The Neighborhood King

Tattoo parlor makes mark in resort town

2006-12-26T12:07:00.000-08:00

They pay a lot more rent for a lot less space, but Jack Eldredge and Alyssa Tippetts couldn't be happier with their tattoo shop's new home. They ski in the mornings, take breaks in a hotel hot tub and gaze out at a "more friendly" environment. Not that their journey from a 1,800-square-foot setup in an Orem strip mall to a 300-square-foot nook in Park City's Treasure Mountain Inn didn't have some bumps. But now that they have arrived and business at Park City Ink is promising, they see the wisdom in the move. "One of those blessings in disguise type of things, I guess," Tippetts says. Six months ago, neither Tippetts nor Eldredge would have guessed they would be closing up their bustling shop on Orem's State Street for a cozy spot at the top of Park City's historic Main Street. Then Noah Webster Academy - a K-6 school chartered for 525 students and developed by legislators Jim Ferrin, R-Orem, and Mike Morley, R-Spanish Fork - announced plans to rebuild the old Storehouse Market behind their Orem shop. Eldredge and Tippetts grew unsettled. Not only did they think having a school next to a tattoo and piercing parlor was inappropriate, but they also knew county regulations prohibited such shops within 600 feet of a school. And these two buildings were even closer. They shared a fence.

(m o r e)

2006-12-21T15:21:00.000-08:00

Bong Hits 4 Jesus

2006-09-09T05:28:00.000-07:00

Former Whitewater special counsel Kenneth Starr petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to take up Alaska's "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" case, a dispute involving a high school student, a banner and a tough school policy.

Yes - the Monica Lewinsky Ken Starr.

Joseph Frederick, then a senior, was off school property when he hoisted the banner but was suspended for violating the school's policy of promoting illegal substances at a school-sanctioned event.

Fredrick sued the school but lost in federal district court. However, a three-member panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the lower court order and said school officials violated Fredrick's free speech rights.

***

"The principal's actions were so outrageous, basically leaving school grounds and punishing a student for a message that is not damaging to the school," said his attorney, Doug Mertz.

Now Starr is trying to take the case to the Supreme Court. Unbelievable.

First they ignore you . . .

2006-09-03T06:23:00.001-07:00

First they ignore you,
.then they ridicule you,
..then they fight you,
...then you win.

-- Mahatma Gandhi

MyDeathSpace.com

2006-08-30T16:25:00.000-07:00

MyDeathSpace.com is an archival site, containing news articles, online obituaries, and other publicly available information.

We have given you the opportunity to pay your respects and tributes to the recently deceased MySpace.com members via our comment system.
Please be respectful.

Bush says: ?Iraq Had ?Nothing? To Do With 9/11?

2006-08-26T05:24:00.000-07:00

Karl Rove and Dick Cheney are not happy campers today that?s for sure. He admits he was wrong about WMD?s in Iraq and now this.

QUESTION: A lot of the consequences you mentioned for pulling out seem like maybe they never would have been there if we hadn?t gone in. How do you square all of that?

BUSH: I square it because imagine a world in which you had Saddam Hussein, who had the capacity to make a weapon of mass destruction, who was paying suiciders to kill innocent life, who had relations with Zarqawi.

You know, I?ve heard this theory about, you know, everything was just fine until we arrived [in Iraq] and ? you know, the stir-up-the-hornet?s- nest theory. It just doesn?t hold water, as far as I?m concerned.

The terrorists attacked us and killed 3,000 of our citizens before we started the freedom agenda in the Middle East. They were ?

QUESTION: What did Iraqi have to do with that?
BUSH: What did Iraq have to do with what?

QUESTION: The attacks upon the World Trade Center.

BUSH: Nothing. . . . .Except for it?s part of ? and nobody?s ever suggested in this administration that Saddam Hussein ordered the attack. Iraq was a ? Iraq ? the lesson of September the 11th is: Take threats before they fully materialize,

I seem to remember Dick Cheny, Condi and Bush trying link Iraq to 9/11 way back when:

Russert: Do you still believe there is no evidence that Iraq was involved in September 11?

CHENEY: Well, what we now have that?s developed since you and I last talked, Tim, of course, was that report that?s been pretty well confirmed, that he did go to Prague and he did meet with a senior official of the Iraqi intelligence service in Czechoslovakia last April, several months before the attack

Martini Republic: So, to sum up, we had to invade Iraq because Saddam didn?t have any WMDs and didn?t have any connection to 9/11. And his handlers reportedly cannot understand why his approval ratings remain in the toilet.

Wanna be an illegal alien?

2006-08-19T04:56:00.000-07:00

The Honorable Paul S. Sarbanes
309 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington DC, 20510

Dear Senator Sarbanes,

As a native Marylander and excellent customer of the Internal Revenue Service, I am writing to ask for your assistance. I have contacted the Immigration and Naturalization Service in an effort to determine the process for becoming an illegal alien and they referred me to you.

My reasons for wishing to change my status from U.S. Citizen to illegal alien stem from the bill which was recently passed by the Senate and for which you voted. If my understanding of this bill?s provisions is accurate, as an illegal alien who has been in the United States for five years, what I need to do to become a citizen is to pay a $2,000 fine and income taxes for three of the last five years.

I know a good deal when I see one and I am anxious to get the process started before everyone figures it out. Simply put, those of us who have been here legally have had to pay taxes every year so I?m excited about the prospect of avoiding two years of taxes in return for paying a $2,000 fine.

Is there any way that I can apply to be illegal retroactively? This would yield an excellent result for me and my family because we paid heavy taxes in 2004 and 2005.

Another benefit in gaining illegal status would be that my daughter would receive preferential treatment relative to her law school applications.

If you would provide me with an outline of the process to become illegal (retroactively if possible) and copies of the necessary forms, I would be most appreciative. Thank you for your assistance.

Your Loyal Constituent,
Pete McGlaughlin

Eleven Reasons Why Syd Barrett Was Cool

2006-08-12T18:35:00.000-07:00

Syd Barrett, an original member of Pink Floyd and one of the true icons of the psychedelic late '60s, has passed away at age 60. Rather than dwell on the tragic passing of this amazing musical figure, we here at ChartAttack want to celebrate the great moments of this man's career. Without further ado, here are 11 reasons why Syd Barrett was cool:
# 1. He founded Pink Floyd. 'Nuff said.
# 2. He gave the band their unique name, which always sounded incredibly psychedelic, by simply taking the names of two obscure bluesmen (Floyd Council and Pink Anderson) and putting them together.
# 3. The first Pink Floyd record, The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn, is a psychedelic classic and was the complete brainchild of Barrett. The album featured several unique techniques, such as Barrett using his Zippo lighter on his guitar for feedback and distortion and all kinds of bizarre vocal parts throughout.
# 4. He wrote songs that were filled with wonder and amazement. His imagination produced songs about bedtime stories ("Matilda Mother"), magic cats ("Lucifer Sam"), tricked-out bikes ("Bike"), scarecrows ("The Scarecrow"), gnomes ("The Gnome") and even one about a bloke who got sent to jail for stealing ladies' panties off the washing line ("Arnold Layne," the first Floyd single).
# 5. There's no doubt that he had an influence on The Beatles and the recording of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band. Floyd were working on The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn at Abbey Road at the same time as The Beatles were doing their record, and both groups would wander down the hall to see what crazy noises were coming out of the respective studios.
# 6. He had a song for Floyd called "Let's Roll Another One," but the record company wouldn't go for that in 1967. That didn't stop Barrett, though. He just wrote new lyrics and the song came out as the trippy "Candy And A Current Bun."
# 7. His sense of song structure was truly magical, as evidenced on tracks like the crazy "Apples And Oranges." It flopped as a single, but it holds the award for being a psychedelic song that was actually too psychedelic for even the late '60s.
# 8. Despite his problems with drugs that eventually caused him to leave Floyd, Barrett also made two incredible solo albums, The Madcap Laughs and Barrett. Again, Barrett's sense of whimsy came to the forefront in songs like "Baby Lemonade" and his working of a James Joyce poem as "Golden Hair." The band Gigolo Aunts took their name from a track on Barrett. Even though Floyd couldn't contain him as a member, both Roger Waters and Dave Gilmour took turns producing him solo, and Richard Wright played on Barrett.
# 9. One of the best loved Floyd albums is basically a tribute to Barrett. Wish You Were Here featured "Have A Cigar," which detailed the band's first meeting with EMI back in '67, and "Shine On You Crazy Diamond," a heartfelt tribute to Barrett.
# 10. Here's a list of just a few different bands and musicians he had an affect on: This Mortal Coil, Marc Bolan, David Bowie, The Jesus And Mary Chain, The Cure's Robert Smith, Johnny Marr (formerly of The Smiths), My Bloody Valentine's Kevin Shields, Primal Scream, Voivod, The Libertines, The Beta Band, Julian Cope, Robyn Hitchcock, The Flaming Lips, R.E.M., Mercury Rev, The Dead Kennedys' East Bay Ray, Camper Van Beethoven, Pearl Jam, Love And Rockets, Elevator To Hell, The Melvins, Transatlantic, Phish, Dream Theater, Graham Coxon (formerly of Blur) and former Red Hot Chili Pepper John Frusciante.
# 11. When tribute records became the big thing in the late '80s and '90s, one of the first was one for Barrett called Beyond The Wildwood. There was another one, entitled On A Distant Shore, released in 2004.

?Dan "The Mouth" Lovranski

Convicted border agent tells his story

2006-08-12T05:12:00.000-07:00

EL PASO, Texas - Border Patrol Agent Ignacio Ramos could hear his heart racing. He could feel the dry, hot dust burning against his skin as he chased a drug trafficker trying to flee back into Mexico. Ramos' fellow agent, Jose Alonso Compean, was lying on the ground behind him, banged up and bloody from a scuffle with the much-bigger smuggler moments earlier.

