14-year-old McDonald's hamburger looks almost new

Published April 25, 2013

FoxNews.com

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  David Whipple says he bought a McDonald’s hamburger on July 7, 1999.The Doctors

A Utah man says he's hung on to a McDonald's hamburger for 14 years, but even stranger than that --the burger looks almost new.

David Whipple claims that he first bought it in July, 1999 as an experiment to show friends how enzymes work in preserving food, ABC News reported. Whipple kept the burger in the original paper bag from the fast food chain before forgetting about it in his coat’s pocket. Two years later his wife, Beverly, discovered there.

“We looked at it and said, ‘Oh, my gosh.  It’s two years old, it looks like it’s brand new,’” he told ABC.  “I said, ‘I wonder how long this thing is going to last?’”.

They didn't have much time to think about it.  The father of seven says he got caught up with life's other priorities and the burger was placed back in its wrapper and forgotten about again until closer to six years later, around 2006.  After moving house, they discovered it again.

“We were going to give the coats to Goodwill and we found the hamburger again,” he told ABC.  Amazingly, the burger still looked almost new and they decided it was worth keeping around.

The Whipples created a “Word’s Oldest Hamburger” blog devoted to it and was recently a guest on the the daytime talk show  “The Doctors “ to talk about it.

In a statement to ABC, McDonald's said:  “McDonald’s hamburger patties in the U.S. are made with 100% USDA-inspected beef. They are cooked and prepared with salt, pepper and nothing else – no preservatives – no fillers. Our hamburger buns are made from North American-grown wheat flour. These are the same foods that people buy every day in their local grocery stores."

The family says it plans to hold onto the hamburger, which they recently took along on their family trip to Disney World.

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Navy moves ship off coast of Korean Peninsula, White House looks to 'reassure' allies

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  Dec. 5, 2010: The guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain approaches the aircraft carrier USS George Washington for a fueling at sea.Navy

The U.S. military has moved a Navy ship capable of intercepting missiles to waters off the coast of the Korean Peninsula, as threats from North Korea's Kim Jong Un escalate and the White House signals it wants to head off any potential conflict by flexing America's military might. 

A U.S. defense official confirmed to Fox News that the Navy had moved the U.S. destroyer to a location near South Korea. The ship, the USS McCain, is equipped with the Aegis defense system and is capable of shooting down missiles. Officials initially misidentified the ship but later clarified the USS McCain had been dispatched.

The defense official said the decision is not part of the ongoing joint military exercise with South Korea but part of the Navy's general movements. The Navy had the same type of ship in this location as recently as December. 

But, the positioning comes after the Pentagon dispatched two F-22 stealth fighter jets to South Korea to join Seoul forces in a training exercise, and after other demonstrations of U.S. capability last week. 

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said Monday that Kim Jong Un's steadily escalating threats follow a "pattern," but one that must be taken seriously. He said the U.S. is now taking "prudent" measures to "reassure our allies, demonstrate our resolve to the North and reduce pressure on Seoul to take unilateral action." 

This would include efforts to boost missile defense, last week's rare flight of B-2 bombers to South Korea and likely the decision Sunday to deploy F-22 Raptors to Osan Air Base in South Korea. 

With analysts warning that the biggest threat from North Korea is that it could start a war by going too far and provoking South Korea, Carney suggested the shows of strength are aimed at deterring the North from crossing that line. 

"We believe this has reduced the chance of miscalculation and provocation," Carney said of the B-2 flights and other actions. 

Carney, though, said that despite the "harsh rhetoric" out of Pyongyang, the U.S. is not seeing changes to the country's "military posture," such as any "large-scale" mobilizations or positioning of forces. 

"This pattern of bellicose rhetoric is not new, it is familiar," Carney said. "We take it very seriously, we take prudent measures in response to it." 

The F-22 flight came after North Korea warned that the Korean Peninsula had entered "a state of war." 

A Pentagon spokesman confirmed to Fox News that the F-22 Raptors were deployed to Osan Air Base in South Korea from Japan on Sunday to support ongoing U.S.-South Korean military drills. 

"This exercise has been planned for some time and is part of the air component of the Foal Eagle exercise," spokesman George Little told reporters Monday. 

Meanwhile, the North Korean leader gathered legislators Monday for an annual spring parliamentary session that followed a ruling party declaration that nuclear bomb building and a stronger economy were the nation's top priorities. 

The meeting of the Supreme People's Assembly follows near-daily threats from Pyongyang, including vows of nuclear strikes on South Korea and the U.S. 

North Korea said Saturday its armed forces, "will blow up U.S. bases for aggression in its mainland and in the Pacific operational theatres including Hawaii and Guam." 

