angelm's Blog

Millvina Dean, last Titanic survivor, dies in England

Slideshow:Last Titanic survivor dies at 97 by Alice Ritchie Alice Ritchie � LONDON (AFP) � Millvina Dean, the last remaining survivor of the sinking of the Titanic in 1912, died in a care home in England on Sunday, media reports said. She was 97.

Elizabeth Gladys Dean, known to friends as Millvina, was only nine weeks old when the liner hit an iceberg in the Atlantic Ocean on the night of April 14, 1912, and sank killing 1,500 people.

She survived after being bundled up in a sack and carried to safety. Her mother Georgette Eva and brother Bertram also made it, but her father, Bertram Frank, was among those who died.

Dean died in a private nursing home near Ashurst in the southern English county of Hampshire, according to the BBC and Britain's domestic Press Association news agency. Staff there refused to comment late Sunday.

Dean's family had boarded the Titanic at Southampton, heading for a new life in Kansas where her father hoped to open a tobacconist shop.

Born on February 12, 1912, Dean was the youngest passenger on board. At the time, RMS Titanic was the most luxurious, most technically advanced and largest passenger liner in the world.

She was dubbed "unsinkable", but it took just two hours and 40 minutes for her to disappear into the icy waters of the Atlantic after striking an iceberg at 11:40 pm on April 14.

Dean was taken back to Southampton with her family after the disaster and did not find out that she had been on board until she was eight years old and her mother was planning to remarry.

According to enthusiasts' website Encyclopedia Titanica (ET), Dean worked for the government as a cartographer during World War II and then for an engineering company.

She told reporters that it was not until the wreckage of the liner was found in 1985 that she suddenly became a celebrity, taking part in documentaries and giving media interviews.

Dean was invited to complete her family's ill-fated journey to the United States in 1997 aboard the QE2, and accepted, although she turned down an offer to attend the premier of the movie "Titanic" because it would be too upsetting.

She moved into a private nursing home in Hampshire after breaking her hip three years ago, and after struggling to pay the bills was forced to sell off some of her memorabilia.

At auction in October 2008 she raised 31,150 pounds (40,000 euros, 53,900 dollars), selling off rare prints of the liner signed by the artists as well as compensation letters sent to her mother by the Titanic Relief Fund.

Dean was also forced to sell a 100-year-old suitcase filled with clothes donated to her family by the people of New York when they arrived after being rescued.

In the wake of the auction, friends including members of the British Titanic Society and the Belfast Titanic Society -- the liner was built in Belfast in Northern Ireland-- set up a campaign to secure her future.

Among the donors to the Millvina Fund were Hollywood actors Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio, who starred in the 1997 "Titanic" film. The pair and the film's director, James Cameron, reportedly donated 30,000 US dollars in total.

The last remaining US survivor, Lillian Asplund, died in her home in May 2006 at the age of 99. She was just five years old when the Titanic went down.

The Royal Wii

The Nintendo Wii has positioned itself as the gaming console for everybody. As it turns out, that includes the Queen of England. Well, sort of. It's not like Her Royal Highness went down to Wal-Mart and bought one with her summer job savings. Rather, she was given a special version by gaming company THQ.

What makes the Queen's "Royal Wii" different? It's gold-plated, sucka! None of that lame white plastic for Buckingham Palace � the Queen needs her bling! Gaming blog Joystiq reports that the gaming company is hopeful that the PR stunt "will amuse Queen Elizabeth."

Meanwhile, Geek.com writes that the gift is actually meant to build awareness for the upcoming game, Big Family Games. An ulterior motive? What?!? As the geeks put it, "for a game that is meant to include the whole family from kids to grandparents what better family to send it to than The Royal Family in England."

According to Game Revolution, Big Family Games is a collection of mini-games, including "golf, tennis, ladder golf, lawn darts, horseshoes, bocce," and more. So far, search interest is rather scant. However, should the Queen declare her love for the gift, expect the title to get a right honorable boost in the Buzz. Silly as that sounds, it's not out of the realm of possibility -- according to insiders, she was "addicted" to playing Prince William's Wii last Christmas. Now she'll have one of her own.

How to Spend Like a Frugal Millionaire

Saving thousands while still spending.

Millionaires make up just 2 percent of the population. They get a bad rap during recessions for being wasteful with their money and are frequently used as examples of excess. It's the millionaires that you don't see that you can learn from in times like these. I call them the frugal millionaires and interviewed 70 of them to uncover ways we can all be smarter with money.

