blog-heap o' links
Marine Cpl. Sean
A. Stokes, 24, of Auburn, Calif., died July 30 from wounds suffered while
conducting combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq. He was assigned to 3rd
Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary
Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif. defenselink.mil/ ... 21:43:17Army Staff Sgt.
Wilberto Suliveras, 38, of Humacao, P.R., died July 29 in Taji, Iraq, of
wounds suffered from enemy small arms fire. He was assigned to the 2nd
Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division,
Fort Hood, Texas. defenselink.mil/ ... 21:42:49Army Maj. Thomas
G. Bostick Jr., 37, of Llano, TexasArmy Staff Sgt. William R.
Fritsche, 23, of Martinsville, Ind.
Scientists have genetically engineered mice that develop
the physical and psychological characteristics of schizophrenia... [maybe
they gave them marijuana?] Army Pfc. Cody C.
Grater, 20, of Spring Hill, Fla., died July 29 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds
suffered from enemy direct fire. He was assigned to the 407th Brigade Support
Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.
defenselink.mil/ ... 21:55:24Army Spc. Daniel
A. Leckel, 19, of Medford, Ore., died July 25 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds
suffered from enemy small arms fire. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 28th
Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division,
Fort Riley, Kan. defenselink.mil/ ... 21:12:14Army Pvt. Michael
A. Baloga, 21, of Everett, Wash., died July 26 in Muqdadiyah, Iraq, of
wounds suffered from an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 6th
Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division,
Fort Hood, Texas. 
marijuana... It's a crop
locally law enforcement has been working to clean up and get rid of, and
deputies said not a day goes by
in Florence County without a marijuana related arrest... [God help all
those nonviolent taboo breaking victims of PuriTaliban Tyranny!] newsnet5.com/ ... 21:53:08AKRON, Ohio -- Summit County
authorities said they made four arrests and seized more
than 500 pounds of marijuana in a drug bust over the weekend... street value of
more than $700,000... ynetnews.com/ ... 21:51:54An
Israeli man was recently arrested for possession of
marijuana, although
he has an official permit from the Health Ministry to use the drug for
medicinal purposes. Criminal charges were filed against him and, according to
his testimony, he was "treated like a dangerous drug addict..." has Tourette
Syndrome... He has a 50 percent disability rating and receives a monthly
allowance from social security. At the age of 16, [he] tried smoking marijuana
and discovered that the drug helped ease his anxieties and enabled him to cope
better with reality. In November 2006, following a long and exhausting process,
he was the first person suffering from Tourette in Israel to be granted
permission to use marijuana to help treat his condition... iol.co.za/ ... 21:50:59Smoking a
single joint of cannabis has the same impact on breathing capacity as up to
five cigarettes... Medical Research Institute of New Zealand... The most
serious damage was found in tobacco smokers - both tobacco-only and combined
users - who were the only volunteers to have emphysema, a degenerative and
crippling lung disease... 
Harry Potter the concept, the brand, the franchise, is now well and
truly ended, give or take the odd multimillion-pound earning catch-up film.
Rowling has decreed that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will be the
seventh and last book in the series and who can honestly blame her? It must be
hard, unless your heart is really set on earning that second billion dollars,
to keep focused on a broom-flying pubescent with ocular issues... breitbart.com/ ... 21:40:38Tom
Snyder, who pioneered the late-late network TV talk show with a personal yet
abrasive style and his robust, trademark laugh, has died from complications
associated with leukemia. He was 71... today.msnbc.msn.com/ ... 21:37:26J.K.
Rowling tells TODAY she will write an ‘encyclopedia’ on characters...
today.msnbc.msn.com/ ...
21:37:10Rowling tells what happens next
Exclusive: Author gives details on events after the book’s final
epilogue... allday.msnbc.msn.com/ ...
21:36:50Rowling explains changing last word in Harry Potter hosted.ap.org/ ... 21:34:20Berlin
has named a street honoring Frank Zappa... Frank-Zappa-Strasse or Frank Zappa
Street - formerly Street 13 - lies on the eastern outskirts of Berlin amid
empty industrial buildings in what was communist East Germany. The street is
home to Orwo Haus, a former Communist-era film factory that now provides
practice studios for more than 160 bands... hosted.ap.org/ ... 21:24:58Master
filmmaker Ingmar Bergman, one of the greatest artists in cinema history, died
Monday at his home on an island off the coast of Sweden. He was 89. Bergman's
dozens of works combined deep seriousness, indelible imagery and unexpected
flashes of humor in finely written, inventively shot explorations of difficult
subjects such as plague and madness... 
China's endangered
pandas have expanded their habitat areas in bamboo forests in two western
provinces, researchers have found by tracking their droppings... hosted.ap.org/ ... 23:01:36
A northern bottlenose
whale that swam into a river near the eastern English town of Ipswich was
killed by veterinarians on Saturday after it became stranded... hosted.ap.org/ ... 22:59:37
BABYLON, N.Y...
A peace officer for the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
happened across a moving pillowcase on a beach Saturday on which someone had
written: "Live Gator - Please find him a home... called in a response team to
rescue the 30-inch-long animal... Marijuana... The THC level can be 15 percent to 20 percent in
indoor marijuana, while it is 2 percent to 8 percent in Mexican marijuana...
[and consumers can never be sure what they're getting.... repeal! repeal!
REPEAL!] marijuana... and
resisting arrest... nbc-2.com/ ... 22:21:16LEHIGH ACRES: Detectives with
the Lee County Sheriff's Office Narcotics [Tyrannical Oppression and
Pointless Religious Taboo Enforcement] Unit investigated three separate
grow house operations and seized an estimated street
value of $400,000 in marijuana in the past two days alone... globalnation.inquirer.net/ ...
22:20:19CEBU, Philippines—Police confiscated about 1,300
marijuana stalks in
separate raids in the towns of Balamban and Dalaguete, Cebu... Arrested while
tending to the marijuana plantation were [father] 66, and his sons, 44, and
...26. Another son... eluded arrest... bloomberg.com/ ... 22:19:26The researchers analyzed 35 previous studies... "We now know
that there is a long-term risk associated with the use of
cannabis..."
[Yeah, a really HUGE risk: Persecution and incarceration by PuriTaliban
Tyrants!] dailymail.co.uk/ ... 22:14:57Smoking just one
cannabis joint raises
danger of mental illness by 40%... Government-commissioned report... Overall, cannabis could be
to blame for one in seven cases of schizophrenia and other life-shattering
mental illness, the Lancet reports... [These people must be CRAZY to think
we'll buy the crap they're selling.] Army Pfc. Juan S.
Restrepo, 20, of Pembroke Pines, Fla., died July 22 in Korengal Valley,
Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit using small
arms fire. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment
(Airborne), 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, Vicenza, Italy. defenselink.mil/ ... 13:30:02Army Sgt.
Courtney D. Finch, 27, of Leavenworth, Kan., died July 24 in Qayyarah,
Iraq, of injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident. He was assigned
to the 714th Maintenance Company, Kansas Army National Guard, Topeka, Kan. The
incident is under investigation. 
[Dentist's assistant]
employee, Tina Alberts... was under anesthesia for a [dental] procedure... oral
surgeon... Dr. Robert Woo of Auburn... put in the phony tusks... shot photos...
some with her eyes propped open... took them out before she awoke... Alberts,
felt so humiliated when she saw the pictures that she quit and sued her boss...
Woo's insurance company, Fireman's Fund, refused to cover the claim... He
agreed to pay Alberts $250,000, then he sued his insurers... A King County
Superior Court jury sided with Woo, ordering Fireman's Fund to pay him
$750,000, plus the out-of-court settlement. The insurance company won the next
round, with the state Court of Appeals saying the prank had nothing to do with
Woo's practice of dentistry. On Thursday, the state Supreme Court restored
Woo's award. In a sprightly 5-4 decision, Supreme Court Justice Mary Fairhurst
wrote that Woo's practical joke was an integral, if odd, part of the
assistant's dental surgery and "conceivably" should trigger the professional
liability coverage of his policy. Dissenting Justice James Johnson said the
prank wasn't a dental procedure at all and only "rewards Dr. Woo's obnoxious
behavior and allows him to profit handsomely..." The back story, the court
wrote, is that Alberts' family raises potbellied pigs and that she frequently
talked about them at the office where she worked for five years. Woo said his
jests about the pigs were part of "a friendly working environment" that he
tried to foster... hosted.ap.org/ ... 13:16:17Three
men who dug up a young woman's corpse to have sex with it after seeing her
obituary photo cannot be charged with attempted sexual assault because
Wisconsin has no law against necrophilia... hosted.ap.org/ ...
13:16:03PAINESVILLE, Ohio... A judge known for giving unusual sentences
has ordered three men who pleaded guilty to soliciting sex to take turns
dressing in a bright yellow chicken costume... while carrying a sign that reads
"No Chicken Ranch in Painesville..." Cicconetti has used barnyard animals to
dispense justice in the past. He ordered a man who called a policeman a pig to
stand next to a live pig in a pen and hold a sign that read "This Is Not a
Police Officer." A couple who stole a baby Jesus statue from a manger were
sentenced to dress as Mary and Joseph and walk with a donkey... marijuana seems to
increase the chance of becoming psychotic... [Yes, it appears to drive
PuriTaliban prohibition tyrants INSANE to think anyone might be enjoying
themselves....] reuters.com/ ...
12:45:29Researchers working with laboratory mice have found a way to
reverse the effects of cocaine on the brain, according to a study published on
Thursday that could lead to better treatments for drug addicts. The researchers
focused on the part of the brain they knew was involved with pleasure and
addictive drugs and found a way to repress hyperactive cells charged up by
cocaine... news.bbc.co.uk/ ... 12:28:06Mexico
is to use $205m (£101m) seized at an alleged drug-trafficker's house to
fund drug treatment programmes and tackle organised crime... Army Staff Sgt.
Joshua P. Mattero, 29, of San Diego, died July 24 in Baqubah, Iraq, of
wounds suffered from an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the
749th Ordnance Company, 63rd Explosive Ordnance Battalion, Andrews Air Force
Base, Md. defenselink.mil/ ... 12:06:39Marine Lance Cpl.
Robert A. Lynch, 20, of Louisville, Ky., assigned to 1st Battalion, 12th
Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, Okinawa,
JapanMarine
Cpl. James H. McRae, 22, of Springtown, Texas, assigned to 3rd
Maintenance Battalion, Combat Logistics Regiment 35, 3rd Marine Logistics
Group, III Marine Expeditionary Force, Okinawa, JapanMarine Cpl.
Matthew R. Zindars [spelled Zandars elsewhere in the release], 21, of
Watertown, Wis. was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine
Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.Army 1st Sgt.
Michael S. Curry Jr., 37, of Dania Beach, Fla.Army Sgt. Travon
T. Johnson, 29, of Palmdale, Calif.Army Pfc. Adam J. Davis, 19, of
Twin Falls, IdahoArmy Pfc. Jessy S. Rogers, 20, of Copper Center,
Alaska.Navy Hospitalman
Daniel S. Noble, 21, of Whittier, Calif., died July 24, as a result of
enemy action while conducting security operations in the Dilaya Province, Iraq.
He was permanently assigned to 1st Marine Division, Fleet Marine Force Pacific,
Camp Pendleton, Calif. 
A
grocery was hopping Tuesday. Bombarded by an invasion of little white bunny
rabbits, workers at the Tops Friendly Market were using everything available -
hands, boxes and bags - to capture the furry creatures that seemed to be
popping up all over the place... reuters.com/ ... 11:57:09
When Oscar
the Cat visits residents of the Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center
in Providence, Rhode Island, the staff jumps into action -- Oscar can sense
within hours when someone is about to die... In his two years living in
Steere's end-stage dementia unit, Oscar has been at the bedside of more than 25
residents shortly before they died... 
Four rare mountain
gorillas have been shot dead in the Virunga National Park in eastern Democratic
Republic of Congo, the World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF) said on Thursday. The
silverback male and three females were shot on Sunday in the southern sector of
the park, which contains more than a fifth of the world's population of 700
mountain gorillas... reuters.com/ ... 11:56:00
Lenuta and Costel,
two tiger cubs from one of the world's most endangered species, the Siberian
tiger, were born in a Romanian zoo this year... hosted.ap.org/ ... 11:54:08
REDONDO BEACH, Calif... conservationists are celebrating
the return of the endangered El Segundo blue [butterfly] to its native habitat
along Santa Monica Bay... after scientists nurtured their dwindling population
in three fenced-in nature reserves for years. It had been decades since the
critters had been seen in their native habitat... marijuana
plants, a firearm and unstamped tobacco products...
street value of the seized marijuana could exceed $200,000... [thanks to
Prohibition...] typicallyspanish.com/ ...
