from redstate.com

On a plane from Denver to Charlotte following the Democrats' convention, I found myself seated behind former National Chairman of the Democratic National Committee Don Fowler and Congressman John Spratt of South Carolina. Their conversation was interesting to say the least.

For example, they made fun of Sarah Palin for several minutes, Fowler calling her "Dan Quayle" on steroids and Spratt creatively describing her as "just terrible." They both agreed that, "Other than the simple fact that she's a female," she has nothing to offer.

Then there was this gem of a moment from Fowler:

So you see, it's funny. That New Orleans will get a hurricane. That's funny because it is due to hit when President Bush is scheduled to speak. Isn't that cool? Fowler isn't the only one who thinks so, just ask Michael Moore.
We all know Democrats used and use Katrina as a political football as callously as possible. Here's a candid moment showing some can hardly wait for another one.

All Class.


BREAKING: Statement from SCGOP Chairman Katon Dawson

"The outrageous behavior of two of the Obama campaign's highest profile supporters in the south is despicable, a cynical politization of life and death. I call on Barack Obama to immediately denounce Fowler and Spratt and demand sincere apologies from these members of the Democratic leadership."

Cows Have Strange Sixth Sense

Google Earth, proving its awesome once again, has now helped researchers find that herds of cattle tend to face in the north-south direction of Earth's magnetic lines.

Their field observations of red and roe deer also showed those animals facing toward magnetic north or south, a strange "sixth sense" to detect magnetism.

"Google Earth is perfect for this kind of research, because the animals are undisturbed by the observer," said Sabine Begall, a zoologist at the University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany and coauthor on the study detailed in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Wind and time of day did not offer better explanations for why 8,510 cattle in 308 locations around the world would mostly face north-south. Shadows suggested that many of the images were taken on cloudless, sunny days, so Begall's group also factored in direct ground observations of cattle herds.

Both cattle and deer faced a more magnetic north-south direction rather than geographic north-south, (Earth's magnetic poles do not line up perfectly with the North and South Poles).

Previous research has shown that animals such as birds, turtles and salmon migrate using a sense of magnetic direction, and small mammals such as rodents and one bat species also have a magnetic compass.

Jerry is crying cherry tears.

Barack Obama’s run for the presidency has launched many different grassroots campaigns. The most interesting may be the revival of the Grateful Dead.

I am told that on Oct. 13, possibly either in Philadelphia or Pittsburgh, the Dead will get back together for at least one show to raise money for and awareness about Obama.

All four living original members will play together — Bob Weir, Mickey Hart, Phil Lesh and Bill Kreutzmann. The band's leader, Jerry Garcia, died in 1995 from a heart attack.

Substituting for Garcia will be Allman Brothers and Gov't Mule master musician Warren Haynes.

If all goes well, my sources say, the band will then set out on a major tour in summer 2009.

yikes. new summer plans?
hahaha

Quote of the Day.

Just the good parts of Lil Wayne's Milli:

I'm a Millionaire,
I'm a Young Money Milli in aire
Tougher than Nigerian hair
My criteria compared to your career
Just isn't fair
I'm a venereal disease
Like a menstrual bleed
Threw the pencil and leak
The sheet of the tablet in my mind

Got da maserati dancin'
On the bridge pussy poppin'
Tell the coppers
Hahaha you can't catch Em
You can't stop Em
I go by them goon rules
If you can't beat Em
Then you pop Em
Cause we pop Em
Like Orville Redenbacher

Call me whacha like bitch
Call me on my sidekick
Never answer when its private
Man I hate a shy bitch
Don't you hate a shy bitch
I had a plate of shy bitch
And she ain't shy no mo'
She changed her name to my bitch
Hahaha

Who dat said they gon' beat Lil Wayne
My name ain't Bic, but I keep that flame
Who dat one
Dat do that boy
Yall knew dat
True dat swallow
And I be the shit
Now you got loose bowels
I don't owe you like two vowels
But I'd like for you to pay me by the hour
Hahaha
And I'd rather be pushing flowers,
Than to be in the penn sharing showers
See Tony told us this world was ours
And the Bible told us every girl was sour
Dont play in the garden and don't smell her flower
Call me Mr. Carter or Mr. Lawn Mower
Boy I got so many bitchess like I'm Mike Lowry
Even Gwen Stefani said she couldn't doubt me

US army develops robotic suits

At a research facility on the outskirts of Salt Lake City, ringed by beautiful snow-capped mountains,the military is testing new and strange uniforms.

The aluminium limbs gleam in the brilliant sunshine, as the strange metal skeleton hangs from a safety harness at the outdoor testing site. It seems to be treading water; actually its programme is telling it to keep the hydraulic fluid in its joints moving.

Rex Jameson, a software engineer here at laboratories run by Sarcos, the robotics firm which designed the XOS exoskeleton, steps up and into the suit.

The lightweight aluminium exoskeleton, called XOS, senses Rex's every move and instantly moves with him; it is almost like a shadow or a second skin. It is designed for agility that can match a human's, but with strength and endurance that far outweigh our abilities.

For the army the XOS could mean quicker supply lines, or fewer injuries when soldiers need to lift heavy weights or move objects around repeatedly. Initial models would be used as workhorses, on the logistics side.

Later models, the army hopes, could go into combat, carrying heavier weapons, or even wounded colleagues.

New Ugg Fashion statement

A man who ram-raided a supermarket clad only in a sheet and a pair of Ugg boots has been jailed for four years.

David Ball, 32, from Tyseley, Birmingham, was drunk when he raided the supermarket and stole cigarettes.

He then led police on a high-speed car chase through Warwickshire before being arrested after the incident in April.

Ball was sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court for aggravated vehicle taking, burglary, driving with excess alcohol and other driving offences.

Ball was two-and-half times over the drink-driving limit when he was arrested on 16 April and told police he had no recollection of the offence and had been asleep in the back of the car.

However, when shown the CCTV footage, he said he remembered the crime and pleaded guilty. And this guilty plea was taken into consideration for the sentencing.

The court heard how an "extremely drunk" Ball had got up in the middle of the night and stolen his girlfriend Tricia Dowling's Ugg boots and Renault Clio before the crime.
The prosecution told the court Ball had "very little recollection" of the night.

Crazy Cat Lady

They say cats have nine lives - so meet Des, who has 26 toes. While most pet cats have 18 - five on their front paws and four on their rear - the 10-year-old boasts seven on his front and six on his back paws.

The extra digits have left owner Alison Thomas, of Felindre, near Swansea, pondering whether it is a UK record.

One expert said cats with extra toes were common in the area around the old county of Cardiganshire and were sometimes known as "Cardi-cats".

An animal with too many toes is called a polydactyl.


There are unconfirmed reports in north America of cats with up to 28 toes - but Mrs Thomas cannot find records closer to home.

Mother-of-three Mrs Thomas said: "He came to us when he was about six months old - he just turned up on the doorstep and it was even more noticeable then because his paws were so big.

"The first thing people say when they see him even now is 'look at his paws'.

The world record might belong to a cat called Mickey Mouse who was owned by Renee Delgade of Westlake Village, California, in 1974.
It had 32 toes, but there are doubts about the record as Mickey may have had "double paw" condition and may not have been a pure polydactyl.

blind dates on crack

I think I did a bloggie about this in the past, but I was reminded of it.
For those of us too ADD to have a real conversation, check out
crazyblinddate.com

Modern Humanity Fucked, Mutant Babies, says Aristotle

Another such belief is “telegony,” which goes back to Aristotle; it alleged that the heredity of an individual is influenced not only by his father but also by males with whom the female may have mated and who have caused previous pregnancies.
wait, what? He goes even farther:
offspring can inherit the characteristics of a previous mate of the female parent; thus the child of a widowed or remarried woman might partake of traits of a previous husband.

Even Darwin, as late as 1868, seriously discussed an alleged case of telegony: that of a mare mated to a zebra and subsequently to an Arabian stallion, by whom the mare produced a foal with faint stripes on his legs. The simple explanation for this result is that such stripes occur naturally in some breeds of horses.

Indie has new GM

First, go to this link and listen to the station.
Indie 103 is stellar
Dawn Girocco Now An Indie Free Agent
ENTRAVISION Alternative KDLD-KDLE (INDIE 103.1)/LOS ANGELES GM DAWN GIROCCO makes an exit, she tells ALL ACCESS that she will have a new position to announce, shortly. JASON SHELDEN takes her place.

p.s. for all those guac lunches and all the shit I did for you, HIRE ME.
:)

Steel-plated motel offers refuge in Mexico drug war

MONTERREY, Mexico (Reuters) - A motel in northern Mexico is putting steel doors on its rooms to protect guests from kidnappings and shootings in an escalating war between rival drug cartels.

Owners of the Rancho El Trueno, or Thunder Ranch, began fortifying the highway motel near Monterrey a year ago but have decided to shield all 35 rooms as drug killings have worsened in the area in recent months.

Complete with hot tubs, red imitation-leather beds, mirrored walls and striptease poles, the rooms are shuttered behind steel gates about 1.5 inches thick and some already have steel doors.

"We want people to have fun and be able to feel safe. Lovers come, big groups come, we are full on weekends," said Emilio Massa, the motel manager.

He said the owners came up with the idea after guests in nearby motels were shot and kidnapped.

"Do drug gangs come? Well you never know, do you?" Massa said to the grating sound of machines cutting steel doors to put on the rooms.

Thunder Ranch charges 150 pesos ($13.80) for three hours or 400 pesos a night for a room. It also boasts a huge suite with a swimming pool, palm trees, a water slide, a sauna, pool tables and video screens.

