Scavenging

Freebies Aren’t Free, According to the FTC

Back when Scavenging.wordpress.com was still brand-new, I searched the Web for other blogs on similar topics. It struck me then that a lot of blogs with “green” and “eco” and such in their names had a LOT of threads enthusiastically praising products. Like … ready-to-eat vegan food. Clothes and decor made from recycled materials. Low-energy gadgets. I wondered why, if these sites were ostensibly about a certain kind of minimalism, they kept promoting merchandise to buy. Not that I’m a minimalist myself – I’m just not into shopping, especially when it involves paying retail for brand-new items.

At the time, I suspected that those threads on those blogs had something to do with free merchandise having been given to the bloggers in exchange for online publicity. Turns out I guessed right, and now the Federal Trade Commission is getting involved. Revisions to the FTC’s Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising announced today specify that “material connections” (such as or free products) must be disclosed by those who promote these products: ” The revised [guidelines] specify that while decisions will be reached on a case-by-case basis, the post of a blogger who receives cash or in-kind payment to review a product is considered an endorsement. Thus, bloggers who make an endorsement must disclose the material connections they share with the seller of the product or service.”

According to ReadWriteWeb, “bloggers who fail to disclose that they have received freebies when they write about a product can now be fined up to $11,000 per post. … Because these posts are now officially considered endorsements, bloggers who receive freebies must now disclose this fact on their sites.” Nonetheless, “blogging Payola is unlikely to go away completely because of these new rules.”

Recycled Construction Materials Part of Embarrassing Story

Ouch! This scavenging-related project in London’s Islington district is cringeworthy:

“Red-faced council realises ‘G’ doesn’t always stand for green,” reads the headline in today’s Islington News:

“It was hailed as ‘another green first for Islington’ when it opened to a fanfare two years ago.
Celebrity experts in ‘urban eco chic’ used recycled water bottles, floorboards and natural paints to create Islington’s Green Living Centre [depicted at left] –- a shining beacon of the borough’s green credentials.

“So there were red faces amongst council politicians last week as it was revealed the centre is housed in the worst building in Islington for energy efficiency. … 222 Upper Street, where the Green Living Centre is situated, has topped the government’s new energy ‘Sin list.’ …

“Blustin Heath Design, set up by ITV presenter and writer Oliver Heath, won the contract to design the Green Living Centre’s interior in 2007.

“The team used recycled floorboards for the exhibition panelling, recycled plastic tables and natural paints. The pièce de résistance was the low energy light, made from 1,200 recycled water bottles, lit by ‘gently twinkling fibre optic lights’ to attract visitors inside.”

But “all public buildings have now been issued with Display Energy Certificates (DECs) that rate the operational energy efficiency of a building on a scale from A to G,” and the old building housing the Green Living Centre “is rated G, the lowest rating possible on the scale. It scored 264, nearly doubling the G rating threshold of 150.”

Killers Use Yard Sale as Alibi

After committing a bloody and senseless murder in New Hampshire eight days ago, four teens brought their victim’s jewelry to a mall’s “cash-for-gold” shop and claimed they’d bought it at a yard sale, according to yesterday’s Union Leader:

“In a case so apparently random and vicious as to have stunned the state and grabbed the attention of the nation, four teenagers — Steven Spader and Christopher Gribble of Brookline, and William Marks and Quinn Glover of Amherst — are accused of entering Kimberly Cates’ home at 4 Trow Road [in Mont Vernon, NH] around 4 a.m. last Sunday with a plan to rob and murder.

“In the early morning hours one week ago, Cates died in a flurry of machete strikes and knife slashes. Her 11-year-old daughter, Jaimie, was slashed in the throat but managed to call police, and is now recuperating at a Boston hospital.

“Almost as chilling as the attacks themselves: What followed was something at least resembling normalcy on the parts of the accused. Around noon that Sunday, Marks entered the Mobil gas station on Route 101A in his hometown, filled up gas and grabbed a pack of Newport 100s, as he had many times before….

