/
/
blog-heap o' links
Short-term cannabis use does not seem to
adversely affect CD4+ cell counts or viral loads in HIV -infected patients,
according to a report published in the August 19th issue of the Annals of
Internal Medicine... t-g.com/ ... 22:49:54Police say they found marijuana in a car stopped for
speeding Thursday night on North Main Street. A "roach" was detected in an ash
tray and seeds with a small amount of marijuana between the car's seats by drug
dog... [absurd!] indystar.com/ ... 12:11:29Indianapolis metropolitan police seized 75
marijuana plants Thursday and arrested a 28-year-old man they say was growing
and selling the drug in an Eastside house... 22 full-grown and 53 immature
marijuana plants and other evidence, including a high-powered grow light...
found [prohibition victim] sitting in a van near the home where, police said,
he was preparing to smoke marijuana "blunt" when he saw the detectives approach
his home. kpho.com/ ... 12:10:32PHOENIX -- The Border Patrol
made a major pot bust south of Tucson... A trash truck was carrying a lot more
than garbage -- almost 13,000 pounds of pot... Agents were able to stop more
than $10.3 million worth [according to the BULL$#!+ prohibitionist
propaganda machine] of marijuana from hitting the streets... policeone.com/ ... 12:09:23NOGALES, Ariz. - U.S. Border
Patrol agents seized 1,100 pounds of marijuana worth about
[absurdly-inflated prohibition-supported] $879,000... 45 miles east of
Wellton... Agents responded to an activated ground sensor and discovered
vehicle tracks leading to an unoccupied gray 2006 Ford F-250... naplesnews.com/ ... 00:12:08Investigators from the Collier
County Sheriff’s Office seized [grossly-inflated
prohibition-supported] $202,000 worth of marijuana Thursday morning after
receiving a tip that a Golden Gate Estates home was being used as a grow
house... 202 marijuana plants that weighed more than 86 pounds and $20,000
worth of equipment used to grow the marijuana... [AND REMEMBER... these are
just the ones they catch! Everyone who wants to smoke can still get it! REPEAL!
REPEAL! REPEEEEAAALLLLL! STOP THE MADNESS!] heraldsun.com/ ... 00:10:23The Durham Police Department's Interstate
Criminal Enforcement (ICE) team recovered 43 pounds of marijuana during two
traffic stops this week... stopped a 2007 Chrysler on Interstate 85... found 30
pounds of marijuana, with a [grossly inflated prohibition-supported]
street value of approximately $30,000... stopped a Nissan Xterra on I-85... 13
pounds of marijuana, with a [grossly inflated prohibition-supported]
street value of approximately $13,000... kfoxtv.com/ ... 00:09:05U.S. Customs and Border Patrol officers made the biggest
marijuana bust at an El Paso port of entry in years... two large finds at the
Bridge of the Americas Thursday... Both involved false compartments in
tractor-trailers and they happened about 20-minutes apart... 430 lbs. of
marijuana in the rear of a trailer.... discovered 4,700 lbs. of marijuana by
drilling into the wall... This week alone, 12,000 lbs. of marijuana have been
confiscated. At this time last year, that number was only at 2,500 lbs...
[AND REMEMBER! This is just what they're catching, tip of the
iceberg....] 
A snake and his owners were
reunited this week after the missing reptile was found in the glove compartment
of a rented car... 4-foot red-tailed boa constrictor... disappeared two weeks
ago after his owners left him in the car while they went into an east side
video rental store... reuters.com/ ... 11:48:53U.S.
officials said on Friday that melamine, a chemical found in fertilizers in Asia
and which should not be in pet food in any amounts, has been detected in the
wheat gluten used by Canada-based Menu Foods... Marijuana. Legalize marijuana
and tax it... Thinking differently about marijuana is hardly new to Oregon...
Really, the question is not whether marijuana should be legalized. The question
is how it should be legalized... I call upon the Oregon
Legislature and Gov. Kulongoski to adopt a new law establishing the Oregon
Marijuana Legalization Commission... Oregonians, kill the double
standard. Let common sense prevail. Let the people decide. Get government off
marijuana smokers’ backs and into their pockets. The potential revenue
stream looks nothing less beautiful than amber, no, emerald, waves of leaves.
Yeah, I know again what many of you are thinking. I don’t even use the
stuff! I use other drugs, you know, the kind whose trade organization flies a
state’s lawmakers to Hawaii and then pumps them full of their deadly
product to assure it remains socially accepted and lightly taxed... english.vietnamnet.vn/ ...
12:12:50Marijuana
fields of thousands of square meters have been found in provinces around the
northern city of Hanoi... found a 1,000 sq.m marijuana field in Tho Xuan
Commune... "Straight beds of marijuana are surrounded by banana, maize trees
and only several meters from residential areas. This is the first time I saw
criminals who dared to grow marijuana in such a public manner..." According to
police, marijuana is planted for years without being detected because local
people don’t know what a marijuana tree is. The owner of a marijuana field
said that they were medicinal plants because marijuana looks like artemesia, an
herbal tree... 
Army Master Sgt. Sean
M. Thomas, 33, of Harrisburg, Pa., died March 27 in Baghdad, Iraq, when his
unit came in contact with enemy forces using indirect fire during combat
operations. Thomas was assigned to the 28th Division Support Command,
Harrisburg, Pa. defenselink.mil/ ... 13:21:18Marine Staff Sgt.
Marcus A. Golczynski, 30, of Lewisburg, Tenn., died March 27 from wounds
received while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq.
Golczynski was assigned to Marine Forces Reserve's 3rd Battalion, 24th Marine
Regiment, 4th Marine Division, Nashville, Tenn. defenselink.mil/ ... 00:53:09Army
Spc. Sean K. McDonald, 21, of Rosemount, Minn., died Mar 25 in Baghdad,
Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his
vehicle. McDonald was assigned to the 9th Engineer Battalion, 2nd Brigade
Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Wiesbaden, Germany. defenselink.mil/ ... 00:52:47Army
Sgt. Curtis J. Forshey, 22, of Hollidaysburg, Pa., died Mar. 27 in
Homburg, Germany, of a non-combat related illness. Forshey was assigned to the
129th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 101st Sustainment Brigade, 101st
Airborne Division, Fort Campbell, Ky. An
Alamance County daycare is closed after police found guns and marijuana inside
while children were present... officers immediately smelled marijuana in the
home, and after they asked, owner... handed them four ounces of marijuana...
Officers also found handguns, rifles and rounds of ammunition, along with
iguana, rabbits ahd other animals running through the house... [day care
operators severely unclear on the concept! Even repeal won't help this kind of
folk.] foxnews.com/ ... 13:18:42Some 960 pounds of marijuana
was found hidden inside concrete pillars in the back of a tractor-trailer at
the Mariposa Port of Entry in Nogales... U.S. Customs and Border Protection
officers said they pulled the truck over Wednesday afternoon for secondary
inspection due to the nervous behavior [yeah,
sure] of the 32-year-old Mexican driver and suspicions about the cargo's
destination in Colorado... thetandd.com/ ... 01:10:21ST. MATTHEWS – Three people were
arrested Wednesday after the U.S. Postal Service delivered 50 pounds of
marijuana to a Calhoun County residence in what officials are calling a
controlled mail delivery. Calhoun County Sheriff Thomas Summers said his
deputies, along with U.S. Postal Service agents, intercepted the parcel
containing two plastic containers filled with marijuana. "This is yet another
major blow that we have dealt the people who choose to deal drugs in our
county," Summers said... nbc11.com/ ... 01:09:53OAKLAND, Calif. -- Authorities
seized a dozen guns, flak jackets and more than $250,000 in marijuana during a
raid of an alleged drug dealer's compound guarded by pit bulls and surveillance
cameras... [33yo] arrested Tuesday after police said they found 148 marijuana
plants growing in his house. Officers also discovered assault rifles, sawed-off
shotguns, high powered rifles and other firearms in nearly every room,
including a bathroom.... "It was like an armed camp...." nashuatelegraph.com/ ...