"Our suite is booked up weeks ahead of time," Massa said.

vid of the day

just a friendly monetary reminder:

How much did NBC pay for broadcast rights to the Olympics: $894 million.

I'd say: worth every penny.

Russian concert laser show blinds 30

Some concertgoers lost up to 80 per cent of their vision after attending the Aquamarine Music Festival on July 5, Kommersant, a Russian newspaper, reported.

Twenty people were undergoing treatment in Moscow hospitals, said Elena Grishina, the head doctor at the Moscow Ophthalmological Hospital.

"It is just a deterioration in the sharpness of the eyesight, not a burn," she said, but could not confirm that the injuries came from lasers.

"The treatment is not very pleasant. It involves a lot of needles," Dr Grishina said. "But all the patients are in optimistic spirits, and we are hoping for a good result."

According to Russian media reports, concertgoers said the festival's dance floor was covered by a canopy because it was raining. The lasers were pointed horizontally under the tent instead of into the sky, which led to the injuries.

"After five or ten minutes on the dance field, I couldn't see anything," a young man, pictured wearing sunglasses, told NTV television. "I could see out of my left eye, but my right eye is all fog."

The festival was held in the Vladimir region, east of Moscow. During the summer, music enthusiasts often organise open-air raves on empty fields outside Moscow.
A representative of the Vladimir regional government said the festival was organised illegally without proper permits. Police in the town of Kirzhach, where the festival was held, refused to comment.

Why Perez Hilton Sucks.

If I had a million fucking readers, I'd take a look at my posts before I went live.



Warning: Spoilers ahead.
Repeat, spoilers ahead.

He did it!!!!!!!
HE DID IT!!!!!!!

Michael Phelps took home his EIGHTS gold medal at the Olympic Games in Beijing on Sunday.

Unbelievable!

He actually did it!

The U.S. Swimmer broke Mark Spitz's record of 7 gold medals, the most ever one at one Olympic Games.

This time, Michael shared the gold with his teammates - the U.S. won the 4×100m medley relay.

And, they did it in world-record time!!!

It's really amazing. History.

To be the best - EIGHT TIMES IN A ROW - it's awesome and awe-inspiring


ASS

Disney breeding Sligs.

BBC- Knickers for young girls made to promote the film High School Musical 2 are being withdrawn after a complaint that they were sexually suggestive.
Sue Relf bought the underwear for her seven-year-old granddaughter at Asda [grocery store] in Broadstairs, Kent, and took them home to find the words "dive in" on them. Disney apologised for any offence and said a genuine oversight had led to the words being used out of context.

Mrs Relf said: "Both myself and my daughter looked at them and thought, 'Oh my goodness'.

Disney issued a statement which said: "We are very sorry to hear that a customer is unhappy with one of our High School Musical products and apologise for any offence caused. "The knickers in question were designed using our High School Musical 2 artwork, which uses the creative theme of a swimming pool, as this is a key part of the film's storyline.
"Unfortunately a genuine oversight was made and the text on this product was used outside the context of the swimming pool.
"This product will not be part of any forthcoming collections."

The panties in question were for a targeted group of 8-12 year olds, but sizes started at those for 4 year olds.
CLASSY.

Is this True? China is Fucked up and MEAN.

From the ~Questionable~ Daily Mail - The bleak concrete walls topped with razor wire and the sentries in towers at the gates are a chilling reminder of a different era.
On the nearby roads, heavily armed guards patrol relentlessly, checking both drivers and pedestrians, constantly alert.

Meanwhile, less than 30 miles away, the world's attention is focused on the world-famous 'Bird's Nest' Olympic stadium and the other venues where a global audience of two billion is watching the Games and enjoying the spectacle of the 'new' China.

The Beijing regime has deployed an army of 500,000 smiling volunteers to help foreigners find their way around the teeming capital city.
Blades of grass have been individually combed. Signs have been erected in English.
Spitting has been banned and taxi drivers have been told to wear ties.

But there's none of that here in the suburb of Daxing, where the only 'venues' are the five camps into which thousands of China's 'undesirables' have been swept from the streets of Beijing and locked up.

Here, down bumpy, unlit roads, is where old habits die hard for China's brutal totalitarian communist regime.
These camps are being used to imprison - without trial or legal representation - people that the regime wants the world to believe do not exist amid the miracle of modern China.

From street children, hawkers, the homeless and prostitutes, to the mentally ill, black migrants, drug dealers and gays caught in public bathhouses, the camps on the outskirts of the city started filling up with Beijing's 'undesirables' last year as part of the Chinese regime's determination to present what it sees as an acceptable face to the world.

It is all eerily reminiscent of the build-up to the 1936 Games in Berlin, when the government cleared similar 'undesirables' from the streets.
Under Hitler's regime many of the Nazi concentration camps bore the slogan Arbeit macht frei (Work makes you free) at their gates.
In China, the camps bear the slogan 'Re-education Through Labour'.

Working up to 16 hours a day and held in cramped, unsanitary cells with only one toilet bucket for dozens of inmates, the existence of the jailed 'undesirables' is something China has done its best to hide.

The Truth Behind the Rhyme

Jack and Jill
Jack and Jill went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water;
Jack fell down and broke his crown,
And Jill came tumbling after.

Taken at face value, the rhyme doesn't make sense. Why do Jack and Jill go up the hill to fetch water? Water generally runs downhill, so perhaps it's a cover story for something else.

A small village in Somerset has laid claim to the origin of the rhyme. The story told in Kilmersdon is that during 1697 the village was home to a young unmarried couple who did a lot of their courting up on a hill, away from the prying eyes of the local gossips.

Consequently Jill became pregnant, but just before the baby was born Jack was killed by a rock that fell off the hill and landed on his head. Only days later, Jill also died in childbirth. It's cheery stuff.

The rhyme is today depicted on a series of tablet stones along the path to the hill.

things that would NEVER happen on American Radio.

BBC unrepentant after drunk Noel Gallagher says Amy is a 'destitute horse' and Jade 'smells of urine' live on Radio 1
At 9am during the school holidays, Noel Gallagher had a guaranteed audience of impressionable youngsters yesterday.
They heard the Oasis star boast about his drug-taking habits, and add that he was still drunk from the night before.

Gallagher, 41, slurred his way through a 15-minute interview on Chris Moyles's Radio 1 breakfast show, confessing that he had managed only two hours' sleep.
He went on to claim that he had taken drugs for more than 18 years, before embarking on a rant against several fellow musicians and celebrities.

He described troubled singer Amy Winehouse, who is fighting heroin addiction, as a 'destitute horse'.
And he criticised DJ Mark Ronson, who has had hits with Miss Winehouse and Lily Allen, for failing to write his own material.
He said: 'He wants to write his own tunes instead of ruining everyone else's. Mark Ronson needs to learn three chords on the guitar and write a tune.'

Mocking the rock band the Kaiser Chiefs, he said: 'The Monkees haven't split up, they're just going under the name of the Kaiser Chiefs.'
He added: 'I did drugs for 18 years and I never got that bad as to say, "You know what? I think the Kaiser Chiefs are brilliant".'

The elder Gallagher brother then moved on to lambast Peaches Geldof for marrying in Las Vegas this week. He commented: 'God Almighty, I have respect for Sir Bob ... stamp on her though.'

The BBC was criticised for failing to take Gallagher off the show, which has a listenership of more than seven million.

MediaWatch's John Beyer said: 'It's not appropriate for that time in the morning for a man to be in that state of mind or behaviour. The BBC should have been aware of his state and asked him to come back when he was sober.

'He is a role model that has a responsibility to youngsters and it doesn't set a good example - but I think the real fault lies with the BBC and the DJ who should have made the decision that he was not capable of being on air.

A BBC spokesman said: 'Noel Gallagher was very clearly briefed in advance and monitored during the live interview this morning. We have not received any complaints.
'As ever Noel was a lively and opinionated guest. Of course Radio One does not condone drug abuse and if we felt our guest was drunk we would not put him on air.'
Gallagher's outburst coincides with Oasis's announcement of UK tour dates which begin in October.

Why, yes....this IS a recycled diamond!

New hip trend: Green Dating.
They started gaining steam about 5 years ago, butgreensingles.com is a site for environmentalists, vegetarians, and PETA freaks thats been around since 1985. WOW. While most were Aqua-netting the shit out of their golden tresses and listening to their Bananarama tapes, there were those with burlap purses looking for a man to share their mate glasses with.

other sites to check out:
Green-Passions.com
DemocraticSingles.net
ewsingles.com [Earth Wise Singles]
EthicalSingles.com
GreenSpeedDating.com

no word on whether or not Repubs are down with the 3 Rs.

'Cat Lady' Wins Fight To Keep 150 Pets At Home

VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. -- A Central Florida school teacher known as the "cat lady" who was fighting to keep nearly 150 cats at her home will get to keep her pets on property.

A Volusia County judge ruled in favor of Kristy Grant Thursday after being cited and receiving complaints from her neighbors.

The county fined Grant over her so-called animal sanctuary at her home in Pierson.

Grant's attorney said Volusia County is in the dark when it comes to rules for cat hobbyists in an earlier report.

Neighbors begged the county to ban the animals and complained that the cats used their yards a litter boxes.

Grant said she installed a fence to keep her neighbors happy.

The judge ruled in Grant's favor Thursday, saying there is no law limiting the number of cats she can have, Local 6 reported.

Pa. homeless man stabs another over panhandling

PITTSBURGH—Pittsburgh police say one homeless man was stabbed by another after they argued over who was the better panhandler.
Police are not identifying the victim, who was taken to Allegheny General Hospital with minor wounds. Forty-six-year-old Larry Milburn remains in custody awaiting arraignment on aggravated assault and other charges.

