What's on their list?

1. Bird poop facial
2. Human placenta extract
3. Fish pedicure
4. Bull semen conditioner
5. Snake-venom wrinkle cream
6. Gold face mask
7. Leech therapy
8. Sheep embryo injections

Just because something is "natural" doesn't mean it isn't frightening.

8 Scary, Bizarre, and Gag-Inducing Natural Beauty Treatments [Treehugger.com]

(Photo: bradleygee)

"Every cookie fan in the US knows that the Girl Scouts in the USA make all of the money to run their organization from their annual cookie sales," she continues. And, "Thin Mints, the most popular flavor, account for 25% of the Girl Scouts' sales."

Keebler sells a cookie that's like a Thin Mint called a grasshopper. However, it's not a threat, says, Harquail, because it's not as good as the original. The Walmart ones, on the other hand, come pretty close.

The cookies are part of Walmarts' new line of "Good Value" products. A quick perusal of their website showed the retailer seemed to have plans for store-brand versions of Nilla Wafers, Fritos, Wheat Thins and more.

Wal-Mart Knocks Off the Girl Scouts [AuthenticOrganizations] (Photo: afagen) (Thanks to Keith!)

The diner alleges that he discovered the object after he somehow put it in his mouth and briefly chewed on it. He then ran to the bathroom and vomited, like any sensible person. Hospital tests showed that it was a tampon, and he has been tested for blood-borne diseases.

Curiously, even though this happened over two weeks ago, we haven't been able to find an update to the story.

We held an emergency meeting of the women on the Consumerist editorial staff, and came to the following conclusions:

• We're confused about the very logistics of this incident. How does this happen? No, seriously, how could it happen in McDonald's, let alone the Waldorf?
• The tampon doesn't really look "used."
• If there's blood on this thing, is it human? There's blood in meat.
• How could a steak leave the kitchen that way?
• How does one put a tampon in one's mouth without noticing?
• if a woman wanted to sabotage someone's food, she'd find a way more subtle way about it.
• Ewwww!

In summary, we concur with our esteemed former colleagues at Gawker: the tourist's claims are most likely bulls**t.

Alternately, this could be part of some kind of agricultural cross-breeding program to combine crops. You know, like Tomacco. Growing beef cattle that also contain cotton. Monsanto is probably behind it somehow.

Tourist claims used tampon was in steak [WABC] (Thanks, GetEmSteveDave!)
Waldorf-Astoria Serves 'Steak Surprise' to German Tourist, Allegedly [Gawker]

The cops got a call that the man was rampaging around his house and breaking windows. When they arrived, the man had fled, taking bottles of pills with him. The sheriff contacted Verizon to ask them to turn the man's cellphone cellphone service on so they could track his signal, but the operator said the missing man's bill had to be paid first. After some back and forth, the sheriff started to make arrangements to pay his bill. Just as he was doing so, the search party, which consisted of two K-9 units, several fire departments, and more than 100 people on foot, found the man, unconcious, after 11 hours of searching.

"I was more concerned for the person's life," Sherrif Williams said. "It would have been nice if Verizon would have turned on his phone for five or 10 minutes, just long enough to try and find the guy. But they would only turn it on if we agreed to pay $20 of the unpaid bill. Ridiculous."

See, the essential problem is that in most call centers you don't get any bonuses for having humanity.

Unconscious Carroll man found after 11-hour search: Sheriff unhappy with Verizon's ‘line' on emergency [The Times Reporter] (Thanks to everyone who sent this in!)

(Photo: akshay moon, Maulleigh)

Her neighbor had died... his corpse sat there rotting, he was dead for days.

The autopsy report found the 34-year old likely overdosed"... His body was "moderately to severely decomposed."
And over time, the decomposition allowed bodily fluids to leak, onto his floor, through the ceiling, eventually onto Sylvia and her things.

"The smell is nothing like you've ever smelled before. It's not like a dead animal, it's not like rotten food or something.. it's just something beyond... You can't even describe it," says Sylvia. A biohazard team removed furniture and deodorized the place. But she says the smell of death lingered. It already had seeped into clothes, bedding and her mattress.

Her insurance company put her up in a hotel for two weeks until she could move — but refused to replace her belongings. Apparently, corpse fluid is just not covered.

"Unfortunately, the blood and bodily fluid damage to your contents is not one of the 17 named perils covered in your policy," said the letter she received from Farmer's Insurance.

CBS13 interviewed Farmer's spokesperson about the issue, and he said that there really isn't an insurance policy that covers corpse fluid damage. It just doesn't happen very often. In this case, after being contacted by the media, they decided to make an exception, and are now considering a change to include bodily fluids.

Call Kurtis Investigates: Corpse Un-Covered (With Video) [CBS13]

1.66666667 Pounds [BensBizBlog via Sports Biz]

This Is Why You're Fat

CBS2 reports:

Broadcrest Foothill Apartment Homes claims Alicia Ortiz broke her lease on an Upland apartment when she and her 17-year-old son were killed by her sister's disgruntled ex-husband. The landlord informed her former husband, Carlos Ortiz, that she gave "insufficient notice to vacate." The company says it is owed $2,821 in rent and penalties.

