HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: jrt@omega.kcr.uky.edu (J. Randall Thompson)
Subject: Re: water purification/is drinking pure water bad for you?
    <11SEP199214163448@ariel.lerc.nasa.gov>
Organization: Kentucky Cancer Registry, Univ. of Ky
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 1992 22:31:15 GMT
Distribution: usa

In article <11SEP199214163448@ariel.lerc.nasa.gov> seove@ariel.lerc.nasa.gov (ERIC OVERTON) writes:
>In article <1992Sep10.163055.5506@engage.pko.dec.com>, moroney@ramblr.enet.dec.com writes...
>>>2. I've heard in a couple of places that drinking mineral-free (e.g.
>>>distilled) water is bad for you.  This has always sounded bogus to me
>>>but some of the explnations are semi-plausible (that the pure water
>>>messes up some osmotic balance and actually drains minerals from your
>>>system).  Does anyone have reliable information about this?
>> 
>>This is an urban legend.  A normal diet has plenty of minerals so it would
>>be nearly impossible to leach the minerals from your system, and also once
>>the water hits your stomach it is no longer pure so the osmotic balance
>>argument doesn't apply either.
>> 
>>-Mike
>
>You would probably have to drink a bathtub full of water to 
>benefit from the mineral contents.
>
>Eric

But please, *don't* construe this as medical advice. *Don't* drink
a bathtub full of mineral water. I'm sure Eric doesn't want to
get sued by someone who developed hyponatriemia because of his
"net-side" (god, how I hate that word) advice.

-- 
[]  J. Randall Thompson                                      jrt@kcr.uky.edu []
[]  University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky                              []
From: masticol@cadenza.rutgers.edu (Steve Masticola)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
Subject: Re: Waldenbooks fires staff for refusing to sell racist book!
Keywords: censorship, political correctness, first amendment
Date: 6 Sep 92 15:33:42 GMT
Followup-To: alt.politics.correct
Distribution: usa
Organization: Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, N.J.

Sorry, this thread really has nothing to do with consumers.  Followups
directed to alt.politics.correct.

rsk@aspen.circ.upenn.edu (Rich Kulawiec) writes:

  [ NPR story on Waldenbooks employees fired for refusing to sell a
    calendar they considered unacceptable ]

  It is not for the staff of the bookstore to decide
  that certain books are inappropriate; that is a decision which should
  be left to each individual consumer, who should be free to buy and
  read whatever they wish.The staff's job descriptions and
  responsibilities do not include passing editorial judgement on the
  contents of every book in the store, and supressing those which they
  find personally unappealing.

  This political correctness stuff is beginning to get on my nerves.

I agree heartily. Whether it's Ayatollah Khomeini, Tipper Gore, or
NPR, the self-appointed guardians of my morals have no business
judging what I may and may not read.

I heard the NPR story too. The excerpts from the book were not at all
funny, and were in fact pretty revolting. I wouldn't buy it. But the
employees were definitely insubordinate, and the district manager was
within his (her?) rights for firing them. They deserved what they got.

NPR seemed to assume that the listeners would automatically support
the fired employees in their behavior as self-appointed censors.  They
did the same thing in a story about two waiters who were fired from a
restaurant (also in California :-) for refusing to sell a glass of
wine to a pregnant woman.  Their news is _not_ unbiased; it's just
slanted differently than the for-profit networks.  They do quite a lot
of bashing of groups they don't like.

NPR also does not support freedom of speech for groups it doesn't
like.  (Examples: Philip Morris, and the guy who put out "Henry:
Portrait of a Serial Killer.")  They may be sleazy, or conniving, but
they're supposedly guaranteed the right to freedom of speech. Dammit,
the First Amendment applies to everyone, or it doesn't apply at all.
As members of the press, NPR should appreciate this fact.

I've donated to NPR in the past, and may again. But for now, they get
not one dime more of my money. Not until they make an unambiguous
stand for freedom. _Everyone's_ freedom.