Kim also threatened to shut down a border factory complex that is the last major symbol of inter-Korean cooperation. 

The threats are seen as part of an effort to provoke the new government in Seoul to change its policies toward Pyongyang and to win diplomatic talks with Washington in order to gain more aid. 

Fox News' Justin Fishel and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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North Dakota looks at more abortion restrictions

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  March 18, 2013: Dr. Stephanie Dahl, a Fargo infertility specialist, speaks out against two anti-abortion bills in the North Dakota Legislature during a news conference in Fargo, N.D.AP

FARGO, N.D. –  North Dakota lawmakers who approved what would be some of the most restrictive abortion laws in the U.S. are now considering outlawing all abortions.

The "personhood" measures would ban abortions by defining human life as beginning with conception. It's drawing opposition from some doctors who say it could cause problems for infertile couples seeking to use in vitro fertilization to conceive, but supporters insist that's addressed in the legislation.

The state Senate passed two personhood measures last month, and the House could vote as soon as Tuesday. One of the bills would make the proposal a state law and another is a resolution that would put the definition into the state constitution, if passed by voters.

North Dakota is one of several states with Republican-controlled Legislatures and GOP governors that is looking at abortion restrictions, but the state is could go further than any other in challenging the U.S. Supreme Court's 1973 decision that legalized abortion.

Last week, the Legislature sent Gov. Jack Dalrymple what would be two of the most restrictive abortion laws in the U.S., banning abortions as early as six weeks in a pregnancy and on the basis of genetic defects such as Down syndrome. North Dakota also would be the first to adopt a personhood law if that measure passes. Abortion-rights activists have vowed to fight the measures in court.

Dr. Stephanie Dahl, a Fargo infertility specialist, said Monday that the personhood measures could ban in vitro fertilization and force doctors to leave the state rather than face health care restrictions or possible criminal penalties. In vitro fertilization, or IVF, involves mixing egg and sperm in a laboratory dish and transferring resulting embryos into the womb.

"This is something that would affect the patient and doctor relationship," Dahl said at a news conference with a group of doctors who oppose the measures. "That's somewhere we want to keep the government out of."

One of the key players in the anti-abortion campaign, state Sen. Margaret Sitte, a Republican from Bismarck, said she was "floored" by the assertions about limitations on in vitro fertilization. She said the proposals allow exceptions for the "screening, collecting, preparing, transferring, or cryopreserving a human being created through in vitro fertilization for the purpose of being transferred to a human uterus." Sitte said that clause was crafted with Dahl's help.

But Dr. Steffen Christensen, who founded an in vitro fertilization clinic in Fargo 19 years ago, said he can't put himself or his workers at risk of legal action.

"The concern is that this is criminal negligence if anything should happen to an embryo," he said.

Gualberto Garcia Jones, an attorney for Personhood USA, noted that two doctors in the Senate -- Fargo Republican Spencer Berry and Bismarck Republican Ralph Kilzer -- voted for the proposals. "Clearly they would not vote to criminalize themselves," Jones said in a phone interview.

Opponents also noted that the North Dakota Medical Association is against the bill and a group of 26 students from the University of North Dakota medical school signed a letter to the state Senate against it.

Dr. Ted Kleiman, a Fargo pediatrician, said the law would set North Dakota back to "the stone age" of medicine.

"This is abhorrent in the highest degree," he said.

Efforts to pass personhood legislation in other states have failed. In Oklahoma, a measure this year that would have granted human embryos "all the rights, privileges and immunities available to other persons," was not given a hearing in a House committee and appears to be shelved for the legislative session.

North Dakota lawmakers are considering several bills this session that would restrict abortion. Dahl said that the legislation would ultimately impact medical care to women and families and allow no exceptions for rape or incest.

"A woman who has been sexually assaulted will be forced to carry a pregnancy to term, regardless of the nature of her assault," she said.

Sitte said she doesn't think women should abort pregnancies resulting from rape.

"Rape is a horrible crime. It is absolutely devastating," Sitte said. "But do we believe in capital punishment for those children?"

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Lawmaker looks to rein in program after free cell phones sent to dead people

WASHINGTON –  Dead people don’t need cell phones.

That’s the message Rep. Tim Griffin of Arkansas wants to send Congress, after he says a controversial government-backed program that helps provide phones to low-income Americans ended up sending mobiles to the dead relatives of his constituents. Griffin has introduced a bill that targets the phone hand-out program, which has ballooned into a fiscal headache for the government.

“This program demands reform,” Griffin told FoxNews.com on Monday. “There is a lot of waste in it and we need to be asking ourselves, ‘Where do we draw the line? Do we give everybody an iPad next? A computer? Is that the role the federal government should be playing?’”