The itemized invoice claimed Ortiz's estate owes $1,655, plus payment for 12 days rent and other fees for the weeks after she died.

Alicia Ortiz, her son Michael and seven other relatives were killed by Bruce Pardo when he barged into his ex-in-laws' Covina home during a holiday party Dec. 24 dressed as Santa Claus and opened fire. After a shooting rampage that claimed his ex-wife's life, he burned the house and killed himself.

Since Carlos Ortiz was not on the lease, he has no legal obligation to pay the rent being demanded by these chum-slurping maggots.

Ex-husband told to pay slain woman's rent [CBS2] (Thanks to Ken!) (Photo: !!!! scogle)

Marc writes:

I’ve been a fan of yours guys blog for quite some time now, and today unfortunately I believe I have something to contribute to the blog. Today like everyday around noon I took my lunch break from work and went about my business. At the end of my break I decided to go to my local deli to pick up some snacks to last me throughout the day, hey us IT guys need brain food ;) Anyways I picked up a bag of Doritos and my favorite treat, a Reese’s Brownie.

After getting back to my desk I sat down, and while checking my mail unwrapped the brownie and took a bite and continued to read my emails. I noticed the taste was slightly off but nothing to be alarmed about, until I looked at what I just took a bite out of. The entire brownie was covered in what looked to be a very fine spider web with little maggots/worms and little brown pellets I believe are eggs… I couldn’t believe my eyes and right away took pictures with my cell phone. I tried calling Hershey’s customer support, but unfortunately they are only available Mon-Fri 9am-4pm EST, and its 3pm here in San Diego right now. So I thought I’d do the next best thing and go back to the deli, they reimbursed me my $1.20 for the brownie, but they actually suggesting vomiting everything out before I get sick. Which I now have done. But with being angry at Hershey for clearly failing check their products quality, I now also feel sick to my stomach.

The deli immediately took all the brownies off the shelf, and opened up another one to discover the entire batch is infested with maggots and webs.

I’m truly disgusted, and will never eat another Reese’s Brownie again. I will try again tomorrow to contact Hershey’s to complain about this.

A sincerely disgusted consumer,
Marc

PS: Feel free to post this and/or contact me or give me any pointers on how to proceed with this matter

Don't worry trying to reach Hershey's, Marc, I suspect this post will soon be shooting around the appropriate offices soon enough. Also, don't worry about what you ate, they were probably not maggots, but meal worms, a common and harmless, pantry infestation, although not pleasant to unexpectedly find in your stomach, I'm sure. The culprit is probably not Hershey's, but something in how they were stored or transported.

According to the article, Dr. Craig Bittner powered his and his girlfriends SUVs with his patients' discarded fat, and was proud of it, even running the now-defunct lipodiesel.com to increase awareness of disgusting ways to power your car. Unfortunately for Dr. Bittner, "state law forbids the use of human medical waste to power vehicles." This is an oddly prescient law.

Dr. Bittner is being sued by several former patients, who say they didn't consent to Dr. Bittner driving around on their spare tires.

(Photos: Getty)
Thanks, Sarah!

It should go without saying that some of these are really, really nasty. You've been warned.





15: Study: There Is All Kinds Of Nasty Crap In Your Bottled Water
Here are a few choice goodies found in the water: Coliform bacteria, caffeine, the pain reliever acetaminophen, fertilizer, solvents, plastic-making chemicals and the radioactive element strontium.

14: Mystery Of Strange Things Found In Vitamin Water Solved: Harmless Mold
The rep also told me that this is not the first time Vitamin Water has heard of/seen instances of these kinds of molds in their bottles. So, no hazard, beyond the gag factor of finding a harmless mold in your drink,and perhaps even the potential for a science fair project idea!

13: Scientific Study: Double Dipping Is As Gross As You Think It Is
The way I would put it is, before you have some dip at a party, look around and ask yourself, would I be willing to kiss everyone here? Because you don't know who might be double dipping, and those who do are sharing their saliva with you.

12: Purina Isn't Bothered By Dog Food Infested With Fly Larvae Maggots
I had already fed our two labs two meals of the infested food before realizing there were numerous maggots and fly larva. When I called to speak with Purina about this the response I got as..."as soon as our food leaves our factory, it's no longer our problem." ...disappointing.

11: Hey Air Travelers, You Are Extremely Disgusting People
Flight attendants often say that the biggest messes they have to deal with are dirty diapers left in seat-back pockets or worse, handed to them while they are serving beverages and snacks.

10: Man Finds Mouse Baked Into His Hot Dog Buns
I see the little ears. Clearly that's a tail. I don't know what that is, part of his leg or something," the man told NBC.

9: VIDEO: Maggots Found Squirming In Box Of Goobers
"My wife's box of Goobers was ALIVE and crawling with maggots...I peered inside the box and saw lumpen, misshapen Goobers with maggots or some kind of larvae crawling everywhere."

8: FDA: Pardon Me But Your Bakery Warehouse Is Full Of Rodent Excreta Pellets
[L]ive rodents observed along side a rodent trap, running under pallets containing finished food products and collapsed boxes used by your firm, and a live rodent that you brushed off of your shoulder onto the floor, and then kicked under a pallet holding finished food products.

