ADELPHI, Md. — A federal advisory panel voted narrowly on Tuesday to recommend a ban on Percocet and Vicodin, two of the most popular prescription painkillers in the world, because of their effects on the liver.

This is a blow to migraine sufferers like myself, but I'm sure other products will soon fill the gap left by these medicines. I just wish they had actually addressed the core problem (medicines which are a combination of acetaminophen) instead of two of the culprits.

-janelane

Ban Is Advised on 2 Top Pills for Pain Relief - NYTimes.com

When first invited by Optimus Prime to aid the Autobots in their struggle, Sam resists, saying, "This isn't my war." Eventually, of course, he's drawn into caring about the alien battle, but the audience never is. The cacophonous final showdown between Jetpack and Camshaft, or whatever the last robots standing are named, takes place in some abstract dimension of pure blockbusterdom, impervious to human identification or emotion. It isn't my war, and if it rages on into the summer of 2010, I plan on defecting to Canada.

What's shocking isn't that the new Transformers sucks, it's that the reviewer thought the first one was good.

If you are looking for a good movie, see Drag Me to Hell. Great acting, story development, and guts in just 100 minutes.

-janelane

Transformers: If Only This Sequel Could Transform Itself Into a Better Movie

Ed McMahon, who for nearly 30 years was Johnny Carson’s affable second banana on “The Tonight Show,” introducing it with his ringing trademark call, “Heeeere’s Johnny!,” died early Tuesday in Los Angeles. He was 86.

So sad he wasn't able to get back on his feet.

-janelane

Ed McMahon, America’s Top Second Banana, Dies at 86 - Obituary (Obit) - NYTimes.com

In today's installment of the government's continued erosion of individual rights...

WASHINGTON — Prisoners have no constitutional right to DNA testing that might prove their innocence, the Supreme Court ruled on Thursday in a 5-to-4 decision.

The case cited could seemingly be appealed based on incompetent representation. The defendant's lawyer declined to use the testing when it was available during trial.

-janelane

Justices Reject Inmate Right to DNA Tests - NYTimes.com

In 2006, Matrixx paid $12 million to settle 340 lawsuits from Zicam users who claimed that the product destroyed their sense of smell, a condition known as anosmia. Hundreds more such suits have since been filed.

Do not use a drug that is not FDA approved. Even drugs that go through the 10-year approval process can end up causing devastating side effects, much less the ones cooked up in some lab in the desert.

-janelane

F.D.A. Warns Against Use of Zicam - NYTimes.com

One explanation comes from Douglas Preston, a prominent best-selling American author who lived in the Florentine hills while researching a book about a serial killer never found, “The Monster of Florence,” co-authored by Italian journalist Mario Spezi.

After the serial murders stopped, a prosecutor decided to reopen the case. His theory was that the killer or killers were Satanists from an ancient cult that harvested body parts. That prosecutor is the same one in the Knox case – Giuliano Mignini.

“One day I’m walking down the streets of Florence when my cell phone rings,” said Preston in an interview. “They say, ‘This is the police – we’re coming to get you.’” For three hours, the author was interrogated by Mignini about possible connections to the case. His phone calls with co-author Spezi had been wiretapped, and Mignini asked him to explain things. Preston said he was told he must confess to perjury or obstruction of justice.

I love Douglas Preston's books and his co-authorships with Lincoln Child. This is an amazing story about Amanda Knox which I am sure is rife with bias from both this author and the Italian authorities. It is hard to believe the truth could ever come from such a patchwork.

-janelane

An American Abroad - Amanda Knox charged with murdering her roommate

Just Got To Work!!!!

Sitting in my Chair Now!!!

You're right! We've wasted out lives!

YouTube - Twouble with Twitters: SuperNews!

Muse Opiang was working as a field research officer when he became seized by a passion for the long-beaked echidna, or Zaglossus bartoni, which are found only in the tropical rain forests of New Guinea and a scattering of adjacent islands. He had seen them once or twice in captivity and in photographs — plump, terrier-size creatures abristle with so many competing notes of crane, mole, pig, turtle, tribble, Babar and boot scrubber that if they didn’t exist, nobody would think to Photoshop them. He knew that the mosaic effect was no mere sight gag: as one of just three surviving types of the group of primitive egg-laying mammals called monotremes, the long-beaked echidna is a genuine living link between reptiles and birds on one branch, and more familiar placental mammals like ourselves on the next.

I love that description. Tribble...ha!

-janelane

Basics - Brainy Echidna Proves Looks Aren’t Everything - NYTimes.com

Since the accident, Captain Sullenberger, 58, a gray-haired man with nearly 30 years of experience at the airline, has become a symbol of stoic calm and courage in the face of an emergency. The transcript of the cockpit voice recorder, also released on Tuesday, showed that Captain Sullenberger had a human side.

This guy is just as cool as a cucumber. He landed a bird-struck plane in the Hudson just 6 months before another plane was downed in the Atlantic.

-janelane

Captain Leads Off at Hearing on Flight That Landed in Hudson - NYTimes.com

As Florida’s weatherization money climbs to $176 million over the next couple of years, from $5 million this year, the scene that played out recently at Jessica Langston’s double-wide mobile home in Crawfordville is likely to become more common.

A large truck, parked by a palm tree in the front yard, was pumping fiberglass insulation into small holes bored in the corrugated metal roof. Glaziers were sticking tinted film to the windows to dull the sun’s heat. And cool air was streaming through the floor vents, much stronger now that the metal ducts beneath the floor had been sealed tight and the air-conditioner unit outside had been serviced.

*smacks forehead* Weatherizing a mobile home???!!!! FAIL!

-janelane

Stimulus Funds Spent to Keep Sun Belt Cool - NYTimes.com