Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

City Officials Almost Ban Foam Cups

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the now-thats-just-funny dept.

localhost00 writes "The city of Aliso Viejo, CA nearly banned foam cups when they learned they are produced from a substance known as 'dihydrogen monoxide.' A paralegal working for the city apparantly found a professionally designed web site put up to describe the dangerous properties of this chemical. Apparantly, the report about Dihydrogen Monoxide was written by a then 14-year-old Nathan Zohner who was researching the gullibility of fifty ninth graders."

20 of 1,055 comments (clear)

  1. You know they forgot... by Azadre · · Score: 5, Funny

    You know they forgot to put the word gullible in the dictionary right?

    1. Re:You know they forgot... by LO0G · · Score: 5, Funny

      My wife's 5/6 grade class couldn't believe that it was a hoax when they went to http://www.buydehydratedwater.com so they ended up ordering some :)

      It's sad what people will believe.

    2. Re:You know they forgot... by grub · · Score: 5, Funny


      Heh, semi-related true story.

      Years back I was a starving student working at a paint store. We jugged our own 4L paint thinners from large holding tanks out back. Anyhow, I jugged a few 4L containers of tap water. Then I printed out some nice labels that said "LATEX PAINT THINNER" with the usual comments about adding slowly, stirring well, etc.

      Priced them at $3.99/4L and people would actually bring the up to the cashier. We'd tell them there that it was a joke so there was no ripping off done.

      --
      Trolling is a art,
  2. Dihydrogen Monoxide *is* dangerous by Jonas+the+Bold · · Score: 5, Funny

    Thousands of people die on beaches every year from DHM inhalation.

    --
    Everything seemed to be going so nice
    'till the end of all beings punched right through the ice
    1. Re:Dihydrogen Monoxide *is* dangerous by mgs1000 · · Score: 5, Funny
      ...and 100% of all people who died last year were found to have significant levels of it in their bloodstream.

      (That was a great episode of Penn & Teller's show,btw)

    2. Re:Dihydrogen Monoxide *is* dangerous by Fishstick · · Score: 5, Funny
      We should ban it!! It is a major component of another hazardous product



      1: More than 98 percent of convicted felons are bread eaters.

      2: Fully HALF of all children who grow up in bread-consuming households score below average on standardized tests.

      3: In the 18th century, when virtually all bread was baked in the home, the average life expectancy was less than 50 years; infant mortality rates were unacceptably high; many women died in childbirth; and diseases such as typhoid, yellow fever and influenza ravaged whole nations.

      4: More than 90 percent of violent crimes are committed within 24 hours of eating bread.

      5: Bread is made from a substance called "dough." It has been proven that as little as one pound of dough can be used to suffocate a mouse. The average American eats more bread than that in one month!

      6: Primitive tribal societies that have no bread exhibit a low occurrence of cancer, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease and osteoporosis.

      7: Bread has been proven to be addictive. Subjects deprived of bread and given only water to eat begged for bread after only two days.

      8: Bread is often a "gateway" food item, leading the user to "harder" items such as butter, jelly, peanut butter and even cold cuts.

      9: Bread has been proven to absorb water. Since the human body is more than 90 percent water, it follows that eating bread could lead to your body being taken over by this absorptive food product, turning you into a soggy, gooey bread-pudding person.

      10: Newborn babies can choke on bread.

      11: Bread is baked at temperatures as high as 400 degrees Fahrenheit! That kind of heat can kill an adult in less than one minute.

      12: Most American bread eaters are utterly unable to distinguish between significant scientific fact and meaningless statistical babbling.

      --

      There is much cruelty in the universe, John.
      Yeah, we seem to have the tour map.

  3. It MUST be true! by pablo_max · · Score: 5, Funny

    In my experience they dont allow things on the internet that are not true. Case in point I will be getting a check from Bill Gates real soon as I have done my part and forwarded his email.

  4. Just came in by ziggamon · · Score: 5, Funny

    Latest news: the 14-year old has just been hired by SCO as their new "information minister"

  5. Almost... by steveorama · · Score: 5, Funny

    "City Officials Almost Ban Foam Cups"

    And this is almost news...

