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Go Royals!

Oakland A’s fans may be singing the praises of the rally possum at the Coliseum. Sure there have been sewage problems at the ballpark and various other issues, but none of them came before a game-winning rally in extra innings like this little marsupial did on Monday. But it was at the beginning of the inning after the first out, as centerfielder Sam Fuld walked up to the plate, that a possum went running along the warning track and vanished under the stands. Fuld would go on to a hit and later score the game-winning run for Oakland. Derek Norris...

Bob Welch, a former Cy Young Award winner and the last Major League pitcher to win at least 25 games in a season, has passed away at the age of 57, the Oakland Athletics announced Tuesday. Welch, a two-time All-Star who posted a 27-6 record as the Cy Young Award winner on the Athletics' 1990 American League championship team, passed away in Seal Beach, Monday night. Cause of death was unavailable. "We are deeply saddened by the sudden passing of Bob Welch," said A's President Michael Crowley. "He was a legendary pitcher who enjoyed many of his best seasons with...

A year ago, Manny Machado was the toast of baseball. He was an All-Star and got solid mention in the MVP voting at just 21 years old. Now, in the eyes of the A's anyway, he's just toast. The A's beat Machado's Baltimore Orioles 11-1 Sunday. Machado knocked the A's Derek Norris out of the game in the sixth inning by twice winging the catcher with his backswing. Then in the eighth inning, Machado didn't like a first pitch inside from the A's Fernando Abad. His reaction was to swing and release the bat after a second inside pitch, the...

I discovered this website while looking to see what the bullies and haters are doing against me and my husband and I found this website and all the horrable things you all have been saying just because Gordon Ramsay lies about me. None of you have ever even been to my restarant before and never even tasted my food. YOU NEVER DID SO WHY DO YOU HAVE TO BULLY AND HATE? MY FOOD IS NOT FROZEN! GORDON NEVER EVEN TRIED MY CAKE! WHY AM I AN EVIL WITCH??? WHO ARE YOU TO THINK YOU CAN GO ON THE INTERNET AND...

A nineteen year old girl was arrested after accidentally killing her brother while posing with a loaded gun at around 5:30 am. The victim was identified as 22-year-old Manuel Ortiz. [snip] If the teen is found to have had alcohol in her system at the time of the shooting, she will be charged with manslaughter.

Local talk show host down here in Houston that's reaching a wider audience.. I found this funny and thought some here might enjoy it.

Yoenis Cespedes agreed to terms with the A’s on a four-year deal worth $36 million, according to Yahoo’s Tim Brown. The Marlins had been thought to be the favorites for the 26-year-old outfielder’s services but reportedly had offered the same $36 million over six years. Cespedes was a power-hitting star during his eight years of professional ball in Cuba but defected last summer and subsequently established residency in the Dominican Republic. More here.

Alan Boyle writes:NASA's secret is finally out: Researchers say they've forced microbes from a gnarly California lake to become arsenic-gobbling aliens. It may not be as thrilling as discovering life on Titan, but the claim is so radical that some chemists aren't yet ready to believe it. If the claim holds up, it would lend weight to the idea that life as we know it isn't the only way life could develop. Organisms with truly alien biochemistry could conceivably arise on a faraway exoplanet, or on the Saturnian moon Titan, or even here on Earth. "Our findings are a reminder...

It gets crazier with each passing day. Today we learned that Obama has proclaimed NASA’s new foremost task is to reach out to the Muslim world and make the Muslim people feel good about their historic contribution to science. As far as actual space flight goes, it seems NASA won’t go into space anymore beyond low Earth orbit, although it may form partnerships with other nations for this purpose.

Peggy Lindsey had just watched A's lefthander Dallas Braden make baseball history, and after celebrating a perfect game by her grandson, she couldn't resist sending a Mother's Day message to his verbal sparring partner. "Stick it, A-Rod," Lindsey said, minutes after a career-defining moment for Braden, who has been engaged in a war of words with the Yankee star since mid-April over unwritten rules about the pitcher's mound. It was just three days ago that a video of Braden talking about a fight with A-Rod surfaced, to which the Yankee star responsed by saying he didn't "want to extend (Braden's)...

Two escaped convicts have dodged a huge manhunt - by disguising themselves as sheep. The pair dressed in full sheepskin fleeces, complete with heads, to lie low among farm flocks. Robbers Maximiliano Pereyra...and Ariel Diaz...stole the sheep hides from a ranch after breaking out of an Argentinian maximum security prison a week ago. And they have managed to evade the 300 cops on their trail - despite locals seeing them running through fields at night. Police say spotting the pair among thousands of sheep is "almost impossible." But one warned: "They can't pull the wool over our eyes forever."