“The clerk, who declined to give her name, said Marks came to the store about twice a week and always bought the same cigarettes. She said he entered the store alone Sunday, but she didn’t know whether anyone else was outside waiting for him. Also on Sunday, Gribble, 19, and Spader, 17, went to a Cash for Gold kiosk at the Pheasant Lane Mall in Nashua and sold rings and necklaces, according to the clerk there, who also declined to give her name: ‘They just came with smiles on their faces and said, “We got this gold at a yard sale,”‘ the clerk said last week. ‘They didn’t even look like anything had happened,’ she said. ‘I didn’t even think that they had stolen it.’

“The clerk said Gribble and Spader were at the mall with two girls. After learning the identities of the girls, the New Hampshire Union Leader contacted them, but both refused comment.

“On Monday, the day after the attacks, Marks, 18, and Glover, 17, attended class at Souhegan High School in their hometown.

“But that’s when any sense of normalcy began to erode.

“According to Christa Dacus of Amherst, whose daughter had been a good friend of Glover’s, Glover was seen crying in school, and police were able to home in on him and his friends after Marks told a fellow student about the murder. That student called police, Dacus said.

“Spader and Gribble each were charged with first-degree murder, attempted murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder; Marks and Glover charged with burglary, conspiracy to commit burglary and armed robbery.”

Canoe, Vintage Condom Donated to Thrift Shops

Where else but at PetHealthCare.co.uk would we read this article about zany donations to English thrift shops (aka charity shops) run by the People’s Dispensity for Sick Animals organization?

“Freeze dried ice cream for astronauts, a canoe and an emergency distress flare all feature among the most bizarre items donated to PDSA charity shops during the past year. In among the daily donations of clothing, books and bric-a-brac, the leading veterinary charity has received a wide range of weird and wonderful items recently, from the quirky to the downright dodgy.

“A deadly Samurai sword was one of the more frightening donations pulled from a PDSA pink collection sack and was immediately handed to police. Other dangerous donations included live rifle rounds, replica handguns and an emergency distress flare.

“PDSA’s top ten list of bizarre items:
Freeze dried astronaut ice cream, vacuum packed (Leeds)
Canoe, including paddles (Morriston, Wales)
Emergency distress flare (Newton Abbot, Devon)
Shower cubicle (Merthyr Tydfil, Wales)
34-year-old condom, still in its original wrapper (Kilburn, London)
False teeth (Barkingside, London and Elgin, Scotland)
Live rifle ammunition (Glenrothes, Scotland)
Mobility scooter (Shirley, West Midlands)
Samurai sword (Shanklin, IOW and Poole, Dorset)
A musical organ (Huyton, Liverpool)

“It was music to PDSA’s ears when an electric organ was donated to Huyton charity shop in Liverpool. The instrument was sold to a specialist collector in Germany who paid £700. A euphonium (tuba-like instrument), and a Fender guitar also fetched hundreds of pounds for the charity.

“The shop survey also revealed that kinky Brits donated an assortment of risqué items, including vibrators, a penis enlarger manual and a leather whip. A very old condom, with a use by date of February 1975 was given to Kilburn shop in London and a bag of blue pills, suspected to be Viagra, was found in a carrier bag at Dover shop and hastily taken to a nearby pharmacy.

“Some of the more saleable items included six Radley designer handbags, which were quickly snapped up by eager bargain hunters, raising over £300 at the Wellington shop in Shropshire. A large Canoe, including paddles sold for £30 at the Morriston shop in Wales, a collection of China dolls fetched £250 in Knowle and 500 golf balls sold for 20p each in Diss, Norfolk….

“PDSA receives no government or lottery funding and relies on the kind donations of the public to support its vital veterinary work. PDSA’s retail network of 179 shops provides a vital source of income for the charity.”

Rocking-Chair Mystery Might Be a Hoax

The Seattle Times tells us: “An Illinois woman who set out on a treasure hunt for buried gold coins after finding a cryptic note in an antique rocking chair may have been the victim of a prolific prankster who died more than 30 years ago.

“With help of a donated backhoe, Patty Henken recently tore up a vacant lot in Springfield, Ill., where a typewritten note signed by ‘Chauncey Wolcott’ – found in an old chair she bought at auction last November – suggested she would find a chest containing more than $250 in U.S. gold coins.

“The dig turned up nothing but bricks and old bottles. Henken planned to return Tuesday with the donated services of a man with ground-penetrating radar meant to detect any buried items, but the treasure note’s promise may already be debunked.