  6. Re:Come on CA by mattlary · · Score: 5, Funny

    From the state who wants to ban the use of "Master" and "Slave" in hard drive designations... God I hate California

  7. A poem. by eigerface · · Score: 5, Funny


    Little Johnny was a chemist.

    Little Johnny is no more.

    'Cause what he thought was H2O.

    Was really H2SO4

  8. Re:They SHOULD ban styrofoam by Lord_Frederick · · Score: 5, Funny

    Yes, but it keeps my coffee so toasty warm!

  9. The fifty-ninth grade by Chillum · · Score: 5, Funny
    "...researching the gullibility of fifty ninth graders."

    You'd think when they'd been in school THAT long, they wouldn't be so gullible!

  10. Re:Why does this surprise me it is in California? by Mad_Rain · · Score: 5, Funny

    Reminds me of the advice of one of my professors - "Live on the East Coast for a while, but be prepared to leave, because for every year you live out there, you get more cynical. Live on the West Coast for a while, but be prepared to leave, because for every year you live out there, you lose an IQ point."

    --
    "What do you think?" "I think 'What, do you think?!'"
  11. My new career: Supermodel by Futurepower(R) · · Score: 5, Funny


    I learned a lot from the recent election in California. I learned that you can get a job even when you have no qualifications. So, I've decided to be a supermodel.

  12. Re:Come on CA by cybermace5 · · Score: 5, Funny

    You'll find that when they ban water and legalize marijuana, they're actually on crack.

    --
    ...
  13. Re:They SHOULD ban styrofoam by p4ul13 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Explaining the joke: Effectively sucking the humor out of a gag since 1982.

    --
    Paul Lenhart writes words!
  14. Re:Come on CA by hedge_death_shootout · · Score: 5, Funny

    Honest mistakes are forgivable. But, exaggeration on the other hand, well I'm not so sure about that.

    In fact, exaggeration is utterly unforgivable in all circumstances.

  15. It is nasty stuff unless properly diluted by jhines · · Score: 5, Funny

    dihydrogen monoxide is nasty thing, which can harbor bacteria and other nasty things to you.

    It is best to dilute it slightly with ethanol, as this kills the bugs.

    Adding hops, barley, yeast, and letting it mix for a while is a very good way of adding the ethanol.

  16. Re:They SHOULD ban styrofoam by Peale · · Score: 5, Funny

    Christ, do I have a story about that. Luckily nothing bad came of it.

    I used to have this idiot friend Mike when I was a kid (14 or so). I was a freshman in high school, and he was a grade below me (in middle school).

    One day I was showing him just that; taking styrofoam and disolving it in gasoline makes a pretty nice fire display. We had our fun in the backyard, and left the rest in a bucket outside.

    A month goes by. Mike calls me up asking if he can have what's left in the bucket. I say sure, why not.

    Now the styrofoam we used was the green stuff that veggies and meat are served in, so when we started it was a nice green slime. Now it had the consistency of Play-Doh.

    I thought nothing of this, until the next day, @ lunch, when there was a schoolwide announcement: "WOULD ARTHUR PEALE PLEASE COME TO THE PRINCIPAL'S OFFICE IMMEDIATELY!" yes, those capital letters are there to display the fact that they were SHOUTING into the microphone, as well as having turned the volume almost all the way up on the PA system.

    I head to the main office, and the secretary looks at me and says, "Oh, you're in trouble now, Arthur! Go see Mr. Perry, the Vice Principal."

    I enter his office, and that's when I notice the two uniformed police officers standing there. They invite me to have a seat.

    At this point I have no clue what's going on, until one officer says "Arthur, I'd like to see your license to make explosives, please."

    I, of course, being 14, did not have one. I was clueless about what was going on, until they mentioned a green substance that a "Mike Parsons" had brought to school, and had been lighting out in the parking lot with some friends of his.

    Aparently word got around to what he was doing, someone approached a teacher, the police and fire department were called, along with a bomb unit. The stuff looked so strange and alien they had no clue what kind of explosive it was. It was being treated very gingerly.

    After I told the officers what it was, they told me that they weren't going to press charges. Mike got a week suspension, and I went back to class.