A Texas jury convicted the pair of assault with serious bodily injury; assault with a deadly weapon; discharge of a firearm in relation to a crime of violence; and a civil rights violation. Compean and Ramos also were convicted of four counts and two counts, respectively, of obstruction of justice for not reporting that their weapons had been fired. The jury acquitted both men of assault with intent to commit murder.

Suddenly the smuggler turned toward the pursuing Ramos, gun in hand. Ramos, his own weapon already drawn, shot at him, though the man was able to flee into the brush and escape the agents. Now, nearly 18 months after that violent encounter, Ramos and Compean are facing 20 years in federal prison for their actions.

... Keep Reading

The Boat Ranch

2006-07-22T13:52:00.000-07:00

The kids are too young. Too young to be toting machine guns and randomly stopping cars in the middle of a vacant, dusty highway that heads south into the desert. Their weapons glisten in the heat as they stare at the jumble of surfboards, cases of Pacifico beer and jugs of bottled water in the back of the truck. One looks at us and smiles. He surfs, too, he says in broken English. The others wave us on and we pass, heading down the Trans-American highway, looking for surf.

The road disappears into a haze of pollution and dust, sucking us deeper into Baja. The checkpoint, Tijuana, Ensenada and Santo Tomas left behind as we vanish into the heat waves on the horizon. The first Pacifico is opened as the sun sets, burnishing the last waves of the day, the sets pulsing in from the Pacific as night comes with a sudden hardness. From the top of the cliffs we can hear the surf surging across the rocks that line the beach. The waves glow with a faint hint of phosphorus as we settle in for the night. The trip has been a long one and the road has worn exhaustion into our bones.

The Boat Ranch sits at the end of a forgotten point. Created by a guy named Layton, a itinerant surfer from Southern California, the ranch is host to 12 boats in different states of metamorphosis. The first boat, hauled down from the states by Layton over the axle busting ruts that lead to the end of the point, has transmorgified into a rustic bungalow. The others are in various states of repair or disrepair, none seaworthy but all providing refuge those who travel to the vacant sliver of land that pushes out into the ocean. They?re fine accommodations, giving us all the luxury we need: shelter from the sun and rain, a place to cook simple meals that fill the belly, and from the deck of a boat called ?The Duke?, a clear view of the swell which batters the point.

Danse macabre iconography

2006-07-22T05:37:00.000-07:00

Although the origins of the danse macabre, or Dance of Death, are still obscure, probably the most famous version was the (now lost) mural of 1424-25 with accompanying verses in the churchyard of the Franciscan convent Aux SS. Innocents in Paris. The scheme showed Death engaged in a dialogue with people from all ranks of society as he invites each to his dance. Around 1430, the poet John Lydgate produced a Middle-English 'translation', which came to be included in a lost scheme at Old St Paul's Cathedral, London. The theme became extremely popular across Europe, especially when printed editions appeared; best known is probably the series of prints by Hans Holbein the Younger (published in 1538), but Thomas Rowlandson produced a series of Dance of Death prints as late as the mid-1810s. There are regional variations: Death is usually armed with a scythe, spade, spear or dart in French and English versions, whereas German schemes tend to emphasize the musical aspect of the Dance.

The popularity of the danse macabre can also be observed in tomb iconography from the later fifteenth century on. The skeletal figure of Death with his dart is sometimes just a symbol of mortality (memento mori) in the overall composition, as at Doulting and Wellington, but one also finds Death threatening or attacking the commemorated person, exemplified by the monuments at Nieuwkapelle, Lowestoft, Hunsdon and Shepton Mallet. Unusual and early is the brass of John Rudyng at Biggleswade, which features a dialogue in Latin between Death and the spectator with a reminder that king, duke, prince and priest all must suffer this doom - a clear reference to the danse macabre. The skeleton on the incised slab at Wijk may represent the deceased, yet it could equally be Death himself with his dart, wearing a biretta in mockery of the dead clergyman.

The Seven Levels of Surfers

2006-07-22T04:45:00.000-07:00

Soul Surfer - Level 7

This is the highest level, the pinnacle of surfing spirituality equivalent to Nirvana, Satori, Total Enlightenment, etc. and is rarely attained. The Soul Surfer expresses himself through his unity with the breaking wave. He borrows the wave's spirit for a short while and uses his body and equipment to translate the essence of the wave's spirit into Art. Other Surfers respond to this and immediately recognize the Soul Surfer whether they admit it or not.

The Soul Surfer is a complete master of his tools, body and board. The Soul Surfer may train his body and practice with his board when not creating his Art, however, when he becomes one with the wave, his body and board are extensions of his mind. No conscious thought is expended upon the surfing techniques he uses to express the spirit of the wave with casual virtuosity. To make a musical analogy, a guitarist may woodshed his scales, but when he's jamming he's not even thinking about fingerings. He's lost in the passion of the moment. Just like a Photographic Artist who may have several cameras and many lenses, the Soul Surfer could have a quiver of a dozen boards each with a different purpose. Likewise, other Soul Surfers may have only one board, or none at all.

Soul Surfers sometimes dress strangely and say things that make seem to make sense but you have no idea what they mean. Soul Surfers often rise from sleep very early to create their Art in private. Few people witness the Art of a true Soul Surfer since they do not think to promote themselves. Many do not even realize they have attained the highest level of surfing spirituality or appreciate their tremendous skill as they are beyond the need for any sort of evaluation. Those that do become conscious of their own expertise often regress to the lower level of Whore which sadly and paradoxically means you will almost never see the Art of a Soul Surfer unless you know one personally or are lucky enough to be at the right break at the right time.

Soul Surfers use any sort of surfing equipment: longboard, shortboard or no board at all. They use whatever tool their Art requires to express the spirit of the wave and are constantly evolving in their ongoing exploration of the wave-human unity. Soul Surfers are the human embodiment of Stoke.

... Keep Reading

Green Card Lottery Results

2006-07-22T04:40:00.000-07:00

82,000 winners have been selected by the US State Dept. in the 2005 Green Card Lottery. Green Card winners and their families can live, work and study permanently in the United States. The following is the statistical breakdown by country of those registered for the 2005 lottery (called DV-2007). Only participants in the DV-2007 program who were selected for further processing have been notified. Winning notices were sent by regular mail to the address specified on the application. Those who have not received notification were not selected. They may register for the 2006 lottery.

The Prisoner's Handbook

2006-07-18T15:03:00.000-07:00

...written by a group of 'old-heads' (longtime prisoners) in the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections:

"A prison psychology specialist, suggested that I write a little 'handbook' or guide for prisoners who are new to jail. After some thought, I got together with a few other "old-heads." Between us we've got over 100 years in Pennsylvania hell-holes. We know our sh*t! We came up with this little list of suggestions for the tens of thousands of young ment who are being railroaded into prison, Pennsylvania's fastest growning business. If you have a husband, son or friend who's been thrown into prison in the past year or so, I suggest that you print out this handbook and send it to him.

Rule 6: Don't comment on your cell-partner's personal habits. Farts, snoring, toilet practices and so forth are personal traits which you must learn to tolerate, or you must change cell-partners. Criticizing personal habits is, generally speaking, counter productive. Remember that you have personal habits which irritate your cell-partner. Talking about them just adds to the irritation.

Rule 13: Help those prisoners that you find you are able to help. Share your criminal skins with them. After all, that's what prison is all about: education in crime. But, where you're able, go beyond grooming the other guy to be a more skilled crook. If you can help him read or write, or work on the law, try to do those things. Conversely, never belittle or make fun of the thousands of prisoners who can't read, can't write and can't perform simple intellectual chores. In most cases, if the guys could read and write, they wouldn't be in prison in the first place. Then where would Pennsylvania's rednecks be?

Rule 20: Do one day at a time. It's an old cliche, but it's true. Live for today. Chances are that tomorrow will come.

005 DonDiva Magazine®

Miki Dora

2006-07-15T16:21:00.000-07:00

Imagine a California coastline devoid of surfers. Imagine Malibu without surfboards all over the lineup. El Porto without vehicles stacked with surfboards. The inescapable fact of surfing here is the crowd. Wherever there are good waves there is a pack of surfers. One can only imagine a time before the crowd. Miki Dora died on Jan. 3, 2002 at the age of 67. He was one of the guys who surfed Malibu before the crowd took over.

"Waves are the ultimate illusion. They come out of nowhere, instantaneously materialize and just as quickly they break and vanish. Chasing such fleeting mirages is a complete waste of time. That is what I choose to do with my life."

Miklos Sandor Dora
1934 - 2002

When the '50s rolled around Dora was one of the few to surf Palos Verdes Cove, a favorite of these paddleboard surfers. He was one of a loose crew surfing at Malibu. There a writer followed his teenage daughter to the beach one day and came up with a novel. "Gidget" had arrived. The cornball Hollywood film gave surfing a free, and unwanted, national promotion. The party was over. The pristine world of Miki Dora was invaded. Seething in frustration, Dora, "da Cat," the Malibu master, became the man who went against the grain of all that surfing was to become.

Not long before he died at his father's home in Santa Barbara, Dora lived in Guethary, France. He would be seen on a certain park bench watching the waves. If it was good, he'd go surfing. In the end, Dora bought the dream that the magazines promote so relentlessly of the wandering, carefree surfer. But like everyone else, he had to sell out and join the crowd. That's sad, but that's the way life is. I respect Miki Dora more for what he tried to do than for what he accomplished. He tried to take the Hollywood out of surfing, to make it a bold, individualistic, artistic statement. And, in the end he forgot about the crowd, the hype, the lost world and picked up his board and paddled out.