12:30:40Spain... [Enforcers of tyranny ironically called the]
Civil Guard confiscate
marijuana plants from
hippy commune... 30 marijuana plants... thestar.com/ ... 12:28:47police seized more than
300
marijuana
plants and grow-op equipment from a Pefferlaw home, north of Uxbridge...
also found more than a pound of bulk marijuana and a quantity of ammunition for
a handgun... drugs are estimated to be worth $321,000... mpp.org/ ... 12:27:45An amendment
to block the U.S. Justice Department from interfering with state medical
marijuana laws failed
to pass today, despite receiving record support on the floor of the U.S. House
of Representatives. The measure failed by a 165-262 vote... hosted.ap.org/ ... 11:59:22LOS
ANGELES... Federal agents raided 10
marijuana clinics
Wednesday, the same day city leaders introduced a measure calling for an end to
the crackdown on the dispensaries allowed under state law... The bust netted
five arrests, large quantities of marijuana and cash, and was the U.S. Drug
Enforcement Administration's second-largest since California voters approved
medical marijuana sales in 1996... Councilman Dennis Zine, who earlier in the
day wrote a letter to DEA Administrator Karen Tandy asking the agency to stop
the raids, called the federal agents "bullies." "Instead of using resources to
go after drug dealers ruining neighborhoods and poisoning school kids, they're
going after individuals dying of cancer and suffering from AIDS who need
cannabis to have any type of appetite..." marijuana...
distribution operation involved "high volumes of marijuana and cocaine..."
[Tyrants of oppression] also looking to secure some of the proceeds from
the investigation, which netted four vehicles and $50,000 in cash...
Authorities did not have the street value of the confiscated drugs... [and
didn't just make up a number? Must've been busy...] themonitor.com/ ... 13:00:30ROMA
-- A [31yo] McAllen man remains in federal custody after attempting to smuggle
almost 350 pounds of
marijuana
across the U.S.-Mexico border... Agents [of tyranny and repression of
personal liberty] estimate the drugs to be worth $278,000... said he was
smuggling drugs "out of necessity..." has previously served two years in
federal prison after being caught with 750 pounds of marijuana... statesmanjournal.com/ ...
12:59:00A routine traffic stop by an Oregon State Police trooper
resulted in the arrest of a [36yo Tacoma] Washington man who police said had
about $20,000 worth of
marijuana in
his car... pulled over... after reportedly driving 68 mph in a 50 mph
construction zone... 7 pounds of marijuana and 20 mature
marijuana plants... [Whether you're holding OR NOT, potheads,
remember: SLOW DOWN in construction zones!] columbian.com/ ...
12:57:24Detectives recently found more than 3,700
marijuana
plants being grown in a remote forested area in far-north Clark County,
but the growers were nowhere to be seen... Many of the plants were "chest
high," about 4 feet tall, but most were immature and only about one foot
tall... [Propagandists for PuriTaliban Repression] estimated the plants'
value at $750,000... myfoxtampabay.com/ ... 12:56:09ST.
PETERSBURG - Police say they found
marijuana growing
in... A [33yo] Largo High School teacher['s house]... five fully grown
marijuana plants in the closet... 11 marijuana seedlings in the bedroom...
harvested marijuana in the overhead closet... marijuana...
distribution operation involved "high volumes of marijuana and cocaine..."
[Tyrants of oppression] also looking to secure some of the proceeds from
the investigation, which netted four vehicles and $50,000 in cash...
Authorities did not have the street value of the confiscated drugs... [and
didn't just make up a number? Must've been busy...] themonitor.com/ ... 13:00:30ROMA
-- A [31yo] McAllen man remains in federal custody after attempting to smuggle
almost 350 pounds of
marijuana
across the U.S.-Mexico border... Agents [of tyranny and repression of
personal liberty] estimate the drugs to be worth $278,000... said he was
smuggling drugs "out of necessity..." has previously served two years in
federal prison after being caught with 750 pounds of marijuana... statesmanjournal.com/ ...
12:59:00A routine traffic stop by an Oregon State Police trooper
resulted in the arrest of a [36yo Tacoma] Washington man who police said had
about $20,000 worth of
marijuana in
his car... pulled over... after reportedly driving 68 mph in a 50 mph
construction zone... 7 pounds of marijuana and 20 mature
marijuana plants... [Whether you're holding OR NOT, potheads,
remember: SLOW DOWN in construction zones!] columbian.com/ ...
12:57:24Detectives recently found more than 3,700
marijuana
plants being grown in a remote forested area in far-north Clark County,
but the growers were nowhere to be seen... Many of the plants were "chest
high," about 4 feet tall, but most were immature and only about one foot
tall... [Propagandists for PuriTaliban Repression] estimated the plants'
value at $750,000... myfoxtampabay.com/ ... 12:56:09ST.
PETERSBURG - Police say they found
marijuana growing
in... A [33yo] Largo High School teacher['s house]... five fully grown
marijuana plants in the closet... 11 marijuana seedlings in the bedroom...
harvested marijuana in the overhead closet... Army Pfc. Zachary
R. Endsley, 21, of Spring, Texas, died July 23 in Arghendab District,
Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when his unit was attacked by enemy forces
using indirect fire. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry
Regiment, Hohenfels, Germany. defenselink.mil/ ... 22:39:19Marine Lance Cpl.
Bobby L. Twitty, 20, of Bedias, Texas, died July 22 from a non-hostile
vehicle accident in Al Anbar province, Iraq. He was assigned to Combat
Logistics Battalion 6, Combat Logistics Regiment 2, 2nd Marine Logistics Group,
II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C. defenselink.mil/ ... 22:38:57Army Sgt. Shawn
G. Adams, 21, of Dixon, Calif., died July 22, in Owaset, Iraq, of wounds
suffered from an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 3rd
Battalion, 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team
(Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, Fort Richardson, Alaska. defenselink.mil/ ... 22:37:01Marine Cpl.
Christopher G. Scherer, 21, of East Northport, N.Y., died July 21 from
wounds suffered while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq.
He was assigned to 1st Combat Engineer Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine
Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif. defenselink.mil/ ... 22:36:24Army Sgt. Jacob
S. Schmuecker, 27, of Atkinson, Neb., died July 21 in Balad, Iraq, of
wounds suffered from an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the
755th Recon/Decon Company, Nebraska Army National Guard, Oneill, Neb. defenselink.mil/ ... 22:36:08Army Cpl. Rhett
A. Butler, 22, of Fort Worth, Texas, died July 20 of wounds suffered when
his vehicle struck an improvised explosive device in Khan Bani Sa'd, Iraq. He
was assigned to 2nd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry
Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team), Fort Lewis, Washington. 
Scientists say
they have calculated the date at which the African and the Asian elephant went
their separate ways. The two elephant species diverged from a common ancestor
some 7.6 million years ago... after comparing a genetic analysis of the two
species with material derived from the extinct woolly mammoth and mastodon...
news.bbc.co.uk/ ... 22:23:09The remains of a
prehistoric mastodon... have been found in northern Greece, including intact
long tusks... should help explain why mastodons died out in Europe two to three
million years ago... longest tusks ever found on a prehistoric elephant-like
animal... Mastodons are thought to have first appeared
about five million years ago and became extinct in North America about 10,000
years ago - much later than in Europe. The animals were similar to woolly
mammoths, but had tusks that pointed forwards, rather than spiralling upwards.
Their teeth were also different... marijuana plants...
deaths appear to be of natural causes... [So... wasn't the pot...]
dailypress.com/ ...
22:52:59Hampton police found
marijuana after
searching an apartment, a truck and a man Saturday... suntimes.com/ ... 22:52:34Police
today began tearing down and burning at least 20,000
marijuana
plants being grown in a Cook County Forest Preserve near Barrington...
some as much as 7 feet tall... 11 separate plots... sophisticated, pump-powered
irrigation system... Two men have been charged... street value of the drugs
could top $5 million... kansascity.com/ ... 22:51:03Eureka Springs, Ark...
Little has changed in this tourist town’s arrest numbers in the nearly
nine months since voters approved a measure encouraging police to put a low
priority on arrests for small amounts of
marijuana... ksby.com/ ... 22:50:24Jury
selection is scheduled to begin tomorrow in the Los Angeles trial of a minister
of a Hollywood church that uses
marijuana during
services... The Reverend Craig X Rubin, leader of the 420 Temple, argued in a
court hearing today that marijuana is a religious sacrament and its usage in
his church is protected under federal law... judge ruled that Rubin could not
use the federal law as a defense because he faces only state charges... faces
up to seven years in prison if convicted of possessing marijuana for sale...
marijuana nurseries.
Since 2006, 15 people have been arrested in Northeast Ohio in connection with
large indoor marijuana-growing operations. The growers are Asian immigrants -
some of whom are legal Canadian residents - who raise the crops to sell in the
United States, police and prosecutors say... These growers, with links to
organized crime, have seeped southward from Canada and eastward from the West
Coast, where a web of interconnected crime cells has operated for years, law
enforcement officials say... [Cut gangsters' profits: repeal. Repeal!
REPEAL!] 
MASONVILLE, Colo... Zoey is a Chihuahua, but when a rattlesnake lunged at her owners'
1-year-old grandson, she was a real bulldog... jumped in the way and took the
bites... marijuana garden at Pine Creek Canyon in Balch Park contained
14,410 marijuana plants that would have had a
street value of more than $56 million... [Is
that all? Let's just call it a plain $1 billion why don't we, as long as we're
fabricating prohibitionist propaganda....] tehachapinews.com/ ...
22:56:30...While there can be no doubt the Mexican drug cartels are
behind this foreign invasion and assault on our national forest, neither is
there any doubt such a thing could not possibly be done without the cooperation
of our own state and federal government, despite the claims of some in
government agencies. For years I have advocated for the legalization of
marijuana, and the
continued opposition to this from state and federal government means there are
too many politicians bought from the profits of keeping it illegal. It comes
down to the comparison between organized crime and our government operating
from the same motive of profits. Invariably you will find "cooperation" between
the two when it suits their profit motive, as in the government giving amnesty
to drug smugglers for their testimony against border patrol agents attempting
to do their jobs... hindustantimes.com/ ...
22:54:42Two people were arrested in New Delhi on the charge of
possessing 4.5 kg of pure
marijuana worth Rs
1.4 million... star-telegram.com/ ...
22:49:06More than 10,000
marijuana plants --
some as tall as 7 feet -- were discovered growing in woods near Grand Prairie's
southeast border in what officials say is the largest seizure ever in the
Metroplex. The plants, with a street value estimated at up to $5 million, will
be destroyed, except for a few specimens that will be preserved as evidence,
Drug [Tyranny] Enforcement Administration officials said Saturday...
"This is the largest outdoor grow in Dallas history..." indybay.org/ ... 12:10:17After a
tumultuous trial in state court, Sacramento patient and caregiver John
Berchielli was convicted on five counts relating to his
medical marijuana
garden. Berchielli was a supplier of clones to the Sacramento dispensary
Alternative Specialties, which was shut down by a multi-agency raid in July
2005 and whose owner is currently being prosecuted in federal court. This
closure, which occurred shortly before his own bust, prevented Berchielli from
being able to present adequate evidence of his caregiver status during trial.
When interviewed after giving their verdict, jurors reported that the lack of
patient lists and testimony heavily influenced their decision... brandonsun.com/ ... 12:09:28several British MPs have
confessed in recent weeks that they smoked - and happily inhaled -
marijuana in their
youth. British newspapers and call-in shows have been abuzz in recent weeks
with the not-so-shocking disclosures from seven front-line Labour cabinet
ministers, all of them children of the '60s and '70s, about their pot-smoking
pasts. The confessions come as the ruling Labour party makes
preliminary moves to toughen marijuana possession laws despite Tony Blair
moving his government in the opposite direction three years ago... Pressured by
the opposition Tories, the flip-flop has been prompted by the supposedly
stronger strains of cannabis available on the street - and should be welcome
news to Canada's Conservatives, who are steadfast in their refusal to ease the
tough marijuana laws that many critics complain are seriously straining the
country's criminal justice system... [DAMN THE PURITALIBAN TYRANTS!]
tampabays10.com/ ...
12:08:02Tallahassee, Florida - Leon County sheriff's officials say they
seized more than 80
marijuana
plants and arrested two people after finding the crop in Apalachicola
National Forest... [absurdly over-]estimated value of more than
120-thousand dollars... nbcsandiego.com/ ... 12:06:47An Oceanside man is under
arrest after police said they found as many as 200
marijuana
plants in his home while conducting a death investigation... brought his
brother to the Tri-City Medical Center emergency room Thursday night. The
38-year-old man was dead on arrival... cause of death was unknown...
As part of their investigation, Oceanside police
went to the home the dead man shared with his brother... [Hint to growers:
Don't die suspiciously.] elpasotimes.com/ ... 12:05:05More than
2,000 pounds of
marijuana was
found in a vehicle caravan traveling south of Highway 20 near Fort Hancock on
Friday... 2,002 pounds... [grossly over-]valued [due to PuriTaliban
prohibitionist tyranny] at $1.6 million... 
The world
premiere of The Simpsons Movie has taken place in the US town of Springfield,
Vermont... marijuana grow
operation in the basement of the home... 139 marijuana plants, a large quantity
of harvested marijuana, psilocybin (magic mushrooms) and cannibis resin.
