blog-heap o' links
Army Sgt. 1st Class
John J. Tobiason, 42, of Bloomington, Minn., died Nov. 28 in Baghdad,
Iraq, of injuries suffered from an incident that is currently under
investigation. He was assigned to the 847th Adjutant General Battalion, 89th
Regional Readiness Command, Wichita, Kan. defenselink.mil/ ... 09:30:07Marine Cpl. Allen
C. Roberts, 21, of Arcola, Ill., died Nov. 28 from a vehicle accident near
Al Asad, Iraq. He was assigned to Marine Attack Squadron 214, Marine Aircraft
Group 13, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Marine Corps
Air Station Yuma, Ariz. 
A
sticky molecule previously linked to inflammation also helps seal vital
insulation around peripheral nerves, making it a potential target for new drugs
against nerve disorders... the molecule, known as JAM-C, could be a key player
in regulating the way nerves work. In genetically modified mice without the
adhesion molecule, the myelin insulation sheath protecting nerves deteriorates
and the animals experience faulty nerve firing, muscle weakness and a shortened
stride, researchers reported in the journal Science. The team also found that
nerves of patients with certain peripheral nerve disorders had defective
JAM-C... news.bbc.co.uk/ ... 08:28:24Scientists have reversed the effects
of ageing on the skin of mice by blocking the action of a specific
protein... they could rejuvenate skin to look more youthful... the skin had the
same genetic profile as the skin of newborn mice... They stressed it was
unlikely to be a potential "fountain of youth" but could help older people heal
as quickly from injury as they did when they were younger.
The protein in question - NF-kappa-B - is thought to
play a role in numerous aspects of ageing... It acts as a regulator, causing a
wide range of other genes to be more or less active... 
Police Ordered to Return Legally Possessed
Marijuana...
A Christmas tree that had been removed from the atrium of
Strong Hall at Missouri State University will return, along with other
religious holiday symbols in that building, school president Michael T. Nietzel
said in a news release Thursday morning... Courts have ruled that Christmas
trees are secular symbols, along with the Jewish menorah... hosted.ap.org/ ... 08:50:39awoke Wednesday to find that a long-needled pine the
family had decorated for years was cut down and stolen during the night. The
family planted the pine 10 years ago, and it had grown to 15 to 20 feet high.
"The neighbors and grandkids really looked forward to the tree being lit up..."
And the thief had fastidiously taken the lights from the tree, draping them on
rocks around the tree's raised bed. "I'm probably going to string the lights
around the base of it and just light the base of it..." 
A protected colony of rare
fruit bats in Cyprus has almost been wiped out by unidentified gunmen using
them for target practice... From a colony of about 60, only 10 to 15
survived... Bats are associated with superstition in
other cultures but in Cyprus, they are considered more as pests that eat fruit.
"That perception is actually wrong," said Nicolaou. "It will only eat over-ripe
fruit..." reuters.com/ ... 10:54:59
Officials in
Ukraine recaptured a crocodile on Wednesday which had escaped from a travelling
circus six months previously and repeatedly eluded search teams... found
basking in a pool at a thermal power station... hosted.ap.org/ ... 10:46:02
A fire at the Indianapolis Zoo is being blamed on an
armadillo that apparently pushed combustible material or bedding too close to a
heat lamp... The lamp had been double-chained more than two feet above the
floor in the armadillo area... The armadillo, three turtles, two birds, a snake
and other small animals died in the November 10 fire... 
...For nearly three decades, astronomers have said Venus
probably had lightning - ever since a 1978 NASA probe showed signs of
electrical activity in its atmosphere. But experts weren't sure because of
signal interference. Now a magnetic antenna on the European Space Agency's
Venus Express probe proved that the lightning was real. "We consider this to be
the first definitive evidence of abundant lighting on Venus..." marijuana possession... billingsgazette.net/ ... 14:33:25A
Montana man is jailed in Oregon's Klamath County after a state trooper found
nearly two pounds of marijuana wrapped as a Christmas present in the man's car... and
four firearms... [one] loaded and concealed in a box next to the driver's
seat... stopped for driving 75 mph in a 55 mph speed zone... a marijuana
pipe... his 17-year-old son, who also was arrested... boston.com/ ...
14:31:48Psychedelic mushrooms have been a stubborn part of the nation's
drug problem for decades, offering their users a potentially dangerous, and
decidedly illegal, way to warp their consciousness. Now government-funded
scientists have found that the active ingredient in the mushrooms could be a
powerful tool for scientific research, and they say it should be explored as a
potential treatment for depression, anxiety, and other disorders. blogs.usatoday.com/ ... 14:30:32If
you're Jewish, Israel's Green Leaf Party would like to remind you that
marijuana is not
kosher and should not be smoked or eaten during Passover...
"Logic dictates that if the rabbis say cannabis is
non-kosher for Passover, it is apparently kosher during the rest of the
year," Michelle Levin, a spokeswoman for the party, told the YNet news
website... freep.com/ ... 14:29:39Emmett
Township police officers made a huge discovery while examining a pickup truck
seized last week -- about 900 pounds of
marijuana in the back
of the truck... 50-year-old resident from Rio Rancho, N.M., whose name is not
being released, was stopped for a speeding violation... 
Rhode Island Hospital has been fined $50,000 and
reprimanded by the state Department of Health after its third
instance this year of a doctor performing brain surgery in the wrong side of a
patient's head... 
anthem Monday night
before Miami played Pittsburgh. The game started without any of the traditional
pregame ceremonies, except the coin toss, and neither team was introduced on
the public address system... 
NATCHEZ, Miss... An impatient baby ruined Thanksgiving
dinner for a family which then welcomed its newest member on the road to the
hospital... her contractions started Thursday as she bent down to put the
turkey in the oven... Web site Stupid.com, which claims finding a truly stupid
gift is an art form, on Monday unveiled its list of the top 10 "stupidest"
holiday gifts for 2007... "These gifts are so ridiculously stupid that everyone
will want them..." marijuana in their
home... 39 plants... will get their property back, a judge ruled Monday
afternoon. "I'm very satisfied," said James Masters, who looked a bit dazed
following the decision. "I don't even know where to begin..." The couple told
police the marijuana was medicinal and was grown for their use, as well as the
use of other patients for whom they acted as caregivers. The criminal charges
were dropped in June after Chief District Court Judge James Hiatt concluded the
affidavit for a search warrant was drafted based on an illegal search... nwanews.com/ ... 14:51:56Sensible Fayetteville wants
to give voters a chance to declare
marijuana the lowest
priority for police. "We believe law enforcement should be focusing on higher
priorities and more serious issues," said Ryan Denham, an organizer of Sensible
Fayetteville. Members of the group are circulating a petition to get an
amendment added to the ballot during next year's general election. The group
argues that drug policy should be a local decision, not something handed down
by the federal government, according to the group's Web site,
www.sensiblefayetteville.com... tcpalm.com/ ... 14:51:11PORT ST.
LUCIE — Law enforcement officials shut down 10 alleged
marijuana grow
houses, seized hundreds of pounds of pot and took 10 people into custody
beginning early Tuesday... news10now.com/ ... 14:50:10TUPPER
LAKE, N.Y. -- A Canadian woman is behind bars after police say she had 150
pounds of marijuana
in her car... londontopic.ca/ ... 14:49:36A
traffic violation combined with the stench of "fresh, vegetative
marijuana," emanating
from a Oxford Street home, led police to a marijuana grow operation and a
quantity of other narcotics... oxycodone, crack cocaine and cocaine. The
estimated value of the narcotics seized is $152,440... tampabays10.com/ ... 14:44:25Plant
City, Florida - The Florida Highway Patrol found approximately 60 pounds of
marijuana on I-4 in
the area of McIntosh Road. The two large garbage bags full of marijuana plants
-- valued at over $54,000 -- apparently fell out or were thrown out of a
passing vehicle. The FHP asks if anyone is missing their bags of marijuana...
ap.google.com/ ... 14:39:34The
fields of Balkh province in northern Afghanistan were completely free of opium
poppies this year, a success touted often by Afghan and international
officials. However, cannabis cultivation rose 40 percent in Afghanistan this year...
dailysentinel.com/ ...
00:17:19During a cell search of the inmate dorms, officers observed an
inmate smoking marijuana. After a short struggle with the inmate, jailers were
able to detain the inmate and gain possession of the evidence. This case is
currently under investigation... stopthedrugwar.org/ ...
00:16:42...Of course, like so many other aspects of the war on drugs,
the war on steroids suddenly morphs into a war on
marijuana: He was
especially critical of the NBA's relatively liberal policy on marijuana use,
which calls for a maximum five-game suspension for the third and subsequent
offenses. "If Americans knew that you can be a professional high-level athlete
and smoke dope and those are the penalties, they would be offended," he said.