Griffin said the story of dead relatives receiving cell phones was relayed to him by constituents. He added: “I’ve also gotten calls from people who say their employees were bragging about having 10 phones.”

The program in question provides limited phone service to people on government assistance. Ideally, Griffin says he would like to get rid of the program created in the mid-80s altogether, but he knows he lacks the support to kill it -- and instead is asking Congress to scale it back. Griffin’s plan would get rid of the cell phones and provide only landline service and phones. 

Started in 1985, the Lifeline program was created to make sure people with low income levels weren’t cut off from emergency services, job searches or communication with family members. The program is funded by charges that appear on the monthly bills of every wireless and landline phone customer in the country. The money goes into a Universal Service Fund that pulls its revenues from fees that show up on most telephone bills as the “federal universal service charge.” The fees range but can go up to $3.22 a month. 

The cost of the program has tripled to $2.2 billion in 2012 from $819 million in 2008. The risk of abuse has also risen.

“This program is completely ridiculous and it speaks to the point that we are careless with taxpayer dollars,” Griffin said. 

Though the program has spanned multiple administrations, some conservatives have recently nicknamed it the "Obamaphone" after a viral video in 2012 showed an Obama supporter touting the mobiles. 

Some, though, say it isn't feasible to limit the service. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 34 percent of American homes use only wireless telephones. The CDC also reports that nearly one of every six American homes received all or almost all of their calls on a wireless telephone despite also having a landline. 

Under the program, there have been reports of multiple phones going to one person, cell phones being sent to underage residents and perhaps most shocking – phones being sent to the deceased.

The free phone program is open to those who meet federal poverty guidelines, or are on food stamps, Medicaid or other federal assistance programs. Under the rules, only one Lifeline subscriber is allowed per household. However, a recent audit of the program by the Federal Communications Commission revealed that 41 percent of the nearly 6 million subscribers did not meet the requirements.

The FCC defended the program to FoxNews.com and says it has helped tens of millions of low-income Americans afford basic phone options. But even they admit the program has holes. Last year the agency tightened the rules for the program and required carriers to verify existing members were eligible. The agency estimated that 15 percent of its users would be weeded out under the new process. The FCC also said its new rules have eliminated more than 1.1 million duplicate subscriptions and saved $214 million in 2012.

On Feb. 13, the FCC Enforcement Bureau issued citations to 11 people with multiple Lifeline accounts. It was the first time the FCC has taken action against individual subscribers for violating the “one per household” rule.

And on Feb. 26, the commission announced that two wireless Lifeline providers agreed to payments totaling more than $1 million to end an investigation into whether the companies violated program rules in Oklahoma.

But for some like Griffin, it doesn’t matter. He sees the program as a handout and one that should not be footed by taxpayers.

“I understand the FCC is trying to rein the abuse and my first question is, ‘What took you so long?'" he said. “I hear people saying we need this and we need that as a society but is it really fair for the government – i.e. the taxpayers – to provide people with cell phones? I don’t think so.”

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February's jobs report only looks good because our expectations are so low

The new unemployment numbers released Friday look reasonable only because our expectations have are so low.

In February, the 236,000 new jobs added beat out the 166,000 increase in the working age population, but the labor force participation rate remains stuck at a level that is so low Americans haven't seen anything like it for decades. It simply isn't making a dent in the huge number of people who have simply given up looking for work. 

Even this last month didn't really help. The number of unemployed Americans fell by about 300,000, but 99 percent of that drop can be  explained by an increase in the number of people who are no longer in the labor force.

The dirty little secret about why we can be adding jobs to the labor force is because an unusually large number of people are staying in the jobs they already have.

Millions of people have simply given up looking for work.

And they have good reason to be discouraged. Job growth has only grown by an anemic 2.5 percent during this recovery. That’s compared to 9.2 percent during the average recovery since 1970 and 12 percent after severe recessions.

A deeper look at these numbers is even more depressing. 4.19 million people were hired in December. The average number of new hires during the recession was 4.4 million per month. During the same length of time prior to the recession, it was 5.3 million.

The dirty little secret about why we can be adding jobs to the labor force -- even as the number of monthly hires remains mired below a horrible hiring rate during the recession -- is because an unusually large number of people are staying in the jobs they already have.

A drop in total rate that people leave their jobs can be a good thing — if, for example, the cause is a decline in layoffs. But that’s not the case. Rather, there’s been a serious drop in the number of American workers choosing to quit their jobs — presumably because they fear not being able to get a new job.

800,000 fewer Americans are quitting their jobs each month than were before the recession began. That’s a whopping 200,000 a month fewer than quits during the height of the recession!

"Quits" aren’t supposed to be falling during a recovery. During a recession, sure: with poor prospects for landing a good new job quickly, people hesitate to voluntarily leave their employers.