- Steve (masticol@cs.rutgers.edu).
Xref: sparky misc.consumers:16266 alt.discrimination:4154
From: jsp@uts.amdahl.com (James Preston)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers,alt.discrimination
Subject: Re: Waldenbooks fires staff for refusing to sell racist book!
Date: 7 Sep 92 19:40:53 GMT
Reply-To: jsp@pls.amdahl.com
Distribution: usa
Organization: Amdahl Corporation, Sunnyvale CA

jsdph@acad3.alaska.edu (Dennis P. Harris) writes:

}I have already informed WB that I intend to boycott them until they stop
}selling the book and reinstate the fired employees . . .

I find your posting offensive.  I think everyone who agrees with me should
write to your system administrator and demand that your posting privileges
be revoked.

Just trying to make a point.  No one has the right to "censor" you by trying
to get your posting privileges revoked.  Neither do you nor the employees
of that bookstore have the right to censor book publishers.  Freedom of the
press is one of the most fundamental and cherished freedoms that we still
have left in this country.  Your kind sickens me.

}There is no Waldenbooks store in my area . . .

I found this amazingly laughable.  Let me make sure I've got this straight:
You are now boycotting a store that you couldn't even shop at in the first
place, right?  So the effect on their sales is going to be exactly nil.
Whatta schmuck.

--James Preston

Newsgroups: misc.consumers
From: mpalmer@encore.com (Mike Palmer)
Subject: Re: 'Power Antenna' any good?
Organization: Encore Computer Corporation
Date: Mon, 14 Sep 1992 13:33:44 GMT

dug@dug.b17d.ingr.com (Doug Taylor) writes:

>In a previous article, Jim Haynes writes:
>|> 
>|> Only good in comparison with no antenna at all.  A rabbit ears, or random
>|> pieces of wire would work better.
>|> -- 

>I must disagree.  I bought a 27" Mitsubishi TV & VCR but didn't want
>to get cable (yet).  I live within the city limits of Huntsville,
>AL, and thought I would get good reception of the 5 TV stations with
>just a set of rabbit ears.  Wrong.  It wasn't much better than no
>antenna at all.  I attached it in numerous configurations, etc.  The
>next attempts would have been to run some wires out the window or up
>into the attic.  However, my sister-in-law had a $70 power antenna
>that she was not using (she had cable put in), so she let us use it. 
>It works great!  The picture is as clear now as the cable users next
>door.
>______________________________________________________________
>  Doug Taylor                 (205) 730-6875 (w)
>  MailStop IW17D1             dug@dug.b17d.ingr.com
>  Intergraph Corp.
>  Huntsville, AL 35894-0001   < My thots, not theirs. >


What's the make & model of the power antenna you are using? 
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
From: morgan@ms.uky.edu (Wes Morgan)
Subject: Re: Waldenbooks fires staff for refusing to sell racist book!
    <ZBDM0C.92Sep10140653@curry.curry.trc.amoco.com> <BuJ6CD.67L@NCoast.ORG>
Distribution: usa
Date: Mon, 14 Sep 1992 12:02:21 GMT
Organization: The Puzzle Palace, UKentucky

cmort@ncoast.org (Christopher Morton) writes:
>> Unfortunatly, they [Waldenbooks] don't stock Maupin's books.  And if you 
>> dare to special order such a thing, they'll sometimes even give you a nice
>> Baptist Snarl(tm) to really make sure you understand that they go
>> quite a bit beyond not condoning homosexuality.
>
>The one at the Southland Shopping Center in Parma Heights, OH used to.  Now
>all you have to do is move to Cleveland, become a racist and learn to bowl...
>:)
>
>I am well aquainted with the mind set, having been stationed at Ft. Knox.

Hold on there, friend!

While Kentucky is often classified as a Bible Belt state, there is a
rather astonishing enclave of moderation, to wit:

	- Convicted Watergate participant Jeb Magruder is the pastor
	  of the largest Presbyterian church in Lexington.

