KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysian marine police have seized a trawler carrying about 220 rare sea turtles and arrested 17 Chinese men for poaching, their second such seizure this week, a police chief said Thursday.

In the two seizures, both involving chases through Malaysian waters, almost 300 turtles were recovered. Most were dead, caught for use in making Chinese medicines. Their shells and skins are also used to make fashion accessories.

"We chased them for about half an hour," said Assistant Commissioner Mohd Sueb, head of marine police for Sabah state, referring to the second seizure Wednesday.

"They refused to stop their engine so we were alongside and we jumped over and managed to stop the engine."

Armed police, acting on tip-offs, intercepted both trawlers in waters off Sabah, Borneo island, Mohd Sueb said by phone. The turtles were mostly green turtles and hawksbills, both listed as endangered by the Swiss-based World Conservation Union.

Only 20 of the roughly 220 seized Wednesday were still alive, Mohd Sueb said. Of the 78 turtles recovered in the first seizure Monday, only five were alive, a local newspaper said. All the turtles were handed over to Malaysia's fisheries department.

Nineteen men were arrested in Monday's seizure.

Under Malaysia's fisheries law, the skippers of the trawlers face a maximum fine of 1 million ringgit ($289,000) and the crew could each be fined up to 100,000 ringgit.

Asked if police suspected any more turtle poachers were still trawling waters off Sabah, Mohd Sueb said: "So far, no news. It depends on the intelligence that we get."
($1=3.460 Malaysian Ringgit)

If this country was not a pack of money sucking pigs, they could boycott China to end these foul deeds of murdering endangered species!If I ever saw some asshole about to kill a tiger to allegedly make himself more virile, I would shoot that bastard first!
Their "medicine" is good when herbal, pure bullshit otherwise...
BC

OK, if you spend enough time to compose a fine and thoughtful post with pertinent content TAKE THE TIME TO USE SPELLCHECKER!!! My freaking word does it ever peeve me to be reading an interesting piece just to have my brain stutter and stammer over misspellings, nevermind the occasionally trite and atrocious grammar that weaves its way in. Thanks end rant. BC

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Marijuana is not kosher for Passover, a pro-cannabis advocacy group says, advising Jews who observe the week-long holiday's special dietary laws to take a break from smoking the weed.

The Green Leaf Party announced Wednesday that products of the cannabis plant have been grouped by rabbis within a family of foods such as peas, beans and lentils that is off-limits to Jews of European descent during Passover.

The Green Leaf Party, which has made several unsuccessful attempts to win election to parliament on a platform urging marijuana's legalisation, said it was issuing its advisory as a service to Jews who don't want to break ritual law.

But it said the rabbinical ban for the holiday beginning at sunset Monday, during which many Jews eat matzos, or unleavened bread, could be a blessing in disguise.

"Logic dictates that if the rabbis say cannabis is non-kosher for Passover, it is apparently kosher during the rest of the year," Michelle Levin, a spokeswoman for the party, told the YNet news web site.

If you cannot lay off the ganja for Passover you are weak, I have quit for months at a time w/no problem, sheesh! BC
and why the hell can I not post pics that are already in my gallery!?!?GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR...

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - New Jersey drivers who insist on sending text messages on their cell phones or personal digital assistants may find themselves on the wrong side of the law if legislators approve a new bill.

The plan is in response to a recent Nationwide Insurance survey finding that one in five drivers are texting while driving, a figure that rises to about one in three among people aged 18 to 34, said Democratic Assemblyman Paul Moriarty.

"It's extremely dangerous," said Moriarty, one of three sponsors of the bill. "It requires you to completely take your eyes off the road. I see people driving down the street using both their thumbs to send a text message, and I can only imagine they are steering with their knees."

Drivers caught texting would be fined between $100 and $250. Similar measures are being considered by three other states, Moriarty said.

The measure would allow police to pull over any driver found texting while driving, a tougher approach than currently allowed under the state's ban on drivers using a mobile phone on the highway. Under that law police are only allowed to stop drivers if they are also committing another offense.

Critics have asked why the bill does not also seek to outlaw other sources of driver-distraction such as coffee or food, but Moriarty said such a bill would never pass the state legislature.

The bill, introduced last week, has 20 co-sponsors -- both Democrats and Republicans. It is expected to be debated in a committee during May or June and then pass to the full Assembly and the Senate whose leaders have indicated they are in favor, the assemblyman said.
Good pop them right along with the"phone-stuck-to-my-head-up-my-ass" type assholes! BC

http://franz.org:80/quiz.htm I scored a 20 myself BC