A New Zealand man had a novel idea when he found himself in a queue at a service station counter with no money, could he pay with marijuana instead? Unfortunately he didn't get a chance to discover whether the attendant would accept his offer, as the person behind him in the queue was a police officer, the Dominion Post newspaper reported.
The man's attempt to buy two packets of M&Ms and a packet of potato chips to satisfy his "munchies" was caught short when he was arrested. He must have been hungry, as he failed to notice the police patrol car sitting on the station forecourt being filled with petrol, the paper reported.
The 28-year old mechanic from the small North Island town of Carterton pleaded guilty to possessing cannabis in the Masterton District Court and was remanded for sentencing.
The number of people who have died after drinking poisonous illegal alcohol in two southern Indian states has risen to about 150, police say. A further 135 people who drank the illegally brewed liquor are in hospital, some in a critical condition.
Bootleggers sold the drink in a district on the border between the states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
Most of the dead are poor, migrant workers. Deaths from illegally brewed alcohol are common in South Asia. Observers say the number of casualties in this case is shockingly high, even by Indian standards.
At least 107 deaths in the latest outbreak have been recorded in Karnataka, with another 41 in Tamil Nadu. Some reports put the number of casualties higher and police have said they expect the death toll to rise.
Police in Karnataka say that the illegal liquor was brewed and sold by local bootleggers on Saturday after the authorities shut authorised alcohol shops and bars because of local elections. The BBC's Sanjoy Majumder in Delhi says that is a routine step to prevent politicians from handing out free alcohol to win votes.
Most of the victims were poor migrant workers who fell sick after consuming the alcohol which was allegedly spiked with chemicals.
Sixteen people have been arrested for selling the alcohol and an investigation has been launched. Senior Karnataka police official Shankar Bidri told the BBC that investigators were trying to determine whether all the deaths were caused by the same batch of illegal alcohol. It is thought some of the liquor is still in circulation.
Illegally brewed alcohol is readily found across India, especially in villages where it is popular because it is cheap and said to be stronger than legal brews. But it is often laced with chemicals and pesticides in an attempt to boost its strength ... Seems to work pretty well!
... and has often caused people to die, our correspondent says.
The man who created the Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync has been sentenced to 25 years in prison on four federal charges. But Judge G. Kendall Sharp in Orlando, Florida, said Wednesday he would reduce the sentence by one month for every $1 million that Lou Pearlman returned to the investors he stole from.
Pearlman pleaded guilty in March to two counts of conspiracy, money laundering and using false statements in a bankruptcy proceeding.
He is most famous for creating "boy bands" that sold millions of records. But prosecutors alleged he bilked thousands of people out of millions of dollars in a decades-long investment scam.
A man who claims to have had sex with 1,000 cars has defended his "romantic" feelings towards vehicles. Edward Smith, who lives with his current "girlfriend" a white Volkswagen Beetle named Vanilla, insisted that he was not "sick" and had no desire to change his ways.
Posted by: Mike ||
05/21/2008 08:29 ||
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#2
Reminds me of that article here about that broad who found za pervert in the process of raping her female pitbull in her front yard; here, you go outside in the morning to go to work, and there's that sicko having intercourse with your faithful ride parked right there in the alley... quite a shock. Some have been traumatized by less. On the bright side, had that guy been muslim, he would have torched the cars afterward, a CarBBQ-honor killing, if you wish. So, it could have been worse.
#4
I have but one question. How? Ah, on second thought, I think I prefer it to remain a mystery.
It may sounds weird, BUT I actually have a totally relevant, NSFW though not hardcore, pic, found in a forum with the mention "make love to cars, don't burn them".
Let just me say it involves the exhaust pipe, a chubby, middle-aged white guy dressed with panties and abustier, and a complete lack of human dignity.
Rest assured I won't post here, but I'll go check in my photobucket folder to see if I haven't already uploaded it, just out of curiosity.
#8
Oh, well, I'm bitter and envious already in my natural relaxed state, so I guess I can be just as well jealous of a random pervert, it's not that much a departure from my sorry usual mindset.
