Medical Marijuana Legal in Washington DC

A democratic Congress did not overrule the Washington, D.C. Council bill allowing the district to establish up to eight medical marijuana dispensaries where patients can purchase the drug. Congress had 30 legislative session days to review the bill that was approved by the D.C. Council in May of 2010. Now that the bill has cleared Congress, patients will likely have to wait several months for Mayor Adrian M Fenty and the D.C. Department of Health to establish marijuana dispensary licensing regulations.

The law passed by the District of Columbia allows allows patients with cancer, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS and other chronic ailments to possess up to four ounces of the drug. Patients will not be allowed to grow their own marijuana for medical use. Medical marijuana will need to be purchased from licensed companies once a patient has obtained a doctor's permission. Patients who prove financial need will be eligible to purchase medical marijuana at reduced cost, or receive it free of charge.

Medical marijuana sales are also subject to the district's 6 per cent sales tax.

Washington, D.C. residents voted to allow medical marijuana use in a 1998 referendum. Until last year, Congress blocked the city from enacting that referendum.

This announcement comes just a few days after the startling news from the Department of Veterans Affairs that will formally allow veterans being treated at its hospitals and clinics in states that have legalized use of medical marijuana to use it. The directive, expected to take place during the week of July 26, 2010, is designed to clarify conflicts between federal laws outlawing use of marijuana and the 14 states that currently allow medicinal use of the drug. The new policy will not permit VA doctors to prescribe marijuana, but alleviates the concerns of VA patients who use the drug and are concerned about losing access to all prescription pain medications if caught.

Doctors may still modify a treatment plans if a veteran is using marijuana, or opt to discontinue other pain medicine if there is a risk of interactions, but the decisions will now be made on an individual basis. Veterans have fought for this change for many years, citing marijuana's positive effects on physical and psychological pain, as well as its role in diminishing side effects of specific medical treatments.

Will "Doomsday" Happen Before the Sky Falls?

I'm not sure how many people have read about the ancient Mayan prophecy in which the calendar abruptly ends on December 21, 2012. The first time I personally remember hearing about the world ending was 1968. I was only eight years old, so I forget what event was to allegedly trigger the 1968 Doomsday event. But I remember being curious, and a bit scared. And paying REALLY close attention in church one Sunday as Father Dolan explained from the pulpit that none of us would know the time so why speculate... when it is nothing we can control or know. All we can do is live every day loving God and our neighbors so we don't have to be afraid. Gimme a break! I was eight. I am sure that's a loose translation ;)

As I've gotten older, I've realized that speculation (displayed as mass hysteria within some groups) as to when the world will end has been around since the beginning of time. The next world-ending event that I remember hearing about was in the early 1980s due to some unusual alignment of the planets. There have been a few of those over the years. And of course, thanks to Nostradamus, there was rampant speculation around the turn of the century. I didn't pay too much attention as I was in information technology at the time and really busy adapting computer systems to accommodate the date change. And I was turning 40. And had found my birthmom :)

Over the past few years I've read articles and books about global warming and how it will trigger our impending doom... and how there are plates shifting under the ocean that will cause the earth to turn on its axis so that the poles and equators all do a 180 (so to speak). Of course these issues are more complex than that... but I don't have time to get into ALL the technicalities of it and am far from a rocket scientist ;) To be honest... I've always felt that other than living in moderation as much as possible... there wasn't a whole lot I could personally do about global warming... And plates on the ocean floor were even more out of my jurisdiction than global warming... So I relied on that old sermon from Father Dolan: All I could personally do about any of it was live every day of my life as if it were my last... being kind and loving to my family, friends... and mother earth... and that hopefully if anything cataclysmic happened... or my personal journey ended... I could rest knowing that my heart had always been in the right place. At 50 I have gotten to a place where I am comfortable with that philosophy and don't give our impending doom too much thought.
So why did my brain start travelling down this path again this week? I read an article on Helium entitled "Doomsday: How BP Gulf disaster may have triggered a 'world-killing' event". The article speculates that methane bubbles caused extinction events twice before in our planet's history, and that the Gulf Oil spill just may have hastened another one. Allegedly, within 6 months, another methane event will occur, and no known technology will stop it. To summarize the article: "The bottom line: BP’s Deepwater Horizon drilling operation may have triggered an irreversible, cascading geological Apocalypse that will culminate with the first mass extinction of life on Earth in many millions of years." Of course, according to the article, the media has been kept away from the center of operations, allegedly with a threat of a $40,000 fine for each infraction as well as felony arrests.

