blog-heap o' links
The fossil
remains of a land-bound reptile described as a possible "missing link" between
prehistoric and modern-day crocodiles were displayed to the public for the
first time on Thursday... foxnews.com/ ... 23:09:51Danish researchers have
concluded that all blue-eyed people share a common ancestor, presumably someone
who lived 6,000 to 10,000 years ago... "Originally, we all had brown eyes...
But a genetic mutation affecting the OCA2 gene in our chromosomes resulted in
the creation of a 'switch,' which literally 'turned off' the ability to produce
brown eyes..." 
Every autumn and winter, hunters from this craggy
Japanese fishing village corral thousands of dolphins into a tiny, isolated
cove and kill them for meat and fertilizer, turning the water red with their
blood. And every year, foreign animal rights protesters converge on the town,
interfering with the slaughter... Now, Japan's dolphin hunters face a new,
powerful opponent: mercury contamination... 
Japanese researchers have implanted a small camera inside
a mouse's brain to see how memory is formed... 
Students at Brookfield
High School said it was "a day like any other" earlier this month when two
sophomores from the school were arrested for conspiring to sell marijuana on
school property... chicagotribune.com/ ...
11:56:35Cook
County sheriff's police arrested a Texas man after confiscating more than
$450,000 in marijuana from a rental truck he was driving... network.nationalpost.com/ ...
11:56:10A
woman newly widowed by her common-law husband’s sudden death was further
set back when the responding paramedics discovered an alleged grow-op in her
home, and she was arrested by police... chicagotribune.com/ ...
11:55:37The
Cicero police commander accused of having a burned marijuana cigarette and a
bag of marijuana in his car after being stopped last weekend on Chicago's South
Side is scheduled to take a drug test Thursday that could determine his future
at the Police Department... mercurynews.com/ ... 11:55:13The Berkeley City Council unanimously passed
a plan this week to help get medical marijuana to patients if the Drug
Enforcement Administration raids and shuts down any of the city-permitted
dispensaries... 
Former President Bill Clinton was in Denver, Colorado,
stumping for his wife yesterday... "We just have to slow down our economy and
cut back our greenhouse gas emissions 'cause we have to save the planet for our
grandchildren..." At a time that the nation is worried about a recession is
that really the characterization his wife would want him making? "Slow down our
economy"?.. reason.com/ ... 22:52:10
The Washington Times reports that Barack Obama, who told an
audience of college students when he was running for the U.S. Senate in 2004
that he favored decriminalizing marijuana, still holds that position, although
he opposes complete legalization...
[MINCING SPINELESS JELLYFISH!] blogs.abcnews.com/ ...
11:08:58
"I think whatever he said which was certainly
never intended to cause any kind of offense to anyone," Clinton said, "if it
did give offenses then I take responsibility and I’m sorry about
that."
High winds downed trees, cut power and moved vehicles
across much of the state Tuesday and reportedly killed two people at a mobile
home park in Southern Indiana... Most of the damage appeared to be caused by
straight-line winds but tornadoes may have touched down in isolated areas...
cbs2chicago.com/ ...
09:48:17CHICAGO... At this time on Tuesday morning... Temperatures
ranged from 47 to 50 degrees... in blew a winter storm that began with
whipping, blowing snow, followed by a drop of nearly 50 degrees in a matter of
hours... temperature at 5 a.m. was -1 at O'Hare International Airport, 0 and
Midway International Airport, and 3 degrees downtown... A golf course in
tropical Australia has a new water hazard: a crocodile that took up residence
in a lake at the 14th hole... posed no "significant threat" to people...
EUGENE, Ore... Jan 29... The chickens had no intention of
crossing the road. Instead, they came crashing off a trailer, in crates,
leaving feathers and carcasses on a mile-long stretch of Interstate 5... Three
drivers reported hitting crates. Some of the fowl died inside, others on the
highway or in the snow-filled ditches... "A lot of trucks running up and down
I-5 dump their loads.... We've cleaned up chickens before. We've chased cows
and sheep and horses off the road. It happens more often than you'd think..."
hosted.ap.org/ ... 08:58:41GRAND
JUNCTION, Colo... drunken driver crashed through a fence at a small airport and
drove onto a runway before getting stuck atop electrical equipment...
The
number of chinook salmon returning to California's Central Valley has reached a
near-record low, pointing to an "unprecedented collapse" that could lead to
severe restrictions on West Coast salmon fishing this year... WHEN
THEY OUTLAW MARIJUANA, ONLY THE POTHEADS WILL HAVE POT... marijuana ID card. In
2001 he was hired as an administrator–not a pilot or school bus
driver–by Raging Wire Telecommunications. Ross informed Raging Wire of his
use of medical marijuana from the beginning, and presented his ID card before
taking his drug test. A week later, when the test came back positive for trace
amounts of marijuana, Raging Wire fired Ross. This is the latest installment in
the comedy of errors that passes for drug policy in the state of California and
the US as a whole... the-signal.com/ ...