7: American Airlines Forces Passenger To Ride In Urine Saturated Seat
[Your passenger] literally sat in a urine soaked seat (the seat belt was soaked also) for the duration of this 2 hour flight! [There] was offered no compensation, no alternative seating, nothing.

6: PHOTO: Dell Breaks Your Laptop, Sends Replacement Full Of Pubes
Not just any hairs - these could only be described as pubes. I hate to be so crude, but pubes are pubes. Not the incidental curly hair, but rather mini-tufts between the keys. My only guess is that Ron Jeremy was the previous owner.

5: Texas Roadhouse Steak Stuffed With Pubic Hair
According to the criminal complaint, later that night Kropp placed hair in a second steak, turned to a co-worker, and announced, "These are my pubes."

4: Why You Should Wash Your Old Navy Pants Before You Wear Them
Colleen is going to wash her clothes before she wears them from now on. Why? Well, she bought a pair of pants from Old Navy that were, well, soiled. You know. In the crotch region. By a female. The words "snail trail" were used.

3: Peeping Tom Sears Manager Sued For $27 Million
The young girl, whose age is described as "prepubescent," is said to have been traumatized when she suddenly noticed Lee leering from the ceiling while she and her mother were trying on bathing suits. Lee admitted his culpability. The lawsuit states, "During the search of the room, police officials recovered sexually explicit magazines and seminal fluids."

2: Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory Refuses Bathroom Access To 5-Year-Old, Who Then Has Diarrhea In Front Of Them
I explained she had diarrhea and couldn't hold it and told them she was about to go on the floor. They refused again and never offered me any alternatives. I begged them to have a heart and that she was 5 but by that time she had lost it all over herself and me.

1: Woman Sues American Airlines Over Masturbating Passenger
When the woman opened her eyes, she saw that an unknown man had moved into the seat next to her and was staring at her as he masturbated, the suit states. The woman turned toward the window in embarrassment and in an act of nervousness began to run her fingers through her hair where she noticed "a substantial amount of an extremely sticky substance in her hair," the suit states.

With 6 stories, Meg is your grossest editor of 2008, followed closely by Ben with 4. Chris, Carey, and Jay each had 1 and your wholly unbiased author had 2.

They found a variety of nasty germs that cause things like UTIs, pneumonia, and infant meningitis — proving once and for all that you should wash your hands before you eat.

Chuck E. Cheese's spokesperson says that the restaurant cleans and disinfects the tables and games every evening.

"We clean and sanitize our games every night with an antibacterial sanitizing solution called Sterbac Blue. We try to inspect and maintain during the day as well. We have a large amount of kids who come through here, and with them, a large amount of bacteria. We try to keep up with it."

Yep, kids are pretty gross. Be sure to wash yours thoroughly.

Is Chuck E. Cheese's Really Chuck E. Diseases? [momlogic]

"I was cooking dinner and I brought these out and I opened them up," he said. "That's our little friend right there. And that clearly is a mouse."

NBC says that when he called Arnold bread, the company that made the buns, they told him that he didn't need to call the store where he bought the item. But he did anyway.

From KARE 11:

The IBM executive says he doesn't want money from this ordeal, just answers and action.

Bruce says "that's certainly noticeable. I mean, somebody should have seen that. It got put into a bag."

So he called Arnold bread but says they told him not to call the Concord store where he bought the buns.

Bruce says "she told me, 'ah no, you don't need to call BJ's, just send it back to us.'"

But he says, he worried about other customers.

Bruce says "mice don't travel in isolation. The travel with other mice and if one mouse got in, others could've."

BJ's Wholesale apparently worried, too. They pulled all bread products made at the same Florida factory where these buns came from.

Bruce says "other consumers should be concerned about this. How did it get there? Is it the only one?"

That's a damn good question, Bruce.

Man finds mouse parts baked into hot dog buns [KARE 11] (Thanks, Mike!)

Complaints litter the internet about this company and its ilk. Some say that if you're lucky, you end up with a stack of shoddily-made DVDs, a documentary that never airs at all, and none of the promised PR.

And after one blogger, Leslie Richards, a small eco-fashion business owner, wrote about an attempted shakedown by Vision Media Television, they sued her for $20 million, saying the blog post cost them $5 million in lost business and seeking $15 million in punitive damages.

The lawsuit is filed in the Southern District of Florida, a bit of a problem for her as she's based in North Carolina and doesn't have a car or much money. Leslie told the Mountain Xpress, “Who has $20 million? At $20 million, legal-aid organizations generally won’t help you. Since it’s filed in the Southern District of Florida, not a lot of lawyers here are licensed to practice there...I don’t have a car, I don’t have money, so we’re trying to get it transferred here so I can find someone to represent me pro bono."

Any pro-bono lawyers out there who want to help Leslie out can contact her at info@theokobox.com.

Vision Media Television defends its actions, saying that it only distributes the programs to public television stations, which air them at their "discretion," and blames its "customers" for confusing public television with PBS. Judging by the fact that PBS has an explicit disclaimer on its website denying any relationship between itself and Vision Media Television and other similar groups, this appears to be a confusion that Vision Media Television is not, shall we say, working very hard to erase.