[Absurd Prohibition-inflated] Street value of the drugs is estimated at
more than $150,000... 15-year-old girl told police she was struck on the back
of the head while walking with friends... [accused] told the court he saw the
interiors lights on in his van and was only trying to defend his property
during the incident... [Um... without reflecting on possible
consequences?] cbs11tv.com/ ... 10:32:11...major
marijuana discovery in southwest Dallas County... five-acre
pot farm... somewhere
between 1500 and 2500 plants... "It's very serious when you have drugsof this
magnitude growing in this area that would impact so many's lives," said Lt.
Tammy Ellzey of the Dallas [PuriTaliban Religious Taboo Fanatics Tyranny
Enforcement] Department. "It's a negative thing that we don't want to get
on the street..." journalreview.com/ ... 10:30:04A
Montgomery County man is being held without bond after police said he beat his
mother and turned her house into a
marijuana
"plantation..." She reported her son hit her at least twice daily since he came
to live with her... [Bad man! Stupid man! Honor your mother! Then she's less
likely to rat you out.] ...faces preliminary charges of battery, felony
possession of marijuana, reckless possession of drug paraphernalia, two counts
of possession of a schedule 4 controlled substance, possession of a schedule 3
substance, and being a violent convicted felon in possession of a firearm. He
may also be charged with intimidation... news.cincypost.com/ ... 10:26:58A
Mason Middle School teacher was arrested and another cited for drug possession
after police were called to a Covington hotel. [29yo] Eighth-grade social
studies teacher and assistant football coach... arrested and charged with
possession of marijuana, drug paraphernalia and possession of a controlled
substance, all misdemeanors... [24yo] Seventh-grade science teacher... who also
served as head Eighth-grade football coach and assistant wrestling coach, was
cited for possession of marijuana... The Hampton Inn called police to remove
people from the hotel... Officers searched the room after smelling marijuana
and found a plastic bag containing a chunky white substance, possibly cocaine
or heroin, in a pair of shorts... Police also found a substance believed to be
marijuana in a pair of... socks and on a table... possession of a controlled
substance charge could be upgraded to a felony if lab results show the
substance is a narcotic... [No word on WHY the hotel called the police, but
presuming the reason was the pot smell, the horrible irony is, if they'd just
stuck to the hard drugs, there would have been no smell to alert anyone; it's
the relatively safe marijuana that tripped them up!] wmcstations.com/ ... 10:23:49A
Houston, Texas, trucker was being held in the Pearl River County jail today
(Saturday) after his arrest for possession of 230 pounds
of marijuana... found yesterday (Friday) in a tractor trailer
rig... dallasnews.com/ ... 10:22:58Agents
seized 2,900 pounds of
marijuana worth $2.3
million at a checkpoint on Interstate 35 north of Laredo... mixed in
with a shipment of fruit juice... Navy
Fireman 3rd Class Alfred E. Livingston, of Worthington, Ind. He will be
buried on Saturday in Worthington. On Dec. 7, 1941, Livingston was assigned to
the battleship USS Oklahoma when it was attacked by Japanese torpedo aircraft
and capsized in Pearl Harbor. The ship sustained massive casualties. Livingston
was one of hundreds declared killed in action whose body was not recovered. In
the aftermath of the attack, some remains were recovered from the waters of
Pearl Harbor. One set of sailor’s remains was recovered and thought to be
associated with the USS Arizona losses. However, when efforts to identify the
sailor failed, it was inconclusive what ship he was assigned to and he was
buried as an unknown in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as
The Punchbowl. In 2006, a Pearl Harbor survivor and researcher, contacted the
Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) and suggested that the biological and
dental information on file for the unknown sailor may be correlated with
Livingston’s personnel file. JPAC’s analysts studied the
documentation and found enough evidence to support the researcher’s
findings that Livingston was actually recovered after the war even though he
was originally listed as one of the hundreds of unrecoverable servicemen from
the attack on Pearl Harbor. In February 2007, the grave for the unknown sailor
was exhumed.... defenselink.mil/ ... 21:55:48Army Pfc. Brandon
M. Craig, 25, of Earleville, Md., died July 19 in Husayniyah, Iraq, of
wounds sustained from an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to
Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division
(Stryker Brigade Combat Team), Fort Lewis, Wash. defenselink.mil/ ... 21:55:32Army Sgt. Ronald
L. Coffelt, 36, of Fair Oaks, Calif., died July 19 in Baghdad, Iraq, of
wounds suffered from an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the
503rd Military Police Battalion, 16th Military Police Brigade (Airborne), XVIII
Airborne Corps, Fort Bragg, N.C. defenselink.mil/ ... 21:55:11Army Pfc. James
J. Harrelson, 19, of Dadeville, Ala., died July 17 in Baghdad, Iraq, of
wounds suffered from an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 2nd
Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st
Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kan. defenselink.mil/ ... 12:47:39Army Pfc. Ron J.
Joshua Jr., 19, of Austin, TexasArmy Pfc. Brandon K. Bobb, 20, of
Orlando, Fla.Army Sgt. Nathan
S. Barnes, 23, of American Fork, Utah, died July 17 in Rushdi Mullah, Iraq,
of wounds suffered when his unit was attacked by insurgents using small arms
fire. He was assigned to the 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade
Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, N.Y. defenselink.mil/ ... 12:46:41The
Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that
the remains of three U.S. servicemen, missing in action from the Korean War,
have been identified and will be returned to their families for burial with
full military honors.Army Sgt. Donald C. Trent, of Crab Orchard, W. Va.Army Cpl. Robert K.
Imrie, of Randolph, Mass.Army Cpl. Samuel Wirrick of Lancaster, Pa.
QUITO, Ecuador...
Environmental authorities say they are struggling to feed and house nine lions
rescued from circuses this year and may call on the public for donations... The
five female and four male adult lions were taken away from circuses in the
Ecuadorean capital of Quito in March after environmental police received dozens
of calls saying they were being abused. The lions' owners cut off their tails
and forced them to perform cruel tricks, such as training one that is blind to
jump through a flaming hoop... cash-strapped police division is accepting beef
and chicken donations from the public, but officials say it's not enough... The
lions are living in the same two, 65-square-foot cages in which they were
found... hosted.ap.org/ ... 12:42:44
BANGOR, Pa... A woman was
dragging a lounge chair into the shade of a tree when a sudden buzzing told her
it was already occupied - by thousands of bees... was not stung, nor was her
husband... who also inspected the football-sized swarm... about 10,000 bees in
the 3-pound swarm under the chair... hosted.ap.org/ ... 12:36:44The
Kansas City Zoo plans to press charges against two teenage boys who allegedly
climbed into the hippo exhibit and threw rocks at the two-ton mammals... The
boys... survived the encounter without injuries... hippos... were not harmed...
The massive hippos... are often considered one of the most dangerous animals in
the world... third-largest land animals, after elephants and white rhinos...
reuters.com/ ... 12:19:59BERLIN...
A mayor in eastern Germany has filed charges against workers at his local zoo
for shooting animals and selling them as meat... deer were among the animals
killed... "We are worried this is only the tip of the iceberg," said Wolfgang
Apel, president of the [German Animal Protection] League, who also said the
case raised serious questions about the zoo's management... hosted.ap.org/ ... 11:50:01One of the world's
oldest chimps, Fifi, has died in Australia, zoo... Fifi, the matriarch of the
18 chimpanzees at Sydney's Taronga Zoo, celebrated her 60th birthday in May
with sugar-free cupcakes and coconuts among four generations of her family...
stayed in bed Thursday morning, raising suspicions among the keepers that she
was unwell... Keepers provided her with fresh bedding and her favorite foods,
while other chimps in the group visited her throughout the day... She died in
the afternoon... Cheeta, the star of a dozen "Tarzan"
movies in the 1930s and 1940s, is listed by the Guinness Book of World Records
as the world's oldest chimp. He turned 75 in April... hosted.ap.org/ ...
11:38:35Missouri and Illinois conservationists are seeing troubling
signs in amphibian populations, mirroring problems seen elsewhere in the
world... some of [Missouri's] hellbenders [salamanders] were infected by a
fungus that has wiped out entire frog populations elsewhere...
The World Conservation Union proposed a global plan that
would curb amphibian decline three weeks ago... [That's a good trick!
Wonder how they plan to go back three weeks!] hosted.ap.org/ ... 11:36:08A boat struck a whale
off New Hampshire's coast, leaving a deep gash as sightseers aboard three
whale-watching boats snapped photos... The finback whale, about 60 feet long,
suffered a 3-foot-long gash in its side and other smaller cuts, but it didn't
appear to be seriously hurt... Finbacks are a federally
protected endangered species... SCOTTS
VALLEY, Calif... Authorities found 83 cats, three dogs and
two iguanas inside a Ben Lomond home reeking with the stench of urine
and feces. "Imagine 83 cats living in a house with no litter boxes for two
years, and you get the general idea," said Todd Stosuy, supervising field
ranger for the Santa Cruz County Animal Services Authority... feces piled up to
4-feet-high... The animals already brought to the shelter were described as
healthy and well-fed... all the felines were spayed or neutered... examiner-enterprise.com/ ...
11:21:44..."I was sitting in my recliner and I thought I was
dozing off," Hammons told the [Bartlesville OK] Examiner-Enterprise. "She
jumped on me and almost knocked me over in my chair, she was grabbing my arm
… I woke up and the house was filled with black smoke." Hammons said she
couldn’t see from the smoke and grabbed onto Cinnamon’s back, who led
her to safety. "I grabbed her back, hide and all," Hammons said. "She took me
to the front door..." Hammons is grateful to have escaped with her life, thanks
to her dutiful pet, a German Shepherd that she adopted from the Dewey Police
Department about four years ago... The first time Cinnamon saved Hammons was
after Hammons fainted and hit her head in a rock entryway about two years
ago... "When I came to, she was trying to roll me over and was licking my face
over and over. At first, I thought I was blind because she had licked my
glasses and I couldn’t see... This dog is really a hero. She’s my
best friend..." marijuana out of the
business... [Which would be an entirely understandable and normal thing in a
FREE country instead of under this PuriTaliban Tyranny] ...606 grams of
marijuana with a street value of $8,000... kob.com/ ... 22:15:27Twenty-two New Mexicans have
applied for medical marijuana since the state this month began allowing people with
certain debilitating conditions to use the drug for nausea. The state
Department of Health had approved six applications as of Friday... four were
denied because those people didn't have a condition eligible for the program...
Health officials await an opinion from the attorney general whether Health
Department employees could be federally prosecuted for running the program and
whether the agency can license marijuana producers... baltimoresun.com/ ...
22:14:44FREDERICK - State police in Frederick say four teenage girls
were caught with 33 pounds of
marijuana in the rear
hatch of a car that was weaving [maybe, maybe not] down Interstate 70
early this morning. [PuriTaliban Tyranny religious taboo enforcers put out
propaganda that] estimated the value of the pot at $100,000... wxii12.com/ ... 22:13:00GRAHAM, N.C. -- Authorities in
Alamance County said more than 100
marijuana plants were
found inside a man's home... thetimesnews.com/ ... 22:12:33A
strong odor of weed
and information led the Alamance County Sheriff’s Department to a
Saxapahaw home where they found an indoor marijuana growing operation...
[Just what is the "odor of... information" anyway? Rats stink!] 245
ounces of marijuana, 130 marijuana plants and 0.7 ounces of hashish... found
marijuana growing in the basement, drying in a bathtub, and stored in the
kitchen freezer... team4news.com/ ... 22:11:34U.S.
Customs and Border Protection Border Patrol checkpoint agents seized more than
three tons of marijuana at the Falfurrias and Sarita Border Patrol checkpoints on
July 18. The combined estimated value of the narcotics is
close to $5 million... [Narcotics? NARCOTICS? POT isn't a %$(*%#)%
NARCOTIC! PROHIBITIONISM is a NARCOTIC, it makes its adherants DEAD IN THE
HEART toward personal liberty!] ...105 bundles of marijuana weighing
2,407 pounds concealed within a load of bags of
charcoal. The marijuana is valued at $1,925,600
[thanks to the PuriTaliban prohibitions]... 112 bundles of marijuana
weighing 3,773 pounds concealed within a load of
watermelons. The marijuana is [hideously over-]valued at
$3,018,400... 
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton hit back Friday... calling the
accusation a spurious dodge of a serious issue... nypost.com/ ... 12:57:28The
Pentagon yesterday launched a blistering attack on Sen.
Hillary Rodham Clinton for boosting "enemy propaganda" by demanding the
U.S. military whip up plans for withdrawal from Iraq... Defense Undersecretary
Eric Edelman... "Premature and public discussion of the withdrawal of U.S.
forces from Iraq reinforces enemy propaganda that the United States will
abandon its allies in Iraq, much as we are perceived to have done in Vietnam,
Lebanon and Somalia.... Such talk understandably unnerves the very same Iraqi
allies we are asking to assume enormous personal risks..." breitbart.com/ ...
12:53:15Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama said Thursday
the United States cannot use its military to solve humanitarian problems and
that preventing a potential genocide in Iraq isn't a good enough reason to keep
U.S. forces there... 
