AS IT STANDS

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

This story merely confirms what Fox news has been doing for years: lying to it’s viewers to pursue a political agenda. What do they do when their caught lying?

Fox News wins “right to lie.”

In February 2003, a Florida Court of Appeals unanimously agreed with an assertion by FOX News that there is no rule against distorting or falsifying the news in the United States.

Lawyers paid by Bill O'Reilly's bosses argued in court that Fox can lie with impunity.

It's their right under the 1st Amendment

FOX asserted that there are no written rules against distorting news in the media. They argued that, under the First Amendment, broadcasters have the right to lie or deliberately distort news reports on public airwaves.

Story source

Where’s the beef? Taco Bell’s under fire for false advertising

Alabama law firm to Taco Bell: That's not beef

“An Alabama law firm claims in a lawsuit that Taco Bell is using false advertising when it refers to using "seasoned ground beef" or "seasoned beef" in its products.

The meat mixture sold by Taco Bell restaurants contains binders and extenders and does not meet the minimum requirements set by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to be labeled as "beef," according to the legal complaint.

Attorney Dee Miles said attorneys had Taco Bell's "meat mixture" tested and found it contained less that 35 percent beef”

Monday, January 24, 2011

Bishop Castle: one man’s lifelong project continues to amaze

Bishop Castle

Have you ever gone here? Did you know it exists?

Located outside Colorado City in the San Isabel National Forest, Bishop Castle is the ongoing, lifelong project of a single man: Jim Bishop. The strange castle has been under construction since 1969, and now stands over 70 feet tall. Working alone, Bishop harvests the rocks from the national forest and has been building his own castle for 41 years. The multi-room castle boasts a tower, stained-glass windows, and a fire-breathing dragon, with future plans for a moat, drawbridge, and possible second castle. The exhibit is free and visitors are welcome to enter and explore the castle at their own risk after signing the guestbook (waiver of liability).

source

Fitness fanatic Jack LaLanne dies; pushed pumping iron and juicing fruit well into his 90s

“Jack LaLanne was prodding Americans to get off their couches and into the gym decades before it was cool. And he was still pumping iron and pushing fruits and vegetables decades past most Americans' retirement age.

The fitness fanatic ate well and exercised — and made it his mission to make sure everyone did the same — right up to the end at age 96, friends and family said.
LaLanne died Sunday at his home in Morro Bay on California's central coast, longtime agent Rick Hersh said. The cause was respiratory failure due to pneumonia.” Story here.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

As It Stands: Speed Kills -- so why is meth still scourging our society?

By Dave Stancliff/For the Times-Standard

Posted: 01/23/2011 01:21:42 AM PST

I was getting ready to go home when a sheriff's deputy walked into my office and asked if I'd like to have exclusive access to a major news story. It was the summer of 1982, and I was the editor of The Desert Trail Newspaper in 29 Palms, Calif. Of course, I jumped at the invitation.

It meant leaving immediately. I had just time to grab my camera and to tell my secretary to call my wife and say I'd be home late. The deputy drove me to the local sheriff's substation where other law enforcement types had gathered for the night's operations. They were putting on their SWAT gear and checking their assault weapons. A sign on the wall read, “Speed Kills.”

One of the men stepped forward and introduced himself as Floyd Tidwell, county sheriff. He was obviously excited and told me I would accompany him on a series of meth raids throughout the Morongo Basin. We boarded a helicopter to our first destination; a meth house in the middle of Wonder Valley.

We went to six other locations, ranging from bars to motel rooms, busting addicts and recovered lots of crystal meth. I got home at 3 a.m. and wrote the story. At the time, desert meth labs were more plentiful than red ants in San Bernardino County.

Flash forward. I'm retired and living in Humboldt County. It's 2004 and Humboldt has the highest rate of methamphetamine use of any county in the state. I wonder if the meth addicts migrated north? A strong effort on the part of the Humboldt County Health Department addressed the problem by organizing a community coalition to combat meth addiction.

A one-hour documentary called “Life After Meth” shown on KEET-TV in May 2006. It was the result of a project called “Community Voices for Meth Awareness.” Claire Reynolds, director of community relations and outreach for KEET-TV, spearheaded the project.

“The Methamphetamine Fact Book: A Community Handbook and Resource Guide” was produced and has been updated numerous times since. Tracking laws designed to catch profiteers who buy over-the-counter pills with pseudoephedrine in them and sell them to meth makers were enacted in 2006. The problem is the number of meth busts is climbing again as people take advantage of the huge markups meth producers pay for the ingredients.