... Keep Reading

On Good and Evil

2006-07-01T05:21:00.000-07:00

It is right in principle that those should be the best loved who have contributed most to the elevation of the human race and human life. But, if one goes on to ask who they are, one finds oneself in no inconsiderable difficulties.

In the case of political, and even of religious, leaders, it is often very doubtful whether they have done more good or harm. Hence I most seriously believe that one does people the best service by giving them some elevating work to do and thus indirectly elevating them. This applies most of all to the great artist, but also in a lesser degree, to the scientist.

To be sure, it is not the fruits of scientific research that elevate a man and enrich his nature, but the urge to understand, the intellectual work, creative or receptive. It would surely be absurd to judge the value of the Talmud, for instance, by its intellectual fruits.

The true value of a human being is determined primarily by the measure and the sense in which he has attained to liberation from the self.

For the foxes

2006-06-27T15:10:00.000-07:00

don't feel sorry for me.
I am a competent,
satisfied human being.

be sorry for the others
who
fidget
complain

who
constantly
rearrange their
lives
like
furniture.

juggling mates
and
attitudes

their
confusion is
constant

and it will
touch
whoever they
deal with.

beware of them:
one of their
key words is
"love."

and beware those who
only take
instructions from their
God

for they have
failed completely to live their own
lives.

don't feel sorry for me
because I am alone

for even
at the most terrible
moments
humor
is my
companion.

I am a dog walking
backwards

I am a broken
banjo

I am a telephone wire
strung up in
Toledo, Ohio

I am a man
eating a meal
this night
in the month of
September.

put your sympathy
aside.
they say
water held up
Christ:
to come
through
you better be
nearly as
lucky

Bukowski

IMAGES OF LAWYERS AND THE THREE STOOGES

2006-06-25T07:06:00.000-07:00

This Article surveys several of the Three Stooges "shorts" dealing with law and lawyers, particularly the film Disorder in the Court. Professor Coyne provides a comedic portrayal of the courtroom through the lampoons of the Three Stooges.

According to film critic Leonard Maltin, an observation first made in a 1937 issue of Motion Picture Herald remains true today. "The public, upon which the screen depends for its existence, appears ... to be divided roughly into two groups, one composed of persons who laugh at the Three Stooges and the other made up of those who wonder why."

1. THE STOOGE VERSION OF LAW

Between 1934 and 1959, Columbia Studios released 190 short subjects starring the Three Stooges. Long before the advent of "coming attractions," these "shorts" were considered "curtain raisers," to be shown before the feature, full-length movie. Law-related puns and slanders aimed at lawyers are generously sprinkled throughout the Stooges' films.

If you have difficulty telling the Stooges apart, perhaps Jack Kerouac's descriptions will help. Moe is "mopish, mowbry, mope-mouthed, mealy and mad." Larry, on the other hand, is "goofhaired, mopplelipped, lisped, muxed and completely flunk." And, of course, Curly is the Stooge who loves to "muckle and yuckle and squeal."

To the extent that the Three Stooges portrayed their opinion of the legal system through their comedy films, we should not be surprised that Larry, Moe and Curly lampooned the law as they did. During their careers, the Stooges were in court often, and on occasion even got what they asked for (and I don't mean a ham sandwich, nyuk nyuk nyuk). The variety of their litigation, from divorces to intellectual property claims, gave the Three Stooges ample experience to create Disorder in the Court.

The Three Stooges

2006-06-25T06:35:00.000-07:00

Hold That Lion! is notable for a cameo appearance by former Stooge, Curly Howard, younger brother of Shemp and Moe. He appears as a snoring passenger who the Stooges think is Ichabod Slipp, the man they are looking for. This was the only film that featured all three Howard brothers -- Moe, Curly, and Shemp -- in the same film.

TIMOTHY GREENFIELD-SANDERS XXX 30 PORN-STAR PORTRAITS

2006-06-22T19:08:00.000-07:00

Timothy Greenfield-Sanders (1952 Miami Beach, Florida ? lives and works in New York) is well-known for his portraits of personalities from the worlds of art, fashion, entertainment, sports and politics.

XXX 30 Porn Star Portraits contains texts by intellectuals like Gore Vidal (the preface), Nancy Fiday, JT Leroy, John Malkovich, Lou Reed, Salman Rushdie, John Waters. On the same theme of pornostars Greenfield-Sanders has also created a DVD, ?Thinking XXX? (produced by HBO, the same network as Sex and the City, The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, The Wire) and a music CD ?XXX: Music from Thinking XXX? (the soundtrack from the film that includes, among others, tracks by Peaches, Ladytron, Mylo, Moderato and Lou Reed).

The cycle XXX 30 Porn Star Portraits features portraits of American porn stars shown in two different shots, one in the nude and one with clothing. Otherwise the two images are absolutely identical in terms of proportions, pose, expression, color of the monochrome backdrop. The classic reference to the famous work by Goya La Maja Vestida/La Maja Desnuda is clearly evident. What is striking about these portraits is the proud composure of the subjects, presented in life-size prints in the exhibition. The diptychs are made in two sizes: 50.8 x 81 cm in an edition of six multiples, and 147 x 223 cm in editions of three.

Journey on Alone

2006-06-19T15:16:00.000-07:00

Find a friend to be with and stay in that relationship,
avoiding the dangers of hurting others.
Stay with your friend and become mindful and joyful.
If you can find no friend, then go on by yourself.
Better to carry on alone than live with the foolish.
Journey on alone, unconcerned, working no evil,
like the bull elephant in the jungle.

-Sunnata Vagga

Trust No One

2006-06-19T15:14:00.000-07:00

To trust a stranger without investigation invites troubles
so endless that even descendants must endure them.

Without investigation, trust no one. Having investigated,
entrust a man with matters for which he is trustworthy.

To trust a man who has not been tested and to suspect a man
who has proven trustworthy lead alike to endless ills.

-Tirukkural 51: 508-510

Dean Martin: June 17, 1917 ~ December 25, 1995

2006-06-17T05:23:00.000-07:00

I once shook hands with Pat Boone and my whole right side sobered up.

Bush Administration Quietly Plans NAFTA Super Highway

2006-06-17T05:18:00.000-07:00

Quietly but systematically, the Bush Administration is advancing the plan to build a huge NAFTA Super Highway, four football-fields-wide, through the heart of the U.S. along Interstate 35, from the Mexican border at Laredo, Tex., to the Canadian border north of Duluth, Minn. Once complete, the new road will allow containers from the Far East to enter the United States through the Mexican port of Lazaro Cardenas, bypassing the Longshoreman?s Union in the process. The Mexican trucks, without the involvement of the Teamsters Union, will drive on what will be the nation?s most modern highway straight into the heart of America.

A good reason Bush does not want to secure the border with Mexico may be that the administration is trying to create express lanes for Mexican trucks to bring containers with cheap Far East goods into the heart of the U.S., all without the involvement of any U.S. union workers on the docks or in the trucks.

The Mexican trucks will cross border in FAST lanes, checked only electronically by the new ?SENTRI? system. The first customs stop will be a Mexican customs office in Kansas City, their new Smart Port complex, a facility being built for Mexico at a cost of $3 million to the U.S. taxpayers in Kansas City. As incredible as this plan may seem to some readers, the first Trans-Texas Corridor segment of the NAFTA Super Highway is ready to begin construction next year. Various U.S. government agencies, dozens of state agencies, and scores of private NGOs (non-governmental organizations) have been working behind the scenes to create the NAFTA Super Highway, despite the lack of comment on the plan by President Bush. The American public is largely asleep to this key piece of the coming ?North American Union? that government planners in the new trilateral region of United States, Canada and Mexico are about to drive into reality.

Lioness in zoo kills man who invoked God

2006-06-17T05:01:00.000-07:00

KIEV (Reuters) - A man shouting that God would keep him safe was mauled to death by a lioness in Kiev zoo after he crept into the animal's enclosure, a zoo official said on Monday.

"The man shouted 'God will save me, if he exists', lowered himself by a rope into the enclosure, took his shoes off and went up to the lions," the official said.

"A lioness went straight for him, knocked him down and severed his carotid artery."

The incident, Sunday evening when the zoo was packed with visitors, was the first of its kind at the attraction. Lions and tigers are kept in an "animal island" protected by thick concrete blocks.

June 15, 1937 -- February 13, 2002: Waylon Jennings

2006-06-15T13:40:00.000-07:00

Waylon Arnold Jennings (June 15, 1937 ? February 13, 2002) was a respected and influential American country music singer and guitarist, born in Littlefield, Texas.

He taught himself to play guitar at age eight, and formed his first band two years later. He worked as a DJ throughout his teen years, dropping out of high school to pursue a career in music. During his time working as a DJ, he met and befriended Buddy Holly.

On the night of February 3, 1959 (The Day the Music Died) the airplane carrying Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. Richardson (aka The Big Bopper) crashed outside of Mason City, Iowa, killing all passengers. Jennings had given his seat to Richardson, who had the flu and desperately needed rest. In his 1996 autobiography, Jennings admitted for the first time that in the years afterward, he felt severe guilt and responsibility for the crash. After Jennings gave up his seat, Holly had jokingly told him that he hoped the tour bus would stall. Jennings replied, with equal jocularity, that he hoped the plane would crash; these words would haunt him for years.

The legend of Screech's endowment

2006-06-15T13:39:00.000-07:00

Dustin Diamond who played the infamous "Screech" on Saved By The Bell was on Howard Stern this morning, and of course Howard couldn?t wait to ask about the urban legend that he is massively hung. And it turns out it's no rumor, Screech has 10 inches! (unerect)

Screech was the quintessential "skinny and rubbery-faced nerd" on Saved By The Bell (clumsy, goofy, loud clothes, hot for science and chess). We love that he had this secret side to him all along. As one caller put it "who knew he was the one we should have focused on". Never underestimate a nerd.