Do fish suffer from
exposure to Uriah Heep?.. Harry
Potter fans poured into book stores around the world on Saturday to get hold of
the seventh and final volume in the series and discover the secret of the boy
wizard's fate. "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" hit the shelves across
most of the world at 2301 GMT on Friday... One avid fan had to be rescued from
a lake in... Canberra on Friday after he dived in to rescue a pre-purchase
receipt necessary to pick up his book... Some families are imposing news
blackouts at their homes to avoid disappointment now that "P-Day" has
arrived... "I haven't gone on the Internet for the past two
months because I did not want to know the ending..." wbbm780.com/ ... 12:59:53The
secrecy over the final Harry Potter book has forced a Northbrook woman to hand
back her copies to none other than the postman... says she was stunned when her
letter carrier came not once, but twice to her home demanding that she give
back "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows". "I'm incredulous, you've got to be
kidding. He explained it as he's in a lot of trouble," El-kaim said. "I said,
'I don't believe this, this is utterly ridiculous.'..." ordered two books
on-line... when they arrived earlier this week, a label on the outside read "do
not open until July 21st..." her reaction [to] the "do not open" label was "Are
you kidding? Open it. what do think is going to happen, the Harry potter police
will come down the chimney, or we'll go to Azkaban?.." did turn them over, but
not before one of her kids finished the book. However, that daughter isn't
revealing how the book ends... hosted.ap.org/ ... 12:39:35Courtney
Lanahan and Shawn Gordon of Clackamas are heading straight from their wedding
reception Friday to a bookstore to get the final Harry Potter book... reuters.com/ ... 12:18:35David
Lassman sent off to 18 publishers assorted chapters from Austen novels in which
he changed just the titles and the names of the characters. He called himself
Alison Laydee after Austen's early pseudonym "A Lady." Seventeen publishers
rejected or ignored his bid for literary glory. Only one spotted the ruse and
told him not to mimic "Pride and Prejudice" so closely... reuters.com/ ... 12:16:18Chrysler
Group apologized on Thursday for an advertisement that showed a dog being
electrocuted beside its new Dodge Nitro sports utility vehicle... shows a dog
being electrocuted after urinating on a Nitro's wheels... ends with the dog
going up in flames... The company said the ad... was "in extremely bad
taste..." Chrysler had the ad pulled from YouTube.com. It was unclear if it was
on other Web sites... reuters.com/ ... 12:11:14Scholastic
Corp. said it was taking legal action against book distributor Levy Home
Entertainment and DeepDiscount.com for breaching an embargo preventing the
seventh Harry Potter book from being sold in America before 12:01 a.m./0401 GMT
on Saturday... reuters.com/ ... 11:34:21"P-Day"...
a publishing milestone that will end months of fevered speculation... Readers
young and old were queuing outside book stores around the world... experts
believe will be the fastest-selling book of all
time... carefully orchestrated release... marred by leaks of the
contents of the book on the Internet, both real and fake, and by a mistake made
by a U.S. online retailer that meant a small number of hard copies were sent to
buyers days ahead of publication... On Friday, French newspaper Le Parisien
published a three-paragraph summary of the final book's epilogue, printing it
upside down to give readers a chance to look away... In Britain, a phone
counseling service for children expects a surge in calls when readers learn who
is killed off... a Sydney shop is taking fans aged from two to 84 on a train
ride to a secret location to get the book... A parasite common in Asian
bees has spread to Europe and the Americas and is behind the mass disappearance
of honeybees in many countries, says a Spanish scientist who has been studying
the phenomenon for years. The culprit is a microscopic parasite called
nosema ceranae... Asian honeybees are less vulnerable to it, but it can
kill European bees in a matter of days in laboratory conditions... Treatment
for nosema ceranae is effective and cheap -- 1 euro (US$1.4) a hive twice a
year -- but beekeepers first have to be convinced the parasite is the
problem... telegraph.co.uk/ ... 10:53:17the fish enjoyed by the
Gores were not endangered or illegally caught. Rather, the restaurant later
confirmed, they had come from one of the world's few well-managed, sustainable
populations of toothfish, and caught and documented in compliance with Marine
Stewardship Council regulations... reuters.com/ ... 10:39:14A
spectacular Brazilian blue parrot, the Lear's Macaw, has come back from the
brink of extinction with more than 750 birds in the wild counted in a recent
survey... marijuana n
[sic] more than $100,000 worth... [Husband 43 and wife 44] were each
charged with manufacturing marijuana, possession of a firearm while in
possession of narcotics and conspiracy to manufacture marijuana.
Each charge is a felony, with the firearms charges carrying a
mandatory five-year prison sentence, if convicted, under the Virginia Exile
project... 107 plants seized were an average height of 7 feet. Each plant
is worth about $1,000 on the street... backyard... spotted from the air when
the Drug Enforcement Administration took up a helicopter
Wednesday to look for possible marijuana plants, which they do on a regular
basis... news-bulletin.com/ ... 11:19:55An
indoor marijuana grow
was discovered last week in Rio Communities, and [The agents of religious
oppression] estimate that it could have been sold on the streets for more
than $62,000... a number of calls from neighbors who reported they were hearing
screaming and glass breaking coming from the home... 60 plants in various
stages of growth in a bathroom and closet... [Married couple in their late 40s
arrested.] [Hint to growers: Don't have domestic squabbles in your grow
house.] 10news.com/ ... 11:17:25More than
a ton of marijuana
was seized from a big rig at the Otay Mesa border crossing... 33-year-old
Mexican driver was arrested... 83 packages of pot in a hidden compartment of
the otherwise empty trailer... 2,066 pounds...
ktvz.com/ ... 11:14:35Two medical
marijuana providers
were arrested this week after Salem police seized more than
$340,000 worth of the illegal plant... [33yo
female arrested was] out of compliance by unlawfully selling marijuana and
exceeding her allotment... Another medical marijuana provider... also was
arrested for exceeding his allotment... [Agents of the PuriTaliban Tyranny]
seized more than ten pounds... courant.com/ ... 11:13:00Hartford
police arrested three people and seized more than nine pounds of marijuana and
seven handguns during a raid on what they described as a "drug factory" at a
house in the city's North End... large amount of ammunition and a bullet-proof
vest with bullet holes in it also were seized... all were charged with
operating a drug factory, possession of narcotics, intent to sell and intent to
sell within 1,500 feet of a school... [Stop the gangsters! Repeal! Repeal!
Repeal!] abc.net.au/ ... 11:12:12Northern
Territory police say South Australia has become the major exporter of
marijuana to the
Territory... Police earlier this week seized 36 kilograms of dried,
vacuum-packed marijuana being driven to Darwin from Adelaide... could have sold
for up to $3 million... 
HEMLOCK, Mich... "I will never kill another spider
again..." A woman who hates spiders is crediting them
with helping save her from a house fire... Richland Township Fire Chief
Gary Wade, a 30-year veteran of the Saginaw County department... "I've never
heard of spiders saving someone from a fire before..." hosted.ap.org/ ...
23:47:49MODESTO, Calif... Authorities removed a miniature horse and
seven dogs from a home strewn with feces and rotting produce and charged the
owners with endangering their 12-year-old child... so badly infested with
flies... young son had to sleep in a tent... Navy Chief Petty
Officer Patrick L. Wade, 38, of Key West, Fla.Navy Petty Officer
First Class Jeffrey L. Chaney, 35, of Omaha, Neb. Army Spc. Eric M.
Holke, 31, of Crestline, Calif., died July 15 in Tallil, Iraq, of wounds
sustained from a non-combat related incident. His death is under investigation.
Holke was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 160th Infantry, California Army
National Guard, Fullerton, Calif. defenselink.mil/ ... 23:38:09Marine Lance Cpl.
Shawn V. Starkovich, 20, of Arlington, Wash., died July 16 in Al Anbar
province, Iraq. His death is under investigation. Starkovich was assigned to
3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary
Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif. defenselink.mil/ ... 23:37:40The
Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that
the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing from the Vietnam War, have been
identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military
honors.Marine Cpl. Jim E. Moshier, U.S. Marine Corps, of
Bakersfield, Calif. will be buried Wednesday in Bakersfield. On June 11, 1967,
Moshier was one of 11 passengers on board a CH-46A Sea Knight helicopter that
was inserting forces into Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam, when the aircraft
was struck by enemy ground fire and crashed. Pilots from two nearby helicopters
saw the crash and reported that none of the men on board could have survived.
Aircraft flew over the site for several hours, but saw no survivors. A ground
patrol attempted to access the site the next day, but could not because of the
large concentration of enemy forces in the area. Two weeks later, a
reconnaissance patrol was within 25 meters of the crash site, but extensive
enemy activity prevented the team from approaching closer. Between 1993 and
1994, U.S./Socialist Republic of Vietnam (S.R.V.) teams, led by the Joint
POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), conducted two surveys of the site, and
interviewed several Vietnamese citizens who said they witnessed the crash. Two
of the citizens claimed to have seen bone fragments while scavenging the site
years earlier. The teams found small pieces of wreckage, but no human remains.
In May 2005, Vietnamese officials notified U.S. officials that possible human
remains were present at a district security compound in Quang Tri Province. The
Vietnamese reported they confiscated the remains and other items, including
Moshier's identification tag, from a Vietnamese citizen in 1996. The remains
were then buried in the security compound, but the ID tag and other items had
supposedly been lost over the years. Later that month, a U.S./S.R.V. team
excavated the secondary burial site in the security compound and recovered a
box containing human remains.... Remains from one of the other servicemembers
on board the aircraft, Pfc. James E. Widener, U.S. Marine Corps, were
identified in August 2006.... Army Sgt. John R.
Massey, 29, of Judsonia, Ark., died July 15 in Balad, Iraq, of wounds
suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle during
combat operations July 14 in Baghdad, Iraq. He was assigned to C Battery, 142nd
Fires Brigade, Arkansas Army National Guard, Ozark, Ark. defenselink.mil/ ... 23:09:00Army Pfc.
Benjamin B. Bartlett Jr., 25, of Manchester, Ga., died July 15, in
Mosul, Iraq, of wounds suffered from a rocket propelled grenade. He was
assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team,
1st Cavalry Division, Fort Bliss, Texas. ....hosting his
daughter's wedding in Beverly Hills... [former US VP Al] Gore and his guests at
the weekend ceremony dined on Chilean sea bass - arguably one of the world's
most threatened fish species... Also known as Patagonian toothfish, the species
is under pressure from illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing activities
in the Southern Ocean, jeopardising the sustainability of remaining stocks...
hosted.ap.org/ ... 10:49:28The unusually swollen
tongue of a dead humpback whale may indicate that it perished after colliding
with a ship in the waters of southeast Alaska... Scientists believe some sort
of impact forced air into the tongue of the 40-foot male humpback...
marijuana in a
Philadelphia rowhouse... while investigating a reported burglary at the house
when no one was home... entire three-story house had been converted into a
greenhouse... wftv.com/ ... 11:25:55"...No other
drug that works against nausea also decreases pain." He adds it's safe,
saying, "When we talk about the side effects of
marijuana compared to
many prescription drugs that doctors prescribe on a daily basis,
it's really quite safe. The number of patients I
admit to this hospital who have complications of alcohol, tobacco, heroin,
cocaine, speed, even sugar, far surpasses the number of patients that I've ever
admitted or ever seen where I attribute the damage to marijuana." In response
to the allegation that marijuana can cause lung cancer, Dr. Abrams says a
recent study shows it may actually prevent it... 
JUNEAU, Wis... baby kangaroo
in a diaper was found safe over the weekend, two hours after being
reported missing from an exotic-animal farm... hosted.ap.org/ ...
22:29:58NORFOLK, Va... Virginia Zoo officials on Monday began trimming
the landscaping around a new [1yo] red panda exhibit
after the animal escaped for the second time in less than a month... hosted.ap.org/ ...
22:29:06BETHLEHEM, Pa... A 
snake slithered
out of the engine compartment of a man's SUV when he stopped to get gasoline,
causing a bit of commotion at the station... boa constrictor more than 5 feet
long... police were able to capture it... police Detective Mark DiLuzio said.
"(It's)
something you don't see every day in a Wawa parking lot..." hosted.ap.org/ ... 22:25:01JULIAN, Pa...
Police are asking locals to be on the lookout for a roaming wildcat, which appears to be an African wildcat
called a serval... has long legs and is twice the size of an average house cat,
at about 25 pounds and 18 to 20 inches tall... hosted.ap.org/ ...
10:58:06LONDON... A judge on Monday granted a reprieve to Shambo, a
sacred bull at a Hindu monastery who had been
threatened with slaughter because he is suspected of carrying bovine
tuberculosis... His caretakers at the Skanda Vale monastery in southwestern
Wales launched a campaign to save him that included an Internet petition, a
blog purportedly giving Shambo's "daily thoughts" and a Webcast called "Moo
Tube" that tracked the bull's movements around its hay-filled shrine... hosted.ap.org/ ... 10:04:50BELGRADE, Serbia... A 15-day-old female
panther named Milica has been adopted by a
Rhodesian Ridgeback after her mother refused to feed her and tried to kill her
in the Belgrade zoo... en.wikipedia.org/ ...