Frankly, every journalist I know is into scooping a story, First Amendment rights, and the "truth." At least idealistically. So I have a hard time believing that not one journalist is attempting to breach the alleged media blackout. But my personal thoughts? I have no proof that any of this is true... and I am again back to Father Dolan's sermon. So I dismissed the article as "interesting" and got back to work ;)

And then ran across a CNN article: "Scientists baffled by unusual upper atmosphere shrinkage"... about the biggest contraction of the thermosphere in at least 43 years... and I thought "oh JEEEEEEEEEEEEZ!" Fortunately, despite the headline, it seems that the collapse of the thermosphere is unlikely to have a direct effect on our daily lives... unless of course you count slight disruptions in satellite communications or space navigation around all the space junk we have left up there... (You'd think we would be happy just polluting our planet and leaving space alone? But noooooooo!) So at least it looks like, at least for now, the sky is not falling... and that's a good thing...

In the meantime, I am counting on the powers of the Bilderberg Group to take care of any other prophecies of doom. A cataclysmic event would surely disrupt their plans for the "New World Order." ;)

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Tylenol Recall Expanded to Include 21 Additional Lots

Additional Tylenol brand products were recalled on July 8, 2010. This most recent recall includes 21 lots of children and adult Tylenol, as well as Motrin and Benadryl allergy tablets. These lots listed were produced prior to the Jan 15 Tylenol recall.

The July 8 recall was announced after an internal company review determined that package materials used in these lots had been shipped and stored on the same type of wooden pallet used in the previously recalled lots. McNeil has since stopped using that type of pallet. According to information released by the manufacturer, chances of becoming ill from this recall are slim, however, if you are in possession of any of the following 21 lots of recalled Tylenol, Benadryl or Motrin medication, do not use it. Contact McNeil Consumer Healthcare at (888) 222-6036 for instructions on getting a refund or replacement.

July 8 Recall Lots:

BENADRYL® ALLERGY ULTRATAB™ TABLETS 100 count Lot ABA567
BENADRYL® ALLERGY ULTRATAB™ TABLETS 100 count Lot ABA574
CHILDREN’S TYLENOL® MELTAWAYS BUBBLEGUM 30 count Lot ABA544
MOTRIN® IB CAPLET 24 count Lot ACA003
MOTRIN® IB CAPLET bonus pack 50+25 count Lot ACA002
MOTRIN® IB TABLET 100 count Lot AFA060
TYLENOL®, Extra Strength EZ TABLET 225 count Lot ASA206
TYLENOL®, Extra Strength EZ TABLET 50 count Lot ABA005
TYLENOL®, Extra Strength COOL CAPLET 24 count Lot ABA566
TYLENOL®, Extra Strength CAPLET bonus 24+12 count Lot ACA025
TYLENOL®, Extra Strength CAPLET 50 count Lot AFA018
TYLENOL®, Extra Strength CAPLET 50 count Lot ABA168
TYLENOL®, Day & Night Value Pack 50 count Lot ABA168
TYLENOL®, Extra Strength RAPID RELEASE GELCAP 24 count Lot ACA024
TYLENOL®, Extra Strength RAPID RELEASE GELCAP 225 count Lot AJA119
TYLENOL® PM CAPLET 24 count Lot ACA005
TYLENOL® PM CAPLET 24 count Lot ADA259
TYLENOL® PM GELTAB 50 count Lot AFA100
TYLENOL® PM RAPID RELEASE GELCAP 20 count Lot ACA004

OMG! Farmville Groceries are REAL!

Now let's think about this! Any of you who play Farmville... where you spend hours and hours growing your own virtual fruits and veggies. I just found out that now you can buy your very own FarmVille brand junkfood at 7-11! Where have I been? Not playing FarmVille I guess... Don't look at me! I just get paid to write about these games... not to play them :P And the iPad games are kinda the "in thing" right now so I have been sadly neglecting my Facebook play time.

But ya know... Nuthin says "fresh and healthy" quite like a good junk food spree at 7-11! Especially when an in-game swimming pool might be included with your snack purchase ... if you're lucky ;) I guess that's one way to work off those junk food calories... Taking a dip in your very own FarmVille pool!

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Ummmmm.... Wait a minute... Jesus wasn't crucified?!

Rained out for this year's July 4th festivities ... and unstructured couch potato lounging about not being my strong suit... I headed to the computer (surprise surprise for those who know me I'm sure! LOL) Starting with my standby for news... the CNN website (gotta love Anderson Cooper!)

Soooo ... we have the JFK airport terminal reopening after a bomb scare... the Green Zone under mortar attack during Biden's visit... Sen. Dole's rehab inspiring his fellow Walter Reed patients... the stimulus program not helping the economy... standard blah blah depressing stuff ... Oh wait! Here's a piece of good news! Tori Spelling's hubby is out of ICU! THANK GOODNESS! Haven't slept in DAYS waiting for that tidbit!