The men began arguing in an area where homeless people are known to encamp about 4:15 p.m. Thursday. that's when police say Milburn cut the other man in the neck using kitchen shears.

Police say the men were arguing about which of them was the best panhandler on the city's North Side, a neighborhood that contains the city's pro sports stadiums.

Germans try to slow glacier melt with giant screen

German researchers trying to slow melting glaciers have set up a large screen in the Swiss Alps that they hope will trap cold air over the icy mass, Johannes Gutenberg University said Thursday.
"We hope our installations will bring about a net cooling of the area. And if the melt is not stopped, that it is at least slowed," the project's leader, geography professor Hans-Joachim Fuchs, said in a statement.

The structure, 15 metres long and three metres high (49 feet by 10 feet), was raised in the middle of the Rhone glacier in Switzerland's southwestern Valais region by 27 students from the German university.

The purpose of the screen -- which sits at an altitude of 2,300 metres -- is to keep cold winds over the glacier.

Already successfully tested in a laboratory, the experiment will be studied on site until August 21, according to the university, located in the Swiss city of Mainz.

Beam It up, Scotty! I want some Yves!

ORLANDO, Fla. -- A mysterious box with an antenna found hidden inside a Wal-Mart was a planted spy camera set up to beam customer credit card numbers to thieves in the parking lot, police said.

Officers evacuated the Wal-Mart store located on Turkey Lake Road near Sand Lake Road Thursday night after someone noticed the box wrapped in black tape near a counter.
The bomb squad was called to the store and no explosives were found.

When officers investigated the box, they found it contained a spy camera set to capture credit card numbers as people used them inside the business.

Deputies said the images were apparently beamed to a van in the store's parking lot.

Deputies said they were not sure if the thieves were able to get anyone's credit card numbers during the time the box was in place.

Don't Mess With Texas Teachers

Associated Press, HARROLD, Texas — A tiny Texas school district may be the first in the nation to allow teachers and staff to pack guns for protection when classes begin later this month, a newspaper reported.

Trustees at the Harrold Independent School District approved a district policy change last October so employees can carry concealed firearms to deter and protect against school shootings, provided the gun-toting teachers follow certain requirements.

In order for teachers and staff to carry a pistol, they must have a Texas license to carry a concealed handgun; must be authorized to carry by the district; must receive training in crisis management and hostile situations and have to use ammunition that is designed to minimize the risk of ricochet in school halls.

Superintendent David Thweatt said the small community is a 30-minute drive from the sheriff's office, leaving students and teachers without protection. He said the district's lone campus sits 500 feet from heavily trafficked U.S. 287, which could make it a target.

"When the federal government started making schools gun-free zones, that's when all of these shootings started. Why would you put it out there that a group of people can't defend themselves? That's like saying 'sic 'em' to a dog," Thweatt said in Friday's online edition of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Holy Crap Big Foot Is REAL

(CNN) -- A policeman and a former corrections officer unveiled on Friday their delectable discovery: the thawed body of a creature reputed to be Bigfoot,reportedly weighing more than 500 pounds.

Matthew Whitton and Rick Dyer, a pair of Bigfoot-hunting hobbyists from north Georgia, say they found the creature's body in a wooded area and spotted several similar creatures that were still alive.

The carcass of the furry half-man, half-ape is 7 feet, 7 inches tall and weighs more than 500 pounds, they say. However, the two are not disclosing the exact location of their discovery to protect the remaining creatures.

Tom Nelson, chairman of the biology department at North Georgia College and State University in Dahlonega, said he's "pretty skeptical" the world will feast its eyes on a new species Friday.

"That would certainly rock mammalogy," joked Nelson, who specializes in the study of mammals. "I see a research grant in my future."

Whitton and Dyer plan to unveil what they say is DNA and photo evidence of the discovery in Palo Alto, California, in conjunction with a group called Searching for Bigfoot Inc.

"The only person we would allow to come down and verify the body was 'the Real Bigfoot Hunter,' Tom Biscardi," Dyer said, referring to Searching for Bigfoot's CEO, who has been looking for the elusive, legendary creature in the United States and Canada since 1971.

The group says the animal is male, has reddish hair and "blackish-gray" eyes and human-like feet, hands and teeth.

Pic of the Day

Spanish Women's Tennis Joins the Crowd.

Who Would Jesus Kill?

In this artist's rendering, Joseph Edward Duncan III listens to opening statements in the sentencing phase of his death penalty case in U.S. District Court in Boise, Idaho on Wednesday Aug. 13, 2008. A jury that will decide whether Duncan, a convicted pedophile should be executed listened Wednesday as a prosecutor graphically described how the man killed members of an Idaho family, abducted two children and abused the youngsters at a campsite before murdering one of them. (AP Photo/Ward Hooper)

for those of you who don't remember, hes the one that killed and tortured older family members, then took the two kids to rape the shit out of them at a camping ground in Idaho.

vid of the day

MY Sister, the Terrorist.

The US Transportation Security Administration has done a backflip on a policy of adding people who had forgotten their ID to its database of suspect fliers.

The scheme kicked off in June, according to USA Today, the same time the agency officially declared people could not board planes in the US unless they showed ID.

At the time the TSA said it would still allow people who had misplaced, as opposed to refused to show, their ID on to planes. But there was no mention of the database.

Being added to the database, effectively meant that innocent but absent-minded fliers in the US would find their IDs slapped in a database with everyone else the TSA decided was an undesirable, including people who breached flight securities regulations or acted suspiciously. Or are foreign. (We’re guessing on that last one.)

Hawley said names of the ID-forgetful already in the database would be expunged within the month.

However, people simply deemed to have been “acting suspiciously” and who have been questioned by airport police will remain in the database for 15 years, along with information about their travelling companions.

Tampa- Cops arrested stripper Holly Ann Courcelle, 18 for involvement in her boyfriends shooting.
You know she's a good hooker, becuase she went the 2 name route, as opposed to the more generic Candy/Bambi/Trixie route.
Bambi Candy III is charged with attempted 1st degree murder.

What caused this murderous fight?
$150. 23-yr-old Henry Chriss was arguing with Holly Ann and an unkown party about the money, when dude X shot the shit out of him.
Why she is charged with murder and not just being there, I don't know.

Storm Troop the Albertsons!

Michigan State troopers raided Oak Ridge Market in Fraser Tuesday....to scoop up lots of contraband. COOKIES!! STOLEN COOKIES!
More than 13,000 boxes of NIlla Wafers and Ritz Bitz, to be more precise.
Poor Oak Ridge buyers got scammed into buying the stolen goods.

State police entered the Fraser location with guns drawn, causing a shock to the old ladies shopping further down the aisle.
The stolen items are worth more than $50,000.

I'll hold your shuttlecock if you hold mine.

As the Czech Republic's Katy Emmons was on the verge of winning the first gold medal of the 2008 Olympic Games on Saturday, there was at least one person in the venue more nervous than she — her husband and fellow Olympic shooter, American Matt Emmons.

"Whenever you’re watching the other one, you’re always more nervous than the one shooting," Matt Emmons said.

Matt and Katy Emmons are living an Olympic fairy tale. They met in 2004 in Athens, where Katy won bronze and Matt not only won gold, but also made history … albeit not the kind he was hoping to make.

Matt entered the finals of the 50m rifle 3 position final with a huge lead, and essentially only needed to hit the target to win. But instead of securing his second gold of the games, he aimed at the wrong target, received a score of zero, and plummeted to eighth place.

Katy, who was watching the match, felt so bad for Matt that she approached him at a beer garden later that day to console him. The chemistry between the two was instant. They began dating, and the couple married in 2007.

Beijing is their first Olympics competing as husband and wife.
"Whenever you’re watching the other one, you’re always more nervous than the one shooting," said Matt Emmons after watching his wife win the gold medal.

Katy is hoping to help Matt remember to aim for the right target at his events on Aug. 15 and 17. Taking home four gold medals between them would certainly add a storied chapter to their Olympic romance, but for Katy and Matt, the happily-ever-after doesn’t depend on hardware. They are going to try to add a little Olympian to their family.

"We’re hoping to start after the games. We’re hoping to start soon. That’s something that’s very important to us," Matt said. "Family is much more important to us than sports, so we’re looking forward to it."

World's tallest woman dies at 53

INDIANAPOLIS - A woman who grew to be 7 feet, 7 inches tall and was recognized as the world's tallest female died early Wednesday, a friend said. She was 53.

Sandy Allen, who used her height to inspire schoolchildren to accept those who are different, died at a nursing home in her hometown of Shelbyville, Ind., family friend Rita Rose said.

The cause of death was not yet known. Allen had been hospitalized in recent months as she suffered from a recurring blood infection, along with diabetes, breathing troubles and kidney failure, Rose said.

Prehistoric giant animals killed by man, not climate

The chance discovery of the remains of a prehistoric giant kangaroo has cast doubts on the long-held view that climate change drove it and other mega-fauna to extinction, a new study reveals.
The research, published this week in the US-based journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, argues that man likely hunted to death the giant kangaroo and other very large animals on the southern island of Tasmania.

The debate centres on the skull of a giant kangaroo found in a cave in the thick rainforest of the rugged northwest of Tasmania in 2000.

Scientists dated the find at 41,000 years old, some 2,000 years after humans first began to live in the area.

"Up until now, people thought that the Tasmanian mega-fauna had actually gone extinct before people arrived on the island," a member of the British and Australian study, Professor Richard Roberts, told AFP Tuesday.

He said that it was likely that hunting killed off Tasmania's mega-fauna -- including the long-muzzled, 120 kilogram (264 pound) giant kangaroo, a rhinoceros-sized wombat and marsupial 'lions' which resembled leopards.