But the opposite is supposed to happen in a recovery: people sense opportunity, and they chase it. (The rebound is especially strong after longer recessions, when people who’ve been putting off quitting their finally decide it’s safe to bite the bullet.) 

Yet now, according to the White House, we are officially experiencing “recovery.”  Americans have grown even more fearful, however, about quitting their jobs. 

Another measure of how hard it is to get a job is that over 40 percent of the unemployed have remained unemployed for more than six months. When the recession ended in June 2009, only 29 percent of the unemployed had been out of work for at least that long. 

If you want to compare our unemployment rate to Europe's, we don't look very good. The so-called “U6” unemployment rate for the U.S. is a better figure for comparing with the European rate. It includes those who are no longer actively looking for work but would take a job if it were offered as well as those who were looking for a full-time job but were forced to take a part-time position. The European numbers don't require people to be actively looking for work to be counted as unemployed.

The U6 rate has fallen from its peak of 17 percent in late 2009 and early 2010, but the February 2013 rate of 14.3 percent was hardly desirable. The last number for the EU 17 countries shows their November 2012 rate at a comparable 11.8 percent.

Americans need to raise their standards for what constitutes good economic news. And if this is what 44 months of "recovery" looks like, we are indeed in bad shape.

John R. Lott, Jr., writes frequently for FoxNews.com. An economist and former chief economist at the United States Sentencing Commission, he is also a leading expert on guns. He is the author of several books, including "More Guns, Less Crime." His latest book is "At the Brink: Will Obama Push Us Over the Edge? (Regnery Publishing 2013)." Follow him on Twitter@johnrlottjr.

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Bargello patterns embroider eye-catching looks for rooms

Bargello, which originated from a style of needlework found on pieces in Italy's medieval Bargello Palace, refers both to a method of embroidery (flat, vertical stitches that form geometric tiers) and to the resulting pattern. We're most familiar with it as a flame stitch, but it takes other forms as well: diamonds, ribbons, chevrons and arabesques, to name a few.

Bargello's graphic appeal and versatility have given it staying power through the centuries. Now, thanks to design icons such as Jonathan Adler, the pattern has resurged in fresh new ways. Here's a peek at the possibilities.

Eclectic Bathroom design by Los Angeles Tile Stone And Countertop Filmore Clark

Flame stitch sometimes feels like a relic from the '80s, but not here. A stunning tile mosaic makes this powder room shimmer like a jewel. This is reinvention done right, true to the spirit of the original but recast with a completely new attitude.

Contemporary Bedroom design by Chicago Interior Designer Jessica Lagrange

A touch of bargello brings to life a simple upholstered bed frame.

Traditional Living Room design by San Francisco Interior Designer Alexandra Torre Design & Interiors

Muted flame stitch upholstery, teamed with contrasting florals on the chair back and rug, gives this vintage fauteuil chair form a burst of renewed energy. The monochromatic palette helps the flame stitch appear sophisticated rather than dated.

Traditional Living Room design by New York Architect CWB Architects

Jagged waves in autumnal hues break across this wing chair. The pattern evokes the spirit of traditional flame stitch but with a fresh, graphic approach -- just right for this transitional living area.

Hall design by Other Metro Paint And Wall Coverings WallPops

Wall Pops form an overscale bargello-inspired design that doubles as art and injects a needed dose of pattern and color.

Eclectic Living Room design by Orange County Architect Bliss Design Firm

Jonathan Adler has been a major influence in bargello's revival. His pieces, such as the two small accent pillows on this sofa, feature the pattern in a variety of different forms.

Modern Home Office design by Philadelphia Furniture And Accessories At Home Modern

Another Adler pillow wears a chevron bargello print. The hint of exoticism in the pattern marries well with the bohemian notes in the space.

Contemporary Living Room design by New York Interior Designer Uma Stewart Interiors & Lifestyle Design

Bargello doesn't have to shout. Subtle, undulating waves lend this neutral rug the appearance of texture.

Contemporary Staircase design by Austin Interior Designer Butter Lutz Interiors, LLC

In a similar manner, a restrained bargello print brings just enough pattern into this stairwell without overwhelming the scheme.

Related:

• Photos: Get inspired by Thousands of Eye-Catching Interiors
• Home Remodeling help: Find a General Contractor in Your Area
• Modern or Eclectic: Browse Accessories for your Bedroom

Houzz is the leading online platform for home remodeling and design, providing people with everything they need to improve their homes from start to finish -- online or from a mobile device. From decorating a room to building a custom home, Houzz connects millions of homeowners, home design enthusiasts and home improvement professionals around the world. Lisa Frederick is a contributor to Houzz.

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