It will surely be a stampede. As one paper stated, “Millions of buffalo are headed to a cash register near you.”
Sixty-seven years after the government minted its last buffalo nickel, the symbol of the American West is returning to the five-cent piece.

The United States Mint has shipped 97 million of the new coins to the Federal Reserve’s 12 regional banks, and they will start distributing the coins to local banks Monday.

The series represents the first change in the nickel since 1938 when the Mint switched from the buffalo nickel, which had an American Indian on the opposite side, to the Jefferson nickel featuring a picture of Jefferson on one side and Monticello, Jefferson’s home, on the other.



I remember my grandfather sitting me down at the kitchen table and showing me his collection of Buffalo nickels. He was mighty proud of his buffalo nickels. I, for one, can’t wait to start seeing these floating around. I’ll start a collection of my own, and show my grandchildren one day.

The federal government have declared Ecstasy a Schedule I controlled substance, in the same category as
heroin and cocaine. It’s manufactured by drug dealers in illegal
laboratories and sold on the street. In recent years, it has become
especially popular at huge all-night dance parties called “raves.”
Ecstasy is also known by the names “E,” “Adam,” and “X.”
Simple possession is a felony that can result in jail, fines,
or both. Anyone found guilty of delivering, possessing with intent
to deliver, or manufacturing Ecstasy could face life in prison.



Drugs in Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act are those substances that have a high
potential for abuse, no currently acceptable medical use in treatment, and
which lack any accepted safe use under medical supervision.

That having been said, I find it very surprising that the government (FDA) has been given the go-ahead
for US soldiers to be included in an experiment to see if MDMA, the active ingredient in ecstasy, can treat post-traumatic stress disorder.
American soldiers traumatised by fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan will be offered the drug ecstasy to help free them of flashbacks and recurring nightmares.



While I applaud this effort, I still feel the government is hypocritical. While it supports studies for Ecstacy, it won’t do the same for Marijuana, which many people are hoping the government will do.

The NHL season for 2005 has officially gone bust.

This marks the first time a Major pro sports league in North America has lost an entire season due to labor disputes. This will likely set the league back, in terms of popularity, a great deal. Not that NHL is America’s favorite Pro sport anyway. It’s no secret that the NHL is already struggling for support, especially among southern states.


“This is a sad, regrettable day that all of us wish could have been avoided,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said.

“Every day that this thing continues we don’t think it’s good for the game,” NHLPA executive director Bob Goodenow said in Toronto.



What could be seriously sad about this whole ordeal is the possibility of ending the careers of many aging greats in the game:

• Mario Lemieux (39)
• Mark Messier (44)
• Steve Yzerman (39)
• Brett Hull (40)
• Ron Francis (41)
• Dave Andreychuk (41)
• Chris Chelios (43)

The playing days for these guys could be ending on someone else’s terms.


There’s a lot more to this story than meets the eye. Players want to substantially raise the salary cap. The amount They finally came to was somewhere around 49 Million. Owners wanted it somewhere around 42 Million.

Now the players (and the players union) will have a year off to think about what they’re willing to bring to the table for the ‘06 season, and hopefully something will be agreed upon.

Like most of the country, I had to work on Valentine’s day. Fortunately for me, ramdac was there to save me from my boredom. Out of no where, I look up and there he is with flowers! He left work EARLY, brought me flowers and took me to dinner with friends. It was probably one of my better days. Ramdac made Valentine’s Day one of my most memorable holidays. If it had been anyone else, it wouldn’t have been this great. Thank you, for a wonderful day ramdac. You made it great!

Two swans, named Charles and Camilla, were found separately in their own pools of blood after sustaining massive wounds to their legs and feet. Soon after, they were rushed to the vet were their lives were saved, thanks to the East Sussex Wildlife Rescue and Ambulance Service (WRAS). The animals made it to the hospital just in time. Officials think that broken glass caused the injuries.



The swans were then taken to the National Swan Sanctuary in Egham, Surrey. They were then placed in the same pin, after the male showed “amorous signs” toward the female swan. WRAS, plans on releasing the birds back into the wild on Valentine’s Day, to celebrate their new found love.

ramdac: Charles and Camilla, funny. I hope neither of them ends up a victim of a nasty car accident.

Danny Curtis of Bakersfield, California, is suing the hospital that “wrongfully” removed one of his testicles during surgery. His surgeon was Dr. Albert McBride at Kern Medical Center. A testicular tumor was found while in surgery, and the doctor removed the testicle without conducting a biopsy. Later, the tumor was found to be benign and the testicle did not need to be removed.

Curtis’ lawsuit claims he “has been caused to sustain severe and permanent physical and emotional injuries, including but not limited to the loss of [his] testicle, as well as residual disfigurement, scarring and pain.”