"For professional athletes that smoke dope, there should be a message that says
you don't get to play your sport." Why not? I don't understand, Mr. Burns. What
does this have to do with cheating? Oh boy, does marijuana really make you
better at basketball? I have never heard that before. I've heard that it cures
cancer, increases fertility, and prevents Alzheimer's, but I did not know that
it made you better at sports. That's so awesome... antiguasun.com/ ...
00:15:27Antigua... [29yo] Cooks Hill man... admitted to having 15 trees
of cannabis in his possession... "Officer…a lil weed
me a grow fuh meh own personal use..." self employed single parent of four children. He
plies his trade on High Street selling a number of items including DVDs, CDs,
perfumes and body lotion. "Your Worship, my client expresses remorse for his
act, if you recognise, he is a Rastafarian who uses the cannabis plants as his
holy sacrament..." iht.com/ ... 00:13:39GW
Pharmaceuticals and its Japanese partner, Otsuka Pharmaceutical, began the
final phase of U.S. testing of the
cannabis-based
Sativex pain-relief medicine for some cancer patients. The five-week trial of 336 patients will
test whether the drug helps advanced cancer sufferers who no longer respond to
opium-based pain relievers... stopthedrugwar.org/ ...
00:12:57Republicans try
marijuana at a higher
rate than Democrats... 33% of Republicans have tried America’s favorite
(and safest) illicit drug while a slightly lower 31% of Democrats have inhaled
the celebrated herb... msnbc.msn.com/ ... 00:12:20Hemp: The little plant
that couldhemp plant can be
transformed into numerous items — like paper, food, fuel, beauty products,
clothing and accessories — that make our everyday lives better. And
hemp does it all with
minimal damage to the planet. Yes, this is one eco-conscious crop... news.bostonherald.com/ ...
00:11:13BOSTON - Activists pushing a ballot question to decriminalize
possession of an ounce or less of
marijuana say it will
save the state millions of dollars in law enforcement costs and spare thousands
of state residents from arrest... 
A male
South China tiger cub was born in the Free State province of South Africa on
Friday, the first time the animal has been born outside China, the Save China's
Tigers organization said on Sunday. The cub was born healthy and larger than
normal at 1.2 kilograms on a wildlife conservation reserve, the group said in a
statement. The cub was being hand-reared and would be taught to hunt for
itself... hosted.ap.org/ ... 09:01:10
President Felipe Calderon unveiled a sweeping plan Sunday
to curb logging and protect millions of monarch butterflies that migrate to the
mountains of central Mexico each winter, covering trees and bushes and
attracting visitors from around the world. The plan will put $4.6 million
toward additional equipment and advertising for the existing Monarch Butterfly
Biosphere Reserve, covering a 124,000-acre swathe of trees and mountains that
for thousands of years has served as the winter nesting ground to millions of
orange- and black-winged monarch butterflies... 
Obama compared marijuana to morphine saying there was
little difference between the two... [This man is SO unqualified to be in
government at all, much less President!!] marijuana... in the
bathroom of... Taco Bell... 25 bags of marijuana with a total weight of 198.1
grams. Officers also found a .40 caliber handgun with 10 live rounds in the
magazine and one live round in the chamber. Also found was a large,
double-bladed knife... myjoyonline.com/ ... 17:02:02A father and his son have
appeared before a circuit court at Asamankese charged with possessing a
quantity of Indian hemp... pr-usa.net/ ... 17:00:48...In many
respects, organisations like Bud Buddies (www.budbuddies.com), emulate the
licensed medical marijuana dispensaries which operate quite legally in the
United States, but with a subtle difference. In a nut-shell, a person grows
cannabis for their
own consumption. Thats going to happen anyway!.. thecalifornian.com/ ...
16:58:38...Interestingly, additional regulations and police presence
have prompted residents in Kern County, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Oakland, and
Santa Rosa to report safer street environments with fewer drug-related problems
than before the dispensaries operations were permitted within the area. I
believe that local government does have a responsibility for the legitimate and
legal medical needs of residents by providing patients with a safe means of
acquiring prescription
marijuana... news.com.au/ ... 16:57:15ALBANIAN
police seized 2 tonnes of
cannabis bound for
Greece, their biggest haul of the widely traded drug... cbs3.com/ ... 10:07:17DOVER,
Del... A brother and sister [27 & 20yo] from Dover are facing drug charges
following a police raid Saturday that netted near 12 pounds of
marijuana... also
seized nearly 8 grams of cocaine, 27 Xanax pills and more than $11,000 cash...
canada.com/ ... 10:05:59About 87
kilograms of ecstasy... and 45 kilograms of
marijuana were seized
in Sekiu, Wash., early Saturday morning, and a [48yo] Canadian citizen was
arrested... was seen "driving his boat onto the beach at 3 o'clock in the
morning..." kptv.com/ ... 10:04:15MILWAUKIE,
Ore... [29yo] Portland man is facing several charges after an officer
discovered marijuana
in his car during a traffic stop... on suspicion of speeding... 10 ounces of
marijuana that was packaged and appeared to be ready to sell... [I truly
doubt this was a routine traffic stop....] riverinamediagroup.com.au/ ...
10:02:46Police executed a search warrant at 5.15pm on Thursday on a
rural property at Barellan. During the search, they found 26
marijuana plants, two
firearms and a large amount of ammunition. Police arrested a 47-year-old
Barellan man... 
"I'm here to put him down. I'm here to kill him," is what
the officer said last week, according to the pet's owner... there was a
complaint that Bobby had bitten someone... "I said, 'Do you have any proof or
anything?' He says, 'I don't need any proof.'..." They walked a few feet from
the Barboza's home where Leo's wife and his 5-year-old son were inside. Leo and
the officer tied the dog to a pole when the deputy fired three shots... "A
bunch of kids just got off the bus and they were all on the street. All the
kids were watching the officer shooting the dog. My heart was broken seeing an
officer killing my dog." The deputy then got in his vehicle and drove away
leaving the dog bleeding profusely from his head almost dead... kutv.com/ ... 15:07:45The man
refused to sign a ticket for allegedly speeding and after that a Utah Highway
Patrol trooper tased him in front of his pregnant wife and baby. Now the man is
planning to file a lawsuit against the Utah Highway Patrol... [YouTube video]
breitbart.com/ ... 09:00:14Antoine
di Zazzo says he has been 'tasered' more than 50 times and never felt the worse
for the ordeal. One of the biggest Taser representatives outside the US, Di
Zazzo also gave a surprise blast of the stun gun to French far-right politician
Jean-Marie Le Pen and offered a test dose to Nicolas Sarkozy before he became
France's president. Sarkozy diplomatically declined, according to di Zazzo, but
the president's no-nonsense law and order tactics are one reason why the
engineer businessman is confident of huge demand for the gun, despite
controversy over its use in North America and being
declared a form of torture by a UN committee... cannabis laws,
quoting the fact that "millions of youngsters think its legal" as their
reasoning behind the call... a pro-cannabis reform website actually based in
Cardiff (http://cannazine.co.uk) has taken issue with the points raised by
Chief Constable Hollis! Circumstantial rhetoric "The fact is no one thinks
cannabis is legal", said the websites editor, RD. "Not even a little bit
legal." "Not in schools, not on the streets, and not down at the dealers
house..." icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/ ...
15:19:18more than 100
cannabis factories
have been busted in Wales over the last year alone... dailysentinel.com/ ...
09:23:27During a traffic stop, the officer asked the passenger of the
vehicle if she was in possession of any narcotics. She pulled a clear plastic
baggie from the front of her pants which contained
marijuana and handed
it to the officer... [ummm.. dummmmb....] 
The huge photograph of the nude man was missing from its
usual spot on the living room wall, and some guests concluded that politically
correct Clintonites had demanded that the naked guy disappear... firstread.msnbc.msn.com/ ...
09:22:50"I did," Obama said to loud applause and laughter. "It's
not something that I'm proud of. It was a mistake … But you know, I'm not
going to. I never understood that line. The point was to inhale. That was the
point..." weblogs.baltimoresun.com/ ...
09:21:48He was also asked here whether he would legalize marijuana
for medical use, something he said he would support only if science and doctors
said it was the best way to relieve chronic pain and that it was carefully
controlled. That, of course, was followed by a question on whether he inhaled,
when he used marijuana as a youth. "I did," he said. "It's not something I'm
proud of..." online.wsj.com/ ...