A reader writes in to share this from a New York Times sports blog. Apparently, they can't even keep the politics out of horseracing. Inviting readers to name horses, the Times writers lay down the political law early:
1. NO 9/11/BUSH/WAR ON AMERICAINSPIRED NAMES!
Sorry, were both leftists, and those names arent that funny anyway. If that bothers you, well sue us! Weve seen names like THANKSDUBYA. Why name your horse after a misguided war, anyway, unless its something imaginative, like POLISH NAVY?
What kind of horseracing blogger feels the need to describe himself as a leftist? This is risible. These are the sort of twerps who cannot talk about turnips without making them a political issue. Sure, you expect some scathing leftist commentary on the Times' business page, the food section, the arts coverage, the travel notes, baseball columns, local news, the special weekend sections, the colophon, and the classified advertising, but the horseracing blog? Is nothing sacred?
Posted by: Mike ||
05/21/2008 18:09 ||
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Representative Rob Briley [(of the Tennessee state legislature)] criticizes the press and bloggers cautioning that if media doesnt act responsibly they will be denied access to information.
Rep. Briley, of course, was the subject of quite a few barrels of ink and webspace after getting clipped for DUI after a hit and run. Following his arrest, Briley gave the name of a lobbyist as his next of kin. Later, it was reported by the Nashville Scene that Briley and the lobbyist were having an affair.
Guess Rep. Briley's party affiliation. (Answer here.)
SF Becomes First In Nation To Charge 'Pollution Fee'
Move Meant To Help Slow Global Warming
SAN FRANCISCO -- The Bay Area Air Quality Management District's board of directors on Wednesday approved new rules to charge businesses a fee for the pollution they emit. The group's board of directors voted 15-1 on unprecedented new rules that will increase state control on all parts of life impose fees on factories, power plants, oil refineries and other businesses that emit carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases.
The agency, which regulates air pollution in the nine-county Bay Area, will be the first in the country to charge companies fees based on their greenhouse gas emissions, experts say. The new rules will take effect July 1.
The modest fee -- 4.4 cents per ton of carbon dioxide -- probably won't be enough to force companies to reduce their emissions, but backers say it sets an important precedent to charge more in the future in combating climate change and could serve as a model for regional air districts nationwide. The fee will not be imposed on vehicles, district spokeswoman Lisa Fasano said. Yet
"It doesn't solve global warming, but it gets us thinking in the right terms," said Daniel Kammen, a renewable energy expert at the University of California, Berkeley. "It's not enough of a cost to change behavior, but it tells us where things are headed. You have to think not just in financial terms, but in carbon terms." The Camel's nose is under the tent.
It is better to feel as though you're doing something as opposed to doing something.
But many Bay Area businesses oppose the rules, saying they could interfere with the state's campaign to curb greenhouse gas emissions under a landmark global warming law signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2006. The California Air Resources Board, which is charged with implementing the law, is expected next month to issue its preliminary plan to reduce the state's emissions before it approves a final plan later this year.
Climate change is "a big issue that needs a comprehensive statewide plan to address it," said Cathy Reheis-Boyd, chief operating officer for the Western States Petroleum Association. "We believe it's premature for local air districts to design local programs before we have a state program."
The fees are expected to generate $1.1 million in its first year to help pay for programs to measure the region's emissions and develop ways to reduce them. More than 2,500 businesses will be required to pay the proposed fees. About seven power plants and oil refineries will have to pay more than $50,000 a year, but the majority of businesses will pay less than $1, according to district estimates.
The proposed program, which requires companies to measure and report their own emissions, could make it more complicated and expensive to do business in the Bay Area, said Shelly Sullivan, who heads the AB32 Implementation Group, a coalition of business groups working with state regulators to implement California's global warming law. "It's going to make Bay Area businesses less competitive because companies outside the area won't face similar costs," Sullivan said. "There would be a patchwork of plans that would not be consistent."