The hospital and surgeon have declined all comments relating to the matter. All questions and answers are being deferred to their attorney, Robert Woods.

http://www.xposed.com/
  [Story]

“University of Toronto researchers have discovered an ample source of stem cells in an uncharted part of the umbilical cord, providing new hope for bone marrow transplants and tissue repair. ”

In the human umbilical cord, the so-called “Wharton’s Jelly,” is rich in mesenchymal progenitor cells – cells that generate bone, cartilage and other tissues – which can be used to generate an abundant supply in a short time span. These progenitor cells could greatly improve the 30 to 40 per cent success rate of bone marow transplants.

Professor John Davies of U of T’s Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering (IBBME) and the study’s lead author, says that the human umbilical cord perivascular (HUCPV) cells were often thrown out due to a focus on cord blood.

Bone marrow transplants, treat cancer, and immune deficiency disorders by replacing diseased cells with fresh ones found inside bones. The blood requires hematopoietic stem cells and mesenchymal stem cells too. Other research gives theory that infusing marrow with more mesenchymal stem cells, wil increase the transplant success rate.

“To harvest the HUCPV cells, Davies and his team split open umbilical cords and pulled out the blood vessels with their surrounding Wharton’s Jelly. (All the cords come from consenting full-term patients.) The vessels were sutured closed and suspended in collagenase, an enzyme that breaks down the Wharton’s Jelly around the vessels to release the cells inside. The HUCPV cells were then isolated and cultivated in vitro. ”

According to Davies, ” we still have some way to go until this therapy is ready for clinical trials, I am hopeful HUCPV cells could radically improve the success of bone marrow transplants…”.

Contact: J.E. Davies
davies@ecf.utoronto.ca
University of Toronto

Links:
http://news.biocompare.com/
http://news.biocompare.com/newsstory.asp?id=67174

A spit more than half the country does not a mandate make…but…let’s say it is.

I, for one, am glad he got it. I’m not one of those who is going to sit back and piss and moan, and cry and whine about losing the election. Lose what? It’s a Blessed Victory. In my eyes, the Smirking Monkey’s disciples didn’t give him a “mandate”….they gave him a big ol’ Texas size shovel.



It’s good for cleaning up the mess that “Turd Flowers” grow from and for digging himself an even bigger hole than the one he’s already in. Once the hole is big enough, the surrounding house of sand collapses into it. The Smirking Monkey is going to bleed this country dry. Tough times ahead for those of us who didn’t vote for the evil one, for sure…but tough times is what it is going to take. Think of it as our tough love gift for W’s followers. Maybe that is what it will take to wake them up. They’ve sold their country down the river, now they can wave good-bye.



When the Smirking Monkey’s half of the country sees what the other half of the country has already seen: What a phony, immoral, self-serving (well, serving the cause of PNAC, the NeoCons, and the Christian Right), traitorous, hollow human being that they “put their faith in” has done to this once great and proud Nation, maybe…and only then, will we be able to regain our country and our dignity. This war…this travesty in Iraq, which is killing and maiming our boys on a daily basis, as well as countless Iraqis and others, is not about fighting “terrorists,” it’s about oil and power in the Mid East. The attack on the World Trade Center was the excuse, the WMD’s were the “something that everyone could agree on and make people believe in.” Bin Laden has been secondary, ever notice that?



But one thing W didn’t count on was that “Mission Accomplished” wasn’t. And it won’t be…not for a long, long time to come. He blew it. And we will pay. Thanks a billion to all of you who voted for him. Thanks for not doing your homework, and instead sucked up the one liners and the cute put downs, and the fake cowpoke crap like you were sucking oysters from the shell. What you got is just that, a fake.



Again, let me thank you all for voting him the “Mandate of the Big Shovel.” Sit back and relax. It’s all just a matter of time.

Bewick Cory

Donna Marie Norman, 19, and her common-law husband, Ivan Castaneda, 21, of Houston, TX were arrested for sexually assaulting and critically injuring their 6 month old baby! Police say the baby also “suffered broken bones from head to toe, and had her tongue nearly severed.”

C.P.S. was called to take the children. (The baby’s 15 month old sister, also had a fractured skull and ribs). Spokeswoman (of C.P.S.) Estella Olguin said the baby had been sexually abused, had two broken legs, a broken arm, a fractured skull, a fractured vertebrae and a broken rib. Olguin said if the baby were to survive, there is a strong possibility that she could be both blind or paralyzed.

“Norman told doctors the infant’s tongue was severed when she tried to remove a quarter from the baby’s mouth that had been placed there by her 15-month-old sister”.

These two people are sick! Why would someone do this to their own children, or anyone else’s for that matter? I can’t even imagine what would cause someone to even think about, let alone act on abusing your child. I hope both these parents go to jail, stay in jail, and be forced to some form of psychiatric help. I don’t care if one of the parents didn’t aid in the abuse. Due to the fact that if they knew or even scensed that something was wrong, they shuld have gotten help. One is just as guilty as the other if you condone something that you know is wrong.

http://askapnews.myway.com//article/20050208/D8842K480.html