Fez may be packing heat, but little old Screech has got him beat! More from the Stern interview below...

Diamond's girlfriend was there to verify and he talked about some unusual problems he's had with his giant size over the years. There was a funny line that when he was born his dad said he was "all nose and hose".

And he's had the typical messed up life of child star since the days of the show. He now lives in Wisconsin, has bad credit, is about to loose his house, and he has a website where he's selling t-shirts to try and save it. Get an autographed t-shirt from a child actor on the slide for only $20!

Survey: 24 percent between 18-50 tattooed

2006-06-11T06:10:00.000-07:00

(A) study, scheduled to appear Monday on the Web site of the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, provides perhaps the most in-depth look at tattoos since their popularity exploded in the early 1990s. The results suggest that 24 percent of Americans between 18 and 50 are tattooed; that's almost one in four. Two surveys from 2003 suggested just 15 percent to 16 percent of U.S. adults had a tattoo. But body art is more than just tattoos.

"Really, nowadays, the people who don't have them are becoming the unique ones," said Chris Keaton, a tattoo artist and president of the Baltimore Tattoo Museum.

About one in seven people surveyed reported having a piercing anywhere other than in the soft lobe of the ear, according to the study. That total rises to nearly one in three for the 18-to-29 set. Just about half ? 48 percent ? in that age category had either a tattoo or piercing. Given their youth, that suggests the percentage of people with body art will continue to grow, said study co-author Dr. Anne Laumann, a Northwestern University dermatologist. "They haven't had time to get their body piercing. They haven't had time to get their tattoo. They are just beginning to get into it and the number is already big," Laumann said. So why has body art become so popular? Laumann and others believe it allows people to broadcast to the world what they are all about. Others call it sign of rebellion or a rite of passage. The survey found nearly three-fourths of the pierced and nearly two-thirds of the tattooed made the leap before 24.

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Eatery's English-only sign raises ire

2006-06-10T06:30:00.000-07:00

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - A sign in a landmark Philadelphia restaurant asking customers to order in English is sparking controversy in the metropolis known as the "City of Brotherly Love."

The owner of Geno's Steaks said on Thursday that the sign, "This is America -- when ordering speak English," is intended to encourage immigrants to learn the language and assimilate into U.S. society, but one Latino activist said it's racist. The controversy comes amid a national debate over immigration in the United States. The U.S. Senate passed an immigration bill last month that includes a provision which would make English the national language. "They should be glad that I put the sign up. I'm trying to help them to speak English," said Joey Vento, 66, whose grandparents moved to the United States from Italy. "Without the English language, they are going to have a lot of problems in this country. "There is nobody who can say they are turned down because of the language," he added. "They can point if they want to." The sign, which Vento posted at his cheese steak restaurant about six months ago and says he has no intention of removing, has made some people angry. Roberto Santiago, executive director of Philadelphia's Council of Spanish Speaking Organizations, said he was "appalled" by the policy. "I think what's coming out of his mouth is racist," said Santiago. "He is saying, 'I don't like these brown faces in my community and I will do everything I can to get them out of there.'" Santiago said he has urged Latinos to boycott Geno's Steaks, a fixture in South Philadelphia's Little Italy neighborhood which has seen an influx of Hispanic immigrants in recent years. Vento denied that anyone would be refused service if they ordered one of the sliced beef-and-cheese sandwiches, a famed bit of cuisine in the Quaker-founded "City of Brotherly Love," in a language other than English. Tony Luke, co-owner of competitor Tony Luke's restaurant, said Vento has taken "too much of a hard line" with non-English-speaking customers. "You can't be expected to learn English in a week," he said. "We will be a lot more tolerant than that."

Ligers

2006-06-10T04:13:00.000-07:00

Long ago, outside the old city of Singapore, which was considered to be the city of Lions, there was reported to be giant brown beasts. This was before the Asiatic lion was reduced to such low numbers that their are now less than 200 left in the Gir forest. This huge animal might just be an explanation for this myth, for he is neither a lion nor a tiger, but he is about the size of both of them combined. The liger is the world's largest big cat. An average male liger weighs over 900 pounds and standing almost 12 feet tall.

The reason that they are called a liger is because the father was a lion and the mother was a tiger. If the situation was reversed and the mother was a lion and the father was a tiger, he would be called a tigon, and would be a dwarf instead of a giant. A fully grown tigon is usually less that 350lbs. Ligers are not sterile, and they can reproduce. If a liger were to reproduce with a tiger, it would be called a titi, and if it were to reproduce with a lion, it would be call a lili.

Ligers are not something we planned on having. We have lions and tigers living together in large enclosures. We had no idea how well one of the lion boys was getting along with a tiger girl. Low and behold, she had giant brown babies, and we knew we had ourselves some ligers.

... Keep Reading

On Immigration

2006-06-09T20:13:00.000-07:00

"In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith, becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American... There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag... We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language... and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people."

~ Theodore Roosevelt 1907

Stemming the tide

2006-06-03T19:14:00.000-07:00

After another vacation, our representatives and senators are now back at work in Washington with the promise that they will finally do something about the overflow of 11 million illegal immigrants slipping into this country for the past 15 years. Arkansas felt the problem. Between 1990 and 2000, Arkansas had the fourth-fastest growth of immigrants in the United States. The Immigration and Naturalization Service estimates that the number of illegal immigrants in Arkansas increased from 5,000 to 27,000. Most of this growth is in Northwest Arkansas where chicken companies are operating. These new immigrants make up 5 percent of the work force ? one out of every four farm workers, one in every six cleaning workers and one in every seven construction workers. Last week in the streets of the big cities, thousands of the illegal immigrants (500,000 in Los Angeles alone) held rallies opposing any laws that might kick them out of the country. The Catholic Church helped them with their demonstrations. While the new illegal immigrants can?t vote, the Latinos who are citizens usually vote for Republicans, which explains why the Bush administration has done almost nothing to stop the overflow. Naturally, the Democrats wish the Latinos would get on their side, and so to date they have hesitated to do anything to stop the overflow, especially with the elections coming up this November. The president?s idea was to sort of legalize the illegal immigrants and let them stay here for a few more years, but then they would have to go home. If they came back, they would have to do it legally. The problem is that the National Immigration Forum says it is simply impossible to round up and deport 11 million people. Sens. John McCain, who would like to be president, and Edward Kennedy got together and came up with a plan that would let the immigrants work and not have to go back home. As you might think, restaurants, hotels and farmers liked their idea.

Six Immigration myths

2006-06-03T18:54:00.000-07:00

The trouble with the debate over immigration is that sophisms and bumper sticker slogans too often crowd out serious discussion. According to a whole host of polls, Americans of all ethnic groups understand that the system is broken and would like it reformed. Yet a series of myths has risen up around the immigration policy status quo in order to sustain it; these must be refuted in the interest of the majority that supports reform.

Immigration cannot be restricted because America is a nation of immigrants. There are a variety of problems with this position, which nevertheless packs emotional force with Americans who are either immigrants themselves or their descendants and do not wish to appear hypocritical or callous toward their heritage. First, it is on its own terms a non sequitur. Just because immigration has built a nation, it does not logically follow that said nation forever has limitless capacity to absorb new immigrants.

Second, insofar as it is true - at least in the literal sense - the same can be said of virtually all nations. Population movements have created nations other than the United States, albeit often more slowly. Third, to a certain extent this isn't even true literally. A majority of Americans were born here, and born to native-born parents. Moreover, Professor Samuel Huntington has observed that there is a distinction between settlers and immigrants. Settlers came to what we now know as America in the 17th and 18th centuries to form new societies; they had no interest in assimilating into the societies that were already there, and indeed they often fought with and displaced them. By contrast, immigrants move from one society to become members of another. Thus, settlers built America and immigrants came later to join and assimilate into the society they created. Approximately half our population to this day is descended from these settlers.

So what's the point of this? Simply that America has historically been a specific nation with a common language and culture - it is not simply a place built by whoever happens to want to be here. Americans are not violating any part of their national creed by acting to preserve this nation and expecting new immigrants to assimilate.

Immigrants - even illegal ones - only take the jobs that Americans won't do. Sigh. One doesn't get very far in an immigration discussion without hearing this argument. Some go so far as to suggest that this should be an argument for open borders. Others only use it to support their claim that mass immigration has no deleterious economic impact.

Of course, the key caveat is that immigrants only take the jobs that Americans won't do at the current wage rate. This says nothing about what Americans would do if wages for lower-skilled jobs were raised. Because the post-1965 wave of immigrants takes a disproportionate amount of these jobs, it is primarily the poorest Americans who see their wages and job opportunities reduced. According to a study by the National Academy of Sciences' National Research Council, immigration between 1980 and 1994 was responsible for 44 percent of the reduction in wages paid to high school dropouts. Low-skilled immigration thus can depress wages, increasing both the number of jobs that Americans won't take and can't get.

Immigration is good for the economy. Ironically, points 3 and 4 are often made by the same people even though they are in many respects contradictory - immigration theoretically helps the economy by increasing labor supply and reducing labor costs. It is also true that some immigrants have skills the U.S. economy is lacking and thus are quite economically beneficial. There is also some truth to the claim that immigrants make as well as take jobs - some immigrants do indeed create jobs.

But the question is not what specific immigrants do or what immigration under another policy might do. It is what the present immigration wave as a whole and those who will continue to be allowed in by current policy in practice will do to the economy that matters most in this discussion. The National Research Council study mentioned above actually found that the economic benefit of current immigration is minimal and the cost to lower-income American and taxpayers in high-immigration areas is significant. Public policy shunts skilled immigrants aside to devote slots for family reunification. Sure, this helps some employers who are looking for a steady supply of cheap labor. Immigrants most likely to create jobs often find it difficult to get in. But if these same employers had to instead modernize or improve productivity, the gains to the overall economy would likely outweigh this advantage.

