Coffee? Tea? For a fee on U.S. Airways

Airline becomes first in nation to charge for non-alcoholic beverages; pay-to-sip plan doesn't go down well with passengers

 

If you're scheduled to fly on a US Airways flight and order coffee, tea or soda, don't be surprised if the flight attendant holds out a hand. He or she won't be looking for a tip -- the airline Friday became the first major carrier in the nation to charge for soft beverages.

US Airways, the third-largest carrier at LaGuardia Airport, where it operates a shuttle service to Boston and Washington, D.C., is seeking to offset soaring fuel costs.

The beverage policy was disclosed June 12. Coffee and tea sell for $1, and sodas, juices and bottled water are $2. As of Friday, no other carrier had matched the move.

Passengers who flew US Airways on Friday expressed annoyance, outrage and resignation over the new beverage charges.

Eric Morales, who flew from Charlotte, N.C., to LaGuardia, said he waited to buy his 6-year-old son a drink until they changed planes in Washington, D.C.

Morales said he understands that airlines are struggling, but he questioned why executives continue to draw big paychecks while airline workers get pink slips.

"I can't understand how higher managers continue to maintain high salaries and the people who are working -- the baggage handlers, flight attendants, loaders -- are getting cut," he said.

Morales said most people on the flight didn't purchase anything, and he noticed that quite a few had brought their own refreshments.

Anna Tanguma, 56, of Denver, said she was equally disturbed by the new drink charges. As thirsty as she was, she said she endured the entire flight without buying any beverages. She said she was "proud" to see that her fellow passengers also resisted.

"They're laying off people, so I'm wondering where the expenses are," she said. "You pay more and more money for less and less service."

The carrier's unionized flight attendants protested the move, saying passengers may take their frustrations out on attendants.

Kate Hanni, executive director of flyersrights.org, a consumer organization, said the group has been receiving "a record number" of complaints from passengers about the charges, or higher fees, for just about everything aboard an airline these days, such as checking in second pieces of luggage.

"They are fit to be tied," Hanni said. "We've gotten way more complaints than last summer, and last summer was a doozy."

Morgan Durrant, a US Airways spokesman, said the airline had received no such reports.

Scientists eye couch potato exercise, weight-loss pill

 

 

Scientists have discovered what could be the ultimate workout for couch potatoes: exercise in a pill.

In experiments on mice that did no exercise, the chemical compound, known as AICAR, allowed them to run 44 percent farther on a treadmill than those that did not receive the drug.

The drug, according to the researchers, changed the physical composition of muscle, essentially transforming the tissue from sugar-burning fast-twitch fibers to fat-burning slow-twitch ones -- the same change that occurs in distance runners and cyclists through training.

The researchers said the drug's fat-burning ability could also help reduce weight, ward off diabetes and prevent heart disease -- the benefits of daily aerobic activity without the perspiration.

"It's an amazing piece of pharmacology," said David Mangelsdorf, a pharmacologist at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, who was not connected with the research. "You're getting the benefits of exercise without having to do any work." It is not known if the drug has any benefit for athletes who actually work out -- or any human for that matter, since the research has so far only involved mice.

"The mouse doctors and cell biologists are of course quite enthusiastic about these things, but the human doctors are a little more reticent," said Dr. Benjamin Levine, a cardiologist who leads the Institute for Exercise and Environmental Medicine at Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas, and who was not involved in the study.

But lead researcher Ronald Evans, a molecular physiologist at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, Calif., said he has already been contacted by dozens of athletes and overweight people who have heard about his research from several lectures he has given on the subject.

Evans said he has notified world anti-doping officials, who are now scrambling to implement a test for it before the Beijing Olympics start next week.

The compound, which is naturally produced in tiny amounts in human muscle cells and has been studied for decades, is readily available through Web sites that cater to researchers. One site was offering it for $120 a gram.

Evans predicted that in the wake of his study, published Thursday in the journal Cell, it will "fly off the shelves." With more research, he said, the drug might one day be used as a treatment for muscle wasting, obesity and as a means of allowing bedridden patients to reap the benefits of exercise.

The drug has been tested in humans for a variety of conditions related to the heart and repeatedly passed basic safety tests.

"It was found to be a quite safe drug, at least at the doses we were using," said chemist Paul Laikind, who patented the compound in the 1980s and began testing it as a means of preserving blood flow to the heart during surgery.

The compound is now owned by drug maker Schering-Plough Corp., which is trying to develop it as an intravenous infusion for the prevention of ischemia-reperfusion injury, a complication of bypass surgery.

The discovery of AICAR as a potential couch-potato exercise pill grew out of Evans' continuing research on creating super mice.

In 2004, he made headlines for engineering "marathon mice." By injecting a single gene into the nucleus of a fertilized egg, he created mice born with more efficient muscles, faster metabolisms and stronger hearts.

He wanted to know if it was possible to achieve the same effect using a drug.

His team didn't start with AICAR, but another compound known as GW1516, which drug maker GlaxoSmithKline is trying to develop as a drug to raise levels of HDL, or good cholesterol. The drug is known to stimulate the production of a protein known as PPARd, which in turn activates the genes that boost endurance in muscle cells.