09:14:03...some Paul supporters are displaying an aggressive side that
seems to spill beyond advocacy into harassment of those who disagree or fail to
show Dr. Paul sufficient respect... Army Spc. Melvin
L. Henley Jr., 26, of Jackson, Miss., died at Camp Striker in Baghdad on
Nov. 21 of injuries suffered from non-combat related incident. He was assigned
to the 603rd Aviation Support Battalion, 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade, 3rd
Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga. The incident is under investigation.
defenselink.mil/ ... 10:08:11Army Sgt. Alfred
G. Paredez Jr., 32, of Las Vegas, Nev., died Nov. 20 in Baghdad, Iraq, of
wounds suffered when his vehicle struck an improvised explosive device. He was
assigned to the 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team,
1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas. marijuana
from a semitrailer in Aurora this week... bbsnews.net/ ... 10:23:59UK... According to a report
by the Justice Department the
cannabis plant
eradication program (called "Campaign Against Marijuana Planting") has driven
cannabis producers to indoor sites. The report notes that one side effect of shifting to indoor sites is that "the groups
will produce higher-potency marijuana year-round, allowing for exponential
increase in profits derived..." fijivillage.com/ ...
10:22:50Police are looking for unknown people who broke into the
Koronivia Research Station and stole more than $30,000 worth of
marijuana that was
kept there for analysis... presstelegram.com/ ... 10:22:00LONG BEACH - Tuesday's
raid at a local medical
marijuana clinic was
the first of its kind for Long Beach, but it may not be the last, according to
federal authorities. Federal agents served the search warrant at Long Beach
Compassionate Cooperative, 342 E. Fourth St., at about 11 a.m. Tuesday, seizing
33 kilos of dried marijuana and about $10,000 cash... also arrested a man
listed as the dispensary's operator... [The US Government vs the American
Citizenry...] manassasjm.com/ ... 10:20:59Prince William County
police arrested two people and seized more than $35,000 worth of
marijuana during a
recent drug bust at a Manassas-area apartment... cannabis (marijuana)
may relieve pain but smoking high doses may increase pain... asianpacificpost.com/ ...
09:36:56Scores of Vietnamese "family units" using fear, trust and
relatives have taken a stranglehold on the multi-billion dollar illegal
B.C. bud trade in
Canada. The operations, which revolve around how debts are repaid and secrets
kept, are primarily organized through family ties and are dotted across the
country... fbnewsleader.com/ ... 09:35:34This
week marks the 30th anniversary of the most notorious beach party Fernandina
Beach has known in recent memory... About 30 to 45 minutes after the
firefighters moved away, he says, the boat suddenly exploded, sending tons of
Colombian gold into
the air, onto the beach and into the water. "We all got high from the smoke,"
he says. "We were hungry as hell, I can tell you..." novinite.com/ ...
09:33:47Bulgaria... Police arrested a cab driver in the southern city of
Plovdiv after they found half a kilo of
marijuana in his
car... pr-inside.com/ ...
09:33:21...singer HOWARD DONALD has angered anti-drug campaigners with
his "irresponsible" comments after calling for the legalisation of
marijuana...
"Cannabis should be legalised. I know it's a touchy subject. But if more people
went out stoned than drunk - which a lot of people are on the weekend - I think
there would be less fighting, less trouble and less violence." But his comments
have enraged the Mothers Against Drugs activists. Spokeswoman Gail McCann
says, "Anyone who tells you cannabis is perfectly safe
is talking rubbish. It can cause psychosis and paranoia..." [she
said, without the slightest clue of the overwhelming irony of her saying
it...!] canadianpress.google.com/ ...
09:31:17HAPPY VALLEY-GOOSE BAY, N.L. - Two people (33 & 30yo) are
facing charges following the bust of a
marijuana grow
operation at a home in Happy Valley-Goose Bay... 37 plants... 
A minke whale that had
strayed deep into the Amazon rainforest has been found dead... Attempts by
conservationists and volunteers to catch the animal and transport it back to
sea failed... China refused
permission for a U.S. aircraft carrier and accompanying vessels to visit Hong
Kong for a long-planned Thanksgiving holiday visit -- and then changed its
mind... Hong Kong, especially its Wanchai bar district, has been a regular port
of call for U.S. sailors on "R & R" (rest and recuperation) since the
Vietnam War... breitbart.com/ ... 09:24:16Floats and balloons were mustered early Thursday for a
Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade that promised a mix of new attractions and
longtime favorites, solemn tributes and lighthearted spectacle. Carrying
banners and flags, participants gathered on an unusually warm November morning
near the start of the parade route. The lineup included three new balloons,
2,000 cheerleaders, 800 clowns, the Radio City Rockettes and 11 marching
bands—among them the Virginia Tech Regimental Band, playing in honor of
the victims of last spring's campus shooting... the new [balloons]: William
Steig's swamp-loving ogre Shrek, Sesame Street's fairy-in-training Abby Cadabby
and Hello Kitty Supercute, the cape- and tiara-wearing feline superhero...
hosted.ap.org/ ... 09:16:56This shouldn't come as a surprise: Thanksgiving is not the
green light to a six-week indulgence that precedes the waddle back to the gym
Jan. 2. Experts advise Americans not to throw good habits out the window on
Turkey Day and into the holiday season. Instead, choose carefully, eat slowly,
and savor... hosted.ap.org/ ... 09:16:29Feel sleepy after a big Thanksgiving meal? Contrary to
popular thinking, it's not the turkey's fault... While there is an amino acid
in turkey that induces sleepiness, experts say it's much more likely the reason
you're tired after having Thanksgiving dinner is a combination of simple
factors: you ate and drank too much and didn't sleep enough... marijuana...
advertising a couch for sale on Craigs-list and was willing to take marijuana
in trade... [I sympathize with this poor dude being entrapped, but this is
like BEGGING to be entrapped.] kcchronicle.com/ ...
09:38:57AURORA – Six men were in police custody Wednesday after
Aurora police seized marijuana
with a street value of millions of dollars... boston.com/ ... 09:38:24ALMOST
HALF of American adults have tried
marijuana, and the
number of people who use it regularly has increased to about 15 million. This
expanding use of marijuana can no longer be dismissed as simply a youthful fad
that can be eliminated through the war on drugs. Still, marijuana arrests
account for nearly 44 percent of all drug arrests in the United States.
According to the Uniform Crime Report, nearly 830,000 people were arrested in
2006 on marijuana charges, nearly a 15 percent increase over 2005. Nine out of
10 were arrested for mere possession... St. Louis Zoo
officials on Tuesday were trying to figure out how a year-old cheetah managed
to get out of its exhibit a day earlier... scaled a wall at least 10 feet tall
and got into a rocky area that separates animals from people... hosted.ap.org/ ... 09:14:20Congo
is setting aside more than 11,000 square miles of rain forest to help protect
the endangered bonobo, a great ape that is the most closely related to humans
and is found only in this Central African country... marijuana... The
charge is a Class C felony, a charge with a maximum of up to five years in
prison and $5,000 in fines... The total amount of marijuana confiscated was
five pounds, with an estimated value of $9,000 to $10,000... Police also
temporarily impounded a car involved in the transaction, and are considering
seizing it... [Tyrants AND thieves!] canada.com/ ... 09:45:57OTTAWA --
The Conservative government unveiled legislation Tuesday to create the
first mandatory prison terms in Canada for people convicted of
trafficking illicit drugs, including those who grow
marijuana for
profit... [TYRANTS!] borderfirereport.net/ ...
09:45:19Border Patrol agents from the Rio Grande Valley sector
intercepted more than 3,500 pounds of
marijuana hidden in a
tractor-trailer at a traffic checkpoint Sunday... [Thanks to the wonders of
Prohbition, this altogether easily-grown vegetable is supposed to be] worth
more than $2.8 million.... hosted.ap.org/ ... 09:29:21Two
teens who went to the Leicester police station to apply for door-to-door sales
permits were arrested after officers say they smelled burned
marijuana on them...
reuters.com/ ... 09:12:28A
provincial Colombian governor escaped unharmed but a soldier was killed when
guerrillas detonated a bomb outside the politician's residence in Cauca late on
Monday in a rare urban attack... Four soldiers were wounded and two rebels
killed in combat when troops discovered the bombers outside the residential
complex in Cauca, a strategic region for drug and arms smuggling to the Pacific
coast and close to Ecuador's border... wect.com/ ... 08:57:37On Monday,
the Onslow County Sheriff's Office [PuriTalibaNazi religious taboo
enforcement] Narcotics Unit received information that there was marijuana
being grown in the wooded area behind... Several plants were found and the
owner... was taken into custody after driving up while agents were on
location... Over 80 marijuana plants with a street value of $200,000 and
several additional ounces of marijuana were seized... kold.com/ ... 08:56:25A [30yo]
Catholic school teacher in Tucson has been arrested after police say they found
a marijuana-growing
operation in his house... freep.com/ ... 08:50:44Michigan
voters may get a chance to vote next fall on whether to decriminalize the
marijuana use for
medical purposes as supporters of the idea submitted nearly a half-million
petition signatures to state elections officials today. The group, Michigan
Coalition for Compassionate Care, said it gathered the signatures of 496,000
registered voters, far in excess of the 304,000 required, to put the issue
before the Legislature and, if no action is taken, to state voters...
marijuana in the
woods... 82 marijuana plants worth $200,000 behind a home... rockymountainnews.com/ ...
