Fight for Fluff! Sandwich causes sticky debate
Father furious that Mass. school serves marshmallow delicacy for lunch

BOSTON - It’s creamy, it’s sweet and it’s become a staple of lunch boxes for generations of New England school children.
Now, the beloved Fluffernutter sandwich — the irresistible combination of Marshmallow Fluff and peanut butter, preferably on white bread with a glass of milk handy — finds itself at the center of a sticky political debate.
Sen. Jarrett Barrios was outraged that his son Nathaniel, a third-grader, was given a Fluffernutter sandwich at the King Open School in Cambridge. He said he plans to file legislation that would ban schools from offering the local delicacy more than once a week as the main meal of the day.

The Democrat said that his amendment to a bill on junk food in schools may seem “a little silly” — but that school nutrition is serious.
His proposal seemed anything but silly to Rep. Kathi-Anne Reinstein, a Democrat whose district in Revere is near the company that has produced the marshmallow concoction for more than 80 years, Durkee-Mower Inc.
The official sandwich?She responded with a proposal to designate the Fluffernutter the “official sandwich of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.”
“I’m going to fight to the death for Fluff,” Reinstein said.

LONDON - A British government worker has been fired and another demoted following allegations they were involved in serious misconduct, including leaping naked from filing cabinets and having sex in office lavatories.
Newspaper reports said staff at the Rural Payments Agency in Newcastle in northeast England also took drugs at work, brawled in the reception area and carried out pranks such as vomiting in cups and leaving them for other people to find.
"Action has been taken to strengthen RPA Newcastle with a senior manager drafted in to take charge while the investigation and series of disciplinary actions to resolve some instances of serious misconduct and behavioral problems there is concluded," the RPA said in a statement on Tuesday.
An investigation into the alleged misconduct was launched on May 24 after an internal memo was sent to managers by repulsed fellow workers, the statement said.

TOKYO - A Japanese man who robbed a post office returned more money than he stole and turned himself in after deciding to come clean for the sake of his girlfriend.
The 33-year-old stole 340,000 yen, about $2,300, at knifepoint from a post office in western Tokyo in March. Ridden with guilt, he went back to the post office at the end of May and left 350,000 yen in an envelope on the counter before running off.
On Sunday, he turned himself in to the police, Asahi TV reported. “I did the robbery because I was short of money,” Asahi quoted the man, who works as a gardener, as saying.
“I didn’t want to get arrested when I took the money back, but I talked to my girlfriend about it and thought I should clear things up quickly for her sake.”
The Mainichi newspaper quoted the man as saying he gave an extra 10,000 yen back because he was sorry for what he had done.
A Tokyo police department spokesman said they were still discussing what to do with the extra cash.

PORTLAND, Ore. - For many men, a finding by Oregon researchers sounds too good to be true: An ingredient in beer seems to help prevent prostate cancer, at least in lab experiments.
The trouble is you'd theoretically have to drink about 17 beers a day for any potential benefit. And no one's advising that.
Researchers at Oregon State University say that the compound xanthohumol, found in hops, inhibits a protein in the cells along the surface of the prostate gland. The protein acts like a switch that turns on a variety cancers, including prostate cancer.
Dr. Richard N. Atkins, CEO of the National Prostate Cancer Coalition, said the experiments are encouraging and "perhaps men could take it in pill form someday."
He noted that lycopene, an ingredient in tomatoes, and thus also in tomato sauce, has previously been linked to prostate cancer prevention.
"It's every man's dream to hear that beer and pizza can prevent cancer," he said. "However, the 17 beers and four large pizzas needed to get enough xanthohumol and lycopene to help prevent prostate cancer is unfortunately not advised."
Atkins noted that drinking 17 beers a day can lead to alcoholism and cirrhosis of the liver, and overdoing it on pizza can lead to obesity and other health problems.
"Food, no matter how helpful it may be, is not a full preventive for prostate cancer," he said.

Bonus: Last Friday-
On my way back from lunch I went dumpster diving. Someone threw out a box full of old photos. They went back as far as the early 1920’s. One was a family photo. There were also photo albums from the 1940’s full of pictures of vintage cars, NYC, and kitties. There was also a scrap book and the contents were great. The family bought a plot of land and had step by step photos and descriptions of their progress with building a house. They wrote down how much materials were purchased for, what food they ate, who was there, ect. In the lot were two college year books from 1927 &1933. This was a great find. Though, not as good as the vintage bike which I ride now- and Love it. When I brought it to the bike shop to get new tires I was offered $400.00 for it. Nope, No thanks, No way……….all mine.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/98923404@N00/61328534/

So, tomorrow will be the end of the world, as some have reported. Tomorrows date is 6/6/06….. there’s a lot of speculation as to what will happen, but for me I already know: nothing! Maybe the continuous Looney tunes walking into the office and the occasional bum on the street asking me for spare change for a $3.00 cup of Starbucks coffee (yeah, even the bums get to drink the good stuff here)..but then the religious will be coming out of the woodwork or better yet hiding in their homes praying to be saved. On a good note though, my friend’s baby is due as well. I think that would be so rich- having your kid say” My birthday is 666. Good luck Kelly I hope you do have it tomorrow-
See all of you in Hell.
There is also a town called Hell, Mich. Where the town is going to celebrate in honor of the date. That would be a great place to be- at least for me.