blog-heap o' links
Marine Cpl. Sean
A. Stokes, 24, of Auburn, Calif., died July 30 from wounds suffered while
conducting combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq. He was assigned to 3rd
Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary
Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif. defenselink.mil/ ... 21:43:17Army Staff Sgt.
Wilberto Suliveras, 38, of Humacao, P.R., died July 29 in Taji, Iraq, of
wounds suffered from enemy small arms fire. He was assigned to the 2nd
Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division,
Fort Hood, Texas. defenselink.mil/ ... 21:42:49Army Maj. Thomas
G. Bostick Jr., 37, of Llano, TexasArmy Staff Sgt. William R.
Fritsche, 23, of Martinsville, Ind.
Scientists have genetically engineered mice that develop
the physical and psychological characteristics of schizophrenia... [maybe
they gave them marijuana?] Army Pfc. Cody C.
Grater, 20, of Spring Hill, Fla., died July 29 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds
suffered from enemy direct fire. He was assigned to the 407th Brigade Support
Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.
defenselink.mil/ ... 21:55:24Army Spc. Daniel
A. Leckel, 19, of Medford, Ore., died July 25 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds
suffered from enemy small arms fire. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 28th
Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division,
Fort Riley, Kan. defenselink.mil/ ... 21:12:14Army Pvt. Michael
A. Baloga, 21, of Everett, Wash., died July 26 in Muqdadiyah, Iraq, of
wounds suffered from an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 6th
Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division,
Fort Hood, Texas. 
marijuana... It's a crop
locally law enforcement has been working to clean up and get rid of, and
deputies said not a day goes by
in Florence County without a marijuana related arrest... [God help all
those nonviolent taboo breaking victims of PuriTaliban Tyranny!] newsnet5.com/ ... 21:53:08AKRON, Ohio -- Summit County
authorities said they made four arrests and seized more
than 500 pounds of marijuana in a drug bust over the weekend... street value of
more than $700,000... ynetnews.com/ ... 21:51:54An
Israeli man was recently arrested for possession of
marijuana, although
he has an official permit from the Health Ministry to use the drug for
medicinal purposes. Criminal charges were filed against him and, according to
his testimony, he was "treated like a dangerous drug addict..." has Tourette
Syndrome... He has a 50 percent disability rating and receives a monthly
allowance from social security. At the age of 16, [he] tried smoking marijuana
and discovered that the drug helped ease his anxieties and enabled him to cope
better with reality. In November 2006, following a long and exhausting process,
he was the first person suffering from Tourette in Israel to be granted
permission to use marijuana to help treat his condition... iol.co.za/ ... 21:50:59Smoking a
single joint of cannabis has the same impact on breathing capacity as up to
five cigarettes... Medical Research Institute of New Zealand... The most
serious damage was found in tobacco smokers - both tobacco-only and combined
users - who were the only volunteers to have emphysema, a degenerative and
crippling lung disease... 
Harry Potter the concept, the brand, the franchise, is now well and
truly ended, give or take the odd multimillion-pound earning catch-up film.
Rowling has decreed that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will be the
seventh and last book in the series and who can honestly blame her? It must be
hard, unless your heart is really set on earning that second billion dollars,
to keep focused on a broom-flying pubescent with ocular issues... breitbart.com/ ... 21:40:38Tom
Snyder, who pioneered the late-late network TV talk show with a personal yet
abrasive style and his robust, trademark laugh, has died from complications
associated with leukemia. He was 71... today.msnbc.msn.com/ ... 21:37:26J.K.
Rowling tells TODAY she will write an ‘encyclopedia’ on characters...
today.msnbc.msn.com/ ...
21:37:10Rowling tells what happens next
Exclusive: Author gives details on events after the book’s final
epilogue... allday.msnbc.msn.com/ ...
21:36:50Rowling explains changing last word in Harry Potter hosted.ap.org/ ... 21:34:20Berlin
has named a street honoring Frank Zappa... Frank-Zappa-Strasse or Frank Zappa
Street - formerly Street 13 - lies on the eastern outskirts of Berlin amid
empty industrial buildings in what was communist East Germany. The street is
home to Orwo Haus, a former Communist-era film factory that now provides
practice studios for more than 160 bands... hosted.ap.org/ ... 21:24:58Master
filmmaker Ingmar Bergman, one of the greatest artists in cinema history, died
Monday at his home on an island off the coast of Sweden. He was 89. Bergman's
dozens of works combined deep seriousness, indelible imagery and unexpected
flashes of humor in finely written, inventively shot explorations of difficult
subjects such as plague and madness... 
China's endangered
pandas have expanded their habitat areas in bamboo forests in two western
provinces, researchers have found by tracking their droppings... hosted.ap.org/ ... 23:01:36
A northern bottlenose
whale that swam into a river near the eastern English town of Ipswich was
killed by veterinarians on Saturday after it became stranded... hosted.ap.org/ ... 22:59:37
BABYLON, N.Y...
A peace officer for the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
happened across a moving pillowcase on a beach Saturday on which someone had
written: "Live Gator - Please find him a home... called in a response team to
rescue the 30-inch-long animal... Marijuana... The THC level can be 15 percent to 20 percent in
indoor marijuana, while it is 2 percent to 8 percent in Mexican marijuana...
[and consumers can never be sure what they're getting.... repeal! repeal!
REPEAL!] marijuana... and
resisting arrest... nbc-2.com/ ... 22:21:16LEHIGH ACRES: Detectives with
the Lee County Sheriff's Office Narcotics [Tyrannical Oppression and
Pointless Religious Taboo Enforcement] Unit investigated three separate
grow house operations and seized an estimated street
value of $400,000 in marijuana in the past two days alone... globalnation.inquirer.net/ ...
22:20:19CEBU, Philippines—Police confiscated about 1,300
marijuana stalks in
separate raids in the towns of Balamban and Dalaguete, Cebu... Arrested while
tending to the marijuana plantation were [father] 66, and his sons, 44, and
...26. Another son... eluded arrest... bloomberg.com/ ... 22:19:26The researchers analyzed 35 previous studies... "We now know
that there is a long-term risk associated with the use of
cannabis..."
[Yeah, a really HUGE risk: Persecution and incarceration by PuriTaliban
Tyrants!] dailymail.co.uk/ ... 22:14:57Smoking just one
cannabis joint raises
danger of mental illness by 40%... Government-commissioned report... Overall, cannabis could be
to blame for one in seven cases of schizophrenia and other life-shattering
mental illness, the Lancet reports... [These people must be CRAZY to think
we'll buy the crap they're selling.] Army Pfc. Juan S.
Restrepo, 20, of Pembroke Pines, Fla., died July 22 in Korengal Valley,
Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit using small
arms fire. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment
(Airborne), 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, Vicenza, Italy. defenselink.mil/ ... 13:30:02Army Sgt.
Courtney D. Finch, 27, of Leavenworth, Kan., died July 24 in Qayyarah,
Iraq, of injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident. He was assigned
to the 714th Maintenance Company, Kansas Army National Guard, Topeka, Kan. The
incident is under investigation. 
[Dentist's assistant]
employee, Tina Alberts... was under anesthesia for a [dental] procedure... oral
surgeon... Dr. Robert Woo of Auburn... put in the phony tusks... shot photos...
some with her eyes propped open... took them out before she awoke... Alberts,
felt so humiliated when she saw the pictures that she quit and sued her boss...
Woo's insurance company, Fireman's Fund, refused to cover the claim... He
agreed to pay Alberts $250,000, then he sued his insurers... A King County
Superior Court jury sided with Woo, ordering Fireman's Fund to pay him
$750,000, plus the out-of-court settlement. The insurance company won the next
round, with the state Court of Appeals saying the prank had nothing to do with
Woo's practice of dentistry. On Thursday, the state Supreme Court restored
Woo's award. In a sprightly 5-4 decision, Supreme Court Justice Mary Fairhurst
wrote that Woo's practical joke was an integral, if odd, part of the
assistant's dental surgery and "conceivably" should trigger the professional
liability coverage of his policy. Dissenting Justice James Johnson said the
prank wasn't a dental procedure at all and only "rewards Dr. Woo's obnoxious
behavior and allows him to profit handsomely..." The back story, the court
wrote, is that Alberts' family raises potbellied pigs and that she frequently
talked about them at the office where she worked for five years. Woo said his
jests about the pigs were part of "a friendly working environment" that he
tried to foster... hosted.ap.org/ ... 13:16:17Three
men who dug up a young woman's corpse to have sex with it after seeing her
obituary photo cannot be charged with attempted sexual assault because
Wisconsin has no law against necrophilia... hosted.ap.org/ ...
