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Is Licorice Dangerous?
November 1, 2011  |  smithsonianmag.com

It’s first day of November and kids everywhere are sitting down with stashes of goodies they earned the night before by dressing up, knocking on doors and rattling off the three magic words that win them a treat. And for adults, the leftover Halloween goodies are all on sale, so the time is right to enjoy a treat or two as well. Personally, I love my Good and Plenty, the licorice treats with pink and white sugary shells that spokesperson Choo Choo Charlie uses to make his locomotive zip down the track. But it turns out that Charlie should consider cutting back on his candy habit. According to a consumer awareness update published by the FDA, overindulging in licorice can cause health problems.

In Western medicine, licorice root has been used for hundreds of years as an herbal remedy to treat conditions from common colds to hepatitis. Clinical evidence of its effectiveness, however, is decidedly mixed. While it may soothe your symptoms, licorice more than likely isn’t curing what ails you. But licorice—the root as well as the black-colored iterations of the candy—can potentially do you harm, due to a chemical called glycyrrhetinic acid. When consumed in large quantities, it can cause your body’s potassium levels to fall to the point that some people experience arrhythmia, a rise in blood pressure, swelling and even congestive heart failure. People taking diuretics or medications for high blood pressure should be especially wary as the licorice may inhibit the effectiveness of the drugs. How much is too much? According to the FDA, a diet including 2 ounces of black licorice a day for two weeks might merit a trip to the hospital to have an irregular heart beat checked out. And consuming one to two pounds of licorice candy in one go may cause the blood vessels in your eyes to spasm, causing temporarily impaired vision. Though predominately a concern for persons over 40, it is recommended that everyone should moderate a high licorice intake.

That said, it pays to be an avid label reader. Some licorice products don’t contain extracts from the actual root and instead use anise to achieve a similar flavor. Packaging language such as “licorice-flavored” might serve as a tip-off that you’re not getting the real deal, but take a second to read the fine print on the ingredients list. Furthermore, licorice can also be processed so that the trouble-causing acid is removed, so you can keep an eye out for products marked DGL, or de-glycyrrhizinated licorice.

Lululemon drops Coke and Pepsi from its manifesto
January 16, 2008 | Canadian Press

Yoga-wear retailer Lululemon Athletica Inc. has removed a reference suggesting soft drinks like Coke and Pepsi will be known as “the cigarettes of the future” from its corporate manifesto, which adorns the popular retailer’s shopping bags and website.

The line, which had appeared in the top left corner of the manifesto poster, had read: “Coke, Pepsi and all other pops will be known as the cigarettes of the future. Colas are not a substitute for water. They are just another cheap drug made to look great by advertising.”

“We update the manifesto regularly in order to stay fresh in message,” Lululemon chief executive Bob Meers wrote in a e-mail Tuesday about the change.

Meers said the change was a decision by Lululemon and not in response to any threat by the soft drink industry.

The manifesto, which includes such statements as “do one thing a day that scares you” and “stress is related to 99 per cent of all illness,” is company founder and chairman Chip Wilson’s vision and point of view, Meers said.

The move by the company regarding the manifesto follows a controversy last year about the seaweed content and health benefits of its VitaSea clothing line.

Lululemon had claimed the clothing releases marine amino acids, minerals and vitamins into the skin upon contact with moisture to provide anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, stress reducing, hydrating and detoxifying features.

However the company was forced by the Canadian Competition Bureau to remove all assertions alleging healthful benefits until it could produce scientific evidence to back the assertions.

The New York Times also questioned the seaweed fabric, and commissioned a laboratory test of a Lululemon shirt made of VitaSea and found there was no “significant difference in mineral levels between the VitaSea fabric and cotton T-shirts.”

The company said independent tests confirmed the content of the VitaSea product line to be consistent with the garment care and content labels.

Originally published by MarketingMag.ca on January 16, 2008

Claws for thought: Sue Vanwyk with colleague Jacqui Ward and a model lobster at Martin Hobbs fishmongers

That’s a fishy tale, sir! Police arrest man for ‘kill and stab’ threat on Facebook after buying lobsters for dinner
By Craig Mackenzie | 26th November 2011 | www.dailymail.co.uk

A shopper landed in hot water with the police after he bought two lobsters for dinner.

They swooped when he wrote on Facebook about his plan to go into town ‘to kill’ and ‘stab something in the neck’.

Four officers in bullet-proof vests handcuffed the suspect outside the Martin Hobbs fishmongers in Market Harborough, Leicestershire.

They had been tipped off by a member of the public who had seen the posting. He was quizzed for 20 minutes before police were convinced it was a simple misunderstanding.

The man had earlier ordered the lobsters from shop assistant Sue VanWyk who said she had told him to kill the lobsters rather than boil them alive.

She said: ‘He planned to bake them. I said it was better to kill them first.’

The man then wrote his jokey message, keeping it cryptic as the lobsters were for a secret meal for his wife, as he went to pick them up.

After the drama, the shaken shopper went back to the shop and explained his arrest to Sue.

She said: ‘He saw the funny side eventually – when he stopped shaking.’

Police confirmed they responded to a tip-off and ‘not knowing what it was about, officers attended’.

The turkey did not survive his Thanksgiving Day adventure.

A death most fowl: Turkey crashes into Pa. eatery
6abc.com | 2011.11.25

A wild turkey smashed through a plate glass window at an empty western Pennsylvania restaurant and ended up where millions of its fellow gobblers did on Thanksgiving: a dining room.

Penn Hills police Officer Bernard Sestili tells the WTAE-TV the feathered fowl didn’t survive impact when it barreled into the dining room of the Eat’n Park in Penn Hills on Thursday afternoon. The restaurant was closed at the time.