09:43:41Access to medical
marijuana will be
easier as a result of a ruling by a Denver judge. District Judge Larry Naves
last week overturned a state health department policy that restricted providers
of medical marijuana to five patients. The ruling endorses a settlement reached
between the health department and attorneys for AIDS patient Damien LaGoy, who
sued after his caregiver request was denied in May based on the five-patient
rule. The denial forced him to buy marijuana on the street, LaGoy said. "I was
in a very dangerous situation... I was trying to get medical marijuana from
some of the darkest spots in town, risking my life at times. I actually have
been robbed once trying to find medical marijuana. Also, you never know what
you're getting..." dailyfreepress.com/ ... 09:42:31A
Massachusetts lawmaker is backing an act to lessen charges for
marijuana possession
based on a 2003 study conducted by a former Boston University professor. The
act proposes a $100 civil fine for possessing less than an ounce of marijuana.
Under Massachusetts law, possession of marijuana is a criminal offense and may
lead to jail time... "I basically looked at the fraction of arrests in
Massachusetts that are for marijuana possession and took that possession and
multiplied it by the police budget in Massachusetts..." edmontonsun.com/ ...
09:41:44BLACKFOOT, Alta. — RCMP say a man was badly burned when a
house in east-central Alberta went up in flames after an explosion in a
marijuana oil lab...
abc.net.au/ ... 09:41:09A new
study has found extremely high rates of
marijuana use in
Arnhem Land... "One quote from a leader that spoke to me will always stick in
my head. He said, if there is a bowl of ganja on the table people will just
smoke it from morning to night until it's gone. So he almost likened it to food
- like you have a bowl of chips on the table and it just goes..." theaustralian.news.com.au/ ...
09:40:09HIGHLY potent marijuana is being blamed for youth suicides and
psychotic episodes in a remote central Australian community, which is
struggling to cope with increasing levels of drug use over the past 12
months... The most recent psychotic episode in the town of about 1000 people
ended with the youth being committed to a mental health ward in Alice Springs.
"It was quite a severe case of marijuana-induced psychosis. I think it's the
type of marijuana. If they're really giving it a nudge, there's the potential
for self-harm..." [Hmmmm...] Army 2nd Lt.
Peter H. Burks, 26, of Dallas, Texas, died Nov. 14 in Baghdad, Iraq, of
wounds suffered when his vehicle struck an improvised explosive device. He was
assigned to the 4th Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, Vilseck, Germany.
defenselink.mil/ ... 19:45:59Air Force Staff Sgt.
Alejandro Ayala, 26, of Riverside, Calif., died Nov. 18 of injuries
sustained as a result of a vehicle accident in Kuwait. He was assigned to the
90th Logistics Readiness Squadron, F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyo. The cause
of the accident is under investigation. defenselink.mil/ ... 09:57:20Army Sgt.
Steven C. Ganczewski, 22, of Niagara Falls, N.Y., died
Nov. 16, in Balad, Iraq, from wounds suffered from a combat-related incident.
The incident is under investigation. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 75th
Ranger Regiment, Fort Benning, Ga. 
Catches of Atlantic
bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean Sea will not be cut, despite evidence that
fishermen caught more than they were allowed in 2007. The International
Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (Iccat) made the decision
during its annual meeting, held this year in Turkey. Environment groups
described the decision as a "shocking failure". EU fleets caught about 4,000
tonnes above their 2007 quotas; seven nations face legal action as as result...
hosted.ap.org/ ... 19:34:23
Wildlife experts in northeastern India are experimenting
with a new weapon to prevent marauding elephants from destroying homes and
crops and trampling people in villages close to their habitat - super-hot
chilies... they have put up jute fences smeared with automobile grease and bhut
jolokia - also known as the ghost chili and certified as the world's hottest
chili by the Guinness Book of World Records. They also were using smoke bombs
made from the chili to keep elephants out... hosted.ap.org/ ... 19:33:47A... 30-foot... juvenile
humpback whale that got tangled in fishing gear and had been stranded off the
Rhode Island coast over the weekend freed itself and swam off Monday as
rescuers sought to aid it... hosted.ap.org/ ... 19:30:24Animal rights
activists called Monday for improved living conditions at China's wild animal
parks after the deaths of captive tigers from disease and starvation, including
a tiger killed by four other cats in a fight over meager food supplies at a zoo
in northeast China... guardian.co.uk/ ... 09:43:23New Zealand and
Australia today called for a Japanese whaling fleet to return to port a day
after it set off for the southern ocean whale sanctuary vowing to slaughter
more than 1,000 whales... follows international protest at the fleet's
departure yesterday. Britain is one of several other countries to have
condemned the expedition, which will see humpbacks killed
for the first time since they became a protected species more than 40 years
ago... marijuana in two
counties and illegally buying prescription medications in Clark County, has had
one of the charges against her dismissed, but still faces a trial that could
put her in prison for seven years... tampabays10.com/ ...
09:47:57Haverhill, MA... Detectives say along with burgers and fries,
18-year-old... was providing bags of pot selling
marijuana to people
who ordered it at the drive-thru. In most cases, investigators say the drugs
would be in with the food and sold at the second window... news.medill.northwestern.edu/ ...
09:47:03...These are questions the documentary "Waiting to Inhale"
explores. From a brief history of
marijuana through its
current status as an illegal substance by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, the
film looks at benefits the drug may have that have long been overlooked...
postcrescent.com/ ... 09:45:53For
Wisconsin residents suffering from cancer, AIDS and other diseases filled with
pain and nausea, relief could come through puffs of a
marijuana joint, due
to the work of a few progressive-thinking lawmakers. But this will come to
fruition only if other legislators can get past the stigma and fear of a drug
that dates back before Nancy Reagan made her famous "Just Say No"
pronouncement... news.bbc.co.uk/ ... 09:22:21A
compound found in cannabis may stop breast cancer spreading throughout the body...
hopeful that cannabidiol or CBD could be a non-toxic alternative to
chemotherapy. Unlike cannabis, CBD does not have any psychoactive properties so
its use would not violate laws, Molecular Cancer Therapeutics reports...
[OOOrrrrr... we could.... repeal! Repeal! REPEAL!] reuters.com/ ... 09:16:45The
number of Americans in prison has risen eight-fold since 1970, with little
impact on crime but at great cost to taxpayers and society, researchers said in
a report calling for a major justice-system overhaul... a Florida woman's
two-year sentence for throwing a cup of coffee... recommends shorter sentences
and parole terms, alternative punishments, more help for released inmates and
decriminalizing recreational drugs as steps that
would cut the prison population in half, save $20 billion a year and ease
social inequality without endangering the public... Army Sgt. Mason
L. Lewis, 26, of Gloucester, Va., died in Baghdad on Nov. 16, as a result
of a non-combat related training accident. He was assigned to the 26th Brigade
Support Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort
Stewart, Ga. The incident is under investigation. defenselink.mil/ ... 09:43:58Army Sgt. Kenneth
R. Booker, 25, of Vevay, Ind., died Nov. 14, in Mukhisa, Iraq, of wounds
sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle. He
was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 4th Stryker Brigade
Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Lewis, Wash. marijuana plants
were found growing in a Johnson County home... It took officials several hours
to remove the plants and in the process, they also confiscated
other valuables including two Harley Davidsons and sound equipment...
[Drug cops are not only tyrant enforcers of the PuriTalibaNazi religious
persecution of some substance users, they are also outright thieves.]
kitsapsun.com/ ... 09:41:24A
33-year-old man with a "rare disease" that allows him to legally grow and use
marijuana called
police to report a series of suspicious incidents in his apartment. The
incidents -- most recently finding a pencil in a frying pan on his stove after
returning home from being gone for two hours -- have led him to believe someone
with access to his apartment has been breaking in, attempting to steal his
marijuana... suspects the apartment manager... charlotte.com/ ... 09:40:39Severe drought has baked
the state, leaving crops withered and the water supply dangerously low, but law
enforcement officials say the extreme weather isn't all bad. It's dampened the
production of marijuana... news.com.au/ ... 09:40:08ABOUT 60
per cent of Aborigines smoke
marijuana regularly
and most of those get stoned every day... "firmly entwined" in the society...
Vintage rock 'n' roll T-shirts may bring $4,500 each...
The growth in human
population and rising consumption have exceeded the planet's ability to support
us, argues John Feeney. In this week's Green Room, he says it is time to ring
the alarm bells and take radical action in order to avert unspeakable
consequences... iht.com/ ... 09:06:42Alarming UN report on climate change is too rosy, many
say... hosted.ap.org/ ... 08:42:32Global warming is "unequivocal" and carbon dioxide already
in the atmosphere commits the world to an eventual rise in
sea levels of up to 4.6 feet, the world's top climate experts warned
Saturday in their most authoritative report to date. "Only urgent, global
action will do," said U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, calling on the United
States and China - the world's two biggest polluters - to do more to slow
global climate change... 