10:15:46Sheriff's deputies raided an upscale Tesoro del Valle home
Tuesday - confiscating more than 1,000
marijuana plants
including some with names like "Big Bud" and "Beastie Boom" - after a neighbor
walking his dog tipped them to an odor wafting from the residence... news.google.com/ ... 10:14:51Meanwhile, at Farm
Snyfontein near Keetmanshoop in Karas, a man and a woman were arrested after
they were found in possession of 7parcels of
cannibis weighing 2
thousand, 3 hundred and 65 kilogrammes, last week... 
Army Maj. Alan G.
Rogers, 40, of Hampton, Fla., died Jan. 27 of wounds suffered when an
improvised explosive device detonated while he was conducting a dismounted
patrol in Baghdad, Iraq. He was assigned to the Military Transition Team, 1st
Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kan. defenselink.mil/ ... 11:32:03Army Staff Sgt.
Robert J. Wilson, 28, of Boynton Beach, Fla., died Jan. 26
of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated while he was
conducting a dismounted patrol in Baghdad, Iraq. He was assigned to the 1st
Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne
Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky. Rival Democrats Hillary Rodham Clinton and
Barack Obama came within a foot of one another just before President Bush's
State of the Union speech Monday night and managed not to acknowledge each
other... A doorkeeper, caught in that highly awkward dance, cringes in the
photo that captures the moment... washingtonpost.com/ ...
11:02:38The political and social legacy of the late president --
Camelot, the Big Myth, the story of American royalty, a sense of Americans
being awestruck by themselves -- was gift-wrapped by the Kennedy family
yesterday and given to Sen. Barack Obama, a political gift with remarkable and
remarkably strange baggage... "Over the years, I've been deeply moved by the
people who've told me they wish they could feel inspired and hopeful about
America the way people did when my father was president," Caroline Kennedy told
a cheering throng of students at American University. "This longing is even
more profound today. Fortunately, there is one candidate who offers that same
sense of hope and inspiration, and I am proud to endorse Senator Barack Obama
for president..." Bay of Pigs! Marilyn! No need to mention these sorts of
things today... media.newsbusters.org/ ...
10:59:56HARRY SMITH: When you see that enthusiasm [for Obama] though,
and when you see the generational change that seems to be taking place before
our eyes, does it make you at all fearful?Edward Kennedy may have thrown his political weight behind
Democrat Barack Obama in the White House race, but he says that doesn't mean he
harbors ill feelings toward his old friends, Hillary and Bill Clinton...
joint is equivalent
to 20 cigarettes in terms of lung cancer risk, scientists in New Zealand have
found, as they warned of an "epidemic" of lung cancers linked to cannabis...
[an epidemic which for SOME reason just hasn't shown up in the last FORTY
YEARS of cannabis puffing! Another study "proving" what the PuriTalibaNazis
want to prove, as trustworthy as a USSR history book!] scientists said
cannabis could be expected to harm the airways more
than tobacco as its smoke contained twice the level of carcinogens... [Note
the weasel words that say nothing. This has all been studied before!]
marijuana in a man's
car after they pulled him over for throwing bottles at a truck... [Was he
just naturally stupid [Answer: Yes], or was he smokin' that mythical extra-good
pot only the PuriTalibaNazi Tyranny propagandists seem to know about?]
hosted.ap.org/ ... 09:25:34Thieves
in Malaysia stole an adult cow, squeezed it into the back seat of a car and
drove off with it, but abandoned the animal when the getaway vehicle crashed
into a tree... The cow, injured in the crash, was slaughtered by villagers...
hosted.ap.org/ ...
09:21:15CHERRYVILLE, N.C... unsuccessful robber... dropped a .45-caliber
handgun in front of Gasland USA on Sunday. The gun hit the ground and went
off... shot himself in the foot... 
HONOLULU... Two former golf club employees have been
charged with theft and cruelty to animals in the death of a pet dog... 8-month-old German shepherd-Labrador mix... the
owners say was cooked and eaten... he and his wife
considered the dog like a child they never had. ...received expressions of
sympathy and offers of new dogs from as far away as Colorado... they now have a
3-month old mixed German shepherd-Golden retriever... hosted.ap.org/ ... 09:20:17
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich... the couple and their three children
were sleeping when... [mother] awoke to hear the family's black cat howling and
screeching from the garage, where it spends its nights... opened the door to
the garage, smoke started pouring inside, so she grabbed the cat and ran back
through the house, waking up everyone and telling them to go outside... [fire]
originated in the garage but apparently was not started by the cat... hosted.ap.org/ ... 09:17:11"Hi, you're not going to believe this, but I am calling
from Fort Worth, Texas, and I accidentally picked up your husband's luggage.