Nearly 70 percent of the economy is based on consumer spending. To keep the economy going we need to keep spending but not waste money in the process. This is where the frugal millionaires come in. They've been smart with their money all along and haven't lost it all and had to remake it. These are the kind of people you want to learn from when it comes to spending your money.

Spending philosophy.

Frugal millionaires are unique thinkers when it comes to spending money: 1) they can easily delay their need for gratification when purchasing; 2) they are resourceful in getting what they want by carefully timing their consumer purchases; 3) they make living below their means painless; 4) they don't like wasting anything (especially money); 5) their sense of "self-entitlement" is highly minimized: and 6) spending is OK with them...depending on what they are buying (think: appreciating vs. depreciating assets).

[For more, see, "10 Secrets of Millionaires' Money Management."]

Buying tips.

These millionaires keep more money than they spend, that's why they are rich. Their tactics work for them so they'll work even better for you. Key Point: They don't view shopping as a sport. They shop efficiently and spend their time doing more important things with their lives. Here are their tips that will help you save while spending:

Cars: Buy used (or off lease) fuel-efficient cars, often with "certified pre-owned" warranties. This warranty can be better than a new car, plus the initial depreciation hit is avoided. Drive the car for a long time and never lease it.

Eating Out: Bring half of a meal home to eat later (this also saves the waistline). Eat at happy hours. Bring wine from home and skip dessert. Value food quality over expensive ambience.

Eating In: Eat better and less expensively by cooking at home. Make it a friends and family event. Get your kids involved. Bonus: You can have that extra drink without worrying about getting busted for driving under the influence. Also: buy day-old bread at the best bakery in town and freeze it. Eat oatmeal, because it's the most cost-effective breakfast food. Get a supermarket "club card" and buy food on special. Play the game of trying to see how much of a discount can be saved off the total food bill.

Clothes: When you buy something new donate something used to charity. Buy traditional clothes, but wait for the off-season to acquire them. Go for high quality - not high price. Buy vintage clothing and avoid logo clothing and keep people guessing who the designer might be. Hint: There shouldn't be one!

[For more, read: "Juggling Your Money in the Recession."]

Consumer Electronics: Buy low-end gear that has the basic functionality of the more expensive stuff. Don't be the first to buy new technology. Wait at least one lifecycle so the bugs are worked out. Buy refurbished electronics whenever possible.

Computers: Buy more mainstream computers with proven technology. Select higher capacity hard drives, a decent amount of RAM (the memory that the program runs in) and a cost effective processor. Super fast doesn't always equal super good...unless you are building airplanes or bridges. Laptops are a good compromise between desktops and netbooks. Don't go through the pain of upgrading operating systems on existing computers, it's not time efficient and you will probably go insane trying.

Going green: Being green and frugal go hand-in-hand. Yet frugal millionaires don't readily fall for the trendy green hype machine. They typically buy green if it helps the environment and lowers their costs. They look at the timeframe when a product can pay for itself. They do use compact fluorescent lighting, turn off lights and equipment that isn't being used, monitor AC and heat usage (with programmable thermostats), drive efficiently, live in "right-sized" homes and turn off the water when they aren't brushing their teeth or washing dishes. Because they have trained themselves to not waste money they won't waste anything else either. They get into good habits and keep them going. You can, too.

Unlearned Lesson

Memorial Day
Of every year
The little valiant
Flags appear
On every fallen
Soldier's grave--
Symbol of what
Each died to save.
And we who see
And still have breath--
Are we no wiser
For their death?

~Dorothy Brown Thompson~

Yes, it's true. A dozen of the richest people in the world met for an unprecedented private gathering at the invitation of Bill Gates and Warren Buffett to talk about giving away money.

The May 5 meeting at Rockefeller University included Gates, Buffett, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, George Soros, Eli Broad, Oprah Winfrey, David Rockefeller Sr. and Ted Turner, among others. The meeting came to light only this week when it was reported by the Web site IrishCentral.

Bill Gates and Warren Buffett led a private philanthropy discussion in a year of diminished portfolios even among top givers.

"It really was a group of friends and colleagues who share a commitment to philanthropy discussing ideas in a round table," said former Gates Foundation Chief Executive Patty Stonesifer, who attended the gathering.