01:08:56CONCORD
– A legislative move that would have allowed the chronically ill to use
marijuana for a "medically debilitating" condition came up just nine votes shy
of clearing the House of Representatives on Wednesday... sfgate.com/ ... 01:08:30DIAMOND BAR,
Calif...Authorities on Wednesday seized nearly $10 million worth of marijuana
being grown inside a four-bedroom home that was being used as a pot
greenhouse... more than 1,800 plants in every part of the house along with
lights, an irrigation system and other equipment used to cultivate marijuana...
CINCINNATI... An ordinance
that allows sentences of up to 30 days in jail for possession of small amounts
of marijuana is responsible for removing 62 guns from the streets in the past
year, and that alone is reason enough to extend the law, police say...
[HOW unclear on the concept can you BE?] "It's like a
no-brainer..." [said] Police Chief Thomas Streicher Jr... [Got that
right!] About 50 people attended a hearing of council's law and public
safety committee to voice their objection to the ordinance. Several disputed
police statistics that violent crime has been reduced because of the ordinance.
They cited the record number of homicides in the city in 2006 and promised to
make the ordinance a campaign issue in the next council election. "We will
unseat anybody who votes for this ordinance..." cbc.ca/ ... 12:35:09A medical marijuana activist
in Calgary was sentenced Tuesday to four months in jail for trafficking in
marijuana, but the judge ruled that corrections officials must make sure he has
access to the drug while behind bars... 
A woman with three
crocodiles strapped to her waist was stopped at the Gaza-Egypt border crossing
after guards noticed that she looked "strangely fat..." "Even though she was
veiled and covered, even with so many clothes on there was something
strange..." reuters.com/ ... 14:59:57Global
drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline faces a court case on Tuesday for misleading
advertising after two 14-year-olds found its popular blackcurrant drink Ribena
contained almost no vitamin C... advertising claims that "the blackcurrants in
Ribena have four times the vitamin C of oranges" in 2004... The Nebraska State Patrol
Headquarters Troop-Lincoln, Sunday, March 25, 2007, seized 950 pounds of
marijuana during a routine traffic stop along Interstate 80... license plate
violation... 950.2 lbs of marijuana... wdbj7.com/ ... 15:27:35VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. Virginia
Beach police say they have seized more than two-thousand marijuana plants in a
barn used for growing the illegal drugs -- the largest seizure of a pot-growing
operation in the city's history... wlos.com/ ... 15:27:09JERUSALEM... A pro-marijuana
party in Israel is advising its religious supporters to abstain during
Passover... The Green Leaf party says cannabis is among the substances Jews are
forbidden to consume during the week-long festival that begins Monday...
OLYMPIA,
Wash. -- Some medical marijuana advocates and patients are protesting a measure
they supported at the beginning of the legislative session, saying it has been
watered down by the process and is now useless. "There's nothing left in the
bill worth keeping..." dailyvidette.com/ ... 01:39:04With certain research
indicating possible benefits of marijuana, many believe Illinois should be one
of the next states to legalize it for medicinal purposes... Army Sgt. Greg N.
Riewer, 30, of Frazee, Minn., died Mar. 23 in Habbaniyah, Iraq, of wounds
suffered when an improvised explosive devise detonated near his HMMWV during
combat operations. He was assigned to the 2nd Combined Arms Battalion, 136th
Infantry, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division, Bemidji, Minn.
defenselink.mil/ ... 11:17:51Army Sgt. Adrian J.
Lewis, 30, of Mauldin, S.C., died Mar. 21 in Ramadi, Iraq, of wounds
suffered when his unit came in contact with enemy forces using small arms fire
during combat operations. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 69th Armor
Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga.
defenselink.mil/ ... 11:17:32Army Spc. Lance C.
Springer II, 23, of Fort Worth, Texas, died Mar. 23 in Baghdad, Iraq, of
wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his unit
while on combat patrol. He was assigned to the 1st Squadron, 40th Cavalry
Regiment, 4th Airborne Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Fort
Richardson, Alaska. defenselink.mil/ ... 11:17:04Army Sgt. Freeman L.
Gardner Jr., 26, of Little Rock, Ark., died Mar. 22 in Baghdad, Iraq, of
wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his unit
while on combat patrol. He was assigned to the 18th Engineer Company, 3rd
Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Lewis, Wash.
Since the act was passed into
law, thousands of pot "clinics" have opened across the state. In San Francisco,
things got so out of control that Mayor Gavin Newsom, a very liberal guy, had
to close many of the "clinics" because drug addicts were clustering around
them, causing fear among city residents. In San Diego, there's another problem:
Some high school kids have found a loophole in the Compassion Act. Incredibly,
there is no age requirement to secure medical marijuana in California - and no
physical exam needed, either. So some kids tell a doctor they have a headache,
pay him $150 for a card, and then buy all the pot they want. Unbelievable, but
true... But storefront "clinics" run by irresponsible adults who are aided by
corrupt doctors are a joke only a confirmed stoner would find funny...
[editorial] estripes.com/ ... 11:56:20AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy — An airman
assigned to the 603rd Air Control Squadron pleaded guilty to marijuana use at a
special court-martial last week... sentenced to a reduction in rank to E-4,
forfeiture of $100 monthly for a year and hard labor without jail for 90
days... [Had he had something much more dangerous but legal, like a drink of
booze, isn't it unlikely this would have happened... presuming he wasn't stoned
on duty?] 
At least 13 tornadoes swept along the New Mexico-Texas
state line, destroying homes and other buildings and injuring several people,
two of them critically... 
LA CROSSE,
Wis... They were called Wallace and Gromit, a couple of abandoned yellow
Labrador retriever siblings... 5 months old... when they were adopted out... to
separate homes. Months later, Pat Kucera at Diggity Dog Daycare noticed two
yellow Labs named Levi and Cooper would "play like crazy" every time they got
the chance during visits to his facility... [Owners] hoping to set up play
dates... boston.com/ ... 14:28:13Rat poison
was found in the pet food suspected of causing kidney failure that killed at
least 16 cats and dogs... aminopterin... not registered for killing rodents in
the United States... "Any amount of this product is too much in food..." hosted.ap.org/ ... 11:16:19A woman
said she was so worried about reports of tainted pet food she spent more than
$1,000 buying all the product she could find at her local Wal-Mart... She
returned Wednesday morning to buy more food and came back that night to buy
even more, but Trask said store officials asked her to leave. She said store
employees were taking some of the food off the shelves. Trask plans to throw
the food away so no animals eat it. She figures she spent more than $1,000...
Not all the food Trask bought was included in the recall... Army Sgt. Nicholas J.