And when I opened the luggage, a cat jumped out..." Army Sgt. 1st Class
Matthew Ryan Kahler, 29, of Granite Falls, Minn., died Jan. 26 in FOB
Fenty, Afghanistan, of injuries sustained from small arms fire in Waygul,
Afghanistan. Possible friendly fire. Afghan guard (ally) possibly mistook the
soldier as an enemy combatant and engaged with small arms fire. Incident is
under investigation. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry
Regiment (Airborne), 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, Vicenza, Italy. defenselink.mil/ ... 23:35:22Army Pfc. Duncan
Charles Crookston, 19, of Denver, Colo., died Jan. 25 in Brooke Army
Medical Center, Fort Sam Houston, Texas, of wounds suffered when an improvised
explosive device detonated near his vehicle during combat operations in
Baghdad, Iraq. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment,
4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kan. defenselink.mil/ ... 23:35:11Army Sgt. Tracy
Renee Birkman, 41, of New Castle, Va., died Jan. 25 in Owesat, Iraq, from
non-combat related injuries. She was assigned to the 626th Brigade Support
Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort
Campbell, Ky. marijuana to an
Illinois home through FedEx... telegraph.co.uk/ ...
23:33:21California's first marijuana vending machines open today.
The machines can be used by patients who are prescribed marijuana for health
reasons... 
MARSHALL, Texas... An animal protection group on Friday
rescued more than 200 animals, including 26 hissing cockroaches and two bearded
dragons, from an eastern Texas home... 68 dogs, 16 rabbits, 15 guinea pigs, 13
gerbils, seven doves, two dwarf hamsters, two hedgehogs, an opossum and a pink
toe tarantula... One dead frog and a dead guinea pig... foxnews.com/ ... 21:22:19She and [her dog] Izzy
share a rare neuromuscular disease that can't be treated medically...
Barack Obama routed Hillary Rodham Clinton in the
racially-charged South Carolina primary Saturday night... Clinton and former
Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina battled for a distant second place... About
half the voters were black, according to polling place interviews, and four out
of five of them supported Obama. Black women turned out in particularly large
numbers... reuters.com/ ... 10:14:34Sen. Hillary Clinton, in an
about-face, said on Friday she wants the Democratic Party delegates in two
states that were barred by the national party to be reinstated and counted in
the race to determine the party's U.S. presidential nominee. In those states,
Michigan and Florida, Clinton could stake claim to nearly all the delegates to
the nominating convention in question -- more than 350... Clinton, in an about-face... in an
about-face... about-face... Army Sgt. Michael
R. Sturdivant, 20, of Conway, Ark., died Jan. 22 in Kirkuk, Iraq, of
injuries sustained in a vehicle accident during convoy operations. He was
assigned to the 431st Civil Affairs Battalion, U.S. Army Civil Affairs &
Psychological Operations Command (Airborne), Fort Bragg, N.C. defenselink.mil/ ... 10:05:22Marine Lance Cpl.
James M. Gluff, 20, of Tunnel Hill, Ga., died Jan. 19 while conducting
combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq. He was assigned to 1st Battalion,
8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp
Lejeune, N.C. Army Spc. Richard
B. Burress, 25, of Naples, Fla., died Jan. 19 in Al Jabour, Iraq, of wounds
sustained when his vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device. He was
assigned to the 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team,
3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga. defenselink.mil/ ... 12:09:01Army Staff Sgt.
Justin R. Whiting, 27, of Hancock, N.Y., died Jan. 19 in Mosul, Iraq, of
wounds sustained when his vehicle struck an improvised explosive device. He was
assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), Fort
Campbell, Ky. 
Jan 20... In what
Brookfield Zoo officials are calling a freak accident, an 11-year-old male
giraffe broke its neck and died Saturday morning... neck got tangled up in a
rope... had stretched his neck over the gate and into a passageway between
pens. His neck was turned at a 90-degree angle and stretched across a
6½-foot span. There, he became entangled in a rope used in a pulley
system to occasionally feed the animals... "This is not something we felt he
could get to..." hosted.ap.org/ ...
12:07:35Visitors can now see the Los Angeles Zoo's newest attraction,
but he can't see them... A blind harbor seal named Alfred, which made its debut
Friday, was rescued off the coast of New Jersey nearly a year ago and, after a
long search by the Marine Mammal Stranding Center, the L.A. Zoo took him in
October... placed among four female companions... "They are doing everything
that they should be doing, so blindness doesn't seem to be affecting that part
of nature..." reuters.com/ ... 11:55:58A giant
Chinese salamander that predates Tyrannosaurus rex and the world's smallest
frog are among a group of extremely rare amphibians identified by scientists on
Monday as being in need of urgent help to survive... 
The Interior
Department has abandoned attempts to craft a recovery plan for the endangered
jaguar because too few of the rare cats have been
spotted along the Southwest region of New Mexico and Arizona to warrant such action... hosted.ap.org/ ... 01:38:11A
federal agency recommended killing about 30 sea lions a
year at a Columbia River dam where the marine animals feast on salmon
migrating upriver to spawn. By many estimates, the sea lions devour about 4
percent of spring runs... cannabis around today
is much stronger and potent than it was years ago, but being a cannabis smoker
myself I can refute these claims and shine some light on the matter. For a
start it does not smell as strong and is not as pure as it once was with the
dealers adding more and more impurities to make it larger and thus make more
money. Some batches when smoked smell terrible with not a scent of cannabis...