"Things were very climatically stable in that part of Australia and yet the mega-fauna still managed to go extinct," he said. "So it's down to humans of one sort or another."

Roberts said because the large animals were slow breeders, it would not have required an aggressive campaign to see them quickly die out.
"A lot of people still have in their minds an axe-wielding, spear-wielding people, bloodthirsty, out there slaughtering all over the place -- it wasn't like that at all," he said.

"It was basically just one joey (baby kangaroo) in the pot for Christmas. And that's all you've got to go to do to drive slow-breeding species to extinction."

Roberts said the Tasmanian results back up the theory that man was responsible for the death of the mega-fauna on mainland Australia, estimated by some to have occurred shortly after human occupation about 46,000 years ago.

The reasons behind the mass extinction of giant animals, which took place around the world towards the end of the last ice age, has been hotly contested with theories ranging from climate change to human and extraterrestrial impacts.

NY Goes creep-tacular

NY has a new proposal: Operation Sentinal.
What's it all about?
The goal is to photograph the license plate of every last car entering the Island at various checkpoints and tunnel crossings.
Info stored in Lower Manhattan for A MONTH.

why?
to foil terror plots, of course.

VERY logical
totally safe.
G-R-E-A-T.

Jesus will end Global Warming

Continuing her push for a comprehensive energy plan that includes increased oil drilling, Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., reminded Americans that the Democrats message to save the planet doesn’t add up. The world has been saved already, she says.

“[Pelosi] is committed to her global warming fanaticism to the point where she has said that she’s just trying to save the planet,” Bachmann said. “We all know that someone did that over 2,000 years ago, they saved the planet — we didn’t need Nancy Pelosi to do that.”

Bachmann’s recent comments are reminiscent of her earlier religious comments in 2006 at the Living Word Church in Brooklyn Park when she said she was “hot” for Jesus.

“What does God say when he looks at you or looks at me? He wants to say, ‘she’s hot, he’s hot,’ because we are hot for him on the inside,” Bachmann said. “When you are hot for Jesus Christ, nothing is like that life.”

Rat snacks can solve world food price crisis

Eating rats is the best way for rich and poor people to solve the global crisis of rising food prices, an Indian official said Wednesday as he unveiled his plan to put rodents on menus.
Regular rat snacks would translate into fewer rodents eating precious grain stocks -- 50 percent of which are lost in the northeastern state of Bihar every year to the animals, said Vijay Prakash, secretary of the state's welfare department.

"This will help in mitigating the global food crisis. We are sure that it will work wonders," Prakash told AFP. "It will save half our grain, and will also reduce villagers' dependence on food stock."

Prakash's plan promotes consumption of rat meat in homes, street stalls, restaurants and even international five-star hotels.

He said he was also holding talks with prestigious hotels outside India to encourage them to put rat meat on their menus, but admitted his scheme had to overcome public prejudice.

"The only issue is how people react to rat meat, but I think it will not be a problem," he said.

"Some socially deprived people in Bihar have always consumed rat meat. If they can eat rats, why can't the rest of the people?" he said.

Members of the Mushar community and some other impoverished groups have traditionally eaten rats in India.

"Rat meat will make up nutrition deficiencies among villagers, since rats are a major source of protein," Prakash said.

Our President, MY Hero.

Phellps is my GD

"Eat, sleep and swim. That's all I can do," Phelps, who won two more gold medals today, told NBC when asked what he needs to win medals. "Get some calories into my system and try to recover the best I can."

Phelps, 23, will swim 17 times over nine days of competition at the Beijing Games - meaning that he will need all the calories he can shovel in his mouth in order to keep his energy levels high.

Phelps' diet - which involves ingesting 4,000 calories every time he sits down for a meal - resembles that of a reckless overeater rather than an Olympian.

Phelps lends a new spin to the phrase "Breakfast of Champions" by starting off his day by eating three fried-egg sandwiches loaded with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, fried onions and mayonnaise.

He follows that up with two cups of coffee, a five-egg omelet, a bowl of grits, three slices of French toast topped with powdered sugar and three chocolate-chip pancakes.

At lunch, Phelps gobbles up a pound of enriched pasta and two large ham and cheese sandwiches slathered with mayo on white bread - capping off the meal by chugging about 1,000 calories worth of energy drinks.

For dinner, Phelps really loads up on the carbs - what he needs to give him plenty of energy for his five-hours-a-day, six-days-a-week regimen - with a pound of pasta and an entire pizza.

He washes all that down with another 1,000 calories worth of energy drinks.

Phelps remains on course to at least equal Mark Spitz's record of seven gold medals won at the 1972 Munich Games.

At these Summer Games, a typical day for Phelps starts with a 5 a.m. wake-up call. Most of his races have taken place between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. ET when in China - 12 hours ahead of East Coast time.

Google Street View captures drunken Aussie outside his home

A man who fell asleep in a drunken stupor on the grass outside his home was horrified to find his embarrassment posted on the internet.

He had been drowning his sorrows over the death of a friend and collapsed after climbing out of a taxi.

As he slept off his excesses, a car-mounted video camera passed by to record pictures of the street for Google's StreetView website.

Within days a photographic record of the neighbourhood and its unusual presence was available for worldwide viewing.

The new Google service has been at the centre of controversy over claims it represents a breach of privacy.

But the latest victim, who gave his name only as 'Bill', is not planning an official complaint.
'I'm not too happy about it' said Bill.
'What do you do when you lose a mate like that?' he said of his pal, with whom he had been planning a motorbike holiday around the island of Tasmania.
'I know what he would have done if I left - he would have partied, too. That's what I would've wanted him to do so that's what I did with some friends.'

Soldiers pay bag fee on travel to war

[Wash Times]- American Airlines is charging troops for their extra baggage, a practice that forces soldiers heading for a war zone in Iraq to try to get reimbursement from the military. One of the country's largest veterans groups is asking the aviation industry to drop the practice immediately.

American, which recently charged two soldiers from Texas $100 and $300 for their extra duffel bags, said it gives the military a break on the cost for excess luggage and that the soldiers who incur the fees are reimbursed.

Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) spokesman Joseph Davis said service members destined for Iraq should not have to spend the money out of pocket and should not have to worry about filing expense forms in a war zone.
"That's a lot to ask when the service member has much more important things on their minds, such as staying alive and keeping those around them alive," he said.

The VFW is asking the Air Transport Association (ATA) to urge member airlines to exempt military personnel traveling on official orders from all excess-baggage fees. "This should not be a very difficult decision to make," Mr. Davis said.

In a letter to the ATA on Friday, VFW President George J. Lisicki said troops understand the financial constraints the airline industry faces but that the military traveler represents a minute fraction of the total passengers carried every year.

Most major U.S. carriers waive baggage fees for up to two bags for military members traveling under orders, Mr. Lisicki said. However, a $100 fee for checking a third bag appears to be the industry norm, except for first-class passengers or elite frequent fliers.

US Airways allows military personnel with identification free luggage up to 100 pounds, and Delta allows two bags up to 70 pounds in the cargo hold, as does Northwest.

When soldiers receive their travel orders, they should make sure that excess baggage is authorized and that soldiers can be reimbursed for additional fees that airlines impose, said Army spokesman Paul Boyce.

"We can help them with additional expenses for travel, but soldiers have to submit a receipt and it has to be looked at by our finance people," Mr. Boyce said.

Ark. city neighborhood under 24-hour curfew

HELENA-WEST HELENA, Ark. (AP) - Helena-West Helena Mayor James Valley says he ordered a round-the-clock curfew and heavy police patrol in a ten-block section of town because the neighborhood was "under siege with repeated gunfire, loitering, drug dealing and other general mayhem."

Valley ordered the emergency curfew Thursday, effective immediately. It was still in place today. He said it would remain in place as long as the problems persist or until the city council can come up with a long-term plan at its August 19th meeting.

Thursday night, 18 to 20 police officers carrying M-16 rifles, shotguns and night-vision scopes patrolled the "curfew zone." They arrested about eight people and confiscated drugs and loaded weapons.

Under Valley's order, officers do not tolerate loitering or "hanging out." Officers can stop and investigate all foot traffic, bicycle, horseback, mo-ped, motorcycle, riding mower, golf cart or other means of transportation.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas says the curfew is "blatantly unconstitutional" and has demanded that Valley lift the order immediately.

what it must feel like to be all sorts of awesome

this girl.
i love her.

blogstein

is it wrong to want to call this thing
scootchfest.com?

Nashville man finds baby girl left in front of his house

Metro police are investigating the case of an infant left in a South Nashville front yard.

A man found a newborn baby girl about 6 p.m. Friday as he worked in his yard at 407 McDonald Drive, police said.

Contacted Saturday at home, the man, Joel Stitt, said he was speaking only to police.

The baby was sunburned but otherwise unhurt. She was taken to Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt for observation and then given to the Department of Children's Services.

Totally going to the Sox locker room with Mine.

Invisibility devices, long the realm of science fiction and fantasy, have moved closer after scientists engineered a material that can bend visible light around objects.

Researchers at the University of California at Berkeley, whose work is funded by the American military, have engineered materials that can control light’s direction of travel. The world’s two leading scientific journals, Science and Nature, are expected to report the results this week.

It follows earlier work at Imperial College London that achieved similar results with microwaves. Like light, these are a form of electromagnetic radiation but their longer wave-length makes them far easier to manipulate. Achieving the same effect with visible light is a big advance.

Xiang Zhang, the leader of the researchers, said: “In the case of invisibility cloaks or shields, the material would need to curve light waves completely around the object like a river flowing around a rock.” An observer looking at the cloaked object would then see light from behind it – making it seem to disappear.