	- Several Kentucky Baptist churches have broken with the Southern
	  Baptist Convention over the 'withdrawl of fellowship' from a
	  North Carolina church which ordained a homosexual.

	- My home church (Chevy Chase Baptist) has held a joint Vacation
	  Bible School with the largest Catholic church in Lexington 
	  (Christ the King Cathedral, right across the street) for the
	  last two years.  (For Southern Baptists, that's *real* moderation!)

Kentucky certainly has its proverbial 'bad apples'; all states have a few.
I don't think we can paint the entire state with a fundmentalist/censorial
brush.

As far as FT Knox, I didn't find it any better (or worse) than any other
military base. (Would you like to talk about FT Leonard Wood, MO or FT
Hood, TX??) 

--Wes

-- 
MORGAN@UKCC         |       Wes Morgan       |        ...!ukma!ukecc!morgan 
morgan@ms.uky.edu   | Engineering  Computing |   morgan@wuarchive.wustl.edu
morgan@engr.uky.edu | University of Kentucky | JWMorgan@dockmaster.ncsc.mil
  Mailing list for AT&T StarServer S/E  - starserver-request@engr.uky.edu
Xref: sparky misc.consumers:16451 rec.video:11178 sci.electronics:15526
From: perl@dwrsun4.UUCP (Robert Perlberg)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers,rec.video,sci.electronics
Subject: Are there video tape cleaners?  (not HEAD cleaners, TAPE cleaners)
Date: 11 Sep 92 20:31:16 GMT
Organization: Dean Witter Reynolds Inc., New York

I've had the experience of my machine needing a head cleaning after
playing a rented tape, but not after my own tapes.  Is there anything I
can do to "clean" a rented tape before playing it so it won't mess up
my machine?  Is there such a thing as a tape cleaning apparatus?

Robert Perlberg
Dean Witter Reynolds Inc., New York
{murphy | philabs}!dwrsun4!perl
	-- "I am not a language ... I am a free man!"
Xref: sparky misc.consumers:16467 alt.discrimination:4339 alt.censorship:7453
From: tto@aspentec.com
Newsgroups: misc.consumers,alt.discrimination,alt.censorship
Subject: Re: Waldenbooks fires staff for refusing to sell racist book!
Date: 12 Sep 92 12:34:10 EST
Distribution: usa,world
Organization: Aspen Technology, Inc. Cambridge, MA.


In article <BuF4xE.63s@cs.psu.edu>, so@fortran.cs.psu.edu (Nicol C So) writes:
> In article <1992Sep10.141459.4931@m.cs.uiuc.edu> kadie@herodotus.cs.uiuc.edu (Carl M. Kadie) writes:
>>guillory@crhc.uiuc.edu (Stanford Guillory) writes:
>>>...
>>>A boycott is not censorship.
>>>...
>>True, but the goal of this boycott is to compel bookstores suppress
>>material of which you disapprove. Supporters of free expression thus
>>oppose this boycott.
> 
> The boycotters are exerting their "fair share" of influence on the business
> decision of bookstore owners, there is nothing morally wrong with these
> people.  The boycotters have no moral obligation to patronize businesses
> whose business practices they do not approve.  Nor do they have the moral
> obligation to help spread any particular idea.
> 
> Don't get me wrong, I am not speaking for the boycott.  Generally I support
> tolerance of difference in opinions and believes.  I just think that 
> boycotts are morally acceptable, although perhaps undesirable in come cases.
> -- 

Hear hear!

I have been following this thread for a while, and I have the feeling that
a lot of netters are trigger-happy when they see the faintest shadow of
the word "censorship".

A bookstore is not a publicly funded library.

