The United States finally received its flowers from Iraqi citizens. We were told that American Military would be greeted with flowers upon invading the country but only received snipers, roadside bombs and suicide bombers. Before George Bush left office he singed an agreement that U.S. forces would pull back out of Iraq's cities on this day. This day has become an Iraqi holiday and has spurred multiple celebrations all day and night long. The U.S. Military will still provide support when needed but this will go down as a great day as Iraq will begin to stand owns her own. Hopefully without a puppet government. Dick Cheney has been seen in multiple instances saying that this pull back will lead to more violence and death. How much more violent can Iraq get? He blames Obama for this pull back. Unfortunate for him it was his administration that signed the agreement that allowed this to happen. Hoping that it turns out bad is not only like shooting your friend in the face, it's bordering treason (maybe not but it sounds good).
What would you do, if a 13' hungry python wrapped itself around you, then literally dragged you up a tree?
This is exactly what happened to Kenyan farm worker Ben Nyaumbe, living in the Malindi area of Kenya.
“I was preparing ugali at 7pm, close to the stable. I stood to pick a packet of flour when the water started boiling. As I stood up, I stepped on a spongy thing on the ground and suddenly, my leg was entangled with the body of a huge python." [...] "I would probably have struggled until I was too tired to fight anymore, yet Mr. Nyaumbe had the sense to bite the serpent on the tip of it's tail during a 1 hour exhaustive fight for his life." [ ...] "It waggled its ragged and scary tail on my mouth. I had to bite it as I struggled, one hand incapacitated,"
As I stood up, I stepped on a spongy thing on the ground and suddenly, my leg was entangled with the body of a huge python." [...]
"I would probably have struggled until I was too tired to fight anymore, yet Mr. Nyaumbe had the sense to bite the serpent on the tip of it's tail during a 1 hour exhaustive fight for his life." [ ...]
"It waggled its ragged and scary tail on my mouth. I had to bite it as I struggled, one hand incapacitated,"
His employer contacted the police who arrived with a rope to pull them both out of the tree - hopefully the snake was able to break Nyaumbe's heavy fall to the ground.
Peter Katam, superintendent of police in Malindi district, had this to say:
"The snake had coiled his hands and was trying to swallow him but he struggled very hard. The officers and villagers managed to rescue him and he was freed."He himself was injured on the lower lip of the mouth - it was bleeding a little bit - as the tip of the snake's tail was sharp when he said he bit it.
He himself was injured on the lower lip of the mouth - it was bleeding a little bit - as the tip of the snake's tail was sharp when he said he bit it.
The police officers were too frightened to shoot the snake, for fear of missing and killing Nyaumbe. Supt., Katam had this to say to the BBC:
"If it wasn't for the villagers and officers who helped him, he would have been swallowed by the snake over the Easter holiday," [...]He added: "It's very mysterious, this ability to lift the man onto the tree. I've never heard of this before."
He added: "It's very mysterious, this ability to lift the man onto the tree. I've never heard of this before."
Such an event would surely be the stuff of nightmares, for the surrounding villagers.
There are plenty of other deadly snakes in Kenya, both venomous and non-venomous.
OTTAWA – Researchers say they have located the world's oldest stash of marijuana, in a tomb in a remote part of China.
The cache of cannabis is about 2,700 years old and was clearly ``cultivated for psychoactive purposes," rather than as fibre for clothing or as food, says a research paper in the Journal of Experimental Botany.
The 789 grams of dried cannabis was buried alongside a light-haired, blue-eyed Caucasian man, likely a shaman of the Gushi culture, near Turpan in northwestern China.
The extremely dry conditions and alkaline soil acted as preservatives, allowing a team of scientists to carefully analyze the stash, which still looked green though it had lost its distinctive odour.
"To our knowledge, these investigations provide the oldest documentation of cannabis as a pharmacologically active agent," says the newly published paper, whose lead author was American neurologist Dr. Ethan B. Russo.
Remnants of cannabis have been found in ancient Egypt and other sites, and the substance has been referred to by authors such as the Greek historian Herodotus. But the tomb stash is the oldest so far that could be thoroughly tested for its properties.