I would not condone the taking of any drugs, but I can not see the harm in
having the odd spliff if thats all it is... bbsnews.net/ ... 22:46:29A Tel Aviv medical clinic has
quietly begun giving cannabis to cancer and AIDS sufferers, legally and with Health
Ministry approval. The clinic began giving the drug to patients about six
months ago. By Israeli law, cannabis can legally be used as a medicine if a
patient obtains a special approval from the Health Ministry. The cannabis is
grown in Israel... bbsnews.net/ ... 22:44:44Canadians who are prescribed
cannabis to treat
their illnesses will no longer be forced to rely on the
federal government as a supplier following a Federal Court ruling that
struck down a key restriction in the government`s medical cannabis program...
essentially... allows growers to supply the drug to more than one patient...
fewer than 20 per cent of patients actually use the government's supply...
echoroukonline.com/ ...
22:43:08Algerian custom's officers seized... some7.5 quintals of
cannabis hidden in a
refrigeration container heading for Spain. Four individuals were arrested... An
inquiry is being conducted by the national gendarmerie to shed the light on
various shadowy zones in connection to the case, which could lead a number of
heads to fall in the port of Oran... my58.com/ ... 22:40:39Officers responded to reports of
a strong marijuana
odor coming from the Holiday Inn Express in Lincoln on Saturday afternoon...
found approximately 20 pounds of processed and bagged marijuana along with
approximately $20,000 in cash... [How dumb can you get?] arrested the
three... news.independent.co.uk/ ...
22:39:24An angry row has blown up over proposals to upgrade cannabis to
a class B drug, with leading experts from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of
Drugs (ACMD) accusing the Government of a "deliberate leak" of its plans... The
outburst followed claims that Gordon Brown and the Home Secretary, Jacqui
Smith, were determined to reverse the decision to downgrade the drug to class C
when the ACMD completes its report in the next few months. Although its
recommendations are not yet known, ministers are already making clear that Ms
Smith is prepared to overrule the expert body... smokedot.org/ ... 10:38:52a bill
to decriminalize the posession of less than an ounce of Marijuana is in the
works in Massachusetts... Do we have any readers in Massachusetts who have
heard anything about this?.. chinapost.com.tw/ ...
10:37:37TAIPEI, Taiwan -- The police arrested a 19-year old senior high
student implicated in the smuggling of over 6 kilograms of
marijuana into
Taiwan... fox12news.com/ ... 10:37:04[29yo]
Ada [Idaho] County man was arrested for growing
marijuana in a Boise
apartment, one he never lived in... An Ada County man was arrested for growing
marijuana in a Boise apartment, one he never lived in... ourmidland.com/ ... 10:36:21Marijuana changes teen's
life... Now almost 65 days sober and out of jail, she's beginning to see a new
world around her, and hoping she can adjust to a reality she avoided for
years... Jessie said parents should pay attention to their kids, who could be
using drugs even if there are no obvious signs of their use... Jessie met a guy
who dealt cocaine when she was 16... wktv.com/ ... 10:34:5651-year old...
pulled over on Route 5 in the Town of Westmoreland
for an expired inspection. After searching the
vehicle, police found more than $3,000 and about six ounces of
marijuana and drug
paraphernalia... news.bbc.co.uk/ ... 10:06:47top US
anti-drugs official... John Walters, said Venezuela had become "a haven" for
shipments of cocaine manufactured in neighbouring Colombia... [So, we have
the PuriTalibaNazi tyrant of American taboo enforcement coming down on another
nation's tyrant for not being oppressive enough.... oh, the irony!]
Hillary Clinton said in an soul
baring interview aired Friday she never doubted her husband's Bill Clinton's
love for her, despite the former president's infidelity with a White House
intern... "I really had to dig down deep and think hard about what was right
for me, what was right for my family..." [Er, uh, and, um, oh yeah, maybe my
political ambitions....] apnews.myway.com/ ... 01:51:11Mitt
Romney... ignored a loss in South Carolina to celebrate an easy win in Nevada's
caucuses, which followed up his victory Tuesday in Michigan's primary... apnews.myway.com/ ... 01:50:33Hillary Rodham Clinton said her victory in the
popular vote at Nevada's caucuses on Saturday gave her a positive sendoff into
the next big battleground, South Carolina. "I guess this is how the West was
won," she told cheering supporters... Clinton won the popular vote, but Barack
Obama won in the national convention delegates at stake, taking 13 to her 12...
apnews.myway.com/ ...
01:49:38Republican John McCain called his victory in South Carolina's
presidential primary on Saturday evidence that his campaign "can carry right
through" Florida into the giant round of caucuses and primaries on Feb. 5. "I
know it's not easy," he told The Associated Press, "and we've got a long way to
go..." hosted.ap.org/ ... 01:46:20A
mailer from a congressional candidate's campaign contains a photo of his head
attached to an image of a different body that makes him look thinner...