“An Iowa woman who read news accounts of the hunt said she knows Wolcott’s true identity: John ‘Jay’ Slaven, a notorious practical joker and coin collector who often used a typewriter in his pranks.

“Slaven used the pen name “Chauncey Wolcott” and lived for decades at the location where the dig took place, until his 1976 death, according to Betty Atkinson Ryan of Mason City, Iowa. She e-mailed a columnist for the State Journal-Register of Springfield to set the record straight.

“Atkinson Ryan told the newspaper that Slaven was her boss in the Journal-Register’s classified advertising department decades ago. She said Slaven often used a typewriter to compose some of his jokes and signed them ‘Chauncey Wolcott.’ The newspaper said archived news articles described Slaven as an actor with a ‘booming voice’ that he used in television appearances, about 50 radio shows and to narrate the annual Illinois State Fair film.

“Ryan does not have a listed home telephone number and could not be reached by The Associated Press on Sunday.

“Henken’s life got interesting in May when, while prying off the seat of a rickety rocking chair she bought at auction five months earlier, she discovered a small envelope with ‘Finders Keepers’ typewritten on it. Inside, a key was taped to a typed note. ‘This DEXTER key (number sign) 50644T will unlock a lead chest,’ the note began, before spelling out a location in Springfield – 1028 N. Fifth St. – where a chest containing more than $250 in U.S. gold coins supposedly was buried 12 feet below ground.

“The stash, the note claimed, included eight $20 gold pieces, six $10 gold pieces, five $5 gold pieces, three $2 1/2 dollar gold pieces and two $1 gold pieces.

“The undated note, signed by a ‘Chauncey Wolcott,’ included a request to contact the Springfield newspaper if the chest was ever found.

“It wasn’t.

“Henken, of Mount Sterling, Ill., said Sunday that she was disappointed there’s no closure but still was hopeful Slaven may have left something to unearth.

“‘My friends feel like I was cheated out of finalizing this,’ said the 48-year-old Henken, a window clerk at the post office in Mount Sterling. ‘There’s something down there. He wouldn’t play a practical joke without leaving me something.’

“That property’s current owners gave Henken permission to tear up the site in search of the supposed booty if they got an equal share of any find. But they pulled the plug on any more digging now that Slaven may have pulled one over on everyone.

“‘It’s done, other than me fixing up their (torn-up) yard,’ Henken said. ‘It’s been fun, though. I’d do it again tomorrow. I just hope my life isn’t so boring from now on.’

“She’s not averse to a copycat caper: ‘I fully expect to do something like this before I die,’ she said. ‘But I would leave them something to find, a clue to who I was and not leave them wondering what kind of sick person would make them do this.'”

Thrift-Shop Thief Nabbed!

Last week, a thrift-shop thief in Ohio got two things he deserved: injury and capture! The Falls News Press of Cuyahoga Falls tells how it all went down:

“Police plan to file charges against a man who allegedly robbed a State Road thrift shop, after he is released from an Akron hospital.

“Charges against the 42-year-old Akron man were signed Sept. 29 by the district manager of Village Discount Outlet, said Police Det. Randy Tlumac. According to the police report, the man came into the store on Sept. 23 at 8:10 p.m. and forcefully stole an undisclosed amount of cash from the cash register….

“A cashier suffered a sprained left wrist while struggling with the suspect over the money, the report said. A manager-in-training told police the cashier began to chase after the robber, but the manager yelled at the cashier to get back in the store.”

Now that was one brave cashier — but the manager did right, because no theft is worth dying over.

“Several people witnessed the robbery, the report said. A customer outside the store gave police the suspect’s license plate number. Falls Police asked neighboring departments to be on the lookout, providing them with descriptions of the suspect, his car, and his license plate number, said Tlumac.

“Akron Police spotted the car around 11 p.m., Tlumac said, but the suspect fled when police tried to pull him over and crashed his car into a utility pole. The detective said the man will likely be charged by Akron Police after he gets out of Akron General Hospital. Once he is in the Summit County Jail, Falls police will file their charges against him, said Tlumac. According to Tlumac, the suspect has a broken hip. James Gosky, media director for Akron General Hospital, said he is in serious condition.”

