It’s nice to know that our Canadian neighbors can get as stupid as us when it comes to sports!

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41 arrested in Montreal after big Canadian win

Canadians fans celebrate in Montreal following a win against Pittsburgh in the Stanley Cup playoffs on Wednesday.

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U.S. split over Ariz. immigration law

I’m simply amazed that 12 other states are considering enacting the same draconian law that Arizona has.

Protests draw attention, but crackdown has sizable support

U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) denounces Arizona's tough new immigration law on April 24, 2010 in Tuscon, Arizona.

Grijalva, who shut his Tuscon office the day before because of death threats, called for an economic boycott of Arizona because of the new law, which he called racist.

At the same time, polls show significant support for laws like it, and lawmakers have introduced similar measures, or have announced plans to do so, in at least 12 other states.

New Political Party – Tea Baggers on Steroids?

Take note of this new party – ‘A Third Position’  

A3P Activists Join Tax Protests Across the Nation

If you ask me, their party message, “The message of liberty, sovereignty, identity”  conceals a darker side to these people’s goals.

They have been courting tea party members who think their “on the right track” to saving America…from everything. They think Arizona’s new immigration law is great. They sound like a new Tea party on steroids if the following is true:  

According to Alexa, the premier website for web-traffic metrics, the American Third Position has the most trafficked party website in the U.S, followed closely by the GOP, whose site has been online for over a decade. In only 4 months, the A3P has grown from but a small handful of people into a national network of growingly-sophisticated political activists.

A3P members say:

“With certainty, had the establishment not cut off all routes to the democratic process for those with differing opinions – aka Americans – this superior performance would be reflected in the composition of the body of politicians who determine the course of the nation.

As the political establishment continues to attack the American way of life, the party will inevitably grow stronger. The website ranking will follow accordingly.”

A3P: 18,409 -GOP: 19,544 -DEM: 24,356 -LIB: 24,423 - GRE: 125,027 - CON: 167,893

U.S. struggling to ward off evolving cyber threat

More than 100 spy agencies working to gain access to systems, official says

Excerpt:

“The United States is losing enough data in cyber attacks to fill the Library of Congress many times over, and authorities have failed to stay ahead of the threat, a U.S. defense official said on Wednesday.

In a sobering assessment, the Defense Department's Jim Miller said more than 100 foreign spy agencies were working to gain access to U.S. computer systems, as were criminal organizations.” Photo source

Guest opinion: Feds oppose marijuana legalization for all the wrong reasons

Posted by Paul Armentano (Deputy Director of NORML and the NORML Foundation)

So this is your administration on drugs. Any questions?

Obama drug plan ‘firmly opposes’ legalization as California vote looms
via The Hill

“The Obama administration said Tuesday that it “firmly opposes” the legalization of any illicit drugs as California voters head to the polls to consider legalizing marijuana this fall.

The president and his drug czar re-emphasized their opposition to legalizing drugs in the first release of its National Drug Control Strategy this morning.

“Keeping drugs illegal reduces their availability and lessens willingness to use them,” the document, prepared by Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske, says. “That is why this Administration firmly opposes the legalization of marijuana or any other illicit drug.”

Is anyone surprised? You shouldn’t be. After all, this is the same Gil Kerlikowske that has said repeatedly that legalization is not in his vocabulary, and publicly stated, “Marijuana is dangerous and has no medicinal benefit.” And this is the same administration that recently nominated Michele Leonhart to head the DEA — the same Michele Leonhart who overruled the DEA’s own administrative law judge in order to continue to block medical marijuana research, and publicly claimed that the rising death toll civilians attributable to the U.S./Mexican drug war “a signpost of the success” of U.S. prohibitionist policies.”

Creators of massive hamburger hope for Guinness fame

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People help assemble a 590 pound hamburger at Yonge Dundas Square in Toronto, Canada on Thursday, May 6, 2010.

The burger's creators hope it will be deemed by Guinness World Records to be the world's largest.… Read more

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Police: High school hoops star actually 22

What I find interesting in this unusual story is that the man in question must have looked really young to pose as a 16-year old when he’s actually 22-years old.Imagine what a facade he must have kept up for years. He even claimed to be homeless and the high school basketball coach took him in.

One more interesting tidbit: the school in question, Permian High School, was used as a model for the prime time show “Friday Night Lights.”

Man formerly starred in Florida, posed as 16-year-old

Excerpt:

“The revelation means Permian likely will have to forfeit the 2009 basketball season in which the 6-foot-5 player known as Jerry Joseph led the team to District 2-5A state playoffs and earned newcomer of the year accolades.”

Image source

 

Fears surround over-the-counter genetic tests

Image source

Shoppers able to check propensity for Alzheimer's, breast cancer, diabetes

Beginning Friday, shoppers  in search of toothpaste, deodorant and laxatives at more than 6,000 drugstores across the nation will be able to pick up something new: a test to scan their genes for a propensity for Alzheimer's disease, breast cancer, diabetes and other ailments.

There’s 16 faces in this picture – how many can you find?

Image source

Oil companies pass the buck for big spill as the lawsuits pour in

At Senate hearing, lawmaker predicts 'liability chase' among companies

As BP critics stand up behind him, Lamar McKay, chairman and president of BP America, waits to testify Tuesday before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee in Washington.

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As oil gushes out, damage claims pour in…

Fisherman, hotel operators and others likely to seek compensation

A new sign advertises the "Oil Spill Law Group" in Bayou LaBatre, Alabama. A BP lobbyist says the company has already paid $3.5 million in damages.

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Long-suffering tribe fears oil may strike final blow

The native Houma people, who have long relied on fishing and trapping in the marshlands of Louisiana, have been through a lot as a tribe.

They have been robbed of their lands, subjected to segregation, witnessed the steady erosion of marshlands and been displaced by hurricanes. Now, some fear the oil slick that threatens to invade the bayou could be the final blow to their culture and traditions.

Antoine "Whitney" Dardar (right), a Houma tribal elder, has been fishing and trapping in the bayou near Golden Meadow, La., for his whole life.

 

Coming Soon: As It Stands will review a new book to be released in June - ‘Denial: A Memoir of Terror’

Every now and then someone asks me to read their book and to do a review on it. I’m not really sure why I’m picked for this honor, but it’s happened several times in the last 18 months.

I’m certainly not a respected book critic, nor do I ever expect to be one. I do love reading and there’s very little I won’t read. My curious mind is constantly on the prowl. Research is a joy I lavish upon myself.

Karen Louie-Joyce, the web manager for Jessica Stern, a world-class social scientist, Harvard lecturer, and one of the foremost U.S. experts on terrorism and post-traumatic stress disorder, contacted me with a request to review Stern’s new book.

In her new book DENIAL: A Memoir of Terror, Jessica investigates her own unsolved adolescent sexual assault at the hands of a serial rapist, and, in so doing, examines the horrors of trauma and denial.

The book is in the mail,thanks to Karen, and I should have it by the end of the week. I’m not sure how long it is, so I won’t make any predictions on when the review will appear. But fear not readers, I will do my best. As some of you may know, trauma is a subject near to me as I’m a Vietnam veteran with service-connected PTSD.