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A scene featuring a ballgame in a ballcourt, painted on a cylindrical ceramic vessel. (Dallas Museum of Art) It's no secret that sports fanatics tend to treat their favorite game as a sacred thing, but a new discovery suggests the ancient Maya took it to a whole new level. Beneath the paved floor of a plaza determined to be a court for Maya Ballgame, archaeologists have identified plants used for ceremonies. These plants have medicinal properties and are associated with religious use – including a plant with known hallucinogenic effects, whose use had never been previously seen in Maya contexts....

If you don't eat chili peppers or hot curry much you may want to reassess that given new research that claims the peppers and curry can play a role in reducing the risk of colorectal and bowel tumors, as well as extend a person's lifespan by 30 percent. The study claims the active ingredient in chili peppers, called dietary capsaicin, decreases the cancer risk as it triggers chronic activation of an ion channel called TRPV1, which is a sensory neuron that protects the intestine against acidity and spicy chemicals. In essence adding chili peppers and hot curries to the diet...

Obama reelection campaign manager Jim Messina emceed an event for Obama campaign volunteers Sunday night that was headlined by a rock singer convicted of sexual battery on a college student in 1990.The popular rock group The Red Hot Chili Peppers played a concert at the House of Blues in Cleveland last night for about 1200 Obama for America supporters who volunteered time at Obama phone banks. From the Cleveland Plain Dealer:...On Sunday, the Cleveland Heights woman joined 1,200 Obama volunteers at the House of Blues to hear the band play a 45-minute set that included its anthem, "Under the Bridge,"...

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The Red Hot Chili Peppers on Monday sued Showtime Networks over the name of the television series "Californication," which is also the name of the band's 1999 album and a single on it. The lawsuit alleges unfair competition, dilution of the value of the name and unjust enrichment, claiming the title is "inherently distinctive, famous ... and immediately associated in the mind of the consumer" with the Red Hot Chili Peppers. "Californication is the signature CD, video and song of the band's career, and for some TV show to come along and steal our identity is...

Funk-rock band the Red Hot Chili Peppers topped the U.S. charts for the first time in its 22-year history on Wednesday, while Neil Young's tirade against President Bush failed to do much for his sales. The veteran Canadian rocker's "Living With War" opened at No. 15 with sales of 60,000 units in the week ended May 14, according to data from Nielsen SoundScan. His last album, "Prairie Wind," started at No. 11 last September with 72,000 copies sold its first week. The Chili Peppers' two-disc set, "Stadium Arcadium," opened with sales of 442,500 copies, a record for the Los Angeles-based...

... The most talked about Democratic fund-raiser before the convention was at Radio City Music Hall, featuring Whoopi Goldberg, the comedian and former Slim-Fast pitch person. ... Linda Ronstadt stopped an innocent gig in Vegas to make a demented pitch for "Fahrenheit 9/11." Hollywood's become a town of Demophiliacs. ... Hyper-politicized Hollywood is the new bed Bill Clinton made for the Democrats, and now the party is going to have to lie in it.... Mr. Kerry has raised $47.5 million in California. Al Gore raised only $5 million. Isn't it becoming harder by the day to take the Democrats seriously...

In an effort to be inclusive, this thread is for nonmetrosexual males (and likeminded women) to advise queer guys on their outfits, decor, vehicles, hairstyles, homes and hobbies. I've outfitted the thread with keywords toward this end.Enjoy.