Lightner, 29, of Newport, Ore., died Mar. 21 at Walter Reed Army Medical
Center, Washington, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device
detonated near his unit while on combat patrol March 15 in Baghdad, Iraq.
Lightner was assigned to the 1st Squadron, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade
Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas. defenselink.mil/ ... 10:07:50Army Sgt. 1st Class
Darrell R. Griffin Jr., 36, of Alhambra, Calif., died Mar. 21 in Balad,
Iraq, from wounds suffered when his unit came in contact with small arms fire
during combat operations. Griffin was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 3rd
Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort
Lewis, Wash. defenselink.mil/ ... 10:07:11Army Pfc. Joey T.
Sams II, 22, of Spartanburg, S.C., died Mar. 21 at Camp Buehring, Kuwait,
of injuries suffered when he was pinned between two vehicles. His death is
under investigation. Sams was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry
Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Benning, Ga.
defenselink.mil/ ... 10:05:49Army Spc. Curtis E.
Glawson Jr., 24, of Daleville, Ala., died Mar. 20 in Baghdad, Iraq, of
wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle.
Glawson was assigned to the 610th Brigade Support Battalion, 28th Infantry
Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley,
Kansas. defenselink.mil/ ... 10:04:38Marine Cpl. Dustin J.
Lee, 20, of Quitman, Miss., died March 21 from wounds received while
conducting combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq. Lee was assigned to
Headquarters Battalion, Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany, Ga. 
Five of 17 trained
dolphins rescued during Hurricane Katrina and taken to a marine mammal center
in the Bahamas are pregnant, officials said Thursday. A sixth dolphin gave
birth to a stillborn calf earlier this week, the Dolphin Cay center said in a
statement. The dolphins were from a Mississippi marine park that was destroyed
by Hurricane Katrina. Some of the animals were swept out to the Gulf of Mexico
following the storm. After being rescued, the dolphins were moved to a Bahamas'
resort early last year. The mammals had lived at Marine Life Oceanarium in
Gulfport, Miss., doing jumps and other tricks for tourists, before it was
severely damaged by Katrina... hosted.ap.org/ ... 09:54:10
An extremely rare species of
tiny owl has been seen in the wild for the first time... The long-whiskered
owlet, one of the world's smallest owls, was discovered in 1976. Researchers
have caught a few specimens in nets after dark but had not seen it in nature.
It was spotted in the wild in February by researchers monitoring a private
conservation area in Peru's northern jungle... hosted.ap.org/ ...
09:53:44COLUMBIA, Mo... A Bengal tiger that once worked on the carnival
circuit was recovering after undergoing surgery to correct a badly deformed
right forelimb... had been abused as a cub.... condition... comparable to
rickets.... On Wednesday, three veterinary surgeons at the University of
Missouri-Columbia, spent six hours cutting and reorienting his leg bones so
that he could eventually walk without limping.... hosted.ap.org/ ... 09:52:22Grizzly
bears in and around Yellowstone National Park no longer need Endangered Species
Act protection, the federal government said Thursday. The area had an estimated
136 to 312 grizzlies when the species was listed as threatened in 1975, but has
more than 500 of the bears today... LOS ANGELES — A minister
who was arrested on charges of marijuana possession has sued police for $30 million, contending his civil and
religious rights were violated because he heads a church that uses pot during
worship.... Rev. Craig X Rubin, 41, is the founder of Temple 420... Rubin has
made several appearances on the Showtime series "Weeds" as the owner of a
medical marijuana club... ordained in 1990 by the Universal Life Church, which
ordains everyone who asks... metnews.com/ ... 14:34:37The fact that a man had a medical marijuana
prescription did not negate an officer’s probable cause to search his car
after finding that it smelled of marijuana, the First District Court of Appeal
ruled yesterday origin.elpasotimes.com/ ...
14:32:33U.S.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers performing anti-terror inspections
at the Bridge of the Americas port of entry in El Paso seized 478 pounds of
marijuana Thursday night... in the trunk of a vehicle being driven by a
17-year-old female U.S. citizen... [ludicrous prohib-supported] estimated
street value of $478,000... stoneycreeknews.com/ ...
14:30:39Hamilton
Police Service's Vice and Drug Unit seized more than $2 million
[grossly-inflated prohibition value] in marijuana contained in 12 units
in an apartment building in Stoney Creek Wednesday... 2,166 marijuana plants,
ranging in height from two to three feet... hosted.ap.org/ ... 11:09:55New
"landmark" research finds that alcohol and tobacco are more dangerous than some
illegal drugs like marijuana or Ecstasy and should be classified as such in legal
systems... The pet food linked to
the deaths of 16 animals has shown no signs of contamination, the manufacturer
says, and the company cannot explain why the cats and dog developed acute
kidney failure and died... tests... performed by an outside company... on 10
cats that died... show only that the cats died of acute kidney failure... Call
centers hired by the company received 47,000 calls over the weekend... telegram.com/ ... 10:09:02
Her daughter... said she called Menu
Foods’ hotline yesterday and was rudely told that the Special Kitty brand
was not on the company’s list before the call taker hung up. The brand
actually is on the list. She said she tried back numerous times during the day
and was hung up on. She tried again with a reporter present, and the call taker
apologized for the way [she] had been treated earlier and advised her to return
unused food for a refund. "That’s poor public relations..." A federal jury here has found
a former U.S. Border Patrol agent guilty of taking a bundle of marijuana from a
smuggler's load as a video camera filmed him... a video camera inside a DPS car
then filmed Gonzalez as he backed up his vehicle to the front of the truck,
took a bundle of marijuana and put it in the trunk of his car. The video also
shows him moving other bales to fill the space left by the missing bundle...
[corrupt AND an idiot....] abclocal.go.com/ ... 10:13:41DIAMOND BAR, Mar. 22, 2007...
Sheriff's narcotics officers raided a home in Diamond Bar Wednesday and
confiscated an estimated [totally absurd prohibition-inflated] $12.5
million worth of marijuana in what authorities said could be part of a larger
scale operation in affluent neighborhoods throughout Southern California...
2,100 plants were seized in the seven bedroom home, some of them valued
[because of prohibition price-support] as at much as $5,000 each on the
street... Malaysian movie pirates have put
a bounty on the heads of two sniffer dogs who busted a fake DVD ring with a
seizure of discs worth about $3 million... 
Santa Cruz County authorities have
confiscated more than two dozen animals from a couple who were hoarding them in
their motel room they shared with two children... 20 domestic birds, a cat and
a rabbit... one dead bird in a cage and three others stuffed in the freezer...
news.bbc.co.uk/ ... 12:47:57A US woman who
claims her cat died after eating tainted pet food is suing the manufacturer,
Menu Foods... Chicago resident Dawn Majerczyk claims the company knew that
there was a problem earlier and failed to act. Her nine-year-old cat Phoenix
suffered kidney failure last week after, she says, eating just one of the
pouches... Special Kitty Select Cuts... reportedly lost 6lb (2.7kg) in the four
days and was unable to walk and almost blind by the time he was put down...
The U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service declassified the American crocodile as an endangered species
Tuesday... Army Sgt. Wayne R.