Other production groups to watch out for: New Line Media TV, New Line Media, Platinum Television Group, PTG Studios, Paradigm Media Group, PMG, PMGTV, Infinity Media Group, Roadshow Productions, Family Television Studios, United Media Communications Group, American Review TV, Business Break TV, Event Media TV, and Global Television Studios.

I wonder if Vision Media Television, based in Boca Raton, Florida, a known haven for spammers, scammers, telemarketers,identity thieves, and other various ne're-do-wellers, will also be suing the New York Times, which just ran an article exposing the company and its brethren.

Scam Taking Advantage of Green Businesses [The Öko Box]
Company Pitches a Television Production, and Nonprofit Groups Are Wary [NYT]
Local Business Owner Sued For 20 Million Over Blog Post [Mountainx]
Blogger Sued 20 Million [Blogher]
Eco Clothing Store Owner Sued For 20m After Exposing Scam [Earthfirst]
Platinum Television Group Complaints [Ripoff Report]
New Line Media Complaints [Ripoff Report]

A representative of Lettuce Entertain You denies Franz's allegations, but documents filed with Franz's lawsuit indicate that a pathologist found that the tapeworm could have only come from undercooked fish.

Man Says 9-Foot Tapeworm Came From Undercooked Salmon Salad [Chicago Sun-Times]

Thanks to Mark!

There I am going pee in Wendy's by my office when a Wendy's employee comes into the bathroom and goes into the stall to pee. I wash my hands, dry them and exit as I hear a flush. I get about 3 seconds out of the bathroom and guess who comes out of the bathroom! I'm in gross shock at this point but I think "Ok maybe he's going on break and he will wash after he smokes ones..."WRONG! He not only went behind the counter he started handling fries! So what do I do? "Excuse me, I would like to see your manager.""Um Larry, this guy wants you!... I don't know he wants a manager!"Larry the manager comes to the counter and about 5 employees are eyes glued! Including Mr. Dirty Hands Fry-man."Yeah that guy right there working the fries with the mustache, he was just in the bathroom at the same time I was and he left without washing his hands."

The room fell SILENT!

About 6 people were standing at the counter waiting for their food, plus 10 people sitting close enough to hear this, plus the onlooking employees, INCLUDING Mr. Dirty Hands Fry-man.Now Mr. Dirty Hands Fry-man had this look on his face that can only be explained as a look that said "YOU SON OF A !!!" Without actually saying a word. Fearing he might come over the counter or throw something at my head I bid them farewell. "I'll just go to Burger King." I watched over my shoulder the whole way and I am pleased to say that I saw a couple of familiar faces at Burger King a few minutes later.

Chalk one up for customers!

Sure, he could have spoken privately to the manager to handle it more discreetly. Or filed a complaint with the Health Inspector. But I'll bet you every worker at that Wendy's washes their hands after using the bathroom now.

Reminds me of a scene from a Seinfeld episode:

Health Inspector: Are you Poppie?
POPPIE: I'm Poppie.
Health Inspector: I think you'd better come with me.
POPPIE: What's the problem?
(Poppie leaves with the Health Inspector)
AUDREY: What do they want from Poppie?
JERRY: Well, Poppie's a little sloppy.

See? Not quite as dramatic.

Mr. Dirty-hands Fry-man [Where is everybody???]

Here's Joanna:

I was personally contacted by an executive at Viacom, who explained how my film got mixed into their system. Juxtaposer was in a film festival that was presented by Nicktoons, which is of course a Viacom company. They offered selections of the festival as downloadable content, and Juxtaposer was one of them. They just forgot that Viacom's rights to those films were all nonexclusive. He personally assured me that Viacom is no longer making a claim to my film and YouTube should be sending me documents affirming that shortly.

I don't think this would have been over with nearly as fast if not for the publicity I got from your post. This could have been a nightmare, but it wasn't. Count this one a success!

Score one for the little guy.

Viacom Apologizes! [Channel Federator Raw]
PREVIOUSLY: Viacom Fraudulently Claims Ownership Of Indie Filmmakers' YouTube Clips

Joanna is, of course, disputing the claim.

The video is still up, but now Viacom gets access to her video statistics. The worst part is the fear Joanna has that something she slaved and sweat over could be taken away from her. "I'm just a scared that my little film will be lost in the shadow of the hulking monolith...," she wrote on her blog. Also on her blog is a comment by another filmmaker indicating Joanna isn't the only filmmaker Viacom has fraudulently targeted in this manner.

YouTube used to be cool but the site allowing actions like this show how much it's become just another co-opted drek-hole... all because they're too cheap to hire enough people to vet either the uploads or the corporate takedowns.

Below, a screenshot of the creepy and baseless stake-claiming.

Viacom Wants To Steal My Film [Channel Federator Raw]
Juxtaposer [YouTube]

"360 Steak N Shake" [NCCSites.com] (Thanks to Eric!)

From the UPI:

Officials said tests revealed the roach found on the take-out meatlovers pizza was cooked alive with the pie.