Opposition to high levels of immigration is necessarily motivated by racism or xenophobia. Given that leading advocates of immigration reform are themselves immigrants, it is by no means a given that xenophobia is a prerequisite for supporting immigration reform. It is actually defenders of high levels of immigration who seek to continually preserve what amounts to a disproportionately minority low-wage servant class. Moreover, the negative economic consequences of current immigration policies fall heaviest on minority Americans.

The Center for Immigration Studies Steven Camarota provided one example in the fall 1998 issue of The Public Interest when he cited a study of the Harlem labor market by Katherine Newman and Chauncy Lennon of Harvard University. According to this article, they "found that 41 percent of the immigrants in their sample of low-wage workers were able to find jobs within one year, while only 14 percent of native-born blacks were able to do so. The authors conclude that immigrants fare better in the low-wage labor market because employers see them as better workers." Similarly, in a recent cover story for The American Conservative, J.P. Zmirak recalled open borders enthusiasts making racist remarks to support their preference for the immigrants admitted under policies they favored over native-born minorities.

Historically, America has generally experienced intermittent immigration. Waves of new immigrants were followed by pauses during which these immigrants were assimilated. We have not had a pause since immigration laws were liberalized in 1965 and have been admitted upwards of 1 million people a year in recent years. In order to promote assimilation and prevent cultural balkanization, such a pause is needed now. With the mechanisms that once assimilated immigrants now in disrepair, a pause is needed more than ever.

In addition to the social reasons for immigration reduction, the post-9/11 era points to another reason: Our borders are out of control and we need time to reestablish order. We need to reevaluate our admissions process to scrutinize who gets in and enforce this process through a system of deportations. All of the above are broken. This leads us into the sixth myth.

Immigration does not really pose any national security concerns. How often do we hear that we can't combat international terrorist cells by targeting immigrant busboys? This completely ignores the fact that the system is having great difficulty telling the difference; anyone can waltz through an open door.

Joel Mowbray pointed out in a National Review cover story that the visa applications of the 9/11 hijackers should have been rejected on their face. Syndicated columnist Michelle Malkin has cataloged specific immigration system failures that kept suspected Beltway sniper John Lee Malvo in the country; her first-rate book Invasion contains many similar examples. Immigrants and foreign visitors may be mostly law-abiding, but there are systemic inadequacies that are producing preventable errors with great consequences.

Myths that mischaracterize the motives of immigration reformers and the reasons for reform prevent a reasonable discussion of what is right and wrong about current immigration policy. More importantly, they prevent successful efforts to fix what is wrong. The second part of this article will focus on more such myths. Only by debunking them can the immigration debate proceed productively.

Where the Death Numbers Come From?

2006-06-03T07:27:00.000-07:00

There is no magic to coming up with the number of coalition dead from our war on Iraq . Our sources are not secret. In fact, our primary source is the U.S. government. Any private individual or news organization who wishes to keep track of war dead gets their information from this same source. Whenever a death occurs, CENTCOM (the United States Central Command in Tampa , FL ) issues a brief news release that gives the bare facts about the incident: when it happened, how it happened, and the soldier?s regiment, if known. The only information not provided at this point is the soldier?s name. These releases are published regularly on the Internet at: http://www.centcom.mil/ After the soldier?s relatives are notified of the death, the U.S. Department of Defense then issues its own news release that gives the soldier?s name, age, unit and hometown. Again, these can be found on the Internet here: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/ The trouble with this system of notification, however, is that the government provides no tally of those releases. That is why this web site was developed... to provide information that has been scrupulously culled from government sources and cross-checked against other existing lists to ensure the most accurate and complete accounting of deaths that we can possibly assemble.

... Keep Reading

Ethnic Nationalism

2006-06-03T06:57:00.000-07:00

"Our duty is to take back what is ours," reads the Internet page, "even if it means carrying out total genocide."

Standard fare, perhaps, for your garden-variety white supremacist Web sites. But there's a twist. The sentiment comes this time not from any neo-Nazi or Klan page, but from the message board of La Voz de Aztlan, the racist and anti-Semitic Web magazine of a tiny group of extremist Chicanos in Los Angeles. "Aztlan" is the mythical Aztec homeland that supposedly existed in Mexico and the southwestern United States before the Spanish conquest of 1519. And though La Voz's members number at most a dozen, they hope to take the entire territory back. Adopting pseudonyms like Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl, they have even established a "provisional government," apparently anticipating chaos after the coming revolution. La Voz de Aztlan's articles go way, way past mainstream Latino concerns, railing against "Nazi" Jews, "demonic" lesbians and "the Jew/Gay Democratic Party." The site approvingly quotes ancient Aztec law, requiring disembowelment for homosexuals. It blames Jews for political problems in Los Angeles and even provides the entire text of the infamous anti-Semitic forgery, Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Worse, though, are the message boards. "Kill any Raza [Latina] woman," writes one participant, "who mixes her blood with either white trash or ... nigger scum." When queried by the Intelligence Report, La Voz's editors denied any anti-Semitism, writing anonymously via E-mail that they were not endorsing the Protocols but offering them up for "analysis and discussion only." Publishing the Protocols, they argued, "is not any different from the ploys that ... [TV trash-talk show host] Jerry Springer uses for his ratings."

... Keep Reading

Dark Side of Oz

2006-06-02T19:04:00.000-07:00

It will probably take you a few tries to get the synch lined up just right so be patient. First load the Dark Side of the Moon CD into your CD player and hit PLAY (>) and then immediately hit PAUSE (II) so it is cued up and ready to roll. Be sure also to set your CD player to continuous replay. This in most CD players is done by hitting the "REPEAT" button twice. Hitting it once will repeat only the presently playing track so hit the button two (2) times and it will replay the CD over and over. The CD will play roughly two and a quarter times through the entire length of the movie. Now start the video and get past all the preview junk (about five minutes worth on the THX voersion) at the beginning and watch for the BLACK & WHITE MGM lion to roar.

I've done this experiment quite a few times, and I'll have to admit that there are a lot of coincidental events and themes. Although Pink Floyd has never admitted to doing such a thing (except Roger, who stays quiet when asked), there are just a few points that should be examined. I guess you'll just have to come to your own conclusion. It's just the way it is with this band. But one thing this experiment does do is bring the theme of The Dark Side to life, whether it was intentional or not. In other words, IT'S WORTH DOING! This page was brought to life to explore a possible theme for this great controversy. Hope you enjoy the show!

After the BLACK &WHITE MGM Lion roars for the THIRD (3rd) time IMMEDIATELY hit the play button on the CD player. Be sure to turn down the sound on the TV because the dialogue and original soundtrack are not necessary for this experiment. "The Dark Side of the Moon" will provide all the sound you need. For your most enjoyment make sure you get number one in the list below exactly right. Don't worry if you have to restart it a few times. The effect is worth the trouble. I have discovered some problems with a few of the compact stereos with the CD player on the top. They either do not have a "repeat" function or the response is a bit delayed.. Therefore your results after the first playthrough will probably vary from this list. Just get the first one listed below correct and you will at least get the first and best playthough just fine.

Marilyn Monroe -- June 1, 1926 - August 5, 1962

2006-06-01T14:06:00.000-07:00

Fame will go by and, so long, I've had you, fame. If it goes by, I've always known it was fickle. So at least it's something I experience, but that's not where I live.

Marilyn Monroe

Happy Memorial Day, Dad...Wish You Were Here...

2006-05-29T12:20:00.000-07:00

[	theme	\|	chillin'	]
[	music	\|	HeavyShift "90 Degrees in the Shade"	]

In Memory of dle Senior - June 2, 1915 - October 24, 1984
Cpl, 5th Marines
Veteran of the Pacific Campaign: Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, New Guinea

American girls and American guys, will always stand up and salute.
We'll always recognize, when we see ol' glory flying,
There's a lot of men dead,
So we can sleep in peace at night when we lay down our heads.
My daddy served in the army where he lost his right eye,
But he flew a flag out in our yard 'til the day that he died.
He wanted my mother, my brother, my sister and me.
To grow up and live happy in the land of the free.

Now this nation that I love is fallin' under attack.
A mighty sucker-punch came flying in from somewhere in the back.
Soon as we could see clearly through our big black eye,
Man, we lit up your world like the fourth of July.

Hey, Uncle Sam put your name at the top of his list,
And the Statue of Liberty started shaking her fist.
And the eagle will fly and it's gonna be hell,
When you hear Mother Freedom start ringing her bell.
And it'll feel like the whole wide world is raining down on you.
Ah, brought to you, courtesy of the red, white and blue.

Oh, justice will be served and the battle will rage:
This big dog will fight when you rattle his cage.
An' you'll be sorry that you messed with the U.S. of A.
'Cos we'll put a boot in your ass, it's the American way.

Hey, Uncle Sam put your name at the top of his list,
And the Statue of Liberty started shaking her fist.
And the eagle will fly and it's gonna be hell,
When you hear Mother Freedom start ringing her bell.
And it'll feel like the whole wide world is raining down on you.
Ah, brought to you, courtesy of the red, white and blue.

Oh, oh.
Of the red, white and blue.
Oh, hey, oh.
Of my Red, White and Blue.

Keith Toby -- (The Angry American) Courtesy Of The Red, White, And Blue

May 29, 1917 - November 22, 1963, John F. Kennedy

2006-05-29T12:18:00.000-07:00

Do you realize the responsibility I carry? I'm the only person standing between Richard Nixon and the White House.