Cornell, 26, of Holstein, Neb.Army Pfc. Stephen K. Richardson, 22, of
Bridgeport, Conn. Army Staff Sgt. Gina
R. Sparks, 35, of Drury, Mo., died Oct. 4, 2004, at Fort Polk, La., from a
non-combat related incident. She was assigned to the 115th Field Hospital,
Warrior Brigade, Fort Polk. The incident was under investigation. defenselink.mil/ ... 22:14:31Army Lt. Col. Peter
E. Winston, 56, of Plant City, Fla., died Nov. 13, 2006, in Kaiserslautern,
Germany, from a non-combat related incident while in Iraq. He was assigned to
the 143rd Sustainment Command, Orlando, Fla. The incident is under
investigation. defenselink.mil/ ... 11:28:35Army Sgt. John E.
Allen, 25, of Palmdale, Calif.Army Sgt. Ed Santini, 25, of Toa Baja, Puerto
RicoArmy Pfc.
William N. Davis, 26, of Adrian, Mich.Army Pfc. John F. Landry Jr., 20,
of Lowell, Mass. Army Spc. Marieo
Guerrero, 30, of Fort Worth, Texas, died Mar. 17 in Baghdad, Iraq, of
wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle.
Guerrero was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade
Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Schweinfurt, Germany. defenselink.mil/ ... 11:27:22Army Sgt. Ryan P.
Green, 24, of Woodlands, Texas, died Mar. 18 in Landstuhl, Germany, of
wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his unit
while on combat patrol Mar. 15 in Baghdad, Iraq. Green was assigned to the 1st
Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division,
Fort Hood, Texas. Meadow
Lake, NM... An indoor marijuana grow was discovered last week in Meadow Lake,
according to State Police, who estimate that it could have been sold on the
streets for [government prohibition-supported black market inflated
price] more than $300,000... toledoblade.com/ ... 13:10:59Sixty-five marijuana plants
with an estimated [grossly inflated prohibition-supported] street value
of $104,000 were seized from a North Toledo residence after the homeowner was
arrested in Wood County on domestic violence and drug-related offenses...
abclocal.go.com/ ... 13:10:02The Georgia House has
overwhelmingly passed a measure banning the sale of marijuana-flavored candies
to minors... says the candies... promote drug use... Some critics fear the
Legislature is overstepping its bounds by attempting to legislate taste...
measure now moves to the state Senate... oregonlive.com/ ... 13:09:11Multnomah County, Oregon...
Parole and Probation Supervisor Shadman Afzal invited his co-workers to his
home to celebrate the holidays last December, but when the host pulled out a
bong and began smoking marijuana, the party was over... says he was emotionally
distraught over the disease [Parkinson's] and his future ability to support his
family... His resignation was effective Monday, and prosecutors announced this week that he won't face criminal
charges... [Hmmm....] hosted.ap.org/ ... 12:23:23TUCSON,
Ariz... An 82-year-old man who was caught trying to smuggle 170 pounds of
cocaine into the country from Mexico has been sentenced to 10 years in federal
prison... caught trying to drive his car through the Nogales border crossing in
August... admitted to agents that he was being paid to deliver the drugs...
March 20, 2007 (MACHESNEY
PARK, Ill.) - Authorities from the U-S Drug Enforcement Administration say they
seized [and absurdly prohibition-inflated] 500-thousand dollars worth of
marijuana packaged in florist boxes at a northern Illinois home.... more than
300 pounds of marijuana and ten-thousand dollars in cash... nbc-2.com/ ... 12:03:48PORT CHARLOTTE: A traffic stop early Tuesday morning led
Charlotte County sheriff's deputies to marijuana and morphine pills... he was
caught doing 55 mph in a 35 mph zone... found more than 8 pounds of marijuana
and 72 morphine pills.... deputy who stopped Wilkinson said he could smell the
marijuana coming from Wilkinson's station wagon... also found a gym bag in the
station wagon with 10 plastic bags of marijuana and two pill bottles with
morphine inside.... was carrying $1,403 in cash in his front shorts pocket...
[Another person partaking too much of his own product?] fox21.com/ ... 12:02:08Should Georgia businesses be
allowed to sell candy that's flavored like marijuana to minors? The House will
take up the question today when lawmakers consider a measure that would ban
retailers from selling lollipops, gumdrops or other candy flavored to taste
like the drug... [PLANT!] tompaine.com/ ... 12:01:42New Mexico's state legislature assured that
New Mexico will become the 12th state to allow seriously ill patients to use
medical marijuana without fear of arrest. It also proved that the medical
marijuana movement—based on science, compassion and plain common
sense—is now unstoppable... --Rob Kampia is executive director of the
Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, D.C... brandonsun.com/ ... 12:01:17A 27-year-old Toronto woman is facing
prosecution in the United States following the seizure of 10 kilograms of
marijuana at the Canada-U.S. border... found 39 vacuum-sealed bags of marijuana
in the spare tire... hosted.ap.org/ ...
11:21:52Panamanian police seized a boat off the nation's Pacific coast
carrying 21.4 tons of cocaine in one of the
biggest maritime cocaine busts anywhere on record.... arrested 12 men on the
boat, including Mexicans and Panamanians, and another two suspects in Panama
City.... boat... was sailing under a Panamanian flag.... [And remember...
this is just what they caught; consider it the tip of the iceberg....]
Army Sgt. 1st Class
Christopher R. Brevard, 31, of Phoenix, died Mar. 16 in Baghdad, Iraq,
of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his unit.
Brevard was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment, 4th
Airborne Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Fort Richardson, Alaska.
defenselink.mil/ ... 23:45:01Army Sgt. 1st Class
Benjamin L. Sebban, 29, of Chattanooga, Tenn., died Mar. 17 in Baqubah,
Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his
unit. Sebban was assigned to the 5th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 3rd
Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C. defenselink.mil/ ... 23:44:36Army Pfc. Anthony A.
Kaiser, 27, of Narrowsburg, N.Y., died Mar. 17 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds
suffered when his unit came in contact with enemy forces using small arms fire.
Kaiser was assigned to the 504th Military Police Battalion, 42nd Military
Police Brigade, Fort Lewis, Wash. defenselink.mil/ ... 23:44:06 Marine Lance Cpl.
Harry H. Timberman, 20, of Minong, Wis., died March 17 from wounds
received while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq.
Timberman was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine
Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Twentynine Palms, Calif. 
Seven pilot whales that came
ashore on the Galapagos Islands died Sunday, despite the efforts of rescuers
who dug makeshift pools in the sand to keep them from dehydrating. Five other
whales in the group were returned to the ocean. The whales, which are 10 to 30
feet long, came ashore late Saturday near the southern town of Puerto Villamil
on Isabela Island, the largest of the Galapagos... A student... Middle School...
accused of selling brownies laced with marijuana... sunstar.com.ph/ ... 22:59:35A
TOTAL of 100,000 fully-grown marijuana plants valued at P21.25 million were
eradicated by Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (Pdea) policemen at Mt.
Kasablotan in Barangay Loccong, Tinglayan, Kalinga over the weekend... failed
to arrest any marijuana cultivator. Enmodias said the eradication operation is
part of "Implan Green Gold-Cordillera," a massive eradication campaign in
identified marijuana cultivation sites in the region... The Pdea official also
had an informal audience with Tinglayan Mayor Johnny Maymaya, who informed him
that the town is developing an alternative livelihood for
farmers by urging them to cultivate Arabica coffee plants.... [If you
want to completely eliminate the huge profit motive for this, then REPEAL!