13:16:03PAINESVILLE, Ohio... A judge known for giving unusual sentences
has ordered three men who pleaded guilty to soliciting sex to take turns
dressing in a bright yellow chicken costume... while carrying a sign that reads
"No Chicken Ranch in Painesville..." Cicconetti has used barnyard animals to
dispense justice in the past. He ordered a man who called a policeman a pig to
stand next to a live pig in a pen and hold a sign that read "This Is Not a
Police Officer." A couple who stole a baby Jesus statue from a manger were
sentenced to dress as Mary and Joseph and walk with a donkey... marijuana seems to
increase the chance of becoming psychotic... [Yes, it appears to drive
PuriTaliban prohibition tyrants INSANE to think anyone might be enjoying
themselves....] reuters.com/ ...
12:45:29Researchers working with laboratory mice have found a way to
reverse the effects of cocaine on the brain, according to a study published on
Thursday that could lead to better treatments for drug addicts. The researchers
focused on the part of the brain they knew was involved with pleasure and
addictive drugs and found a way to repress hyperactive cells charged up by
cocaine... news.bbc.co.uk/ ... 12:28:06Mexico
is to use $205m (£101m) seized at an alleged drug-trafficker's house to
fund drug treatment programmes and tackle organised crime... Army Staff Sgt.
Joshua P. Mattero, 29, of San Diego, died July 24 in Baqubah, Iraq, of
wounds suffered from an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the
749th Ordnance Company, 63rd Explosive Ordnance Battalion, Andrews Air Force
Base, Md. defenselink.mil/ ... 12:06:39Marine Lance Cpl.
Robert A. Lynch, 20, of Louisville, Ky., assigned to 1st Battalion, 12th
Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, Okinawa,
JapanMarine
Cpl. James H. McRae, 22, of Springtown, Texas, assigned to 3rd
Maintenance Battalion, Combat Logistics Regiment 35, 3rd Marine Logistics
Group, III Marine Expeditionary Force, Okinawa, JapanMarine Cpl.
Matthew R. Zindars [spelled Zandars elsewhere in the release], 21, of
Watertown, Wis. was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine
Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.Army 1st Sgt.
Michael S. Curry Jr., 37, of Dania Beach, Fla.Army Sgt. Travon
T. Johnson, 29, of Palmdale, Calif.Army Pfc. Adam J. Davis, 19, of
Twin Falls, IdahoArmy Pfc. Jessy S. Rogers, 20, of Copper Center,
Alaska.Navy Hospitalman
Daniel S. Noble, 21, of Whittier, Calif., died July 24, as a result of
enemy action while conducting security operations in the Dilaya Province, Iraq.
He was permanently assigned to 1st Marine Division, Fleet Marine Force Pacific,
Camp Pendleton, Calif. 
A
grocery was hopping Tuesday. Bombarded by an invasion of little white bunny
rabbits, workers at the Tops Friendly Market were using everything available -
hands, boxes and bags - to capture the furry creatures that seemed to be
popping up all over the place... reuters.com/ ... 11:57:09
When Oscar
the Cat visits residents of the Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center
in Providence, Rhode Island, the staff jumps into action -- Oscar can sense
within hours when someone is about to die... In his two years living in
Steere's end-stage dementia unit, Oscar has been at the bedside of more than 25
residents shortly before they died... 
Four rare mountain
gorillas have been shot dead in the Virunga National Park in eastern Democratic
Republic of Congo, the World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF) said on Thursday. The
silverback male and three females were shot on Sunday in the southern sector of
the park, which contains more than a fifth of the world's population of 700
mountain gorillas... reuters.com/ ... 11:56:00
Lenuta and Costel,
two tiger cubs from one of the world's most endangered species, the Siberian
tiger, were born in a Romanian zoo this year... hosted.ap.org/ ... 11:54:08
REDONDO BEACH, Calif... conservationists are celebrating
the return of the endangered El Segundo blue [butterfly] to its native habitat
along Santa Monica Bay... after scientists nurtured their dwindling population
in three fenced-in nature reserves for years. It had been decades since the
critters had been seen in their native habitat... marijuana
plants, a firearm and unstamped tobacco products...
street value of the seized marijuana could exceed $200,000... [thanks to
Prohibition...] typicallyspanish.com/ ...
12:30:40Spain... [Enforcers of tyranny ironically called the]
Civil Guard confiscate
marijuana plants from
hippy commune... 30 marijuana plants... thestar.com/ ... 12:28:47police seized more than
300
marijuana
plants and grow-op equipment from a Pefferlaw home, north of Uxbridge...
also found more than a pound of bulk marijuana and a quantity of ammunition for
a handgun... drugs are estimated to be worth $321,000... mpp.org/ ... 12:27:45An amendment
to block the U.S. Justice Department from interfering with state medical
marijuana laws failed
to pass today, despite receiving record support on the floor of the U.S. House
of Representatives. The measure failed by a 165-262 vote... hosted.ap.org/ ... 11:59:22LOS
ANGELES... Federal agents raided 10
marijuana clinics
Wednesday, the same day city leaders introduced a measure calling for an end to
the crackdown on the dispensaries allowed under state law... The bust netted
five arrests, large quantities of marijuana and cash, and was the U.S. Drug
Enforcement Administration's second-largest since California voters approved
medical marijuana sales in 1996... Councilman Dennis Zine, who earlier in the
day wrote a letter to DEA Administrator Karen Tandy asking the agency to stop
the raids, called the federal agents "bullies." "Instead of using resources to
go after drug dealers ruining neighborhoods and poisoning school kids, they're
going after individuals dying of cancer and suffering from AIDS who need
cannabis to have any type of appetite..." marijuana...
distribution operation involved "high volumes of marijuana and cocaine..."
[Tyrants of oppression] also looking to secure some of the proceeds from
the investigation, which netted four vehicles and $50,000 in cash...
Authorities did not have the street value of the confiscated drugs... [and
didn't just make up a number? Must've been busy...] themonitor.com/ ... 13:00:30ROMA
-- A [31yo] McAllen man remains in federal custody after attempting to smuggle
almost 350 pounds of
marijuana
across the U.S.-Mexico border... Agents [of tyranny and repression of
personal liberty] estimate the drugs to be worth $278,000... said he was
smuggling drugs "out of necessity..." has previously served two years in
federal prison after being caught with 750 pounds of marijuana... statesmanjournal.com/ ...
12:59:00A routine traffic stop by an Oregon State Police trooper
resulted in the arrest of a [36yo Tacoma] Washington man who police said had
about $20,000 worth of
marijuana in
his car... pulled over... after reportedly driving 68 mph in a 50 mph
construction zone... 7 pounds of marijuana and 20 mature
marijuana plants... [Whether you're holding OR NOT, potheads,
remember: SLOW DOWN in construction zones!] columbian.com/ ...
12:57:24Detectives recently found more than 3,700
marijuana
plants being grown in a remote forested area in far-north Clark County,
but the growers were nowhere to be seen... Many of the plants were "chest
high," about 4 feet tall, but most were immature and only about one foot
tall... [Propagandists for PuriTaliban Repression] estimated the plants'
value at $750,000... myfoxtampabay.com/ ... 12:56:09ST.
PETERSBURG - Police say they found
marijuana growing
in... A [33yo] Largo High School teacher['s house]... five fully grown
marijuana plants in the closet... 11 marijuana seedlings in the bedroom...
harvested marijuana in the overhead closet... marijuana...
distribution operation involved "high volumes of marijuana and cocaine..."
[Tyrants of oppression] also looking to secure some of the proceeds from
the investigation, which netted four vehicles and $50,000 in cash...
Authorities did not have the street value of the confiscated drugs... [and
didn't just make up a number? Must've been busy...] themonitor.com/ ... 13:00:30ROMA
-- A [31yo] McAllen man remains in federal custody after attempting to smuggle
almost 350 pounds of
marijuana
across the U.S.-Mexico border... Agents [of tyranny and repression of
personal liberty] estimate the drugs to be worth $278,000... said he was
smuggling drugs "out of necessity..." has previously served two years in
federal prison after being caught with 750 pounds of marijuana... statesmanjournal.com/ ...
12:59:00A routine traffic stop by an Oregon State Police trooper
resulted in the arrest of a [36yo Tacoma] Washington man who police said had
about $20,000 worth of
marijuana in
his car... pulled over... after reportedly driving 68 mph in a 50 mph
construction zone... 7 pounds of marijuana and 20 mature
marijuana plants... [Whether you're holding OR NOT, potheads,
remember: SLOW DOWN in construction zones!] columbian.com/ ...
12:57:24Detectives recently found more than 3,700
marijuana
plants being grown in a remote forested area in far-north Clark County,
but the growers were nowhere to be seen... Many of the plants were "chest
high," about 4 feet tall, but most were immature and only about one foot
tall... [Propagandists for PuriTaliban Repression] estimated the plants'
value at $750,000... myfoxtampabay.com/ ... 12:56:09ST.