Opponents also question whether the agency, which is charged with regulating air pollutants such as ozone and particulate matter, has the authority to impose fees on greenhouse gas emissions. Bay Area district officials believe the agency has that authority because global warming is raising surface temperatures, which worsens air quality. At least we'll stay cool in the Bay Area.
"We see a direct connection between the climate and air pollution," said Jack Broadbent, the district's executive director. "We believe the changing climate is going to require effort on the federal, state and local level."
The mission of the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, as stated on their Web site, is to attain and maintain air quality standards, increase public awareness of positive air quality choices and to develop and implement protocol and policies for environmental justice.
China: Most Polluted? The growth in China's carbon dioxide emissions is far outpacing previous estimates, according to analysis by economists at the University of California, Berkeley and San Diego.
Previous estimates, including those used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, said the region that includes China will see a 2.5 to 5 percent annual increase in CO2 emissions, the largest contributor to atmospheric greenhouse gases, between 2004 and 2010. The new UC analysis puts that annual growth rate for China to at least 11 percent for the same time period.
#2
If any state destroys their own economy and seeks a bailout from the central government then it should revert to territorial status and purged of anyone involved in the process, especially to include reclaiming any pensions being paid.
#3
Glad to know San Francisco's economy will soon be based solely on selling tourist smoothies and giving each other reach arounds.
Posted by: ed ||
05/21/2008 18:55 Comments ||
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#4
A thought struck me, a decidedly evil one, so I figured I had to share it at Rantburg, because they'd appreciate it here. The developmment of wave and wind power (which I for the record would love to see happen) are touted as one of the many 'solutions' to global warming. BUT - I wonder just how much of a monkey wrench you could throw into the works by pointing out in some scholarly-sounding fashion that since winds and waves striking a turbine must transfer energy to that turbine, taking energy from the system as a whole so that human energy needs will, over the course of time, leave us utterly becalmed, our seas stagnant. I'm no scientist, and I'm quite certain that the notion is utter poppycock, but you could sell it to a pretty fair number of ignoramuses like me who would tout it as gospel. Scary.
Posted by: Colin MacDougall ||
05/21/2008 19:57 Comments ||
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#5
Actually Colin, it has truth. Especially in orbital mechanics. Doing slingshot orbits to increase a probe's speed decreases the planet's speed some. Get 300 million probes slingshooting around Mars and you could see some slowdown. Movements for "Restore original rotation speed" might be as common as Global warming. People launching probes to use Mars to slowdown to restore the "balance".
#6
I read a serious plan some decades ago to add water to mars by guiding and crashing ice-laden comets into Mars, they were seriously debating whether to use the "Incoming", to speed up the planet's rotation, slow it down, or change it's orbit to a more "Habitable" one or a combination of he three.
(The idea was to Match Earth's orbit and climate/rotation)
Seems possible (if impractical) to me, just don't get it's orbit too close to ours.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
05/21/2008 21:41 Comments ||
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Eleven women accused of being witches have been burned to death by a mob in the west of Kenya, police say. A security operation has been launched to hunt down villagers suspected of killing the women in Kisii District.
The area has witnessed similar attacks in the past when people suspected of engaging in witchcraft have been killed or ostracised. But correspondents say that this is a surprisingly large number of people to be attacked at the same time.
Local official Mwangi Ngunyi condemned the murders. "People must not take the law into their own hands simply because they suspect someone," he told AFP news agency.
#4
The kids are native British. Mom took up with a muslim and converted. Seems like new daddy wanted to get rid of the infidel eating machines and mom was either cowed or didn't care.
Posted by: ed ||
05/21/2008 14:05 Comments ||
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#5
Sales worker Amarjit Ram said: "I am just shocked to be honest - the mother looked fine to me.
Yup... possibly fat, dumb, and happy while her 'inconvenient children' were starving.
Other neighbours told ITV that three of the children were seen in recent months looking "extremely thin".
Sometimes I think I'll support public beatings and floggings. Maybe Singapore is right and we should have public caining.
