The National Institute on Drug Abuse has spent $3,634,807 over the past decade getting monkeys to become addicted to drugs — including PCP, methamphetamine, heroin and cocaine. The project then tries out “interventions” as forms of treatment for the strung-out monkeys and keeps track of how the monkeys behave. The federal government has been funding these studies for a long time with little to show for it.
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A company invested $700,000 trying to start a 30,000-square-foot “industrial marijuana cultivation” farm in the tiny California town of Isleton — which had approved the plan for a minimum guaranteed fee of $25,000 per month. But Delta Allied Growers abandoned all preparations after being threatened with federal prosecution. The proposed pot farm was already being investigated by a Sacramento County grand jury on suspicion of alleged kickbacks to Isleton officials.
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Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner of New York has become the butt of numerous jokes after a lewd photograph was sent out via his Twitter account. First saying his account had been hacked and passing it off as a joke, Weiner then reportedly confused matters by saying he could not say “with certitude” whether the photo was of him or not.
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Zheng, a 17-year-old high school student in China’s Anhui province, told a local newspaper “I wanted to buy an iPad 2 but could not afford it. A broker contacted me on the Internet and said he could help me sell one kidney for 20,000 yuan.” The kidney was removed and Zheng received the equivalent of some $3,000. His mother was surprised to see him bring home a costly Apple tablet and notified the authorities.
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Los Angeles County is prosecuting a creative homeowner who began building a 20,000-square-foot compound called Phonehenge West three decades ago in the mountain town of Acton. Alan Fahey could face seven years in jail if he loses the jury trial and doesn’t tear down his mini-village, which sits atop pilings made from phone utility poles. Phonehenge features a 70-foot tower covered in Italian stained glass, a yurt and a labyrinthine network of buildings connected by bridges and ramps.
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A 91-year-old Southern California woman who sells helium hood kits that people can use to kill themselves said her home was raided by a dozen federal agents who seized her computers, sewing machine and boxed kits as evidence. Sharlotte Hydorn’s kits — essentially a plastic bag and clear tubing — cost $60 by mail or telephone. A 29-year-old Eugene, Ore., man killed himself in December with a kit he bought from Hydorn to asphyxiate himself with helium.
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A U.S. Department of Justice threat to halt Texas airline travel killed a proposed state law that would have made invasive pat-downs by Transportation Security Administration screeners a felony. The bill awaited a state Senate vote after already passing the House 138-0. Then, a U.S. attorney sent top Texas lawmakers a warning that the feds would seek an emergency stay and in the meantime would “cancel any flights for which it could not ensure safety of passengers and crew.”
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Newly declared GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain was clearly “faking it” when asked on “Fox News Sunday” about the extremely controversial Palestinian demand for “right of return” to Israel. Cain answered, “I don’t think they [the Israelis] have a big problem with people returning.” But Israelis have long insisted that letting all Palestinians automatically enter and gain citizenship would convert Israel into a Muslim state. To run for president, Cain needs to study foreign policy.
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A newborn baby boy survived being thrown down a Brooklyn housing project trash-compactor chute Sunday and is in stable condition, the New York Daily News reported. The baby was found when the building superintendent heard cries from inside a plastic trash bag attached to the compactor chute. The child’s mother was located, but it was unclear what charges might be filed.
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Tacoma, Wash., seventh-grader Vito LaPinta was interrogated at his school by a Secret Service agent, allegedly without his mother’s knowledge or permission. LaPinta, 13, posted a Facebook update that apparently made the feds suspect he threatened the president. “I was saying how Osama was dead and for Obama to be careful because there could be suicide bombers,” LaPinta explained. His mother rushed to the school and the agent left, saying the boy was not in any trouble.
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