Bad news for stoners, no China trip for the Islanders and where to buy a cheap iPhone

- Please tell me this isn’t true. Tell me that the man known as Canada's "prince of pot," a man who is a hero to millions (and MILLIONS) of stoners worldwide didn’t really plead guilty Monday in a deal with prosecutors that could send him to prison in the United States for five years. You may know him better at hippie lettuce activist Marc Emery, but by any name, he pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Seattle, Washington, to a single count of conspiracy to manufacture marijuana following an 18-month investigation into the seed-selling business Emery operated from his shop in Vancouver, British Columbia. He was sold out by his own government, which signed an extradition order May 10 that allowed the U.S. to hail him across the border to face our insane pot laws. This case has dragged on for five years after Emery was arrested in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he as the guest speaker at the Maritimers Unite for Medical Marijuana festival. He was accused of selling marijuana seeds to American customers and on the same day as he was arrested, Emery claimed that DEA agents raided his head shop in downtown Vancouver, where he sold bongs, pipes and books. Yes, you read that right - bongs AND books. Thankfully, U.S. District Court Judge Ricardo Martinez scheduled Emery's sentencing August 11, meaning there is still time for all you stoners out there to rally up, formulate a plan to spring Emery from jail and…..aww, screw it. Who am I kidding? We’re talking about stoners here and they just aren’t the most motivated group in the world. Emery’s fate was sealed when Canada's justice minister sold him out last week and paved the way for extradition. "Marc has never been afraid to face the music," said his wife, Jodie. "He's spent most of his life breaking laws he considers unjust to demonstrate they're unjust. He'll go to jail to prove how absurd our drug laws are." I agree, being the avowed friend of stoners that I am. So what if the guy produced the magazine Cannabis Culture and ran an Internet portal, Pot-TV? Just because the DEA's 18-month undercover investigation into Emery Direct Seeds allegedly turned up incidences of agents buying seeds from Emery's business over the Internet and in person doesn’t mean anything. The guy stands against our arcane, backwards laws governing pot in most of our states and authorities are merely pissed that this guy is standing up to them. However, don’t buy DEA Administrator Karen Tandy’s boasts that Emery’s capture as a "significant blow not only to the marijuana trafficking trade in the United States and Canada, but also to the marijuana legalization movement." Nice try, K. You, better than anyone, should know that in the drug culture, there is always a next person waiting to step up and take the baton for the druggie relay team. When one man goes down, the organization just welcomes in the next guy and keeps going. So if Emery and his two employees, Gregory Williams and Michelle Rainey-Fenkarek, are thrown in jail, the battle will continue and in the end, the right side will prevail……..

- Here’s hoping that New York Islanders owner Charles Wang hasn’t set off a major international incident by cancelling his team's planned nine-day trip to China. The move, first reported on Monday, certainly wasn’t expected. The trip, which had previously been agreed upon by the team, the NHL and the NHLPA, was expected to be a public relations maneuver for both the team and the league, but it had the plug pulled when the NHLPA began to check on making sure logistics including arenas, transportation and lodging met the union's standards. Wang became angered (and no one wants and angry Wang) and he was the one to cancel the trip. Team general manager Garth Snow confirmed the trip’s cancellation, but NHLPA spokesman Jonathan Weatherdon confirmed that the union's planned logistics check was standard operating procedure for any event involving the union's membership and was not in any way a sign of disrespect for Wang or the Islanders. "It's what we do," Weatherdon said. According to Weatherdon, the NHLPA always sends staff to events to ensure that everything is in order and that arenas, travel arrangements and security are in place for the event. When the Tampa Bay Lightning were preparing to play an exhibition game in Bratislava, Slovakia, in the fall of 2008, the NHLPA staff that visited the arena found nails sticking out of the boards around the rink and order that new boards be installed before the game. Also, if the league or players’ association were truly against this trip, why did the NHLPA waive its normal percentage fee for participating in international events for the China trip? The association made its own public relations ploy, asking instead for a donation to Goals and Dreams, the union's grassroots hockey program, to benefit youth hockey in China. Now, the trip is off, Wang is pissed and the Chinese can't be much happier...........