PETERSBURG - Police say they found
marijuana growing
in... A [33yo] Largo High School teacher['s house]... five fully grown
marijuana plants in the closet... 11 marijuana seedlings in the bedroom...
harvested marijuana in the overhead closet... Army Pfc. Zachary
R. Endsley, 21, of Spring, Texas, died July 23 in Arghendab District,
Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when his unit was attacked by enemy forces
using indirect fire. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry
Regiment, Hohenfels, Germany. defenselink.mil/ ... 22:39:19Marine Lance Cpl.
Bobby L. Twitty, 20, of Bedias, Texas, died July 22 from a non-hostile
vehicle accident in Al Anbar province, Iraq. He was assigned to Combat
Logistics Battalion 6, Combat Logistics Regiment 2, 2nd Marine Logistics Group,
II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C. defenselink.mil/ ... 22:38:57Army Sgt. Shawn
G. Adams, 21, of Dixon, Calif., died July 22, in Owaset, Iraq, of wounds
suffered from an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 3rd
Battalion, 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team
(Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, Fort Richardson, Alaska. defenselink.mil/ ... 22:37:01Marine Cpl.
Christopher G. Scherer, 21, of East Northport, N.Y., died July 21 from
wounds suffered while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq.
He was assigned to 1st Combat Engineer Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine
Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif. defenselink.mil/ ... 22:36:24Army Sgt. Jacob
S. Schmuecker, 27, of Atkinson, Neb., died July 21 in Balad, Iraq, of
wounds suffered from an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the
755th Recon/Decon Company, Nebraska Army National Guard, Oneill, Neb. defenselink.mil/ ... 22:36:08Army Cpl. Rhett
A. Butler, 22, of Fort Worth, Texas, died July 20 of wounds suffered when
his vehicle struck an improvised explosive device in Khan Bani Sa'd, Iraq. He
was assigned to 2nd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry
Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team), Fort Lewis, Washington. 
Scientists say
they have calculated the date at which the African and the Asian elephant went
their separate ways. The two elephant species diverged from a common ancestor
some 7.6 million years ago... after comparing a genetic analysis of the two
species with material derived from the extinct woolly mammoth and mastodon...
news.bbc.co.uk/ ... 22:23:09The remains of a
prehistoric mastodon... have been found in northern Greece, including intact
long tusks... should help explain why mastodons died out in Europe two to three
million years ago... longest tusks ever found on a prehistoric elephant-like
animal... Mastodons are thought to have first appeared
about five million years ago and became extinct in North America about 10,000
years ago - much later than in Europe. The animals were similar to woolly
mammoths, but had tusks that pointed forwards, rather than spiralling upwards.
Their teeth were also different... marijuana plants...
deaths appear to be of natural causes... [So... wasn't the pot...]
dailypress.com/ ...
22:52:59Hampton police found
marijuana after
searching an apartment, a truck and a man Saturday... suntimes.com/ ... 22:52:34Police
today began tearing down and burning at least 20,000
marijuana
plants being grown in a Cook County Forest Preserve near Barrington...
some as much as 7 feet tall... 11 separate plots... sophisticated, pump-powered
irrigation system... Two men have been charged... street value of the drugs
could top $5 million... kansascity.com/ ... 22:51:03Eureka Springs, Ark...
Little has changed in this tourist town’s arrest numbers in the nearly
nine months since voters approved a measure encouraging police to put a low
priority on arrests for small amounts of
marijuana... ksby.com/ ... 22:50:24Jury
selection is scheduled to begin tomorrow in the Los Angeles trial of a minister
of a Hollywood church that uses
marijuana during
services... The Reverend Craig X Rubin, leader of the 420 Temple, argued in a
court hearing today that marijuana is a religious sacrament and its usage in
his church is protected under federal law... judge ruled that Rubin could not
use the federal law as a defense because he faces only state charges... faces
up to seven years in prison if convicted of possessing marijuana for sale...
marijuana nurseries.
Since 2006, 15 people have been arrested in Northeast Ohio in connection with
large indoor marijuana-growing operations. The growers are Asian immigrants -
some of whom are legal Canadian residents - who raise the crops to sell in the
United States, police and prosecutors say... These growers, with links to
organized crime, have seeped southward from Canada and eastward from the West
Coast, where a web of interconnected crime cells has operated for years, law
enforcement officials say... [Cut gangsters' profits: repeal. Repeal!
REPEAL!] 
MASONVILLE, Colo... Zoey is a Chihuahua, but when a rattlesnake lunged at her owners'
1-year-old grandson, she was a real bulldog... jumped in the way and took the
bites... marijuana garden at Pine Creek Canyon in Balch Park contained
14,410 marijuana plants that would have had a
street value of more than $56 million... [Is
that all? Let's just call it a plain $1 billion why don't we, as long as we're
fabricating prohibitionist propaganda....] tehachapinews.com/ ...
22:56:30...While there can be no doubt the Mexican drug cartels are
behind this foreign invasion and assault on our national forest, neither is
there any doubt such a thing could not possibly be done without the cooperation
of our own state and federal government, despite the claims of some in
government agencies. For years I have advocated for the legalization of
marijuana, and the
continued opposition to this from state and federal government means there are
too many politicians bought from the profits of keeping it illegal. It comes
down to the comparison between organized crime and our government operating
from the same motive of profits. Invariably you will find "cooperation" between
the two when it suits their profit motive, as in the government giving amnesty
to drug smugglers for their testimony against border patrol agents attempting
to do their jobs... hindustantimes.com/ ...
22:54:42Two people were arrested in New Delhi on the charge of
possessing 4.5 kg of pure
marijuana worth Rs
1.4 million... star-telegram.com/ ...
22:49:06More than 10,000
marijuana plants --
some as tall as 7 feet -- were discovered growing in woods near Grand Prairie's
southeast border in what officials say is the largest seizure ever in the
Metroplex. The plants, with a street value estimated at up to $5 million, will
be destroyed, except for a few specimens that will be preserved as evidence,
Drug [Tyranny] Enforcement Administration officials said Saturday...
"This is the largest outdoor grow in Dallas history..." indybay.org/ ... 12:10:17After a
tumultuous trial in state court, Sacramento patient and caregiver John
Berchielli was convicted on five counts relating to his
medical marijuana
garden. Berchielli was a supplier of clones to the Sacramento dispensary
Alternative Specialties, which was shut down by a multi-agency raid in July
2005 and whose owner is currently being prosecuted in federal court. This
closure, which occurred shortly before his own bust, prevented Berchielli from
being able to present adequate evidence of his caregiver status during trial.
When interviewed after giving their verdict, jurors reported that the lack of
patient lists and testimony heavily influenced their decision... brandonsun.com/ ... 12:09:28several British MPs have
confessed in recent weeks that they smoked - and happily inhaled -
marijuana in their
youth. British newspapers and call-in shows have been abuzz in recent weeks
with the not-so-shocking disclosures from seven front-line Labour cabinet
ministers, all of them children of the '60s and '70s, about their pot-smoking
pasts. The confessions come as the ruling Labour party makes
preliminary moves to toughen marijuana possession laws despite Tony Blair
moving his government in the opposite direction three years ago... Pressured by
the opposition Tories, the flip-flop has been prompted by the supposedly
stronger strains of cannabis available on the street - and should be welcome
news to Canada's Conservatives, who are steadfast in their refusal to ease the
tough marijuana laws that many critics complain are seriously straining the
country's criminal justice system... [DAMN THE PURITALIBAN TYRANTS!]
tampabays10.com/ ...
12:08:02Tallahassee, Florida - Leon County sheriff's officials say they
seized more than 80
marijuana
plants and arrested two people after finding the crop in Apalachicola
National Forest... [absurdly over-]estimated value of more than
120-thousand dollars... nbcsandiego.com/ ... 12:06:47An Oceanside man is under
arrest after police said they found as many as 200
marijuana
plants in his home while conducting a death investigation... brought his
brother to the Tri-City Medical Center emergency room Thursday night. The
38-year-old man was dead on arrival... cause of death was unknown...
As part of their investigation, Oceanside police
went to the home the dead man shared with his brother... [Hint to growers:
Don't die suspiciously.] elpasotimes.com/ ... 12:05:05More than
2,000 pounds of
marijuana was
found in a vehicle caravan traveling south of Highway 20 near Fort Hancock on
Friday... 2,002 pounds... [grossly over-]valued [due to PuriTaliban
prohibitionist tyranny] at $1.6 million... 
The world
premiere of The Simpsons Movie has taken place in the US town of Springfield,
Vermont... marijuana grow
operation in the basement of the home... 139 marijuana plants, a large quantity
of harvested marijuana, psilocybin (magic mushrooms) and cannibis resin.
