Hot off the Press: When the bridge breaks edition

Newport Beach may extinguish the fires in its beach fire pits for good: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-newport-fire-pits28-2009oct28,0,4525544.story.

California is on track to possibly legalize marijuana: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/28/us/28pot.html?ref=us. The sad thing is I'll be long gone by the time it happens.

Law enforcement and intelligence agencies say terrorists are shifting their focus and planning small-scale terrorist plots, which are harder to detect: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/01/us/01terror.html?_r=1&ref=us.

Despite all the cuts, California is still in deep shit — and it will only get deeper: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/01/us/01calif.html?ref=us.

This is of course a little controversy surrounding the Hawkeye Victory Polka: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20091101/NEWS/911010337. This article is just throwing a little kindling on the fire — sounds like a slow news day at the DMR — but I would hate to go to an Iowa game and not be able to sing "In heaven there is no beer..." after the win.

Many of Iowa's sewage treatment plants discharge more pollution than allowed by the state, doing more harm than they are good: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20091101/NEWS/911010345&theme=BIGGEST_POLLUTERS.

Scientists at the University College London have found that people who eat a diet of mostly processed food ("sweetened desserts, fried food, processed meat, refined grains and high-fat dairy products") have a 58 percent higher risk of becoming depressed than those whose diet consists mostly of fresh produce: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8334353.stm.

In this article and accompanying video, the NYT revisits some Iowans it talked to during Obama's campaign for president to gauge their opinion of him now: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/03/us/politics/03year.html?_r=1&ref=politics. What boggles my mind is that people still believe the shit politicians tell them during campaigns. How could anyone believe the president would implement sweeping changes and alter the American political landscape forever? Seriously, the man is a politician. As one of the characters in The Hunt for Red October said, "I'm a politician. When I'm not kissing babies, I'm stealing their lollipops."