A bookstore onwer has no obligation whatsoever, moral- or legal-wise,
to carry any item against his will.  He can base his selection on whatever
criteria he likes.  Most of times, let's face it, it is the financial
consideration that reign supreme.  If a store owner does not want to
carry a book because it is too expensive, we do not call it censorship.
If a store owner does not want to carry a book because he thinks it
is pornographic, racist, useless, uninteresting, out-of-date, factually-wrong,
pure propaganda, too esoteric...[add any adjective you like], why should 
we call that censorship?

Do we want a bookstore owner who is entirely bottom-line driven; or one
who cares about the content of the books he sells?

Personally, I rarely go to Waldenbooks because I found their selection
too shopping-mall-ish.  Here in Boston we have one of the best (if not
_the_best_) collection of bookstores in the whole country; who would want
to go to Waldenbooks if one has a choice?

Tak.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tak To                                                    (617) 497-9020 x377
Box 45, MIT Branch PO, Cambridge, Ma 02139.                  tto@aspentec.com
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: misc.consumers,misc.consumers.house
From: ajg@controls.ccd.harris.com (Arnold Goldberg)
Subject: Re: DISHWASHER recommendations?
Organization: Harris Controls and Compositions
	<1992Sep9.174418.6419@cs.sfu.ca>
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 1992 21:01:26 GMT

What I do for my dishwashers is go the the refurbished places around 
town.

You can get brand new looking dishwashers for about $60 installed...

--
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Arnold Goldberg                            Email:  ajg@ccd.harris.com
Phone: (407)242-5051                       Snail:  Harris Corporation
Fax  : (407)242-4262                               407 John Rodes Blvd.
                                                   Melbourne, FL 32905
The opinions expressed are my own and do not in any way represent Harris 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: dhe@ncratl.AtlantaGA.NCR.COM (Duanfeng He)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
Subject: Re: 'Power Antenna' any good?
Date: 8 Sep 92 12:54:26 GMT
Organization: NCR Engineering and Manufacturing Atlanta -- Atlanta, GA

In <1992Sep4.004923.1709@ucbeh.san.uc.edu> rainwatr@ucbeh.san.uc.edu writes:


>       Forget cable! Lose that unsightly rooftop antenna!

>       That's what the ads have been saying on TV lately for the 'Power
>Antenna', a device which plugs into an electrical outlet and connects to
>your TV, supposedly turning your entire house into a giant power antenna.
>And all for the low, low price of just $19.95.

>       Now for the questions.  Are these things for real?  Do they do what
>they say?  Have any of you used these?  I recently bought a new rooftop
>antenna, which has pretty good range.  I paid around $70.00 for it.  Should
>I rip it down (carefully, so I can find some unknowing sap to buy it), and
>send in my $20.00 for one of these gadgets?

>       I know this sounds a bit sarcastic, but it's probably justified
>since this sounds a little too good to be true.  Any information is
>appreciated. 

Ahah, finally I hear somebody on this topic again.  I vaguely remember
there was this short discussion on this newsgroup earlier.  Then I saw
this junk mail piece the second time, and because I believed an 
argument by one of the netters who believed that longer antennas whould
always help, I sent in the money.  I believe it's something like
"sveda".  Well, that was about a couple of monthes ago.  My check was
cashed, but nothing came out of it after all.

Should I complain about mail fraud?  Should I check if these guys are
bankrupt (probably phony bankrupcy if that, though)?  I don't quite
know the laws of this land and so far am just playing as I gave up on
the ownership of that $30 or so (with a cable, and s/h).  For one 
thing, I don't think I still have these bad guy's mailing address,
and a check to somebody without an address may not be that informative,
I thought.

May I get some enlightment from our fellow netters?


-- 
Duanfeng He (Jackson)           Duanfeng.He@AtlantaGa.NCR.com
Newsgroups: misc.consumers,sci.med
From: strnlght@netcom.com (David Sternlight)
Subject: Re: water purification/is drinking pure water bad for you?
Date: Wed, 09 Sep 92 20:36:16 GMT
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest)
Distribution: usa


Sears sells an excellent countertop water distiller for under $100. I've
used one for years. After seeing the brown crap left at the bottom after
distilling each load, I'm convinced I'm doing my kidneys a great service.