"Let
other folks retire to warm climates," said the 68-year-old Bray. "I'm spending
the rest of my days where the weather may be cold but the hearts are warm..."
[after the] icy rescue of her pet dog Buddy... reflecting on the firefighters'
response. "That's not their job, really," she said. "They are there to rescue
people. The kindness that was demonstrated was amazing to me..." hosted.ap.org/ ... 10:53:59
MASTIC, N.Y... A man was
arrested Tuesday for walking on a highway with a 14-foot python wrapped around
his body... charged with animal cruelty and failure to protect the public
against dangerous wildlife... sometime Sunday, 17 lop-eared Angora rabbits - a species
not indigenous to the area - wandered onto Utah Highway 91. Local officers took
action to save the furry critters from a four-wheeled fate and rounded them
up... "They're just a mess.... They have been neglected..." For 10 days, the "Hardball" host had doggedly insisted he
was just reciting a bit of history when he said on the air that "the reason
she's a U.S. senator, the reason she's a candidate for president, the reason
she may be a front-runner is her husband messed around." But protests against
those and other remarks by Matthews reached a peak yesterday when the
presidents of such groups as the National Organization for Women, Feminist
Majority and National Women's Political Caucus sent a joint letter of complaint
to NBC News President Steve Capus... money.cnn.com/ ... 11:59:01in last night's Democratic presidential debate in Nevada,
Clinton floated what is perhaps the dumbest solution to the current mortgage
mess I've heard from a top presidential contender... her proposal to
freeze mortgage rates for five years... such a
freeze would be disastrous. Interest rates on new mortgages would skyrocket...
politico.com/ ... 11:52:25"Hillary Clinton does
not respect our people," the ad says in Spanish... "It’s pathetic and it's
sad and it's unfortunate that they have to stoop so low," said Dolores Huerta,
a longtime Hispanic labor leader who supports Clinton... apnews.myway.com/ ... 11:49:21Vegas... Barack Obama... trying to use humor to bring...
Hillary... down before this weekend's Democratic presidential caucus... Obama
began by recalling a moment in Tuesday night's debate when he and his rivals
were asked to name their biggest weakness. Obama answered first, saying he has
a messy desk and needs help managing paperwork - something his opponents have
since used to suggest he's not up to managing the country. Former North
Carolina Sen. John Edwards said his biggest weakness is that he has a powerful
response to seeing pain in others, and Clinton said she gets impatient to bring
change to America. "Because I'm an ordinary person, I thought that they meant,
'What's your biggest weakness?'" Obama said to laughter from a packed house at
Rancho High School. "If I had gone last I would have known what the game was.
And then I could have said, 'Well, ya know, I like to help old ladies across
the street. Sometimes they don't want to be helped. It's terrible.'" "Folks,
they don't tell you what they mean!.." ... cannabis...
[Purely evil to subject anyone to a substance without their
knowledge...!] hosted.ap.org/ ... 11:19:16Pullman [WA] police said a
WSU student was arrested twice the same night for smoking marijuana...
Americans may eat it if they want, but the agriculture
minister of France said on Thursday that if offered a dish of cloned meat, he'd
have to say "non"... "I think there are ethical problems and problems of social
acceptability and we are not going to start copying the American model..."
news.bbc.co.uk/ ... 10:36:29The
production of one of Italy's best known exports, mozzarella, is under threat
from an infection spreading through herds of water buffalo... 
At least 20 endangered sea turtles have washed up dead
along the southern Bangladesh coast over the last week, an official said
Wednesday.... olive ridley turtles... the smallest of all sea turtles...
ranging from 90-130 pounds... Pollution and the use of illegal nets by
fishermen near the shoreline were believed responsible... Last year, several
hundred of the turtles died along the same coast... hosted.ap.org/ ... 10:47:33State
wildlife officials say a destructive species known as the zebra mussel has been
discovered in California for the first time... in the San Justo Reservoir in
San Benito County... known to clog water pipes and boat engines and alter the
chemistry of marine ecosystems... hosted.ap.org/ ... 10:20:56
Australia said Thursday
it would send a ship to pick up two anti-whaling activists who jumped on a
Japanese harpoon vessel from a rubber boat in Antarctic waters, offering a
solution to a tense, two-day standoff on the high seas. The protesters from the
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society scored a victory with their stunt, bringing
Japan's whale hunt to a standstill while officials scrambled to resolve the
faceoff... Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton welcom[ing] her traveling
press corps aboard her campaign plane Wednesday... "Good afternoon ladies and
gentlemen, and welcome aboard the maiden flight of Hil Force One.... My name is
Hillary and I am so pleased to have most of you on
board.... FAA regulations prohibit the use of any cell phones, Blackberries or
wireless devices that may be used to transmit a negative
story about me. In a few minutes, I am going to switch off the 'Fasten
Your Seat Belt' sign. However, I've learned lately that things can get awfully
bumpy when you least expect it—so you might want to keep those seat belts
fastened. And in the event of an unexpected drop in poll numbers, this plane
will be diverted to New Hampshire. If you look out from the right, you will see
an America saddled with tax cuts for the wealthiest and a war without end. If you look out from the left, you will
see an America with a strong middle class at home and a strong reputation in
the world. [Ummmm... no...] Once we've reached cruising altitude, we'll
be offering in-flight entertainment: my stump speech. Once again, thank you for
joining us on Hil Force One. We know you have choices when you fly, and so we
are grateful that you chose the plane with the most experienced crew. And so we
are grateful that you chose the plane with the most experienced candidate..."