Sestili says he responded when the building’s alarm went off.

He suspects the turkey may have been roosting in a nearby tree when it “got up this morning and went for his morning flight and flew into the window.”

Penn Hills is about 10 miles outside Pittsburgh.

Weird Turkey and Thanksgiving Sports
By Maryam Louise | Yahoo! | 11/22/11

Are you and your family or friends looking for a new way to celebrate Thanksgiving that doesn’t involve shopping for Black Friday deals? If you want to go beyond the annual shirts versus skins backyard football game, consider using the turkey as the object of your sport. It will not only encourage others to get up off of the couch, but weird turkey-related sports are a good way to show the kids who the real black sheep of the family is.

Historic weird Turkey Day sports

For over a century, Thanksgiving has been a time of sports traditions. Of course, we are all familiar with the football related history of Thanksgiving Day, but few are aware of all of the games related to the fourth Thursday in November throughout time. For example, an 1922 article from the Miami News tells a tale of sports related to Thanksgiving at the State College for Women in Tallahassee.

In 1922, it was common to stay on campus during Thanksgiving rather than commute back to your hometown. For this reason, having a day off meant an opportunity for participating in bizarre sports. These ladies were mimicking the already well-established tradition of Thanksgiving football games by dividing the student body into Evens and Odds. The two teams commenced to participate in a variety of competitive events including football, singing, color rushing, and a pajama and lantern parade. However, none of those sports included using a turkey as the sporting object.

Frozen turkey bowling

Over the past few years, the sport of turkey bowling has taken over the country. Traditionally held as a Thanksgiving fundraiser to feed the hungry in the community, the rules of the game are obvious. Instead of using a bowling ball, you replace it with a frozen turkey. Of course, the fact that a turkey is not a rounded ball makes the outcomes humorous. As far as other frozen turkey related sports, videos show that turkey basketball, tether ball, dodgeball, and golf have been proven to be failed Thanksgiving sporting endeavors.

Gross turkey eating competitions

When someone invites you to go to a turkey eating contest, it is best to check which part you will be forced to eat. There are definitely several options nationwide for a turkey white and dark meat contest, but others are more ominous. For example, in addition to eating the frozen gizzards or neck normally reserved for the family dog, there is also Chicago’s turkey testicle eating contest. This strange sport is held each year at Timothy O’Toole’s.

Before you toss your turkey

National Geographic’s Rocket City Rednecks has made this year’s Thanksgiving extra special by hosting Rick and Bubba in a Turkey Toss in Decatur, Georgia. These masterful engineers of real life problems have jury-rigged a handmade turkey launcher. Despite the fun that can come from a turkey toss, this activity comes with a warning. In particular, a New York City woman almost died after a teen launched a 20 pound frozen turkey through her car windshield.

Working out with your frozen turkey

Weird sports like frozen turkey scavenger hunts in Bangor, Maine and turkey game calling contests are nothing compared to the workouts you can do with Tom. In Chicago, the annual Turkey Trot is a simple race that includes winning a frozen turkey as a prize. However, Indianapolis takes the cake for sponsoring a frozen turkey workout. Simply show up at the gym with your bird and the instructors at Athletic Revolution in Northeast Indianapolis will show you how a turkey can help you do Pilates.

Try quitting cold turkey

While there are many turkey related sports, the idea at Texas Christian University (TCU) is to combine one great idea with another. As part of the nationwide effort that designates November as the American Cancer Association’s Great American Smokeout, students will be bowling with frozen turkeys and encouraged to quit smoking at the same time. There are definitely many strange forms of sports in store for the Thanksgiving season, but TCU’s idea of promoting ‘quitting cold turkey’ actually makes a lot of sense.

Highway accident creates a “sticky” situation
Oct 15, 2011  | www.wbir.com

An Illinois highway is open again after a Thursday wreck caused a sticky situation.

Police say at 4:20 Thursday morning driver Bradford Garrett lost control of his truck carrying frozen cakes and other baked goods and collided with another semi driven by Ronnie Davis.

The accident happened on westbound I-74 about 4 1/2 miles west of Goodfield and left 20 tons of desserts and bratwurst strewn about the highway.

“It’s very slippery out here because of the sugar and the fats from the meat,” said Illinois State Trooper Dominic Visione. “IDOT is out here to pressure-wash the road.”

Another crew from Dunbar Transfer was responsible for hauling away all of the spoiled food.

“We hauled 8 tandem loads of food to the landfill this morning, said hauling company Landon Dunbar. “That’s a lot of food.”

And it made traffic hard to swallow for motorists who were detoured to Route-150 while clean up was taking place.

The convoy stretched all the way to Morton where they were eventually able to get back on the highway, but not all of them in time.

“I’m late for work,” said Shelton Coleman, who commutes from Bloomington to Peoria for his job. “I should have been at work 30 minutes ago. I’ve been on the road for about an hour-and-a-half.”

Local authorities chipped in to help.

In Deer Creek police chief Jim Edwards began directing traffic for the detour at 8 am and he wasn’t sure when he’d be able to call it quits.

“Last I heard it was probably going to be after noon,” said Edwards.

When asked if he had comfortable shoes Edwards replied, “Shoes aren’t my worry. My arms are going to fall off.”

The accident could have been much worse.

According to Trooper Visione there was another truck traveling a short distance behind the two that collided.

“He noticed that he didn’t see the tail lights of the trucks in front of him anymore and he noticed the debris all over the road and he decided to stop. He stopped less than 20 yard from the back of one of the trucks.”

The westbound lanes of I-74 finally reopened around noon, about 7 1/2 hours after the accident.

The two truck drivers involved were taken to OSF St. Francis Medical Center in Peoria where they were treated and released