and protein.

Well, that's all still true, but I'd like to talk about the new yogurt products that fill the shelves. Check back later for the video from my Today Show segment (watch the video here), for a look at all the products.

Yogurt 101: What Is It?

Yogurt is a dairy product produced when "good" bacteria are put into milk under controlled conditions. These bacteria ingest the milk sugar (AKA lactose) for energy and then release lactic acid as a "waste" product. It's the lactic acid that acts on the milk protein to give yogurt its characteristic "tanginess" and texture.

This process is totally safe, since the whole biological action is acidic, meaning "bad" bacteria don't grow during the process. Most yogurt is from dairy (from cows), but soy yogurt is also available for those with lactose intolerance or milk-protein (casein) allergy. Yogurt can be a good option for people with lactose (milk sugar) intolerance. Since much of the milk sugar is gone in yogurt (that's the lactose), many people can often tolerate at least one serving a day.

Yogurt's been around for more than 4000 years, and yet there's no clear idea of where it was first "discovered." Eaten all over the world, yogurt was always "plain" until the 1930s, when a fruit jam was added to help prevent yogurt from spoiling too soon. As a patented process, it was introduced to the USA in the late 1940s by a company now well known in the world of yogurt, Dannon.

Yogurt (like all dairy products) is a good source of protein, and calcium. As for all dairy products, choosing non-fat, or at least low-fat yogurt, provides all the benefits (AKA the same protein and calcium), without the artery-clogging animal fat. (After all, it does come from a cow).

The yogurt selection in out grocery aisles are huge and filled with a few dozen options. How are we to choose?



I'd like to provide some different options and hear what you look for in yogurt. One of my first tips: Look for "live cultures" or "active cultures" on the container, which indicate a reasonable source of biologic activity.

For weight loss
Try: Fage plain fat free, Oikos plain fat free, Skye plain fat free

These yogurts are high protein, as the extra milk liquid (AKA Whey) has been filtered out, making it very thick. You're getting high protein for few calories—about 100 calories for 6 ounces and 22 grams of protein.

Protein is biologically VERY satisfying, and helps curb appetite on less food (compared to same calories found as carbohydrates). This is unrelated to the "Probiotics"—the good bacteria for further health uses—it's the protein here that is key.

For high cholesterol
Try: Promise ACTIV "shooters"

This product has two grams of "Phytosterols," which have nothing to do with the yogurt. It's only a carrier, so it must be consumed daily for an effect on cholesterol levels. (This is measured by a blood test). It acts to block cholesterol you are eating, with no effect on the other source of body cholesterol. This is what your body makes in the liver, so consume with meals (preferably, if you're eating higher cholesterol at that meal).

Remember: This does not replace medical care, so do not compare with a Statin drug! This can have a modest effect when used regularly. Again, it only blocks cholesterol absorption in the digestive track. It doesn't get in the body!

For irritable bowel and constipation
Try: Activia, Activia-Light (no sugar), Yo-Plus

The extra Probiotics (good bacteria) added to these yogurts enhance the action of the good bacteria already in the yogurt. It's another strain of the bacteria, so you have more benefit with more good bacteria per serving. This is still somewhat controversial, compared with what yogurt does "normally," but Activia comes with a money-back guarantee. It can affect transit time in the gut, which is good for regularity.

For immune function
Try: DanActive Immunity

Another source of Probiotics, healthy bacteria that have been shown to boost immune function, like increase white blood cell count—those are one of the cells that help fight infection. Plus, other studies show some effect on antibodies in the gut, but are not definitive. Certainly can't hurt—still, the great benefits of yogurt.

For dessert
Try: "Fun" Yogurts

To tame a sweet tooth, yogurt can help, but read the label to check for calories and fat. Cool packaging is eye-catching, but "fun" yogurts are definitely not all the same.

Look for lower fat, low sugar. Some of the Dannon "pie" yogurts are low fat and low sugar—a big help for many. Also, frozen yogurt, with or without sugar, is a preferred choice from ice cream. Great taste, with much lower fat content.

One more thing: I'm a fan of plain yogurt and adding fresh or frozen (no-sugar added) fruits. This saves on calories, and provides great flavor.

Special Thanks to iVillage and Helath Journal with Dr. Madelyn Fernstrom