REPEAL! REPEEEEEEAAAALLLLLL!] 14wfie.com/ ... 22:58:01Cook County police say an
investigation that began with a marijuana seizure worth $2 million has led to
another pot bust worth [an absolutely absurdly prohibition-inflated] $6
million... [It's just a stupid herb!!!] 95 pounds of marijuana, 300 hits
of LSD and five grams of heroin. They say the pot was hydroponic marijuana, a
more potent and expensive type of the drug... [ONLY BECAUSE OF
PROHIBITION!] newsday.com/ ... 22:56:20BUFFALO, N.Y... Border agents
found 22 pounds of marijuana concealed in the spare tire of a car Monday and
arrested the Canadian driver... taipeitimes.com/ ... 22:55:56An African-American man who
was given a life sentence when he tested positive for marijuana in violation of
his parole has been freed after serving 17 years in prison... [One small
victory for humanity over stupid prohibitionist insanity] The governor
granted Tyrone Brown a pardon last week, but he must live with his mother, see
a parole officer and undergo counselling and treatment... pr-inside.com/ ... 22:53:08The Florida judge who heard
evidence in the ANNA NICOLE SMITH DNA paternity test has been arrested on
marijuana charges... [Oh, the irony...] PET FOOD RECALL
...millions of containers of dog and cat food sold at major retailers across
North America were recalled. Menu Foods, the Ontario-based company that
produced the wet pet food, said yesterday it was recalling dog food sold under
48 brands and cat food sold under 40 brands, including Iams, Nutro and
Eukanuba... Select cans of Schnucks-brand cat food and dog food... At a
Petsmart store in Union, N.J., Silviene Grzybowski became worried when the four
types of Iams products she buys for her cat, Smokey, vanished from shelves. The
cat was very sick and had not been eating for days, she said. "The vet told us
to buy her her favorite food, but I’m going to call the vet right now..."
Army Spc. Forrest J.
Waterbury, 25, of Richmond, Texas, died Mar. 14 near Ramadi, Iraq, when his
unit came in contact with enemy forces using small arms fire. He was assigned
to the 3rd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 3rd
Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga. defenselink.mil/ ... 22:43:17Army Spc. Joshua M.
Boyd, 30, of Seattle, died Mar. 14 at Brooke Army Medical Center, Fort Sam
Houston, Texas, of wounds sustained when an improvised explosive device
exploded near his unit Mar. 5 in Samarra, Iraq. He was assigned to the 2nd
Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd
Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C. defenselink.mil/ ... 08:50:50Army Staff Sgt. Blake
M. Harris, 27, of Hampton, Ga.Army Staff Sgt. Terry W. Prater, 25, of
Speedwell, Tenn.Army Sgt. Emerson N. Brand, 29, of Rigby, IdahoArmy Pfc. James L.
Arnold, 21, of Mattawan, Mich. HERMISTON, Ore... Houston
Police Department told Hermiston Law Enforcement that dogs had smelled
marijuana in a box addressed to Hermiston. When the box arrived in Hermiston,
police got a search warrant for the house it went to... found a 6-pound block
of marijuana. Neighbors couldn't believe it.... "I was
shocked. I would not want my cousins around that thing...." [What a
hoot of a "neighbor" quote. This report smacks of small-town 1960!] [Three
suspects were] arrested on seven counts, including unlawful delivery of
marijuana within one-thousand feet of a school.... southcoasttoday.com/ ...
10:02:02WAREHAM
— A canine search team from the Plymouth County Sheriff's Department
located three small bags of marijuana at Wareham High School....
Ten K-9 teams, including teams from other counties,
participated in the search... [Ten teams from multiple counties to catch
three high school kids' small stashes. Overkill!] localnewscomesfirst.com/ ...
10:00:47The Oregon
Senate has passed a bill that would allow businesses to
prohibit the use of medical marijuana in the workplace.... [Not
exposing others to second-hand pot smoke: understandable. Not allowing those
who allegedly need to smoke for medical reasons: unacceptable. But there's
always brownies instead....] midhudsonmostwanted.com/ ...
09:59:25West Nyack
– A Fed Ex box arrived at a business on West Nyack Road in West Nyack the
other day and when an employee didn’t recognize the name on the box, he
opened it and found 20 pounds of marijuana inside. He called the police who
believe someone was supposed to intercept the delivery before getting into the
business.... a second package also containing 20 pounds of pot was
intercepted... estimated wholesale value of the two shipments is [an absurd
prohibition-inflated] $120,000.... Both packages were shipped from
Georgia.... californiaprogressreport.com/ ...
09:58:01Last week,
as President Bush was touring South America, there was another story about the
failure of our $4 billion program to eradicate Colombia's coca crop. Yet even
as U.S. ports, refineries and chemical plants remain famously vulnerable to
attack, and as Afghanistan produces record amounts of opium, the feds continue
to bust up little California marijuana dispensaries and try to send the
marijuanistas to prison. It's obvious that the war on drugs, our longest war,
is another war we're not winning. It's gone on for 75 years and, like the war
on terror, it's been pursued with fatally counterproductive strategies. If
Washington doesn't alter course, it could last forever. There's now a chance,
albeit slim, that things could change... Now there are also signs that the new
Congress, though unlikely to soon roll back the longer sentences and other
punitive laws passed by its predecessors, isn't disposed to pass more. There's
even a chance that it may begin to exercise some oversight over the zealotry of
the drug cops... key members in both houses are backers of drug war reform
and/or supporters of legislation that would bar the feds from cracking down on
medical marijuana in the states that have legalized it... Among them: Speaker
Nancy Pelosi; Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, who heads the House committee that
has oversight over Walters' office; Rep. David Obey, D-Wisconsin, chair of the
House Operations Committee; Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Illinois; and Senate
Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, whose own state twice voted to approve
medical marijuana... Courage is scarce, so don't expect too
much, certainly not before 2008... insidebayarea.com/ ... 09:55:27SAN FRANCISCO — A federal
judge on Friday gave a prosecutor one month to decide — and a lecture to
guide his way — on whether to continue the government's case against "Guru
of Ganja" Ed Rosenthal.... The government already has said it won't seek more
than the one-day jail sentence Rosenthal already served for his original
conviction should he be convicted anew on the marijuana crimes. [U.S. District
Judge Charles] Breyer made it clear Friday he'd like to see the case go away,
suggesting the government should weigh whether its time and energy, and the
court's, is best spent on the trial of a man who already has served his
sentence... Breyer... ordered everyone back to court on Friday, April 13, and
chuckled over the date's superstitious connotation. "I can't imagine a better
day," he said dryly. "How about 4/20?" Rosenthal quipped... Army Pfc. Alberto
Garcia Jr., 23, of Bakersfield, Calif., died Mar. 13 in Baghdad, Iraq, of
wounds suffered when his unit came in contact with enemy forces using small
arms fire and an improvised explosive device. Garcia was assigned to the 1st
Battalion, 26th Infantry, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division,
Schweinfurt, Germany. defenselink.mil/ ... 22:37:53Marine Lance Cpl.
Raymond J. Holzhauer, 19, of Dwight, Ill., died March 15 from a
non-hostile incident in Al Anbar province, Iraq. His death is currently under
investigation. Holzhauer was assigned to 2nd Maintenance Battalion, 2nd Marine
Logistics Group, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C. defenselink.mil/ ... 22:37:31Army Sgt. Robert M.
