It's morning somewhere

• Police: Weaving Driver Distracted by PornI'm thinking that's a little worse than cell phone drivers.:)
• Man Gets Wallet Back After Nearly 40 Years Nice story.
• Couple Plead No Contest to Running Brothel Across from the police station.
• Dozens of Manhole Covers Stolen in Ind.
They'll need to find a new way to lock the covers down, I guess.
• Stuntman Parachutes Off Mexico Skyscraper
He parachuted down then jumped in a Hummer to avoid arrest.
• Mixed-Breed Rescued Dog Wins Online Show Another nice story.
• Pastor Gets 18 Months for Selling Church What would Jesus do?
• Animal Carcasses Force Smelly DetourUgh...
• Man OK After Falling 130 Feet From Copter Well, I guess that's one good use for snow!
• Stumbling Tourist Smashes Rare China Vases I wonder if he'll have to pay anything.

...He fell out of favor with the White House in 2004 after giving a speech at the University of Iowa before the presidential election, in which he complained that government climate scientists were being muzzled and said he planned to vote for Senator John Kerry.

But Dr. Hansen said that nothing in 30 years equaled the push made since early December to keep him from publicly discussing what he says are clear-cut dangers from further delay in curbing carbon dioxide...

...Dr. Hansen's supervisor, Franco Einaudi, said there had been no official "order or pressure to say shut Jim up." But Dr. Einaudi added, "That doesn't mean I like this kind of pressure being applied."...

...Dr. Travis said he walked into Ms. McCarthy's office in mid-December at the end of one of the calls from Mr. Deutsch demanding that Dr. Hansen be better controlled...

Everyone thought the humuhumunukunukuapuaa was Hawaii's state fish. As it turns out, the brightly colored fish with the excessively long name has been dethroned.

The news shook the world of Rep. Blake Oshiro, who found out the designation was no longer official from Joel Itomura, a 6-year-old fish-loving son of a friend and constituent.

"I was really surprised," said Oshiro, who has drawn up a bill that would make humuhumunukunukuapuaa - also known as the rectangular triggerfish or "humuhumu" for short - the official state fish for the islands...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A Massachusetts company on Friday recalled 500,000 liquid-filled baby teethers distributed in the United States and Canada because of a possible bacterial contamination that could cause serious illness.

Six styles of teethers may be contaminated with the Pseudomonas aeruginosa or the Pseudomonas putida bacteria in the liquid, manufacturer The First Years Inc. said in a statement. If the teether is punctured and the liquid ingested, the bacteria can cause serious illness in children.

No illnesses have been reported, the company said.

..."It's hard to fathom what it's like to lose five children, two nieces and a father in one shot. It seems like a burden too big to bear," said Scott Fisher, a family spokesman and pastor at the Lake Butler Church of Christ...

..."The information IDOT has was that he was speeding and driving erratically, and that he crossed over and struck two vehicles head-on," Claffey said.

Two tractor-trailers and a pickup truck were among the other vehicles that crashed. At least one more person was injured, Claffey said, though he didn't have information on the person's condition...

...Voting is not limited to members of the Practical Press, but members cannot vote for themselves (except in the worst poem category). Voting will remain open until a majority of Practical Press members have voted. My votes are in comments.

When the siblings were found Thursday, the 16-year-old girl weighed about 40 pounds, and her 11-year-old brother weighed about 30 pounds. The pair were in stable condition Sunday at a hospital, while their grandmother, mother and the mother's boyfriend were in jail.

LIVONIA, Mich. (AP) -- A dog apparently fell from a freeway overpass and crashed through a car windshield, fatally injuring the driver, police said Thursday.

Charles G. Jetchick, 81, died Wednesday of injuries suffered in the accident over the weekend in suburban Detroit. A passenger suffered minor injuries.

...Black Americans needed a Martin Luther King, but above all America needed him. The significant qualities of this special man cannot be underestimated nor taken for granted. Within a span of 13 years from 1955 to his death in 1968 he was able to expound, expose, and extricate America from many wrongs. His tactics of protest involved non-violent passive resistance to racial injustice. It was the right prescription for our country, and it was right on time...

