Real Scatter Shots

1. So BP is getting slammed with 20 billion. Half a continent away, and 35 years later, the Agent orange fallout from the Vietnam war continues to leave a painful legacy. A panel of policymakers, Vietnamese and US, have urgently recommended that Washington pay 300 million (a mere drop in the proverbial slush fund) to clean up the chemical damage from the 20 million gallons of Agent orange/dioxin dumped on South Vietnam from the air between '62 and '71. Agent orange was used to defoliate the forest (better to detect guerrilla fighters) and to destroy crops. Dioxin not only seeped into the soil but defoliated 5 million acres of forest. More insidious however, Agent orange is under the microscope as being responsible for hideous birth defects and continual health problems in the population surrounding contaminated areas. Washington has been reluctant to address the issue claiming it needs more scientific proof.

2. Campbell's soup is recalling 15 million pounds of the popular Spaghetti Os with meatballs, Spaghetti Os A to Z with meatballs, and Spaghetti Os fun shapes with meatballs (cars). Car meatballs? This I want to see. Evidently a cooker in Paris, Texas malfunctioned, under cooking the meat in the balls. Linked to a batch bar coded circa 2008, most of which has unfortunately already been consumed, 35,000 cases are still roaming USA market aisles. At this point, Campbell execs just need to drop on their swords and hope that the 35,000 cases come home to Texas.

3. Utah. Mormie nation. Ronnie Lee Gardner learned early Friday morning that they still shoot murderers in 'BYoungland.' Death by firing squad. WTF? Is this the 1800's? Target pinned to the chest, 5 guys pulled the trigger. Four bullets, one blank.

4. Sarah never smoked, but she impaled herself once again by declaring that firing up a joint in one's residence is uh, no one's business, compared to society's other problems. Up in Humboldt,CA. there's laughter in the hills...

5. World Cup. Raised on NFL pablum, soccer is a bit tough to digest. However, where there is sport, there is action: a stab in the dark...predicted winner, Argentina or the Netherlands.