22:39:39Coelacanth... is the common name for
an order of fish that includes the oldest living lineage of jawed fish known to
date... reuters.com/ ... 10:03:06Fishermen
in Zanzibar have caught a coelacanth, an ancient
fish once thought to have become extinct when it disappeared from fossil
records 80 million years ago... 27 kg (60 lb)... 1.34 meters long... believed
to have become extinct some 80 million years ago until one was caught off the
eastern coast of South Africa in 1938... around 30 have been caught in recent
years off Tanzania... Coelacanths are the only living
animals to have a fully functional intercranial joint, a division separating
the ear and brain from the nasal organs and eye... news.bbc.co.uk/ ... 09:59:13A species of egg-laying
mammal, named after TV naturalist Sir David Attenborough, is not extinct as was
previously thought... On a recent visit to Papua's Cyclops Mountains,
researchers uncovered burrows and tracks made by the Attenborough's long-beaked
echidna... species is only known to biologists
through a specimen from 1961, which is housed in a museum in the Netherlands...
chron.com/ ... 09:36:15SAN ANTONIO —
A zookeeper who was attacked by a male Sumatran
tiger at the San Antonio Zoo was upgraded to stable condition on
Sunday... Jeff Tierney, 28... specializes in large cats and has worked at the
zoo for five years... Army Spc. Robert
D. Varga, 24, of Monroe City, Mo., died July 15 in Baghdad, Iraq, of
injuries suffered from a non-combat related incident. He was assigned to the
984th Military Police Company, 759th Military Police Battalion, Fort Carson,
Colo. The incident is under investigation. defenselink.mil/ ... 23:09:54Army Pfc.
Christopher D. Kube, 18, of Sterling Heights, Mich., died July 14 in
Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered from an improvised explosive device. He was
assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 17th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Brigade
Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo. defenselink.mil/ ... 09:01:08Army Sgt. Allen
A. Greka, 29, of Alpena, Michigan, died July 13 of wounds sustained from a
land mine detonation during a dismounted patrol in Jisr Diyala, Iraq. He was
assigned to the 3d Battalion, 1st Cavalry Regiment, 3d Brigade Combat Team, 3d
Infantry Division at Fort Benning, Georgia. marijuana inside a
suitcase via a taxi cab ride from Mansfield to Monroe pleaded guilty today...
[According to the propaganda of the PuriTaliban Religious Taboo Enforcers,
their prohibition-cultibated black market put this vegetation's] street
value... at about $75,000. accessnorthga.com/ ...
23:02:11BUFORD... arrested four people... seizing over
$100 thousand worth of
marijuana...
approximately 51.5 pounds... eyeoutforyou.com/ ... 23:01:10Worried neighbors and a
shocked landlord uncovered a
marijuana growing
facility inside a Bakersfield rental home... officers say the former tenant had
a "medical marijuana recommendation," and what they found in the house was
allowable under that state law... neighbor thinks there had been a lot more
marijuana until the tenant got ready to move, "It was very obvious..." onlinechester.com/ ... 22:59:55The
Chester County Sheriff's Department discovered a large-scale
marijuana growing
operation Monday morning deep in the woods... 20,000 plants...
[Prohibition-created black market] street value of this crop around $50
million... "They had a full camp site.... Tents, a couple $100 worth of food, a
generator, propane tank and a car battery they were using to charge their cell
phones..." hosted.ap.org/ ...
22:48:08CARTAGENA, Colombia... When a grand piano played an off-key
note, drug police in this Caribbean port opened it up and found some 560 pounds
of cocaine stuffed inside... estimated at $5 million... canada.com/ ... 09:48:38...Canada
is the top marijuana-using nation according to a UN Office on Drugs and Crime
survey released last week... if you think about it, marijuana is in many ways
exactly the drug we'd choose. It's buzz is mild compared to cocaine (where
Spain was tops), heroin (Iran), ecstasy (Australia) or amphetamines
(Philippines). Marijuana is even less likely to produce strong impairment
compared to alcohol. All of which, in a way, makes it very Canadian: It will
make you high, but not too high. We're a country that
prides itself on being nice, and pot produces a "nice" high, rather than an
extreme one... theday.com/ ... 09:45:59Norwich
— [43yo] man who had about 20 pounds of
marijuana in his
vehicle was arrested Saturday night... [Police] saw Smith
on Broad Street at about 7 p.m. Saturday and pulled him over...
[What, not even a bogus claim of a traffic infraction? This is almost
refreshing in its honesty.] ...charged with possession
of more than over 1 kilogram of marijuana with intent to sell, possession of
more than 4 ounces of marijuana, cultivation of marijuana, possession of
marijuana within 1,500 feet of a school, possession of drug paraphernalia and
possession of less than 4 ounces of marijuana... [Why, look! It's
SIX, SIX, SIX crimes in ONE!] newsday.com/ ... 09:43:27"I call
it an epidemic of marijuana arrests. New York City has been on a binge of
marijuana arrests for
the last 10 years."marijuana, various
items used in the packaging and distribution of marijuana, over $6,500 in cash,
and night vision surveillence camera system installed at the residence...
theday.com/ ... 11:22:14Sprague
— [18yo] Baltic man was arrested Saturday... charged with possession of a
controlled substance, possession of 4 ounces of
marijuana and
unauthorized manufacture and sale of marijuana... was walking with a group of
four individuals at 3:45 a.m. on Main Street... when he was spotted with a
large bulge under his T-shirt, which he appeared to be holding. Police found he
was holding a black garbage bag containing approximately a pound of
marijuana... [Walking down main at 4am with a pound under his shirt. What
was he smoking...?] canada.com/ ... 11:20:38Were it
not for prodigious pot use in Quebec, Canada would not have placed first in a United
Nations drug study of marijuana use in the industrialized world. In fact, were
Quebec a sovereign nation, it would have finished first ahead of Canada,
according to a breakdown of data supplied by Canada for the study... edmontonsun.com/ ...
11:19:26Prosecutors say they plan to launch a speedy appeal of a
Toronto judge's ruling that Canada's
marijuana possession
laws are unconstitutional. CBC News reports the judge made the ruling in
dismissing charges against a 29-year-old Toronto man charged with possession of
3.5 grams of pot. The man's lawyer argued that the federal government made it
policy, under Health Canada's Marijuana Medical Access Regulations, to provide
marijuana for medicinal purposes, but never made it a law. CBC News reports
that Judge Howard Borenstein agreed that this brought all possession laws into
question and dismissed the charges... ...Throughout the canny construction of 'Brand
Potter' - books, films, video games, and now even stamps - one figure has been
ever present, like a shadow glimpsed in the cloisters of Hogwarts school...
This enigmatic but utterly crucial influence is Christopher Little, literary
agent, fierce protector of Rowling and, thanks to the boy wizard, now a
millionaire many times over. Little has masterminded Rowling's career, from the
moment he spotted the potential of her first manuscript to this week's
publication of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which guarantees him yet
another jackpot... telegraph.co.uk/ ... 10:59:41...A £10 million security operation featuring an
army of guards, satellite tracking systems and draconian legal contracts has
swung into action to prevent any leak of details of the seventh and final book
about the boy wizard... thestar.com/ ... 10:59:21I had never read a Harry Potter book until three months
ago, when a hopeful editor buttonholed me with a plea: Would I, the newspaper's
religion reporter, write about religious imagery in the series? After 3,362
pages and 12 weeks of very late nights, I can say I liked the series. I get the
hype... expect Harry's death to show that his character's path is modelled on
the Gospel accounts of Jesus, and, more significantly, that the link between
him and wizardry-school headmaster Albus Dumbledore is patterned on the most
essential relationship in the Christian Bible – that between Jesus the Son
and God the Father... "marijuana grow" was
located in the Gumboro area by Maryland State Police narcotics officers
Thursday, Delaware State Police said today... 130 marijuana plants in seven
different plots... one foot to seven feet in height and weighed a total of 97
pounds... nbcsandiego.com/ ...
21:55:28SALTON CITY, Calif. -- The Border Patrol said its agents seized
more than 1,500 pounds of
marijuana packed into
a U-Haul truck at a desert checkpoint south of Salton City... arrested a
Mexican citizen who was residing legally in the United States... pcworld.com/ ... 21:54:46A
California judge is likely to order a Berkeley city initiative back on the
ballot because of local officials' mishandling of electronic voting machine
data... In a preliminary ruling Thursday, Judge Winifred Smith of the Alameda
County Superior Court indicated she would nullify the defeat of a medical
marijuana proposal in
Berkeley in 2004 and order the measure put back on the ballot in a later
election... medical-marijuana advocacy group... Americans for Safe Access... is
suing the county, assisted by the technology rights group Electronic Frontier
Foundation... sfgate.com/ ... 21:53:14Managers
of medical marijuana
dispensaries feared they might be shut down this week after at least 30
landlords in Los Angeles County received warning letters from the Drug
Enforcement Administration. The letters said the landlords' property and assets
could be seized if they were used in the distribution of marijuana or other
controlled substances. It added that federal laws "take precedence" over state
laws, such as Proposition 215 and SB 420, which allow for medical marijuana
use. "It's a shame that the DEA would use techniques on
medical marijuana that are normally reserved for crack houses and meth
labs," said Chris Fusco of Americans for Safe Access, a medical marijuana
group... cannabisassembly.org/ ... 21:22:18Cannabis Assembly...
The Great Tennessee
Marijuana Cave... Under this ordinary house is a marijuana grow-op unlike any
you have ever seen. Within the caves of middle Tennessee, growers constructed a
complex of offices, living quarters, restroom facilities, and a
climate-controlled forest of over one thousand cannabis plants... [From
April] shortnews.com/ ... 21:18:04John
P Walters, said to be President Bush's
Drug Czar, says
people who plant
and tend marijuana
gardens are a terrorist threat. Not only that but they
would not hesitate to help other terrorists get into the
USA with the aim of hurting many people... [Right out of central
casting for "Reefer Madness...." except... he's REAL! (Sort-of)] says the
officers who are ripping up marijuana plants are doing hard and dangerous
work... [siiigh!...] wjbdradio.com/ ... 10:52:17[28yo male] of North
Hickory in Centralia was arrested by Centralia Police for an alleged order of
protection violation and possession of less that
two-and-a-half grams of cannibis... zeenews.com/ ... 10:51:25American singer Kelly
Clarkson... former American Idol winner admitted that she nibbled on a
marijuana cookie
while touring in the Netherlands. "It was in Amsterdam. It is legal there, and
it is not legal here. I don`t ever do anything illegal here..." "I have never
smoked anything in my life. I`ve never tried any drugs. I wouldn`t do anything
that would cause holes in your brain or your nasal cavity.... Call me Texan,
but I don`t think of marijuana like that..." foxnews.com/ ... 10:50:18A massive
marijuana garden
— 61,000 plants worth nearly $200 million — was discovered in a
remote area along the border of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.
Three Mexicans were arrested and plants up to 8-feet-tall were uprooted... "The
plants were located in nine separate grows within a short distance of the
riverbed.... Water from the river was used in an elaborate system of
gravity-fed irrigation..." newsobserver.com/ ... 10:49:18The Orange County
Sheriff's Office seized 1,197
marijuana plants
worth about $1 million Thursday afternoon in a helicopter eradication effort...
texarkanagazette.com/ ...
10:48:31De QUEEN, Ark.—A four-month covert investigation yielded
two arrests and a pound of
marijuana... in a
shoebox inside an apartment closet... oregonlive.com/ ... 10:47:31[41yo]
Vernonia [Oregon] elementary school principal charged with marijuana possession
will face undisclosed disciplinary action but can keep his job... board
"determined that this appears to be a single incident of poor judgment..." The
district has been in the forefront of efforts of anti-drug efforts and started
mandatory drug testing of its athletes in 1989. Two years later, a
seventh-grader refused to take a drug test and was kept off the middle school
football team. His parents sued in a case that went to the U.S. Supreme Court,
which upheld the district rule. According to the sheriff's report, Miller was
leaning against his bike Friday night when Deputy Chance Moore approached him.
Moore wrote that Miller smelled of marijuana. When Moore asked if he'd been
smoking pot, Miller became visibly upset and said, "I could be in a lot of
trouble for this, but yes I have been smoking marijuana..." toledoblade.com/ ... 10:46:05A man
and woman from Ontario were caught transporting BC Bud, one of the most
expensive and potent types of
marijuana, across the
Ohio Turnpike... Nearly $6.5 million worth of BC Bud marijuana... stopped for
speed and marked-lanes violations while westbound on the turnpike... 142 pounds
of marijuana in large cardboard boxes. The marijuana was separated in large
plastic bags inside trash bags placed in the boxes... menacing "killer" wasps...
have infested areas around the State Department's headquarters... 'cicada
killer' wasps, which, despite their somewhat alarming appearance and name, are
generally not aggressive and do not pose a threat to humans... tech.monstersandcritics.com/ ...
10:10:02
The New England Journal of Medicine report cites a lightning strike
that hit a 37-year-old man while jogging through a park in Burnaby, British
Columbia, in June of 2005. The man, who was sheltering beneath a tree while
listening to his iPod, had the inbound electronic charge conducted through his
head due to a combination of sweat and the metal in his earphones... Army Sgt.