John F. Kennedy

May 28, 1945 -- John Fogerty

2006-05-28T06:01:00.000-07:00

In the last two years or so, I've made a conscious decision to play American guitars; I don't know of a more subtle way to say it.

Happy Birthday, John Fogerty

Mary Jane Trumps Joe Camel

2006-05-27T05:00:00.000-07:00

It seems logical that inhaling enough smoke will give you lung cancer. But a new study of Los Angeles residents suggests that smoking marijuana--even more than 22,000 joints in a lifetime--doesn't increase cancer risk. The results surprise many researchers, who point out marijuana has other ill health effects.

The results surprised Tashkin. "I wouldn't give [marijuana] a clean bill of health, but at least this study says if there is a risk, it's very small," he says. Still, he says, marijuana has been shown to suppress the immune system and may increase the risk of pneumonia.

Decades of research have shown that cigarette smoking dramatically increases the risk of certain cancers. But controversy surrounds the risk of smoking weed. A 1999 study of blood donors suggested a link between marijuana and head and neck cancer, but a larger study in 2004 found no such connection. Still, work in the lab suggests marijuana can be dangerous. For example, pot smoke contains more of some cancer-causing chemicals than cigarettes do, thanks to the filterless nature of joints.

... Keep Reading

Ben's 12 Rules

2006-05-27T04:54:00.000-07:00

1. Finish better than your beginnings.

2. All education is self-education.

3. Seek first to manage yourself, then to manage others.

4. Influence is more important than victory.

5. Work hard and watch your costs.

6. Everybody wants to appear reasonable.

7. Create your own set of values to guide your actions.

8. Incentive is everything.

9. Create solutions for seemingly impossible problems.

10. Become a revolutionary for experimentation and change.

11. Sometimes it?s better to do 1,001 small things right than only one large thing right.

12. Deliberately cultivate your reputation and legacy.

Few realize that long before Benjamin Franklin became a patriot and a founding father, his success as a business owner, money lender and entrepreneur allowed him to retire at the age of 42(*) and pursue other interests -- interests that benefited his community (Philadelphia), his province (Pennsylvania), his country (the 13 colonies), and the world at large.

Franklin is not only looked up to for his scientific, political and humanitarian contributions, but, according to Blaine McCormick of Baylor University's Hankamer School of Business, Franklin was also one of America's stellar business leaders, as attested to by the business leaders who followed him in his footsteps. Some noteworthy examples of those who have adopted Franklin as their model include: Andrew Carnegie, Thomas Mellon, Warren Buffet, Dale Carnegie and Stephen Covey.

In addition, Franklin and his wife, Deborah, owned a mercantile store that included the sale of wines, medicines, Franklin soap, lottery tickets, iron stoves, mariner's instruments, Rhode Island Cheese, quills, ink, pencils, Bohea tea, coffee, candles, watches, maps, lightning rods, barrels of cod, sperm oil, and purchased rags for paper production. It should be noted that Deborah, for many years, oversaw and managed many of the Franklin enterprises while her husband was away in England as a business/political agent (lobbyist) for the colonies of Pennsylvania, Georgia, New Jersey, and Massachusetts. Thus, Deborah Franklin can be considered one of our country's first successful business women.

... Keep Reading

Miles DavisMay 26, 1926 -- September 26, 1991

2006-05-25T14:26:00.000-07:00

My future starts when I wake up every morning... Every day I find something creative to do with my life.

Miles Davis

Ralph Waldo Emerson May 25, 1803 -- April 27, 1882

2006-05-25T14:23:00.000-07:00

Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Unicorn

2006-05-24T14:39:00.000-07:00

A long time ago, when the earth was green
And there was more kinds of animals than you've ever seen,
And they run around free while the world was bein' born,
And the lovliest of all was the Unicorn.
There was green alligators and long-neck geese.
There was humpy bumpy camels and chimpanzees.
There was cats and rats and elephants, but sure as you're born
The lovliest of all was the Unicorn.
But the Lord seen some sinnin', and it caused him pain.
He says, "Stand back, I'm gonna make it rain."
He says, "Hey Brother Noah, I'll tell ya whatcha do.
Go and build me a floatin' zoo.
And you take two alligators and a couple of geese,
Two humpy bumpy camels and two chimpanzees.
Take two cats and rats and elephants, but sure as you're born
Noah, don't you forget my Unicorns."
Now Noah was there, he answered the callin'
And he finished up the ark just as the rain was fallin'.
He marched in the animals two by two,
And he called out as they went through,
"Hey Lord, I got your two alligators and your couple of geese,
Your humpy bumpy camels and your chimpanzees.
Got your cats and rats and elephants--but Lord, I'm so forlorn
'Cause I just don't see no Unicorns."
Ol' Noah looked out through the drivin' rain
But the Unicorns were hidin', playin' silly games.
They were kickin' and splashin' in the misty morn,
Oh them silly Unicorns.
The goat started goatin', and the snake started snakin',
The elephant started elephantin', and the boat started shaking'.
The mouse started squeakin', and the lion started roarin',
And everyone's aboard but the Unicorns.
I mean the green alligators and the long-neck geese,
The humpy bumpy camels and the chimpanzees.
Noah cried, "Close the door 'cause the rain is pourin'
And we just can't wait for them Unicorns."
Then the ark started movin', and it drifted with the tide,
And the Unicorns looked up from the rock and cried.
And the water come up and sort of floated them away
That's why you've never seen a Unicorn to this day.
You'll see a lot of alligators and a whole mess of geese.
You'll see humpy bumpy camels and lots of chimpanzees.
You'll see cats and rats and elephants,
But sure as you're born
You're never gonna see no Unicorns.

Shel Silverstein
(The Unicorn)

Bob Dylan -- May 24, 1941

2006-05-24T13:23:00.000-07:00

"There must be some way out of here," said the joker to the thief,
"There's too much confusion, I can't get no relief.
Businessmen, they drink my wine, plowmen dig my earth,
None of them along the line know what any of it is worth."

"No reason to get excited," the thief, he kindly spoke,
"There are many here among us who feel that life is but a joke.
But you and I, we've been through that, and this is not our fate,
So let us not talk falsely now, the hour is getting late."

All along the watchtower, princes kept the view
While all the women came and went, barefoot servants, too.

Outside in the distance a wildcat did growl,
Two riders were approaching, the wind began to howl.

Just because you like my stuff doesn't mean I owe you anything. -- Bob Dylan

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Glasswing Butterfly

2006-05-24T13:18:00.000-07:00

Glasswing Butterfly(Greta Oto) is a brush-footed butterfly where its wings are transparent. The tissue between the veins of its wings looks like glass. They are found in the range which extends throughout Central America into Mexico.

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This Place is Not a Place of Honor

2006-05-22T13:45:00.000-07:00

If you look at it just right, the universal radiation warning symbol looks a bit like an angel. The circle in the middle could indicate the head, the lower part might be the body, and the upper two arms of the trefoil could represent the wings. Looking at it another way, one might see it as a wheel, a triangular boomerang, a circular saw blade, or any number of relatively benign objects. Whatever a person's first impression of it may be, someone unfamiliar with the symbol probably wouldn't guess that it means "Danger! These rocks shoot death rays!"
The U.S. Department of Energy has been grappling with that problem recently, as they designed the warning markers to use at Yucca Mountain and at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) nuclear waste storage facilities. There's no telling who might be around to exhume our radioactive sins in future centuries, but the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) mandates that warnings be erected which will warn away potential intruders for the next 10,000 years, whomever those intruders may be.

Ten thousand years ago, early humans were still painting images on the walls of caves. Some of those primitive messages managed to survive ten millennia, and they also remain somewhat meaningful. But of course our ancient cave-painting ancestors weren't attempting to illustrate complex ideas as far as we know.

The offending nuclear waste will be stored far underground at each of these facilities, but there is still a danger that future generations might stumble across it. WIPP is located in the desert outside Carlsbad, New Mexico, and its storage areas are located 2,150 feet underground. Yucca Mountain's facilities in the Nevada desert are intended to house waste at 1,000 feet deep. Between the two, they are meant to entomb tens of thousands of metric tons of nuclear waste, most of which will remain dangerous for centuries. Each of these locations was selected due to its relative geologic stability, theoretically allowing facilities there to contain the waste for the required 10,000 years. The essence of the message itself is simple: Warning, dangerous materials are buried below. But how to communicate this to all possible discoverers using an enduring medium?
To help answer this question during the preparations for the WIPP facility, panels of experts were assembled comprised of individuals with backgrounds in history, future studies, economics, law, physics, sociology, geography, engineering, political science, risk analysis, agriculture, climatology, history, and demographics. This group was called the Futures Panel, and they were tasked with creatively exploring the possible reasons why a future society might penetrate these deep underground storage facilities. They were also asked to advise on how to universally warn away would-be intruders.
The potential causes of future intrusion were imagined to be: water impoundment, resource exploration/extraction, scientific investigations, archaeological exploration, reopening the facilities for additional storage, waste disposal by injection wells, explosive testing, underground transportation tunnels, and weather modification. With these possibilities under consideration, the Futures Panel proceeded with the assumption that intelligent beings would halt any of these activities if the monuments were successful at conveying their warning.

... Keep Reading

The Two Truths

2006-05-21T11:45:00.000-07:00

"Very often," says Maurice Walshe in the introduction to his translation of the Long Discourses of the Buddha (Digha Nikaya), "the Buddha talks in the Suttas in terms of conventional or relative truth (sammuti-sacca), according to which people and things exist just as they appear to the naïve understanding. Elsewhere, however, when addressing and audience capable of appreciating his meaning, he speaks in terms of ultimate truth (paramattha-sacca)."