In a phone interview today, Stonesifer sought to dispel notions and reports on the Web that the meeting was somehow veiled in secrecy.

"It wasn't secret," she said. "It was meant to be a gathering among friends and colleagues. It was something folks have been discussing for a long time. Bill and Warren hoped to do this occasionally. They sent out an invite and people came."

"This was about philanthropy and this group sharing their passions their interests," said Stonesifer, who is chairwoman of the Smithsonian Institution. "They each learned from each other about what could really make a difference."

But the Manhattan philanthropy salon raised interest for its uniqueness, and the fact that so many on the Forbes world's wealthiest list were able to meet almost completely under the radar. Other reports about the meeting came out here and here.

"As far as anything we've ever seen before, this group of philanthropists that are so high powered in the same room... I think it's unprecedented," said Chronicle of Philanthropy editor Stacy Palmer, who has been covering philanthropy for 20 years.

The members of the meeting have donated more than $72 billion to charity since 1996, according to The Chronicle.

"Given how serious these economic times are, I don't think it's surprising these philanthropists came together," Palmer said. "They don't typically get together and ask each other for advice."

There was no agenda, and the topics were as diverse as the group, Stonesifer said: "everything from U.S. education to efforts of the U.N. to emergency response in [Hurricane] Katrina and many international issues."

The three hosts [Gates, Buffett and David Rockefeller] "wanted to have a private gathering to discuss with others what motivated their giving, the areas of focus, lessons learned and thoughts on how they might increase giving going forward," Stonesifer said.

The elite group met from 3 p.m. through dinner in the President's House on the university campus. There were no 15-minute speeches, and very little of the conversation focused on the economy, Stonesifer said.

The meeting also didn't produce a clear result. "There was lots of shared information that may lead to more things," she said. "There was no action plan associated with it."

One theme critics of the Gates Foundation have seized upon is a lack of transparency, which a wealthy private confab may not help.

"Now they're in a tricky public perception problem," said Palmer. "This is not just for Gates but Soros or any philanthropists that have as much money to spend as small governments."

"It just gives the impression they were trying to coordinate in some way, which makes some people uncomfortable," she said.

"This is a group of people that are in the spotlight," Stonesifer responded. "They use that spotlight for good to draw attention to these issues. The only reason it wasn't more public was that it was a private and informal gathering to discuss these issues."

And there may be more such forums in the future. "I'm sure these folks will convene in one form or another," Stonesifer said. "This area of giving requires people to collaborate and learn lessons from each other."

Funny Dear Abby Letters: Hilarious letters to Dear Abby

Dear Abby has been around a long, long time. And she's received tens of thousands of letters over the years. It just stands to reason that a few of those are going to be a little bit humorous, or even laugh out loud funny. Here is a collection of funny letters to Dear Abby, which have been circulating around the net for years. They are from a book of interesting and funny letters to Dear Abby, first published in the 1980s.

So here they are: Some of the best hilarious but true (and sometimes sad but true) funny letters to advice columnist Dear Abby.

Dear Abby,

A couple of women moved in across the hall from me. One is a middle-aged gym teacher and the other is a social worker in her mid-twenties. These two women go everywhere together and I've never seen a man go into or leave their apartment. Do you think they could be Lebanese?

Dear Abby,

What can I do about all the Sex, Nudity, Fowl Language and Violence On My VCR?

Dear Abby,

I have a man I can't trust. He cheats so much, I'm not even sure the baby I'm carrying is his.

Dear Abby,

I am a twenty-three year old liberated woman who has been on the pill for two years. It's getting expensive and I think my boyfriend should share half the cost, but I don't know him well enough to discuss money with him.

Dear Abby,

I've suspected that my husband has been fooling around, and when confronted with the evidence, he denied everything - and said it would never happen again.

Dear Abby,

Our son writes that he is taking Judo. Why would a boy who was raised in a good Christian home turn against his own?

Dear Abby,

I joined the Navy to see the world. I've seen it. Now how do I get out?

Dear Abby,

My forty year old son has been paying a psychiatrist $50.00 an hour every week for two and a half years. He must be crazy.

Dear Abby,

I was married to Bill for three months, and I didn't know he drank until one night he came home sober.

Dear Abby,

My mother is mean and short tempered - I think she is going through mental pause.