[Absurd Prohibition-inflated] Street value of the drugs is estimated at
more than $150,000... 15-year-old girl told police she was struck on the back
of the head while walking with friends... [accused] told the court he saw the
interiors lights on in his van and was only trying to defend his property
during the incident... [Um... without reflecting on possible
consequences?] cbs11tv.com/ ... 10:32:11...major
marijuana discovery in southwest Dallas County... five-acre
pot farm... somewhere
between 1500 and 2500 plants... "It's very serious when you have drugsof this
magnitude growing in this area that would impact so many's lives," said Lt.
Tammy Ellzey of the Dallas [PuriTaliban Religious Taboo Fanatics Tyranny
Enforcement] Department. "It's a negative thing that we don't want to get
on the street..." journalreview.com/ ... 10:30:04A
Montgomery County man is being held without bond after police said he beat his
mother and turned her house into a
marijuana
"plantation..." She reported her son hit her at least twice daily since he came
to live with her... [Bad man! Stupid man! Honor your mother! Then she's less
likely to rat you out.] ...faces preliminary charges of battery, felony
possession of marijuana, reckless possession of drug paraphernalia, two counts
of possession of a schedule 4 controlled substance, possession of a schedule 3
substance, and being a violent convicted felon in possession of a firearm. He
may also be charged with intimidation... news.cincypost.com/ ... 10:26:58A
Mason Middle School teacher was arrested and another cited for drug possession
after police were called to a Covington hotel. [29yo] Eighth-grade social
studies teacher and assistant football coach... arrested and charged with
possession of marijuana, drug paraphernalia and possession of a controlled
substance, all misdemeanors... [24yo] Seventh-grade science teacher... who also
served as head Eighth-grade football coach and assistant wrestling coach, was
cited for possession of marijuana... The Hampton Inn called police to remove
people from the hotel... Officers searched the room after smelling marijuana
and found a plastic bag containing a chunky white substance, possibly cocaine
or heroin, in a pair of shorts... Police also found a substance believed to be
marijuana in a pair of... socks and on a table... possession of a controlled
substance charge could be upgraded to a felony if lab results show the
substance is a narcotic... [No word on WHY the hotel called the police, but
presuming the reason was the pot smell, the horrible irony is, if they'd just
stuck to the hard drugs, there would have been no smell to alert anyone; it's
the relatively safe marijuana that tripped them up!] wmcstations.com/ ... 10:23:49A
Houston, Texas, trucker was being held in the Pearl River County jail today
(Saturday) after his arrest for possession of 230 pounds
of marijuana... found yesterday (Friday) in a tractor trailer
rig... dallasnews.com/ ... 10:22:58Agents
seized 2,900 pounds of
marijuana worth $2.3
million at a checkpoint on Interstate 35 north of Laredo... mixed in
with a shipment of fruit juice... Navy
Fireman 3rd Class Alfred E. Livingston, of Worthington, Ind. He will be
buried on Saturday in Worthington. On Dec. 7, 1941, Livingston was assigned to
the battleship USS Oklahoma when it was attacked by Japanese torpedo aircraft
and capsized in Pearl Harbor. The ship sustained massive casualties. Livingston
was one of hundreds declared killed in action whose body was not recovered. In
the aftermath of the attack, some remains were recovered from the waters of
Pearl Harbor. One set of sailor’s remains was recovered and thought to be
associated with the USS Arizona losses. However, when efforts to identify the
sailor failed, it was inconclusive what ship he was assigned to and he was
buried as an unknown in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as
The Punchbowl. In 2006, a Pearl Harbor survivor and researcher, contacted the
Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) and suggested that the biological and
dental information on file for the unknown sailor may be correlated with
Livingston’s personnel file. JPAC’s analysts studied the
documentation and found enough evidence to support the researcher’s
findings that Livingston was actually recovered after the war even though he
was originally listed as one of the hundreds of unrecoverable servicemen from
the attack on Pearl Harbor. In February 2007, the grave for the unknown sailor
was exhumed.... defenselink.mil/ ... 21:55:48Army Pfc. Brandon
M. Craig, 25, of Earleville, Md., died July 19 in Husayniyah, Iraq, of
wounds sustained from an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to
Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division
(Stryker Brigade Combat Team), Fort Lewis, Wash. defenselink.mil/ ... 21:55:32Army Sgt. Ronald
L. Coffelt, 36, of Fair Oaks, Calif., died July 19 in Baghdad, Iraq, of
wounds suffered from an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the
503rd Military Police Battalion, 16th Military Police Brigade (Airborne), XVIII
Airborne Corps, Fort Bragg, N.C. defenselink.mil/ ... 21:55:11Army Pfc. James
J. Harrelson, 19, of Dadeville, Ala., died July 17 in Baghdad, Iraq, of
wounds suffered from an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 2nd
Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st
Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kan. defenselink.mil/ ... 12:47:39Army Pfc. Ron J.
Joshua Jr., 19, of Austin, TexasArmy Pfc. Brandon K. Bobb, 20, of
Orlando, Fla.Army Sgt. Nathan
S. Barnes, 23, of American Fork, Utah, died July 17 in Rushdi Mullah, Iraq,
of wounds suffered when his unit was attacked by insurgents using small arms
fire. He was assigned to the 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade
Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, N.Y. defenselink.mil/ ... 12:46:41The
Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that
the remains of three U.S. servicemen, missing in action from the Korean War,
have been identified and will be returned to their families for burial with
full military honors.Army Sgt. Donald C. Trent, of Crab Orchard, W. Va.Army Cpl. Robert K.
Imrie, of Randolph, Mass.Army Cpl. Samuel Wirrick of Lancaster, Pa.
QUITO, Ecuador...
Environmental authorities say they are struggling to feed and house nine lions
rescued from circuses this year and may call on the public for donations... The
five female and four male adult lions were taken away from circuses in the
Ecuadorean capital of Quito in March after environmental police received dozens
of calls saying they were being abused. The lions' owners cut off their tails
and forced them to perform cruel tricks, such as training one that is blind to
jump through a flaming hoop... cash-strapped police division is accepting beef
and chicken donations from the public, but officials say it's not enough... The
lions are living in the same two, 65-square-foot cages in which they were
found... hosted.ap.org/ ... 12:42:44
BANGOR, Pa... A woman was
dragging a lounge chair into the shade of a tree when a sudden buzzing told her
it was already occupied - by thousands of bees... was not stung, nor was her
husband... who also inspected the football-sized swarm... about 10,000 bees in
the 3-pound swarm under the chair... hosted.ap.org/ ... 12:36:44The
Kansas City Zoo plans to press charges against two teenage boys who allegedly
climbed into the hippo exhibit and threw rocks at the two-ton mammals... The
boys... survived the encounter without injuries... hippos... were not harmed...
The massive hippos... are often considered one of the most dangerous animals in
the world... third-largest land animals, after elephants and white rhinos...
reuters.com/ ... 12:19:59BERLIN...
A mayor in eastern Germany has filed charges against workers at his local zoo
for shooting animals and selling them as meat... deer were among the animals
killed... "We are worried this is only the tip of the iceberg," said Wolfgang
Apel, president of the [German Animal Protection] League, who also said the
case raised serious questions about the zoo's management... hosted.ap.org/ ... 11:50:01One of the world's
oldest chimps, Fifi, has died in Australia, zoo... Fifi, the matriarch of the
18 chimpanzees at Sydney's Taronga Zoo, celebrated her 60th birthday in May
with sugar-free cupcakes and coconuts among four generations of her family...
stayed in bed Thursday morning, raising suspicions among the keepers that she
was unwell... Keepers provided her with fresh bedding and her favorite foods,
while other chimps in the group visited her throughout the day... She died in
the afternoon... Cheeta, the star of a dozen "Tarzan"
movies in the 1930s and 1940s, is listed by the Guinness Book of World Records
as the world's oldest chimp. He turned 75 in April... hosted.ap.org/ ...
11:38:35Missouri and Illinois conservationists are seeing troubling
signs in amphibian populations, mirroring problems seen elsewhere in the
world... some of [Missouri's] hellbenders [salamanders] were infected by a
fungus that has wiped out entire frog populations elsewhere...
The World Conservation Union proposed a global plan that
would curb amphibian decline three weeks ago... [That's a good trick!
Wonder how they plan to go back three weeks!] hosted.ap.org/ ... 11:36:08A boat struck a whale
off New Hampshire's coast, leaving a deep gash as sightseers aboard three
whale-watching boats snapped photos... The finback whale, about 60 feet long,
suffered a 3-foot-long gash in its side and other smaller cuts, but it didn't
appear to be seriously hurt... Finbacks are a federally
protected endangered species... SCOTTS
VALLEY, Calif... Authorities found 83 cats, three dogs and
two iguanas inside a Ben Lomond home reeking with the stench of urine
and feces. "Imagine 83 cats living in a house with no litter boxes for two
years, and you get the general idea," said Todd Stosuy, supervising field
ranger for the Santa Cruz County Animal Services Authority... feces piled up to
4-feet-high... The animals already brought to the shelter were described as
healthy and well-fed... all the felines were spayed or neutered... examiner-enterprise.com/ ...
