- Reality television law enforcement efforts have taken a
big hit with news that A&E has canceled the
long-running reality series "Dog the Bounty Hunter." The series,
which followed
Duane "Dog" Chapman and his family and friends as they formed a team
of bounty hunters that crossed the United States to track down fugitives, debuted
in 2004. The show took a break in 2007 when Chapman unleashed his inner racist
and was caught on tape spewing hate speech, leading to a massive public
controversy. A&E decided backing off for a while and allowing the fervor to
die down was wise and production resumed in 2008. However, no reality show can
keep its cast together for long if it has any modicum of success, as more
attention leads to a craving for even more exposure (and money) and bit players
start breaking off in the search for their 15 minutes. Chapman’s sons Duane Lee
and Leland left the series in 2011 and recent episodes have shown the family
attempting to work through its issues. Ironing out family troubles on reality
TV always works well, but the reconciliation will have to take place off the
air after the network announced that the show has been canceled after negotiations for the next season broke down. While
returning to relative anonymity might be tough for Chapman, maybe it’s for the
best. After all, he and his wife Beth appeared on the "Today"
show this week to discuss the death threats they have been receiving via e-mail
for the past few weeks. With the FBI involved, maybe stepping out of the public
eye will be best for Chapman, his wife, their sons and three daughters……….
- ‘Shrooms had a good run last fall, especially during a
deluge of rain near
Washington, D.C. The sudden surge of ‘shrooms led to a run on mushroom
poisonings and four people in two weeks showed up at area hospitals with
life-threatening liver damage after picking and eating fungi that turned out to
be toxic. Some of these morons picked and cooked the feared death cap toadstool
responsible for most mushroom fatalities worldwide and suffered life-threatening
liver failure. However, researchers want the world to know that mushrooms need
not be lethal and that there are treatment options exist even if they aren’t
well known. A drug known as Legalon is an intravenous form of silibinin,
milk-thistle extract, which may turn out to be an antidote to mushroom poisonings. Dr. Todd
Mitchell, a California doctor who developed the "Santa Cruz Protocol"
for treating mushroom poisoning, is working on Legalon, which sounds like a bad
online legal service, in a trial sponsored by German drugmaker Madaus Inc.,
which already sells the product approved in Europe. With nearly 6,000 people
reporting contact with suspicious mushrooms in 2010 and 1,300 illnesses caused
by ‘shrooms, according to the American Association of Poison Control Centers,
such a drug would be useful. Clueless, careless folks who find themselves sickened
by the Amanita phalloides -- death cap -- varieties that produce amatoxins,
which shut down liver function need an antidote. Stores of Legalon were found
in Pittsburgh and delivered by plane and courier. However, the first patient
was treated under an exemption of Food and Drug Administration rules that allow
a one-patient, one-time use of an unapproved drug. Mitchell, an expert in
amatoxin poisoning, began researching silibinin in 2007, when he was an
emergency room doctor who treated six members of a Mexican family who became
critically ill after consuming tacos made with toxic mushrooms. At the time,
silibinin was not available in the U.S., so Mitchell had to request that the
FDA allow emergency import of enough of the drug to treat the family. It worked
to save five of the six family members and Mitchell now believes that the
mortality rate for amatoxin poisoning can be 50 percent with use of silibinin.
The antidote counteracts the toxins from mushrooms, which shut down the
protein-making apparatus of cells in the liver, causing the organ to fail. “The
antidote blocks the entry of amatoxin into the liver cell,” he explained. In
his clinical trial, he has treated 44 patients, only five of which have died,
and Mitchell said the procedure wasn't followed thoroughly in those cases. He
believes he is close to beginning the process to gain FDA approval………..
- It seemed impossible, but life just became more
miserable and hazardous for dissidents in Russia. With despot “Bad Vlad” Putin
back in power, life was already bad for those who oppose the Kremlin. Putin
made it worse Tuesday, introducing draconian
new fines for protesters. The despot also engaged in good old-fashioned
nepotism, handing out Kremlin jobs to publicly despised lieutenants despite the
general outrage they have generated. The new law introducing a 200-fold
increase in fines for taking part in unsanctioned protests will obviously draw
the most ire and rightfully so. A certain harbinger of the growing crackdown on
dissent in Russia, the law portends nothing but bad things for Russians with
the capacity for free thoughts. Opposition lawmakers swiftly denounced the new
fines as an attempt to stifle criticism and warned of angry backlash sure to
follow. These bright minds also argued that removing a justifiable means of
expressing dissent could have the side effect of destabilizing Russia. Cutting
off protests ahead of a series of planned reforms that would hike energy prices
and cut social benefits is textbook Putin-led Communism, but what the hell does
an iron-fisted dictator care? Putin also could not care less that Sergei
Mironov, the leader of the opposition Just Russia party, said his faction was
boycotting the hearings of the "odious" bill intended to "shut
the people's mouth." In celebration of what the new law represents, police
quickly rounded up several members of the liberal Yabloko party who attempted
to protest the new bill outside parliament on Tuesday. Yabloko leader Sergei
Mitrokhin derided the bill as being designed to intimidate the opposition. "A
direct signal is being made by those in power: Sit down and keep quiet!"
