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A 20% tax on sugary drinks would reduce the number of obese adults in the UK by 180,000, say researchers writing in the British Medical Journal. Earlier this year doctors called for a soft drinks tax to reduce sugar intake. The impact would be greatest in the under-30s, the Oxford and Reading university study suggests. But some groups say a tax is misguided and simplistic, and would not have an impact on older age groups who might benefit most from losing weight.

In a world where even the smallest spiders can provoke a fearful shriek, Theraphosa blondi takes scare tactics to a whole new level. This South American tarantula holds the record for world's largest spider. Other spiders might have longer legs, but T. blondi's large body means its overall weight can reach 6 ounces (170 grams).Commonly known as the Goliath birdeater due to an 18th-century engraving showing another member of the tarantula family eating a hummingbird--which gave the entire Theraphosa genus the nickname of "bird eaters"--the gargantuan spider is not quite as menacing as it might seem.

A hug turned deadly Tuesday when a man pulled his gun out of his waistband to get it out of the way and it accidentally fired, Phoenix police said. Police said the 18-year-old man was moving the gun because it was bothering his girlfriend, and she was hit by the bullet when it went off, according to reports in Arizona. Amanda Mosley, 24, was rushed to a hospital but died of her injuries. Police said the shooting appeared to be accidental, but Maricopa County prosecutors are still looking into the case, according to a Phoenix television station.

Obama's Two Hundred and Forty-Ninth Week in Office10/31/2013ObamacareObamacare FY14 Budget: 'To Ensure Integrity of Programs That Redistribute Tens of Billions'Health Insurance Losses to Get Worse: 51 Percent to Lose Employer Based Insurance After apology, Sebelius subpoenaed over Obamacare websiteObama Officials In 2010: 93 Million Americans Will Be Unable To Keep Their Health Plans Under Obamacare HHS Unable to Say if Obamacare Plans Will Force Americans to Pay for Abortion; HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius unable to answer question on abortionExasperated Sebelius Caught on Hot Mic: 'Don't Do This to Me'Obama Heckled in Boston, ObamaCare Speech Interrupted, Crowd Boo ProtestersSebelius Obamacare: This Is...

"Nothing is lost save honor." So said Jim Fisk after he and Jay Gould survived yet another scrape in their corrupt and storied careers in the Gilded Age. Fisk's dismissal of honor came to mind while watching Barack Obama in Boston smugly explain how his vow -- "If you like your health care plan, you can keep it!" -- was now inoperative. All along, it had been a bait-and-switch by the first hustler. In Boston, Obama could no longer evade the truth. Hundreds of thousands of Americans who had purchased health insurance in the private market were getting notices their...

The waiting game is about to begin for some of the world's best big-wave surfers, as the window for holding the legendary Mavericks surf contest near Half Moon Bay is set to open on Friday. In order to hold the 2013-14 Body Glove Mavericks Invitational, ideal surfing conditions need to materialize at the famous break, located about a half-mile off Pillar Point, event spokeswoman Jessica Banks said. Waves higher than 30 feet need to break at regular intervals, with good visibility and low winds, Banks said. "It comes down to more than just the size of the waves," Banks said....

"What do the Saints tell us today? They tell us to trust the Lord because He does not disappoint! The Lord is our friend; He never disappoints! With their witness, they encourage us not to be afraid of going against the tide or of being misunderstood and ridiculed when we speak about Him and the Gospel". This is the teaching Pope Francis offers for the Solemnity of All Saints, which the Catholic Church celebrates today.Pope Francis has often called on Christians to "go against the tide". In today's feast, he focuses on three aspects of going against the dominant mind-set....

BALTIMORE, - A Maryland man whose products parodying a pair of government agencies resulted in cease-and-desist orders is suing the agencies in federal court. Dan McCall, whose LibertyManiacs.com website sells T-shirts and coffee mugs poking fun at the National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security, said Zazzle.com, a website that puts custom designs on T-shirts, mugs and other products, refused to sell his items after receiving a cease-and-desist order from the agencies in 2011, Courthouse News Service reported Thursday. One of the designs alters the DHS logo to read "Department of Homeland Stupidity," while another advertises the other...

Court Rules Obama Admin Can’t Make Catholic Family Business Follow HHS Mandate by Steven Ertelt | LifeNews.com | 11/1/13 1:07 PMA powerful federal appeals court ruled today that a Catholic family-run business does not have to comply with the Obamacare abortion mandate requiring it to pay for birth control and drugs that may cause abortions.Francis A. Gilardi, Jr. and Philip M. Gilardi, two brothers who own and control two companies that are involved in the processing, packaging, and transportation of fresh produce, filed suit against the Obama administration on behalf of their business, Freshway Foods, a nearly 25 year old...

