Thanks a lot, you stupid sheepf*ckers... aren't you the state where that dumb bitch abandoned her baby in the landfill? How many more times will that happen if abortion is illegal?
S. Dakota legislature passes abortion ban - Yahoo! NewsSIOUX FALLS, South Dakota (Reuters) - South Dakota became the first U.S. state to pass a law banning abortion in virtually all cases, with the intention of forcing the Supreme Court to reconsider its 1973 decision legalizing the procedure.
The law, which would punish doctors who perform the operation with a five-year prison term and a $5,000 fine, awaits the signature of Republican Gov. Michael Rounds and people on both sides of the issue say he is unlikely to veto it.
"My understanding is we are the first state to truly defy Roe v. Wade," the 1973 high court ruling that granted a constitutional right to abortion, said Kate Looby of Planned Parenthood's South Dakota chapter.
State legislatures in Ohio, Indiana, Georgia, Tennessee and Kentucky also have introduced similar measures this year, but South Dakota's legislative calendar means its law is likely to be enacted first.
"We hope (Rounds) recognizes this for what it is: a political tool and not about the health and safety of the women of South Dakota," Looby said.
"If he chooses to sign it, we will be filing a lawsuit in short order to block it," she said after attending the afternoon debate at the state capital in Pierre.
Proponents have said the law was designed for just such a court challenge.
The timing is right, supporters say, given the recent appointments of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito to the high court. The two conservatives could pave the way to a decision overturning Roe v. Wade.
The high court said on Tuesday it will rule on whether the federal government can ban some abortion procedures, a case that could reveal whether the court reshaped by President George W. Bush will restrict abortion rights.
In 1992, the Supreme Court reaffirmed the right to abortion in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the last direct challenge to Roe v. Wade.
The South Dakota law concludes that life begins at conception based on medical advances over the past three decades.
Proposed amendments to the law to create exceptions to specifically protect the health of the mother, or in cases of rape or incest, were voted down. Also defeated was an amendment to put the proposal in the hands of voters.
The bill as written does make an exception if the fetus dies during a doctor's attempt to save the mother's life.
Planned Parenthood operates the sole clinic in South Dakota where roughly 800 abortions are performed each year by doctors from neighboring Minnesota, Looby said.
Two years ago, Rounds vetoed a similar bill, saying it would wipe out existing restrictions on abortion while it was fought in the courts. A rewritten bill lost narrowly in the state Senate.
Some legislators opposed to abortion rights questioned whether it was premature to challenge Roe v. Wade, and said litigation would prove expensive for the sparsely populated state. An anonymous donor has offered $1 million to the state to defray the costs of litigation.
posted by decemberx 9:10 PM[edit]
SIX THINGS YOU DON'T KNOW ABOUT: NEBRASKA. pretty funny, especially the description of detasseling... I did it one summer, when I was 13, because when you've been making $1.50/hr babysitting, minimum wage seems like a lot of money....
posted by decemberx 3:22 PM[edit]
Matthew Sweet went to my high school... I didn't know him, though, because he was a senior when I was a sophomore...
Sweet, Hoffs Team Up For '60s Covers Fest By Troy Carpenter
Tue Feb 21, 8:08 PM ET
Veteran power-pop singer/songwriter Matthew Sweet and Bangles crooner Susanna Hoffs may not seem to the casual fan like the perfect pairing for a duets album, but when it comes to paying tribute to the golden-era rock/pop music of the 1960s, they couldn't be more in tune with one another.
The two have known each other for many years, and were already members of Ming Tea, the freakout-interlude band from the "Austin Powers" comedies. But when they got together to create "Under the Covers Vol. 1," a 15-track set of '60s remakes out April 18 on Shout! Factory, they found just how much their tastes ran together.
"The really bizarre thing," Hoffs told Billboard.com, "was that the first time we came together (for the project), we both had lists of songs we wanted to do, and the Left Banke's 'She May Call You Up Tonight' was the first choice on both of our lists."
Added Sweet, "And that's a very obscure song of theirs that nobody knows, not one of their hits or anything."
Not that there's anything wrong with hit-makers; "Under the Covers, Vol. 1" has tracks by the Beatles, the Beach Boys, the Who, Neil Young, Love, the Velvet Underground, the Bee Gees and the Mamas and the Papas. But the reverence with which Sweet and Hoffs approach their songs makes the record seem more like a pop fan's mix tape rather than a "Chart-Topping Smashes" compilation.
