I am riding in the back of a pickup. I slide around with every turn. We arrive at the downs. My dad reads the racing-form rock. He is certain that our four horses will win. I sit in the bleachers with a tall, young couple wearing red Vicars shirts. They project symbols on the scoreboard. The girl playfully draws stitches on my neck with a sharpie. I feel it squeaking on my skin.

U.N. reaches site of Syrian massacre to investigate killings.

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Supreme Court's approval rating is below 50 percent.

Possibly the greatest blog post ever on '80s celebrity fashion.

Fourteen dismembered corpses found in a truck in northern Mexico.

Cops say ICE agent pulled over on San Mateo was driving erratically and had been drinking.

The 34-year streak of horse racing not having a Triple Crown winner will continue as I'll Have Another is scratched from the Belmont.

Norway is setting up a psych ward in one of its prisons in case mass-murderer Anders Behring Breivik is labeled insane.

California man tries to sell bear cubs at a gas station, says he shot their mom in self defense on his property.

And now ... animal photo bombing!

By now you’ve read the New York Times article on the ills of the horse-racing industry nationwide. The report spotlights New Mexico has having some of the worst rates of illegal drugging and injuries to steeds and jockeys alike. In this week’s news section, Christie Chisholm spotlights animal rights activists, who, in the aftermath of the exposé, are trying to help.