Saturday, January 22, 2011

Officials fear bath salts are growing drug problem

Officials fear bath salts are growing drug problem - USATODAY.com
When Neil Brown got high on bath salts, he took his skinning knife and slit his face and stomach repeatedly. Brown survived, but authorities say others haven't been so lucky after snorting, injecting or smoking powders with such innocuous-sounding names as Ivory Snow, Red Dove and Vanilla Sky.

Some say the effects of the powders are as powerful as abusing methamphetamine. Increasingly, law enforcement agents and poison control centers say the bath salts with complex chemical names are an emerging menace in several U.S. states where authorities talk of banning their sale.

Undercover police cleared 'to have sex with activists'

Undercover police cleared 'to have sex with activists' | UK news | guardian.co.uk
Undercover police officers routinely adopted a tactic of "promiscuity" with the blessing of senior commanders, according to a former agent who worked in a secretive unit of the Metropolitan police for four years.

The former undercover policeman claims that sexual relationships with activists were sanctioned for both men and women officers infiltrating anarchist, leftwing and environmental groups.

Mystery surrounds Idaho winner of $190 million

Mystery surrounds Idaho winner of $190 million - FoxNews.com
Holly Lahti burst into the spotlight a week ago in a feel-good story about a single mother who won a $190 million Mega Millions jackpot.

Then came the mugshot: a thin young woman with disheveled brown hair, sporting a black eye and cuts and bruises on her face and neck. It turned out she was separated from a man who court records indicated had abused her, and now has a possible claim to some of the money through a quirk in Idaho law.

Lahti, 29, went underground with her two daughters immediately after learning she had won half of a $380 million jackpot in the Jan. 4 drawing. She has not been seen or heard in public since.

GOP Rep: Mixed seating a "trap" to "silence Republicans" at State of the Union

The Republican strategy to attack and undermine everything the Democrats do is still strong. They are not even interested in governing. They've adopted the Tea Party strategy after attacking government without offering any solutions.

Playboy iPad App Blocked Despite Hef's Tweets

Playboy iPad App Blocked Despite Hef's Tweets
- Way to go, Apple. Someone in the big business world has some decency.
I no Likee Lady Gaga's latest video, "Anatomy of Change." Too macabre and repetitive. She's making some kind of point, I think.

Climate Threatens Birds From Tropics to Mountaintops

Climate Threatens Birds From Tropics to Mountaintops - NYTimes.com
Over the past two decades, an increasing number of settlers who have moved here to farm have impinged on bird habitats and reduced bird populations by cutting down forests and turning grasslands into fields. Now the early effects of global warming and other climate changes have helped send the populations of many local mountain species into a steep downward spiral, from which many experts say they will never recover.

EPA Allows More Ethanol in Fuel for Cars

EPA Allows More Ethanol in Fuel for Cars - FoxNews.com
Nearly two-thirds of cars on the road could have more corn-based ethanol in their fuel tanks under an Environmental Protection Agency decision Friday.

The agency said that 15 percent ethanol blended with gasoline is safe for cars and light-duty trucks manufactured between 2001 and 2006, expanding an October decision that the higher blend is safe for cars built since 2007.The maximum gasoline blend has been 10 percent ethanol.

Nepal communists give up control over ex-fighters

This headline almost sounds hard to believe. Hopefully it's good news:
The head of Nepal's former communist rebels handed command of his fighters over to the government Saturday as part of a peace deal that ended the Himalayan nation's decade-long conflict.

Search widens for 5 missing American sailors

Search widens for 5 missing American sailors - CNN.com
U.S. military aircraft and a Coast Guard cutter Saturday searched a large swath of sea for a catamaran and five American sailors that went missing between Guam and the Philippines.

The 38-foot Pineapple was last seen January 6 in Guam harbor, officials said. The crew was making the 1,400 mile (2,250-km) journey to the island of Cebu to deliver the vessel, Coast Guard officials said.

The crew is experienced and well-provisioned, but the craft has no long-range emergency communications equipment and faced challenging winds during part of the journey, officials said.

Deadly CA crashes end with man beaten by a mob

This is what is called societal breakdown:
In a bizarre and deadly chain of events, a pedestrian was twice struck by hit-and-run drivers, the woman who came to his aid was also hit, and finally the driver trying to help her was beaten and robbed by a mob, police said Friday.

The crashes on a busy Los Angeles-area boulevard left a man dead, a woman injured, a suspect arrested, and detectives stunned.