Hell done froze over!

Hell Freezes Over: White House Drug Czar Backs Decriminalization

The Marijuana Policy Project today congratulated White House “drug czar” John Walters for backing a Mexican government proposal that would remove criminal penalties for possession of small amounts of marijuana.

“I can’t believe I’m actually saying this, but John Walters is right,” said MPP executive director Rob Kampia. “We heartily second his support for eliminating criminal penalties for marijuana users in Mexico, and look forward to working with him to end such penalties in the U.S. as well.”

On Oct. 22, The New York Times reported Walters’ public support for a drug decriminalization proposal by Mexican President Felipe Calderon, quoting Walters as saying, “I don’t think that’s legalization.” Under Calderon’s proposal, individuals caught with small quantities of marijuana would receive no jail sentence or fine and would not receive a criminal record so long as they complete either drug education or, if addicted, drug treatment. Unlike proposals supported by MPP, the Mexican president’s proposal would also decriminalize possession of small amounts of heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine.

“It’s fantastic that John Walters has recognized the massive destruction the drug war has inflicted on Mexico and is now calling for reforms there, but he’s a rank hypocrite if he continues opposing similar reforms in the U.S.,” Kampia said. “The Mexican proposal is far more sweeping than MPP’s proposals to decriminalize marijuana or make marijuana medically available, both of which John Walters and his henchmen rail against.”

In a March 19, 2008, press release from the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, deputy director Scott Burns called a New Hampshire proposal to impose a $200 fine rather than jail time for a small amount of marijuana “a dangerous first step toward complete drug legalization.”

The Toilet: Our Greatest Health Breakthrough Ever?

While scientists may regard penicillin or vaccinations as the greatest medical breakthroughs of all, Jack Sim claims toilets have done more for our health. Sim, founder of the Singapore-based World Toilet Organization, wants everyone to have access to a clean and safe toilet.

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Giant spider eating a bird caught on camera

Can a girl sexually abuse herself?

This is unbelievable: A 15-year-old Ohio girl currently faces juvenile child pornography charges for allegedly taking and distributing nude photos of herself.After Licking Valley High School offi ...

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Octogenarian Flagged For Holding

Ohio woman, 88, arrested for petty theft of neighbor's football



An 88-year-old Ohio grandmother was arrested last week when she refused to return a neighborhood boy's football that had landed in her front yard. A frustrated Edna Jester took the football last Thursday evening after it landed, once again, in the yard of her Blue Ash home, where she has lived since April 1949. When Jester refused to return the football, neighbor Paul Tanis, 40, called the cops. Though police warned that she would be arrested unless she returned the football, Jester refused, according to the below Blue Ash Police Department report. In a TSG interview, an emotional Jester said that she had repeatedly warned her teenage neighbors that she did not want to retrieve their football since, "I'm not a ball chaser." Jester, pictured at right, added that she frequently told the young football enthusiasts that she did not want them on her property and did not want to be bothered while she was reading the Bible or eating dinner. Jester, who lives alone, still has the football. The petty theft bust was the first arrest for Jester, who has been widowed for about ten years. One of Jester's three children has predeceased her, while a second, a 70-year-old daughter, is living in a nursing home. She is scheduled to appear November 12 in Mayor's Court on the theft rap.

Spanish Baby Engineered To Cure Brother

Little Javier, born this past Sunday, is the first “genetically engineered” baby in Spain to be both free of his family’s hereditary disease and transplant-compatible with his older brother. His family decided to undergo a genetic pre-implant diagnosis treatment, hoping both for a second child, and a cure for their older son. The family, from Cadiz in southern Spain, had their first child, Andres, only to discover that he suffered from a rare hereditary disease called Beta Thalassaemia major. The disease causes the body to fail to produce enough oxygen-carrying red blood cells, so 6-year-old Andres would only be expected to live about ten years unless he had aggressive treatment.

