Should you pre-rinse your dishes before loading the dishwasher?

(source: Yahoo Shine)

Experts unanimously agree that you should NOT pre-rinse your dishes before loading the dishwasher. Why not? Because your dishes will not get any cleaner if you rinse them before loading your dishwasher. Pre-rinsing is therefore a complete waste of time, water, energy, and money. And, in some cases, it can actually harm your glassware.
Still not convinced? Here are the details.

Dishes will not get any cleaner if you pre-rinse them.
Modern dishwashers and detergents have come a long way in the past couple of decades. "You will not improve your wash performance one bit by pre-rinsing," says John Dries, a mechanical engineer and owner of Dries Engineering, an appliance design consulting company. He points out that heavily soiled dishes are used in pre-market "wash tests," not pre-rinsed dishes.
In most cases, all you need to do is scrape your plates over a trashcan to get rid of bones or chunks of food. One caveat: It's a good idea to pre-soak pans or dishes that have something really burned on them. Pre-rinsing doesn't help in this situation.
Use the dishwasher's rinse cycle if you're not going to run your dishwasher immediately and are worried about the smell of sour food.
How about older dishwashers? "People with any age dishwasher can feel comfortable knowing they don't need to pre-wash dishes before washing them in the dishwasher," says Jill Notini, a spokesperson for the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers.
Pre-rinsing is a complete waste of time, water, energy, and money.
With pre-rinsing you're essentially washing your dishes twice. Rinsing your dishes while letting the water run can waste gallons of water. Consider this: An energy-efficient dishwasher uses up to 5 gallons of water to wash an entire load of dishes. Washing dishes by hand while letting the water run can use up to 27 gallons.
The same is true for electricity if you pre-rinse with warm or hot water. "You use more electricity rinsing dishes off in the sink than the dishwasher uses to wash the whole load," says Mike Edwards, a senior design engineer at Bosch Home Appliances.
Instead of pre-rinsing the dishes, spend your time on something that will make a difference: Loading the dishwasher correctly.
Experts say a properly loaded dishwasher can significantly impact how clean your dishes turn out. "The biggest impediment in washing is due to poor loading," says Edwards. Get tips from Consumer Reports and a video from Bosch.
Rinsing dishes before loading the dishwasher can do more harm than good.
Today's advanced detergents are designed to attack food particles left on dishes. "If there isn't food soil, they tend to attack glasses," says Edwards. "Some glasses are more susceptible to this kind of attacking than others."
The detergent etches small pits in glasses that you can't see with the naked eye, but the glass appears cloudy, according to Edwards. The process is called "etching" and causes permanent damage.
This is different than temporary hard water stains, which can also result in the cloudy appearance of glassware. Find out how to tell the difference.
"Your detergent amount needs to be based on the amount of food soil in the dishwasher," says Edwards who also points out that those who have soft water should use less detergent than those who have hard water.

Star Smile mad

Referee costs U.S. win, can't stifle massive comeback for draw

(source: Yahoo Sports)

After a devastating start that included yet another early goal allowed by the U.S. - and a second goal before half - the U.S. battled back for a draw with a tenacious rally and was only denied a victory by a mind-boggling referee decision.
Landon Donovan fueled the U.S. comeback, first by blasting in a goal just after halftime from a seemingly impossible angle. Then, as Slovenia tired and collected yellow cards like candy on Halloween, the Americans finally equalized in the 82nd minute thanks to the coach's son, Michael Bradley. With momentum so firmly in their grasp that it seemed only a matter of time before the team scored a winner.

As full time drew near, that winner came off the toe of Maurice Edu after a free kick, but it was astonishingly disallowed by Malian referee Koman Coulibaly. He appeared to call Michael Bradley offside even though Bradley was being bear-hugged from behind by a Slovenian defender. (UPDATE: The official FIFA match report claims a foul on Edu.)
The baffling call sparked confused outrage from the U.S. team as it had no idea why the goal was disallowed. In Bob Bradley's first post-match interview, he said he still didn't know what the call was and why the goal didn't count. But even with a detailed explanation written in 500-point font on the largest billboard in Times Square accompanied by graphs and a 3-D re-enactment, I don't think the U.S. team or its fans could accept that it was anything but a horrible call.
Thankfully, the U.S. still has a good chance at advancing out of the group after this confidence-pumping comeback if it can beat Algeria in their final group match. But until then, the urge for U.S. fans to break household items probably will remain impossibly strong.

In an effort to ease those feelings of anger and confusion, here's Slovenian goalkeeper Samir Handanovic cowering from Landon Donovan's mighty shot.

Star Smile mad

5.7 Mag Quake Shakes Southern California

(source: Fox News)

USGS shakemap shows the earthquake epicenter east of San Diego, near the Mexico border.

SAN DIEGO -- The California-Mexico border region was rocked by a magnitude-5.9 quake Monday, rattling nerves from San Diego north to Orange County and Los Angeles.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake was centered five miles southeast of Ocotillo in Imperial County -- about 85 miles east of San Diego. It struck Monday at about 9:26 p.m. PDT and has been followed by dozens of aftershocks.

San Diego County Office of Emergency Services made a round of calls to all cities in the county and found no reports of significant damage. Louis Fuentes, chairman of the Imperial County board of supervisors, said he had no immediate reports of damage.

"As soon as it hit, my wife said, 'Grab the baby.' My daughter ran out to the back yard," said Fuentes, who was in his garage in Calexico, about 30 miles east of the epicenter. "It thumped really hard."

Fuentes said his chandeliers swayed at his home and metal objects banged but nothing fell off the shelves. Imperial County suffered significant damage in a 7.2-magnitude earthquake in April.

"All the lamps, the liquor bottles and the TV hanging from the ceiling shook, but nothing dropped," said Marina Garcia, an employee at the Burgers and Beer restaurant in El Centro, about 30 miles east of Ocotillo.

The quake was felt as a gentle rolling motion in the Los Angeles area and caused a momentary pause at the Toronto Blue Jays-San Diego Padres game in San Diego.

San Diego County Sheriff's dispatch supervisor Becky Strahm said some of her colleagues reported things falling off their shelves, but there were no immediate reports of significant damage or injury.

The quake follows a series of temblors that struck Southern California over the weekend, including a pair of moderate earthquakes that rattled a desert area east of San Diego. Residents in downtown San Diego could feel the ground rumbling during at least one of the Saturday quakes.

At least 20 aftershocks were recorded within 30 minutes of Monday's earthquake, with the largest measuring at magnitude-4.1.

More than 1,000 people reported feeling the shaking, according to online citizen reports compiled by the USGS. The strongest shaking was felt in San Diego County.

The latest quake struck just two months after the deadly Easter Sunday magnitude-7.2 quake that shook Baja California and Southern California. Monday's quake occurred in the aftershock zone of the Easter quake, said USGS geophysicist Rafael Abreu.

"It's still too early to say," if it was an aftershock, Abreu said.