11:21:44..."I was sitting in my recliner and I thought I was
dozing off," Hammons told the [Bartlesville OK] Examiner-Enterprise. "She
jumped on me and almost knocked me over in my chair, she was grabbing my arm
… I woke up and the house was filled with black smoke." Hammons said she
couldn’t see from the smoke and grabbed onto Cinnamon’s back, who led
her to safety. "I grabbed her back, hide and all," Hammons said. "She took me
to the front door..." Hammons is grateful to have escaped with her life, thanks
to her dutiful pet, a German Shepherd that she adopted from the Dewey Police
Department about four years ago... The first time Cinnamon saved Hammons was
after Hammons fainted and hit her head in a rock entryway about two years
ago... "When I came to, she was trying to roll me over and was licking my face
over and over. At first, I thought I was blind because she had licked my
glasses and I couldn’t see... This dog is really a hero. She’s my
best friend..." marijuana out of the
business... [Which would be an entirely understandable and normal thing in a
FREE country instead of under this PuriTaliban Tyranny] ...606 grams of
marijuana with a street value of $8,000... kob.com/ ... 22:15:27Twenty-two New Mexicans have
applied for medical marijuana since the state this month began allowing people with
certain debilitating conditions to use the drug for nausea. The state
Department of Health had approved six applications as of Friday... four were
denied because those people didn't have a condition eligible for the program...
Health officials await an opinion from the attorney general whether Health
Department employees could be federally prosecuted for running the program and
whether the agency can license marijuana producers... baltimoresun.com/ ...
22:14:44FREDERICK - State police in Frederick say four teenage girls
were caught with 33 pounds of
marijuana in the rear
hatch of a car that was weaving [maybe, maybe not] down Interstate 70
early this morning. [PuriTaliban Tyranny religious taboo enforcers put out
propaganda that] estimated the value of the pot at $100,000... wxii12.com/ ... 22:13:00GRAHAM, N.C. -- Authorities in
Alamance County said more than 100
marijuana plants were
found inside a man's home... thetimesnews.com/ ... 22:12:33A
strong odor of weed
and information led the Alamance County Sheriff’s Department to a
Saxapahaw home where they found an indoor marijuana growing operation...
[Just what is the "odor of... information" anyway? Rats stink!] 245
ounces of marijuana, 130 marijuana plants and 0.7 ounces of hashish... found
marijuana growing in the basement, drying in a bathtub, and stored in the
kitchen freezer... team4news.com/ ... 22:11:34U.S.
Customs and Border Protection Border Patrol checkpoint agents seized more than
three tons of marijuana at the Falfurrias and Sarita Border Patrol checkpoints on
July 18. The combined estimated value of the narcotics is
close to $5 million... [Narcotics? NARCOTICS? POT isn't a %$(*%#)%
NARCOTIC! PROHIBITIONISM is a NARCOTIC, it makes its adherants DEAD IN THE
HEART toward personal liberty!] ...105 bundles of marijuana weighing
2,407 pounds concealed within a load of bags of
charcoal. The marijuana is valued at $1,925,600
[thanks to the PuriTaliban prohibitions]... 112 bundles of marijuana
weighing 3,773 pounds concealed within a load of
watermelons. The marijuana is [hideously over-]valued at
$3,018,400... 
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton hit back Friday... calling the
accusation a spurious dodge of a serious issue... nypost.com/ ... 12:57:28The
Pentagon yesterday launched a blistering attack on Sen.
Hillary Rodham Clinton for boosting "enemy propaganda" by demanding the
U.S. military whip up plans for withdrawal from Iraq... Defense Undersecretary
Eric Edelman... "Premature and public discussion of the withdrawal of U.S.
forces from Iraq reinforces enemy propaganda that the United States will
abandon its allies in Iraq, much as we are perceived to have done in Vietnam,
Lebanon and Somalia.... Such talk understandably unnerves the very same Iraqi
allies we are asking to assume enormous personal risks..." breitbart.com/ ...
12:53:15Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama said Thursday
the United States cannot use its military to solve humanitarian problems and
that preventing a potential genocide in Iraq isn't a good enough reason to keep
U.S. forces there... 
Do fish suffer from
exposure to Uriah Heep?.. Harry
Potter fans poured into book stores around the world on Saturday to get hold of
the seventh and final volume in the series and discover the secret of the boy
wizard's fate. "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" hit the shelves across
most of the world at 2301 GMT on Friday... One avid fan had to be rescued from
a lake in... Canberra on Friday after he dived in to rescue a pre-purchase
receipt necessary to pick up his book... Some families are imposing news
blackouts at their homes to avoid disappointment now that "P-Day" has
arrived... "I haven't gone on the Internet for the past two
months because I did not want to know the ending..." wbbm780.com/ ... 12:59:53The
secrecy over the final Harry Potter book has forced a Northbrook woman to hand
back her copies to none other than the postman... says she was stunned when her
letter carrier came not once, but twice to her home demanding that she give
back "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows". "I'm incredulous, you've got to be
kidding. He explained it as he's in a lot of trouble," El-kaim said. "I said,
'I don't believe this, this is utterly ridiculous.'..." ordered two books
on-line... when they arrived earlier this week, a label on the outside read "do
not open until July 21st..." her reaction [to] the "do not open" label was "Are
you kidding? Open it. what do think is going to happen, the Harry potter police
will come down the chimney, or we'll go to Azkaban?.." did turn them over, but
not before one of her kids finished the book. However, that daughter isn't
revealing how the book ends... hosted.ap.org/ ... 12:39:35Courtney
Lanahan and Shawn Gordon of Clackamas are heading straight from their wedding
reception Friday to a bookstore to get the final Harry Potter book... reuters.com/ ... 12:18:35David
Lassman sent off to 18 publishers assorted chapters from Austen novels in which
he changed just the titles and the names of the characters. He called himself
Alison Laydee after Austen's early pseudonym "A Lady." Seventeen publishers
rejected or ignored his bid for literary glory. Only one spotted the ruse and
told him not to mimic "Pride and Prejudice" so closely... reuters.com/ ... 12:16:18Chrysler
Group apologized on Thursday for an advertisement that showed a dog being
electrocuted beside its new Dodge Nitro sports utility vehicle... shows a dog
being electrocuted after urinating on a Nitro's wheels... ends with the dog
going up in flames... The company said the ad... was "in extremely bad
taste..." Chrysler had the ad pulled from YouTube.com. It was unclear if it was
on other Web sites... reuters.com/ ... 12:11:14Scholastic
Corp. said it was taking legal action against book distributor Levy Home
Entertainment and DeepDiscount.com for breaching an embargo preventing the
seventh Harry Potter book from being sold in America before 12:01 a.m./0401 GMT
on Saturday... reuters.com/ ... 11:34:21"P-Day"...
a publishing milestone that will end months of fevered speculation... Readers
young and old were queuing outside book stores around the world... experts
believe will be the fastest-selling book of all
time... carefully orchestrated release... marred by leaks of the
contents of the book on the Internet, both real and fake, and by a mistake made
by a U.S. online retailer that meant a small number of hard copies were sent to
buyers days ahead of publication... On Friday, French newspaper Le Parisien
published a three-paragraph summary of the final book's epilogue, printing it
upside down to give readers a chance to look away... In Britain, a phone
counseling service for children expects a surge in calls when readers learn who
is killed off... a Sydney shop is taking fans aged from two to 84 on a train
ride to a secret location to get the book... A parasite common in Asian
bees has spread to Europe and the Americas and is behind the mass disappearance
of honeybees in many countries, says a Spanish scientist who has been studying
the phenomenon for years. The culprit is a microscopic parasite called
nosema ceranae... Asian honeybees are less vulnerable to it, but it can
kill European bees in a matter of days in laboratory conditions... Treatment
for nosema ceranae is effective and cheap -- 1 euro (US$1.4) a hive twice a
year -- but beekeepers first have to be convinced the parasite is the
problem... telegraph.co.uk/ ... 10:53:17the fish enjoyed by the
Gores were not endangered or illegally caught. Rather, the restaurant later
confirmed, they had come from one of the world's few well-managed, sustainable
populations of toothfish, and caught and documented in compliance with Marine
Stewardship Council regulations... reuters.com/ ... 10:39:14A
spectacular Brazilian blue parrot, the Lear's Macaw, has come back from the
brink of extinction with more than 750 birds in the wild counted in a recent
survey... marijuana n
[sic] more than $100,000 worth... [Husband 43 and wife 44] were each
charged with manufacturing marijuana, possession of a firearm while in
possession of narcotics and conspiracy to manufacture marijuana.