...he directed the peaceful march on Washington, D.C., of 250,000 people to whom he delivered his address, "l Have a Dream", he conferred with President John F. Kennedy and campaigned for President Lyndon B. Johnson; he was arrested upwards of twenty times and assaulted at least four times; he was awarded five honorary degrees; was named Man of the Year by Time magazine in 1963; and became not only the symbolic leader of American blacks but also a world figure.

At the age of thirty-five, Martin Luther King, Jr., was the youngest man to have received the Nobel Peace Prize. When notified of his selection, he announced that he would turn over the prize money of $54,123 to the furtherance of the civil rights movement...

I have never, ever, heard or read such sinful trash!!! I cannot believe that any God loving person could ever spread such horrendous, unbelievable teachings...

AT LEAST 345 pilgrims were killed yesterday when one of the holiest rituals of haj in Saudi Arabia turned to tragedy.

White-robed believers rushing to stone the Devil in a symbolic ceremony were caught up in a stampede and crushed. Many who escaped death were seriously hurt, with 289 people reported injured...

Eager to get his driver's license, a 7-year-old boy put on his seat belt and remembered to use his turn signal as he took his parents' pickup truck out for a spin, leading police on a slow pursuit around town.

Officers initially thought they were chasing a drunken driver Monday night.

Meanwhile, Pentagon spokeswoman Roseann Lynch said that the Iraq war is costing the United States 4.5 billion dollars monthly in military operating costs, not including procurement of new weapons and equipment.

...Dr Fadhil is working with Guardian Films on an investigation for Channel 4's Dispatches programme into claims that tens of millions of dollars worth of Iraqi funds held by the Americans and British have been misused or misappropriated.

The troops told Dr Fadhil that they were looking for an Iraqi insurgent and seized video tapes he had shot for the programme. These have not yet been returned

The director of the film, Callum Macrae, said yesterday: "The timing and nature of this raid is extremely disturbing. It is only a few days since we first approached the US authorities and told them Ali was doing this investigation, and asked them then to grant him an interview about our findings....

The meetings between Abramoff's lobbying team and the administration ranged from Attorney General John Ashcroft to policy advisers in Vice President Dick Cheney's office, according to his lobbying firm billing records

...According to the Associated Press, Tom DeLay "visited cliff-top Caribbean resorts, golf courses designed by PGA champions and four-star restaurants, all courtesy of donors who bankrolled his political empire.

"Over the past six years, the former House majority leader and his associates have visited places of luxury most Americans have never seen, often getting there aboard corporate jets arranged by lobbyists and other special interests.

"Public documents reviewed by the Associated Press tell the story: at least 48 visits to golf clubs, and resorts with lush fairways, 100 flights aboard company planes, 200 stays at hotels, many world class, and 500 meals at restaurants, some averaging nearly $2,000 for a dinner for two.

"Instead of his personal expense, the meals and trips for DeLay and his associates were paid with donations collected by the campaign committees, political action committees and children's charity the Texas Republican created during his rise to the top of Congress."...

Last Updated: Tuesday, 3 January 2006, 17:50 GMT

Several members of the same family, including women and children, have been killed in a US air strike that destroyed their home in northern Iraq.
There was confusion over the number of casualties, but local authorities in the town of Beiji, north of Tikrit, have confirmed at least six dead.

US forces said they acted after seeing three men suspected of planting a roadside bomb enter the house...
..."The individuals left the road site and were followed from the air to a nearby building. Coalition forces employed precision guided munitions on the structure."...
...So far, the bodies of a nine-year-old boy, an 11-year-old girl, three women and three men have been found in the rubble, police said...
..."If there were gunmen or criminals in that house, is it right to blow up the whole family?"...

A young federal prosecutor who was revealed as the author of a spicy blog about the judiciary is leaving the inner circle. David Lat, who had been the anonymous writer of "Underneath Their Robes," left his job as an assistant U.S. attorney in Newark....

...A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office told the newspaper Lat's departure had nothing to do with his Web journal.

"It was David's decision to leave," said spokesman Michael Drewniak. "There was no effort to force him out of the office at all. He was very good at what he did."...