COPENHAGEN — Rheumatoid arthritis and two other rheumatic diseases are as strong as diabetes as risk factors for cardiovascular disease, prompting a European League Against Rheumatism task force to issue the group's first consensus recommendations for managing cardiovascular risk in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, and psoriatic arthritis. “In our view, rheumatoid arthritis [RA], ankylosing spondylitis [AS], and psoriatic arthritis [PsA] should be seen as new, independent cardiovascular risk factors,” Dr. Michael T. Nurmohamed said at the annual European Congress of Rheumatology. “Very importantly, the risk is comparable to type 2 diabetes,” added Dr. Nurmohamed, a rheumatologist at the...

The Oakland A's have reached a $510,000 settlement with a male attorney suing them because he wasn't given a commemorative cap being handed out to women at an A's game on Mother's Day 2004. Attorney Alfred G. Rava initiated a class-action lawsuit against the A's because, as a biological male, he was not given a plaid sun hat being handed out to the first 7,500 ladies arriving at the Mother's Day game. He sued over a commemorative Mother's Day cap? He could have at least held out for the Giambi bobblehead. The whole context of the promotion make Mr. Rava's...

Wayne Gilchrest, the nine-term Republican congressman who represents Maryland's Eastern Shore and parts of Anne Arundel County, has had it, and he's ready to talk. He's had it with his own party, which he says "has become more narrow, more self-serving, more centered around 'I want, I want, I want.' " He's finished with his party's presidential candidate, John McCain, who Gilchrest says "recites memorized pieces of information in a narrow way, whereas Barack Obama is constantly evaluating information, using his judgment. One guy just recites what's in front of him, and the other has initiative and reason and prudence...

Democratic Leaders Congressional Leaders Speaker of the House: Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) Nancy Pelosi made history this year, breaking the marble ceiling to become the first woman to serve as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. With Democrats returning to the majority for the first time in 12 years, Speaker Pelosi and her leadership team are addressing the challenging issues facing the American people after years of inaction. Under her leadership, the 110th Congress is working to make America safer, to restore the American Dream and to restore accountability to government. http://www.speaker.gov/ Senate Majority Leader: Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV)...

The identification of a new marker is making it possible to track brain stem cells for the first time, U.S. researchers report. The achievement is already opening doors to new research into depression, early childhood development and multiple sclerosis, the team's senior author said. "This is a way to detect these cells in the brain, so that you can track them in certain conditions where we suspect that these cells play a certain role," explained Dr. Mirjana Maletic-Savatic, an assistant professor of neurology at the State University of New York, Stony Brook. "This is also very applicable for situations where...

HOUSTON (Reuters) - No charges will be filed in the case of a 9-year-old boy who fatally stabbed a 2-year-old girl in a Texas home where a teen-ager was babysitting 12 children, Dallas police said on Tuesday after an investigation. The stabbing occurred on December 22 in a home in southeast Dallas where a 15-year-old was left to supervise at least 10 siblings and 2 other children, including the victim. The toddler, Damya Jefferson, was stabbed twice in the chest by a 9-year-old boy who lived at the house, according to published reports. No charges will be filed against the...

Israel gives army a free hand as Lebanon seeks withdrawal By Patrick Bishop (Filed: 08/08/2006) Diplomatic efforts to stop the war in Lebanon failed to slow the bloodshed yesterday as at least 32 civilians were killed in Israeli air raids. Air raids on a crowded area of Beirut that had so far escaped the violence killed at least eight people Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, said no limits had been placed on the army's actions and leaflets warned Lebanese living south of the Litani river not to remain outdoors after 10pm. Targets in south and east Lebanon were bombed...

Move to speed up pay-as-you-drive By David Millward, Transport Correspondent (Filed: 07/08/2006) The country's first pay-as-you-drive road pricing scheme could be in operation within four years after the Transport Secretary urged Cabinet colleagues to find room for a Bill in the next parliamentary session. Douglas Alexander's pitch for a legislative slot is the strongest signal yet that a major overhaul of the way in which motorists are taxed will become a reality. Without the necessary powers, the 2010 deadline for a pilot study set by Alistair Darling, Mr Alexander's predecessor, could slip. The Department for Transport has been looking for...