- Looking for a cheaper iPhone? Well, it may not be the 4G smartphone that you are seeking, but Wal-Mart has announced plans to slash the price of Apple's 16GB 3GS iPhone to $97 beginning this week. The world's largest retailer could well be looking to clear inventory as Apple prepares to unveil a brand-new iPhone next month. In other words, the iPhone 3GS is about to be out of date and that means you could save more than $100 on the phone, which currently retails for $199. However, that discount also means that you must sign a two-year contract from AT&T, the iPhone's exclusive service provider. "It is our commitment to always lead on price," Mehrdad Akbar, Wal-Mart's senior category director for wireless, in a prepared statement. Not that Apple needs any boost in iPhone sales (8.3 million last quarter, more than twice the amount sold during the same period a year ago), but this should help. Not everyone can afford the latest smartphone and those who shop at Wal-Mart typically aren’t the wealthiest, most affluent people who can afford a $300 smartphone anyhow. Also, Apple could be looking for an edge as competitors like Google, Research in Motion and Hewlett-Packard step up their smartphone game. HP, which recently purchased Palm, is the latest to jump into the fight and with industry analysts predicting that worldwide smart phone sales will continue to increase after topping 54 million units in the first quarter, it’s definitely a battle worth fighting. Both Apple and Wal-Mart also know that with the launch of the iPhone 4G on the horizon, sales of the previous model will soon begin dropping off as buyers simply wait out the new version. Having a $100 incentive to buy now may not send iPhone sales a-soarin’, but it should at least give Apple a bit of a boost as it prepares for its next big launch………..

- America, are you ready for another summer of hot chicks, ‘roided-up dudes and cranky reality TV lifers cramming into a glorified house/sound stage to live together, compete in absurd challenges like oversized putt-putt golf, throw in ridiculous costumes and engage in nonstop infighting as the world watches their every move on TV? If so, then you have to be pumped that the 12th edition of Big Brother will premiere on CBS on Thursday, July 8. Host Julie Chen will be back to preside over this gaggle of misfits and miscreants as they roid up, tan, gel, strategize and hook up. The show will be a staple of CBS’ summer lineup, airing three nights a week: on Sundays (8-9 p.m), Wednesdays (8-9 p.m. ET/PT) and Thursdays (eviction show from 8-9 p.m.) In the past, Brother has aired on Tuesday nights but the network reportedly wanted to keep its lame-tastic lineup of dramas on that night in place. The network hasn’t announced the cast for the 12th run of BB, but would it really be that much of a revelation? We don’t know any of these losers and whatever corner of obscurity CBS has plucked them from, it makes no difference. The show had a good run last season, logging a 7 percent increase in viewers (7.08 million from 6.60 million), and a 4 percent jump in adults 18-49 (2.5 rating/8 share from 2.4/07). Also, all three nights of the show tallied increases over the same night from the previous summer. Once again the winner will receive a $500,000 prize, which seems like a small reward for whoring out your personal dignity, self-respect and integrity - that is, assuming any of these hacks posses any of those characteristics at this point in their sad, pathetic existences anyhow……….

- Hmm, might it be a problem that the Food and Drug Administration is looking into reports of at least 775 serious side effects from Tylenol, Motrin and Benadryl drugs from Jan. 1, 2008 through April 30, 2010? I mean, drugs that are supposed to heal you or address serious medical problems harming you instead of helping would seem to be bad, right? The drugs have now been recalled by McNeil, a division of Johnson & Johnson. A Congressional investigation found reports of 30 deaths, although the majority of those fatalities were not tied to the recalled products. Still, the FDA is investigating reports of several hundred serious side effects -- or "adverse events" -- and seven deaths since May 1, when McNeil recalled 50 children's versions of the medicines due to serious quality and safety concerns. For the health-care dumb, adverse event reports are consumer complaints of a serious side effect associated with the use of a medical product. They could include death, hospitalization, disability and other health complications. To delve into the matter further, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has scheduled a hearing on May 27 to examine the recall. In the meantime, Johnson & Johnson has suspended production at McNeil's facility in Fort Washington, Penn., that manufactured the drugs. It seems like a smart move, especially since this is McNeil's fourth recall in the past seven months, coming after: 1) a November 2009 recall of five lots of Tylenol Arthritis Pain 100 count with the EZ-open cap because of unusual odor leading to nausea, stomach pain, vomiting and diarrhea, a December recall expansions done to include all product lots of Tylenol Arthritis Pain caplet 100 count bottles with the red EZ-open cap and a January 2010 recall widening to include an undisclosed number of Tylenol, Motrin and other over-the-counter drugs due to the same odor. As always, McNeil is attempting to spin the situation in its favor by painting its recall as "undertaken on the basis of adverse medical events" but as a precautionary measure. Sure it’s not, liars. The next company to recall its products from the goodness of its heart will be the first. "We track all adverse events and thoroughly investigate all serious adverse cases that are reported and, in turn, report these to the FDA, whether or not the event may be caused by our products," McNeil said in a statement Tuesday. In between now and that congressional hearing, you may want to spend some time cleaning up the Fort Washington plant, a facility of which the FDA, issued a 17-page inspection report earlier this month listing 20 violations. Step your game up, McNeil, and stop making products that are supposed to help people but actually pose more of a threat to them than the ailments they are looking to treat………