"We went through some of our favorite songs and thought, 'Is there stuff for both of us to do on a particular song, harmonies and such?' And if there wasn't, we'd work it out later in the recording process," Sweet explained.
Said process took place at Sweet's home studio in Los Angeles, accompanied by his longtime collaborators Ric Menck, Richard Lloyd, Ivan Julian and Greg Leisz. Van Dyke Parks even dropped by to lend keyboards to versions of Bob Dylan's "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" and the Stone Poneys' "Different Drum," and to pen a spirited opening to the liner notes.
Hoffs and Sweet aren't just dwelling in the past. Both have plenty of other projects on their plate, from Hoffs' rejuvenated Bangles commitments (touring, early plans for a new studio record) to Matthew Sweet's new album, which he's also recording at home and hoping to get finished this year. And they're also planning on writing songs together for a new Hoffs solo album. But should fans infer anything from the "Vol. 1" tag on "Under the Covers?"
"We want to make a 'Volume 2,' but we'll see how it pans out," Sweet said. "We have a lot of other songs that if we had the time we could go in and finish." Added Hoffs, "When there's music, we're happy."
Reuters/Billboard
posted by decemberx 9:01 AM[edit]
Having worked on the reports for the Arkansas Supreme Court, and Court of Appeals, this isn't at all unbelieveable--Corruption Probe Snags Mayor, Police Chief
Published Wednesday February 8, 2006 by The Associated Press
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LONOKE, Ark. (AP) - A small-town police chief resigned Wednesday amid a corruption investigation that's also led to accusations against his wife, the mayor and two others.
City council members accepted Chief Jay Campbell's resignation at a meeting two days after he was charged with conspiracy to make methamphetamine and conspiracy to commit residential burglary.
Campbell's wife faces burglary charges and is accused in escape-related charges that say she got prisoners out of jail to have sex with them.
Mayor Thomas Privett has been sticking to his normal duties in the town of 4,300 just east of Little Rock. He faces a misdemeanor count for allegedly using state prisoners to do work for him, including fixing his air conditioner and hanging Christmas lights.
"I've got a city to run, and a business to run, and that's what I intend to concentrate on," Privett told reporters after Wednesday evening's meeting.
The two other men are charged with conspiring with the police chief to make methamphetamine to entrap another man. One also faces charges that he threatened a witness.
Campbell has maintained his innocence and other suspects have said through attorneys that they are innocent.
Council member Richard Bransford said townspeople are angry. "Everybody's upset, everybody that cares, and I think they're totally justified," he said.
posted by decemberx 10:59 PM[edit]
Tweakers should NOT breed. Both of these morons should be sterilized. Sadly, the children are probably better off dead...
Police Say Man Rolls Over and Kills Twins
Published Wednesday January 25, 2006 by The Associated Press
LOMPOC, Calif. (AP) - A man high on methamphetamine rolled over in his sleep and suffocated his 1-month-old twin daughters, police said.
The man and the girls' mother were sharing their bed with the babies, who died Monday.
Jason Moises Gomez, 31, was ordered held without bail on suspicion of child endangerment causing death, being under the influence of a controlled substance and violating probation, police said.
The babies' mother, Christa Perry, 35, was arrested on suspicion of being under the
influence of a controlled substance but was released.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission says 515 babies died in the United States while sleeping in beds with adults from 1990 through 1997. Of those infants, 121 died after an adult rolled onto or against them.
posted by decemberx 10:54 PM[edit]
Take the figure skating quiz - Figure skating - MSNBC.com Proof that I know way too much about figure skating -- I got 11 of 12 right... they only one I didn't know was the "father of figure skating"...
posted by decemberx 1:44 PM[edit]
Can't wait to try this stuff... I'm disappointed with Target's "Choxie" line... as expensive as it is, it ought to taste better. I got some on clearance after X-mas, it was okay, but I wouldn't pay full price for it.
Candy makers push healthy chocolateALBANY, Ga. — It’s every chocolate lover’s wish that their favorite indulgence could somehow be healthy for them. Now, chocolate makers claim they have granted that wish.
Kevin Tilley scrutinizes CocoaVia health bars moving down a production line at Mars Inc.'s Masterfoods plant in Albany, Ga., Feb. 1, 2006. Mars introduced CocoaVia to appeal to health-conscious consumers who also enjoy fine chocolates. (AP)
Mars Inc., maker of Milky Way, Snickers and M&M’s candies, next month plans to launch nationwide a new line of products made with a dark chocolate the company claims has health benefits.
