NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t

FRESH AIR Journalist Jane Mayer expects that an upcoming Supreme Court case will force the Obama administration to clarify its policy towards fighting terrorism — and to define its stance on preventative detention of suspected terrorists. In her article, “The Hard Cases”, which appears in the Feb. 23 issue of The New Yorker, Mayer details the case of Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri, an alleged Al Qaeda sleeper agent who has been held for more than five years in an isolation brig, despite the fact that he never stood trial or was convicted of a crime. Though Marri was seized and […]

A-ROID: Yes He Did

NEW YORK TIMES: Every time Alex Rodriguez defaulted Tuesday to saying he was stupid, naïve or ignorant for taking steroids, I thought of Dean Wormer’s words to the flunking frat boy Flounder in “Animal House:” “Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, son.” And pleading youthful amateurishness to actions taken at 25, 26 and 27 is no way to go through baseball, either, if you’re injecting yourself, or your cousin is injecting you, with boli, believed to be the street name in the Dominican Republic for Primobolan. “He kept using the excuse of naïveté and curiosity […]

WAITING TO EXHALE: Sheriff Declines To Prosecute Michael Phelps For Violating Stupid Pot Laws

[Illustration by ALEX FINE] BLOOMBERG NEWS: Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps, who won a record eight gold medals in Beijing in 2008, won’t be prosecuted in connection with his admission that he smoked from a bong at a South Carolina college party in November. The Richland County, South Carolina, sheriff’s department announced the decision at a news conference. Sheriff Leon Lott said there wasn’t enough evidence to charge Phelps. “We had a photo and him saying he was sorry for inappropriate behavior,” Lott said during a televised press conference. “He never said, ‘I smoked marijuana.’ We didn’t have physical evidence.” Lott […]

PHYSICIAN HEAL THYSELF: The Straight Dope On Kelloggs, Masturbation, Enemas And Circumcision

BREAKING: Eight people connected to a South Carolina party where Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps was allegedly photographed smoking pot from a bong have been arrested, WIS-TV reported. Officers from the Richland County Sheriff’s Department arrested seven of the suspects for possession of marijuana and the eighth for dealing, according to the station. One arrest included the suspected owner of the bong — who wasn’t even at the party, but was allegedly trying to sell the pipe on eBay for $100,000, WIS reported. The record-breaking Olympic gold medalist has not been charged in the case. But he has lost an endorsement […]