Has Anyone Ever Actually Poisoned or Put Razors in Halloween Candy?

Has Anyone Ever Actually Poisoned or Put Razors in Halloween Candy?

Remember your mom sorting through your Halloween candy as a kid, looking for signs of ‘tainted’ candy laced with poison, needles or razor blades? It turns out, unless she was just using it as an excuse to steal the good candy before you got it, she was wasting her time. You are more likely to get attacked by a samurai sword wielding bear while trick or treating than be poisoned by a stranger. Further, it’s more likely that your Halloween candy will be poisoned or otherwise tampered with by one of your parents or family members, than a stranger. Think about that while your mom is “checking out” your candy before letting you eat it.

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8 Unfortunate Vintage Candy Wrappers

8 Unfortunate Vintage Candy Wrappers

According to a recent article on Smithsonian.com, the notion that poison candy is routinely distributed to unsuspecting children on Halloween is a myth perpetrated by advice columnists Dear Abby and Ann Landers in the 1980s and ’90s. But historically, candy meant for young consumers has sported poisonous-sounding, WTF wrappers and packages that most self-respecting 2013 parents would be dismayed to see dumped out of their children’s trick-or-treat bags. [CandyWrapperMuseum.com, Collecting Candy.com, CandyWrapperArchive.com, and Pez.com.]

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Setting the Record Straight: Debunking All the Flu Vaccine Myths

Setting the Record Straight: Debunking All the Flu Vaccine Myths

It’s that time again — that time when dozens of spurious articles pop up all over the web touting all the dangers of the flu vaccine. Articles on unreliable, alarmist, misinformative sites like Natural News, Mercola, chiropractic blogs and other such sites rail against the “toxins” in the vaccine, or claim the flu vaccine doesn’t work, or that it causes this or that horrible disease, or that the flu itself just really isn’t all that bad. (I’m not going to link to any of them. They get too much attention as it is.)

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Why Carved Pumpkins Are Called “Jack O’ Lanterns”

Why Carved Pumpkins Are Called "Jack O' Lanterns"

The name “Jack O’ Lantern” was originally one of the numerous names given to ignis fatuus (Medieval Latin for “foolish fire”), another of which is “Will O’ the Wisps”, basically the odd light that can occasionally be seen over marshes, swamps, and the like. “Jack O’ Lantern” first popped up being used this way around the mid-17th century in East Anglia, UK and spread from there through parts of England, Ireland, and Scotland.

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A Step-by-Step Breakdown of an Awake Brain Tumor Removal Surgery

A Step-by-Step Breakdown of an Awake Brain Tumor Removal Surgery

We the Kings bassist and YouTube celebrity Charles Trippy recently uploaded to YouTube a video of his brain surgery. This is an amazingly powerful thing to watch and I recommend taking the time to do so if you have any interest in the brain and/or medicine that you watch it.

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Battlefield ER: Combat Medicine Fights To Keep More Troops Alive

Battlefield ER: Combat Medicine Fights To Keep More Troops Alive

When a nation sends its citizens to war, there are few things more important than providing the best treatment possible after they get injured in the line of duty.

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Watch the Watchers With This DIY Police Radio Scanner

Watch the Watchers With This DIY Police Radio Scanner

The frequencies employed by law enforcement and first responders can be a source of vital information in emergency situations but you can’t tune in using any old radio. But rather than spend big bucks on a conventional police scanner, you can easily create your own for less than $20 with this (pretty technical!) guide from Instructables member Harrison Sand.

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Why Genetically Engineered Grapes Would Make Great Wine

Why Genetically Engineered Grapes Would Make Great Wine

I am 99.9% sure that there will never be commercial production of genetically engineered wine grapes ("GMO" to use the common misnomer). Even so, I’d like to indulge in imagining what could be if we lived in some parallel universe where rational scientific thinking prevailed.

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One Man’s Epic Review of a “Match.com for NFL Fans”

One Man's Epic Review of a "Match.com for NFL Fans"NFL commentator Rich Eisen has, for reasons unknown, created a dating app for football fans. And if the only good it brings the world is this joyously unhinged review from KissingSuzyKolber’s PFTCommenter, it will have been worth it. Read it below, in all its [sic]’d glory:

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What It’s Like to Work the Apple Store Front Lines on iPhone Day

What It's Like to Work the Apple Store Front Lines on iPhone Day

What, if anything, would you stand in line for all night? Front row tickets to your favorite band? A cameo on your favorite show? A spot for your child in that better school?

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