Courtney T. Johnson, 26, of Garner, N.C., died July 11 in Besmaya, Iraq,
of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked his unit with indirect fire. He
was assigned to the 3rd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat
Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Benning, Ga. defenselink.mil/ ... 22:22:53Army 1st Sgt.
Jeffrey R. McKinney, 40, of Garland, Texas, died July 11 in Adhamiyah,
Iraq, of injuries suffered from a non-combat related incident. He was assigned
to the 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st
Infantry Division, Schweinfurt, Germany. The incident is under investigation.
marijuana —
specifically about 100 pounds of the plant... worth approximately $400,000...
Santa Ynez Valley rancher was searching for coyotes on his property... when he
came across eight Hispanic males ages 18 to 35 dressed in camouflage, carrying
duffle bags and trespassing on his property... When he tried to detain the
individuals, they all fled in different directions, some leaving their duffle
bags behind... myfoxdfw.com/ ... 10:11:20Drug
Enforcement Administration officials discovered a large number of
marijuana plants
growing in a wooded area near the Trinity River in Dallas Thursday... if you
could walk in a straight line from the riverbank through the marshy underbrush
and tangled wilderness, you'd walk just 200 yards before you hit the DEA's
office building... Army Sgt. Eric A.
Lill, 28, of Chicago, died July 6 in Rustamiyah, Iraq, of wounds suffered
when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle during combat
operations in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 17th Field
Artillery Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort
Carson, Colo. defenselink.mil/ ... 11:19:15Air Force Master
Sgt. Randy J. Gillespie, 44, of Coaldale, Colo., died July 9, in Herat,
Afghanistan, of wounds suffered during small arms fire outside of Camp Stone.
He was assigned to the 56th Logistics Readiness Squadron, Luke Air Force Base,
Ariz. defenselink.mil/ ... 11:18:35Army Cpl. Kory D.
Wiens, 20, of Independence, Ore., assigned to the 94th Mine Dog Detachment,
5th Engineer Battalion, 1st Engineer Brigade, Fort Leonard Wood, Mo.Army Pfc. Bruce
C. Salazar Jr., 24, of Tracy, Calif., assigned to the 1st Battalion, 30th
Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort
Stewart, Ga.Army Sgt. Gene L.
Lamie, 25, of Homerville, Ga.l, assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 7th Cavalry
Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart,
Ga.Army
Pfc. Le Ron A. Wilson, 18, of Queens, N.Y., assigned to the 26th Brigade
Support Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart,
Ga.Marine Cpl.
Jeremy D. Allbaugh, 21, of Luther, Okla.Marine Lance Cpl. Steven A. Stacy,
23, of Coos Bay, Ore.Marine Lance Cpl.
Angel R. Ramirez, 28, of Brooklyn, N.Y., died Feb. 21 at Marine Air
Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, Calif., after being medically evacuated
following a non-hostile incident in Al Qaim, Iraq, on Dec. 21, 2006. He was
assigned to 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine
Expeditionary Force, Twentynine Palms, Calif. The incident is currently under
investigation. The announcement surrounding the death of this Marine was
delayed due to an administrative adjustment to the Marine’s original death
classification. defenselink.mil/ ... 11:13:37The
Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office announced today that the
remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from the
Korean War, have been identified and will be returned to his family for
burial with full military honors. Marine Pfc. Domenico S. Di Salvo, of Akron, Ohio
will be buried July 12 in Seville, Ohio. In late November 1950, Di Salvo was a
member of Company F, 2nd Battalion, 5th Regiment, of the 1st Marine Division
then deployed near Yudam-ni on the western side of the Chosin Reservoir in
North Korea. On Nov. 27, three Communist Chinese Divisions launched an attack
on the Marine positions. Over the next several days, U.S. forces staged a
fighting withdrawal to the south. Di Salvo was lost on Dec. 2, 1950, as a
result of enemy action near Yudam-ni. He was among several in his company
buried by fellow Marines in a temporary grave near the battlefield. During
Operation Glory in 1954, the North Korean government repatriated the remains of
U.S. and allied soldiers. Included in this repatriation were sets of remains
associated with Di Salvo’s burial. That year, U.S. officials identified
five of these individuals. One repatriated individual could not be identified
at that time and was buried as an unknown in the National Memorial Cemetery of
the Pacific (The Punchbowl) in Hawaii. In November 2006, the Joint POW/MIA
Accounting Command (JPAC) exhumed remains from the NMCP believed to be those of
Di Salvo... defenselink.mil/ ... 11:11:50Army Col.
Jon M. Lockey, 44, of Fredericksburg, Va., died July 6
in Baghdad, Iraq, of injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident. The
incident is under investigation. Lockey was assigned to Headquarters,
Department of the Army, Washington, D.C. 
indystar.com/ ...
11:39:38Toxicology tests on a teenager who killed himself after shooting
two Floyd County sheriff's deputies detected only a chemical found in
marijuana... marijuana
plants... were being grown by Mexican nationals [three arrested] and if fully
grown, could be worth nearly 200 million dollars [if sold by the gram in
prohibition-inflated black markets]... eastbayri.com/ ... 11:40:18"I can use it to quell my
symptoms on a need-to basis, and it has a much milder effect [than regular
pain-killers]," he said. "It helps me in all the areas I need..." "I really
don't like the idea of taking pain medication on a constant basis," he said. "I
always kind of just put up with the pain..." freep.com/ ... 11:39:19Four suburban men were
charged today in U.S. District Court in Detroit with various drug offenses for
transporting nearly 400 pounds of high-grade marijuana into the country from
Canada... "BC Bud..." hydroponically-grown marijuana is chemically supercharged
and comparable to cocaine in its effects and its ability to fetch up to $6,000
per pound... "This is not your dad's marijuana... It has 10 times the THC
content of normal marijuana..." [So?] guardian.co.uk/ ...
11:38:04Presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani said Tuesday that people who
want to legalize marijuana for medical purposes really just want to make the drug
available to everyone... "You can accomplish everything you want to accomplish
with things other than marijuana, probably better. There are pain medications
much superior to marijuana..." communities.canada.com/ ...
11:37:25...Apparently,
marijuana is the
opiate of the masses. Legalization advocates should note that the Canadian rate
is more than two-and-a-half times as high as the Dutch one (albeit from 2001).
It's even 50% higher than the Jamaican (2001) rate. The story also indicates
that domestic production more than doubled between 2000 and 2004.
Interestingly, though, the vote for the Marijuana Party more than halved
between 2000 (0.510%) and 2004 (0.249%). I'll refrain from making the obvious
joke about depending on marijuana-addled supporters to show up at the polls.
But if you add the people who are smoking to the people who would smoke if it
were legal, and then add other people who think that the government should
leave pot smokers alone, there would seem to be a large constituency for
marijuana-law reform... Army Sgt. 1st Class
Sean K. Mitchell, 35, of Monterey, Calif., died July 7 in Kidal, Mali,
of injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident. His death is under
investigation. defenselink.mil/ ... 15:22:10Army Pfc. Jason
E. Dore, 25, of Moscow, Maine, died July 8 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds
suffered from an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 2nd
Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division,
Fort Hood, Texas. Army Spc. Jeremy
L. Stacey, 23, of Bismarck, Ark., died July 5 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds
suffered from an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 2nd
Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry
Division, Fort Bliss, Texas. defenselink.mil/ ... 22:43:11Army Spc. Anthony
M.K. Vinnedge, 24, of Okeana, Ohio, died July 5 at the Radwaniyah Palace
Complex, Iraq, of injuries suffered from a non-combat related incident. The
incident is under investigation. Vinnedge was assigned to Troop C, 2nd
Squadron, 107th Armor Cavalry Regiment, Ohio Army National Guard, Greenville,
Ohio. defenselink.mil/ ... 22:42:12Army Spc. Roberto
J. Causor Jr., 21, of San Jose, Calif., died July 7 in Samarra, Iraq, of
wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit with an improvised explosive
device and small arms fire. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 505th
Parachute Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division,
Fort Bragg, N.C. kitten... nursing from a 3-year-old dog named Lillie...
found under the hood of... [a] running Chevrolet Tahoe a few weeks ago... feeds
in the morning, at night and after naps, purring and pawing at the dog's
belly... reuters.com/ ... 22:16:58The power of
the Internet has saved more than 800 cats from being skinned and served up on
Chinese dinner tables... 
nationalledger.com/ ...
10:38:33Megan Fox may be the hot spokes babe for legalizing
marijuana. In a
recent interview with Maxim magazine, the screen siren admitted that she's
tried nearly every drug under the sun... "I wanted to try several things and
make an informed decision, but I didn't enjoy anything other than marijuana. I
don't even think of it as a drug - it should be legalized..." blog.oregonlive.com/ ...
10:34:01Police officers and sheriff deputies seized more than 7,500
marijuana plants
during a drug raid Saturday in south-central Oregon... two- to four-foot plants
on private and federal lands... two men fled on foot... cosmosmagazine.com/ ... 10:31:56Marijuana and Madness:
Psychiatry and Neurobiology Edited by David Castle and Robin Murray... 13
linked chapters: each, in effect, is a well-researched academic article with
extensive references... This is a serious academic work, not popular science.
However, it should be of great value to anyone interested in the topic,
provided they are willing to take time to understand the painstakingly nuanced
statements of scientific facts and theories the authors provide... kudzugazette.com/ ... 10:30:37Marijuana should be legal.
Not decriminalized, not reserved only for use in novelty bracelet making, but
packaged, regulated, marketed, and sold at the local Wal-Mart so you can
conveniently pick up a pack after buying your daughter's first spring dress. If
cigarettes are fortunate enough to enjoy that level of legal and societal
freedom, why isn't marijuana?.. As a pragmatic fiscal conservative, I am
frustrated that so much time and money is being spent on the fruitless and
futile war on drugs and that the courts are continuously inundated with
ridiculous marijuana related cases. It is not only a waste of tax dollars, but
also of law enforcement's time and energy. Modern marijuana law is a vestige of
a socially and scientifically ignorant time and a suppression of personal
liberties. Who is the government to tell us that we can exercise volition in
determining the individual suitability of alcohol and tobacco, but are severely
forbidden from enjoying a more benign alternative?.. allheadlinenews.com/ ... 10:29:12In the last couple of
years, thousands of Canadians have been charged with an offence that was almost
taken off the books. When the Conservative government took office in 2006 they
killed a bill to decriminalize small amounts of
marijuana. Since then
the number of people arrested for smoking pot increased dramatically according
to data compiled by the Canadian Press. Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa and Halifax
all reported increases of between 20 and 50 per cent in 2006 from the previous
year, while Montreal and Calgary saw their number of arrests dip a few
percentage points... hosted.ap.org/ ...
09:59:42Afghanistan's counternarcotics minister has resigned only weeks
after Afghan laborers finished cultivating an opium poppy crop that could
exceed last year's record haul. Habibullah Qaderi's resignation... came as U.S.
and Afghan officials debate privately whether to use
herbicides to reduce the drug problem... [Puritan, Taliban, they all
oppress and poison the earth.] Army Spc.
Michelle R. Ring, 24, of Martin, Tenn., died July 5 of wounds sustained
from enemy mortar fire in Baghdad, Iraq. She was assigned to the 92d Military
Police Battalion, Fort Benning, Ga. defenselink.mil/ ... 22:54:02Army Maj. James
M. Ahearn, 43, of Calif.Army Sgt. Keith A. Kline, 24, of Oak Harbor,
Ohio.Army Spc.
Christopher S. Honaker, 23, of Cleveland, N.C., died July 5 of wounds
sustained from enemy small arms fire and indirect fire in the Watapor Valley of
Kunar Province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to 2d Battalion, 503d Infantry
Regiment (Airborne), 173d Airborne Brigade, Vicenza, Italy. defenselink.mil/ ... 22:50:37Army Sgt. Thomas
P. McGee, 23, of Hawthorne, Calif., died July 6 of wounds sustained when
his vehicle struck an improvised explosive device in Wazi Khwa, Afghanistan. He
was assigned to the 546th Military Police Company, 385th Military Police
Battalion, Fort Stewart, Ga... defenselink.mil/ ... 22:46:53Army Sgt. Thomas
P. McGee, 23, of Hawthorne, Calif., died July 6 of wounds sustained when
his vehicle struck an improvised explosive device in Wazi Khwa, Afghanistan. He
was assigned to the 546th Military Police Company, 385th Military Police
Battalion, Fort Stewart, Ga. marijuana after the
Caldwell County Sheriff’s [PuriTaliban Religious Taboo-breakers
Harrassment]Office followed up on a tip... under five plants... busrep.co.za/ ... 11:09:10You are
surrounded by hemp if
you drive a Mercedes-Benz with interior panels moulded from the fibre. Hemp
oils show up in body lotions and lip balms. In the US, hemp oil, fibre and
hulled seeds are legal to eat, drink, buy, sell, import, turn into jewellery,
make into clothes or smear on your body. The peculiar thing is that the plant
that yields all that tasty, healthy and useful stuff cannot be grown legally in
the US, at least not without permission from the Drug Enforcement
Administration (DEA)... Two North Dakota farmers, peering over the border at
happy hemp farmers in Canada, filed suit against the DEA last month... "There's
no difference between the hemp plant and the marijuana plant under the law,"
says DEA spokesperson Garrison Courtney... RALEIGH, N.C... Animal welfare officials are looking for
pets that ran away this week after they were spooked by Independence Day
fireworks displays... "Animals don't know where big booms are coming from....