Ahh, yes. Halloween is just around the corner. Time for pumpkin carving, Trick-Or-Treating, and women dressed like two-dollar hookers wearing headdresses. What better way to celebrate the ancient pagan feast of Samhain, where the spirits of the dead roam free, than to wear slutty costumes that reduce people of other races to stereotypical hypersexualized caricatures. After all, why keep the embarrassment and denigration all to yourself? Wait…what? Lindsay Lohan said it best in Mean Girls: “Halloween is the one night a year when girls can dress like a total slut and no other girls can say anything.” Say what you...

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli does not follow the prototype of what a politician should be. In fact, he may be everything a politician should not be. He thinks outside the box and his brain is like a dictionary. Think “Encyclopedia Brown the Detective”; he deals in fact yet keeps things close to everyone’s hearts first. Oh–and he loves playing basketball. This white dude can jump. While he was a State Senator, I called Ken on various complaints and subjects within our neighborhood, from bullying in the schools to roads with crosswalks that went from 25 to 45 mph. I...

A federal appeals court on Friday struck down the birth control mandate in ObamaCare, concluding the requirement trammels religious freedom. The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals — the second most influential bench in the land behind the Supreme Court — ruled 2-1 in favor of business owners who are fighting the requirement that they provide their employees with health insurance that covers birth control. Requiring companies to cover their employees’ contraception, the court ruled, is unduly burdensome for business owners who oppose birth control on religious grounds, even if they are not purchasing the contraception directly. “The burden on religious...

What is it about progressives that they just cannot bring themselves to accept responsibility – materially not figuratively? The Obama junta is filled with the greatest number of supposedly smart people acting in the stupidest ways. Across the spectrum of the Obama Administration sheer lunacy grips Obama, his cabinet, and Congressional Democrats as they rampage through the corridors of government and the halls of Congress with blinders. Everyday, Americans awake from the “Wizard of Oz” no transparency government, afraid to learn what new diabolical outrage has been implemented in the name of benefiting the American people. Recent Congressional testimony from...

12 Texas Abortion Clinics to Close Thanks to New Pro-Life Law by Steven Ertelt | LifeNews.com | 11/1/13 10:35 AMNow that a federal appeals court has allowed a new pro-life law in Texas to take effect, as many as 12 abortion clinics are slated to temporarily close because they can’t comply with the law’s requirements to protect women’s health from dangerous abortions.The law requires abortion practitioners to have admitting privileges at a local hospital within 30 miles of the location of the abortion clinic to be able to transport women quickly and easily in medical emergencies when they are injured...

Just before Halloween, police were alerted to a potential vampire in Sumter.A woman reported to law enforcement that her ex-boyfriend attacked her by biting her on the neck.About 9 p.m. Monday, the 26-year-old woman was at a video store on Liberty Street when the 29-year-old man got into the passenger's seat of her car and asked for a ride home.The woman drove to the 100 block of Carolina Avenue when her passenger reportedly told her to stop the car. She came to a halt in the middle of the road, and the man reportedly pinned her to the seat and...

President Barack Obama will use his executive powers to protect more mountains, rivers and forests from development if Congress does not act to preserve such wild spaces, the U.S. Interior Secretary said on Thursday. Portions of the Grand Canyon, Redwood forests in California and Caribbean seascapes have been protected under the 1906 Antiquities Act, which gives the president broad authority to put natural terrain and historic sites under federal protection. Such preservation efforts can also come through Congress but presidents in a second term have typically felt freer to designate such spaces unilaterally. On Thursday, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said...

MADISON, Wis. — Among the hundreds of cases brought by individuals across the United States claiming their Toyota vehicles accelerated without warning, only Bookout v. Toyota Motor, tried in Oklahoma County, Okla., resulted in a verdict against Toyota. This was also one of the first unintended acceleration cases to go to trial since the Japanese carmaker began recalling millions of vehicles in 2009 over this very issue. The Oklahoma case was also the first in which plaintiffs' attorneys put the fault squarely on a flaw in the vehicle's electronic throttle control system. They dismissed arguments about floor mats and sticky...

Look at what the NSA turned up on Maxine Waters

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A TSA employee has been shot at a checkpoint at Los Angeles International Airport Terminal 3. The victim's condition is unknown at this time. It's unclear if a suspect is in custody.

http://twitchy.com/2013/11/01/report-shooting-at-lax/