Yum! brands, the U.S. operator of the Pizza Hut, lost its license for a month and then reopened with "increased cleaning practices," according to the (Australia) Sunday Mail. The Brisbane Magistrates Court ordered the company to pay a fine of $35,000, and Yum! has said it is sorry for the incident. No word on whether the customer who got the cockroach pizza has stopped screaming yet.

Company fined $35,000 for roach problems [UPI]
(Photo: Adam A. Koch )

My wife let out a full-throated scream that I've only really heard in my nightmares when she is being carried off by a giant squid or something and both of my legs have been cut off and I can't help her...she bent over, her trembling hands on her knees and spit out what was in her mouth onto the floor...my wife's box of Goobers was ALIVE and crawling with maggots...I peered inside the box and saw lumpen, misshapen Goobers with maggots or some kind of larvae crawling everywhere.

Naturally, the blogger took a video, available in all its disgusting glory, inside...

Nestle's Maggoty Goobers [SAVANNAH RED] (Thanks to Rob Walker!)

Upon boarding this flight, my [spouse] was assigned seat 24E. Upon reaching the seat, the gentleman in seat 24F indicated that seat 24E was soaked and that it smelled badly. That kept [my spouse] from immediately sitting in the seat. In fact, the seat was soaked with urine. The flight attendant's solution was to put a couple of blankets and a plastic bag on the seat. [Your passenger] literally sat in a urine soaked seat (the seat belt was soaked also) for the duration of this 2 hour flight! [There] was offered no compensation, no alternative seating, nothing.

... I believe that, at a minimum, we are entitled to a full refund of [my spouse's] ticket for that flight. Once the flight attendant was made aware of the situation, something should have been done. Seat cushions switched out, [offer of] another seat (except the plane was full), or...offered an alternative flight. I look forward to your quick resolution of this appalling situation.

This is what happens when crews are under the knife to turn over the airplane between flights with enough time for a thorough cleaning, or, in this case, the construction of a vacuum-sealed hazmat quarantine. The story is disgusting, and so is the crew's indifference and jerry-rigged solution. The only thing I can remember that tops it is Continental Airlines flight 1970 from Amsterdam to New Jersey on Thursday, June 14, 2007, where the toilets overflowed and streamed down the aisles. And in December '07, AirTran let a lady traveling to Boston sit in a seat that was similarly anointed. She got her airfare and the cost of her clothing refunded.

Personally, I would have refused to sit down and insisted on getting booked on the next flight. Still, that passenger definitely deserves a free ticket voucher and a hell of an apology.

Airline flight became more than a piddling matter [Fort Wayne Observed]
(Photo: JohnKit)

The circumstances of the chipped tooth are especially sad: the man, James Fetters, and his wife had been at a wake, and stopped at Outback for some food on their way home. When his wife felt too upset to eat the soup she had ordered, Fetters began to eat the soup, only to chomp down on the metal bolt. Outback has offered to pay for the repairs to the man's tooth, although Fetters says they have been uncooperative.

Man Chips Tooth on Bolt in Restaurant, Outback Plans to Pay for Dental Work [Naples News] (Thanks to Reid!)
(Photo: Getty)

Select Comfort claims to have addressed the rampant mold problem, a claim that provides little solace to allergy sufferers whose beds are already infested with mold:

Margaret of Stanville KY (04/05/08)
Just found black mold growing under the foam top and on top of both of the air chambers. Purchased in October 2002 and notified Select Comfort today by email. I have allergies to mold and have been to Dr.'s concerning this. My husband has been coughing every night when he lays down in the bed. Just read the comments from others and hope we can reconcile this issue. The foam borders are flimsy as well as the bottom material of the top mattress cover. It has shredded and has holes in it.

Terry of New Lenox IL (05/04/07)
After less than 3 years of sleeping on our select comfort bed, we noticed a very bad odor coming from it. We proceeded to take it apart, piece by piece. The sheets were fine, the mattress pad was fine. But when we got down to the zippered comforter, it smelled terrible. Under the comforter, there is a foam pad, which was full of mold and bacteria. It smelled horrible. We are now sleeping on the floor, because we had to discard most of the bed.

Mold and bacteria cannot be removed from the foam pad, and the zippered comforter would fall apart if it was washed. We got burned badly on this one!

Lana of Brooklyn MI (9/3/03)
The Select Comfort system allows mold and/or mildew to form on the convoluted foam topper and on the air mattresses. Select Comfort's solution 'use a light bleach solution to clean the mattress.' It's impossible to clean the foam. Their product is unhealthy for people like me who have allergies to mold/mildew.

According to the class action:

Purchasers of the beds are being told by Select Comfort to return the beds, often at a significant cost to the purchaser. The Class Action seeks not only to have Select Comfort provide notice to purchasers of its Sleep Number® bed of the potential for mold infestation, but also to have the class members compensated for their losses, including the costs of shipping they have incurred or will incur to return their beds to Select Comfort.

Do you have a Sleep Number bed? Tell us in the comments if your experience was a 0 or a 100.