Carr, 22, of Warren, Ohio, died Mar. 13 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds
suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle. Carr
was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat
Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo. defenselink.mil/ ... 22:37:05Army Spc. Stephen M.
Kowalczyk, 32, of San Diego, died Mar. 14 in Muqdadiyah, Iraq, when his
unit came in contact with enemy forces using small arms fire. Kowalczyk was
assigned to the 6th Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team,
1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas. defenselink.mil/ ... 22:36:43Army Cpl. Brian L.
Chevalier, 21, of Athens, Ga., died Mar. 14 in Mufrek, Iraq, of wounds
suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near him. Chevalier was
assigned to the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd
Infantry Division, Fort Lewis, Wash. defenselink.mil/ ... 22:36:23Army Spc. Adam J.
Rosema, 27, of Pasadena, Calif., died Mar. 14 south of Baqubah, Iraq, of
wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle
during recovery operations. Rosema was assigned to the 215th Brigade Support
Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas.
defenselink.mil/ ... 22:35:59Marine Lance Cpl.
Steven M. Chavez, 20, of Hondo, N.M., died March 14 from a non-hostile
incident in Al Anbar province, Iraq. Chavez's death is currently under
investigation. Chavez was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 1st
Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.
oogle says
it will change some of the digits in logged IP addresses and alter cookie file
information to anonymize users. The technical details have yet to be worked
out. Don't expect a guarantee of anonymity, however... David McClure, president
and CEO of the U.S. Internet Industry Association... points out that the cost
of keeping a gigabyte of data for a year is about $7.60, twice that if the data
is stored in a secure data center. According to an IDC study commissioned by
storage vendor EMC, 161 exabytes of digital information were created and copied
in 2006. One exabyte equals a billion gigabytes. By 2010, IDC expects the
volume of data created and copied to rise sixfold to 988 exabytes, reflecting a
compound annual growth rate of 57%. Privacy suddenly looks a lot like
savings... fin24.co.za/ ... 11:09:43oogle is faced with two
lawsuits in as many weeks, from two different companies - both for massive
copyright infringement; doesn't this sound like a conspiracy?.. Microsoft, on
behalf of a group of publishers, is suing Google for scanning hardcopy
material. Viacom... the holding company of MTV, VH1 and Nickelodeon... is suing
YouTube, which Google... for hosting copyright material that was broadcast on
some of the Viacom media networks... newsfactor.com/ ... 11:07:49Many
industry watchers believe the Viacom lawsuit could represent the beginning of a
copyright-owner onslaught from all sides... Whether those "fans" to which
Viacom referred mind Google making money from the traffic they drive to the
video-sharing site is not the issue. Whether the fans are liable in future
copyright suits is. According to some legal experts, YouTube's
uploading community could find itself in the line of fire... marijuana. "You can't
bring that crap in here...." [22yo RH] took the phone and the drugs and hid
them in the bushes outside, then passed the security checkpoint.... [Guard]
summoned a police officer, who waited for Hall to return and watched as he
retrieved the phone and the pot.... hosted.ap.org/ ...
21:57:11BETTENDORF, Iowa... A burglary suspect was arrested after he
left behind a Corrections Department identification card he used to jimmy a
lock... SANDY, Utah... A 50-year-old
man said his femur broke "like a twig" when a humpback whale whipped her tail
during an excursion in the Dominican Republic... an area where divers are
allowed to swim with humpback whales... But there was nothing playful about a
mother who had a calf on her back... hosted.ap.org/ ... 10:59:37NORTH PLATTE,
Neb... Two stray cats attacked three people after
they got into a house... A call for help Monday took animal control officer
John Pettit to the home of Melissa Breva... Breva told Pettit she had captured
two cats in a bedroom.... "the cats had gotten into the house when the front
door was open...." then attacked two women who were visiting... Pettit went to
his truck for snares - his "cat catchers." Then he heard screaming... The cats
had attacked a boy who had opened the bedroom door... Both cats were shot,
tranquilized and taken to the animal shelter, where they were euthanized...
WALES TOWNSHIP, Mich...
Taking time to remember a wild turkey may seem strange, but a church will hold
a moment of silence this Sunday for what the pastor called a model member of
his congregation.... the turkey regularly attended Sunday services and greeted
people as they arrived.... The turkey died last week after it was hit by a car
on a road near the St. Clair County church... The fowl never missed a
service... had been hanging around since late last year, when residents began
feeding it.... Some people said it would show up like clockwork each morning at
the community's bus stop, where it would chase children. Others enjoyed
watching the bird strut down the middle of the street, trying to impress a
group of female turkeys... hosted.ap.org/ ... 11:05:37
LINZ, Austria... A housebroken
pet pig with an unusual black hide was mistaken for a wild boar and shot by a
hunter in woods near its owner's farm.... officials... concluded there was no
way the unidentified hunter could have realized the pig not the wild quarry he
was after.... [Hunter] brought the carcass to the owner, who shared the pork...
Marine Pfc. Angel
Rosa, 21, of South Portland, Maine, died March 13 from wounds received
while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq. Rosa was
assigned to 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine
Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C. defenselink.mil/ ... 10:53:28Army Sgt. 1st Class
Douglas C. Stone, 49, of Taylorsville, Utah, died Mar. 11 in Iraq of
wounds suffered from a non-combat related incident. His death is under
investigation. Stone was assigned to the 96th Regional Readiness Command, Salt
Lake City. HAMPDEN, Mass. -- Three members of the same
Hampden family are facing charges that they imported thousands of pounds of
marijuana from Canada... 56-year-old... his 26-year-old son... and his
24-year-old son-in-law... after an investigation that started about a year and
a half ago.... brought more than four-thousand pounds of pot worth [absurd
prohibition-inflated] millions of dollars into the U.S.... Police say the
three Hampden men were part of a much larger smuggling operation... sfgate.com/ ... 11:50:56The federal government's
five-year effort to throw one of the nation's most prominent advocates of
marijuana in prison appears to be all but dead after a judge ruled that
prosecutors had vindictively piled on charges against the
Oakland man after he successfully appealed his pot-growing convictions. U.S.
District Judge Charles Breyer ruled Wednesday that prosecutors
had illegally retaliated against Ed Rosenthal, 62, last fall when they
added tax-evasion and money-laundering charges to his previous indictment for
growing marijuana for medical patients... [One small victory for human
liberty... One giant war yet to be ended... REPEAL! REPEAL! REPEAL!] hosted.ap.org/ ... 10:56:16A woman whose
doctor says marijuana is the only medicine keeping her alive can face federal
prosecution on drug charges... the latest legal defeat for Angel Raich, a
mother of two from Oakland suffering from scoliosis, a brain tumor, chronic
nausea and other ailments who sued the federal government pre-emptively to
avoid being arrested for using the drug. On her doctor's advice, Raich eats or
smokes marijuana every couple of hours to ease her pain and bolster her
appetite... KNOXVILLE, Tenn...
wildlife officers discovered a 5-foot alligator Sunday in Watts Bar Lake near
Spring City, about 60 miles south of Knoxville.... Alligators are not
indigenous to Tennessee, and the state's climate is too cold to support a
reproducing population.... "Somebody probably bought this one as a pet down in
Florida and kept it until it got too large and uncontrollable.... That's when
they just let it go...." the Watts Bar alligator will be stuffed by a taxidermist and used as an educational display.