There's no evidence I've seen that drinking distilled water is a health
hazard. The only time I've heard it attacked is by the purveyors of
competitive filter products which don't remove minerals. Since they
are pretty big special pleaders and have never been able to provide
literature citations, I've ignored them.

Xref: sparky misc.consumers:16630 sci.med:17496
From: rabani@jeeves.ucsd.edu (Ely Rabani)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers,sci.med
Subject: Re: water purification/is drinking pure water bad for you?
Date: 16 Sep 92 02:23:30 GMT
Followup-To: misc.consumers
Distribution: usa
Organization: University of California, San Diego

As for this organic mineral stuff, I'd imagine this refers to
chelating agents complexing the minerals in question.  For instance,
CaF2 (eg in toothpaste) is inorganic, whereas calcium citrate (one of
the forms of calcium recomended as a supplement for post-menopausal
women to prevent osteoporesis) is calcium chelated by an organic
compound (citrate.)  In some instances, depending on solubility, various
ionic compouns simply won't disolve very much when ingested, for instance,
magnesium phosphate, though dissolved in the low pH conditions in the
stomach, will precipitate in the duodenum as bicarbonate neutralizes
stomach acid.  As such, with most of the mineral in insoluble form,
little is absorbed.  Other minerals dissociate readily and are readily
absorbed in "inorganic form", for instance, potasium or sodium.  
Many mineral supplements are in the form of amino acid
chelates, which don't associate so tightly with the ions in question.

Ely.
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
From: minor@rtsg.mot.com (Kevin Minor)
Subject: Re: Endorsing checks for deposit via ink stamp?
Organization: Motorola Inc., Cellular Infrastructure Group
Date: Wed, 9 Sep 1992 19:32:57 GMT

konstan@elmer-fudd.cs.berkeley.edu (Joe Konstan) writes:

|>Actually, most large businesses that process checks encode the check amount
|>on the bottom (right) of the check in magnetic ink (saves the bank the 
|>trouble of doing the same).  When a bank receives checks from such a 
|>source, they can process them mechanically, rather than looking at
|>each check.  So, in this case, the clerk probably made a mistake, but
|>nobody is likely to complain much since the mistake was minor and 
|>avoided a late charge.  I imagine that a single complaint might not
|>do much anyway, since it could be considered a "processing error" though 
|>you would clearly get back your money.  If a company did this too often, 
|>"processing error" would become "fraud."

Well, my beef was not with the phone company but with the bank.
I didn't realize that the amount cleared was the actually amount I owed
instead of what I wrote out until I was about to call the phone company.
At that point, I had already received credit from the bank.

IMHO, it is the bank's responsibility to at least check the dates and
amounts of the checks - the bank should check more but that's a start...
Yes, I know the date on a check is not always checked but at least the
amount should be...

I makes it awfully hard to balance a checkbook and not bounce checks if
people are cashing checks for whatever amounts they please.
-- 
	/~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\
	|	Kevin Minor	UUCP: ...uunet!mcdchg!motcid!minor	|
	|			Mail: minor@rtsg.mot.com		|
	\~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~/
Xref: sparky misc.consumers:16591 rec.video:11303 sci.electronics:15676
From: richard@pegasus.com (Richard Foulk)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers,rec.video,sci.electronics
Subject: Re: Best Tape Brands!
Date: 15 Sep 92 15:26:46 GMT
Organization: Pegasus,  Honolulu

>
>I second the recommendation for Maxell HGX-anything. My wife and I received
>a box of HGX-Gold as a wedding present a number of eons ago (actually 8
>years). Two of these tapes have been in frequent use (one daily for two
>years) and still outperform a brand-new Polaroid.
>

A minor point, but tapes tend to improve after they've been used a
few times.