en.wikipedia.org/ ...
14:06:49Geraldine Anne Ferraro (born August 26, 1935) is a Democratic
politician and former member of the U.S. House of Representatives. She is best
known as the first and only woman to date to represent a
major U.S. political party as a candidate for Vice President. Ferraro
and running mate Walter Mondale were defeated in a landslide by incumbent
President Ronald Reagan and Vice President George H. W. Bush in the 1984
election. She was later appointed as an ambassador to the United Nations and is
currently a businesswoman... nomoreblather.com/ ...
14:06:19Mike Huckabee and the Mexican consulate... arranged discount
office space in a state office: just $1 per year... passed out countless
"Matricula Consular" ID cards to illegal aliens... FBI has called those ID
cards a security risk... Arkansas is home to major poultry processing and other
firms that are widely believed to employ large numbers of illegal workers...
A
chimpanzee cannot be declared a person, Austria's Supreme Court has ruled...
FREDERICK, Md... A woman who had 45 cats in her home last
year was found to be in violation of her probation for having two dogs and
seven cats in her home... hosted.ap.org/ ... 15:06:28
CHAMPLIN, Minn... Dave Carlson says the police in this
north-metro suburb thought he was joking when he called to report that his
wallaby went AWOL. "And then they wanted to know what a wallaby was..." caller
told police, "I may need to go to a psych ward, but I think I saw a kangaroo go
by..." Eventually, Carlson nabbed Rachet... hosted.ap.org/ ... 15:03:56
A
Swedish landlord inspecting a recently vacated cottage got an ugly surprise
when she found dozens of dead or ailing snakes, mice, rats and lizards locked
up in cages inside the house... 90 snakes, three lizards and 60 mice and
rats... All the lizards and rodents were dead, as were 17 of the snakes... "I
would guess they have been there since October without water..." What
they didn't know was that their dog, for as long as they had owned him, had
been living with part of an arrow lodged in his chest... news.bbc.co.uk/ ... 15:21:48Scientists in the US say
they have created a genetically-engineered carrot that provides extra
calcium... hosted.ap.org/ ...
14:55:53Whittier Farms dairy... still deliver milk right to your door,
in glass bottles... hormone-free... three elderly men have died and at least
one pregnant woman has miscarried since last June after drinking
bacteria-contaminated milk from the dairy's plant in Shrewsbury, about 35 miles
west of Boston... listeria... believed to be only the third time listeria has
ever been linked to pasteurized milk in the United States... "We know something
is going on; we just don't know what it is..." Marine Lance Cpl.
Curtis A. Christensen Jr., 29, of Collingswood, N.J., died Jan. 11 from
a non-hostile incident in Al Anbar province, Iraq. He was assigned to 2nd
Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary
Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C. The incident is currently under investigation. defenselink.mil/ ... 14:30:44Army Pfc. Keith
E. Lloyd, 26, of Milwaukee, died Jan. 12 in Tal Afar, Iraq, of wounds
suffered when his vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device. He was
assigned to the 1st Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, Fort Hood, Texas.
A six-year-old male
dolphin at the Brookfield Zoo died in his trainer's arms from a severe tracheal
infection Sunday afternoon... hosted.ap.org/ ... 01:32:51COLUMBUS, Ohio...
Fluffy, a 24-foot python billed as the largest snake in captivity, is staying
put to lure visitors into the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium... The zoo paid $35,000
to the snake's breeder in Oklahoma to keep the reticulated python on permanent
display... marijuana. At the
same time, they will also look at a second bill increasing the penalties for
possessing heroin and cocaine by reducing the amount possessed that constitutes
"trafficking..." [Just to show they remain absolutely unclear on the concept
of human right.] burlingtonfreepress.com/ ...
14:22:35Advocates for the decriminalization of
marijuana have argued
that we are losing the war on drugs. They argue that the jails are being filled
with these minor offenders and that our resources are not being used wisely. As a prosecutor [read: clueless imam of PuriTalibaNazi
prohibitionist oppression & tyranny] of 30 years I can unequivocally
state that such claims are extreme exaggerations or outright lies... [etc ad
nauseum....] northumberlandgazette.co.uk/ ...
