The neighbor who called 911 should have been arrested for abusing the 911 system. 911* is for emergencies, not ignorant neighbors who have a lot of time on their hands.

The poor mother and child will never get those critical days of early bonding back.

Drug tests generally produce false-positive results in 5 percent to 10 percent of cases and false negatives in 10 percent to 15 percent of cases, new research shows.

Eating as little as a teaspoon of poppy seeds - less than the amount on a poppy seed bagel - can produce false-positive results on tests for opioid abuse, according to Dr. Dwight Smith, of the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Black Hills, S.D.

The poppy seeds can lead to false-positive results for two or three days, he said, yet one recent study showed only about half of doctors were aware of the problem.

Cold medications, the antidepressant Wellbutrin and tricyclic antidepressants can trigger false-positive results on tests for amphetamines, according to the review, and the antidepressant Zoloft and the painkiller Daypro can show up as a benzodiazepine problem.

The quinolone antibiotic drugs can trigger false positives for opioids, and the HIV medication Sustiva can show up as marijuana use, Smith said. link

I had a drug test many years ago as part of a background/employment check.  The form had a question about whether I had recently eaten any of several foods, including "poppyseeds".  I told the guy I had eaten a poppyseed bagel that morning, and his response was something along the lines of "No problem - not nearly enough poppyseeds on that to affect the test."  I asked, "Well, ... why do they ask about poppyseeds then?", and his response was along the lines of "Oh, in case you'd eaten a can of poppyseed filling, or something like that."

Ban's remarks, recorded in notes taken by two people present at the meeting and confirmed by a third, provoked expressions of surprise from committee members. His depiction of Snowden as someone who had misused access to information came just hours after the NSA whistleblower made a formal request for asylum to the Icelandic government.

In interviews with the Guardian, Snowden identified Iceland as one of his top choices as a possible safe haven.

Birgitta Jónsdóttir, a member of the committee who was present at the meeting, asked Ban to clarify his comments on whistleblowers. He replied: "Access can be for the greater good, but sometimes it creates bigger problems through misuse by individuals."

Jónsdóttir, who participated with WikiLeaks in 2010 at the time it published US state secrets leaked by the intelligence analyst Bradley Manning, said she was alarmed by Ban's intervention in the Snowden controversy. "I see it as wrong for the secretary general of the United Nations to condemn Snowden personally in front of our foreign affairs committee. He seemed entirely unconcerned about the invasion of privacy by governments around the world, and only concerned about how whistleblowers are misusing the system."

One day, their generation will run the NSA, the CIA and the FBI.

This isn't a phenomenon that is going away.

This is inevitable.

And by trying to crush these young whistleblowers with espionage charges, the US government is taking on a generation, and that is a battle it is going to lose.

Can you tell I consider jobs numbers to be about as reliable as civilian causualty figures from the military?

But gold, sure, you can't eat it, make clothing or shelter out of it, so essentially its as useless in a corrupt economy as the worthless trinkets and blips we slave away for.

What makes the incident even more remarkable is that Morales was never at the Moscow airport where Snowden has been stuck for over a week now. He departed from Vnukovo Airport, which is twenty-seven miles away.

Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo said Friday that his nation and other European countries were told Snowden was aboard the Bolivian presidential plane.

The minister did not say who supplied the information and declined to say whether he had been in contact with the United States. But he said European countries' reactions were based on this information. Garcia-Margallo insisted earlier that Spain did not prevent Morales' plane from landing in its territory.
...
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro protested alleged attempts by Spanish officials to search the Bolivian presidential plane and accused the CIA of encouraging several European countries to deny the presidential plane their airspace.

"A minster of one of those European governments told me personally that it was the CIA who gave the order to the aeronautical authorities, the one who gave the alert that Snowden was on the plane," he said at a rally at a sports arena ahead of the summit. "The CIA is more powerful that governments." link

In no way do I, at least, equate being a hard-core liberal with being what we understand "Libertarian" to mean; these are not interchangeable terms for me.

And in other sports-related news, 28 NFL players have been arrested since the Super Bowl, and online bidding for Aaron Hernandez jerseys has reached $1,000 on eBay.

I mean, c'mon! Even a cursory investigation ought to dispel the authorities of any worries about this young guy, who did nothing more than offer an insensitive and irreverent comment that obviously went right over the head of some low-info busybody who's channeling her inner Helen Lovejoy. Personally, I think dim bulbs like her pose a greater threat to society than he ever did.

I swear, nonsensical people who hurt kids with nonsensical decisions like this ought to make us all want to channel our own inner Gloria.

Senator Udall and family said that his brother, Randy, died hiking near his favorite trail in the beautiful Wind River Range.

Even more fascinating in the short terms is the little dust-up in the past 24 hours about whether Snowden actually authored his most recent statement ... with Greenwald observing that the "flavor" of the statement did not sound like Snowden while the Wiki-Leaks spokesman countered later that Snowden was the author.  

I thought the outrage being expressed by the French and German governments was in light of the revelation that the US is spying on them, you know, countries thought to be our allies.

I also have no idea why you think there shouldn't be anger over all of these revelations.  Oh, wait - you don't see the harm, so that must be it.  We're just supposed to be going along with it because it's in our best interests, right?

Do you have any idea how desperate your multiple giggling comments make you appear to be, as you try way too hard to find something, anything, you can use to ridicule people?  Worse, what you've found isn't what you think it is, and it doesn't do what you want it to.

Here are my picks

(1)Belarus
Pros: borders Russia, so do not have to fly over airspace of other countries; ruled by Lukashenko (last true dictator in heart of Europe and there is no autocrat that Assange and Greenwald do not like); within Russia's sphere of influence; will enable Lukashenko to improve his image in the west.
Cons: He may get bored in Belarus and may try to run back into Russia without a visa.

(2) North Korea
Pros: Completely cut off from rest of the world, no CIA agaents there. Will be easy to get asylum, especially if Denis Rodman puts in a good word for Snowden to Kim Jong Un.
Cons: If the younger Kim is his father's son, Snowden may have to sing karaoke for the Fearless Leader.

(3) Iran
Pros: Will get good protection inside the country; Iran may even arrange for a burka wearing, pole dancing girl friend if Snowden can impress with his hacking skills.
Cons: They may ask him to put software patches to fix out of control centrifuges that are hacked by the US and Israel.

(4) Kazakhstan
Pros: Will probably be easy to get asylum as the country needs a new public relations star after Borat. Borders Russia, so it won't be a problem to sneak Snowden there.
Cons: May not be the safest place for Snowden, as the country is making too many oil deals with the west.

(5) Pakistan
Pros: Has a good track record of hiding people in military college towns. Snowden can wait out the rest of BHO's term and hope that Rand Paul becomes the next President. Greenwald can also use him as the made for TV face for his anti-drone campaign.
Cons: Rand Paul will never be the next President.