Each charge is a felony, with the firearms charges carrying a
mandatory five-year prison sentence, if convicted, under the Virginia Exile
project... 107 plants seized were an average height of 7 feet. Each plant
is worth about $1,000 on the street... backyard... spotted from the air when
the Drug Enforcement Administration took up a helicopter
Wednesday to look for possible marijuana plants, which they do on a regular
basis... news-bulletin.com/ ... 11:19:55An
indoor marijuana grow
was discovered last week in Rio Communities, and [The agents of religious
oppression] estimate that it could have been sold on the streets for more
than $62,000... a number of calls from neighbors who reported they were hearing
screaming and glass breaking coming from the home... 60 plants in various
stages of growth in a bathroom and closet... [Married couple in their late 40s
arrested.] [Hint to growers: Don't have domestic squabbles in your grow
house.] 10news.com/ ... 11:17:25More than
a ton of marijuana
was seized from a big rig at the Otay Mesa border crossing... 33-year-old
Mexican driver was arrested... 83 packages of pot in a hidden compartment of
the otherwise empty trailer... 2,066 pounds...
ktvz.com/ ... 11:14:35Two medical
marijuana providers
were arrested this week after Salem police seized more than
$340,000 worth of the illegal plant... [33yo
female arrested was] out of compliance by unlawfully selling marijuana and
exceeding her allotment... Another medical marijuana provider... also was
arrested for exceeding his allotment... [Agents of the PuriTaliban Tyranny]
seized more than ten pounds... courant.com/ ... 11:13:00Hartford
police arrested three people and seized more than nine pounds of marijuana and
seven handguns during a raid on what they described as a "drug factory" at a
house in the city's North End... large amount of ammunition and a bullet-proof
vest with bullet holes in it also were seized... all were charged with
operating a drug factory, possession of narcotics, intent to sell and intent to
sell within 1,500 feet of a school... [Stop the gangsters! Repeal! Repeal!
Repeal!] abc.net.au/ ... 11:12:12Northern
Territory police say South Australia has become the major exporter of
marijuana to the
Territory... Police earlier this week seized 36 kilograms of dried,
vacuum-packed marijuana being driven to Darwin from Adelaide... could have sold
for up to $3 million... 
HEMLOCK, Mich... "I will never kill another spider
again..." A woman who hates spiders is crediting them
with helping save her from a house fire... Richland Township Fire Chief
Gary Wade, a 30-year veteran of the Saginaw County department... "I've never
heard of spiders saving someone from a fire before..." hosted.ap.org/ ...
23:47:49MODESTO, Calif... Authorities removed a miniature horse and
seven dogs from a home strewn with feces and rotting produce and charged the
owners with endangering their 12-year-old child... so badly infested with
flies... young son had to sleep in a tent... Navy Chief Petty
Officer Patrick L. Wade, 38, of Key West, Fla.Navy Petty Officer
First Class Jeffrey L. Chaney, 35, of Omaha, Neb. Army Spc. Eric M.
Holke, 31, of Crestline, Calif., died July 15 in Tallil, Iraq, of wounds
sustained from a non-combat related incident. His death is under investigation.
Holke was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 160th Infantry, California Army
National Guard, Fullerton, Calif. defenselink.mil/ ... 23:38:09Marine Lance Cpl.
Shawn V. Starkovich, 20, of Arlington, Wash., died July 16 in Al Anbar
province, Iraq. His death is under investigation. Starkovich was assigned to
3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary
Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif. defenselink.mil/ ... 23:37:40The
Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that
the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing from the Vietnam War, have been
identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military
honors.Marine Cpl. Jim E. Moshier, U.S. Marine Corps, of
Bakersfield, Calif. will be buried Wednesday in Bakersfield. On June 11, 1967,
Moshier was one of 11 passengers on board a CH-46A Sea Knight helicopter that
was inserting forces into Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam, when the aircraft
was struck by enemy ground fire and crashed. Pilots from two nearby helicopters
saw the crash and reported that none of the men on board could have survived.
Aircraft flew over the site for several hours, but saw no survivors. A ground
patrol attempted to access the site the next day, but could not because of the
large concentration of enemy forces in the area. Two weeks later, a
reconnaissance patrol was within 25 meters of the crash site, but extensive
enemy activity prevented the team from approaching closer. Between 1993 and
1994, U.S./Socialist Republic of Vietnam (S.R.V.) teams, led by the Joint
POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), conducted two surveys of the site, and
interviewed several Vietnamese citizens who said they witnessed the crash. Two
of the citizens claimed to have seen bone fragments while scavenging the site
years earlier. The teams found small pieces of wreckage, but no human remains.
In May 2005, Vietnamese officials notified U.S. officials that possible human
remains were present at a district security compound in Quang Tri Province. The
Vietnamese reported they confiscated the remains and other items, including
Moshier's identification tag, from a Vietnamese citizen in 1996. The remains
were then buried in the security compound, but the ID tag and other items had
supposedly been lost over the years. Later that month, a U.S./S.R.V. team
excavated the secondary burial site in the security compound and recovered a
box containing human remains.... Remains from one of the other servicemembers
on board the aircraft, Pfc. James E. Widener, U.S. Marine Corps, were
identified in August 2006.... Army Sgt. John R.
Massey, 29, of Judsonia, Ark., died July 15 in Balad, Iraq, of wounds
suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle during
combat operations July 14 in Baghdad, Iraq. He was assigned to C Battery, 142nd
Fires Brigade, Arkansas Army National Guard, Ozark, Ark. defenselink.mil/ ... 23:09:00Army Pfc.
Benjamin B. Bartlett Jr., 25, of Manchester, Ga., died July 15, in
Mosul, Iraq, of wounds suffered from a rocket propelled grenade. He was
assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team,
1st Cavalry Division, Fort Bliss, Texas. ....hosting his
daughter's wedding in Beverly Hills... [former US VP Al] Gore and his guests at
the weekend ceremony dined on Chilean sea bass - arguably one of the world's
most threatened fish species... Also known as Patagonian toothfish, the species
is under pressure from illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing activities
in the Southern Ocean, jeopardising the sustainability of remaining stocks...
hosted.ap.org/ ... 10:49:28The unusually swollen
tongue of a dead humpback whale may indicate that it perished after colliding
with a ship in the waters of southeast Alaska... Scientists believe some sort
of impact forced air into the tongue of the 40-foot male humpback...
marijuana in a
Philadelphia rowhouse... while investigating a reported burglary at the house
when no one was home... entire three-story house had been converted into a
greenhouse... wftv.com/ ... 11:25:55"...No other
drug that works against nausea also decreases pain." He adds it's safe,
saying, "When we talk about the side effects of
marijuana compared to
many prescription drugs that doctors prescribe on a daily basis,
it's really quite safe. The number of patients I
admit to this hospital who have complications of alcohol, tobacco, heroin,
cocaine, speed, even sugar, far surpasses the number of patients that I've ever
admitted or ever seen where I attribute the damage to marijuana." In response
to the allegation that marijuana can cause lung cancer, Dr. Abrams says a
recent study shows it may actually prevent it... 
JUNEAU, Wis... baby kangaroo
in a diaper was found safe over the weekend, two hours after being
reported missing from an exotic-animal farm... hosted.ap.org/ ...
22:29:58NORFOLK, Va... Virginia Zoo officials on Monday began trimming
the landscaping around a new [1yo] red panda exhibit
after the animal escaped for the second time in less than a month... hosted.ap.org/ ...
22:29:06BETHLEHEM, Pa... A 
snake slithered
out of the engine compartment of a man's SUV when he stopped to get gasoline,
causing a bit of commotion at the station... boa constrictor more than 5 feet
long... police were able to capture it... police Detective Mark DiLuzio said.
"(It's)
something you don't see every day in a Wawa parking lot..." hosted.ap.org/ ... 22:25:01JULIAN, Pa...
Police are asking locals to be on the lookout for a roaming wildcat, which appears to be an African wildcat
called a serval... has long legs and is twice the size of an average house cat,
at about 25 pounds and 18 to 20 inches tall... hosted.ap.org/ ...
10:58:06LONDON... A judge on Monday granted a reprieve to Shambo, a
sacred bull at a Hindu monastery who had been
threatened with slaughter because he is suspected of carrying bovine
tuberculosis... His caretakers at the Skanda Vale monastery in southwestern
Wales launched a campaign to save him that included an Internet petition, a
blog purportedly giving Shambo's "daily thoughts" and a Webcast called "Moo
Tube" that tracked the bull's movements around its hay-filled shrine... hosted.ap.org/ ... 10:04:50BELGRADE, Serbia... A 15-day-old female
panther named Milica has been adopted by a
Rhodesian Ridgeback after her mother refused to feed her and tried to kill her
in the Belgrade zoo... en.wikipedia.org/ ...