According to an Associated Press analysis of federal data on the 2006 law's consequences, it's not slowing down the meth market. There was a small decline for two years until people figured a way around the new law.

”It's almost like a sub-criminal culture,” said Gary Boggs, an agent at the Drug Enforcement Agency in a recent AP interview. “You see them with a GPS unit set up in a van and a list of every single pharmacy or retail outlet. They'll spend the entire week going store to store and buying the limit.”

Last September, the Federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reported a 60 percent one-year increase in the number of meth users. There's no doubt that meth use is on the rise in this country.

The only thing that can be done is to continue to educate people about the harm meth does to users and everyone around them. If you want to know if you live near a former meth lab go to www.homefacts.com and put in your address, state, or ZIP code in the search area. I came up with three addresses in Eureka.

To get help for meth addiction call the Humboldt County Health and Human Services Department at (707) 441-5400, or the Humboldt County Drug Addiction Treatment and Alcohol & other Drug Programs at (707) 476-4054. They offer guidance and information for addicts and their families.

I know when I first came up to Humboldt in 1979, meth was not a problem. As I left and came back twice over the years, I noticed meth addicts becoming more common. I like to think we've made some progress since the dubious notoriety we had in 2004, but when I see strung-out meth users in stores and on the streets, I have to wonder.

As It Stands, we've known “Speed kills” since the '60s, so it's discouraging to see that meth is still popular nearly a half-century later.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Keeping a sport alive: Sex sells – welcome to the 1st ever camel beauty pageant

Turkey's annual Selcuk camel fighting championship was hoping to draw spectators from an increasingly modern population and keep the struggling sport relevant with the addition of a beauty pageant, The Wall Street Journal reported today.

Chariot, a 1,500-pound, single-humped camel with spittle hanging from his lips and pompons in his tail, recently won the first-ever beauty contest at Turkey's prized camel fighting competition.

GO HERE FOR STORY

Recently, there was a popular trend for naming camels after political leaders. Four years ago at Selcuk, George Bush fought Saddam Hussein. They tied.

Neighborhood Chicken Manages to Escape Kidnappers - Insert fowl play joke here

Residents at one San Pedro apartment building say their beloved neighborhood chicken has miraculously returned after being birdnapped six months ago.The wild chicken, affectionately known as "Kwok Kwok," came to the apartment complex in the 1100 block of 9th Street about a year ago.

No matter how she got back, Anastasiow says, the bird is currently in good spirits and is now laying eggs.

Building owner Jackie Anastasiow says the bird appeared shortly after her husband passed away.

"I think he's in Heaven and sent me this chicken to take care of," Anastasiow said.

This summer though, tragedy struck the neighborhood.

"I heard a commotion downstairs. The chicken's making noise ... I see a pickup truck with three guys in it, and they kidnap the chicken. They put the chicken in the truck and they drove off," said resident Sal Martinez.

Residents were sure "Kwok Kwok" was destined for a finger-licking-good demise.

"It was really strange. I don't know why they took the chicken away. I figured 'Kwok' was done. I thought they were going to make either chicken soup or chicken stew or something. They were going to eat the chicken," said Martinez.

Then, three months ago, the neighborhood got a poultry miracle.

"Kwok Kwok" returned home. Read More Here

Huge parking fines inspired parking watch app

Massive parking fines inspired one Australian man to create an iPhone app that lets users warn each other when parking officers are spotted lurking near their cars.

"The idea was pretty much born out of frustration," said Joseph Darling of "ParkPatrol," the app developed by his Sydney-based firm to help users avoid tickets that cost what he said was at least $82 Australian ($81) a shot -- and often more.

The app lets users "sign in" and report sightings of parking officers with a single push of a button. Cartoon faces wearing a police cap then appear plotted on a map of the area, along with a notice thanking them.

The app will also alert users if a parking officer is spotted in their area and how close. Notification options for 500 meters (1,640 ft), 200 meters and 100 meters are available.”

Friday, January 21, 2011

Author discovers vintage video of 1950s housewife tripping on LSD during medical experiment

A housewife was filmed tripping on LSD as part of a television program on mental health issues in 1956.

Don Lattin, an author of four books including "The Harvard Psychedelic Club," found the video during his research on British writer Aldous Huxley, philosopher Gerald Heard and Bill Wilson, the co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, who were prominent thinkers and writers about the effects of hallucinogenics in the 1950s and '60s.