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POPSBuy BZP From Legal Sources The classification and re-classification of narcotic substances has been one of the main aims of governments for a long time ever since the days of excessive usage of so called recreational pharmaceuticals in the sixties and now the reclassification of substances has reared its head once again.
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POPSBZP Powder illegal in NZ It has been stated by various sources that The European Union has recommended that BZP become a class C drug, and that this may happen by the end of this year (2008).
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POPSGnomes In Crisis current climate, gnomes receive no legal protection or aid. They don't even receive fishing rod subsidies anymore." "We hope this report will highlight the plight of a much loved, and greatly under-rated garden figure." Download the report (pdf) here If you feel strongly about the protection of gnomes, we urge you to write to your MP asking them to support an EU directive to place all gnomes under the protection of the Pope.
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POPS"Good Faith" Torture Deemed OK Interesting that they set a subjective standard for torture: viz., if the interrogator thought in "good faith" that the method wouldn't cause long-term mental harm. Note that it didn't require that the method would probably cause long-term mental harm, only that the interrogator didn't believe it would. By defining torture subjectively, the Bush administration: 1. Consigned the definition of torture to belief, thereby making it impossible to adjudicate by objective measures. 2. Totally marginalized the detainee's likely reaction to the method and, thereby, nullified the detainee's humanness and recognition as a rights-bearing being. This kind of sophistry one would expect of a brutal dictatorship.
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POPSHOT 'GRINDERS' SANDWICH & STRIPPER BIZ SLAP. A lot can be said for high quality meat. Personally, I prefer a tube steak.
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POPSSchwarzenegger's Wage Slashing Order Won't Be Obeyed I predict that the terminator will end up terminating his harebrained idea about slashing state workers pay to minimum wage level now that he has started a rebellion. It turns out that ol' Arnie was trying to engage in a political stunt since the state does have enough funds on hand to meet its obligations. As to this callous GOPer's disregard to the little guy, one state worker proposed the appropriate corrective action: "I think the governor should fund the budget with his own resources until he and the Legislature can get together," said Paul Ablon, who has been a state attorney for nearly nine years. "And maybe he'll appreciate how it is to worry about paying your expenses."
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POPSinteractive guide: Who in the Bush administration broke the law, and who could be prosecuted
Each scandal is represented by a colored circle that encompasses the people who are implicated. As it's easy to see, many of the players here are mixed up in two, three, or more of the alleged crimes. Hence all the overlapping circles (Venn-diagram heaven!). The best way to make sense of this legal tangle is to mouse over the title of an individual scandal, which will highlight everyone implicated. For example, the wiretapping bubble ensnares George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, David Addington, John Ashcroft, John Yoo, and Alberto Gonzales. At the same time, Ashcroft and Gonzales fall into the overlapping circle for monkey business related to DoJ hiring. Mouse over a person's name for information on how each person is involved. Mouse over the title of each circle for specifics about the particular scandal. And if all else fails, fall back on this golden rule of wrongdoing in the White House: All roads lead to Gonzales.
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POPSNY Passes Video Game Label Law Similar laws have been thrown out in states including California and Illinois -- and it's a good thing, because they're absolutely stupid. Why should video game makers be forced by law to label their wares this way, and not creators of other forms of media?
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POPSOusting Jack Murtha If all that didn't make this enough of an inspiring story: In February, a Pennsylvania judge ruled that Russell had failed to collect enough signatures to make the primary ballot. But he refused to give up on his goal of defeating Murtha. The GOP neophyte persevered on a shoestring budget and won more than 4,000 write-in votes in the spring to earn a spot on the general-election ballot. Russell's campaign manager, veteran GOP activist Peg Luksik, says most second-quarter donations were less than $50. Russell's clear on where he stands. "I am a conservative," he says in his defining campaign statement. "I believe in the sovereignty and security of this one nation, under God. I believe the primary role of government is to provide for the common defense and a legal framework to protect families and individual liberty."
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POPSNational Anthem Not welcome in California State House Sometimes I wish that California would be hit with the "BIG ONE" and send it into Pacific Ocean. Thank God the children did not break out into a spontaneous chorus of Amazing Grace, they might have been tarred and feathered. For this unpatriotic display on the part of the California State capital this story belongs in the Cuckoos nest for sure. No wonder they call Cali the 'Left Coast' apparently the people who live out there have taken leave of their common sense.
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POPSObama's Foreign Policy Goes Neocon--Unjust Wars Will Continue
The real Obama policy. Must see video interview (at link) where Obama 1) legitimizes the "war on terrorism" (as necessary and true war); 2) escalate war in Afghanistan (regime change, like Iraq continues); 3) willing to attack targets inside Pakistan--i.e. invade any sovereign country to kill and destroy alleged 'terrorists' (think collateral damage on civilians or wrongly accused from missiles and UAV drones). Watch the interview, Obama does not answer one "why?" question of Lara Logan about the "necessity" of the "war on terrorism", he simply dodges and assumes its legitimacy without reason or debate. UNJUST WAR is the problem here. Where is the protest? The "war on terrorism" is not a true or legal constitutional war, and enabling Obama to do the same as Bush without criticism is hypocritical and partisan blindness. It has always been the goal to finish Iraq and legitimize and spread the war on terrorism. Note the media: War = Patriotism
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POPSChavez Meets Russia's Medvedev For Trade Talks "We expect the signing of a range of contracts" in the arms sector, a member of the Venezuelan delegation was quoted by Interfax news agency as saying. He added that purchases could include Russian tanks and submarines. Chavez was also due to meet Sergei Chemezov, who oversees Russian arms export monopoly Rosoboronexport, a Kremin source said Tuesday. Rosoboronexport spokesman Vyacheslav Davidenko declined to comment about specific weapons deals, but he told AFP the two sides had drafted a document providing a "legal basis" for future arms deliveries. The Kommersant daily said Tuesday that a complicating factor in talks could be Venezuela's relationship with its neighbour Colombia, which accuses Chavez of aiding the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), a rebel group. If Russian weapons surface in the conflict zone, Moscow would be threatened not only with a significant worsening of relations with Bogota, but with Washington too,"
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POPS"My First-Hand Experience with Gov't Spies" America's new government, including the states, in action: Thanks to the Freedom of Information Act and the ACLU, we now know that "Lucy" was only one part of a vast, insidious project. The Maryland State Police's Department of Homeland Security devoted near 300 hours and thousands of taxpayer dollars from 2005 and 2006 to harassing people whose only crime was dissenting on the question of the war in Iraq and Maryland's use of death row.