14:21:08Police in Co Durham have seized
cannabis plants with
a street value of about £18,000 in the second raid on suspected drugs
farms in two days... pr.cannazine.co.uk/ ...
14:20:35
The headlines are big and bold. The message they scream
out to the nation, dark and sinister. Children as young as 12 are being treated
for cannabis and the nation is doomed to a future of drug abuse and depravation
at the hands of council estate cannabis dealers. I would be interested in
finding out exactly how many "12 year olds" well-respected treatment centre The
Priory will actually treat as to be fair The Telegraph have printed a news
story which doesn't actually give us any news... chicagotribune.com/ ...
14:19:08Chicago police uncovered what appeared to be about $300,000
worth of marijuana
Saturday night after making a traffic stop near the city's Chinatown area on
the near South Side... 50,000 grams... large amount of cash and a weapon...
Seven people were in taken into custody... examiner-enterprise.com/ ...
00:39:05District Attorney Rick Esser wants the public to know that while
the 11th Judicial District is presently able to continue its funding of
officers with the Bartlesville Police Department, a large part
of that funding comes from forfeitures and seizures... kptm.com/ ... 00:38:08LINCOLN,
Neb... A state senator wants stiffer penalties for possessing
marijuana... Senator
Russ Karpisek of Wilber has introduced a bill (LB844) that would raise
possession of an ounce to a pound of marijuana to a Class II misdemeanor. The
penalty would be a maximum of 6 months in prison and a $1,000 fine... 640toronto.com/ ...
00:37:31TORONTO... An east-end house fire has uncovered a major
marijuana grow-op...
foxnews.com/ ... 00:37:10ALTON,
Ill. — Authorities in Madison County say the owner of an Alton florist
shop and three of his kids grew
a lot more than
flowers... kxmc.com/ ... 00:36:26PIERRE,
S.D... It's a class-4 felony in South Dakota to give or sell any amount of
marijuana to a minor
punishable by up to 10 years in prison no matter how little or how much pot
winds up in a kid's hands. However, the attorney general's office is pushing
legislation that would base the punishment on the amounts of marijuana that
minors receive. HB1061 would go a little easier on small amounts of marijuana
but a lot tougher for large amounts... news.monstersandcritics.com/ ...
00:35:47Sydney - With cannabis now said to be the biggest cash crop on
Australia's east coast, Queensland police Sunday launched a 'dial-in a druggie'
campaign that enlists the help of the public to catch growers... sfgate.com/ ...
00:35:29California... Police can't enter a home without a warrant just
because they see someone inside smoking
marijuana, a state
appeals court ruled Friday. In overturning a Pacifica man's conviction, the
state Court of Appeal in San Francisco said officers may enter someone's home
to preserve evidence of a crime - but only if the crime is punishable by jail
or prison. Under a 1975 California law, the court noted, possession of less
than an ounce of marijuana is a misdemeanor carrying a fine of as much as $100,
with no jail time even for a repeat offense. That means police who see someone
smoking can enter only if they have the resident's permission or a warrant from
a judge, the court said... nationalpost.com/ ...
00:34:45Canada... The federal government lost another court challenge to
its controversial medical
marijuana program,
and now has 30 days to decide whether to appeal the ruling that declared one of
its key policies unconstitutional. Under the current set of regulations,
licensed producers are only allowed to grow the drug for one patient at a time.
Federal Court Judge Barry Strayer said that one-to-one ratio violates the
Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The decision, the latest in a string of court
cases, will essentially mean more choice for approved medical marijuana users
and should provide easier access for them to the drug... 
New research into the Bristol dinosaur Thecodontosaurus
suggests it lived on subtropical islands around the city and not in a desert. A
microscopic study of marine algae and fossil pollen revealed the dinosaur lived
just before the Jurassic Period in lushly vegetated islands. It had been
thought the dinosaur lived in the arid uplands of the late Triassic Period. The
original dinosaur was discovered in 1834 near what is now Bristol Zoo... news.bbc.co.uk/ ... 10:32:11A fossil unearthed in China has given scientists a rare
glimpse of what dinosaurs were like in the flesh. The plant-eating
Psittacosaurus had a thick layer of shark-like skin hidden under scales or
feathers. Palaeontologists believe this tough outer coating supported the
dinosaur's organs and protected it from predators. Tooth marks suggest the
dinosaur was torn open by a scavenger, giving a unique insight into their
biology, 100 million years after this one's death... A Greenpeace ship on
Saturday confronted a Japanese whaling fleet that had initially planned to hunt
protected humpbacks... in the Antarctic Ocean after a 10-day search... the
hunting ships immediately steamed off with the activists in pursuit... hosted.ap.org/ ... 10:59:08At
least 19 bald eagles died Friday after gorging themselves on a truck full of
fish waste outside a processing plant. Fifty or more eagles swarmed into the
truck, whose retractable fabric cover was open, after the truck was moved
outside the plant... The birds became too soiled to fly or clean themselves,
and with temperatures in the mid-teens, began to succumb to the cold. Some
birds became so weak they sank into the fish slime and were crushed... truck's
contents had to be dumped onto the floor of the Ocean Beauty Seafoods plant so
the birds could be retrieved... survivors were taken to a heated fish and
wildlife warehouse to recover, though some were in critical condition... hosted.ap.org/ ... 10:25:28Veterinarians and pediatric surgeons combined their
efforts to remove a cyst near the spine of a baby gorilla at the Woodland Park
Zoo, an operation they believe is the first of its kind... hosted.ap.org/ ... 10:22:52Gemina, a giraffe with a distinctive crooked neck and one
of the most beloved animals at the Santa Barbara Zoo, has died. She was 21...