#6
You know, I once spent two weeks of my reserve duty (Bethlehem, Intifada - I) attached to a civil admin. detail charged with collecting bodies of "collaborators"---you'd think I cannot be shocked.
#7
You know, I once spent two weeks of my reserve duty (Bethlehem, Intifada - I) attached to a civil admin. detail charged with collecting bodies of "collaborators"---you'd think I cannot be shocked.
#8
I noticed the "Mother" was wearing a necklace with a tiny pair of scissors on it.
that used to be a Caliphornia sign that men wore indicating their Sterility, so they'd hopefully get more women because they couldn't get them pregnant.
It fell by the wayside when "normal" men began wearing it as well to get more nookie.
Wonder if she knows what it's supposed to mean, with 6 kids she's surely NOT had her tubes snipped.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
05/21/2008 21:56 Comments ||
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A 15-year-old facing prosecution for holding up a placard which branded Scientology a "cult" has appealed for help to fight possible charges.
The unnamed teenager was served the summons by City of London police after taking part in a peaceful demonstration opposite the Church's London headquarters, on May 10.
Demonstrators from the anti-Scientology group, Anonymous were outside the church's £23m headquarters near St Paul's cathedral when the boy was "strongly advised" by police to get rid of the sign which said: "Scientology is not a religion, it is a dangerous cult".
A policewoman later read him section five of the Public Order Act and "strongly advised" him to remove the sign. The section prohibits signs which have representations or words which are threatening, abusive or insulting. But the teenager refused, and a file is now being passed to the Crown Prosecution Service for possible legal action.
Writing on an anti-Scientology website, the teenager says: "I need precedents, legal advice, definitions and defences.
"I intend to make a big folder with all the defence you can give me, and in case this does get through to court, I will be well prepared.
"Also, what's the likelihood I'll need a lawyer? If I do have to get one, it'll have to come out of my pocket money."
Ian Haworth from the Cult Information Centre said he would avoid labelling any organisation a "cult", but said bringing the issue into criminal rather than civil law would be "very serious". He added: "If it wasn't so serious it would be farcical.
"I'm very upset by what appears to have happened. I hope the CPS realise that this is an error and that nothing happens to this young man."
Liberty director, Shami Chakrabarti, told the Guardian: "This barmy prosecution makes a mockery of Britain's free speech traditions.
"After criminalising the use of the word 'cult', perhaps the next step is to ban the words 'war' and 'tax' from peaceful demonstrations?"
The teenager is seen in a video on YouTube quoting Mr Justice Latey as having said in a court judgment in 1984 that Scientology was a "cult" and was "corrupt, sinister and dangerous".
However, a spokeswoman for City Police said they had received complaints about the use of the words "cult" and "scientology kills" and warned protestors their signs breached the Public Order Act.
Chief Supt Rob Bastable said: "City of London Police upholds the right to demonstrate lawfully.
"But we have to balance that with the right of all sections of community not to be alarmed, harassed or distressed as a result of other people's behaviour."
The force came under fire in 2006 for accepting thousands of pounds of hospitality from the Church of Scientology. However a police spokeswoman said this was done in accordance with the force's regulations.
#3
guess if your white in britian you are screwed..but if a goddamn goat loving muslim-chester has a sign about cutting off your head it's oky doaky there...chamberlins ghost is alive and well
Posted by: dan ||
05/21/2008 17:18 Comments ||
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#4
The category label should really be changed to Britistan.
For the past 12 months, she had proudly taken to the road as part of an all-female driving school.
But Emma Sherdley is not exactly all woman. Until a few years ago she was a married father-of-two called Andrew. She is, though, in the middle of treatment to change gender and has the legal paperwork to prove it.
But that wasn't enough to satisfy one client who claimed he had been shortchanged when he booked a female instructor to teach his wife how to drive. He phoned the Laugh 'n' Pass driving school threatening to sue after Miss Sherdley, 42, turned up for the lesson. 'You have sent me a man. Send me a proper female. How dare you send a man with a deep voice,' he told Joanne Dixon, who runs the school in West Yorkshire.