[HEY!??! Was that necessary?] news.bbc.co.uk/ ... 10:33:50
Bats at risk of being killed by
the growing number of wind farms could be saved with the use of radars. Bat
deaths at wind farms are thought to exceed those of birds and it is feared some
species could eventually become endangered if action is not taken...
researchers at Aberdeen University... found [bats] did not forage where
electromagnetic radiation could be measured.... hosted.ap.org/ ... 10:29:55
Federal biologists are
examining decades of witness reports and scientific research as they try to
determine once and for all if eastern mountain lions thought to be extinct are
actually living in Maine. Mountain lions, also known as cougars or panthers,
are believed to be extinct east of the Mississippi River, from Maine to South
Carolina. But biologists receive at least a dozen reports each year of
sightings in southern Maine alone.... Army Sgt. Thomas L.
Latham, 23, of Delmar, Md., died March 11 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds
sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near his Humvee. He was
assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team,
10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, N.Y. defenselink.mil/ ... 10:11:48Army Sgt. Daniel E.
Woodcock, 25, of Glennallen, Alaska, died Mar. 11, in Ad Dawr, Iraq, of
wounds suffered from a building explosion while on combat patrol. Woodcock was
assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade
Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C. defenselink.mil/ ... 10:11:22Marine Lance Cpl.
Nathanial D. Windsor, 20, of Scappoose, Ore., died March 13 from wounds
received while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq. Windsor
was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I
Marine Expeditionary Force, Twentynine Palms, Calif. BLOOMINGTON, Ill....
Authorities in central Illinois say they discovered 60 pounds of marijuana
stuffed in a duffel bag during a traffic stop near Normal.... [49yo male &
34yo female] of Inkster, Michigan face several drug charges.... police pulled
over Taylor's minivan after midnight yesterday.... because of improper lane
usage.... [yeah, sure!] He was arrested for driving with a suspended
license.... freenewmexican.com/ ...
11:00:37New
Mexico... House narrowly approved a bill Tuesday to legalize the use of
[marijuana] for medical purposes... approved Senate Bill 523 on a 36-31 vote
after nearly two hours of debate Tuesday. The bill returns to the Senate for
consideration of a minor House change. Gov. Bill Richardson... heralded House
passage of the measure... [And someday it will be legalized...?]
A DNA survey of wild and
domestic pigs has thrown new light on how early humans reached the remote
Pacific... clear genetic link between modern and ancient pigs in East Asia and
several Pacific islands... suggests that colonists who transported the animals
may have travelled from Vietnam via numerous islands.... news.bbc.co.uk/ ...
10:32:48Remains of 14 people were discovered at Wayland's Smithy, near
Uffington White Horse, Oxfordshire, in the 1960s. Latest techniques date the
bones at between 3590 BC and 3560 BC, and have led experts to believe the
people may have died in a Neolithic Age massacre... the findings suggest the
Neolithic Age was more violent than previously thought... Army Spc. Jonathan K.
Smith, 19, of Atlanta, died Mar. 11 in Baghdad, Iraq, of a non-combat
related incident, which is under investigation. Smith was assigned to the 115th
Brigade Support Battalion, 1st Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas.
...The first arrest came
shortly before noon on Friday when cops responded to a reported break-in....
When they arrived on the scene, cops noticed that the boyfriend of the resident
who called in the burglary... had left a partially smoked marijuana joint and a
pipe in plain view.... [stupid on the boyfriend's part, but still not
right] Shortly before midnight Saturday night, Bayonne cops made another
arrest when they caught two men passing a joint while crossing Silver Street
near Orient Street.... [Now, don't we all feel safer thanks to these
officers' vigilence!! NOT!!!] t-g.com/ ... 18:08:50...Officer Gregg Loyd said he smelled marijuana after
making a traffic stop of a car driven by [20yo male]... early Sunday on Depot
Street. [Driver] allowed a vehicle search [yeah, sure], Loyd said, and a
partially-burned, hand-rolled cigar ["blunt"] containing a substance
believed to be marijuana was found within a Newport cigarette box in the
console.... [Driver] was initially stopped for allegedly weaving in and out of
a traffic lane [yeah, sure], Loyd said... [If you've ever been
stopped and hassled by an officer on these trumped-up premises, or seen how
police can fudge facts on their reports, you begin to be very skeptical of
police reports...] 
New
Mexico outlawed cockfighting on Monday in a victory for animal welfare groups,
leaving Louisiana as the last state in the country where the controversial
practice is legal... mtexpress.com/ ... 16:55:44A Hailey [Idaho] woman [in her 60s]
was... attacked by her own cat... numerous bite wounds.... "Somebody came to
her door with another cat that they thought was her cat. She went to the door,
and her cat went berserk...." Tyrone Brown, the man sentenced to life in
prison for violating probation with a single marijuana cigarette, will be a
free man... dailyillini.com/ ... 16:31:21...Illinois... on Tuesday a
bill was sent to the Senate Public Health Committee regarding the legalization
of medical marijuana in Illinois. This bill would legalize the use of medical
marijuana in some hospitals as a medicinal treatment... wsbtv.com/ ... 16:29:55PENSACOLA, Fla. -- A group of
teenagers found about 28 pounds of marijuana along Blue Angel Parkway in
Escambia County, Florida... when they were picking up trash... had a
[prohibition-inflated absurd] street value of between $25,000 and
$50,000... In a lecture sponsored by the
MU chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Law,
attorney Dan Viets taught students about their rights when dealing with law
enforcement... He also said it is a mistake to accept promises made by the
police. "Lying is a tool of law enforcement..." students should avoid talking
to the police, if possible... Columbia Police Department Capt. Zim Schwartze
said Viets is wrong about police intentions and is narrow-minded in his views.
"Individuals who attend the meetings are only getting one side of the story..."
columbiamissourian.com/ ...
12:37:51The
National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws and Students for
Sensible Drug Policy held their 2007 state conference at the MU Arts and
Science building Friday and Saturday. About 35 people attended to hear
professionals and activists discuss how to change drug policies at the
university, city and statewide level. The conference schedule included
educational sessions on industrial and medical marijuana use, lobbying and
strengthening student activism and social events like dinner at the Grand Cru
restaurant... For this year’s conference, Randall said an important focus
is to raise awareness of a Missouri bill in the House of Representatives that
calls for the medicinal use of marijuana to be legal on a statewide basis with
doctor’s approval. In Columbia, since two propositions on the November
2004 ballot passed, possessing 35 grams or less of marijuana is legal if a
person receives approval from a doctor. The other proposition passed on the
ballot decriminalizes the possession of 35 grams or less of marijuana, allowing
a maximum fine of up to $200, but no jail time. The charges are handled through
the municipal court, rather than the state and federal courts...
[Incremental decrim is B!S! REPEAL! REPEAL! REPEAL for personal adult use
just like those deadly and addictive recreational substances alcohol and
tobacco.] freenewmexican.com/ ...