The notion of Two Truths goes entirely against the grain of what the Buddha taught. Siddhattha Gotama's teaching is not founded on absolutes of any kind. He avoids the deeply ingrained assumption of much religious thought that reality is somehow split down the middle (God and Creation / Brahman and Maya / Nirvana and Samsara / Emptiness and Form). Ironically, of course, such divisions are blatantly dualistic -- a position most Buddhists are supposed to be at pains to avoid.

It might come as a surprise, therefore -- particularly after having just read the words of an eminent translator of the Buddha's word -- to learn that nowhere among the discourses (sutta) in the Pali canon does the Buddha use such terms. This famous distinction between "relative" and "absolute" truth is entirely alien to these early texts. One can certainly interpret his teaching through the lens of such an idea (which, if you read the passage carefully, is what Maurice Walshe does) but bear in mind that the distinction itself is one the Buddha never employed.

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Alexander Pope (22 May 1688 - 30 May 1744)

2006-05-21T09:23:00.000-07:00

To err is human; to forgive, divine.
Alexander Pope

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The Gospel of Mary Magdalene

2006-05-21T06:51:00.000-07:00

The Gospel of Mary Magdalene has Taoist and Buddhist concepts presented in first century Christian Semantics.

Jesus is quoted as saying that "All natures, all formed things, all creatures exist in and with one another and will again be resolved into their own roots, because the nature of matter is dissolved into the roots of its nature alone."

This is very similiar to the Taoist concept of Oneness as expressed in Chapter 34 of Tao Teh Ching, Speaking of the Tao it says "All things derive their life from it [Tao] All things return to it, and it contains them."

Another portion of The Gospel of Mary Magdalene describes a soul's journey after death and the challenges it overcomes. These passages are much like The Tibetan Book of the Dead which reveals the Peaceful and Wrathful Dieties a soul encounters during its journey after it has separated from the body at death.

This is very similiar to this portion of the Gospel of Mary Magdalene, " When the soul had overcome the third power, it went upwards and saw the fourth power, (which) took seven forms. The first form is darkness, the second desire, the third ignorance, the fourth is the excitement of death, the fifth is the kingdom of the flesh, the sixth is the foolish wisdom of flesh, the seventh is the wrathful wisdom. These are the seven {powers} of wrath."

... Keep Reading

Lakeland International Raceway Ghost Track

2006-05-20T13:49:00.000-07:00

A Look at Abandoned Lakeland International Raceway Near Memphis, Tennessee.

The 1999 release on video and DVD of Monte Hellman's film 'Two-Lane Blacktop' prompted me to pay a visit to the grounds of the Lakeland International Raceway; a track that made its debut on July 4th, 1960. (Ironically, 'Two-Lane Blacktop' made it's theatrical debut in New York City on the Fourth of July weekend too.) Incredible as it seems with all of the development going on in and around Lakeland these days that the track and surrounding acreage remains largely untouched; left to return to nature. Word is, the facility is slated to be developed within the next few years even as many of Lakeland's current residents are wary of overcrowding & traffic in their community.

Closed in 1979, this track saw a lot of action in its heyday hosting major NHRA, AHRA and IHRA events. The best names in drag racing have traveled this asphalt; Jungle Jim, Dyno Don, Arnie "The Farmer" Beswick, Shirl Greer, Bob Glidden, Lee Shepherd, Shirley Muldowney, Tommy Ivo, Gene Snow and many more! In 1972 Big Daddy Don Garlits set an AHRA national E.T. record, traversing Lakeland Raceway in 5.95 seconds.

A road course constructed on the site in the late 60's which integrated the dragstrip as a long straightaway even hosted SCCA and USAC races. A.J. Foyt, Roger McCluskey and Parnelli Jones competed here in the Memphis 200. After you tour the track, check out 'the old days' section, the article archive and the 'WHBQ' section where you'll see some of the exciting action that took place here.

If you have any stories, photos etc. to share related to Lakeland International Raceway feel free to contact me and sign the guestbook. I'm sure there are plenty of interesting memories out there. This site can serve as a gathering place for all things Lakeland International Raceway. (Thanks to all those who have contributed so far!)

In the meanwhile, enjoy your look around this ghost track.

*This dragstrip was such an intregal part of my youth, growing up in the early sixties -- I had forgotten it ever existed until lately -- really cool to look back at it, and sad to see it as it is...

r.i.p -- Machiko Soga

2006-05-20T08:12:00.000-07:00

Machiko Soga (63) Japanese actress who is perhaps best known for her roles as playing the villian in many tokusatsu films and television shows such as playing Rita Repulsa in \"Mighty Morphin\" Power Rangers\" from 1993 to 1994 and also as the witch Bandora in \"Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger\" for many years and had aslo been a voice actress in many anime shows and video games, died of an undisclosed illness in Japan on May 7, 2006.

The Birthday of John Stuart Mill

2006-05-20T08:03:00.000-07:00

War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse.

John Stuart Mill

Chapter II: Of the Liberty of Thought and Discussion

THE TIME, it is to be hoped, is gone by, when any defence would be necessary of the "liberty of the press" as one of the securities against corrupt or tyrannical government. No argument, we may suppose, can now be needed, against permitting a legislature or an executive, not identified in interest with the people, to prescribe opinions to them, and determine what doctrines or what arguments they shall be allowed to hear. This aspect of the question, besides, has been so often and so triumphantly enforced by preceding writers, that it needs not be specially insisted on in this place. Though the law of England, on the subject of the press, is as servile to this day as it was in the time of the Tudors, there is little danger of its being actually put in force against political discussion, except during some temporary panic, when fear of insurrection drives ministers and judges from their propriety; 1 and, speaking generally, it is not, in constitutional countries, to be apprehended, that the government, whether completely responsible to the people or not, will often attempt to control the expression of opinion, except when in doing so it makes itself the organ of the general intolerance of the public. Let us suppose, therefore, that the government is entirely at one with the people, and never thinks of exerting any power of coercion unless in agreement with what it conceives to be their voice. But I deny the right of the people to exercise such coercion, either by themselves or by their government. The power itself is illegitimate. The best government has no more title to it than the worst. It is as noxious, or more noxious, when exerted in accordance with public opinion, than when in opposition to it. If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind. Were an opinion a personal possession of no value except to the owner; if to be obstructed in the enjoyment of it were simply a private injury, it would make some difference whether the injury was inflicted only on a few persons or on many. But the peculiar evil of silencing the expression of an opinion is, that it is robbing the human race; posterity as well as the existing generation; those who dissent from the opinion, still more than those who hold it. If the opinion is right, they are deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth: if wrong, they lose, what is almost as great a benefit, the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth, produced by its collision with error.

John Stuart Mill

Humans, chimps 'got it on'

2006-05-20T07:54:00.000-07:00

BEFORE they went their separate evolutionary ways, the ancestors of chimpanzees and people got up to plenty of, well, monkey business. Moreover, this went on for about four million years. The most detailed analysis conducted of human and chimpanzee DNA reveals that after an initial separation from a common ancestor, between five and six million years ago, the species continued interbreeding. The implication is that speciation - the separation from a common ancestor - wasn't the simple process scientists previously believed. Instead, it happened over millions of years during which "episodes" of hybridisation took place before the final separation into two distinct species, US researchers claim in a paper published online by Nature. "For the first time, we're able to see the details written out in the DNA," said biologist Eric Lander, director of the Broad Institute at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge. "What they tell us at the least is that the human-chimp speciation was very unusual." According to Dr Lander and colleagues at Harvard University, they didn't expect to find evidence of human-chimp hybrids. "Hybridisation is commonly observed to play a role in speciation in plants, but evolutionary biologists do not generally view it as an important way to produce a new species in animals," said team leader Nick Patterson, a biostatistician at the Broad Institute. Geneticist David Reich, of Harvard Medical School, added: "That such evolutionary events have not been seen more often in animal species may simply be due to the fact that we have not been looking for them." While some experts in human evolution remain sceptical of some of the details, they are impressed nevertheless. "It's a totally cool and extremely clever analysis," said Harvard biological anthropologist Daniel Lieberman, who was not involved in the research. "My problem is imagining what it would be like to have a bipedal hominid and a chimpanzee viewing each other as appropriate mates, not to put it too crudely," he said. Previous studies comparing human and chimp DNA could only offer an estimate of how long ago the two species split by averaging the amount of divergence in their genes. Generally, those studies come up with a figure of about 7 million years. But thanks to the completion of the chimpanzee genome project in September, the team had about 800 times more data. That meant they were able to look at how specific sections of the genetic code evolved. For one thing, the new data suggest the human-chimp split was much closer to the present than the seven-million-years date that fossils and previous studies indicated - certainly no earlier than 6.3 million years ago, and more likely around 5.4 million. The data also show that the human-chimp split probably took four million years. That's because in some parts of the DNA sequence, the genetic difference between humans and chimps is so large that those genes must have been isolated from each other nearly 10 million years ago. But in other places, the human and chimp lines are so close that they appear to have still been swapping genetic material at least until 6.3 million years ago. One of those areas is the x-chromosome. Female chimps and humans have two x-chromosomes, while males have an x and a y. "The genes that are a barrier to speciation tend to be on the x-chromosome," team member Assistant Professor Reich said. But as interbreeding is known to place strong selective pressures on sex chromosomes, that would explain the discovery that the x-chromosome is some 1.2 million years younger than the rest of human chromosomes, the team suggested.

Birthday Wishes to Malcolm X

2006-05-19T13:38:00.000-07:00

There is no better than adversity. Every defeat, every heartbreak, every loss, contains its own seed, its own lesson on how to improve your performance the next time.