But wait! There's more! The pièce de résistance! The headline that reads... Gospels don't say Jesus was crucified... uhmmmmm... you have GOT to be kidding me! An entire 12 years of Catholic school education wasted...? I wonder if I could get a refund! Not to mention the 2000+ years of Christianity that are now going down the tubes? I can almost see the good Sisters explaining THIS one in religion class at my all-girls private high school... "Girls... looks like there's been a slight case of confusion over the years... why don't you go to gym while we figure out a new lesson plan for religion class?"

It was about all my muddled brain could handle when Sr Mary patiently explained that there was "no Adam and Eve." They were merely representative figures to tell a story of how we came to be... during a simpler time to less educated people... And the world was not created in 7 days. Because a day to God could be a year... a thousand years... a million years... Cuz after all... he is GOD. And we weren't there. So no one knows for sure. Uhmmmm... ok? So the Bible LIED?!? OMG! You could almost see everyone's brains racing... The room was so silent you really could have heard a pin drop. So Santa was a lie... the tooth fairy was a lie... and now the Bible is lying TOO? What ELSE have they been keeping from us?

But no... not that simple... See... the Bible is not lying... but there are parts of it that express "BIblical truth" as opposed to factual or literal truth. And so much of it was passed on by word of mouth for so many years... that you could more or less think of it as a very elaborate game of "Telephone." And let's not even bring up the people who wanted to embellish the stories a bit to make Jesus sound even better than he already was. Soooo... did that mean the next time Patty and I blew curfew in Dunkin Donuts til 4 AM that I could come up with a few "Biblical truths" of my own? (sigh) Didn't think so.

OK... time to quit yabbering and click on the link to see what happened to Jesus since he wasn't crucified. Maybe the fireworks being rained out is a good thing? Or I never would have learned the truth even at this late date!

Turns out that this Swedish evangelical pastor says that in the original ancient Greek Gospel text... there is nothing about crucifixion... it only says that Jesus carried "some kind of torture or execution device" to a hill where "he was suspended" and died. Not that it wasn't a crucifix. Just that the Greek word used is 'stauroun,' which may or may not refer to a crucifixion. The word itself means suspended. So... according to this guy... to be technically correct... we would need to say that Jesus carried some kind of torture or execution device to the hill on Calvary. He was suspended from it. And he died. And then he admits that Jesus was most likely crucified. But the Bible doesn't say that. Somehow... 'Stations of the Torture Device' doesn't quite have the same ring to it as 'Stations of the Cross.' UGH. Semantics. The dude is trying to turn my world upside down based on semantics. (sigh) Guess I'll head back to the couch :S Happy 4th!

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High Levels of Cadmium Prompt Recall of Children’s Trinkets

Approximately 70,000 trinkets distributed by doctors and dentists as a reward for good boys and girls have been recalled by the Consumer Product and Safety Commission due to high levels of Cadmium. Cadmium, a naturally occurring toxin, is a known carcinogen and can weaken kidneys and bones. Particularly dangerous when ingested, regulators are concerned that children may bite, chew, suck on or swallow the cadmium-jewelry. Included in the recall are ""Happy Charm Bracelets" with colorful beads on an elastic band and a metal charm depicting either a butterly, sun or moon attached to the bracelet. Rings with a metal football-shaped charm appended to an adjustable band are also part of the recall.

The trinkets were imported by the Toy Network, of Indianola, Iowa and Fun Express Oriental Trading Company, of Omaha, Nebraska. They were made available free of charge in doctor and dentist offices nationwide from June 2005 through March 2010. Consumers are urged to dispose of the jewelry immediately. Contact SmileMakers, Inc, a Staples subsidiary and the distributor of the items, toll-free at (877) 390-5470 Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET for more information concerning the recall.

There are currently no federal requirements for testing cadmium in children's jewelry. However, some companies began testing for it when it was learned that some Chinese manufacturers began substituting cadmium after lead was banned from children's jewelry in 2008. As a result of the testing, federal regulators have recalled Disney-branded jewelry sold at Walmart; "Best Friends" charm bracelets sold at the international jewelry and accessories chain Claire's; and 12 million "Shrek" movie-themed drinking glasses being given away at McDonald's with cadmium pigment in their decoration.

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Paris Hilton detained in South Africa for smoking pot?

Interrupting Paris Hilton's recent tweets spouting her love of South Africa (and life in general) is a brush with the law on suspicion of marijuana possession. A Johannesburg radio station reported that Hilton was detained outside the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium after the Brazil-Netherlands quarterfinals. Two South African police officers, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that Hilton did have marijuana in her possession and that an investigation was underway. However, it seems that a South African judge has dropped the charges. Good thing. I'd have hated for Paris to miss the upcoming Safari she tweeted about just a few short days ago!

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