12:36:02New
Mexico.... The state Senate on Saturday resurrected the medical marijuana
issue, passing a new bill allowing people suffering certain serious medical
conditions to smoke cannabis to treat their symptoms. The action came two days
after the House voted 37-32 to defeat the original bill... hosted.ap.org/ ... 11:56:51California was the first of 12
states to allow the sale of marijuana for medicinal purposes, mainly pain
control, and is regarded as having the loosest regulations... Oakland, Santa
Rosa and even famously permissive West Hollywood are among cities that have
imposed moratoriums on new clinics amid concerns owners and buyers are abusing
the law. Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton has called for a similar
moratorium in his city. The DEA also has taken notice, embarking on a
stepped-up effort targeting clinics run by people who appear to flout the
reasonable compensation provision. Federal officials raided 11 Los Angeles-area
dispensaries in one day in January, the largest such crackdown. They returned
to one of the clinics in West Hollywood this past Wednesday, breaking down a
door and seizing additional records... BRATTLEBORO, Vt....
A 125-pound pet alligator that had been living in a basement cage is headed to
a new home after it was confiscated by the Vermont Department of Fish and
Wildlife. The 6-foot-4-inch American alligator, estimated to be 17-years old,
had been living in the home for seven years... hosted.ap.org/ ... 10:00:04Mama
Petite, described as one of the oldest hippos in the country, has died after
several days of rapidly declining health at the Birmingham Zoo. The
50-year-old, 2,800-pound hippo was euthanized in her outdoor enclosure
Wednesday while surrounded by her zoo caretakers... gave birth to nine
offspring during her time in Birmingham... The odor of
burning marijuana is insufficient to allow police to enter a residence without
a warrant, the Utah Supreme Court ruled Friday... aid only a limited number
of circumstances create an exception to the warrant requirement, such as
preventing the imminent destruction of evidence. Smelling pot is not one of
them... "The aroma of marijuana must be accompanied by some evidence that the
suspects are disposing of the evidence, as opposed to casually consuming it..."
latimes.com/ ... 10:16:06Three tons of marijuana worth
an estimated [prohibition-inflated prohibitionism-vaunting by-the-joint
value of] $20 million on the street was found in a rental truck abandoned
on a freeway onramp this week... No one was around, and nothing appeared to be
wrong with the vehicle... truck was unlocked and its engine still warm...
"Somebody's going be in some major trouble for walking away and leaving that
quantity sitting on the side of freeway.... I'm glad I'm not him..." hosted.ap.org/ ...
10:04:46CHANDLER, Ariz... A man who started a small fire while cooking
methamphetamine drove to a Wal-Mart to buy a fire extinguisher when he couldn't
put out the flames... was greeted by Maricopa County deputies when he
returned... hosted.ap.org/ ... 10:04:01SAGINAW, Mich.... Police said
they caught an 8-year-old trying to sell marijuana to other children at a
counseling center... found the marijuana in a box of Lego toys... boy is
enrolled in a program for students with disabilities... news.bbc.co.uk/ ...
09:59:14Thousands of Russians may have been poisoned by bootleg alcohol
containing medical disinfectant causing drinkers' skin to turn yellow before
they fall dangerously ill or die... There is something about the light - or the
lack of it - that eats the soul in Russia, that makes you drink. The dark days
in winter, the grimness of ordinary life. They say one in six Russians is an
alcoholic. That is why President Putin, the former KGB man, is something of a
puritan - at least in public. He has brought in a series of laws, tripling the
price of vodka and threatening dire penalties if people drink black market
moonshine... And that is, of course, what everybody who can't afford
shop-bought vodka does... Army Staff Sgt.
Christopher R. Webb, 28, of Winchester, Calif.Army Spc. Shawn P. Rankinen, 28, of
Independence, Mo.Army Spc. Michael D. Rivera, 22, of Brooklyn, N.Y. Army Pvt. Mark W.
Graham, 22, of Lafayette, La., died Mar. 7 at Brooke Army Medical Center,
San Antonio, Texas, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device
detonated near his unit while on combat patrol Mar. 2 in Baghdad, Iraq. Graham
was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 1st
Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas. defenselink.mil/ ... 15:04:01Army Staff Sgt.
Justin M. Estes, 25, of Sims, Ark.Army Staff Sgt. Robert M. Stanley,
27, of Spotsylvania, Va.Army Sgt. Andrew C. Perkins, 27, of Northglenn,
Colo.Army Spc.
Ryan M. Bell, 21, of Colville, Wash.Army Spc. Justin A. Rollins, 22, of
Newport, N.H.Army Pfc. Cory C. Kosters, 19, of The Woodlands,
TexasA woman who called Napier [New
Zealand] police this morning to report a burglary became so upset she broke
down in tears - although the police communications officer who took the initial
call couldn't stop smiling.... called to report the theft of three marijuana
plants which she had growing in pots outside.... bitterly complained that it
was the fourth year in a row someone had sneaked on to her Ahuriri property and
made off with her marijuana plants.... told the communications operator she was
a good person and was sick and tired of "low-lifes" stealing her things...
ketv.com/ ... 15:33:31[47yo] Omaha man was arrested Thursday after police said
they found more than 120 marijuana plants in his home.... found the plants
inside along with more than 2 pounds of packaged pot... stopthedrugwar.org/ ...
15:32:49The New
Mexico House killed the medical marijuana bill there today on a vote of 36-33.
The debate was filled with the usual bigotry, hypocrisy, and ignorance parading
as expertise. I'm particularly irritated with Rep. John Heaton (D-Carlsbad),
who, because he works as a pharmacist, apparently thinks he is an expert on
medical marijuana.... wcsh6.com/ ... 15:32:14Some California teens... are
finding easy access to medical marijuana cards and presenting those cards to
school authorities as a le
A deadly species of
jellyfish, translucent and the size of a thumbnail, is spreading along
Australia’s coastline as a result of global warming, scientists warned
today... Irukandji jellyfish are among the world’s most toxic creatures
– all but impossible to detect in the water but packing a potentially
lethal punch belying their tiny size... marine biologists have now found them
off Queensland’s Fraser Island — a popular tourist spot about 400
miles south of their previously assumed range. Their discovery has halted
production of a Hollywood film, Fool’s Gold, starring Kate Hudson and
Matthew McConaughey, who were originally due to be filmed swimming in the
sea... 
DARWIN, Australia... An
environmental group said Tuesday it had captured 
Democratic presidential
hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton vowed Monday to create a universal health care
system if elected, saying she "learned a lot" during the failed health care
effort of her husband's presidency... [She will later unveil her
"5-year-plan" for top-down control of the economy, and her plan to unify all
media news under the Prada news agency...] 
WATERVILLE, Maine... There's a mouse in Bill Exner's house
that he says he has captured three times. Each time, the mouse escaped, and the
last time the rodent made off with his lower dentures... 
...the SoulCycle
spinning studio... spinning... involves riding a bike in standing and seated
positions, and at alternating levels of resistance, while music plays... on the
Upper West Side in Manhattan last evening, as about 35 women and 5 men paid
$2,300 apiece (or per stationary bike) to hear former President Bill Clinton
speak... "People tend to wear sexy spandex outfits with midriffs showing," Ms.
Krupp said. "But in deference to the president, we wore these [long-sleeved
white cotton T-]shirts that said, ‘Exercise Your Vote.’..."
[Didn't want Bill to start drooling and lose his concentration?]
HIBERNIA, Ind... After a
four-year absence, raccoon is back on the menu for the Hibernia Community
Building's annual fundraiser... hunters in the town... have bagged 103 raccoons
for the event... flavor is similar to pork... 
The
Beatles' record label has moved to dampen rumours that the band's music is
about to become available online. The Fab Four are the last major act to
withhold their back catalogue from stores like iTunes and Napster....