Dear Abby,

You told some woman whose husband had lost all interest in sex to send him to a doctor. Well, my husband lost all interest in sex - and he is a doctor. Now what do I do?

ngredients:
3 dozen chocolate cookies, cream-filled, broken up
2 packages (3.4 ounces each) vanilla instant pudding
1 carton (8 ounces) whipped topping
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup sugar
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, room temperature
Preparation:
Process cookies in batches in food processor until cookies are fine crumbs, or place cookies in food storage bags and use a rolling pin to crush.

Prepare pudding according to package directions; fold in whipped topping. Combine butter, sugar, and cream cheese in another mixing bowl; beat at medium speed until smooth. Fold into the pudding mixture. Trim top of the whipped topping container to fit the bottom of an 8-inch flower pot.

Set aside 1 1/2 cups crumbs and spoon about 1/3 of the remaining crumbs into the flowerpot. Spread about 1/3 of the pudding mixture over the crumb layer. Repeat layers twice, then top with the reserved crumbs, covering the pudding completely. Cover and chill for 4 hours.

If desired, put a flower in a florist's holder and insert in the pot before serving, or use an artificial flower.

A baby at 66 for Elizabeth Adeney - the desperate divorcee set to become Britain's oldest mother

Elizabeth Adeney will be Britain's oldest mum when she gives birth next month

With her sizeable bump on show, this is Elizabeth Adeney - Britain's oldest mother-to-be.

At 66, she is four years older than the previous record holder.

Mrs Adeney, who is around eight months pregnant, is believed to have undergone IVF abroad because most British clinics will not treat women over the age of 50.

Friends say that the divorcee, a wealthy businesswoman who is still working a five-day week, is in perfect health and looking forward to the birth of what is thought to be her first child.

But her pregnancy will reignite the debate over late motherhood and the ability of science to enable women in their 50s and 60s to become mothers.

Mrs Adeney will be just short of her 80th birthday when her child becomes a teenager.

A friend said she had been desperate to conceive for years.

Last year, she travelled to the Ukraine, where a controversial IVF clinic has helped countless women get pregnant using donor eggs and sperm.

The friend added: 'She was desperate for a child. She was over the moon when she learned last year that she was pregnant and has been quite open about it - it's not the sort of thing she can hide.

'Elizabeth has had a pretty good pregnancy. She has been very well, considering her age - I'm amazed how she keeps going.

'She does get up a little later in the mornings than she used to and sometimes spends an hour or two at home before going to work but she is still at her business Monday to Friday.'

Mrs Adeney, the managing director of a firm in Mildenhall, Suffolk, which produces plastic and textile products, is described by friends as 'very bright and single-minded'.

Yesterday, she declined to discuss her condition.

H1N1 flu cases, death toll rise: WHO

Swine flu spreads

GENEVA (Reuters) � The number of confirmed cases of the new Influenza A (H1N1) flu has climbed to 6,497, including 65 deaths, the World Health Organization said on Thursday.

The number of countries reporting confirmed cases remains at 33, with the vast majority of cases in Mexico and the United States, the WHO said in a twice-daily update.

The latest update appeared before a meeting of experts later on Thursday by the WHO to decide whether drugmakers should switch production of flu vaccine to deal with the new outbreak, widely known as swine flu, from seasonal flu.

Seasonal flu kills 500,000 people a year, mainly the elderly or those with respiratory problems like asthma.

So the WHO will want to be sure that the H1N1 outbreak poses a severe threat before recommending the switch.

Drugmakers do not have the capacity to make both. One question the experts will examine is whether a course against swine flu would require two shots rather than one, taking up twice as much manufacturing capacity.

Recommendations by the experts will be put to the WHO's World Health Assembly next week. In the meantime manufacturers have already started producing the H1N1 vaccine.

The spread of the disease has led the WHO to declare a pandemic is imminent. On April 29 it raised its pandemic alert to 5 on a 6-level scale.

Evidence the new flu was spreading in a sustained manner in countries outside North America would trigger a move to phase 6 for a full-blown pandemic.

Conversely, signs the infection is not spreading in new countries and is slowing in North America could allow the WHO to lower the alert level.

Mexico's Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova told Reuters the flu was infecting fewer people and was likely to cause no more than 100 deaths in the country.

WHO experts say it is not possible to create a scale giving a scientific assessment of the severity of the outbreak, on the lines of hurricane warnings or the Richter scale for earthquakes.

That is because the new flu affects people differently in various countries, depending on their stage of development, healthcare systems and experience in dealing with epidemics.