Select Comfort Sleep Number Bed Class Action Litigation
Select Comfort - Mold [Consumer Affairs]

Steven writes:

Was about to drink some Vitamin Water this morning when I noticed this gunk floating around in it. Luckily I didn't open or drink any of it yet. Here are some attached pictures. Purchased from Kroger in Blacksburg, VA. Will go return it next time I'm there.

PREVIOUSLY: Gross Skin-Looking Thing Found In Vitamin Water

Sears, Robert E. Lee Sued For Dressing Room Peep Show [Style Weekly]

Here's how Sabrina tells the story:

So there I was....eating a bowl of Cranberry Granola cereal a couple nights ago when I chomp down on a hard mass. The cereal is rather chunky and nutty, like most granola is, so i figured it was just a shell of a nut that snuck in there....WRONG!!

I proceeded to pull it out of my mouth only to find something that resembled a bone of sorts. I turned it over and discovered it had TEETH! A lot of them. Too small big to be mouse teeth. I am thinking rat, chipmunk or squirrel!

I started dry heaving immediately! I can't believe this was happening. I think I am still in shock! Thank goodness I didn't crack my back molar. I did cut a portion of my gum line...but nothing major. My jaw hurt for the rest of the night....and my stomach turned for the rest of the night and into the next day.

I cannot believe I was biting down on the head/jaw bone and teeth of a nasty rodent!
What do you do in a situation like this! I was not hurt...so I am not sure I even have a case. This is just so awful though! I am nauseous just thinking about it!

The company is "Bakery on Main" natural gourment. The cereal was nutty cranberry maple granola. This is an organic company out of connecticut.

Yesterday I brought the the bone and packaging to Hannaford ( the grocery store where i bought it). I was very polite and explained to them what happened. I didnt want to give the bone to anyone just yet...but they said as part of their "process" they needed the package and bone to seal up and send to headquarters. I was uneasy about it at first...but realized that everything was going to be properly documented. She doubled my money back.

When i got home...I called "Bakery on Main" and spoke to them. They were very apologetic and offered me TONS of free cereal products...BUT....I declined. I think I will be very weary about eating cereal for quite a while and the thought of eating any at this point makes me nauseous. He then offered me a hannaford gift card. I said that was kind of him...and whatever he felt he should do is fine. I was very polite with him...it wasn't his fault what happened. He said the farmers he gets grains from is what was most likely the issue. The scanning systems pick up metal and such, and bone is harder to find I guess. I told him I am fine aside from a cut on my gum line. Either way this is terribly disturbing. I chewed on remains of a rodent head!!! I told him that Hannaford will be contacting him as well. I asked if he wanted to see pictures..and emailed them to him.

So that is the action I have taken. I am still in shock by what i found. It is too bad...I really liked their products!

RELATED: Dancing Deer And The Metal Spear

On behalf of Staples, and our entire team of EasyTechs, I wanted to respond to the recent post regarding an allegation that we attempted to charge a senior citizen for unnecessary computer repairs. We have spoken to those involved in this episode, including the store manager and the technician. (We were unable to contact the author of the post due to missing contact information, and our calls to the customer have not been returned.) The facts are these:

The customer brought his computer to our store on January 28 stating that his computer was running slow and generating excessive "pop ups."

We conducted a system analysis (which is the first step of our PC Tune Up process). The system analysis indicated the presence of a Trojan Horse (storm.gen). Since the PC had only 256mb of RAM, we also recommended a RAM upgrade to boost performance.

At that point, we recommended a virus removal, RAM upgrade, and detailed diagnostic to determine if there were any other hardware problems. Total cost with installation: $243.00. The customer declined, insisting that we complete the free PC tune up, even though he was told that a tune-up would not fix the problems with his machine.

A month later, on February 29, the customer brought his computer back to the store and spoke to our tech, stating that his computer was still slow and that now his email and internet were not working. We pulled up our records from his previous visit, explained to him that the degrading performance was probably due to the viruses that were still on the machine, and repeated our earlier recommendation.

It was at this point that the author of the post intervened and began a separate conversation with the customer. They soon left the store and we didn't hear from the customer again.

While there are many errors and distortions in the original post and the subsequent discussion threads, the most important facts are these:

The customer was never charged and paid no money to Staples.

We correctly diagnosed his problems but the customer did not want to pay to have the problems fixed. The cost to fix the problems would have been $243 - quite a bit less than the $390 that was claimed. (We offer a very good value in computer repair, with most of our prices at or below our competition.)

Staples system analyzer tool uncovered at least two potential problems with the computer, and we stand by our recommendations for additional RAM and virus removal. (Removing a virus can be a lengthy and difficult process, and off-the-shelf virus programs are generally useless when the machine is already infected.)

Contrary to assertions in the blog, a bank of RAM can easily become unseated in the course of transporting a computer. We believe that is what happened here. In any case, there is absolutely no evidence supporting the most spectacular charge in the post - that the computer was opened and the RAM intentionally removed in order to provide a cover for bogus charges.

Our team of more than 1,400 technicians do their best each and every day to satisfy our customers. While we are not perfect, we have a pretty good track record in taking care of our customers, and when mistakes are made, we usually go the extra mile to correct them. That is part of the Staples culture and the easy brand promise, and the inaccuracies, distortions, and unfounded speculation contained in the post will do nothing to change that.