The 18 researchers, most of them based in China, subjected the cannabis to a battery of tests, including carbon dating and genetic analysis. Scientists also tried to germinate 100 of the seeds found in the cache, without success.
The marijuana was found to have a relatively high content of THC, the main active ingredient in cannabis, but the sample was too old to determine a precise percentage.
Researchers also could not determine whether the cannabis was smoked or ingested, as there were no pipes or other clues in the tomb of the shaman, who was about 45 years old.
The large cache was contained in a leather basket and in a wooden bowl, and was likely meant to be used by the shaman in the afterlife.
"This materially is unequivocally cannabis, and no material has previously had this degree of analysis possible," Russo said in an interview from Missoula, Mont.
"It was common practice in burials to provide materials needed for the afterlife. No hemp or seeds were provided for fabric or food. Rather, cannabis as medicine or for visionary purposes was supplied."
The tomb also contained bridles, archery equipment and a harp, confirming the man's high social standing.
Russo is a full-time consultant with GW Pharmaceuticals, which makes Sativex, a cannabis-based medicine approved in Canada for pain linked to multiple sclerosis and cancer.
The company operates a cannabis-testing laboratory at a secret location in southern England to monitor crop quality for producing Sativex, and allowed Russo use of the facility for tests on 11 grams of the tomb cannabis.
Researchers needed about 10 months to cut red tape barring the transfer of the cannabis to England from China, Russo said.
The inter-disciplinary study was published this week by the British-based botany journal, which uses independent reviewers to ensure the accuracy and objectivity of all submitted papers.
The substance has been found in two of the 500 Gushi tombs excavated so far in northwestern China, indicating that cannabis was either restricted for use by a few individuals or was administered as a medicine to others through shamans, Russo said.
"It certainly does indicate that cannabis has been used by man for a variety of purposes for thousands of years."
Russo, who had a neurology practice for 20 years, has previously published studies examining the history of cannabis.
"I hope we can avoid some of the political liabilities of the issue," he said, referring to his latest paper.
The region of China where the tomb is located, Xinjiang, is considered an original source of many cannabis strains worldwide.
Palin contends that Obama’s characterization of his tax plan revealed him to be a “socialist” who wants to “redistribute” American wealth. Palin argues that the Obama tax plan “discourages productivity,” will “punish hardwork,” and will “stifle the entrepreneurial spirit.”
Conservatives in the media have echoed Palin’s sentiments, insinuating that Obama is a “Marxist” and referring to his tax plan as “welfare.”
But Palin’s criticisms of Obama’s “spread the wealth” remarks are ironic, as she recently characterized Alaska’s tax code in a very similar way. Just last month, in an interview with Philip Gourevitch of the New Yorker, Palin explained the windfall profits tax that she imposed on the oil industry in Alaska as a mechanism for ensuring that Alaskans “share in the wealth” generated by oil companies:
And Alaska—we’re set up, unlike other states in the union, where it’s collectively Alaskans own the resources. So we share in the wealth when the development of these resources occurs. … It’s to maximize benefits for Alaskans, not an individual company, not some multinational somewhere, but for Alaskans.
In fact, Alaska’s Clear and Equitable Share (ACES) program, which manages the redistribution of oil wealth in Alaska, brings in so much money that the state needs no income or sales tax. In addition, this year ACES will provide every Alaskan with a check for an estimated $3,200.
As Hendrick Hertzberg notes, “Perhaps there is some meaningful distinction between spreading the wealth and sharing it…but finding it would require the analytic skills of Karl the Marxist.”
Taken from Think Progress.org
I find it strange most people that are complaining about Obama's tax plan are worried about it taking part of their wealth and giving it to someone else. Most of these people have no hope of ever earning $250,000 a year (as 98% of small businesses do not) and quiet frankly have no wealth at all to lose. The only wealth most of these people had was in their homes or 401K earnings and this puts most of them in the red.
The people fueling this backlash are the wealthy that did not include you in sharing the wealth as they raked in Billions, but forced you to share the pain in the form of a Trillion Dollar Wall Street bailout. Don't help them rob you again by parroting their talking points.
Americans must be suffering from mass hypnosis to not only vote against her own best interest, but fight long and hard destroy herself. I'm embarrassed as the world views in disbelief.
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