News – A Win for Merck

North America

A jury finds that Merck provided adequate warning to doctors about the health risks of Vioxx, didn’t commit consumer fraud in marketing the drug and didn’t misrepresent, conceal or suppress information about the increased risk of heart attack and stroke from the medication.

The US seeks to justify its detention of thousands of terror suspects in Guantanimo, Afghanistan and Iraq. This isn’t even about those secret ones in other nations. “There is no question that under the law of armed conflict, the United States has the authority to detain persons who have engaged in unlawful belligerence until the cessation of hostilities,” says their justification report. Question is, how many of them have actually done anything. As many people as the US lets go after detention, it makes me wonder sometimes.

The House approves a bill that would deny local governments federal aid for two years if they if they misuse their new eminent domain powers.

Senior Judge Pat Priest of San Antonio, a democrat, will replace District Judge Robert Perkins. I wonder if anything is wrong with him.

Middle East

Iran gets poked for cruelty in detention of a jailed journalist.

Massimo Brutti of the Italian opposition Left Democrats claims that Italian Intelligence warned the US about bogus info on Saddam’s nuclear lust. I wonder if this can be verified.

Condi will be off to visit Israel and Palestine. She should go take a stroll through Gaza, maybe seeing what’s going on over there and being close to one of those sonic bombs will give her a little impetus to try and resolve matters over there. Sometimes you have to feel it personally to get a feel for it personally.

Scooter Libby’s first day in court.

Europe

Waseem Mughal and Younis Tsouli are charged under British anti-terrorism law with planning to carry out an attack on Britain, possibly on a hospital. A bit too much vagueness in that charge for my tastes.

Rioters set fire to hundreds of cars, as the unrest in a Paris suburb goes through its eighth day.

South America

Bush goes to a resort in Argentina for a summit of Americas-wide presidential leaders. Some residents head out and storefronts close as thousands of protesters come to meet him.

General

Studies show that Peyote may not cause long-term harm. It might even lead to benefit. Very interesting.

The nature of depression is widely debated these days. Some argue that it’s a state, which carries with it both potential positives as well as dangerous negatives. An interesting question is, what would have become of the tortured artists and thinkers of our time if they were on anti-depressants? Would they have been as creative? More? Less?

A review of Jarhead. Sounds like an interesting movie, though I likely won’t see it.

Today’s Papers has the high rate of AIDS infection in DC, the new safety of the road to the Baghdad Airport, diminishing Bush poll numbers and more in the one page news.

Amusements

Pop quiz: “I’m trapped now, please rescue me.” Where was this phrase found days after Katrina hit? A) Scrawled on a rooftop in New Orleans. B) In a whiny email from FEMA Director Michael Brown

School officials can’t understand why cafeteria menu of fruits, vegetables is driving students off-campus to surrounding fast-food restaurants

R. Kelly says he has 22 chapters of “Trapped in the Closet” finished. You might want to take a bathroom break somewhere around Chapter 10

Savage Love deals with a woman who ain’t horny anymore cause her partner is fat, and informs an office employee that a co-worker gets off on strutting around in a diaper

Commuter caught driving in HOV lane with kickboxing dummy in Dolphins jersey riding shotgun

Shaquille O’Neal continues to prove that crime is a disease and he is the cure. Still can’t make free throws, though

Mom creates ugly-ass bright clothes for childen so they won’t get lost in crowded malls, but will get beat up on the playground

US patent publishes first patent application to claim a fictional storyline. Hollywood prepares class-action suit against itself

Man loses his license for two years and is fined after being convicted of DUI…in a go-kart

Fark Photoshop Challenge: Laugh while you can, Mr. Fabulously Rich Exxon Mobile Guy — Fark is about to photoshop you into the next dimension of cliché

Fark Photoshop Challenge: TFarker rbaron71’s a cripple for a few weeks. Photoshop him in his recovery

Fark Photoshop Challenge: Photoshop this Microsoft presentation about what we already knew