Troupes of monkeys are
out of control in India's northeast, stealing mobile phones and breaking into
homes to steal soft drinks from refrigerators... reuters.com/ ... 09:22:15Senate
Republicans on Friday blocked a $50 billion Iraq war bill that included a troop
pullout plan, killing the latest Democratic attempt to end the war while
keeping up the fight over its funding... hosted.ap.org/ ... 09:13:45A
series of clashes in southern Afghanistan left 33 suspected Taliban militants
dead, while a roadside bomb killed two NATO soldiers... Army 2nd Lt.
Stuart F. Liles, 26, of Hot Springs, Ark., died Nov. 13 in Bagram,
Afghanistan, of injuries suffered in a non-combat related incident. He was
assigned to the 122nd Aviation Support Battalion, 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade,
82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C. The incident is under investigation.
defenselink.mil/ ... 10:13:50Army Spc. Ashley
Sietsema, 20, of Melrose Park, Ill., died Nov. 12 in Kuwait City, Kuwait,
of injuries suffered in a vehicle accident. She was assigned to the 708th
Medical Company, 108th Medical Battalion, 108th Sustainment Brigade, Illinois
National Guard, North Riverside, Ill. The incident is under investigation.
defenselink.mil/ ... 10:15:03The
Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that
the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from the Vietnam War, have
been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full
military honors.Marine Gunnery Sgt. Richard W. Fischer, of Madison, Wis.,
will be buried on Nov. 19 in Madison. On Jan. 8, 1968, Fischer was assigned to
M Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division, on an ambush patrol
south of Da Nang in Quang Nam Province, Vietnam. Fischer became separated from
his unit and subsequent attempts by his team members to locate him were met
with enemy fire. In 1992 and 1993, joint U.S./Socialist Republic of Vietnam
(S.R.V.) teams, led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), conducted
three investigations and interviewed several Vietnamese citizens. The citizens
said that Fischer was killed by Viet Cong and his remains were buried in a
nearby cultivated field. In 1994, a joint team excavated the burial site and
recovered human remains and other material evidence including uniform
buttons.... Japan's whaling fleet
was set to leave port Sunday for its biggest-ever scientific whale hunt in the
South Pacific.... The whalers have orders to kill up to 50
humpback whales - the first known large-scale hunt for the species since a
1963 moratorium put humpbacks under international protection... will also take
up to 935 Antarctic minke whales and up
to 50 fin whales in their largest scientific whale hunt ever held in the
South Pacific... An 18-foot minke whale
ran aground on a sandbar in the Amazon jungle some 1,000 miles from the
ocean... dozens of people gathered along the Tapajos River splashing water on
the animal, whose back and dorsal fin were exposed to the hot Amazon sun...
weighed about 12 tons... working to dislodge the mammal and return it to the
ocean... 
This weekend brings us
the return of the famous Leonid Meteor Shower, a meteor display that in recent
years has brought great anticipation and excitement to skywatchers around the
world... this year there there is little if any chance of heightened
activity... unlikely that more than about 15 meteors per hour will be seen this
year... this year's peak activity should occur on the night of Nov. 17-18...
4:00 GMT on Nov. 18, which corresponds to 11 p.m. EST and 8 p.m. PST on the
evening of Nov. 17... is the moment when the Earth will be passing closest to
the orbit of the long-departed comet, and when our planet seemingly is most
likely to encounter some residual comet material... This time is highly
favorable for those in Europe and Africa. But for North American observers, Leo
will still be below the horizon; they will have to wait until later in the
night to catch a view of the Leonids... hosted.ap.org/ ... 09:24:31If you
haven't seen the mysteriously large comet prominent in the sky in recent weeks,
better look soon, astronomers say. The erupting body and its expanding cosmic
dust cloud will soon be overshadowed by a commonplace full moon...
Cannabis: The
California Story"marijuana bust... As
a result of the search warrants, officers seized 11.5 pounds of marijuana,
along with five firearms. This was the culmination of a lengthy narcotic
trafficking investigation... [49yo] charged with delivery of a controlled
substance and trafficking marijuana... madisoncourier.com/ ...
09:57:55[37yo] Madison man was arrested Thursday night on four charges
of dealing marijuana... After officers searched [his] residence, he also was
charged with maintaining a common nuisance, possession of marijuana, two counts
of possession of a legend drug and possession of paraphernalia... held without
bond... heraldtribune.com/ ... 09:56:37Law
enforcement officers in south Sarasota County shut down another
marijuana grow house
Friday... 60 mature plants valued at about $3,000 each... ajc.com/ ... 09:56:09A 43-year-old
Tucker man was arrested this week when police say they caught him picking up
540 pounds of marijuana at a Conley shipping company... sun-sentinel.com/ ...
09:55:44After passing six months of random drug tests, retired Broward
Circuit Judge Lawrence Korda can put his misdemeanor
marijuana charge
behind him. Prosecutors dropped the charge Thursday... The marijuana citation
did not end up in a formal conviction, but it did cost the Family Court judge
his seat on the bench... 28-year jurist opted to retire July 2... In March,
Hollywood police officers ticketed Korda, 60, after they saw him smoking a
joint under a tree in Stanley Goldman Park... [OMIGAW! WHAT A CRIMINAL!]
Army Capt. David
A. Boris, 30, of PennsylvaniaArmy Spc. Adrian E. Hike, 26, of Callender,
IowaArmy Spc. Derek
R. Banks, 24, of Newport News, Va., died Nov. 14 in San Antonio of wounds
suffered Oct. 25 in Baghdad, Iraq, when the vehicle he was in struck an
improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 237th Engineer Company,
276th Engineer Battalion, 91st Troop Command, Virginia National Guard, West
Point, Va. defenselink.mil/ ... 09:52:06Army Pfc. Casey
P. Mason, 22, of Lake, Mich., died Nov.13 in Mosul, Iraq of wounds suffered
when enemy forces attacked his unit using small arms fire. He was assigned to
the 728th Military Police Battalion, 8th Military Police Brigade, 8th Theater
Sustainment Command, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. 
A fossilised bone dug up near Hastings 113 years ago has
been recognised as a completely new family of dinosaur. The animal belongs to a
general type of dinosaur called a sauropod - which was characterised by a large
body, a long neck and a small head... The fossil represents the dorsal vertebra
(back bone) of a new family, genus and species of dinosaur now named
Xenoposeidon proneneukus. It lived about 140 million years ago, was about the
size of an elephant and weighed 7.5 tonnes... hosted.ap.org/ ... 09:09:39A dinosaur with a strange jaw designed to hoover-up food
grazed in what is now the Sahara Desert 110 million years ago. Remains of the
creature that "flabbergasted" paleontologist Paul Sereno went on display
Thursday at the headquarters of the National Geographic Society, where they
will remain until March. Sereno and colleagues recovered, assembled and named
the creature - Nigersaurus taqueti - that he said seems to break all the rules,
yet still existed. "The biggest eureka moment was when I was sitting at the
desk with this jaw," he said. "I was sitting down just looking at it and saw a
groove and ... realized that all the teeth were up front." It's not normally a
good idea to have all the teeth in the front of the jaw - hundreds in this
case... CARTER
LAKE, Iowa... Bryan Smith has pictures of his dog in his coat pocket, a
reminder of the pet that sacrificed itself to save him from his burning house.
It was Tuesday night when Storm jumped on the slumbering Smith and alerted him
to the growing smoke and flames outside his bedroom. Smith says he grabbed his
curtains, wet them for a mask and grabbed his puppy Daisy while the older dog
ran ahead. It was the last time Smith saw Storm... Smith says he nearly lost
his own life going back for Storm. Two Carter Lake firefighters had to pull him
out the back door, where he collapsed while trying to save his pet. "I know it
was stupid, but ... people with pets understand," he said... hosted.ap.org/ ... 09:44:35
CEDAR
RAPIDS, Iowa... A cat named Oreo is being credited for nipping a carbon
monoxide leak in the bud... [Owner] began using her heater in the past couple
of weeks... "He came out here yelling..." would run in circles under the vent
or jump onto the back of a chair, stare at the register and make loud noises...
Once the heat would go off, Oreo would act normal again... she and her
boyfriend began to realize they were getting headaches and feeling tired...
tulsaworld.com/ ... 08:26:42Tulsa
animal control investigators last week found more than 100 dogs crammed into a
trailer where a local puppy-selling business is based... received misdemeanor
citations for having more than the three dogs allowed under city ordinances and
not sterilizing them... investigators said they wouldn't necessarily call
[the business] a puppy mill. "There was not a cruelty issue
whatsoever..." marijuana
possession inside wife's home day care... missoulian.com/ ... 10:05:26It's
hard to say whether the number of
pot prosecutions
dropped since Missoula voters passed a referendum aimed at downplaying
marijuana offenses last year - in other words, no one knows whether Initiative
2 is working... news1130.com/ ... 10:05:05Routine
traffic stop leads to marijuana discovery... newswatch50.com/ ...