Substances capable of achieving such feats are known as “meta-materials” and have the power to “grab” electromagnetic radiation and deflect it smoothly. No such material occurs naturally and it is only in the past few years that nano-scale engineering, manipulating matter at the level of atoms and molecules, has advanced sufficiently to give scientists the chance to create them.

US finally opens borders to HIV+

After more than two decades on the books, a little-known yet strictly enforced federal law barring foreigners with HIV or AIDS from entering the country is on its way out.

Tucked in a bill pledging $48 billion to combat the disease, signed into law by President Bush last week, was language stripping the provision from federal immigration law.

But that change didn't fully lift the entry ban on visitors with HIV or AIDS, which applies whether they're on tourist jaunts or seeking longer stays. The secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services still needs to delete HIV from the agency's list of “communicable diseases of public health significance,” which includes tuberculosis, gonorrhea and leprosy.

An April report from the Congressional Budget Office said that, based on information from HHS' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, HIV will be dropped from the list and new regulations will be in place in two years.

In a speech before signing the law, President Bush emphasized that “HIV's deadly stigma” is still a societal obstacle because patients still don't receive mainstream acceptance.

Veteran gets one-on-one chat with Franken

stcloudtimes.com • August 9, 2008

On Friday, DFL-endorsed U.S. Senate candidate Al Franken demonstrated how true that saying can be, when a roundtable on veterans issues at Brigitte’s Cafe his campaign scheduled drew only one participant.

Josh John, a St. Cloud resident who said he served in the Navy from 2000-04, had Franken to himself for an hour as he described difficulties he faced returning from his tour of duty and the help he received from his Veterans Services Office and the St. Cloud VA Medical Center.

“When I first asked for help at the VA, I got kind of a bad attitude from one person, so I ended up leaving and not registering,” he said.

“A year later, the stress was getting to me. I started secluding myself from my family, not wanting to do anything,” he said.

“My mom and my aunt eventually got me to talk with my county VSO. He got me registered with the VA and since then, I haven’t had a problem. I’ve gotten a lot of help, and every question I’ve gotten answered,” John said.

Franken, battling to unseat U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., in this fall’s election, discussed his proposal to expand veterans benefits, what he called a lack of leadership from Coleman, and recent gains on veterans issues he said had only been made because of a Democratic-controlled Congress.

“Everyone’s running around saying Congress never gets anything done,” he said. “But despite 90 filibuster threats by Senate Republicans, it took Democrats to get the new GI Bill passed and to finally fully fund VA health care.”

Cash Grab On 10 Freeway Creates Hazardous Situation

LOS ANGELES -- An unexpected shower of money rained down on a Southern California freeway when a motorcyclist dropped a canvas bag with $2,000 on Interstate 10 in the Monterey Park area east of Los Angeles.

According to CHP Officer Anthony Martin, a motorcyclist dropped a computer bag full of cash on the eastbound freeway at Garfield Avenue, about five miles east of the Los Angeles Civic Center.

The money scattered on the freeway at about 11 a.m. Sunday and passing motorists couldn't resist a grab for cash.

Several vehicles simply stopped in 65 mph traffic to pick up the loose bills and drove away.

The Harley-Davidson driver said he got back only about $100.

Cash Grab On 10 Freeway Creates Hazardous Situation

LOS ANGELES -- An unexpected shower of money rained down on a Southern California freeway when a motorcyclist dropped a canvas bag with $2,000 on Interstate 10 in the Monterey Park area east of Los Angeles.

According to CHP Officer Anthony Martin, a motorcyclist dropped a computer bag full of cash on the eastbound freeway at Garfield Avenue, about five miles east of the Los Angeles Civic Center.

The money scattered on the freeway at about 11 a.m. Sunday and passing motorists couldn't resist a grab for cash.

Several vehicles simply stopped in 65 mph traffic to pick up the loose bills and drove away.

The Harley-Davidson driver said he got back only about $100.

Cher fan has his stereo destroyed

A man who blasted Cher and U2 from his home has had his stereo equipment and music collection destroyed.
Karl Wiosna of Graig, near Pontypridd, was warned to turn down his music by Rhondda Cynon Taf Council after complaints were made.

He was served with a noise abatement notice, which he later admitted breaching.
As a result, his two tape and record decks, his radio and his tapes and CDs were seized by the council.

All of Wiosna's equipment has now been destroyed and he was also fined £265 by local magistrates after he admitted the charges against him.

Environmental health officers were alerted to the unacceptable volume levels at Wiosna's property after complaints from a local resident, said a spokesman for the council.

During the raid on his home, council officers, aided by police, seized Wiosna's speakers, two tape decks and record players, portable radio and more than 30 tape cassettes and book of CDs.

The council's cabinet member for environmental health, Cllr Mike Forey, said: "We are committed to responding to the concerns of our community, especially when it comes to issues that affect their quality of life.

"In this case, the swift and effective actions of environmental health officers enabled the issue to be dealt with and I hope it serves as a reminder to others, that we can take them to court and seize their belongings if they do not cease causing a nuisance to others."

Police missing ``beer goggles''

BUFFALO GROVE, Ill. - Police in the Chicago suburb of Buffalo Grove are asking for the public's help in returning a $150 pair of special goggles that are used to simulate the effects of intoxication.

Officers say the goggles disappeared this week from a table at a National Night Out event at a local park.

Officer Hector De La Paz says police believe the goggles were taken by accident.

Sometimes called "beer goggles," the special glasses are used by police to demonstrate to high school students and parents how alcohol impairs a driver's vision and judgment. They look like safety glasses.

Mommy, my teddy bear is on FIRE! Oh wait, you're high.

Fire marshals Saturday busted a career criminal who injured 10 people when he started a blaze at a Bronx drug den by setting a stuffed animal on fire, authorities said.

Duane Mims [who is hot b/c you're not], 55, allegedly tore apart the teddy bear and used a lighter to ignite it. The fire spread from the couch to the Highbridge building's stairwell about 1:15 a.m. Thursday.

"The apartment's door was open so the fire raced out the door, up the steps and cut off people's means of escape," said Chief FDNY Fire Marshal Robert Byrnes. "It got bad in a hurry."

Mims, whose rap sheet is plastered with more than 80 prior arrests, escaped the inferno.

Witnesses told fire marshals that several drug users had gathered in the apartment and Mims was convinced that another man owed him $100.

The marshals also found a handwritten note in the apartment that read, "I'm going to burn you out and I mean it." It was signed by Mims, officials said.

Investigators arrested Mims at a homeless shelter in the Bronx Saturday.

you need viagra and pipes? No PROB!

Bogota police have charged a convenience store worker with illegally selling Viagra and generic Cialis -- along with marijuana pipes, scales and other drug-related items -- from behind the counter.

Ahmet Kaya, 30, is being held at the Bergen County Jail on $20,000 bail but cannot be bailed out because of an immigration issue, said Detective Robert Piterski. Kaya is wanted by immigration authorities for overstaying his visa by several months, he said.

The paraphernalia, which included “one-hitters” and marijuana grinders[what?] was in plain sight behind glass, Piterski said. He acknowledged that stores sometimes claim that the paraphernalia can be used for legitimate purposes.

Kaya was also selling loose cigarettes to minors, the detective said.

But Mommy, I want to be Waterboarded, too!

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A man with a black hood pours water on the face of a prisoner in an orange jumpsuit strapped to a table: no, it's not Guantanamo Bay naval base, but New York's Coney Island amusement park.

The scene using robotic dolls is an installation built by artist Steve Powers to criticize waterboarding, a simulated drowning technique the United States has admitted using on terrorism suspects, but that rights group say is torture.

"Waterboard Thrill Ride" beckons a sign along with cartoon character "SpongeBob SquarePants" who appears tied down and exclaiming: "It don't Gitmo better!"

The public can peek through window bars and feed a dollar into the slot to bring the robotic dolls into action, one more attraction in the beachfront amusement park in the New York neighborhood of Brooklyn.

"Anyone can see this is painful from 50 feet away," said Powers, who had previously been painting signs and storefronts in the area. "I wanted people to understand the psychological ramifications of this."

Marion Tracey, 57, from New Jersey, said she found the installation disturbing. [duh]

at least its not really the new ride at Coney Island. Can't hurt for people to see what they are supporting....

this is stoopid. for reel.

LONDON (Reuters) - Fed up with his students' complete inability to spell common English correctly, a British academic has suggested it may be time to accept "variant spellings" as legitimate.

"Instead of complaining about the state of the education system as we correct the same mistakes year after year, I've got a better idea," Ken Smith, a criminology lecturer at Bucks New University, wrote in the Times Higher Education Supplement.

"University teachers should simply accept as variant spelling those words our students most commonly misspell."

To kickstart his proposal, Smith suggested 10 common misspellings that should immediately be accepted into the pantheon of variants, including "ignor," "occured," "thier," "truely," "speach" and "twelth" (it should be "twelfth").

Then of course there are words like "misspelt" (often spelled "mispelt"), not to mention "varient," a commonly used variant of "variant."


next, we're gonna eat AIDS sandwiches.
WHAT?

Obama V. McCain Where it Counts.

Obama: McCain:
Spider-Man, Batman. [have inner turmoil] Batman.[fight for justice against
insurmountable odds]
Frank Sinatra, Bob Dylan, Sheryl Crow, ABBA, Roy Orbison, Linda Ronstadt.
John Coltrane. USHER.

M*A*S*H, The Dick Van Dyke Show. Seinfeld, Curb, Dexter [not the lab]

last movie seen in theatres:
Shrek the Third Indiana Jones + the Crystal Skull.

favorite actor/president:
Jeff Bridges, "The Contender" Dennis Haysbert, "24"

first movie ever:
"Born Free" "Bambi"


[from Entertainment Weekly]

Nikeheads doing Turtle Proud.

