If you want clear aqua water and beautiful beaches

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There are plenty of beaches in S. Florida where they have found over the many years MEDICAL WASTE DUMPING. So, no I don't agree that Florida's beaches are all beautiful..........maybe northeast and northwest in the state but certainly not in south florida......

Millions of toys recalled; contain 'date rape' drug

Two U.S. children went into comas after swallowing Chinese-made Aqua Dots found to contain a chemical that converts into 'date rape' drug when ingested.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Millions of Chinese-made toys have been pulled from shelves in North America and Australia after scientists found they contain a chemical that converts into a powerful date rape drug when ingested. Two children in the United States and three in Australia were hospitalized after swallowing the beads.

With only seven weeks until Christmas, the recall is yet another blow to the toy industry - already bruised by a slew of recalls this past summer.

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In the United States, the toy goes by the name Aqua Dots, a highly popular holiday toy distributed by Toronto-based Spin Master Toys. They are called Bindeez in Australia, where they were named toy of the year at an industry function earlier this year.

It could not immediately be learned whether Aqua Dots beads are made in the same factories as the Bindeez product. Both are sold by Australia-based Moose Enterprises.

The toy beads are sold in general merchandise stores and over the Internet for use in arts and crafts projects. They can be arranged into designs and fused together when sprayed with water.

Scientists say a chemical coating on the beads, when ingested, metabolizes into the so-called date rape drug gamma hydroxy butyrate. When eaten, the compound - made from common and easily available ingredients - can induce unconsciousness, seizures, drowsiness, coma and death.

Naren Gunja from Australia's Poisons Information Center said the drug's effect on children was "quite serious ... and potentially life-threatening."

The recall was announced by the Consumer Product Safety Commission on Wednesday several hours after published reports about the recall in Australia.

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The two U.S. children who swallowed Aqua Dot beads went into nonresponsive comas, commission spokesman Scott Wolfson said Wednesday afternoon.

In Australia, the toys were ordered off store shelves on Tuesday when officials learned that a 2-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl were hospitalized after swallowing the beads. A 19-month-old toddler also was being treated.

The news jolted the toy industry because Aqua Dots has been one of the few bright stars of the toy selling season, which, along with overall retailing, has gotten off to a sluggish start. The item, which had been heavily advertised, had appeared on many toy experts' list of must-have holiday toys, and toy sellers are now in the midst of canceling advertising and scrambling to figure out how to replace it.

Chris Byrne, a New York-based toy consultant, noted that the incidents could have been isolated, and Spin Master may be erring on the side of caution.

"This is something that they could not have foreseen. This is an extremely hot toy. ... It's a little scary," Byrne said.

In a statement, Toys "R" Us Inc., said that it issued on Tuesday a "stop sale" on the entire Spin Master Aqua Dots product line in its North American stores and on its Web site after it learned of the news. "We understand that Spin Master and U.S. regulatory authorities are investigating this product and we have asked Spin Master to fully explain what it believes happened," said the toy seller in a statement.

Meanwhile, a separate recall was announced for 405,000 children's products made in China, most of them toy cars, because of dangerous levels of lead.

The recall includes about 380,000 Pull-Back Action Toy Cars imported by Dollar General Merchandising Inc. of Goodlettsville, Tenn., and 7,500 Dragster and Funny Car toys imported by International Sourcing Ltd. of Springfield, Mo.

Four of the recalled products were imported by Schylling Associates Inc. of Rowley, Mass., including the items Duck Family Collectable Wind-Up Toy, Dizzy Ducks Music Box, "Robot 2000" collectable tin robot and Winnie-the-Pooh Spinning Top. The company recalled another 66,000 spinning tops Aug. 22.

Representatives from Schylling Associates Inc. were not immediately available for comment.

Wednesday's recalls include about 7,200 "Big Red" Wagons imported by Northern Tool & Equipment Co. of Burnsville, Minn. Totaling about 405,700, the recalled children's products all had excessive levels of lead in their surface paint.

Although no illnesses connected to the toy car recall have been reported, lead is toxic if ingested by young children. Children's products found to have more than 0.06 percent lead accessible to users are subject to a recall.

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you are the type of person to love with all your heart. My sister during the last week of her cat's life slept on the floor with Mary Beth (her beautiful cat of many years) because Mary Beth could no longer jump up and down from the bed. We do things we never thought we would do for these beautiful creatures God has given us. You are such a loving pet owner. That made me cry reading your posts. I celebrate the life of your cat and the love you gave her. I celebrate the life of all the pets my family has owned, loved and still miss. We all feel what you are feeling and you are not alone. Your love enabled you to give her all those years, and I believe your love will get you through.

Unless this man's ex-wife was a non-believer, he technically can't have a relationship with any other woman at all because it would be considered adultry....right?

My husband accompanied my son to practice. The then assistant coach was trying to make conversation with him. He asked my husband where he worked -- typical question, like how's the weather? My husband answered honestly and left it at that. This guy went on to tell his life story. My husband did not repeat this to anyone other than his supervisor when he realized it was a breach of ethics for him to be around him.

Again, my husband approached the head coach about the situation and without going into detail about the man's criminal history, asked for a transfer. The head coach referred him to the league president, who asked why he needed a transfer. He then told the league president, who does the background checks and would have found out anyway, why he needed the transfer. The league president then informed the head coach, who who told the assistant coach why he decided to remove him from his coaching staff. We certainly did not discuss this with any other parents on the team. We had also requested that the head coach not discuss with the assistant coach until and if it would be necessary. We were hoping to avoid the situation entirely by transferring our child, not the ex-convict's kid. Silly us to think we were doing the right thing?

The last thing we wanted was for any of this to come to light. We tried to handle it discretely. I'm guessing you're also one of those people who likes to make the people trying to do the right thing out to be the bad guy.

I meant *generally* speaking. You seem to me to rather be the exception to the rule. MOST folks (not you, evidently and this is a GOOD THING *S*) in the deep south (and I am not speaking of places such as south Florida) - are against abortion and pro-choice - not all of them but PLENTY of them.

thoughout her life. You were together for many years and you gave her a wonderful life. Please try to always remember that. A woman who cleaned for my mom cleaned my apartment once and when I showed her a dog collar that I have that my darling Westie wore I broke down. This woman knew my Westie and loved her, too. I cried and said I had some feelings of guilt that I was dealing with. This wonderful woman said something to me that might help you now. She said

"Just think of the life you gave her. Now think of the life she might have had if she had fallen into the hands of someone who did not love her." That really helped me a lot. I hope in time it will help you, too. God Bless you.