The WHO's tally lags national reports but is considered more secure. Rising numbers can indicate that a backlog of cases is being processed, as well as the spread of the disease.

The WHO said Mexico has reported 2,446 confirmed cases including 60 deaths. The United States has reported 3,352 confirmed cases including 3 deaths. Canada has 389 confirmed cases and Costa Rica 8 cases, both with one death.

Other countries with confirmed cases but no deaths are Argentina (1), Australia (1), Austria (1), Brazil (8), Britain (71), China (4), Colombia (7), Cuba (1), Denmark (1), El Salvador (4), Finland (2), France (14), Germany (12), Guatemala (3), Ireland (1), Israel (7), Italy (9), Japan (4), Netherlands (3) New Zealand (7), Norway (2), Panama (29), Poland (1), Portugal (1), South Korea (3), Spain (100), Sweden (2), Switzerland (1) and Thailand (2).

"All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel Mother." -- Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)

"God could not be everywhere and therefore he made mothers." -- Jewish proverb

"Of all the rights of women, the greatest is to be a mother." -- Lin Yutang

"The heart of a mother is a deep abyss at the bottom of which you will always find forgiveness." -- Honore' de Balzac (1799-1850)

"My mother was the most beautiful woman I ever saw. All I am I owe to my mother. I attribute all my success in life to the moral, intellectual and physical education I received from her." -- George Washington (1732-1799)

"By and large, mothers and housewives are the only workers who do not have regular time off. They are the great vacationless class." -- Anne Morrow Lindbergh (1907- )

"The mother's heart is the child's schoolroom." -- Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887)

"Youth fades; love droops, the leaves of friendship fall; A mother's secret hope outlives them all." -- Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-1894)

"I remember my mother's prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life." -- Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)

"The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother." --Author Unknown

Mayor's lip hair in shave-or-save battle
MURRAY, Utah � The mayor of the Salt Lake City suburb of Murray says he has little choice but to shave his nearly foot-long handlebar mustache for charity. Dan Snarr is putting the decision to a vote of residents and says his fashion statement is "getting creamed." "People are voting 'shave.' It's a way to get back at an elected official," said Snarr, who has sported the waxed mustache for three years but now is resigned to shaving.

Besides, his wife hates it. She's sick of puckering up for a kiss and getting poked in the eye.

Yet the 59-year-old Snarr also is facing pressure from the mustache lobby. The St. Louis-based American Mustache Institute got wind of his plans and called on Snarr to keep a stiff upper lip in the face of opposition.

The Mustache Institute � a tongue-in-check group dedicated to defending a man's right to sport a mustache against modern aversions � is demanding Snarr "recant" his shaving pledge and find another way to support the Children's Miracle Network.

"This could include shaving your head, your back or committing to not clipping your toenails for up to eight months," the group's leaders wrote to the mayor.

Snarr said he had never heard of the Mustache Institute and isn't certain how to respond to the letter. "It's like politics � whatever you do, you're <snip>ed," he said.

A local Costco warehouse store says residents have been voting since May 1. The paper ballots will be counted May 16.

Snarr said the last he checked, shave votes in one glass jar far outnumber the save votes in another and that his graying mustache was doomed. But the vote is tightening, a store manager said Thursday.

Still, Snarr says the only voter who matters is his wife, April, who calls her husband's mustache "obnoxious."

Snarr should face down his opposition � mainly women � and keep his mustache, said Aaron Perlut of St. Louis, chairman of the Mustache Institute and a social-media consultant.

Perlut said mustaches fell out of favor in the 1970s and that his group's most recent surveys shows only 20 percent of women favor them. That's why more men are sporting tiny "chin" beards, which Perlut calls a "spousal compromise."

The group stands in defense of the singular mustache, rejecting all other styles of facial hair, even beards.

Cow gets new home after escape from slaughterhouse
NEW YORK � The 500-pound cow that led New York City police on a mile-long chase after bolting from a Queens slaughterhouse is now living large at a Long Island farm sanctuary. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals says they transported the young cow, nicknamed 'Molly,' to a Calverton sanctuary called the Farrm on Thursday afternoon.

ASCPA assistant director Joseph Pentangelo says the all-black cow seemed to be enjoying her new freedom, adding "Her future's a lot brighter now than it was 48 hours ago."

The spirited cow dodged cars, cops and a few irate butchers as she fled a mile through an urban area of Queens on Wednesday. Members of the NYPD's elite Emergency Services Unit eventually captured the cow.