10:04:45Domestic incident in Adams leads to
marijuana arrests...
myfoxla.com/ ... 10:04:305,000
Pounds of Marijuana
Seized in Carson Home... newsday.com/ ... 10:04:12NEW
LONDON, Conn. - A judge has ruled that while she respects a Norwich man's
Rastafarian religion which endorses the use of
marijuana, the law is
the law and she has sent him to prison for 30 months...
reuters.com/ ... 08:48:36Profits
from opium cultivation are fuelling the insurgency in Afghanistan, the United
Nations said on Friday, in a new call on NATO to crack down on the country's
burgeoning drugs trade... [orrrr.... much cheaper and infinitely more
effective: repeal! Repeal! REPEAL!] reason.com/ ... 08:41:16The Politics of Prohibition
-- How government greed, not individual rights, ended America's ban on
alcohol... 
BRANDON, Fla. --
Authorities in Hillsborough County are searching for a kangaroo seen by several
residents in Brandon... reuters.com/ ... 08:48:55Soldiers and
rangers have captured 88 crocodiles which escaped from a breeding farm in a
central Vietnam province, but hundreds more are still on the loose... hosted.ap.org/ ... 08:47:46
DAVENPORT, Iowa... Two stray pot-bellied pigs... on the
run from two animal control officers, two police officers and even a couple of
utility company workers who joined the 35-minute chase... "They're tough....
They have no necks, so you really can't get a collar on them..." marijuana... The two
key witnesses in favor of medicinal marijuana were David Bearman, a practicing
physician from Santa Barbara, Calif., and Chris Fichtner from Illinois.
Fichtner is a psychiatrist who is the former head of mental health for the
Illinois Department of Health and Human Services... Bearman said marijuana is
not physically addictive, causing less dependency than coffee. "The abuse
potential is extremely low..." According to Fichtner, alcohol has proven, in
studies, to serve as a gateway drug at a much higher rate than marijuana.
"There is not good evidence for cannabis as a gateway drug..."
Donna Daniels,
state coordinator for Parent Corps, a national drug prevention program,
spoke in opposition to the idea of legalizing the substance for medical
use... theledger.com/ ...
09:10:24Twenty-four
marijuana plants,
each more than 8 feet tall, were seized... worth about $500,000, as well as a
vehicle, a trailer and a boat. This is the first grow operation of this
magnitude uncovered by LPD within the city... orlandosentinel.com/ ...
09:09:44Last year, Polk County deputy sheriffs uncovered three
marijuana-growing
houses. They seized 800 plants and made one arrest related to a marijuana
operation. So far this year, deputies have dismantled more than 30 marijuana
houses in Polk. The number of plants seized has skyrocketed to 5,100, and more
than 55 people have been arrested for their suspected involvement in the
illegal operations... sptimes.com/ ... 09:09:20It's
non-descript, unremarkable, even... Except this home is not a home so much as a
hub for a major marijuana growing operation busted in a sweeping raid Wednesday
that involved more than 75 law enforcement officers from federal, state and
multiple local agencies... vpr.net/ ... 09:08:43WHITE RIVER JUNCTION,
Vt.... Three dozen Windsor County residents and 11 lawmakers are urging Vermont
Attorney General William Sorrell to disregard an order to prosecute serious
marijuana cases from
Windsor County... blog.wired.com/ ... 09:07:39Move
over, urine cup, sweat-absorbing adhesive patches are the most intense way to
invade the privacy of marijuana smokers... washingtontimes.com/ ...
08:57:20Alien and drug smugglers along the U.S.-Mexico border have
spawned a rise in violence against federal, state and local law-enforcement
authorities, who say they are outmanned and outgunned... news.bbc.co.uk/ ... 08:31:29Police
representatives from 21 forces in Latin America and the Caribbean are meeting
in Colombia to define the terms of a new regional police force. They hope the
force, which will be known as Ameripol, will help strengthen regional
co-ordination in fighting drugs trafficking and organised crime... Marijuana... total
weight of the marijuana seized over the four day period was
9,121 pounds with an estimated street value of over $7
million... allafrica.com/ ...
09:38:36Liberia... From all indications, the war against use of illicit
and harmful drugs is far from over as evident by the endless arrests and
subsequent burning of drugs in almost all parts of the country. Latest reports
from the provincial city of Gbarnga speak of the burning cache of
marijuana by the
Drugs Enforcement Agency (DEA). According to our correspondent in Gbarnga, DEA
officials in the county yesterday burned 1070.3 kilogram of the harmful
substance valued at 2 million Liberian dollars... weblog.signonsandiego.com/ ...
09:37:50Law enforcement officials said today that the annual campaign to
remove illegal marijuana from rural areas, mainly on public land, wiped out a crop
with an eye-popping estimated street value of $11.6 billion. That's more than
twice the value of California's top agricultural commodity, milk and cream $5.2
billion, and three times the top crop, grapes $3.2 billion, according to a
state Department of Food and Agriculture report for 2005. Officials said the
estimated $11.6 billion value of the marijuana is based on the eradication of
2.9 million plants. Each plant could have produced a pound of marijuana worth
about $4,000... NEW DELHI... A wild
monkey went on a rampage in a low-income neighborhood in the Indian capital,
injuring several people, most of them children... officers were patrolling the
neighborhood... "But the monkey hasn't been spotted yet..." hosted.ap.org/ ... 19:35:36
still hospitalized
nearly two weeks after being bitten by an eastern diamondback rattlesnake. He
said it's his 44th venomous snake bite and it's "definitely the worst..."
Army Sgt. Joseph
M. Vanek, 22, of Elmhurst, Ill., died Nov. 12 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds
suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit using small arms fire. He was
assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade
Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C. defenselink.mil/ ... 19:51:07Marine Sgt.
Phillip A. Bocks, 28, of Troy, Mich., died Nov. 9 while conducting
combat operations in Aranus, Afghanistan. He was assigned to Marine Corps
Mountain Warfare Training Center, Bridgeport, Calif. defenselink.mil/ ... 19:50:49Army Staff Sgt.
Patrick F. Kutschbach, 25, of McKees Rocks, Pa., died Nov. 10 in Bagram,
Afghanistan, from wounds suffered in Tagab, Afghanistan, when his vehicle was
struck by a rocket propelled grenade and small arms fire. He was assigned to
the 1st Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group, Stuttgart, Germany. defenselink.mil/ ... 10:19:54Army Spc.
Jermaine D. Franklin, 22, of Arlington, Texas, died Nov. 9, in Jisr
Naft, Iraq, of wounds sustained from an improvised explosive device. He was
assigned to the 1st Squadron, 32nd Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team,
101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky. defenselink.mil/ ... 10:11:44Army 1st Lt.
Matthew C. Ferrara, 24, of Torrance, Calif., died Nov. 9 in
AranusArmy
Sgt. Jeffery S. Mersman, 23, of Parker, Kan., died Nov. 10 in
AranusArmy
Spc. Sean K. A. Langevin, 23, of Walnut Creek, Calif., died Nov. 9 in
AranusArmy
Spc. Lester G. Roque, 23, of Torrance, Calif., died Nov. 10 in
AranusArmy
Pfc. Joseph M. Lancour, 21, of Swartz Creek, Mich., died Nov. 10 in
AranusOn Saturday, November 10,
a Hays County Sheriff’s Deputy seized approximately 730 pounds at a
traffic stop in Buda... myfoxmemphis.com/ ... 19:48:35Tennessee lawmakers heard
testimony Tuesday on legalizing the medicinal use of marijuana, although the
idea has failed in the General Assembly before and its future is uncertain...
toronto.ctv.ca/ ...
19:48:13Toronto police say a four-year-old child was living inside a
home that was being used as a marijuana grow operation... 763 plants...
42-year-old man and 37-year-old woman were arrested... 
Habitat loss and
commerical hunting have been blamed for a decline in the number of
sun bears - the world's smallest species of bear...
found in south-east Asia, have declined by at least 30% in the past 30 years...
six out of the world's eight bear species are threatened with extinction...
wildernessclassroom.com/ ...
09:35:32Caiman from wildernessclassroom.com en.wikipedia.org/ ... 09:34:38Gharial from Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org/ ... 09:34:10Alligator from Wikipedia... en.wikipedia.org/ ... 09:33:03Crocodile from Wikipedia... news.bbc.co.uk/ ... 09:20:10Soldiers in
Vietnam are hunting for hundreds of crocodiles washed away by
flooding from a farm in the central province of Khanh Hoa... About 5,000
crocodiles live on the farm and it is unclear how many are loose... Troops and
villagers have shot or recaptured at least seven... Crocodiles are farmed in Vietnam for their skin and their
meat... marijuana... in a
tractor-trailor... value in excess of $67 million... largest load of marijuana
ever seized at the Colexico Port... [We keep seeing more and more of these
"largest load" reports... what does this tell us about our interdiction
efforts?] visaliatimesdelta.com/ ...
