What's in the News

I personally am all in favor of trying to fix healthcare in the USA, but it needs to be done in an open and honest fashion.

I think (Ted Kennedy)would be pleased to see that by breaking the filibuster-proof majority, his elected replacement will force some real bipartisanship on an important issue.

Now maybe Congress can get down to work and do this on CSPAN instead of in a smoke filled room.

Dictionaries have been removed from classrooms in southern California schools after a parent complained about a child reading the definition for "oral sex".

Merriam Webster's 10th edition, which has been used for the past few years in fourth and fifth grade classrooms (for children aged nine to 10) in Menifee Union school district, has been pulled from shelves over fears that the "sexually graphic" entry is "just not age appropriate", according to the area's local paper.

The dictionary's online definition of the term is "oral stimulation of the genitals". "It's hard to sit and read the dictionary, but we'll be looking to find other things of a graphic nature," district spokeswoman Betti Cadmus told the paper./quote]
Tuff job, but it has to be did!
I always thought dictionaries were there to provide needed information.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/jan/25/oral-sex-dictionary-ban-us-schools

China to jail people for up to 15 days who eat dog
By Zhao Chunzhe (chinadaily.com.cn)
China has launched its first draft proposal to protect the country's animals from maltreatment including a measure to jail people who eat dog for up to 15 days, the Chongqing Evening News reported today.

The pilot scheme aims to protect the nation's animal from misuse or injury and defines maltreatment as hurting or killing animals in a cruel manner.

The draft has nine chapters covering major regulations including animal medical treatment, transportation and butchers regulations.

It also proposes that people caught eating dog or cat meat will be detained for no more than 15 days with a fine of 5,000 yuan ($732). Any unit or group found violating the rule will be fined between 10,000 yuan ($1,464) to 500,000 yuan ($73,239).

"It won't impact people's lives because only few people eat the meat of dogs and cats," said Chang Jiwen, a principal drafter.

China National Native Produce & Animal By-Products Import & Export Corporation backed the act saying it will encourage its trade volume of down and cashmere, the report said.

China flags scrapping dog meat from menus

Dog and cat meat - age-old delicacies in China - could be off the menu in the food-loving nation under its first law against animal abuse, state press has reported.

People who eat either animal, both of which are viewed as promoting bodily warmth, would face fines of up to 5,000 yuan ($813) and up to 15 days in jail if the law is passed, the Chongqing Evening News said.

It says organisations involved in the practice would be fined from 10,000 to 500,000 yuan.

The law has been at the drafting stage over the past year and the report did not make clear when the legislation was expected to become law.

China's rubber-stamp legislature meets in March but draft legislation can often take years to be approved.

Cruelty to animals and the raising of cat and dog meat for dinner tables remains widespread in China, despite growing consciousness over animal welfare.

Restaurants touting "fragrant meat," a euphemism for dog, can be seen in cities throughout the country, where the fondness for dogs as pets co-exists with a taste for canine meat.

Cat meat is most popular in parts of southern China and there are regular reports of animal lovers attempting to block trucks carrying hundreds or even thousands of cats to meat markets and eventually dinner tables there.

Cat meat is most popular in parts of southern China and there are regular reports of animal lovers attempting to block trucks carrying hundreds or even thousands of cats to meat markets and eventually dinner tables there.