In sedentary mice, the drug had no effect on endurance.

Only when the drug was combined with exercise did it give the mice an advantage. After five weeks of training, mice that got the drug were able to run for more than three hours, improving 68 percent more than mice that received only the training.

When the researchers dissected the mice that got the drug, they found that the number of high-efficiency muscle fibers had increased 29 percent.

"That's a huge increase," Evans said. "That's the kind of stuff that Lance Armstrong and endurance athletes aim for."

JetBlue says you'll pay for pillow and blanket

 

Next time you're on a JetBlue Airways flight and reach out for a pillow and a blanket, remember to also reach for something else as well -- your wallet.

The Forest Hills-based carrier, seeking to offset higher fuel oil prices, said Monday that effective immediately it will now sell -- no longer give away free as used to be the case -- a pillow and blanket set for $7 on flights of two hours or more. On shorter flights, JetBlue spokeswoman Alison Eshelman said, passengers requesting pillows and blankets may get them for $7, but there is no guarantee that they will be available.

The charge for pillows and blankets is another first and the latest thrust by airlines to make up for the price of fuel, which has soared about 80 percent this year.

Last week, USAirways, a major operator at LaGuardia Airport, began charging $1 for coffee and tea and $2 for sodas, juices, and bottled water. Most major carriers now charge to check-in a second piece of luggage. In the past, the soft drinks and extra bag were free.

Eshelman said that JetBlue is not just selling any old pillow and blanket, but ones that are "eco-friendly," designed by CleanBrands LLC, a Providence, R.I.-based maker of products to promote healthy sleeping.

Passengers who buy the 10-by-12 inch pillow and 39-by-51 inch fleece blanket, can keep them, JetBlue said.

Additionally, JetBlue said, the pillow and blanket come with a $5 coupon to Bed, Bath & Beyond.

"It's a high-quality product and environmentally friendly," Eshelman said. The pillow features a fabric called MicronOne that JetBlue says block micro-toxins larger than one micron in size, such as dust mites, mold spores, pollen and pet dander.

Passengers can bring their own pillows and blankets if the choose, just as they can bring onboard their own water and snacks.

That may be just what customers will do, said Paul Hudson, executive director of the Aviation Consumer Action Project in Washington, D.C.

"The public will decide" whether the JetBlue deal will work, "but in general I can tell you this nickel and dime stuff doesn't work," Hudson said. "A lot of people view this as harassment."

Robert W. Mann Jr., an independent airline analyst and consultant in Port Washington, said he saw a positive: airlines may be finally admitting that the pillows and blankets they used to hand out for free were not always of the cleanliest variety.

"That's a plus," Mann said.

Robert Moses state beaches closed

 

Robert Moses State Park beaches were closed Monday to prevent overcrowding, a state park official said.

George Gorman Jr., deputy director of Long Island state parks, said the beach would be closed about 1:30 p.m. Labor Day beachgoers were diverted to Jones Beach, he said.

"There's not enough beach front," Gorman said of Robert Moses park. Park officials have battled beach erosion all summer. Beaches have been sand-starved from Robert Moses to Montauk.

Earlier Monday, rough surf forced state park officials to prohibit swimming at Jones Beach and Robert Moses State Park.

Gorman said hurricane Hannah, which is churning in the Atlantic, and a new moon combined to spark problems at the state parks.

At Jones Beach, high tide caused "extensive flooding" on the beach and in parking lots, and rough surf prohibited swimming, Gorman said.

"In some areas, a lake has formed between parking fields and the Atlantic," Gorman said.

Beachgoers were prohibited from parking Monday in Field 6 with flooding.

At Robert Moses, the ocean was "too rough" at the shoreline for swimming at Fields 2 and 3, Gorman said.

...moving Madness to another location!

I see this as the biggest JUST BULLSHIT of the year

Remember..any suggestions for a new home are appreciated and taken unto consideration

Right on dark....

it will be a pain.....

JUST BULLSHIT..that this had to happen. And I hope all the people were caught om camera. Sara..Long Island must be in total shock

 

 

NEW YORK - A family attorney says a temporary worker trampled to death by customers at a New York Wal-Mart store had no training in crowd control.

Lawyer Jordan Hecht said Monday that Jdimytai Damour had been working at the Long Island store for only about a week when frenzied shoppers knocked him down on the day after Thanksgiving.

Nassau County Police Commissioner Lawrence Mulvey says a preliminary investigation shows Wal-Mart failed to provide adequate security outside the store.

Wal-Mart did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It has said security precautions were in place.

Nassau County police say an autopsy found Damour died of asphyxiation related to his trampling.

Surveillance videos reviewed
Police were reviewing surveillance videos of the shopper stampede, but they acknowledge it may be difficult to bring criminal charges.

"It felt a little freakish," customer Ellie Berhun, 48, told the Daily News. "Some man lost his life because a VCR was on sale? Please. It's just too sad for words."

Police said Damour was mowed down as about 2,000 bargain-hunters surged into the store at Friday's 5 a.m. opening, leaving a metal portion of the door frame crumpled like an accordion.

