Forums: Lye

Since they first walked the planet, humans have either buried or burned their dead. Now a new option is generating interest — dissolving bodies in lye and flushing the brownish, syrupy residue down the drain.

SPENCER, Mass. (AP) -- Dozens of residents were taken to hospitals Wednesday with burns or rashes after the town's water supply was accidentally treated with too much corrosive lye, officials said. People in Spencer were advised not to use or touch the water until further notice, said Ed Coletta, a spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Protection. Residents started complaining of skin irritation and moderate burns after showering early Wednesday, police Sgt. John Agnew said. He said officials determined that a malfunction at the town's water treatment plant had released too much sodium hydroxide into the water supply. Sodium...

<p>FORMER PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON ON NOT CAPTURING BIN LADEN: 'At least I tried. That's the difference between me and some, including all the right wingers. They ridicule me for trying. They had eight months to try, they did not try. I tried. So I tried and failed'...</p>

SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. A South Kingstown man who became ill after he drank from a beer bottle ingested a caustic liquid. Police say the liquid that sent Michael Darigan to the hospital last Sunday resembles lye. Lye is a highly concentrated solution of potassium hydroxide or sodium hydroxide. It's often found in commercial drain and oven cleaners. The 53-year-old Darigan found the bottle along his jogging route last week. Sergeant Thomas Owens says there's no evidence suggesting Darigan was personally targeted. Local police sent two bottles of the liquid to the state Department of Health for testing. Darigan's wife has...

When you marry a Norwegian, you gain more than just a bride or groom. When John Hinsch, a German, married Jan Hilan, who is both Norwegian and Swedish, he acquired a set of Christmas food traditions that encompasses what many consider the best and the worst of culinary options. The best: Who could turn down rosettes and krumkake, lefse, meatballs and rommegrøt? The worst: By reputation - lutefisk. Songs, jokes and entire humor books have been written poking fun at the shimmering white fish which is a staple in Scandinavian-American households at Christmastime. "I ate about a half-teaspoon of lutefisk...