Thirty-nine-year-old Debbie Bird claims she is allergic to modern living and says mobile phones, microwaves and cars are banned from her house.

Bird said she is sensitive to electromagnetic fields (emf) or "smog" created by computers, microwave ovens, mobile phones and some cars, and that she develops skin rashes and her eyelids swell to three times their normal size if she gets exposed to them.

The new edition of the game Monopoly will feature major companies such as McDonald's, Starbucks and Motorola.

Instead of an old shoe, McDonald's French Fries will be a player piece along with a Starbucks coffee cup, a Toyota Prius car, a Motorola RAZR phone and a New Balance running shoe.

The "Here and Now" U.S. edition of the board game will feature Times Square instead of Boardwalk, among other changes.

Coffee giant, Starbucks, has canceled its free iced coffee e-mail offer after the messages were sent nearly worldwide.

According to a press release, "An email offering a free Starbucks iced coffee was distributed to a limited group of Starbucks partners (employees) in the Southeast United States on Wednesday, August 23, 2006, with instructions to forward to their group of friends and family."

A lawyer has won a lawsuit against coffee chain, Starbucks, after a hot cup of decaf was spilled on her foot.

Alice Griffin, a 42 year old Manhattan attorney, says she was at a Starbucks on Seventh Avenue when the clerk failed to put an insulating sleeve on the cup, then slid the cup across the counter, where it fell on her foot.

A historic tavern opened in 1784, when Annapolis, Md., served as the nation's capital. It is now getting a facelift and new signage, and will become the area's sixth Starbucks.

The ever-increasing coffee chain that has many American stopping before, after, and during work or leisure activities is ruffling some feathers in a city with significant American importance and cultural heritage.