Other workers were knocked to the ground as they tried to rescue Damour, and customers simply stepped over him and kept shopping even as the store announced it was closing because of the death, police and witnesses said.

At least four other people, including a woman eight months pregnant, were taken to hospitals for observation or treatment for minor injuries. The store, about 20 miles east of Manhattan, closed for several hours but reopened Friday afternoon.

'Utter chaos'
The day after Thanksgiving is known as Black Friday because it has traditionally marked the point when a throng of shoppers pushes stores into profitability for the year.

Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart said it added staffers and outside security workers and put up barricades to try to prepare for the crush. But police spokesman Detective Lt. Michael Fleming said Friday that security was inadequate for a scene he called "utter chaos."

Criminal charges are possible, but identifying anyone in the store's videos may prove difficult, Fleming said.

Damour, 34, came from a temporary agency and was doing maintenance work at the store, Wal-Mart said.

A woman reported being trampled by overeager customers at a Wal-Mart opening Friday in Farmingdale, about 15 miles east of Valley Stream, Suffolk County police said. She suffered minor injuries but finished shopping before filling the report, police said.

Items on sale at the Valley Stream Wal-Mart included a Samsung 50-inch Plasma HDTV for $798, a Bissel Compact Upright Vacuum for $28, a Samsung 10.2 megapixel digital camera for $69 and DVDs such as "The Incredible Hulk" for $9.

This bullshit has been happening for years, and retailers still do this kind of marketing! I would love to buy a 50" plasma for $798.... but it's not worth it!!! We stayed home and will again next year!  Souless corporate basteeds!!

I live very close to Walmart. I used to work near that store. I never shop there

From: <NOBR>SaraMaeWest322</NOBR>

Sent: 12/1/2008 5:37 PM

Worker was 'trampled to death'( This happened near my house) Victim of store stampede died of asphyxiation, police commissioner says   The Wal-Mart worker trampled to death in a Black Friday stampede died of asphyxiation, according to preliminary autopsy results reported by Nassau police. At news conference at police headquarters Monday, Commissioner Lawrence Mulvey said temporary worker Jdimytai Damour, 34, of Queens, died of "positional asphyxiation." "He was trampled to death," Mulvey said. Damour was in a vestibule of the Valley Stream store at opening time when a crush of shoppers broke through the exterior doors, knocked down Damour and stepped over him, police said. Police had responded around 3:10 a.m. to a call for a disturbance outside the Wal-Mart, the commissioner said. The officers found no such incident underway, Mulvey said, but they stayed 20 to 30 minutes and spoke to a crowd of 350 to 400 over a bullhorn.

For Sue, Sara and any others on FACEBOOK...

 

 

Facebook's 120 million users are being targeted by a virus dubbed "Koobface" that uses the social network's messaging system to infect PCs, then tries to gather sensitive information such as credit card numbers.

It is the latest attack by hackers increasingly looking to prey on users of social networking sites.

"A few other viruses have tried to use Facebook in similar ways to propagate themselves," Facebook spokesman Barry Schnitt said in an e-mail. He said a "very small percentage of users" had been affected by these viruses.

"It is on the rise, relative to other threats like e-mails," said Craig Schmugar, a researcher with McAfee Inc.

Koobface spreads by sending notes to friends of someone whose PC has been infected. The messages, with subject headers like, "You look just awesome in this new movie," direct recipients to a website where they are asked to download what it claims is an update of Adobe Systems Inc's Flash player.

If they download the software, users end up with an infected computer, which then takes users to contaminated sites when they try to use search engines from Google, Yahoo, MSN and Live.com, according McAfee.

McAfee warned in a blog entry on Wednesday that its researchers had discovered that Koobface was making the rounds on Facebook.

Facebook requires senders of messages within the network to be members and hides user data from people who do not have accounts, said Chris Boyd, a researcher with FaceTime Security Labs. Because of that, users tend to be far less suspicious of messages they receive in the network.

"People tend to let their guard down. They think you've got to log in with an account, so there is no way that worms and other viruses could infect them," Boyd said.

Social network MySpace, owned by News Corp, was hit by a version of Koobface in August and used security technology to eradicate it, according to a company spokeswoman. The virus has not cropped up since then, she said.

Privately held Facebook has told members to delete contaminated e-mails and has posted directions at http://www.facebook.com/security on how to clean infected computers.

Richard Larmer, chief executive of RLM Public Relations in New York, said he threw out his PC after it became infected by Koobface, which downloaded malicious software onto his PC. It was really bad. It destroyed my computer," he said.

McAfee has not yet identified the perpetrators behind Koobface, who are improving the malicious software behind the virus in a bid to outsmart security at Facebook and MySpace.

"The people behind it are updating it, refining it, adding new functionalities," said McAfee's Schmugar.

 

 

Thanks Tick! I haven't done much with facebook, but I suppose if I got a note like that, I might be retarded enough to look! I still haven't seen those 400 wedding pix I joined to see!!!! LOL!

Thanks Tick. Facebook is acting up for me today.

Just watching out for mah Zombies.....

I didn't get that e-mail you were talking about but I keep getting while on facebook to log in a million times while I already logged in.