PHILADELPHIA (CBS 3) ― Dozens of so-called "sneakerheads" camped outside a Center City store, some for days, for the newest "need-to-have" pair of sneakers.

Not just any sneakers, but a pair designed by Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson, drummer for The Roots.

Thompson designed the $235 red, green and gold Air Force 1 sneakers as part of the shoe company's 1World collection, which will feature 18 designs over eight months.

The sneakers were released Tuesday. By late Monday morning, 26 people had lined up in a makeshift sidewalk campsite at Philly store Ubiq to get them.

The Nike sneakers, dubbed Air Questo, are the fifth pair to be released in the 1World collection. And while sneakerheads regularly camp out for new releases, Ubiq has never had this many people waiting in line, said store supervisor Kyle Dunn.

It's a bit of a misunderstood hobby, said Eddie Ortiz, who came with his 17-year-old son from the Poconos. The Ortiz duo got there Saturday morning and were first in line.

"People look at you like, 'A pair of sneakers?"' the elder Ortiz said. "But they don't understand, it's a culture."

The limited edition 1World shoes have gone for up to $4,000 on eBay and the 300 or so pairs of Air Questos are expected to sell for big bucks. A couple dozen "hidden" pairs will have a gold toe (instead of red) and will likely be even more prized, Nike spokeswoman Demetria White said.

"When sneakers are something that, when they are a topic of conversation, I feel that is a good sneaker," Thompson said. "I don't believe in a nice looking sneaker or an ugly sneaker, I believe in an effective conversation piece and I think this is a good entry into that world."

Lady Sues Transport Authority for Traffic.

Carol Greenberg of Perrysburg estimates she sat in traffic with her cat Sammy for 50 minutes while driving home from a veterinary visit in a northern Detroit suburb.

Stuck in a work-zone backup on southbound I-275 at its merge with I-75 in Monroe County late last month, she did more than just fume about it.
First, she sent the Michigan Department of Transportation an e-mail complaint. Then the Perrysburg resident did something many motorists probably consider but rarely, if ever, do.

Mrs. Greenberg sent MDOT a $16 bill for the gasoline she figured she'd wasted idling in traffic.

"Thousands of vehicles from both Interstates, including mine, sat an estimated 50 minutes, wasting thousands of dollars worth of $4-per-gallon gasoline, belching tons of emissions into the atmosphere," she wrote.

Rob Morosi, a department spokesman in Detroit, said, "We usually get damage claims about stones kicked up from the roadway or overspray from painting I have never heard of anyone being compensated for the loss of gasoline."

Mrs. Greenberg said in an interview that the delay was doubly unpleasant for her Maine coon cat, Sammy, who howled through the entire experience in a pet carrier in the back seat.

Even before getting a response from MDOT, Mrs. Greenberg estimated her chance of getting her "bill" paid was zero - "I just sent it in to vent about it" - and in that regard, the state didn't surprise her.

"It is not MDOT's policy to reimburse motorists for lost time, wages, or gas when traveling through or near a work zone. Please understand, if we paid out for one, we would have to pay out for all and that is simply not feasible," MDOT's Kari Arend wrote to Mrs. Greenberg.

HELP ME BOOGER!!!!

South Korean biotechnologists have engineered a pet resurrection that, until recently, seemed commercially impossible: they have reunited a Californian woman with her dearest friend — or, at least, genetic copies derived from the frozen remains of his ear.

More than $50,000 the poorer but weeping with joy, Bernann McKinney, 57, became the world’s first paying customer yesterday in the strange new industry of canine cloning. She sold her house to acquire the puppies.
5 of them. Identical to each other and ot the late pitbull Booger.

Declaring the whole affair a “miracle”, Ms McKinney said: “They are perfectly the same as their daddy. I am in heaven here. I am a happy person.”

Booger was especially loved because he had once saved her life by fending off an attacking mastiff.

Ms McKinney’s hand and legs were savaged in the attack and, she said, it was only via Booger’s loyal assistance — fetching her clothes and shoes, bringing her cans of drink and opening doors — that she was able to make it through the long months of recuperation.

The mastiff, another of Ms McKinney’s pets, had been driven mad by being given ten times the recommended dose of medication for a bee sting, she said. She has told US media how the animal attacked her outside her remote farmhouse, shredding her left arm up to the elbow, tearing one of her legs and nearly ripping the fingers off her right hand.

He was chewing at her stomach when she said she called out: “Help me, God. Help me, Jesus. Help me, Booger,” and the smaller dog succeeded in driving off the mastiff long enough for her to drag herself into the safety of her car.

Russians back drugs, claims IOC.

IOC drugs chief Arne Ljungqvist on Tuesday accused Russia of systematically doping after seven athletes were hit with suspensions which could lead to four-year bans.
The 77-year-old Swede, who is also a vice-president of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), expressed his huge disappointment at what had taken place.

"A year ago I would have answered no," said Ljungqvist referring to whether he thought it was a case of systematic doping.

"However, I agree that it is a case of systematic doping. This would fall under the new WADA code that carries a four year ban."

The Russian scandal arose last week when the IAAF provisionally suspended seven leading Russian female athletes - five of whom were in the Russian Olympic squad - for the suspected switching of urine samples in drug tests last year.

The controls showed discrepancies in their DNA results, the IAAF said, which indicated the samples given were not from the athletes in question.

Yelena Soboleva, who has clocked the fastest times in the world this year over both 800m and 1500m, was targeted as well as fellow middle distance runners Svetlana Cherkasova, Yulia Fomenko, former double world champion Tatyana Tomashova and Olga Yegorova.

Yegorova has already courted controversy as the IAAF ruled she could run in the 2001 Edmonton world championships because French authorities had failed to test her blood as well as her urine when she tested positive for EPO at a Golden League meeting in Paris.

She went on to win the title in Canada amid boos from the crowd while Britain's long-distance star Paula Radcliffe held up a placard in the stands saying 'EPO Drug Cheats Out'.

Hammer thrower Gulfiya Khanafeyeva, a former world record holder, and reigning European discus champion Darya Pishchalnikova, were also named in the affair.

Zombie Lunch Bus Ride!

Chinese-Canadian immigrant Vince Weiguang Li, 40, stabbed, beheaded, and ate the shit out of fellow traveler on a Greyhound bus in Winnepeg.
Li immigrated to china in 2004, and worked at the Grant Memorial Church of Winnipeg. He quit in the spring of 2005 and moved to Edmonton, working as a paper delivery man and a McD's dude.

On Wednesday, upon said Greyhound traveling along the TransCanada Highway, Li attacked his 22-yr-old seat mate Tim McLean.
Stabbing him several dozen times, many other passengers fled the bus. After severing the head and holding it like a trophy for those off the bus to see, he began eating pieces of the man's body.
Li is charged with 2nd degree murder.

Alzheimer’s sufferers given hope by new generation of drugs

By Roger Highfield, Science Editor, London Telegraph.

The treatment can bring the “worst affected parts of the brain back to life” and scientists say it is twice as effective as any medication currently available.

They even suggested the drug works so well it might be given to patients in the future to prevent the onset of the illness.

The results of the human trials were hailed a “major new development” in the fight against the disease, which threatens to overwhelm the NHS within decades.

Alzheimer’s currently affects more than 400,000 people in Britain and the number of sufferers is expected to rise rapidly as the population ages.

The cost of treating the condition will double from £17billion to £35billion by 2026.

The researchers say that if further tests of the drug, called rember, are successful it could be available within four to five years.

“We appear to be bringing the worst affected parts of the brain functionally back to life,” said Prof Claude Wischik of Aberdeen University, who carried out the trials on 321 people with the illness.

He added: “It’s an aspiration for us to develop a drug that we could give preventatively from a certain stage.”

Quote of the Day

Marriages in history are loveless obligation, something to suffer through in between affairs.

-from The Know-It-All, by A.J. Jacobs.

"The Know-It-All"

An excerpt from what is quickly becoming one of my top books[A.J. Jacob's]:
Fux, Johann
I'm proud of myself. When I saw the name Johann Fux- an 18th century Austrian composer - I didn't giggle. Sure, there was a faint smile, but I'm getting better, I tell you. I didn't ask myself whether Johann Fux on the first date or whether Johann Fux while wearing proper protection. I didn't secretly think that "Fux You" would make a cool T-shirt.
The more progress in the alphabet, the more successful I am at stifling that eleven-year-old boy inside of me, the one that still thinks a good Beavis-and-Butt-head-style scatological pun is cause for great joy.
It's not easy. Just the number of asses alone will tempt even the most evolved mind. I've learned about The Golden Ass (a book by a Platonic philosopher) and The Wild Ass's Skin (a novel by Balzac). I've read about the half ass (a type of mule in Asia) and Buridan's ass (an animal in a philosophical parable). But it goes way beyond asses. Asses are just the start. You can also take a trip to the river Suck (in Ireland), where you could fish for crappies (a freshwater bass) while you drink some Brest milk (the town in Belarus is known for its dairies). If you're bored, you can have a stroke-off (while playing bandy, a version of ice hockey) and fondle a bushtit (a small bird). If you're feeling smart, you might want to argue the impact of Isaac Butt (an Irish leader), or debate the merits of the Four Wangs (Chinese landscape painters), who might have been collected by the Fuggers (an art-loving family). Or else, just take a flying Fokker (a GErman airplane).
I know this is wrong. This isnt why I'm reading the Britannica. I'm reading it to get smarter, better, more enlightened, not to make dirty puns. Maybe it's because I've read so many of them, or maybe its because the Britannica is actually making me more enlightened, but I've cut way down on these Beavis moments. The Four Wangs, though - that is kind of funny.

things that excite me.

