Woman Gets 2 Days Jail for Running Light, Killing Nanny

[Jeff Gross]

How Many Gallons of Water is in an Individual Bottled Water?



This irony shouldn't be lost on anyone: it takes 1.85 gallons of water to manufacture the plastic for the bottle in the average commercial bottle of water.



Woman Gets 2 Days Jail for Running Light, Killing Nanny

SAN DIEGO â€" A woman who ran a red light and hit a nanny pushing a baby across a street in a stroller, killing the woman and injuring the child, was sentenced Friday to 48 hours in jail, 180 days on electronic surveillance and three years probation.

Christine Padilla, 35, pleaded guilty last month to a misdemeanor charge of vehicular manslaughter and infractions of running a red light and failure to yield at a crosswalk.

The Feb. 1 accident at Camino del Sur and Via Verrazzano in Torrey Highlands happened about 11:45 a.m. The impact threw Monserrat Mendez about 30 feet and dragged the stroller with a 14-month-old boy strapped inside across the intersection, leaving it wedged under Padilla’s Toyota 4Runner.

Many, myself included, find this an outrageous travesty of justice. I feel distracted/impaired driving is epidemic, and vehicular manslaughter should mandate a permanent loss of driver's license. Driving is a priveledge, not a right. We treat it like a constitutional right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, but it is just one transportation alternative. It would be a big deal to lose the priveledge, but it is a bigger deal to distractedly kill someone. My opinion is that we should have a three-foot law, but not just between bikes and passing cars, but between passing cars and any person, whether walking, biking, skateboarding, doing construction, performing a traffic stop, or sitting on the edge of the road. Stop giving negligent drivers a pass because they did not intend to do damage, and they really need their car to get to work. OK, enough of my outraged ranting.

How Many Gallons of Water is in a:
Gallon of Paint:  Takes 13 gallons of water to make.
Single Board of Lumber: 5.4 gallons of water are used to grow enough wood for one lumber board 
Pair of Jeans: It takes around 1,800 gallons of water to grow enough cotton to produce just one pair of regular ol' blue jeans.



5 Hour Energy Put To The Test
Written by Theresa Collington

(CBS)  It's one tiny bottle that promises to pack a lot of energy. And with an advertising budget of close to $90 million, the 5-hour Energy shot has America's attention.

Its promise is pretty appealing: no sugar, just a little caffeine, and a lot of vitamins to get you going. But are their claims too good to be true?

For many exhausted Americans, the idea of an instant energy shot is an alluring one. One of the most popular is the brand 5-hour Energy. "5-hour Energy has seen huge growth in the last year. They control about 12 percent of the overall energy drink market, which is about $9 billion in sales," according to Natalie Zmunda of Advertizing Age.

The reviews are mixed:

"I think they definitely did something to stimulate you for awhile," says one tester.
"I didn't get a boost. I actually fell asleep on it," says another.  But these little bottles are making quite a big splash.  "They're really starting to go broad," Zmunda tells CBS News correspondent Michelle Miller. "It's not just men anymore; its men and women. Its 40 year olds, 50 year olds."

Commercials for the product downplay caffeine's role:

"It contains about as much caffeine as a cup of the leading premium coffee."  Instead, attributing the boost in energy to a special "blend" of vitamins:  "Its key ingredients can be found in everyday foods like avocados, broccoli, and bananas."  But some experts say these ads are misleading. "Energy is not obtained from vitamins or minerals.The feeling that you might get from this product is from the caffeine," says Dr. Tod Cooperton.

In fact, Dr. Cooperton of ConsumerLab.com ran tests on 5-hour Energy and found it has more caffeine than advertised. According to the report, one shot contained 207 mg of caffeine. That's 15 percent more than the 180 mg of caffeine found in an 8 oz. cup of Starbucks Bold.   At up to $4 a shot, that's pretty expensive for energy that comes mainly from caffeine.  "The extra vitamins are not going to do anything for you," says Cooperton.   "The Early Show" took the findings to a representative for 5-hour Energy, but she stood by the advertised claims.

"The amount of caffeine is similar to what's in one premium cup of coffee and the amount of B vitamins are essential for the energy metabolism - and for boosting the furnace of the powerhouse of the cells to provide energy," says Dr. Kathy O'Neil-Smith of 5-hour Energy.  Because energy drinks are considered dietary supplements, the FDA doesn't require them to list caffeine amounts. So if that's a number you'd like to know, you're probably better off with a cup of joe.  CBS News Medical Correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton warns that too much caffeine can be especially harmful for teens and pregnant women. For the rest of us, taking in too much can lead to nervousness, insomnia, rapid heart beat, increased blood pressure and nausea.

For most people, 200-300 mg of caffeine - about two to four cups of coffee - is OK.  Also, when mixed with alcohol, energy drinks can lead to dangerous drinking. Some pre-mixed alcoholic energy drinks, like Four Loko, have been banned by the FDA.  If you're the type who needs an energy boost, there are other ways to increase your level of alertness.  Dr. Ashton says you can fight your afternoon fatigue with exercise - even a walk around the block may perk you up. Maintaining a healthy sleep schedule can also boost your energy, as well as a power nap.  If you're feeling sluggish, drink more water. Ashton says you may be dehydrated, which we tend to forget during the winter because it's so cold.

She also suggests having a small power snack of protein, like a handful of nuts.

How Many Gallons of Water is in a
Car:  It takes an estimated 39,090 gallons of water to make a car. It's unclear if that includes the more 2,000 gallons used to make its tires--each tire takes 518 gallons to make.
Cotton T-Shirt: Not as bad as jeans, it still takes a whopping 400 gallons of water to grow the cotton required for an ordinary cotton shirt.



Home Buyers Feel Left Out

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS / TUESDAY, JUNE 11, 2013

Mortgage rates and home prices are on the rise, and some home buyers who were waiting around for the housing market to reach bottom are realizing now they may have missed the boat. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaging 3.91 percent last week -- up from 3.3 percent in early May, according to mortgage giant Freddie Mac. "It's unlikely that rates will ever be that low again," says Doug Duncan, Fannie Mae's chief economist.

The Fed has been keeping interest rates at record lows by buying up to $85 billion a month in Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities, which has helped bolster the housing market. "Up until recently, expectations were that the Fed would begin to taper purchases of mortgage-backed securities and Treasury bonds late in 2013, but that time frame appears to have moved to September, possibly sooner," says Keith Gumbinger, vice president of HSH.com, a mortgage information company.

As the economy continues to gain traction, interest rates are expected to continue to increase, Gumbinger says, since low rates often are associated with a distressed economy.

But even if mortgage rates move up a percentage point or two, housing experts note that mortgage rates will still be low by historical standards."The 30-year [mortgage rate] hit a 37-year low in 2003 at 5.23 percent," Gumbinger says. "That was the previous low-watermark prior to this financial crisis, and it's likely we will move closer to that mark as we grind forward."

How Many Gallons of Water is in  . . .Ten Pounds of . . .
Steel: 310 gallons of water
Cement: 7 gallons

Bike lots,
Jeff Gross
jeff@fullcommitment.com