22:39:39Coelacanth... is the common name for
an order of fish that includes the oldest living lineage of jawed fish known to
date... reuters.com/ ... 10:03:06Fishermen
in Zanzibar have caught a coelacanth, an ancient
fish once thought to have become extinct when it disappeared from fossil
records 80 million years ago... 27 kg (60 lb)... 1.34 meters long... believed
to have become extinct some 80 million years ago until one was caught off the
eastern coast of South Africa in 1938... around 30 have been caught in recent
years off Tanzania... Coelacanths are the only living
animals to have a fully functional intercranial joint, a division separating
the ear and brain from the nasal organs and eye... news.bbc.co.uk/ ... 09:59:13A species of egg-laying
mammal, named after TV naturalist Sir David Attenborough, is not extinct as was
previously thought... On a recent visit to Papua's Cyclops Mountains,
researchers uncovered burrows and tracks made by the Attenborough's long-beaked
echidna... species is only known to biologists
through a specimen from 1961, which is housed in a museum in the Netherlands...
chron.com/ ... 09:36:15SAN ANTONIO —
A zookeeper who was attacked by a male Sumatran
tiger at the San Antonio Zoo was upgraded to stable condition on
Sunday... Jeff Tierney, 28... specializes in large cats and has worked at the
zoo for five years... Army Spc. Robert
D. Varga, 24, of Monroe City, Mo., died July 15 in Baghdad, Iraq, of
injuries suffered from a non-combat related incident. He was assigned to the
984th Military Police Company, 759th Military Police Battalion, Fort Carson,
Colo. The incident is under investigation. defenselink.mil/ ... 23:09:54Army Pfc.
Christopher D. Kube, 18, of Sterling Heights, Mich., died July 14 in
Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered from an improvised explosive device. He was
assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 17th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Brigade
Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo. defenselink.mil/ ... 09:01:08Army Sgt. Allen
A. Greka, 29, of Alpena, Michigan, died July 13 of wounds sustained from a
land mine detonation during a dismounted patrol in Jisr Diyala, Iraq. He was
assigned to the 3d Battalion, 1st Cavalry Regiment, 3d Brigade Combat Team, 3d
Infantry Division at Fort Benning, Georgia. marijuana inside a
suitcase via a taxi cab ride from Mansfield to Monroe pleaded guilty today...
[According to the propaganda of the PuriTaliban Religious Taboo Enforcers,
their prohibition-cultibated black market put this vegetation's] street
value... at about $75,000. accessnorthga.com/ ...
23:02:11BUFORD... arrested four people... seizing over
$100 thousand worth of
marijuana...
approximately 51.5 pounds... eyeoutforyou.com/ ... 23:01:10Worried neighbors and a
shocked landlord uncovered a
marijuana growing
facility inside a Bakersfield rental home... officers say the former tenant had
a "medical marijuana recommendation," and what they found in the house was
allowable under that state law... neighbor thinks there had been a lot more
marijuana until the tenant got ready to move, "It was very obvious..." onlinechester.com/ ... 22:59:55The
Chester County Sheriff's Department discovered a large-scale
marijuana growing
operation Monday morning deep in the woods... 20,000 plants...
[Prohibition-created black market] street value of this crop around $50
million... "They had a full camp site.... Tents, a couple $100 worth of food, a
generator, propane tank and a car battery they were using to charge their cell
phones..." hosted.ap.org/ ...
22:48:08CARTAGENA, Colombia... When a grand piano played an off-key
note, drug police in this Caribbean port opened it up and found some 560 pounds
of cocaine stuffed inside... estimated at $5 million... canada.com/ ... 09:48:38...Canada
is the top marijuana-using nation according to a UN Office on Drugs and Crime
survey released last week... if you think about it, marijuana is in many ways
exactly the drug we'd choose. It's buzz is mild compared to cocaine (where
Spain was tops), heroin (Iran), ecstasy (Australia) or amphetamines
(Philippines). Marijuana is even less likely to produce strong impairment
compared to alcohol. All of which, in a way, makes it very Canadian: It will
make you high, but not too high. We're a country that
prides itself on being nice, and pot produces a "nice" high, rather than an
extreme one... theday.com/ ... 09:45:59Norwich
— [43yo] man who had about 20 pounds of
marijuana in his
vehicle was arrested Saturday night... [Police] saw Smith
on Broad Street at about 7 p.m. Saturday and pulled him over...
[What, not even a bogus claim of a traffic infraction? This is almost
refreshing in its honesty.] ...charged with possession
of more than over 1 kilogram of marijuana with intent to sell, possession of
more than 4 ounces of marijuana, cultivation of marijuana, possession of
marijuana within 1,500 feet of a school, possession of drug paraphernalia and
possession of less than 4 ounces of marijuana... [Why, look! It's
SIX, SIX, SIX crimes in ONE!] newsday.com/ ... 09:43:27"I call
it an epidemic of marijuana arrests. New York City has been on a binge of
marijuana arrests for
the last 10 years."marijuana, various
items used in the packaging and distribution of marijuana, over $6,500 in cash,
and night vision surveillence camera system installed at the residence...
theday.com/ ... 11:22:14Sprague
— [18yo] Baltic man was arrested Saturday... charged with possession of a
controlled substance, possession of 4 ounces of
marijuana and
unauthorized manufacture and sale of marijuana... was walking with a group of
four individuals at 3:45 a.m. on Main Street... when he was spotted with a
large bulge under his T-shirt, which he appeared to be holding. Police found he
was holding a black garbage bag containing approximately a pound of
marijuana... [Walking down main at 4am with a pound under his shirt. What
was he smoking...?] canada.com/ ... 11:20:38Were it
not for prodigious pot use in Quebec, Canada would not have placed first in a United
Nations drug study of marijuana use in the industrialized world. In fact, were
Quebec a sovereign nation, it would have finished first ahead of Canada,
according to a breakdown of data supplied by Canada for the study... edmontonsun.com/ ...
11:19:26Prosecutors say they plan to launch a speedy appeal of a
Toronto judge's ruling that Canada's
marijuana possession
laws are unconstitutional. CBC News reports the judge made the ruling in
dismissing charges against a 29-year-old Toronto man charged with possession of
3.5 grams of pot. The man's lawyer argued that the federal government made it
policy, under Health Canada's Marijuana Medical Access Regulations, to provide
marijuana for medicinal purposes, but never made it a law. CBC News reports
that Judge Howard Borenstein agreed that this brought all possession laws into
question and dismissed the charges... ...Throughout the canny construction of 'Brand
Potter' - books, films, video games, and now even stamps - one figure has been
ever present, like a shadow glimpsed in the cloisters of Hogwarts school...
This enigmatic but utterly crucial influence is Christopher Little, literary
agent, fierce protector of Rowling and, thanks to the boy wizard, now a
millionaire many times over. Little has masterminded Rowling's career, from the
moment he spotted the potential of her first manuscript to this week's
publication of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which guarantees him yet
another jackpot... telegraph.co.uk/ ... 10:59:41...A £10 million security operation featuring an
army of guards, satellite tracking systems and draconian legal contracts has
swung into action to prevent any leak of details of the seventh and final book
about the boy wizard... thestar.com/ ... 10:59:21I had never read a Harry Potter book until three months
ago, when a hopeful editor buttonholed me with a plea: Would I, the newspaper's
religion reporter, write about religious imagery in the series? After 3,362
pages and 12 weeks of very late nights, I can say I liked the series. I get the
hype... expect Harry's death to show that his character's path is modelled on
the Gospel accounts of Jesus, and, more significantly, that the link between
him and wizardry-school headmaster Albus Dumbledore is patterned on the most
essential relationship in the Christian Bible – that between Jesus the Son
and God the Father... "marijuana grow" was
located in the Gumboro area by Maryland State Police narcotics officers
Thursday, Delaware State Police said today... 130 marijuana plants in seven
different plots... one foot to seven feet in height and weighed a total of 97
pounds... nbcsandiego.com/ ...
21:55:28SALTON CITY, Calif. -- The Border Patrol said its agents seized
more than 1,500 pounds of
marijuana packed into
a U-Haul truck at a desert checkpoint south of Salton City... arrested a
Mexican citizen who was residing legally in the United States... pcworld.com/ ... 21:54:46A
California judge is likely to order a Berkeley city initiative back on the
ballot because of local officials' mishandling of electronic voting machine
data... In a preliminary ruling Thursday, Judge Winifred Smith of the Alameda
County Superior Court indicated she would nullify the defeat of a medical
marijuana proposal in
Berkeley in 2004 and order the measure put back on the ballot in a later
election... medical-marijuana advocacy group... Americans for Safe Access... is
suing the county, assisted by the technology rights group Electronic Frontier
Foundation... sfgate.com/ ... 21:53:14Managers
of medical marijuana
dispensaries feared they might be shut down this week after at least 30
landlords in Los Angeles County received warning letters from the Drug
Enforcement Administration. The letters said the landlords' property and assets
could be seized if they were used in the distribution of marijuana or other
controlled substances. It added that federal laws "take precedence" over state
laws, such as Proposition 215 and SB 420, which allow for medical marijuana
use. "It's a shame that the DEA would use techniques on
medical marijuana that are normally reserved for crack houses and meth
labs," said Chris Fusco of Americans for Safe Access, a medical marijuana
group... cannabisassembly.org/ ... 21:22:18Cannabis Assembly...