TUCKER MAX MOVIE.

cant wait.
leaked scripts.
so bad, they're good.

kinkajous play with toys, too!

A tiny pet kinkajou - known as a honey bear - has become "inseparable" from a cuddly toy lemur.

Owner Jodie Lynn bought her new exotic pet the £1 toy from a charity shop to keep him company on the trip from England to his new home in Aberdeen.

Young Kito now cuddles it most of the time and also tries to feed it.

Ms Lynn told the BBC Scotland news website: "Kito has settled in really well thanks to the toy lemur. He's got a toy monkey too but doesn't like it."

She bought the 15-week-old kinkajou four weeks ago.

Ms Lynn, who runs Aberdeen's East Coast Exotics pet shop, said: "I just wanted to get him something for his box to keep him company and the lemur stood out.

"Within about an hour he was feeding it and cleaning it.

"They are inseparable."

Contest: Cake-Eating to the Death!

34-year old Adam Deeley of Brimingham, UK and friends were enjoying themselves at a photo exhibition in Swansea, when things took a turn for the funny.
IMpromptu cake eating competition!!! Brotacular!
But things went wrong when Deeley began to stuff his face with little fairy cakes.
Deeley's friends had four in their mouths. Deeley had to one-up them, and so he ate 5.
But he began to choke, and collapsed to the floor.

said bar manager Daniel Finzelbach:

"They were small, only an inch-and-a-half across but I struggled with four. My friend must have told Adam what we were doing and he put five cakes in his mouth.
"I could see that he was struggling to eat them but then he walked across to the toilets. I thought he wanted to spit them out, I didn't know he was choking at that point.
"I only realised how serious it was a minute or two later when other people ran to help him.

Finzelbach, a former lifeguard, said: "I realised Adam was in trouble as he walked towards the toilets - his body was convulsing.
"There was cake around his mouth and I could hear and see that he was trying to cough. I ran to the toilet and started slapping his back as hard as I could.
"Then I tried the Heimlich manoeuvre but he collapsed on the floor and I called for an ambulance."

Mr Deeley, who was not working that night, had gone to the bar for the opening of an exhibition by a photographer friend.
He was in the third year of his degree and planned to emigrate to New Zealand after graduating.

Website Vid of the Day

Google. With 53 o's. art site. click the link.
[you know you want to]
epic shredz.

Quote of the day:

A word on cats, from the First Edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica:

OF ALL DOMESTIC ANIMALS, THE CHARACTER OF THE CAT IS THE MOST EQUIVOCAL AND SUSPICIOUS. HE IS KEPT, NOT FOR ANY AMIABLE QUALITIES, BUT PURELY WITH A VIEW TO BANISH RATS, MICE AND OTHER NOXIOUS ANIMALS FROM OUR HOUSES....CONSTANTLY BENT UPON THEFT AND RAPINE, THEY ARE FULL OF CUNNING AND DISSIMULATION; THEY CONCEAL ALL THEIR DESIGNS, SEIZE EVERY OPPORTUNITY OF DOING MISCHIEF, AND THEN FLY FROM PUNISHMENT....IN A WORD, THE CAT IS TOTALLY DESTITUTE OF FRIENDSHIP.

BRA OF STEEL protects from bad guys....sorta.

BERLIN (Reuters) - Thousands of German policewomen will receive what media have labeled "bullet-proof bras."

Made of white cotton and featuring the word "Polizei" (Police) along the seam, the bras are meant to better protect police women who wear bullet-proof vests.

"There was a slight safety risk for women wearing normal bras with metal parts underneath a bullet-proof vest," a police spokesman in the northern city of Hanover said.

"If the vest is hit by a projectile, this can have an impact on the metal bit in the bra underneath and cause injuries."

Some 3,000 police women working for Germany's federal police will be equipped with the new bras which feature no metal parts and look like sports bras, the spokesman said.

BRA OF STEEL protects from bad guys....sorta.

BERLIN (Reuters) - Thousands of German policewomen will receive what media have labeled "bullet-proof bras."

Made of white cotton and featuring the word "Polizei" (Police) along the seam, the bras are meant to better protect police women who wear bullet-proof vests.

"There was a slight safety risk for women wearing normal bras with metal parts underneath a bullet-proof vest," a police spokesman in the northern city of Hanover said.

"If the vest is hit by a projectile, this can have an impact on the metal bit in the bra underneath and cause injuries."

Some 3,000 police women working for Germany's federal police will be equipped with the new bras which feature no metal parts and look like sports bras, the spokesman said.

Zombie Sex? On a Whole New Level.

(Space.com)- If you think it’s impossible to have sex while you sleep, think again, according to a new study.

There are at least 11 different sex-related sleep disorders, collectively referred to as “sexsomnia” or “sleepsex,” that affect people who are otherwise psychologically healthy—causing them to unknowingly engage in various sexual activities during the night.

Carlos Schenck, a psychiatrist at the Minnesota Regional Sleep Disorders Center, and his colleagues have studied a number of behavioral disorders associated with sleep.

“Any basic instinct can come out in the context of sleep,” Schenck told LiveScience. “All sorts of things can happen.”

They found that people—mostly men—sometimes masturbate, initiate sex with a partner and reach orgasm during sleep. They usually have no memory of these activities when they wake up, learning about them only if a partner or roommate tells them.

holy hot swimmer batman.

LONDON (Reuters) - Swimming just got a little uglier. With the extreme, across the board use of the new Speedo LZR Racer, men are covered up like its 1910. DESTROYING all the reasons that watching those buff, shimmering dudes is my #1CHOICE for Summer olympic games.



Britain knows what people want though, and Coca-Cola's energy drink maker Powerade knows how to give it to 'em.

Some of Britain's top athletes have decided to bare all ahead of the Beijing Olympics.

Triple jumper Phillips Idowu, cyclist Rebecca Romero and swimmer Gregor Tait have all been photographed taking part in their individual sports stark naked as part of Pwerade's most recent campaign.


"Everyone is used to seeing athletes in competition or winning, but we wanted to give people the chance to see the real make-up of an athlete and their muscle and power," said Cathryn Sleight, marketing director for Coca-Cola Great Britain, which launched the Powerade campaign.

Idowu said the photo shoot was "definitely one of the more unusual shoots I've taken part in, but also one of the most enjoyable."

Herbie 2008

Cars stuck in traffic or on slippery roads will be able to communicate with other vehicles in a bid to cut down on traffic jams and road accidents, under European Commission plans unveiled Tuesday.
"Today's commission decision is a decisive step towards meeting the European goal of reducing road accidents," said EU Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding.

The commission believes that the agreed communication system could also save lives.
In 2006, more than 42,000 people died and more than 1.6 million were injured in road accidents in the European Union.

Selmayr said the technology already existed and now the automobile and telecoms industries could work on putting it in cars, something that had been impossible before the pan-European band-width was made available.

While he would not put a date on its availability to car users a European source said it was hoped it could be available by 2010-2011.

Look at the road?!? Im busy texting.

MINNEAPOLIS (Star Trib)- A 25-year old man was pulled over on Sunday for driving 80 mph in the WRONG LANE. Why? He was busy texting!
He was also arrested on suspicion of drinking and driving.

Im gonna have to chalk the drifting up to the drunken, b/c clearly, texting does not affect driving.
just saying.

The arrest came just two days after enactment of a state law that makes it illegal for drivers to text-message while operating a vehicle that is moving or in traffic.

The driver was traveling in the wrong lane when he approached the Cass County deputy's squad car on Hwy. 371 near Walker. The driver swerved to avoid hitting the squad car, then took off at speeds of up to 100 miles per hour before pulling over.

Jihadists move East

Aug. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Police locked down Kashgar, cut Internet access in China's westernmost major city and detained journalists after an attack yesterday by members of the Uighur ethnic group killed 16 officers, according to media reports.

Two reporters working for Japan's Chunichi newspaper and Nippon Television Network were detained by police for two hours and beaten before being released, Kyodo English News said, citing the journalists' employers.

``Journalists are forbidden to enter the area controlled by border police, but the two disobeyed the rules,'' Kashgar's government spokesman Eskar said today, according to a report by state news agency Xinhua. ``We are sorry for the incident and the damage to the equipment that belonged to the reporters.'' [but not for the beating, they totally deserved that. Being reporters. Talking about what they see. Attackson cops. Totally deserved it.]

Police detained two suspects after yesterday's attack, describing them as ethnic Uighurs, a predominantly Muslim minority group in Xinjiang province, state-owned Xinhua said. The authorities, counting Xinjiang's East Turkistan Islamic Movement as China's largest terror threat, have clamped down on the region's security and detained Uighur suspects ahead of Beijing's Aug. 8 Olympic Games.

Kashgar's population of 3.3 million people is 90 percent Uighur, mostly Muslims who speak a different language and bear little resemblance to ethnic-Han Chinese. They are fighting to get their own nation, between China and Tajikistan.

Police found nine home-made bombs, a gun, machetes and literature about a ``holy war'' at the scene of the attack, China's Public Security Ministry said today in a statement without giving further details.

a note on the beatings:Chunichi's newspaper photographer Masami Kawakita, 38, and Nippon Television's reporter Shinji Katsuta, 37, suffered light injuries after they were taken from their hotel by police and beaten, Kyodo said today. Kawakita's equipment was partially destroyed, Kyodo said.
The border police have apologized after they ``clashed'' with the journalists who were trying to film a restricted area under police control, Xinhua said.

Media controls anti-Obama sentiment?