The man, a Muslim from the Meadowhall district of Sheffield who has not been named, claimed the company deliberately sent a man disguised as a woman.
'His attitude and behaviour was outrageous and has upset me and Emma and everyone else who works here,' Miss Dixon said. 'We are not racist. We are not sexist-If anyone was being so it was that man.'
She said no other learners had complained about being taught by Miss Sherdley, an experienced instructor.
As for Miss Sherdley, she is trying to develop a thicker skin.
She'll need it to stop the sword blade from biting through her neck ...
She said the man's comments had been 'hurtful, offensive and deeply upsetting' and had even made her think of quitting her job. His wife had apparently cut their two-hour lesson short after an hour, claiming she had to go home to breastfeed her baby.
Miss Sherdley said: 'I always knew as a child that I was a woman stuck in a man's body.
'I tried hard to be a man, getting married and having children but it never worked and never would.
'For the past six years I have been what is correctly called "transitioned". I still have to undergo final surgery but legally I am a woman. That is what my birth certificate says and that is what the gender recognition certificate proves. For that prejudiced and biased man to threaten to sue me and the driving school is totally and utterly wrong.'
There are currently 32 female pupils on the books at the school. Miss Dixon employs 20 female instructors who teach learners throughout Yorkshire. The school, which has been running for ten years, boasts a high pass rate.
'We say each of our female instructors promise to be friendly, professional and patient - that is exactly what Emma is,' Miss Dixon said. 'For her to be subjected to abuse and threats is simply intolerable.'
#9
Oh dear. One hates to think her sense of style was no less bad when she was completely male. Seriously though, I don't see how, prior to the final surgery, he can be counted as a she. I certainly wouldn't feel completely secure at this point were he using the women's restroom at the same time as the trailing daughters -- although I have to admit I'm not sure who I'd feel sorry for were he to forget his feminine state at the wrong moment in there.
Myanmar will allow U.N. helicopters to ferry aid to cyclone victims, the U.N. chief said. But state media reported Wednesday the government will not accept any disaster relief from U.S. warships.
The New Light of Myanmar newspaper said that such U.S. military assistance would come "with strings attached." Yeah, like it has to be labeled "From the USA" or something equally horrible?
The U.S. has several helicopters on standby on a warship off the Myanmar coast and in neighboring Thailand.
Continued on Page 49
#2
Friend of mine has a son that works there as a teacher; he came back to the States after the cyclone ( Mom hadn't heard from him in ~ 11 days and was frantic with worry, as any good Mom would be) to report that the Gov't there was adamant on not sending any aid from the US into the areas that needed help.
its too late but we should have gone ahead with airdrops. Screw the consequences.
#3
Unfortunately this disaster will unfold regardless of what we do. Quickly if by disease, slowly if by starvation. But the generals will reduce their population.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
A New Zealand man had a novel idea when he found himself in a queue at a service station counter with no money, could he pay with marijuana instead? Unfortunately he didn't get a chance to discover whether the attendant would accept his offer, as the person behind him in the queue was a police officer, the Dominion Post newspaper reported.
The number of people who have died after drinking poisonous illegal alcohol in two southern Indian states has risen to about 150, police say. A further 135 people who drank the illegally brewed liquor are in hospital, some in a critical condition. 
The man who created the Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync has been sentenced to 25 years in prison on four federal charges. But Judge G. Kendall Sharp in Orlando, Florida, said Wednesday he would reduce the sentence by one month for every $1 million that Lou Pearlman returned to the investors he stole from. 
Rep. Briley, of course, was the subject of quite a few barrels of ink and webspace after getting clipped for DUI after a hit and run. Following his arrest, Briley gave the name of a lobbyist as his next of kin. Later, it was reported by the Nashville Scene that Briley and the lobbyist were having an affair.
SF Becomes First In Nation To Charge 'Pollution Fee' 
A 15-year-old facing prosecution for holding up a placard which branded Scientology a "cult" has appealed for help to fight possible charges.
For the past 12 months, she had proudly taken to the road as part of an all-female driving school.
