Whew

Here's the headline: Man 'took 40,000 ecstasy tablets'
But, disappointingly, it turns out they weren't all at once! On the other hand,

At the height of his use, the man - known as "Mr A" - was taking 25 tablets a day, Psychosomatics journal revealed...When the doctors carried out tests on Mr A it was found he had memory impairment and "major behavioural consequences of his memory loss" such as repeating activities several times.

This meant that he could not concentrate well and had very poor short-term memory, forgetting the time or what he had put in his supermarket trolley.

Details, details!

Wisconsin wants out:

Twenty-four Wisconsin communities approved resolutions Tuesday calling for the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, while eight others voted against such measures as voters in 32 communities weighed in on the war.

Wasn't on the ballot in Pleasant Valley. Just a few local races, and an unopposed Superior Court judge named Crooks!

Over in Minnesota, they had some weird customs.

"It was nothing to fill up huge washtubs of smelt," said Francisco, 54, who owns a marine supply store in Duluth. "We would literally fill up the back of pickups with smelt and give pails of them to all the old ladies in the neighborhood."

Not sure why they were picking on the old ladies. But all good things must come to an end!

So what happened to Minnesota's famed "rite of spring"?

It faded, then virtually disappeared.

The great smelt runs began declining in the 1980s, then dropped off dramatically by the 1990s. The crowds disappeared with the smelt.

Read all about it...



I used to think that John McCain was an honorable man, that he was principled and could be an advocate for people like me. I even thought he and Feingold could run together as mavericks for president/VP. But his shameful embrace of Bush in the 2004 election started a revelation. Now it is all too clear that he will do pretty much anything to get elected.

It's sad to see him so quickly abandon the right way for the way right.

How far right? When McCain himself once cited "pandering to the outer reaches of American politics and agents of intolerance," he mentioned Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell.

Guess who's giving the commencement speech next month at Falwell's institution, Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va.?

Oh, sure, McCain declared he and Falwell had "agreed to disagree on certain issues, and we agreed to move forward." Move forward? With the "agents of intolerance"? Sure, if the destination is the White House, right?

This article covers it pretty well