When the parents discussed having a second child, they realized they might have found a cure for Andres at the same time. If Javier could be sure to be free of the disease, and also an immunological match for Andres, he would be the ideal donor for a vital bone marrow transplant to Andres. So the parents went for it.

After the green light from the National Commission for Assisted Reproduction, Javier and Andres’ parents chose to resort to a genetic pre-implant diagnosis; a technique that allows [one] to verify if an embryo is healthy from a genetic point of view, before transferring it to the mother’s uterus. For this type of diagnosis, absolutely prohibited in Italy, the embryo obtained by ‘in vitro’ fertilization’ is genetically examined to verify that it does not carry any diseases.

Once Javier was born, doctors were able to determine that he was indeed an immunological match, and his cord blood was stored in a blood-bank for a future transplant to Andres. Up until this point, none of the medical treatments have worked for the older son, and a transplant became the only way to save him.

According to doctors, the blood in [Javier’s] umbilical cord will be used in a bone marrow transplant for his brother, so the boy will be able to start producing healthy red blood cells. “The possibility of healing the boy after the transplant is very high.”

Jesus, imagine the guilt potential between these two. “Javier took my truck!” “But I was born to save you from certain death.” Yeah, shit, they’re either going to be specially bonded besties, or bitter mortal enemies over this drama.

What do you think: Is it wrong to genetically screen our embryos? What about “designing” your baby to help another one of your kids?

Indian girl set ablaze for wearing lipstick - reports

An 11-year-old girl was set on fire by a relative in India's northern city of Jaipur for wearing lipstick and being "inappropriately dressed", media reports said today.

- Child, 11, burnt for lipstick
- Relative said to be responsible
- Burns to 90% of body

The girl suffered burns over 90 per cent of her body. Her chances of survival were bleak, police officers told the NDTV network.

Police arrested her great uncle, who allegedly poured kerosene on the girl and set her ablaze yesterday.

Investigators told the PTI news agency that the 55-year-old man, a conservative Muslim, had told the police he was enraged at the girl wearing lipstick and being "scantily dressed".

Among conservative Muslim communities, women are required to observe hijab, which means wearing clothing that covers the head and the body.

Drinking Coffee Shrinks Women's Breasts, Enlarges Men's

Swedish scientists have caused a stir by suggesting women who drink more than three cups a day could see their bra size drop. Tests by cancer researchers found half of all women have a gene linking breast size to coffee intake. The reaction is the reverse for coffee-slurping blokes – it can make their “moobs" swell.

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Muslim suicide bomber foiled by toilet door

A British Muslim convert with a mental age of ten was unable to blow up a restaurant because he'd locked himself in a toilet.

Nicky Reilly, 22, had gone into the cubicle of an Exeter eaterie to assemble the nailbombs from chemicals in bottles. He then planned to rush among the 50 diners - many of them children - and detonate the devices.

However, he found he couldn't unfasten the lock and then one of the bombs exploded, setting the others he was holding off.

Reilly, who was groomed over the internet by extremists into becoming a suicide bomber, was arrested when he staggered outside with serious facial injuries.

I am so confused, Alaskan glaciers getting bigger?!

A bitterly cold Alaskan summer has had surprising results. For the first time in the area's recorded history, area glaciers have begun to expand, rather than shrink. Summer temperatures, which were some 3 degrees below average, allowed record levels of winter snow to remain much longer, leading to the increase in glacial mass.

Does this have something to do with Sarah Palin?

Secular Religious Freedom Does Not Equal 'Respect'

Much has been made in the media about 'respecting' a person's religion.

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Why I will never be an Astronaut

Human evolution is over

Speaking today at a UCL lecture entitled “Human evolution is over” Professor Jones will argue that there were three components to evolution – natural selection, mutation and random change.

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You can't make this stuff up!

Cannabis less harmful than drinking, smoking: report

Cannabis is less harmful than alcohol or tobacco, according to a report by a research charity Thursday, which called for a "serious rethink" of drug policy.

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