They just hear loud noises and need to run away from it..." chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/ ...
09:03:59...Could somebody please, please, please, I beg you, put a stop
to all this news coverage of that totally repulsive 4th of July hot dog-eating
contest? This thing is being rammed down our throats on a daily basis. Not only
the "traditional" holiday stomach-stuffer but a steady diet of regional events
leading up to it that we are being distastefully force-fed... marijuana... Seven
bags totaling more than two ounces were found inside the vehicle and five bags
had been thrown from the car prior to the stop and were located a short
distance away... jsonline.com/ ... 23:44:23On Friday, April 13, two
Milwaukee County sheriff's deputies pulled over the driver of a white
Oldsmobile for a driving infraction... deputies soon discovered 44 1/2 pounds
of marijuana - with a
street value of $30,000 [Is that all?] - in the trunk... arrested the
driver, a 23-year-old Milwaukee man, and the passenger, a 22-year-old from
South Milwaukee... two months later, the case is kaput... The two men in the
Oldsmobile walked without being charged. The two deputies are now under
investigation by their own department. And a top county prosecutor recently
circulated an e-mail effectively barring the pair from serving as prosecution
witnesses in Milwaukee County ever again... the two deputies... decided later
to go to the driver's house to do what's called a knock and talk. That's where
the officers knock on the door and try to convince the resident to agree to a
search of the house... they found no one home but the front door open... they
then invited themselves in because they feared that someone
might be injured in the house. Right... A cop can't walk into a house
and search it because the front door is open. Duh... Put another way: What were
these cops smoking?.. salem-news.com/ ... 23:38:55A
total of 7,459 marijuana plants 2-4 feet in height were seized today in a multi
agency operation in Lake County [Ore]... two unidentified Hispanic males fled
on foot and were not captured... wmcstations.com/ ...
09:03:04SEVIERVILLE, Tenn... Deputies in Sevier County said they
found... 21 marijuana
plants growing in a plastic children's pool behind a house... [51yo]
arrested.... dailybulletin.com/ ...
09:02:12...the isolated area in the foothills of Rancho Cucamonga was
not safe from the all-seeing eyes of deputies [operatives of the PuriTaliban
oppressor government] in a San Bernardino County sheriff's helicopter.
Early Friday morning, detectives from the San Bernardino County sheriff's
Marijuana Eradication Team seized 322
marijuana plants at
an outdoor grow... about 5 feet tall and appeared to be mature... estimated at
about $1.127million... [if sold by the gram at top
dollar under PuriTaliban tyranny-created black market....] dailybulletin.com/ ... 08:59:41PASADENA - The
discovery of a sophisticated indoor
marijuana farm on
Wednesday night in a house on a quiet street in the city led to the arrests of
four men... A semiautomatic rifle and an elaborate surveillance system were
also discovered at the house... The notion that operations like this are a
victimless crime is a crock," Pasadena police Lt. Thomas Pederson said. "People
have a misperception that there's a difference between marijuana houses and
crack- cocaine houses. If it was such a safe operation, why would they need
weapons and surveillance equipment?.." [Says the armed thug enforcer of
PuriTaliban religious taboo laws that CREATES the black market, the high
prices, and the violences....] Police were in the area after responding
about 11:10 p.m. to a report of shots being fired... patrol unit observed three
[men] dashing into the house... might actually have been Independence Day
fireworks... the men were in possession of illegal fireworks, which were also
discovered inside... Refuse from firecrackers was strewn in the driveway...
"Not a great idea ... to set off fireworks and lead the police to your illegal
operation," Pederson said... [That's so true!] sfgate.com/ ... 08:55:55Marijuana advocate Ed
Rosenthal lectured a federal judge Friday before being sentenced to a day in
jail -- which he has already served -- for growing pot plants for medicinal
use... "I am proud of what I did. I know I have done nothing wrong," Rosenthal
told U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer... "You have now hurt 24 jurors. ...You
left them feeling guilty about their unwitting role in these faux trials..."
Breyer imposed only a one-day sentence after the first trial, saying Rosenthal
had believed he was acting legally because Oakland had designated him its agent
in the city's medical marijuana program... huffingtonpost.com/ ...
08:54:08Although CNN is claiming that pill is use outpacing
marijuana amongst
college kids, its sources are problematic. The major national surveys-- which,
although not perfect, are considered the best sources of data on drug trends--
do not find that more college students use prescription drugs than marijuana...
49% of college students report having tried marijuana-- while just 26.6% have
used any other drug illegally. If we look at specific prescription medications,
the numbers are significantly lower... 19.5% have smoked marijuana in the last
30 days, but just 3.1% have misused prescription pain medication and 2.9% have
misused amphetamines... While CNN's source Joe Califano says he "wouldn't be
surprised if right now at this point in time, there are more kids abusing
prescription drugs than abusing marijuana,"-- actual drug researchers would
be... [Fight the scare-tactic propaganda mills!] suntimes.com/ ... 08:52:31...Al
Gore III, Noelle Bush and Patrick Kennedy remind us that drug use does not
discriminate. Unfortunately, our drug policies do. Just one of numerous
examples is in New York. Ninety-three percent of the people incarcerated under
New York’s draconian Rockefeller Drug Laws are black or Latino, which is
grossly disproportionate to their share of the population or involvement in
illegal drug use and sales. Too often, treatment is reserved for the
privileged, jail for the poor... There are too many people filling up
much-needed treatment slots because they were only given two options: treatment
or jail time and a permanent record. If someone is busted with marijuana or
another drug but they are not hurting anyone else, then they should not
automatically be considered to have a drug problem. Leaving them alone may be
better than forcing them into treatment and is clearly better than locking them
up in a cage at taxpayer expense... Hopefully, one day, we will offer all
families compassion and treatment, not a jail cell and judgment when dealing
with the problem of drugs.Army Chief Warrant
Officer Scott A.M. Oswell, 33, of Washington, died July 4 in Mosul,
Iraq, of wounds suffered when his helicopter struck a power line. He was
assigned to the 4th Squadron, 6th U.S. Air Cavalry, Fort Lewis, Wash. defenselink.mil/ ... 13:16:45Army Pfc. Andrew
T. Engstrom, 22, of Slaton, Texas, died July 4 in Taji, Iraq, from injuries
suffered in a non-combat related incident. His death is under investigation.
Engstrom was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery Regiment, 1st
Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas. defenselink.mil/ ... 13:12:27Army Pfc. Steven
A. Davis, 23, of Woodbridge, Va., died July 4 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds
suffered when insurgents attacked his unit with grenades. He was assigned to
the 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd
Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo. The wet summer is having a
"dramatic effect" on ground nesting bumblebees... Species at risk include the
great yellow, which is the rarest in the UK and clings to survival in areas of
the Highlands and Islands... The Bumblebee Conservation Trust launched a
national garden watch and a drive to boost the insect's numbers earlier this
year... hosted.ap.org/ ... 12:10:12A panda
gave birth to twins in southwest China, surprising researchers who were only
expecting a single cub... "The mother and her babies are all well," Zhang
Zhihe, director of the Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding and Research Center in
Sichuan Province, was quoted as saying... Female pandas
normally become sexually mature between 4 and 5 years old. They can get
pregnant once a year and usually give birth to one or two cubs at a time. More
than 20 pandas were born in captivity in China last year... one of the world's
rarest animals, with about 1,590 living in the wild in China, mostly in Sichuan
and the western province of Shaanxi. Another 180 have been bred in captivity...
hosted.ap.org/ ... 12:09:13Five Bengal tigers,
four of them white males, have debuted at a zoo in western Mexico... born in
April and went on display Wednesday... result of a natural breeding program...
sixth litter of white tigers born at the zoo... [all with same father]]
Pamela
Escamilla lost sight of her 3-year-old calico, Spice, while packing a large
container with household goods in Waikoloa Village, Hawaii. The container was
shipped June 15 to Southern California... When Escamilla opened the container,
she and family members noticed fluffs of cat hair on the floor... climbed into
the container to search... saw Spice poke her head out from behind some
bicycles. "I started to scream..." Spice spent 18 days in the pitch-black
container without food or water... kidneys had shrunk and her bowels were
backed up, but she managed to get some food and water down at the vet...
cannibis - in
a raid on a house in Sneinton... now trying to track down the resident... The
plants were not fully grown but it is estimated they would have been capable of
producing between £30,000 and £40,000 of the drug...
PC Mat Mitchell, beat manager for Sneinton
Hermitage, said: "If they were mature plants, that's a significant amount of
drugs we have stopped from being sold in Sneinton. That's too much for personal
use. That would be sold locally to young kids so it
is definitely pleasing..." capemaycountyherald.com/ ...
13:00:26Police received a call... of a disabled and possibly impaired
driver in the area of Wuerker’s Pit, off Railroad Avenue in Erma...
According to police, when [driver] opened the center console to produce
documents, Officer Pat Greene observed several large bags of green vegetation,
which he identified as
marijuana... Further
search found marijuana in excess of 5 ounces, brass knuckles, packaging
material and a switchblade knife. [Driver] was charged with driving under the
influence... wmcstations.com/ ...
12:58:52Police in Malvern [Ark] have arrested two men accused of
accepting a delivery of
marijuana through the
mail... six pounds of marijuana were mailed from California to a Malvern
address... news.com.au/ ... 12:57:36Nimbin...
IT'S the town that has continued to break the law with its laissez-faire
attitude to drugs. But after years of open drug dealing on the streets as well
as a rising tide of violence, police have had
enough. [Darned right! Police are SUPPOSED to prevent and deal with
violence....]Local Area Commander Bruce Lyons, the man in charge of
policing the far North Coast town, is now taking a zero
tolerance policy to drugs... [!!] "I'm passionate about fixing
the problem because, unless we deal with all the social problems, the town will
continue to see the consequences of drug addiction," Supt Lyons, who has been
in charge of the far North Coast for three years, said. "I have been getting a
lot of criticism about this approach but there is a silent majority in Nimbin
talking to me saying they want change and change is what needs to happen..."
Army 1st Lt.
Christopher N. Rutherford, 25, of Newport, Ohio, died July 2 near Balad,
Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his
vehicle. He was assigned to the Forward Support Group, 19th Engineer Battalion,
Fort Knox, Ky. defenselink.mil/ ... 14:12:57Marine Lance Cpl.
William C. Chambers, 20, of Ringgold, Ga.Marine Lance Cpl. Jeremy L. Tinnel,
20, of Mechanicsville, Va.alligator." Using a piece of bologna tied to a string, rescue
workers caught the 2 1/2-foot-long alligator Wednesday... could have grown to
as long as 10 feet... reuters.com/ ... 13:29:17Low sperm
counts and other reproductive problems are preventing pregnancy among
Malaysia's endangered rhinos, a worrying trend that wildlife experts say could
hasten its extinction... 
40-pound snapping turtle finally gave up and let Mike Jones and
Matt Garber do their jobs. Using a combination of orthodontic cement and duct
tape, the students attached a postcard-sized waterproof computer to the
turtle's shell. After christening the 16th male turtle he found in the area as
"M16," Jones scribbled some information about the turtle's shell markings into
a field book and set the snapper free. Knowing where M16 goes could help
scientists protect him... computer engineers... are testing a new wireless
communication network, and biologists... who are tracking snapping turtles...
The idea behind the technology is to create a network of constantly moving
devices that record and store information, transmit data from one device to
another, then relay all the saved information to a central location while
running on self-charging batteries... hosted.ap.org/ ... 11:57:50MOUNT HOLLY, N.C...
fishing in the Catawba River last week when he caught what state wildlife
officials later identified as a piranha... 1 pound, 4 ounce piranha... opened
the fish's mouth with a pocket knife, he said the fish bit down and left an
impression on the blade... hosted.ap.org/ ... 11:47:57The
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing to make it
easier to kill wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains to protect other
wildlife and domesticated animals... hosted.ap.org/ ... 11:47:38SEATTLE... A
previously unknown elephant herpes virus killed the Woodland Park Zoo's
youngest Asian elephant... Army Spc. James
L. Adair, 26, of Carthage, Texas, died June 29 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds
sustained when his vehicle struck an improvised explosive device. He was
assigned to the 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade
Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kan. defenselink.mil/ ... 11:26:23Marine Lance Cpl.
Juan M. Garcia Schill, 20, of Grants Pass, Ore., died July 2 while
conducting combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq. He was assigned to 2nd
Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary
Force, Twentynine Palms, Calif. Thousands of
American troops celebrated their 4th of July independence holiday in
Afghanistan on Wednesday, far from home but treated to a feast of hotdogs,
burgers, corn on the cob and ice cream. "This is a special day for us and we
will be celebrating across the country, wherever we are," army captain Meredith
Noll said at Bagram Air Base, the vast and sprawling headquarters of the
U.S-led, 50,000-strong international force in Afghanistan... On Wednesday,
senior commanders of the U.S. force hosted a 4th of July barbeque for fellow
officers from other coalition partners as well as the Afghan National Army...
visaliatimesdelta.com/ ...
