According to popular bible myth, Eve's consumption and sharing of the apple is the reason for the 'fall of mankind'. She and her mate were booted out of the Garden of Eden with strategically placed fig leaves and nary a pot to piss in. For a long time thereafter, women shouldered most of the blame for the alleged 'evils' of this world.

The garden of Eden tale is really a metaphor for the loss of humanity's creative energy, man's divorce from nature and subsequent marriage to the material. It was this separation that lay the groundwork for the distorted view of woman as 'evil' which then took root in many religions and continues to this day.

As with religion, both the Feminist and Vegetarian Movements were co-opted and twisted into something that seems more in line with fundamentalism than groups of people expressing ideas reflective of their choices.

What's interesting is how both these movements, in many cases, have become intertwined. Many feminists today seem to identify with vegetarianism and many female vegetarians have embraced the feminist cause. Both feminists and vegetarians have earned a reputation for vitriolic argumentation that often leaves their detractors recoiling in fear. If simple dialogue provokes such knee-jerk reactions, perhaps a closer look at the possible underlying motivations behind the feminist vegetarian/vegan (fem v/v) movement is warranted.

A judge on Wednesday struck down a portion of a law giving the government wide powers to regulate the detention, interrogation and prosecution of suspected terrorists, saying it left journalists, scholars and political activists facing the prospect of indefinite detention for exercising First Amendment rights.

U.S. District Judge Katherine Forrest in Manhattan said in a written ruling that a single page of the law has a "chilling impact on First Amendment rights." She cited testimony by journalists that they feared their association with certain individuals overseas could result in their arrest because a provision of the law subjects to indefinite detention anyone who "substantially" or "directly" provides "support" to forces such as al-Qaida or the Taliban. She said the wording was too vague and encouraged Congress to change it.

"An individual could run the risk of substantially supporting or directly supporting an associated force without even being aware that he or she was doing so," the judge said.

She said the law also gave the government authority to move against individuals who engage in political speech with views that "may be extreme and unpopular as measured against views of an average individual.

"That, however, is precisely what the First Amendment protects," Forrest wrote.

She called the fears of journalists in particular real and reasonable, citing testimony at a March hearing by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Christopher Hedges, who has interviewed al-Qaida members, conversed with members of the Taliban during speaking engagements overseas and reported on 17 groups named on a list prepared by the State Department of known terrorist organizations. He testified that the law has led him to consider altering speeches where members of al-Qaida or the Taliban might be present.

A Michigan teen made a gristly discovery after biting into an Arby's junior roast beef sandwich.

Ryan Hart said he had nearly polished off his sandwich last Friday when he bit into something tough to chew that tasted like rubber, so he spit it out.

Turns out it tasted like finger. The fleshy pad of an unfortunate employee's finger, apparently.

"I was like, 'That (has) to be a finger,'" Hart, 14, told the Jackson Citizen Patriot on Wednesday. "I was about to puke. ... It was just nasty."

The employee apparently cut her finger on a meat slicer and left her station without immediately telling anyone, said Steve Hall, the environmental health director for the Jackson County health department. Her co-workers continued filling orders before they became aware of what happened, he said.

European officials are playing a dangerous game of chicken with Greece.

In an apparent signal to Greek voters, the head of the World Bank warned Thursday that if Athens were to depart from the common currency, Spain and Italy could well be the next dominoes to fall in Europe's widening financial crisis.

After ousting the Athens government that agreed to deeper spending cuts in return for a financial lifeline, voters return to the polls in June after the winning parties failed to form a new government. Apparently hoping to convince Greek voters to return a pro-austerity government to power, European officials are now openly discussing the likely dire consequences if they don't.

But the comments may have only served to heighten fears of a wider breakup of the eurozone should Greece exit the monetary union.

Investors backed away further from Spain's government debt Thursday, raising the country's borrowing costs to levels that sparked the Greek debt crisis in the first place.

Canada - The Quebec government intends to present a bill to end the province's 14-week tuition strike, Premier Jean Charest announced Wednesday night - a proposal that was quickly and decisively rejected by student leaders.

The bill calls for suspending the current academic session at 14 CEGEP schools and 11 out of 18 universities where students remain out of classes, unless an agreement can be reached.

The winter session would resume in August and September.

The bill would also guarantee that students who want to return to classes can.

The specifics of the bill were not spelled out, respecting legislative protocol, which requires the government to first present bills in the assembly.

Charest also said his April 27 proposal - to add $39 million in bursaries and to change student-aid rules so low-income students would not feel the impact of the $1,778 tuition increase over seven years - would come into force.

The premier appealed to student and union leaders for calm, expressing the hope his new approach would lead to campus peace.

"Nothing can justify violence and intimidation," Charest said. "You and I know there are some individuals who have used this debate to use violence and intimidation, and that's just a fact.

This is the story of what happens when an average couple is up against a giant, wealthy, powerful bank.

Norman and Oriane Rousseau were one more couple pushed by a huge, greedy bank to the brink of homelessness. On Sunday, desperate and with nowhere to go, Norman Rousseau shot himself.

This is the story of what happens when an average couple is up against a giant, wealthy, powerful bank. Unfortunately the result is what the result always is when people are on their own against the wealthy and powerful: the bank ends up with all of their money, takes their house to sell and throws them out onto the street. In this case the bank is Wells Fargo.

The quick version of this terrible story is that Norman and Oriane Rousseau of Newbury Park, California were scammed into a predatory mortgage. But they made their payments anyway, always paying with a cashier's check in person at the same branch. Then one day the bank misapplied their payment and said they still owed the money. This started a long, nasty process that led to the bank evicting the Rousseaus from their home.

Here's the shocker: right at the start the Rousseaus came up with proof that the bank had received the payment and had cashed the check. But the bank continued to claim it had missed the payment, gave the Rousseaus the runaround, started applying fees, and used it as an excuse to foreclose on the house anyway.

Kelly Thomas died in July 2011 after a violent confrontation with Fullerton police at a bus depot.

A unanimous vote by Fullerton city council members Tuesday granted the mother of a mentally ill homeless man who died after a violent confrontation with police a $1 million settlement with the city, officials said.

Fullerton Officer Manuel Ramos and Cpl. Jay Cicinelli charged in the beating death of transient Kelly Thomas have been ordered to stand trial following a three-day preliminary hearing. Vikki Vargas reports from Santa Ana for the NBC4 News at 5 p.m. on May 9, 2012.

He would "never hurt" anyone, Stephen Ivens' wife said in a statement

It's being called the largest search in Burbank in the past 20 years. FBI Agent Stephen Ivens disappeared after going for a hike near his home. John Cadiz Klemack reports from Burbank for the NBC4 News at 5 p.m. on May 15, 2012.

Donald J. Sachtleben, 54, was charged with possessing and distributing child pornography.


A former Federal Bureau of Investigation agent and Carmel resident was arrested on child pornography charges.

Donald J. Sachtleben, 54, has been charged with possessing and distributing child pornography.

U.S. Attorney Joseph Hogsett announced the criminal charges Monday, stating law enforcement began investigating an individual suspected of trading child pornography online in September 2010. That individual, who resided in Illinois, was arrested in January 2012.

After searching the Illinois suspect's computer, authorities discovered he was trading material with several other people. Hogsett said law enforcement was able to trace the alleged online activity to Sachtleben's home in Carmel.