10:45:23...16-year-old boy was arrested Friday morning for selling
marijuana at
Recreation Park... canada.com/ ... 10:44:59Ian
Mulgrew , Vancouver Sun...pot, a key drug
fuelling gang wars... ATLANTA... A 20-year-old man was
arrested for allegedly selling hallucinogenic mushrooms hidden inside chocolate
bunnies and ducks and other drugs... cannabis appear to function better than those
who also use tobacco, and are more socially driven and have no more
psychosocial problems than those who abstain from both substances... students
who smoked marijuana only were more likely to be male... play sports... live
with both parents... and have good grades.... less likely to have been drunk in
the past 30 days... mlive.com/ ... 09:56:01KALAMAZOO
-- Police found more than a pound of
marijuana and a digital scale Friday during the
search of a house on the city's north side... time.com/ ... 09:55:43Two
municipalities — Denver, Colorado, and the small town of Hailey, Idaho
— passed pro-marijuana measures on election day this week,
joining a growing number of liberal localities that are reducing or removing
penalities on using pot. It's part of a slowly evolving populist rehabilitation
of the drug. San Francisco, Oakland and Santa Monica in California, along with
Missoula, Montana, and Seattle, Washington, have previously passed laws that
give the lowest priority to enforcing existing marijuana laws... missoulian.com/ ... 09:55:14U.S.
dollar deterring Canadian
marijuana smugglers... canada.com/ ... 09:54:59Sgt. Scott
Rintoul mans the RCMP's drug-awareness bureau in B.C. Well-acquainted with the
arguments for legalizing
marijuana, he challenges the legal-pot
advocates to
consider one
important point -- our children... "Marijuana is an addictive drug. We do
have people in the city of Vancouver who are suffering a dependency on cannabis
[who] are going through treatment, yet you never hear that. Ten or 20 per cent
of marijuana users have a problem with cannabis... [Big Nanny's favorite
scare tactic, think of the children. Following their logic, we should ban
everything adult, including coffee and wine and sex... and many of them want to
do that, too!] indystar.com/ ... 09:52:31A
suspected
marijuana dealer arrested Thursday in
Indianapolis also is responsible for cultivating the illegal plant at a home in
Fishers, police said Friday... sfgate.com/ ... 09:52:10Federal
drug agents are investigating an apparent
marijuana-growing operation at a West Oakland
building that was uncovered after firefighters put out a three-alarm blaze
Friday at an adjacent warehouse... kutv.com/ ... 09:51:53Authorities
confiscated pounds of cocaine and
marijuana from convoys of vehicles traveling on
Interstate-80 through Summit County. The Utah Highway Patrol says it was
expecting the shipment, which originated in California and was bound for states
as far east as New York. The four-day dragnet seized 213 pounds of marijuana,
55 pounds of cocaine and $11,000 in cash. The contraband is valued at
approximately $3 million. Troopers arrested 19 people... origin.sltrib.com/ ... 09:51:21It's
marijuana harvest time in northern California,
and Utah's interstates are flowing with millions of dollars in drugs and
cash... reuters.com/ ... 09:51:01Nearly 21
percent of Americans smoke, a number that has been stalled since 2004, federal
researchers reported on Thursday in a study they said means governments must spend more to persuade people to kick the
habit... [CURSE BIG NANNY!!] hosted.ap.org/ ...
09:32:28Congress is taking new whacks at the cigarette industry, banning
tobacco sales in Senate buildings and - more importantly - seeking a
significant federal tax increase on cigarettes... [Tobaccy is whacky,
nicotine is a drag but Big Nanny and her armies of Prohibitionists are pure
Evil.] Army Sgt. Lui
Tumanuvao, 29, of Fagaalu, American Samoa, died Nov. 7 in Arab Jabour,
Iraq, of wounds suffered when he was struck by an improvised explosive device
during combat operations. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry
Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, Fort Stewart, Ga. defenselink.mil/ ... 10:17:22Army Capt.
Benjamin D. Tiffner, 31, of West Virginia, died Nov. 7 in Baghdad, Iraq,
of wounds suffered when he was struck by an improvised explosive device. He was
assigned to the 1st Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), Fort
Campbell, Ky. Army Staff Sgt.
Carletta S. Davis, 34, of Anchorage, Alaska, assigned to the 10th
Brigade Support Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division
(Light Infantry), Fort Drum, N.Y.Army Staff Sgt. John D. Linde, 30, of New York,
N.Y., assigned to the 1st Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat
Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry), Fort Drum, N.Y.Army Sgt. Derek
T. Stenroos, 24, of North Pole, Alaska, assigned to the 1st Brigade Special
Troops Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light
Infantry), Fort Drum, N.Y.Army Pfc. Adam J. Muller, 21, of Underhill, Vt.,
assigned to the 1st Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team,
10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry), Fort Drum, N.Y.Army Sgt. Daniel
J. Shaw, 23, of West Seneca, N.Y., died Nov. 5 in Taji, Iraq. His death is
under investigation. Shaw was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry
Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo.
defenselink.mil/ ... 11:03:35Navy Petty Officer
2nd Class Kevin R. Bewley, 27, of Hector, Ark., died Nov. 5 of wounds
suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated while he was conducting
operations in Salah ad Din province, Iraq. Bewley was permanently assigned to
Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit 11, Oak Harbor, Wash. defenselink.mil/ ... 11:03:16Army Spc.
Christine M. Ndururi, 21, of Dracut, Mass., died Nov. 6 in Camp Arifjan,
Kuwait, from a non-combat related illness. Her death is under investigation.
She was assigned to the 4th Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, Fort Hood,
Texas. A
mouse that can move accurately in response to sounds could mean the difference
between dependence and independence for someone with motor impairments. A
University of Washington researcher with a specialty in speech recognition is
putting his skills to use teaching computers to do just that... Vocal
Joystick... Fear may be linked to the sense of smell, and can be
switched off simply by shutting down certain receptors in the brain...
researchers identified and removed certain receptors on the olfactory bulb of
their brains -- and the result was a batch of fearless rodents. To prove their
point, the scientists showed pictures of a brown mouse within an inch of a cat,
sniffing up its ear, kissing it and playing with its predator's collar...
Michigan State Police
seized 1,200 pounds of marijuana from an Arizona truck driver during a routine
traffic stop in Jackson County on Sunday... found bales of marijuana hidden
among pallets containing bottles of sports drinks... [alleged supposed
inflated Prohibition-driven] street value of $1.2 million... iht.com/ ... 10:58:53The Dutch Health Ministry
announced plans Wednesday to extend its experimental medical marijuana program
for five years, despite setbacks... sciam.com/ ... 10:58:39...according to a new
Swiss survey of students... teenagers who smoke pot function better than those
who also use tobacco... teens who only use marijuana are apparently more
socially driven and have no more psychosocial problems than those who neither
smoke nor toke... hosted.ap.org/ ... 10:32:33GILFORD, N.H... A woman
wearing a wedding dress and parked beside a pond drove into the water Wednesday
after officers tried to take a bag of marijuana from her... February 11, 2000... [Hillary's] breakfast was on the
house, and when she left the waitress, a single mom, found not a penny at her
plate... ...Esterday does not think Clinton got it. "I don't think
she understood at all what I was saying," Esterday said. "I mean, nobody got
left a tip that day." Clinton may have decided not to tip. She was also never
given a bill — her meal was on the house. Still, Esterday said Clinton
might have left her something: "Maybe they don't carry money. I don't know..."
ledger.southofboston.com/ ...
09:56:49John Kerry said Monday there might be a next time for his
presidential aspirations, and if there is, the 63-year-old U.S. senator from
Massachusetts says he’ll be ready for the political torpedoes that helped
sink his 2004 White House bid... Kerry said he regrets his slowness to counter
accusations from the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, which faulted Kerry’s
war record and his subsequent anti-war activism... [um... yeah, sure...]
breitbart.com/ ... 09:56:02Nov
6... Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul, aided by an extraordinary
outpouring of Internet support Monday, hauled in more than $4.2 million in
nearly 24 hours... telegraph.co.uk/ ...
09:52:27Trying to encourage his studio to hurry up so an interview could
start, Carl Cameron of Fox News said into his microphone: "The next president
of the United States has a schedule to keep." Standing beside him, a deadpan Mr
Thompson interjected: "And so do I..." An embattled Dutch scientist
claims to have discovered a new species of wild pig measuring over four feet,
nearly twice the size of other Amazon pigs. Other experts say that while more
research is necessary to confirm the species is new, the find is plausible -
and that it adds to arguments for more efforts to preserve the jungle
habitat... reuters.com/ ...