Scavenged Chair Contains Secret Message

This is our favorite kind of story — in which scavenging mixes with history to become a wild adventure. According to the San Francisco Chronicle:

“Patty Henken always thought she found great value in the rickety rocking chair when she plunked down $200 for it at an auction, figuring she could restore the century-old relic to its former charm. Five months after hauling the chair home last November, Henken spent hours in May prying the seat off it in her garage in Mount Sterling, Ill. A small envelope fluttered from it as she tossed the seat aside — ‘Finders Keepers’ typewritten on it. Inside, a key was taped to a note.

“‘This DEXTER key (number sign) 50644T will unlock a lead chest,’ the note began, before spelling out a location in Springfield, Ill. — 1028 N. Fifth St. — where a chest containing more than $250 in U.S. gold coins supposedly was buried 12 feet below ground.

“The stash, the note claimed, included eight $20 gold pieces, six $10 gold pieces, five $5 gold pieces, three $2 1/2 dollar gold pieces and two $1 gold pieces. The note, signed by a ‘Chauncey Wolcott,’ included a request to contact the Springfield newspaper if the chest was ever found. Henken finds that intriguing, thinking Wolcott perhaps has left a confession in the chest or ‘wants to give us an answer to an old mystery.’

“For now, any treasure remains elusive. A search of the site — currently a vacant lot — with a donated backhoe last Sunday came up empty, though Henken pledges to be back at it this weekend. Whatever the outcome, ‘it’s the fact that there’s a story there that’s exciting,’ Henken, 48, said Wednesday….

“The note at the crux of the mystery isn’t dated — though its insistence that the chest ‘cannot be located by metal detector’ suggests it could have been written anytime since about World War II, when the first practical metal detectors came to be.

“At the supposed burial spot, the home on the lot was torn down many decades ago. The owners of the land — retired state corrections workers Dennis and Sharon Chrans — live next door and, at least initially, disregarded Henken’s voicemail approaches as the workings of a telemarketer.

“‘We were skeptical all the way,’ Sharon Chrans recalled. But the couple eventually were swayed and met with Henken and her husband, hashing out a deal to split any costs of the dig — and the proceeds of whatever they found. Henken’s scouring of genealogy records and courthouse documents in Sangamon County, which includes Springfield, has offered no clues to anyone named Chauncey Wolcott. Dennis Chrans found no such name on his property’s abstract.

“Yet last Sunday, the dig began. A couple dozen folks showed up, many of them friends of the Henkens. Some brought lawn chairs, others drinks and snacks. A co-worker of Patty Henken’s brought a toy magic wand….

“‘It was a happy event, a party-like atmosphere,’ Sharon Chrans said.

“The women wanded the backhoe for luck, and the machine began clawing up earth and eventually turned up a cistern — something onlookers considered promising until it yielded only bricks and antique bottles. Elsewhere on the lot, the digging revealed a well too deep to really scrutinize despite their efforts to siphon out some water.

“‘Some people think it’s still down there,’ Chrans said, speculating that if the booty really does exist, Wolcott knew what he was doing by leaving it in a lead box that wouldn’t deteriorate.

“Still, everyone accepts that it all could be a hoax. Henken isn’t sweating that prospect, having lost plenty of far more relevance in recent years — a brother to brain cancer, a son in an Easter Sunday rollover crash and a nephew to leukemia. One of her sisters died of breast cancer in 1990.

“She admits the effort could be fruitless, much like the time in 1986 when TV host Geraldo Rivera and a demolition crew drew a worldwide television audience when they blasted away a 7,000-pound concrete wall of a basement chamber billed as 1930s gangster Al Capone’s vault in Chicago’s former Lexington Hotel. Even the Internal Revenue Service was on hand to lay claim to any cash or bullion — but all Rivera found was empty booze bottles and an old sign.

“The Henkens expect to resume the dig Saturday, hoping with the Chranses that there’s some resolution.

“‘I really don’t have a gut feeling,’ Sharon Chrans said. ‘We just had to try once that information presents itself. You just can’t leave it there with it just tempting you.’

“Henken isn’t willing to let it die.

“‘There may not be a penny in it, but I want to finish this. I want to complete the task this note started,’ she said. Given the recent tragedies, ‘I don’t have a lot of positives in my life. But this has kept me busy all summer, and nobody’s going to dash this for me.'”

Hope she finds that box….