And we need this because???

snopes.com is a truly wonderful, useful site. It is an urban legends reference page. If you get one of those emails from BigBrosWife or whoever the person that *you* get forwards of forwards of forwards from, you can always check snopes.com to see whether you've just (once again) received a load of bunk.

My question of the day is this. Why do we need snopes.com? The following is from this article in the Chicago Tribune.

Child finds marijuana in Happy Meal

The Associated Press
May 16, 2007, 12:25 PM CDT

OTTAWA, Ill. -- A 17-year-old fast-food employee is facing drug charges after allegedly hiding marijuana in a Happy Meal that ended up with a young child.

Ottawa Police Chief Brian Zeilmann said a man and his three children went through a McDonald's drive-through Monday to order Happy Meals.

One of the children, an 8-year-old girl, found a lighter, pipe, and bag of marijuana in her Happy Meal, Zeilmann said. Her father went to the police.

A McDonald's employee, Brandon Scott of Ottawa, was arrested and charged with possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia, authorities said.

Zeilmann said the owners of the restaurant cooperated with the investigation that led to the arrest.
Copyright © 2007, The Associated Press

Illinois is a great place to live. We get 10 month old Bubba Ludwig with a gun permit, and an 8 year old picking up pot with her Happy Meal.

Tell me again why we need to make stuff up? Truth proves, once again, to be stranger than fiction.

"But she said she wanted a HAPPY MEAL"

Yet somehow, I don't feel necessarily safer

Well, I guess we can safely say that he's not a convicted felon.....

Firstcoastnews.com Article
Toddler Given Gun Permit

CHICAGO (AP) -- Bubba Ludwig can't walk, talk or open the refrigerator door -- but he does have his very own Illinois gun permit.

The 10-month-old, whose given name is Howard David Ludwig, was issued a firearm owner's identification card after his father, Howard Ludwig, paid the $5 fee and filled out the application, not expecting to actually get one.

The card lists the baby's height (2 feet, 3 inches), weight (20 pounds) and has a scribble where the signature should be.

With some exceptions, the cards are required of any Illinois residents purchasing or possessing firearms or ammunition within the state. There are no age restrictions on the cards, an official said.

Illinois State Police oversee the application process. Their purpose, said Lt. Scott Compton, is to keep guns out of the hands of convicted felons, those under an order of protection and those convicted of domestic violence.

"Does a 10-month-old need a FOID card? No, but there are no restrictions under the act regarding age of applicants," he said.

Ludwig, 30, of Chicago, applied for the card after his own father bought Bubba a 12-gauge Beretta shotgun as a gift. The weapon will probably be kept at Ludwig's father's house until the boy is at least 14.

Associate Press

But how do you coordinate 18,000 people with just a megaphone??

Highlights only -- if you're interested in the entire article, you can find it here on Reuters

Thousands strip for photo shoot
Mon May 7, 2007 8:57AM EDT
By Tomas Sarmiento

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A record 18,000 people took off their clothes to pose for U.S. photographic artist Spencer Tunick Sunday in Mexico City's Zocalo square, the heart of the ancient Aztec empire.

Tunick, who has raised eyebrows by staging mass nude photo shoots in cities from Dusseldorf, Germany, to Caracas, smashed his previous record of 7,000 volunteers set in 2003 in Barcelona, Spain.

Directing with a megaphone, Tunick shot a series of pictures with his Mexican models simultaneously raising their arms, then lying on their backs in the square as well as another scene on a side street with volunteers arranged in the shape of an arrow.

...

"They're losing dignity as men and women," said 63-year-old Armando Pineda, leaning against the cathedral and watching the now-dressed models leave the plaza. "It's an offense against the church."

© Reuters 2006. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.

Quick question .......

How is this an offense against the church. I just checked my Genesis and according to that, God created the following ...

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth, then light, firmament, waters, grass, seed, fruit tree, whales, living creatures, winged fowl, beast, cattle, man.

NOWHERE does it say that God created The Gap (or L.L. Bean, or J. Crew, or The Limited, or even Wal Mart).

OHHHHHHH -- the quote was that the posing was an offense to the church. Maybe the CHURCH created Levi's??

News you can use

Well, at least new I can use. In this blog entry, I mentioned one of my favorite songs and libations. Now, I come to find that Jimmy Buffett is even more intelligent than we all knew.

From Reuters

Fruity cocktails count as health food, study finds
Fri Apr 20, 2007 10:36 AM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A fruity cocktail may not only be fun to drink but may count as health food, U.S. and Thai researchers said on Thursday.

Adding ethanol -- the type of alcohol found in rum, vodka, tequila and other spirits -- boosted the antioxidant nutrients in strawberries and blackberries, the researchers found.

Any colored fruit might be made even more healthful with the addition of a splash of alcohol, they report in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture.

Dr. Korakot Chanjirakul and colleagues at Kasetsart University in Thailand and scientists at the U.S. Department of Agriculture stumbled upon their finding unexpectedly.

They were exploring ways to help keep strawberries fresh during storage. Treating the berries with alcohol increased in antioxidant capacity and free radical scavenging activity, they found.

Any colored fruit or vegetable is rich in antioxidants, which are chemicals that can cancel out the cell-damaging effects of compounds called free radicals.

Berries, for instance, contain compounds known as polyphenols and anthocyanins. People who eat more of these fruits and vegetables have a documented lower risk of cancer, heart disease and some neurological diseases.

The study did not address whether adding a little cocktail umbrella enhanced the effects.

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© Reuters 2007. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.

Boat drinks.
Waitress, I need two more boat drinks.
Then I'm headin south 'fore my dream shrinks.
I gotta where it's warm.


YO CREM -- need me to take you out for your birthday??

In the news today

An article from Reuters Oddly Enough for entire article click here

Man chainsaws house in two in divorce split

Fri Mar 9, 2007 8:24 AM ET

BERLIN (Reuters) - A 43-year-old German decided to settle his imminent divorce by chainsawing a family home in two and making off with his half in a forklift truck.

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© Reuters 2007.

GEE -- I can't imagine why someone would divorce this intelligent, resourceful person bloody idiot.