15:51:21WASHINGTON... Washoe, the chimpanzee researchers said was
the first non-human to acquire a human language, was being remembered by
some as a dear friend and an inspiration... died on Tuesday night at age 42
after a brief illness, first learned American Sign Language in a research
project in Nevada, according to the Chimpanzee and Human Communication
Institute (CHCI) where she had lived since 1980... "Being the first chimpanzee
to learn a human language and pass it on to her adopted son, Washoe is truly
unique..." Air
Force Maj. John L. Carroll, of Decatur, Ga. will be buried on Nov. 13 at
the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo. On Nov. 7, 1972, Carroll was
flying a Forward Air Controller mission over Xiangkhoang Province, Laos, when
his O-1G Bird Dog aircraft was hit by enemy ground fire and forced to land.
Once on the ground, he radioed the Search-and-Rescue (SAR) helicopters on his
intent to stay in the aircraft. Two SAR helicopters attempted a recovery, but
intense enemy fire forced them to depart the area. A second pickup attempt was
made later, but the pilot of that helicopter saw that Carroll had been fatally
wounded. The recovery attempt was unsuccessful due to nearby enemy forces that
opened fire on the helicopter. In 1993, a joint U.S./Lao People's Democratic
Republic (L.P.D.R.) team, led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC),
investigated the incident and surveyed the crash site. During the site survey,
the team found small fragments of aircraft wreckage. Between 1996 and 2007,
joint U.S./L.P.D.R./Socialist Republic of Vietnam teams, led by JPAC, conducted
several interviews concerning the incident. One witness provided the team with
identification media which belonged to Carroll. In another interview, a former
People's Army of North Vietnam officer turned over some of Carroll's personal
effects and told the team that local residents had buried Carroll. Another
witness later led a team to the burial site. In 2007, a joint team excavated
the burial site and found his remains.... defenselink.mil/ ... 15:34:26Army Pfc. Dwane
A. Covert Jr., 20, of Tonawanda, N.Y., died Nov 3, in Al-Sahra, Iraq, from
injuries suffered in a non-combat related incident. He was assigned to the
104th Transportation Company, 13th Corps Support Sustainment Battalion, 3rd
Infantry Division, Fort Benning, Ga. The incident is under investigation.
defenselink.mil/ ... 15:34:11Army Sgt.1st Class
Johnny C. Walls, 41, of Bremerton, Wash., died Nov. 2 in Uruzgan,
Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit using small
arms fire during combat operations. He was assigned to the 1st Brigade, 1st
Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kan. defenselink.mil/ ... 15:33:58Army 2nd Lt.
Tracy Lynn Alger, 30, of New Auburn, Wis., died Nov 1 in
Shubayshen, Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device
detonated near her vehicle. She was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry
Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort
Campbell, Ky. defenselink.mil/ ... 15:32:29Air Force Master
Sgt. Thomas A. Crowell, 36, of Neosho, Mo., assigned to Detachment 204,
Offutt Air Force Base, Neb. Air Force Staff Sgt. David A. Wieger, 28, of
North Huntingdon, Pa., assigned to Detachment 303, Travis Air Force Base,
Calif. Air
Force civilian employee Nathan J. Schuldheiss, 27, of Newport R.I.
Crowell, assigned to Detachment 301, Scott Air Force Base, Ill.Army Sgt. Daniel
L. McCall, 24, of Pace, Fla. died in Baghdad, IraqArmy Pfc. Rush M.
Jenkins, 22, of Clarksville, Tenn. died in Salman Pak, IraqArmy Pvt. Cody M.
Carver, 19, of Haskell, Okla. died in Salman Pak, IraqArmy Cpt. Timothy
I. McGovern, 28, of IndianaArmy Spc. Brandon W. Smitherman, 21, of Conroe,
TexasArmy Sgt. Louis
A. Griese, 30, of Sturgeon Bay, Wis., died Oct 31 in Tikrit, Iraq, of
wounds suffered north of Samarra when an improvised explosive device detonated
near his vehicle. He was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment,
1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell,
Ky. defenselink.mil/ ... 15:28:33Army Staff Sgt.
James D. Bullard, 28, of Marion, S.C., died Oct. 30 in Spearwan Ghar,
Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit using RPG
rounds, machine gun fire, mortars and small arms fire during combat operations.
He was assigned to the South Carolina National Guard's 1st Battalion, 263rd
Armor Battalion, in Marion, S.C. defenselink.mil/ ... 15:27:34Army Maj. Jeffrey
R. Calero, 34, of Queens Village, N.Y., died Oct. 29 in Kajaki,
Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated
while he was on dismounted patrol. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 20th
Special Forces Group (Airborne), Massachusetts National Guard, Springfield,
Mass. A study of more than 5,000
youngsters in Switzerland has found those who smoked marijuana do as well or
better in some areas as those who don't... hosted.ap.org/ ... 16:12:34...Ross
was let go eight days into his tenure because his employer, Ragingwire Inc.,
said federal law makes marijuana illegal no matter the use. On Tuesday, the
California Supreme Court is due to hear Ross' case, the latest example of the
intensifying clash between federal and local authorities over marijuana use.
Ross, 45, contends that Ragingwire discriminated against him because of a back
injury and violated the state's fair-employment law by punishing him for
legally smoking marijuana at home... DES
MOINES, Iowa... A hunter is recovering after he was shot in the leg at close
range by his dog, who stepped on his shotgun and tripped the trigger... news.bbc.co.uk/ ...
15:20:03Organisers of the 2008 Beijing Olympics have suspended ticket
sales until Monday, after their booking system crashed due to high demand on
Tuesday... 
FAIRMONT, Minn... More than two decades after Aaron Giles
lost his identity bracelet... A meat cutter at Olson Locker in Fairmont came
across the shiny object in a chicken gizzard and saw a name, address and phone
number engraved on it... Giles had lived in Fairmont as a child and played
hide-and-seek and other games with his brothers in their grandfather's barn
near Sherburn... 31-year-old said he thinks the bracelet was lost when he was 4
or 5... The barn was dismantled a few years ago, and Giles thinks his bracelet
was imbedded in materials used to construct another barn in Elmore, about 45
miles away. The bracelet was found in a chicken that came from an Elmore
farm... 
Cannabis connoisseurs in their thousands have
descended on the Dutch capital of Amsterdam this week to sample and select the
winners of the 20th annual Cannabis Cup
competition... 
Three adult black
rhinos have been shot at the Imire Safari park in Zimbabwe. The park, 100km
southeast of Harare, is home to one of the only breeding centres for the iconic
animals. The shooting has brought the local breeding programme - for what is
one of the most endangered mammals on Earth - to a standstill... One of them
was just days away from giving birth. Her unborn calf died as well. "We simply
can't believe it. Those rhinos were our friends. We knew them all so well..."
Jellyfish wiped out Northern Ireland's only salmon farm,
with more than 1 million pounds' ($2.06 million) worth of stock massacred in
the attack... 
British scientists have stumbled across a fossilized claw,
part of an ancient sea scorpion, that is of such large proportion it would make
the entire creature the biggest bug ever... 8 feet long... The discovery in
390-million-year-old rocks suggests that spiders, insects, crabs and similar
creatures were far larger in the past than previously thought... "This is an
amazing discovery... We have known for some time that the fossil record yields
monster millipedes, super-sized scorpions, colossal cockroaches, and jumbo
dragonflies. But we never realized until now just how big some of these ancient
creepy-crawlies were..." 
salamander and
even learn and make decisions like humans... 
The Beatles' music should be available online next year,
Sir Paul McCartney has told a US music website... [There's already ten times
more Beatles stuff online every day than existed when they broke up!]
oogle Inc faces a federal
patent infringement lawsuit by Northeastern University over technology used in
its core Web search system... The plaintiffs are Boston-based Northeastern
University and Jarg Corp, a start-up founded by a Northeastern University
professor that is the exclusive licensee of search technology patented in 1997,
a year before Google was incorporated. A spokesman for Mountain View,
California-based Google said it believed the suit was without merit...
...female spadefoot
toads will flout the general evolutionary rule of not breeding with other
species... the amphibians, under some conditions, will mate with other species
to help boost the survival rates of their offspring... Spadefoots breed in
small ponds, which can often dry out, killing any developing tadpoles... when a
pond is very shallow, one species of female spadefoot, S. bombifrons, will
often mate with another closely relates species, D. multiplicata, rather than
males of their own kind... S. bombifrons tadpoles develop much more slowly than
D. multiplicata, meaning they have to spend longer in the ponds. But the hybrid
offspring between the two species develop rapidly, meaning that they are more
likely to survive if the pond dries out quickly...