Bob MacDonald

VP of Technology Services

Staples, Inc.

PS - Please let me know the best way to get this posted in a prominent location on your site.

PREVIOUSLY: Staples Tries To Charge Senior Citizen $390 For Basic Computer Repair

(Photo: Soul_Motor)

Reader Michael watched incredulously as a Staples tech tried to convince a senior citizen that his computer wouldn't work properly without repairs costing almost $400.The senior, who had been lulled into Staples for a free tune up that suddenly cost $39.99, didn't understand why he needed to spend money on a "diagnostic screening ($49.99), virus removal services ($150), and more RAM (~$150)." Michael intervened and offered to look at the computer free of charge. He couldn't believe what he found when he popped open the computer.

He writes:

Thought your readers might find this information useful. While making a return at Staples (800 Lexington St, Waltham, MA), I happened to hear an elderly gentleman disputing a service charge. He had brought his PC in for a free "tune up," and now was being charged $39.99 for that service, plus the service technician was explaining that he needed to purchase a diagnostic screening ($49.99), virus removal services ($150), and more RAM (~$150) to get his computer working. His PC had four viruses, the technician explained, but they would need to run the diagnostic to determine the extent of the infections and to determine if any hardware needed to be replaced.

Having done PC repairs for pizza money in high school, I couldn't stand to watch a senior citizen get bilked that much to simply have anti-virus installed, run, and then (presumably) removed since it was just a "service." I stepped in and offered to take a look at his computer for free, though I couldn't make any promises about fixing it. The technician glared at me, but when the gentleman took me up on the offer he left us alone. I made my returns and followed the man to his house to see what I could do (OK, maybe I'm too trusting but I figure at 6'3" and 230, there's not much and 70 year old can pull on me).

He explained that his computer had worked well enough for e-mail and web surfing, but after he took it in for the free diagnostic it wouldn't start up anymore. Sure enough, we plug his Gateway in and nothing: The monitor doesn't even flicker, even though the power button turns green. I insert a live CD I'd brought along, and still no luck. I double checked that everything had been just fine before taking it in: He hadn't dropped it on the way to the store, hadn't ever opened the case up. He said the technicians had told him he'd need to have virii removed and more RAM added; he suggested he might as well get a new computer if they were going to charge him $300. Seeing how not even the BIOS was showing up, I was starting to worry he was right.

I opened up the PC, expecting the worst: A melted motherboard, fried circuits, or worse, nothing visible at all. I poked and pushed all the parts, making sure everything was tightly pushed in. Everything seemed alright, until I came to the RAM: His DRAM had been partially ejected from its slot, which only could happen if the buttons that held it in place had been pushed. Since he had never opened the PC case up, there was only one explanation: While rummaging inside his computer, a technician had (accidentally or on purpose) hit the button and caused the damage that they were now trying to charge him $390+tax to fix.

I can't see why a "tune up" would require opening the case, except to check and see how many open DRAM slots were available so they could push Staples products. Whatever the case, taking advantage of the elderly by throwing terms like "computer virus" when a hardware problem you caused stops you from even turning on the computer is downright dishonest, if not quite actionable. I even went through Staples pricing sheets afterwards, and none of the services they tried to upsell even appeared on the list.

Anyways, just a warning to your readers to watch out with Staples services. Probably no better or worse than any other big box assistance, but at list in this instance more than a little odious.

It should be noted that several Staples techs have chimed in the comments here and on Digg to dispute the prices Michael reports. Here's a comparison of Michael's prices, the price Staples charges for in-store tech service, and the price Staples charges for at-home repairs.
It's possible that the Diagnostic was rung up in-store, the virus removal was done at the on-site price and he got the number slightly off, and the tech was recommending Edge 2GB Kit PC3200 DDR Desktop Memory. So we can say Michael misremembered or misrepresented the prices, the tech was trying to meet quarterly sales goals, or the tech was new and mistakenly punched it the wrong price for the virus removal. The only weird thing under a "newbie/incompetent tech" scenario is that the tuneup price. Staples used to charge $39.99 but it was dropped to $29.99 mid-2007.

(Photo: Getty)

Tracey's husband expected Sprint to show a scintilla of compassion.

"They said his contract wasn't up and to pay the fee or keep it activated," he said.

"He came in and said my father had upgraded his phone, so we can't cancel unless we pay the early termination fee or give the phone to somebody else," Stewart said.

They didn't have someone else, and they said that the suggestion offended them.

Family Stuck Paying For Deceased Father's Cell [WCVB]
RELATED: Sprint Refuses To Cancel Dead Brother's Cellphone

"I then realized I was saturated in urine from the smell," she said. Ew! You'd think the Air Tran staff would be horrified that someone sat down on a seat soaked in a strangers urine... right?

Nah.

"A flight attendant told me that on the previous flight a man had urinated on himself in that particular seat. And I said, 'I'm not sitting on a three hours flight soaked in someone else's urine. That is absolutely disgusting,'" Castellano told WCVB.

To make matters worse, she then had to walk through the airport wearing only a blanket (shown above) because Air Tran wouldn't fetch her luggage. Apparently, it's against federal regulations for an airline to retrieve your bags for you.