Bloggers campaigning against Obama's run for the oval office are accusing Google of silencing them by marking the blogs as spam.
When a blog is noted as such, Google temproarily freezes the account.
One of the bloggers in the foreground of the accusations is Mitch Langbert, whose blog was suspended after he posted about an online petition demanding Obama produce his birth certificate.

"These tech-savvy smart alecks have figured out that if you report a blog you don't like, you can do some damage to a person," Mr. Langbert said.

A spokesman for Google, Adam Kovacevich, said in a statement that an overzealous antispam filter was responsible for the blocks.

"We believe this was caused by mass spam e-mails mentioning the 'Just Say No Deal' network of blogs, which in turn caused our system to classify the blog addresses mentioned in the e-mails as spam," he said. "We have restored posting rights to the affected blogs, and it is very important to us that Blogger remain a tool for political debate and free expression."

Langbert's blog is not part of this group.

To be fair, at a point in which I was copy-pasting a whole lot, they claimed I Was a spam blog, so I must say.......I'm siding with google. NOT the conspiracy.

Heinous Crime of the Day: NO SAUCE!

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) - Reginald Peterson made an urgent cal to 911 TWICE last week, the victim of a terrible crime.
Subway had left the sauce off of his spicy Italian sandwich.
Thats right, instead of going back and asking nicely for the sauce, the 42-year old Peterson tried to make those employees pay.

But why the 2 phone calls?
Peterson called once to report the crime, and called a few minutes later to complain that the officers did not arrive quickly enough.
Peterson himself was arrested for mis-using the service.

true facts
911: 911, Whats your emergency?
Peterson: Is Today Tuesday or Wednesday?
911: Thats not an emergency, sir, but it's Tuesday.

Fart Jokes *ALMOST* older than Time.

LONDON (Reuters) - The world's oldest recorded joke has been traced back to 1900 BC and suggests toilet humor was as popular with the ancients as it is today.

It is a saying of the Sumerians, who lived in what is now southern Iraq and goes: "Something which has never occurred since time immemorial; a young woman did not fart in her husband's lap."

It heads the world's oldest top 10 joke list published by the University of Wolverhampton Thursday.

A 1600 BC gag about a pharaoh, said to be King Snofru, comes second -- "How do you entertain a bored pharaoh? You sail a boatload of young women dressed only in fishing nets down the Nile and urge the pharaoh to go catch a fish."

The oldest British joke dates back to the 10th Century and reveals the bawdy face of the Anglo-Saxons -- "What hangs at a man's thigh and wants to poke the hole that it's often poked before? Answer: A key."

The top 10 oldest jokes can be viewed at www.dave-tv.co.uk.

Quote of the Day

Discussed on NPR's All Things Considered today. for download purposes: it was in the first hour. or...just read and enjoy.


From Cyril Connolly's book "The Unquiet Grave":

There is no fury like an ex wife searching for a new lover.

Dog Poo stops Champions, too.

VILNIUS (Reuters) - Two-time Olympic discus champion Virgilijus Alekna encountered an unusual problem at a final pre-Beijing training session in Lithuania at the weekend -- his practice venue was covered in dog poo.

"Dogs were doing what animals usually do, defecating and peeing," the professional bodyguard told Lithuanian daily Lietuvos zinios after the stadium he was using to train was used for a dog show on Sunday.

"There were lots of dogs and they have left lots of things behind ... and nobody even tried to collect them.

"I have no idea how can I train in such conditions ... and who would clean the discus after every throw."

Alekna said he was looking for another training ground, probably in Kaunas, about 62 miles from the capital Vilnius.

The 36-year-old won the discus at Sydney in 2000 and Athens four years ago.

China puts rules around Beijing. DON'T HAVE FUN!

BEIJING (Reuters) - Some rules for the 2008 Summer Olympics:

Do not sleep outdoors. "maintain public hygiene and the cultured image of cities."

Do not let the stifling summer heat tempt you into streaking, do not get drunk nor set off fireworks nor wave "insulting banners."

Anyone with mental illnesses or sexually transmitted diseases is banned.

Lighters have been banned on domestic flights.

Commuters are being asked to take a swig from water bottles on the subway to ensure they do not contain suspicious substances.

-Dog meat is off the menu in the Chinese capital during the Olympics in case animal rights groups are offended.
-Out goes the traditionally named "husband and wife's lung slice" appetizer which is being replaced by the more linguistically correct "beef and ox tripe in chili sauce."

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said: "China is a safe place. Please be assured. China is a nation with great hospitality and courtesy."

This salad is POTENTLY delicious...

LONDON (Reuters) - Celebrity chef Antony Worrall Thompson has apologized after accidentally recommending a potentially deadly plant in organic salads.

The chef and TV presenter said in a magazine article that the weed henbane, also known as stinking nightshade, made an excellent addition to summertime meals.

There was plenty of it, it grew locally and was used by the ancient Greeks and the Arabs for its anesthetic properties.
Er, not quite.

Henbane, or Hyoscyamus niger, is toxic and can cause hallucinations, convulsions, vomiting and in extreme cases death.

Worrall Thompson, who was discussing his passion for organic foods, had confused the plant with another of a similar name.

The magazine "Healthy & Organic Living" printed an urgent warning: "Henbane is a very toxic plant and should never be eaten. As always, check with an expert when foraging or collecting wild plants."

Henbane, a close relative of deadly nightshade, was used by Dr Crippen to kill his wife in 1910, and is thought to have been the main ingredient in the poison Romeo took in Shakespeare's play "Romeo and Juliet."

The chef had intended to refer to fat hen, a weed rich in vitamin C, that is edible, media reports said.

The Man Finally Gets IT.

The music industry should embrace illegal file-sharing websites, according to a study of Radiohead’s last album release that found huge numbers of people downloaded it illegally even though the band allowed fans to pay little or nothing for it.

“Rights-holders should be aware that these non-traditional venues are stubbornly entrenched, incredibly popular and will never go away,” said Eric Garland, co-author of the study, which concluded there was strong brand loyalty to controversial “torrent” and peer-to-peer services.
“It’s time to stop swimming against the tide of what people want,” he said.

The study by the MCPS-PRS Alliance, which represents music rights holders, and Big Champagne, an online media measurement company, found that legal downloads of In Rainbows were far exceeded by illegal torrent downloads of the album.

Almost 400,000 illegal torrent downloads were made on the first day and 2.3m in the 25 days following the album’s release, compared with a full-week’s peak of just 158,000 for the next most popular album of the period.

“The expectation among rights-holders is that, in order to create a success story, you must reduce the rate of piracy – we’ve found that is not the case,” said Mr Garland, chief executive of Big Champagne, who highlighted the benefits that Radiohead received from the album’s popularity, including strong ticket sales for its concerts this year.

He also challenged the assumption that no other band could achieve the same benefits, saying Radiohead’s experiment had reduced the marginal cost and risk for those following their lead.
He described the launch of In Rainbows as “stunt marketing at its best”.
For the Financial Times, Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson

Ahmadinejad blames West for AIDS

Iran's fuerher blamed the US and other "big powers" on Tuesday for nuclear proliferation, AIDS and other global ills and accused them of exploiting the UN and other organizations for their own gain - and the developing world's loss.

But, he said, time was on the poor countries' side.

"The big powers are going down," Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told foreign ministers of the Nonaligned Movement meeting in Teheran. "They have come to the end of their power, and the world is on the verge of entering a new, promising era."

Specifically, he criticized the indictment of Sudanese leader Omar al-Bashir by an international prosecutor on charges of genocide in Darfur.

Instead, he said the International Criminal Court's prosecutor, who indicted Bashir on July 14, should instead press charges against Israeli leaders for assassinating opponents and imposing a food and medicine blockade against Palestinians.

The loss of all personal rights and freedoms.

Federal agents may take a traveler's laptop or other electronic device to an off-site location for an unspecified period of time without any suspicion of wrongdoing, as part of border search policies the Department of Homeland Security recently disclosed.

Also, officials may share copies of the laptop's contents with other agencies and private entities for language translation, data decryption or other reasons, according to the policies, dated July 16 and issued by two DHS agencies, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

"The policies . . . are truly alarming," said Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.), who is probing the government's border search practices. He said he intends to introduce legislation soon that would require reasonable suspicion for border searches, as well as prohibit profiling on race, religion or national origin.

DHS officials said that the newly disclosed policies -- which apply to anyone entering the country, including U.S. citizens -- are reasonable and necessary to prevent terrorism.

The policies state that officers may "detain" laptops "for a reasonable period of time" to "review and analyze information." This may take place "absent individualized suspicion."

In April, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco upheld the government's power to conduct searches of an international traveler's laptop without suspicion of wrongdoing. The Customs policy can be viewed at: http://www.cbp.gov/linkhandler/cgov/travel/admissability/search_authority.ctt/search_authority.pdf.

Princess Chunk just wants you to love her....

BLACKWOOD, N.J. (CBS) ― Princess Chunk, a 44-pound mess of fat and white hair, is looking for a home.

Officials at the Camden County Animal Shelter are looking for her owner and trying to get the cat on a diet.

The original owner has until Saturday to reclaim her before the kitty is eligible for adoption. The cat was found outside, without a collar, in Voorhees.

Shelter volunteer Deborah Wright told The Courier-Post of Cherry Hill "Chunk" is built like a quarterback.

So big, in fact, that the SPCA had to weigh her on a doggie scale. She's only a couple pounds lighter than the heaviest cat on record. The largest tabby on record weighed 46 pounds, 15 ounces. That cat, who lived in Australia, died in the 1980s.

Two television talk shows have invited the latest fat cat to come to New York. She appeared Thursday on "Live with Regis and Kelly," and "Good Morning America" Friday.