The Great Tennessee
Marijuana Cave... Under this ordinary house is a marijuana grow-op unlike any
you have ever seen. Within the caves of middle Tennessee, growers constructed a
complex of offices, living quarters, restroom facilities, and a
climate-controlled forest of over one thousand cannabis plants... [From
April] shortnews.com/ ... 21:18:04John
P Walters, said to be President Bush's
Drug Czar, says
people who plant
and tend marijuana
gardens are a terrorist threat. Not only that but they
would not hesitate to help other terrorists get into the
USA with the aim of hurting many people... [Right out of central
casting for "Reefer Madness...." except... he's REAL! (Sort-of)] says the
officers who are ripping up marijuana plants are doing hard and dangerous
work... [siiigh!...] wjbdradio.com/ ... 10:52:17[28yo male] of North
Hickory in Centralia was arrested by Centralia Police for an alleged order of
protection violation and possession of less that
two-and-a-half grams of cannibis... zeenews.com/ ... 10:51:25American singer Kelly
Clarkson... former American Idol winner admitted that she nibbled on a
marijuana cookie
while touring in the Netherlands. "It was in Amsterdam. It is legal there, and
it is not legal here. I don`t ever do anything illegal here..." "I have never
smoked anything in my life. I`ve never tried any drugs. I wouldn`t do anything
that would cause holes in your brain or your nasal cavity.... Call me Texan,
but I don`t think of marijuana like that..." foxnews.com/ ... 10:50:18A massive
marijuana garden
— 61,000 plants worth nearly $200 million — was discovered in a
remote area along the border of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.
Three Mexicans were arrested and plants up to 8-feet-tall were uprooted... "The
plants were located in nine separate grows within a short distance of the
riverbed.... Water from the river was used in an elaborate system of
gravity-fed irrigation..." newsobserver.com/ ... 10:49:18The Orange County
Sheriff's Office seized 1,197
marijuana plants
worth about $1 million Thursday afternoon in a helicopter eradication effort...
texarkanagazette.com/ ...
10:48:31De QUEEN, Ark.—A four-month covert investigation yielded
two arrests and a pound of
marijuana... in a
shoebox inside an apartment closet... oregonlive.com/ ... 10:47:31[41yo]
Vernonia [Oregon] elementary school principal charged with marijuana possession
will face undisclosed disciplinary action but can keep his job... board
"determined that this appears to be a single incident of poor judgment..." The
district has been in the forefront of efforts of anti-drug efforts and started
mandatory drug testing of its athletes in 1989. Two years later, a
seventh-grader refused to take a drug test and was kept off the middle school
football team. His parents sued in a case that went to the U.S. Supreme Court,
which upheld the district rule. According to the sheriff's report, Miller was
leaning against his bike Friday night when Deputy Chance Moore approached him.
Moore wrote that Miller smelled of marijuana. When Moore asked if he'd been
smoking pot, Miller became visibly upset and said, "I could be in a lot of
trouble for this, but yes I have been smoking marijuana..." toledoblade.com/ ... 10:46:05A man
and woman from Ontario were caught transporting BC Bud, one of the most
expensive and potent types of
marijuana, across the
Ohio Turnpike... Nearly $6.5 million worth of BC Bud marijuana... stopped for
speed and marked-lanes violations while westbound on the turnpike... 142 pounds
of marijuana in large cardboard boxes. The marijuana was separated in large
plastic bags inside trash bags placed in the boxes... menacing "killer" wasps...
have infested areas around the State Department's headquarters... 'cicada
killer' wasps, which, despite their somewhat alarming appearance and name, are
generally not aggressive and do not pose a threat to humans... tech.monstersandcritics.com/ ...
10:10:02
The New England Journal of Medicine report cites a lightning strike
that hit a 37-year-old man while jogging through a park in Burnaby, British
Columbia, in June of 2005. The man, who was sheltering beneath a tree while
listening to his iPod, had the inbound electronic charge conducted through his
head due to a combination of sweat and the metal in his earphones... Army Sgt.
Courtney T. Johnson, 26, of Garner, N.C., died July 11 in Besmaya, Iraq,
of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked his unit with indirect fire. He
was assigned to the 3rd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat
Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Benning, Ga. defenselink.mil/ ... 22:22:53Army 1st Sgt.
Jeffrey R. McKinney, 40, of Garland, Texas, died July 11 in Adhamiyah,
Iraq, of injuries suffered from a non-combat related incident. He was assigned
to the 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st
Infantry Division, Schweinfurt, Germany. The incident is under investigation.
marijuana —
specifically about 100 pounds of the plant... worth approximately $400,000...
Santa Ynez Valley rancher was searching for coyotes on his property... when he
came across eight Hispanic males ages 18 to 35 dressed in camouflage, carrying
duffle bags and trespassing on his property... When he tried to detain the
individuals, they all fled in different directions, some leaving their duffle
bags behind... myfoxdfw.com/ ... 10:11:20Drug
Enforcement Administration officials discovered a large number of
marijuana plants
growing in a wooded area near the Trinity River in Dallas Thursday... if you
could walk in a straight line from the riverbank through the marshy underbrush
and tangled wilderness, you'd walk just 200 yards before you hit the DEA's
office building... 
...Stranger Danger! Lock up your kids! Oh,
wait, you already have? Maybe that's why they're online 24/7. But I digress.
Those 29,000 profiles were deleted. You might've heard that over this past
year, investigators found 100 incidents of adults preying on underage kids on
the site. Sounds like a lot, but given that there are 180 million profiles on
the site, it's really not... subjecting all adult users to a potential public
records search (that's where this is going) is far too invasive. It's misguided
to go after the Web sites like this, and it's far more reasonable to expect
parents to keep tabs on their children's online activities. Everyone -- kids
especially -- needs to know that predators aren't just digital bogeymen.
They're on the streets more than they are online... It's important to realize
that being online is a trippy version of being outside... It's your info that
counts, and -- once freakin' more, with feeling -- parents have to drill that
into the heads of their little cyberactive darlings before letting them touch a
keyboard... 
A crowd of 100 stunned
stargazers brought a town centre to a standstill when five mysterious UFOs were
spotted hovering in the sky. Drinkers spilled out of pubs, motorists stopped to
gawp and camera phones were aimed upwards as the five orbs, in a seeming
formation, hovered above Stratford-Upon-Avon for half an hour... Air Traffic
Control reported no unusual activity... the lights were seen hovering slowly
over the town before three of them formed a triangular shape with one
positioned just to the right. A few minutes later a fifth came into view
travelling towards the others at breakneck speed before slowing down and
stopping a short distance away... odd movement, lack of noise and the length of
time in the air discounted any man-made explanation... 
Growing up in
East Texas, Dian Avriett loved to watch the turtles sunning on the banks of
local rivers and lakes. But now she says it's rare to see them on those same
waterways, and the reason is clear -- China's taste for Texas turtle meat.
Hundreds of thousands have been sold to dealers who ship the animals to Asia
where the meat is considered a delicacy with health benefits...
A crew of Brazilian fishermen was captured on video
killing 83 dolphins and joking about their illegal haul... showed the fishermen
netting the dolphins, which suffocated because they could not surface to
breathe... authorities were still trying to identify the fishermen...
A pair of
round, gold-rimmed sunglasses worn by Beatle John Lennon that set a fashion
trend has come up for auction at a British Web site with bidding said to be as
high as $1.5 million... Bidding is set to end on July 31... 
SCIENTISTS are trying to
figure out if clearings created for powerlines through rainforests may be
helping frogs survive a deadly disease... "Higher, more variable temperatures
and light levels and lower humidity seem to protect frogs from the disease....
Small clearings being made for power line towers are likely to increase the
exposure of frogs to such conditions, which could reduce their vulnerability to
the disease. Our monitoring of the frogs will determine if the areas disturbed
by tower construction are used by frogs and how..." 
CLIFFSIDE PARK, N.J.... Sophia had vanished last Saturday
after O'Hara's husband lost his grip on the bird while the couple were out for
a walk... pet macaw... turned up alive and well... 80 miles away at the Jersey
shore... [25yo man] was driving near his home Thursday night when he spotted
the large blue and gold bird sitting quietly by the side of the road...