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Next Tuesday will be 6/06/06. June 6, 2006 will be a big day for conspiracy and end-of-the-world theorists. LiveScience.com reports:

With 06/06/06 looming (June 6, 2006), authorities in some cities are worrying prophecy theorists or hate groups might read something ominous into the date and use it as an excuse to stir tension. Some expectant mothers are making birthing appointments to ensure they avoid the date, according to The Sunday Times in London.

And for others, it is a marketing opportunity. 20th Century Fox's remake of "The Omen" and Ann Coulter's book, "Godless: The Church of Liberalism," will both come out June 6.

"666" is the number used to refer to the Beast in the biblical New Testament book of Revelation. (See context.)

The Sunday Times story says:

In America, the marketing of the apocalypse is well under way. Slayer, one of America's most popular heavy metal rock groups, will start its Unholy Alliance tour, subtitled "Preaching to the Perverted."

Crown Forum, a U.S. publishing giant, has seized on 666 as the perfect date for the launch of "Godless," a new anti-liberal political polemic by Ann Coulter, a prominent right-wing columnist.

In addition, inevitably, the internet is awash with frenzied doomsday debate and 666 speculation, all reflecting America's continuing obsession with angels, devils and the possible nature of heaven and hell.

While some Armageddon believers fear that 6/6/06 will be "a day of satanic power" that may be marked by a comet hitting the Earth, others believe that the world is coming closer to what is widely known as "the rapture" -- the moment the Lord calls the Christian faithful home and millions of born-again evangelicals will suddenly disappear from the Earth, leaving non-believers behind.

On one popular evangelical Web site last week, a "rapture index" that calculates the likelihood of the Lord's arrival -- stood at 156 -- which the website declared was time to "fasten your seatbelts."

The story points out:

The 666 phenomenon is based on a disputed passage from the Book of Revelation, which in several popular versions declares the "number of the beast" to be 666 -- although some biblical scholars claim there was a mistranslation and the number should really be 616.  [See the entire passage here from BibleGateway.]

Either way, John Moore, the Irish director of "The Omen" remake -- entitled "Omen 666" -- realized that June 6 was too good a date to miss for a film about a sinister child named Damien who turns out to be the Antichrist. "It's a fantastic marketing gimmick," Moore said. "We figured if we could hit this date it would make it all the more interesting."

The (Waynesboro, Pa.) Record Herald reports that hundreds of small Red Cross chapters nationwide have closed down in the last 10 years. The culprits are many, including high chapter fees, lack of volunteers and increased record-keeping requirements.

The paper says there are 825 chapters remaining in the U.S., compared to the 1,763 that existed in the late 1900s.

Speaking of the American Red Cross, the group recently released a poll showing that Americans think they are more prepared for a disaster than they really are. The poll found:

While seven of 10 respondents said they were somewhat prepared, the poll shows that most people still need to take the basic steps to form their family disaster plan. Specifically:

• 69 percent have not established a meeting place to reunite with family members
• 65 percent of pet owners have no plan to keep their pets safe
• 59 percent have not selected an emergency contact
• 60 percent have made no specific evacuation plan
• 73 percent have not practiced their family disaster plan

The poll also indicated that 52 percent of Americans now have a disaster supplies kit, up from approximately 45 percent last year. In addition, it showed that:

• 82 percent of people have checked or updated their disaster kits in the last six months
• Respondents in the southern U.S. (60 percent) were most likely to have a disaster kit, while those in the north central U.S. were least likely (42 percent)
• The youngest respondents (ages 18-24) were least likely to have a kit

Even though more Americans than ever before have some sort of kit, they are not certain what it should contain. For example, 72 percent think that they have a three-day supply of water -- but only 23 percent know that each person needs one gallon of water per day in an emergency.

MSNBC reports:

Paper shredders are in millions of American homes today. And with the growing threat of identity theft, shredder sales are soaring -- up 35 percent over the past five years. They don't seem all that dangerous, but if there is a toddler in the house, a paper shredder can be a real hazard.

Between January 2000 and September 2005, the Consumer Product Safety Commission received 50 reports [PDF] of finger injuries -- including lacerations and amputations -- from home paper shredders. The majority of those injured were children under the age of 5.

"The vast majority of the units out there are dangerous to children," says Dr. George Foltin, associate professor of pediatrics and emergency medicine at New York University School of Medicine.

In a study published this year in Pediatrics magazine, Foltin reported that half the accidents happened "when the parent was with the child showing them how to use the paper shredder." The child is holding the paper and their fingers get pulled into the shredder. "They either don't recognize to let go or it happens so quickly that they don't have time to let go," Foltin explains.

My Poynter friend Larry Larsen, who is always on the cutting edge of sound reasoning (OK, usually his reasoning is sound), posed a question to me yesterday. "Why do people refrigerate pickles?" he asked.

Further, he points out that many of us jam our refrigerators with ketchup, mustard and other things that restaurants leave out on the tables for hours and hours with no apparent harm.

He got me to thinking: If I heavily edited my refrigerator, I bet I could free up most of the racks on the door. My wife refrigerates bread (I hate cold bread) and she chills barbeque sauce so you have to use a jackhammer to get it out. What a public service you would do if you could liberate the public from its over-reliance on refrigerators.

The refrigerated bread debate produces very opinionated answers.

And any number of sources suggests to NOT refrigerate bread. Preparedpantry.com says, "By the way, never refrigerate bread. Bread will stale faster in the refrigerator than on the counter." Breadnet.net agrees. My wife, unfortunately, does not.

Larry's note to me included this:

Granted, some of those fancy refrigerated pickles say they need to be refrigerated on the label, but I think it's just a gimmick. I don't know what has changed in the last 20 years that would require them being cold all of a sudden. Lots of people seem to have the same question. 

This place says butter has to be chilled. I say hooey to that, as long as you use it in a decent amount of time. My great-grandmother lived 106 years without ever having cold butter.

Wikipedia says the "refrigerated pickles (sometimes called overnight pickles)" need to be chilled EVEN BEFORE YOU OPEN THE JAR! Get outta here. If something could grow on a pickle in a jar of vinegar, then how come those pigs' feet and eggs in convenience stores don't get any grosser than they already are?

Some resources:

• NBC4 in Washington, D.C. called Heinz about the question and got this answer: "Refrigerating ketchup keeps the flavor at its peak; however, unrefrigerated ketchup is safe to eat. However, after several weeks, air will dilute the ketchup's flavor."
• TiVo Community took up the question: "We referred your question to Donna Scott, a Food Safety Specialist with the Department of Food Science at the Cornell Cooperative Extension in New York. She advises storing both condiments in the refrigerator after opening. Despite their acidic ingredients, neither condiment is sufficiently acidic to kill bacteria and microorganisms, including mold, that may be introduced to the containers after opening. Refrigeration does not kill bacteria and microorganisms either, but does slow the growth. Refrigerated, ketchup should keep for up to 6 months; mustard, 1 year."
• About.com says it is a terrible idea to leave things like ketchup out of the fridge.
• KitchenSavvy suggests ketchup makers don't want to get sued, so they tell you to refrigerate.

Tonight I will suggest to my wife that we pull some of the stuff out of the fridge. When she asks me why, I will tell her Larry told me to.

She then will politely suggest that maybe I would rather go live with Larry, and that will put and end to that as I fill the right side of the Kenmore with half-empty pickle jars and a squeezable ketchup bottle and slip a fresh soft loaf of bread into the cold and dark. And so it goes.