Mitrokhin said. In spite of the warnings, the lower house, dominated by Putin's
United Russia party, voted 236-207 with one abstention to approve the bill in
the first of three required readings. Putin tightened his grip on Monday by
removing cabinet members who might cause trouble for him. On some level,
Putin’s desire to crush opposition makes sense, even if it’s totally wrong.
Hundreds of thousnads have taken to the streets of Moscow and other cities
across Russia to protest before, during and after the rigged elections that
officially returned him to power. Now that he’s back, the dictator wants to
raise fines for joining unsanctioned rallies from a maximum of 5,000 rubles
($160) now to 1,000,000 rubles ($32,250). Dissidence just became that much more
expensive (and necessary) in Russia………..
- Rhein Gibson had a day every other hacker who has ever
picked up a golf club has dreamed about. Gibson, a former collegiate golfer and
NAIA All-American at Oklahoma Christian University, set a provisional
world-record score last Saturday by shooting a 16-under 55 at the River Oaks Golf
Club in Edmond, Okla. The Australian knocked in 12 birdies and two eagles on
the 6,698-yard par-71 course on May 12 and for a player who is currently 12th
on the Golfweek National Pro Tour money list, the feat was breathtaking. "I
am trying to think myself what happened ... I just kind of got hot I guess and
every putt I hit went in," Gibson said. He knows he will receive plenty of
questions about his low round and a lot of media attention as well and he’s
fine with that, even if he insists he won't be doing any bragging. "I'm a
pretty humble guy," Gibson declared. "If people want to talk about
[the 55], I'm happy to talk about it. But it's not like I'm going to bring it
up or get a tattoo on my arm." That is definitely a shame because if there
was ever an accomplishment to head to the nearest tattoo shop and have a
reminder inked on your arm, shooting a 55 for a round of golf would be high on
the list. Gibson’s score ties a 55 by Homero Blancas on a par-70 Texas course
in 1962. His playing partners on his record-setting day, Ryan Munson and Eric
Fox did their best to help Gibson chase history. "I was starting to get
superstitious," Munson said. "How do I keep from doing something
different?" To make sure his feat was properly documented, Munson texted his
wife, friends and old friends of Gibson's. "He hit it on the right spots
on every hole to put [the ball] in good position," Fox said. "It was
almost a perfect round of golf.” What’s the best way to top off that sort of
day? A tattoo to mark the occasion is a solid idea……….
- Duuuuuuuude, that is a mondo huge stash, bro. Some dude
or chick somewhere is missing a hell of a party after Harbor Patrol officers found more
than 7,200 pounds worth of marijuana floating off the coast of Orange County,
Calif., on Sunday. More than 160 bales of ganja were found floating south of
Los Angeles, with an estimated street value of $3.6 million, border patrol
agents confirmed. "Shortly before noon on Sunday, May 20, maritime law
enforcement authorities received a tip about suspicious bales floating in the
water off the coast of Orange County, near Dana Point," border patrol agent
supervisor Michael Jimenez said in a statement. The haul of 7,263 pounds of the
hippie lettuce was first reported by an uptight square of a boater who clearly
doesn’t like to have a good time because if he or she did, that person would
have piloted their craft over, found a match or lighter and started a
party…..either that or pick off a few pounds and save it for later. Instead,
this loser phoned in a tip about the curiously-placed chron and three Harbor
Patrol ships and a Coast Guard cutter were sent to recover the marijuana from
the water. Jimenez stated the blatantly obvious by saying that the incident was
out of the ordinary. "At other events, they've dumped the bales to get rid
of weight if they're being chased," he said. "Generally in these
cases we're aware they're being dumped. What's more unusual is that the bales were
floating with no boat in sight." So far, no suspects or vessel have been
identified in connection to an ongoing investigation, but devastated stoners
everywhere are feeling a little more bummed today………..
No comments:
Post a Comment