-- 
Richard Foulk		richard@pegasus.com
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
From: ask@cbnews.cb.att.com (Arthur S. Kamlet)
Subject: Re: Priority Mail is a fraud
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories,  Columbus, Ohio
Distribution: usa
Date: Sat, 12 Sep 1992 20:01:59 GMT

In article <1992Sep11.114856.11913@spdcc.com> jin@spdcc.com (Jerry Natowitz) writes:
>We were just sent a check by Priority Mail that took 6 days to
>travel 200 miles (I could have walked it faster :-( ).  When I
>called and complained about this I was told that there is NO
>GUARANTEE for Priority Mail.
>
>Since the Post Office is still quasi-Federal Government, state
>laws about warentee of merchandisability don't apply.  If I was
>younger and more willing to fight for principle, I'd take this to
>the Federal Trade Commission.

It won't do any immediate good, but file an official complaint with
your post office.  You could also write to the Assistant Postmaster
General for Consumer Affairs, US Postal Service Wash DC. At least
your complaint will go recorded.  If management doesn't know about
a problem, chances are they won't try to fix it.

There is a guarantee for express mail, whose main competition is
private carriers such as federal express.

This is true:  The motto used by Federal Express:
      When it absolutely, positively has to get there overnight.

  The motto used for express mail by the postal service:
      If it doesn't get there when we promise we will refund
      your money.

Who would you choose?
-- 
Art Kamlet  a_s_kamlet@att.com  AT&T Bell Laboratories, Columbus
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
From: wolflovr@polari.online.com
Subject: Dog Food
Keywords: comparison
Organization: Seattle Online Public Access Unix.  (206) 328-4944 (all lines telebit-equipped)
Date: Sat, 5 Sep 1992 23:30:22 GMT

I am looking for a good comparison for dog food.  
Such as Iams, Science Diet, Purina...which is 
the best?  I have looked in consumer reports but
could not find it and most stuff I have found was
printed by a manufacturer.  Any help appreciated
THANKS in advance.




~
.


:save

Newsgroups: misc.consumers,misc.books.technical,alt.discrimination
From: larryd@milton.u.washington.edu (Larry Desoto)
Subject: Re: Waldenbooks fires staff for refusing to sell racist book!
Organization: University of Washington
Distribution: usa
Date: Sun, 6 Sep 1992 19:48:22 GMT

jsdph@acad3.alaska.edu (Dennis P. Harris) writes:

>According to a story on today's NPR Morning Edition, Waldenbooks has fired the
>staff of its Georgetown store in Washington, DC for refusing to sell the
>"Joke-A-Date" appointment calendar, which contains racist and demeaning "jokes"
>for each day of 1993.  After hearing some examples in the story of some of the
>"jokes", I agree with the former WB employees that the publication (from St.
>Martins Press, which should know better) would offend a large number of
>bookstore customers.

>I have already informed WB that I intend to boycott them until they stop
>selling the book and reinstate the fired employees by posting a message to
>their user services folks in their Walden Computerbooks on-line store in the
>Compu$erve Mall (GO WB), and I urge others to join me.  

How nice that the Georgetown Waldenbook's staff and you know best what
politically incorrect reading materials should be removed from the shelves. 
Perhaps you can suggest other materials from which we should be shielded?
Just think.  With such guardians, I won't have to decide for myself whether
or not it is offensive...and, maybe not buy it.

If you don't like it, don't buy it.  Meanwhile, it isn't your place to tell
me or anyone else whether or not certain material is fit to read.

BTW:  How do you feel about people who suggest such incorrect literature
as "Huckleberry Finn" or maybe the "Grapes of Wrath" be removed from
library shelves?  

--
Larry                                   |   Thunder makes all the noise;
                                        |   lightning gets the job done.
larryd@milton.washington.edu
I have my opinion; the university has its own.
Newsgroups: misc.consumers