20 tips for using plastic on vacation - MSN Money

Forget about money changers and traveler’s checks. Credit cards and ATM cards are the now best way to pay for things or get cash when you’re out of the country. Here are some things you should know about using your credit card and ATM card when you’re out of town.

Here is another page that has very good information on getting the best currency exchange rate for your credit and ATM cards.

'SNL' Star Sues Over Bedbugs in Her Loft - washingtonpost.com

Bed bugs don’t care whether or you live in an upscale neighborhood or not. SNL cast member Maya Rudolph and director Paul Thomas Anderson (Boogie Nights) signed a $13,500-a-month lease on a New York City apartment only to find themselves and their baby bitten by bed bugs.

Large bird, small boy, big news - Los Angeles Times

An amateur photographer recently captured the first sighting of a condor flying in Topanga skies in possibly over a hundred years. As if the rare sighting and lucky shot was not enough of a surprise, the photographer is also a five-year-old!

Red wine extract extends 'thin' benefits to fat mice - Los Angeles Times

Promising new research has shown that obese mice who were given an extract from red wine called resveratrol apppeared as healthy as lean mice. Resveratrol is “found in the skin of grapes and in other plants, including peanuts and some berries.” But don’t go on a drinking spree (you’d have to drink 100 bottles of wine a day to get the same dose) or take supplements until more research is done. For now, the best thing might be to eat more grapes and berries, which we know have a lot of antioxidants.

post edited on November 3, 2006 at 5:40 am

Researcher Talks About the Risk of Dioxins

Here are the facts on the dangers of drinking from frozen plastic water bottles (not dangerous), drinking municipal tap water (not dangerous), cooking with plastic (it depends), and burning trash in your yard (extremely bad), straight from an expert.

Chronic drinking may damage brain, memory

“Chronic, heavy drinking may damage the part of the brain related to learning and short-term memory, researchers have found.”

“Alcoholic men had lower hippocampus volumes than men without a drinking history.” This may account for the observation that “[c]hronic alcoholics who are otherwise intelligent often have terrible memories.”