I don't know if I should laugh or cry
Topic: Opinion
That 2 of the 13 Most Corrupt Members of Congress are from California...

Keep Your Dogs Out of Your Stash
Topic: News
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2006/09/05/bc-dogs-marijuana.html

A little side-note: When I was in college, a boy in my dorm told me that he and his brother used to stuff the family cat in a dresser drawer, then blow marijuana smoke into the drawer to stone out the cat. After some weeks of this, the cat got hooked on being stoned, and the boys never did explain to their mother why the cat'd jump into a dresser drawer whenver you opened one, with an expectant look on its face...

And now, on to the article.

CBC News Tuesday, September 5, 2006 | 11:00 AM PT

A Vancouver veterinarian who runs a 24-hour emergency clinic says she treats a surprising number of dogs who have overdosed on marijuana or other illicit drugs.

No Health Clubs in China...
Topic: Opinion

Real life is tough enough. 

Unlucky, Unfazed, Unbroken

Like millions in China, farmer-turned-laborer He Tianwu has traveled a path marked by extreme heartache. And all the willpower in the world.
HUASHAN, China — This is the story of He Tianwu: Farmer. Husband. Father. Widower. Odd-jobs man. Coal miner. Amputee. Gold prospector. Brick maker. Big-city vagrant. One-armed human mule.

Oh No He Di'int!
Topic: News
http://www.kommersant.com/page.asp?idr=527&id=698456

China's UN Ambassador Asks the US to Shut Up
Official Opinion

China's Ambassador to the UN Sha Zukang admonished Washington yesterday of interfering in Beijing's domestic affairs , particularly in its military program. Asked by a BBC reporter about China's growing military budget, Sha Zukang did not contain himself and shouted out: "The population of China is six times as much as that of the United States. So, it's time for Americans to shut up and keep quiet. They will be better off like this."

"The United States have the right to settle domestic problems on its own, so let them not pry into China's internal affairs," the Chinese diplomat said. Sha Zukang also warned that if Taiwan declares independency and any country recognizes it, China will apply military force. "It is not a question of how big Taiwan is. Each centimeter of Chinese land is more important to us than lives of our soldiers," the Chinese ambassador to UN stated openly.

China has not spoken so harsh on the Taiwan issue for a couple of years. These blunt words may cost Sha Zukang his post and career but the speech of China's ambassador to the UN shows the hardening of the Chinese leadership's stance on the Taiwan issue and possible conflict with the United States.

Alexander Gabuev, the Kommersant

Texas town bans jello shooters
Topic: News
Texas town bans jello shooters to cut down the littering caused by the little paper cups.

That's silly. I've never had a litter problem when I serve shooters to my friends - we just fling them into the open fire-place from various drunken, prone positions on the floor.

So rednecked.

Birth Pangs
Topic: Fun

Fraudulent Fry Forces Federal Feint; Fish Forfeited Following Folly
Topic: News

Local Businesses Plead Guilty Federal Fish Scam Charges

Best line in article: "Nguyen also agreed to forfeit all of the fish involved in the conspiracy"

Can this be a real police report?
Topic: Fun


Cops report  "flurry of chubby fists" in Toledo milk heist

AUGUST 9--Robbery is never funny. Except when it's described by Toledo police officers with a peculiar sense of humor. Early this morning, Scott Gibson, 44, was returning from the grocery store with a gallon of milk when, as he told cops, he was surrounded by "5 fat black girls" in the parking lot of a Kentucky Fried Chicken. As described by officers Patrick Sutherland and Kristi Eycke in the below Toledo Police Department incident report, one of the "hefty felons" asked Gibson to surrender his milk. Believing that he was being pranked, Gibson just laughed at the request. But, as cops reported, he realized it was no joke when the "rotund robbers" began "pelting him with a flurry of chubby fists." After the assailants tore the milk from his hands, they relieved Gibson of his Motorola cell phone. He was unable to provide a detailed description of the attackers, except to estimate that the women were in their twenties. Presumably the quintet slinked off into the night looking for some poor soul carrying a box of Devil Dogs. (2 pages in The Smoking Gun)

There's a German compound word for everything
Topic: Fun

deaddoginfreezer is aviolationofgermanlaw

Sat Aug 5, 2006 2:01 PM BST

BERLIN (Reuters) - A German woman found a frozen dead dog when she opened the refrigerator freezer compartment in her new apartment in the southwestern town of Trossingen, police said on Saturday.

The previous tenant later told police in the town near Stuttgart that his greyhound pup had died of natural causes several months earlier but he did not have time to give it a proper burial before moving out of the apartment.

Police said the man faces prosecution for violating the "Tierkoerperbeseitigungsgesetz" (animal cadaver removal law).

Rob got a new job in North San Diego County, so we're moving again to get closer to his job. He's not a good commuter and can't take the traffic in stride.

I hate moving. I hate doing change-of-address notices to the utilities, the banks, the credit card companies, the post office. I hate packing and unpacking, I hate wrapping dishes and teapots and worrying about our volunteer helpers dropping something down two flights of stairs. I hate trying to convince Rob (usually unsuccessfully) to hire movers or at least hire a truck.  You don't know how much I'm not looking forward to this move in the middle of the hottest summer in San Diego history.  Every time we move I feel like I've aged 5 years.

I gave Rob an ultimatum - this had better be the last damned time we move into an apartment for a few months, the next time we move it'd better be into a house where we will live for years and years. And if he then gets a new job 90 minutes away, he can commute like the rest of us. Or, if he wants to move closer to that job, he's welcome to do so but I would not be joining him this time.

I'm still not thrilled about moving, but I try to look on the bright side - coming home to a happy, relaxed husband every night instead of a cranky, nervous wreck. Also, the little cul-de-sac where we live now used to be pretty nice, but MTDB turned our formerly lightly-used, quiet and snug Trolley station it into a big, bustling bus depot, so with the increased traffic, noise, smog, and shifty characters using the shelter, it's starting to look a little shabby and feel a bit frayed and kind of grimy sometimes... OMG I sound like a total elitist snob - "I don't like the poor people looking at me going to work so we're moving to la-di-dah Carlsbad."  Sigh. Next you know I'll be driving an SUV, voting Republican and being scared of black people.