12:23:55Much of what people think they know about the Declaration of
Independence is incorrect. For instance, the Declaration of Independence,
initially drafted by Thomas Jefferson, was not written by Jefferson alone,
although the stirring words "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all
men are created equal" were certainly his. The principles of equality were
neither original nor entirely Jefferson's. Much of the phrasing was similar to
a draft of a new constitution for Virginia, written by George Mason... Neither
the decision to declare independence from England nor the complete signing of
the document occurred on July 4, 1776. The decision for independence was
actually passed on July 2, which John Adams always thought should have been
commemorated as Independence Day. The only thing that occurred on July 4 was
that, after a final vote to reiterate the decision of two days earlier, the
Second Continental Congress ordered the Declaration to be sent to the printer
and distributed. Until then, it had been kept secret. The Declaration of
Independence would have violated today's public records act and open meetings
laws... article.nationalreview.com/ ... 12:11:29....here's a
portrait of the men who pledged "our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor"
for liberty 225 years ago: Fifty-six men from each of the original 13 colonies
signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. Nine of the signers
were immigrants, two were brothers and two were cousins. One was an orphan. The
average age of a signer was 45. Benjamin Franklin was the oldest delegate at
70. The youngest was Thomas Lynch Jr. of South Carolina at 27... norwichbulletin.com/ ...
12:09:59They didn't always agree, and they did debate a number of issues
for a very long time. Finally, on the day of decision, an old bellman was in
the steeple of the brick statehouse (Independence Hall) since that morning. He
had been waiting for a pre-arranged signal from a young boy downstairs,
straddling a doorway. The debates did not end until evening, when suddenly, the
boy clapped his hands and shouted, "Ring! Ring!" This was the signal for the
birth of the new republic. The vote had passed, since there was little doubt by
then this country's independence from England would be declared. In actuality,
only 12 states had voted for independence July 4, 1776. Others voted later to
clinch the decision... hosted.ap.org/ ... 11:58:16CHARLES TOWN,
W.Va... Customers at the Liberty Street Carryout don't sing for their supper.
They sing for their country. Every day at noon, customers join waitress Judy
Hawkins in a sing-along with a local radio station's broadcast of "The
Star-Spangled Banner." Hawkins said she started singing the national anthem
several months ago and it's now a daily ritual... hosted.ap.org/ ... 11:31:57Hundreds of U.S. troops marked the Fourth of July by
re-enlisting in the military Wednesday while others took their oaths of
American citizenship in ceremonies at the main U.S. headquarters in Iraq. A
total of 588 troops signed up for another stint in
the military, according to a U.S. military statement. Another
161 became naturalized American citizens...
Petraeus dedicated the Independence Day ceremony to the memory of two soldiers
who were killed in action before they could be sworn in as citizens... reuters.com/ ... 11:19:32Alan
Johnston, the BBC journalist held hostage in Gaza, was freed early on Wednesday
after a late-night deal between the ruling Hamas Islamists and the
al Qaeda-inspired clan group that kidnapped him in
March... "...It was an appalling experience...." said the final deal was
clinched by a senior Muslim cleric issuing a fatwa, or religious edict, for
Johnston's release. No ransom was paid nor other conditions attached... forecast.weather.gov/ ...
11:17:59
...hottest weather of the year expected today and
thursday... greater Phoenix area... high pressure aloft over the southwestern
United States will remain strong the next couple of days. this will produce
very hot conditions over the deserts of Arizona and southeastern California
through at least Thursday. Forecast highs today include 114 at Coolidge...115
at Phoenix...116 at Yuma...117 at Blythe... Imperial and Gila Bend...and 118
degrees at Parker... usatoday.com/ ... 11:02:33A laser
light show will replace traditional July Fourth fireworks in Burbank, Calif.
Woodstock, Ga., canceled its fireworks and plans to shoot them off on
Halloween. Dozens of communities in drought-stricken areas are scrapping public
fireworks displays and cracking down on backyard pyrotechnics to reduce the
risk of fires... marijuana laws do not
increase marijuana use, and that even weak marijuana works as well as (and in
some ways better than) high-dose Marinol, the THC pill sometimes touted as a
substitute for marijuana... heraldnet.com/ ... 12:22:07EVERETT
- Police are investigating an apparent double homicide that occurred late
Monday in a home where hundreds of
marijuana plants were
found growing in the basement... man and a woman, both in their 20s, were shot
multiple times... Up to 400 plants were removed... sunstar.com.ph/ ... 12:20:40PDEA
Acting Regional Director Rolando Bade said 80,000
marijuana plants with
a market value of P24 million were uprooted in Tuala-on, Dominorog, Talakag
Bukidnon... thejakartapost.com/ ... 12:20:09In
regard to an article published in The Jakarta Post on June 27 titled "Marijuana OK for
seasoning: Kalla", I would like to remind the public that the prohibition of
the use of marijuana, except for scientific purposes, is in compliance with
"The Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961", which has been ratified by
Indonesia through Law No. 8, 1976. Therefore, the legalization of the use of
marijuana will require Indonesia to not only change the law, but cancel its
membership to the above-mentioned convention... The largest known
population of rare, gray-shanked doucs has been discovered in a remote part of
Vietnam, raising the prospect the endangered monkeys can be saved from
extinction... Army Sgt. 1st Class
Raymond R. Buchan, 33, of Johnston, Pa., assigned to the 1st Battalion,
18th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division,
Schweinfurt, GermanyArmy Staff Sgt. Michael L. Ruoff Jr., 31, of Yosemite,
Calif., assigned to the 1st Battalion, 77th Armor Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat
Team, 1st Infantry Division, Schweinfurt, GermanyArmy Spc. Victor
A. Garcia, 22, of Rialto, Calif., died July 1 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds
suffered from enemy small arms fire. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 38th
Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat
Team), Fort Lewis, Wash. defenselink.mil/ ... 09:56:31Army Pfc.
Jonathan M. Rossi, 20, of Safety Harbor, Fla., died July 1 in Baghdad,
Iraq, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit using an improvised
explosive device and small arms fire. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion,
12th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort
Bliss, Texas. defenselink.mil/ ... 09:56:10Army Staff Sgt.
Robb L. Rolfing, 29, of Milton, Mass., died June 30 in Baghdad, Iraq, of
wounds sustained from enemy small arms fire. He was assigned to the 2nd
Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne), Fort Carson, Colo.
marijuana, weighing
306 pounds. The marijuana [never really] has a street value of
$245,040... walb.com/ ... 10:14:31Millions of
dollars worth of marijuana is confiscated during the biggest drug bust in Lee County
history. Investigators say a well-known real estate agent is at the head of the
operation... four were arrested and charged with growing more than two million
dollars worth of pot in an elaborate indoor growing operation... 200 marijuana
plants... dailybulletin.com/ ...
10:13:38UPLAND - A man was arrested after a security guard spotted him
carrying marijuana
plants early Sunday morning... Deputies later searched his home in Upland and
found 21 small marijuana plants growing in one of his closets. The plants were
not yet mature and were worth an estimated $100 each... also found close to a
pound of dried marijuana worth between $700 and $800... theglobeandmail.com/ ...
10:12:54...Mr. Wilcox, a terminally ill medical
marijuana user living
in Victoria, owes the federal government more than $6,400 for cannabis he
purchased through Health Canada's medical marijuana program last winter. But
like many who subscribe to the federal program, Mr. Wilcox is neither able nor
willing to pay for his government-grown pot. Not only is the product low in
quality and high in price, it should be covered by the health-care system like
any other drug, he said... pal-item.com/ ...
10:12:18Authorities in Union County have seized 46
marijuana plants in a
cornfield adjacent to a home... same property where a Union County man opened
fire on a member of the SWAT team... [38yo] arrested on preliminary charges of
felony attempted murder and maintaining a common nuisance; and misdemeanor
cultivating marijuana, possession of marijuana and possession of drug
paraphernalia... [Protect our Police! Repeal! Repeal! Repeal!] dothaneagle.com/ ...
10:11:10$8,000 worth of
marijuana... When
Dothan police officer Maurice Eggleston stopped a 2007 Chevrolet Suburban just
before noon Monday, one glance in the back seat let him know an arrest was in
order. Six large plastic bags of marijuana lay there, along with a handgun...
appeared to stem from a drug deal that appeared to be falling apart...
Trafficking marijuana is a felony. Prison time is no
less than five years upon conviction... Army Sgt. Shin W.
Kim, 23, of Fullerton, Calif.Army Sgt. Michael J. Martinez, 24, of Chula
Vista, Calif.Army Sgt. Giann C. Joya Mendoza, 27, of North Hollywood,
Calif.Army
Spc. Dustin L. Workman II, 19, of Greenwood, Neb.Army Pfc. Cory F.
Hiltz, 20, of La Verne, Calif.Army Sgt. William
W. Crow Jr., 28, of Grandview Plaza, Kan., died June 28 in Baghdad, of
wounds sustained when his vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device.
He was assigned to the 2d Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry
Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kan. 
Australian and Malaysian
scientists announced last week they had discovered a new virus likely carried
by bats that can cause respiratory illness in humans. They called it the Melaka
virus, using the name of the southern state where it was isolated in early 2006
in a human patient. Chief Minister Ali Rustam said Saturday the state does not
want to be associated with the virus and called the name choice "an insult" to
Melaka, which is a popular tourist destination because of its historical
sites... hosted.ap.org/ ... 10:52:26The busy shipping lanes
in and out of Boston Harbor will be narrowed and shifted northward Sunday in a
bid to lower the risk of rare right whales being killed by ships. It's the
first time in U.S. history shipping lanes have been changed to protect
wildlife... marijuana growing
lab... no word on the value of the seized pot and equipment. No arrests have
been made and the investigation is ongoing... [cue Dragnet music....]
thelibertypapers.org/ ...
11:20:37...Unfortunately for anyone licensed by New Mexico, the Department
of Justice doesn’t care about your silly state laws. Marijuana is a
dangerous gateway drug, leading our children down a path of failure and ruin.
Didn’t you see Reefer Madness? How do I know they’ll trump state
laws? Well, if Raich isn’t enough, you can go one step farther and look at
the Ed Rosenthal case. A man specifically deputized by the city of Oakland to
grow marijuana for medical marijuana patients was federally prosecuted, and for
an added kicker, couldn’t reveal to the jury that what he was doing was
specifically approved by the city government... seattlepi.nwsource.com/ ...
11:19:11This fall, sober public servants will convene a series of
meetings across Washington state to answer a pressing question: Just how much
marijuana constitutes
a two-month supply? [Answer: Probably more than Nanny.GOV is going to
permit... REPEAL! REPEAL! REPEAL!] 
A crowd of 100 stunned
stargazers brought a town centre to a standstill when five mysterious UFOs were
spotted hovering in the sky. Drinkers spilled out of pubs, motorists stopped to
gawp and camera phones were aimed upwards as the five orbs, in a seeming
formation, hovered above Stratford-Upon-Avon for half an hour... Air Traffic
Control reported no unusual activity... the lights were seen hovering slowly
over the town before three of them formed a triangular shape with one
positioned just to the right. A few minutes later a fifth came into view
travelling towards the others at breakneck speed before slowing down and
stopping a short distance away... odd movement, lack of noise and the length of
time in the air discounted any man-made explanation... 
Growing up in
East Texas, Dian Avriett loved to watch the turtles sunning on the banks of
local rivers and lakes. But now she says it's rare to see them on those same
waterways, and the reason is clear -- China's taste for Texas turtle meat.
Hundreds of thousands have been sold to dealers who ship the animals to Asia
where the meat is considered a delicacy with health benefits...
A crew of Brazilian fishermen was captured on video
killing 83 dolphins and joking about their illegal haul... showed the fishermen
netting the dolphins, which suffocated because they could not surface to
breathe... authorities were still trying to identify the fishermen...
A pair of
round, gold-rimmed sunglasses worn by Beatle John Lennon that set a fashion
trend has come up for auction at a British Web site with bidding said to be as
high as $1.5 million... Bidding is set to end on July 31... 
SCIENTISTS are trying to
figure out if clearings created for powerlines through rainforests may be
helping frogs survive a deadly disease... "Higher, more variable temperatures
and light levels and lower humidity seem to protect frogs from the disease....
Small clearings being made for power line towers are likely to increase the
exposure of frogs to such conditions, which could reduce their vulnerability to
the disease. Our monitoring of the frogs will determine if the areas disturbed
by tower construction are used by frogs and how..." 
CLIFFSIDE PARK, N.J.... Sophia had vanished last Saturday
after O'Hara's husband lost his grip on the bird while the couple were out for
a walk... pet macaw... turned up alive and well... 80 miles away at the Jersey
shore... [25yo man] was driving near his home Thursday night when he spotted
the large blue and gold bird sitting quietly by the side of the road...