Called CocoaVia, the products are made with a kind of dark chocolate high in flavanols, an antioxidant found in cocoa beans that is thought to have a blood-thinning effect similar to aspirin and may even lower blood pressure. The snacks also are enriched with vitamins and injected with cholesterol-lowering plant sterols from soy.
But researchers are skeptical about using chocolate for its medicinal purposes and experts warn it’s no substitute for a healthy diet.
“To suggest that chocolate is a health food is risky,” said Bonnie Liebman, nutrition director for the Center for Science in the Public Interest.
Recent research has not established a link between flavanols and a reduced risk of cancer or heart disease, she said. And with obesity already a serious health problem, “the last thing we need is for Americans to think they can eat more chocolate.”
A paper published by the American Heart Association concluded that chocolate contains chemicals, including flavanols, that have the potential to reduce heart disease. But it added researchers still don’t know enough about flavanols to make dietary recommendations.
Other major chocolate companies also have started promoting the flavanol content of their dark chocolates, such as Hershey’s Extra Dark, introduced last fall with highlights on its label touting its 60 percent cocoa content and high level of flavanol.
Dark chocolate, which contains more flavanols than regular chocolate, is the fastest growing segment of the $10 billion-a-year chocolate market. Hershey reports that its dark-chocolate sales have grown 11.2 percent over the past four years.
Last year, Hershey Co. acquired San Francisco-based Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker Inc., known for its dark chocolate with high cocoa content and baking products, and plans to add new dark-chocolate products.
Mars created a new division, Mars Nutrition for Health & Well-Being, to distribute CocoaVia. The company has sold the CocoaVia products online for a couple years. They are already available at retail stores in 34 states, selling for nearly $1 a bar.
“Chocolate ... is the number one flavor ingredient in the world,” said Jimmy Cass, Mars’ vice president of marketing. “Heart health is the No. 1 concern of adults over the age of 40 in every civilized nation. Putting those two together is automatically a big idea.”
With the growing number of baby boomers, the industry has been focusing on products that appeal to them, such as gourmet chocolates, organic chocolates and “functional” chocolates, such as CocoaVia, that may provide health benefits.
Rachael Brandeis, a national spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association in Atlanta, said dark chocolate is a good source of flavanols, but so are other foods such as fruits, vegetables and whole grains.
“Dark chocolate can fit into a healthy diet,” she said. The fat in chocolate is a type that does not raise cholesterol levels, but it can add unwanted pounds if a person overindulges, she said.
“I would say if you enjoy the taste of dark chocolate, enjoy it,” she said. “But you always have to be conscious of how much you’re eating.”
Mars adamantly defends its health claims for CocoaVia.
The company has done research studies that have shown it can improve blood flow, said Mars’ chief scientist Harold Schmitz.
“We believe ... there can be a significant benefit around blood pressure, but we have not conclusively proven that,” he said.
The soy extract was included in the products because it has been shown to reduce cholesterol, Cass said.
Norman Hollenberg, a professor at the Harvard Medical School, told a recent cocoa symposium that the Cuna Indians of Panama, who drink flavanoid-rich cocoa beverages, have a 10 percent lower risk of dying of heart attacks and a 20 percent lower risk of dying of cancer than average Panamanians.
More studies are needed to determine whether it is the cocoa consumption or other factors that make them healthier, Hollenberg said.
“The data assigning it to one mechanism just isn’t there yet,” he said.
Regardless of the research, Mars’ Albany plant is filled with the fragrance of dark, warm chocolate. A seemingly endless procession of CocoaVia bars move along a conveyor belt under the scrutiny of human and electronic eyes.
It is a sterile environment of gleaming stainless machinery and highly polished floors where workers wear white suits or smocks, hair nets, safety glasses and white helmets.
The health bars pass through a machine that cools them, several that cut them to size and another that dribbles decorative swirls across the top and gives the underside a final coating of dark chocolate.
The Wellness Letter, a health and fitness newsletter published by the University of California-Berkeley, evaluated CocoaVia and advised readers to enjoy the snacks on occasion for pleasure, but not as a health food.
“CocoaVia’s benefits are still unproven,” the newsletter said. “Eat it only if you like it and are willing to pay the premium price.”
Fruits and vegetables are still the best source of the antioxidants found in dark chocolate and they also contain vitamins, minerals, fiber and plant chemicals not found in chocolate, the newsletter said.
CocoaVia was just an expensive candy bar, concluded John Swartzberg, chairman of the newsletter’s editorial board and clinical professor of health and medical science at Berkeley.
“But it did taste good,” he said.
Cocavia's website
posted by decemberx 1:19 PM[edit]
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