"We did everything we could but the time came when we had to make the humane
decision..." marijuana
trafficking. The case illustrates how a terrifyingly common crime in Latin
America has moved across the border into the United States: Criminals and their
family members are being kidnapped by fellow criminals and held for six-figure
ransoms... The plane carrying Sen. Barack Obama struck another plane
while taxiing at Midway Airport in Chicago early Saturday morning... lvrj.com/ ... 16:24:28"No
woman is illegal," Clinton said, to cheers... canada.com/ ... 16:23:09Tiktaalik
roseae -- a 375-million-year-old fossilized "fishapod" discovered on Ellesmere
Island in 2004 -- has been hailed as an "evolutionary icon" because it
represents the crucial transition from sea to land for some of the Earth's most
primitive creatures. The discovery was announced amid global fanfare in 2006,
and Tiktaalik is now the showcase species in a report released last week by the
U.S. National Academy of Sciences to promote the study of evolution and counter
calls for U.S. schools to teach creationism... That issue has dogged Republican
presidential contender Mike Huckabee... "With jaw bones
that correspond to gill bones in fish and sharks, a body plan shared with
headless worms, and with parts of a DNA recipe shared with relatives of
jellyfish, Huckabee's ties to some of the most humble forms of life on our
planet run deep indeed..." Army Sgt. David
J. Drakulich, 22, of Reno, Nev., died Jan. 9 in Chagali, Afghanistan, of
wounds suffered when his vehicle struck an improvised explosive device. He was
assigned to the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team,
82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C. defenselink.mil/ ... 09:45:44Army Sgt. David
J. Hart, 22, of Lake View Terrace, Calif., who died in Balad, IraqArmy Pfc. Ivan E.
Merlo, 19, of San Marcos, Calif., who died in Samarra, IraqArmy Pfc. Phillip
J. Pannier, 20, of Washburn, Ill., who died in Samarra, Iraq 
...If the adult entertainment industry has its way,
Americans will soon get a choice of free porn on cell phones -- or at least
some photographs of good-looking girls in bikinis. Unlike in Europe, mobile
porn has yet to take off in North America as carriers have been afraid of
offending political and religious groups and parents concerned about children
being exposed to adult content... 
Bats are dying off by the
thousands as they hibernate in caves and mines around New York and Vermont,
sending researchers scrambling to find the cause of mysterious condition dubbed
"white nose syndrome..." for the white circle of fungus found around the noses
of affected bats... Up to 11,000 bats were found dead last winter and many more
are showing signs illness this winter. One hard-hit cave went from more than
15,000 bats two years ago to 1,500 now... For some unknown reason, the bats
deplete their fat reserves and die months before they would normally emerge
from hibernation... 
President Bush plopped himself into a chair between two
former prisoners... and asked to hear how their lives had changed. But first,
he wanted them to know something about him: "I understand addiction... and I
understand how a changed heart can help you deal with addiction.... Addiction
is hard to overcome.... As you might remember, I drank too much at one time in
my life. I understand faith-based programs. I understand that sometimes you can
find the inspiration from a higher power to solve an addiction problem..."
After more than 50 years of leading his Transcendental
Meditation movement, the one-time Indian guru to the Beatles has retreated into
near-silence and turned over daily management of his global network to aides...
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi is thought to be 91 and is losing the strength to keep
up... 
found
a tiny frog comfortably nestled in the leaves of organic lettuce she was
preparing to eat... no bigger than the tip of her pinky finger... named the
frog "Curious..." 
Ringo Starr is known for being the amiable Beatle, but the
rock star showed his tough side Tuesday when he walked off the set of "Live
With Regis and Kelly" rather than cut short one of his songs...
Federal
health officials are investigating if there's a link between illnesses reported
by several workers at a pig slaughterhouse in Indiana and those seen recently
in workers at a Minnesota pork plant... 
While
visiting the Houston Zoo recently, Ayala, a Houston attorney, recorded a short
clip of video which is now posted on YouTube. It shows caretakers at the
Houston Zoo taking a 20-pound chunk of raw meat tied onto a rope and tossing it
into a lion’s pen. Guests then got to tug on the rope. It happened in
December, two days after a tiger escaped and at the San Francisco Zoo and
killed a teenage boy. Animal behaviorist Louis Dorfman says playing tug of war
with a lion eating meat does nothing more than taunt the animal...