"I get off the plane in Logan, I had to walk through the terminal in a blanket to retrieve my bags from baggage claim. It was humiliating, degrading to walk through an airport dressed like this. They did not offer me any clothes vouchers, to get my bags from baggage claim. They did nothing — absolutely nothing," she said.

AirTran has offered her a refund and the cost of her clothing.

Ew! What were these flight attendants thinking? We wonder what sort of complaint-themed fare sale Air Tran can come up with to make this go away. Hey, it worked for Southwest! Suggestions in the comments, please.

Woman Says She Sat In Urine-Soaked Airplane Seat [WCVB] (Thanks, Jay!)

Hartless said during an interview Thursday that the second and last time he visited the Burger King in Rutland was on June 18 when the lure of a home-style hamburger brought him to the restaurant.

"At that time they were promoting the Southwestern Whopper. Being from Texas I was excited. There's not a lot of spicy food here," he said.

Hartless, who moved to Fair Haven two years ago, said he didn't recognize anyone working at the restaurant and as far as he knows, no one in the restaurant knew him.

But while he was ordering his meal, he said the woman taking his order gave him a hard time about doing the order his way.

"I asked for a Whopper with jalapenos and hold the onions," he said. "The girl told me they didn't have jalapenos but the last time I was in there they gave me jalapenos. When I said that, she told me that they never carried jalapenos. I told her that was fine, but she pulled out a list and said, 'Like you see, we don't carry them.'

"When she read back my order a few minutes later it was wrong," he added.

Frustrated, Hartless said he sat in a booth to wait for his meal. From the angle of the booth, he said he couldn't see the kitchen or the person preparing his sandwich.

When his order was ready, he said he took it home with him to Fair Haven where he sat down to dinner with his spouse and stepdaughter. He said after making his gruesome discovery, the rest of the sandwiches were searched but no additional objects were found.

The urge to think "Attention Whore! Frivolous Lawsuit!" is mitigated because Hartless submitted to a polygraph test and seems genuinely troubled. The poor guy was plagued by nightmares, the kind you do not have unless you suffer from post-traumatic stress syndrome:

"I know it sounds kind of funny now but I had dreams where I would be doing random things and whatever I was holding would turn into the hamburger or the condom."

I was just drinking a bottle of Vitamin Water and there was a really gross thing in it. Industrial byproduct? Paper? Human skin? (See attached photos) Any ideas as to how I can figure out what the thing is and if its contact with my tongue is going to kill me? I have emailed the company.

At every single hotel, regardless of price, the glasses were simply rinsed out and left for the next guest. Some hotels used dirty bath towels to wipe the glasses. One hotel employee rinsed the glasses after cleaning the toilet—using the same gloves. Another one sprayed the glasses with blue cleaning fluid that was marked "Do not drink."

Fox Atlanta has turned the results of the investigation over to the local health department. Experts interviewed in the video maintain that this isn't just a case of "ew, gross" but a very serious health code violation. Dirty glasses spread disease.

Truly disgusting.

I-Team: Dirty Hotel Secrets, Pt. 2 [MyFoxAtlanta] (Thanks, Richard!)

Near Denver, for example, an inspector watched an employee "wipe nose, take money," and continue to prepare food without washing.

Other frequent employee problems included:

• Employees wiping dirty hands on their pants, then continuing to serve food.
• Employees handling foods such as burgers and bananas with their bare hands.
• Employees eating and drinking around food, which spreads germs.

At a Phoenix Dairy Queen, an inspector watched a drive-thru employee handling customers' food with an "open wound," obviously, a dangerous problem that can spread germs.

In Orlando, the five Dairy Queens have averaged a whopping 13 critical violations.

One location, on Curry Ford road was cited for 29 violations. They included:

• Dead roaches on a table where food is prepared
• Live roaches around the restaurant
• Food prep table not cleaned after being in contact with raw food

Dairy Queen — A Chain With Lots of Dangerous Violations [HealthInspections.com via BarfBlog]
(Photo: lovely lemur)

WFTV sent the photo to McDonald's. Here's their response: "Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We have taken swift and immediate action to resolve this matter. Nothing is more important to us than the safety and quality of our food."

McDonald's sent a different email to the picture-taking customer: "The machine was cleaned that morning. They sanitized the bucket to capture milk and after the repair work was done they put the milk back in the machine. This was an isolated incident."

WFTV says the McDonald's in question has had numerous sanitary violations in the past. For those of you in the Orlando area, it's the McDonald's on "Narcoossee Road in the Lake Nona area."

Yuck.

Alleged Milkshake Mistake Turns Stomachs, Prompts Questions [WFTV]
(Photo:WFTV)

Under the terms of foreclosure, no one except the owner has the right to step foot in the house until after the sale.

Neighbor never saw 'disgusting' interior [NorthJersey.com via Credit Slips]
(Photo: Marike79)

"I just about put it in my mouth," said Hines. "I was sitting there watching TV in the dark and I grabbed for three fingers of potato chips and I grabbed a mouse. It shook me up a bit and I threw it over my head."

Fried mouse found in Frito Lay bag [UPI] (Thanks to Francis!)