The blonde Cashier

So there's this blonde checkout girl, and one of the items in the customer's basket just won't scan.

The supervisor comes over and says "We'll enter it manually: you read out the bar code & I'll type it in".

So the checkout girl goes "Oookaayy.. Thick-line, Thick-line, Thin-line, Thick-line..."

Scientists unveil chocolate-fueled race car

LONDON � Scientists unveiled on Tuesday what they hope will be one of the world's fastest biofuel vehicles, powered by waste from chocolate factories and made partly from plant fibers. Its makers hope the racer will go 145 mph and give manufacturers ideas about how to build more ecologically friendly vehicles.

The car runs on vegetable oils and chocolate waste that has been turned into biofuel. The steering wheel is made out of plant-based fibers derived from carrots and other root vegetables, and the seat is built of flax fibre and soybean oil foam. The body is also made of plant fibers.

Scientists at the University of Warwick say their car is the fastest to run on biofuels and also be made from biodegradable materials. It has been built to Formula 3 specifications about the car's size, weight, and performance.

Their claims cannot be independently verified.

They hope it can reach speeds of over 145 mph when it is tested on a racetrack in a few weeks time. They have driven it at around 60 mph and are now making final adjustments to the engine before driving it at top speed.

Warwick's project manager James Meredith said their model shows that it is possible to build a fast, efficient, environmentally friendly car.

The car, named the "WorldFirst Formula 3 racing car," will go on display at several races including the European Grand Prix and Britain's Goodwood Festival of Speed

FDA says dieters should stop using Hydroxycut now

WASHINGTON � Government health officials warned dieters and body builders Friday to immediately stop using Hydroxycut, a widely sold supplement linked to cases of serious liver damage and at least one death.

The Food and Drug Administration said the company that makes the dietary supplement has agreed to recall 14 Hydroxycut products. Available in grocery stores and pharmacies, Hydroxycut is advertised as made from natural ingredients. At least 9 million packages were sold last year, the FDA said.

Dr. Linda Katz of the FDA's food and nutrition division said the agency has received 23 reports of liver problems, including the death of a 19-year-old boy living in the Southwest. The teenager died in 2007, and the death was reported to the FDA this March.

Other patients experienced symptoms ranging from jaundice, or yellowing of the skin, to liver failure. One received a transplant and another was placed on a list to await a new liver. The patients were otherwise healthy and their symptoms began after they started using Hydroxycut.

Iovate Health Sciences, which makes the diet pills, said it agreed to the recall out of "an abundance of caution." The company is based in Canada and its U.S. distributor is headquartered near Buffalo, N.Y.

"While this is a small number of reports relative to the many millions of people who have used Hydroxycut products over the years, out of an abundance of caution and because consumer safety is our top priority, we are voluntarily recalling these Hydroxycut-branded products," the company said in a statement on its Web site. Consumers can get a refund by returning the pills to the store they purchased them from, the company said.

Dietary supplements aren't as tightly regulated by the government as medications. Manufacturers don't need to prove to the FDA that their products are safe and effective before they can sell them to consumers.

But regulators monitor aftermarket reports for signs of trouble, and in recent years companies have been put under stricter requirements to alert the FDA when they learn of problems. In 2004, the government banned ephedra, an ingredient in many supplements, linked to heart attacks and strokes.

Katz said it has taken so long to get a handle on the Hydroxycut problem because the cases of liver damage were rare and the FDA has no authority to review supplements before they're marketed. "Part of the problem is that the FDA looks at dietary supplements from a post-market perspective, and an isolated incident is often difficult to follow," she said.

The FDA relies on voluntary reports to detect such problems, and many cases are never reported, officials acknowledge.

Health officials said they have been unable to determine which Hydroxycut ingredients are potentially toxic, partially because the formulation has changed several times.

Public health researcher Ano Lobb, who has studied Hydroxycut and other dietary supplements for Consumer Reports, said the problem may be an ingredient called hydroxycitric acid. Derived from a tropical fruit, it's been linked to liver problems in at least one medical journal study. Lobb said it's likely that other supplements containing the same ingredient remain on the market.

"You really have to be careful about dietary supplements, especially weight-loss pills," said Lobb. "People believe that the FDA has verified that these products are at least safe and effective, and that's really not the case. When you see fantastic claims � that's generally what they are."