Malcolm X

Fight Club

2006-05-17T16:23:00.000-07:00

I love the background music to this -- truly turns a white-trash-chick-fight into a Fellini-esque work of art... ;)

Anarchists Against Terrorism

2006-05-17T14:22:00.000-07:00

"You can't blow up a social relationship. The total collapse of this society would provide no guarantee about what would replace it. Unless a majority of people had the ideas and organization sufficient for creation of an alternative society, we would see the old world reassert itself because it is what people would be used to, what they believed in, what existed unchallenged in their own personalities.

Proponants of terrorism and guerrillaism are to be opposed because their actions are vangaurdist and authoritarian, because their ideas are wrong or unrelated to the results of their actions, because killing cannot be justified, and finally because their actions produce either repression with nothing in return or an authoritarian regime."

-from "You Can't Blow Up a Social Relationship".

This project is dedicated to spreading the idea that terroristic methods are not methods anarchists should use in attaining political goals, from a tactical perspective; pointing out that it is in fact the state that is the real terrorist; and also examining the history and ways in which the misconceptions about anarchy being connected with violence and terrorism came about.

This web page was set up by anarchists for the benefit of the anarchist community, as well as the general public.

Paul Roussenq

2006-05-17T14:07:00.000-07:00

The jailbird of Saint Gilles

Paul Roussenq was born in the rural Gard department, part of the southern French region of the Midi, in 1885. His mother had a long and painful delivery. His life was to continue as it had started: in suffering. His parents were day labourers working on the land, among the vines, the wheat fields and the meadows. Paul soon showed his independence, robustness and maturity. He began to read the anarchist papers Le Libertaire, Le Père Peinardand Les Temps Nouveaux.At the age of 14, he had already read the 19 volumes of the Universal Geography of the anarchist geographer Élisée Reclus. At the age of 16, he had an argument with his father and ran away. His stubbornness had made him fall out with his father over a minor disagreement, which he regretted all his life, as he never again saw his parents alive. He slept in barns, under trees, living from odd jobs and fruit found on the ground or picked. So, on 6 September 1901, he was sentenced for theft at the court of Aix in Provence, getting a six-month suspended sentence. Again in 1903 he was in court at Chambéry, receiving a three-month sentence for vagrancy which he appealed. At the appeal the prosecutor demanded prison for Paul. This was too much for him. Rising from his seat he cried out: ?What, going on the road, poor and penniless, is now criminal. But it?s precisely the rich who should go on trial, with all their crimes as exploiters!? The court demanded an apology. Paul refused, hurling a lump of hard bread in the prosecutor?s face. He was sentenced to five years in jail! He spent five years in Clairvaux prison and came out with his anarchist convictions reinforced. The police, the judiciary and the army appeared to him as resolute adversaries of free people and he developed a ferocious hatred of uniforms. He was immediately conscripted to serve in Africa. He wrote later: ?Barracks life is certainly the most brutalising under the skies... soldiers are just machines that obey?. But the battalions of Africa were worse than the barracks. These military camps were disciplinary institutions reserved for the stubborn, the rebellious and the recalcitrant. The stupidity and cruelty of the officers was celebrated and there had been campaigns of denunciations led against the torture carried out there. Paul had a violent argument with an officer. He was shut up in a cell. He had had a bellyful of prison, and set his bunk on fire. For this he received 20 years hard labour. He was sent to the dreaded penal colonies at Cayenne in French Guyana, the island prison hell made infamous in the book and film Papillon. By 1929, Roussenq had finished his 20 years hard labour. But an article of the law stipulated that a prisoner condemned to more than eight years must stay in Guyana for the rest of his life! The SRI led the campaign against this foul law. Demonstrations for his release were organised, and Roussenq?s letters began to be published in the French press. Finally, despite another short detention on trumped up charges, Paul returned to Paris in 1932, with an amnesty. He was welcomed at the station by a large crowd and said, ?My impressions are those of one of the damned leaving hell?. But in the meantime, both his parents and a sister had died. ... After the war he assisted in a strike of vineyard workers at Aimargues in 1948, helping the influential group of anarchists there. Twenty-five years of prison, constant hounding and persecution wherever he went in France, the impossibility of getting work because of his record, and the illnesses he had contracted in Guyana, which now caused him extreme pain, led him to take his life by drowning himself in the Adour river. He wrote to Élisée Perrier of the anarchist paper Le Libertaireon 3 August 1949; ?My dear Elisée, I am at the end. At Bayonne there is a great and beautiful river, and this evening, I will go in search of the great remedy for all suffering: Death?.

The 1%ers ~ OUTLAW RIDERS ~ ?60s STYLE

2006-05-16T14:35:00.000-07:00

The outlaw motorcyclist has been a player on the American landscape at least since the end of WW II, getting their first taste of national recognition in Hollister, California in 1947 with the July 4th celebrations and motorcycle hill climb, that attracted cyclists and clubs from all over the state. It turned into 40 hours of lawlessness and a drunken ?take-over? of the town by rowdy motorcyclists and was the basis for the prize winning short story "Cyclists' Raid" by Frank Rooney which appeared in the January 1951 issue of Harper's Magazine and in turn was the origin of the Marlon Brando/Lee Marvin film The Wild One (1953).
The earliest magazine with an iconographic biker cover was the April 7, 1951 issue of the Saturday Evening Post that sported a painting by Stevan Dohanos depicting three small-town boys admiring a customized Panhead Harley with studded leather saddle bags and the name "Tex" on them, the title of the painting--"Isn't she a beauty!"
Throughout the 1950s and early 1960s incidents in various California towns involving clashes between townspeople, law enforcement and the seemingly growing numbers of ?outlaw? motorcycle clubs, were reported in local and national newspapers and magazines.
March 15, 1965 would be the beginning of the end of anonymity specifically for the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club and outlaw clubs in general as California Attorney General Thomas C. Lynch issued a fifteen page report that day that was based on ten years of study of, ?Hell?s Angels and other disreputable motorcycle clubs.? This report was the basis of most of the information that the press had to go on concerning the clubs, as can be seen in many of the magazine articles listed herein which quote and cite Lynch?s report.

Happy 70th Birthday, Wavy Gravy

2006-05-15T19:18:00.000-07:00

Wavy Gravy (born Hugh Romney on May 15, 1936) is a life-long activist for peace and personal empowerment, best known for his hippie appearance, personality, and beliefs. The nickname was given to him by B.B. King. He is also the "official clown" of the Grateful Dead.

Happy Birthday, Brian Eno

2006-05-15T19:16:00.000-07:00

Brian Eno co-founded art-rock band Roxy Music in the early 1970s, then embarked on his own recording career. A pioneer in "ambient" music, Eno has also collaborated with rock artists such as Robert Fripp, David Bowie, The Talking Heads, Devo and U2. Known primarily as an avant-garde experimenter in video, computers and music, he has also had commercial success as a producer and his music is often heard in movies and television commercials.

Just goes to prove that our minds are in the gutter...

2006-05-15T13:21:00.000-07:00

WARNING

THE FOLLOWING SITE DOES NOT CONTAIN ANY PORNOGRAPHIC IMAGES.

DO NOT ENTER IF YOU ARE EASILY OFFENDED

DO NOT ENTER IF YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND SATIRE

DO NOT ENTER IF YOU ARE STUPID / WORK FOR FREESERVE

ENTER

"Git -R- Done!!!!!!!

2006-05-15T12:48:00.000-07:00

Bush's best moment in office? Reeling in big perch

Sun May 7, 2006 11:01 AM BST

BERLIN (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush told a German newspaper his best moment in more than five years in office was catching a big perch in his own lake.

"You know, I've experienced many great moments and it's hard to name the best," Bush told weekly Bild am Sonntag when asked about his high point since becoming president in January 2001.

"I would say the best moment of all was when I caught a 7.5 pound (3.402 kilos) perch in my lake," he told the newspaper in an interview published on Sunday.

Bush said the worst moment was September 11 when hijacked planes crashed into the World Trade Centre in New York and the Pentagon in Washington.

"In such a situation it takes a while before one understands what is happening," Bush said. "I would say that this was the hardest moment, once I had the real picture before my eyes."

Because Bild could not immediately furnish English quotes, Bush's comments were translated from the German. The paper said the White House planned to release an authorised English version of the interview on Monday.

2012 - Planetary Ascension year 2012

2006-05-14T12:08:00.000-07:00

2012 - Planetary Ascension year 2012

2012 is by many separate sources of wisdom seen as being a portal into what some people call the Golden Age. 2012 marks, according to the The Mayan Calendar, the ending of Time as we know it and as something old die something new will be born. The Mayan perspective of 2012 and the current times we live in is very similar to the view of Kalki and the Golden Age Foundation who is also co-organising the Oneness Festival.

The concept of a coming Golden Age is widely recognised among many spiritual authors, spiritual traditions and teachers.

"I think that by 2012 you will have people that are enlightened (open, honest, caring, loving, united to the divine) and those that still seek humanity's lower natures (suffering, misery, hate, separation from the divine) but at least the scale may be tipping more toward enlightened."
Hermes Trismegistus

The End Of The Beginning

2006-05-14T12:00:00.000-07:00

The synchronicity is building, a daily routine now for many, Many of us are manifesting our reality at an increase, daily also. We have reached critical mass for awhile now, and the domino effect is in full swing. There is so much energy these days its like a literal increase in electricity within our bodies.

Everything is changing, those that are still asleep are finding their lives being turned upside down, as they perceive it, and everything happening at once. The entire planet is awakening to remember our purpose here in the first place. To live in paradise. To celebrate life and become the spiritual beings we are, inhabiting this vessel we chose.

Everywhere you look is evidence for those who take the time to detach from the hustle of the coma life. Those who choose to think for themselves, express themselves and realize the Ancient hidden truths of life, of consciousness and spirituality. The illusions of 3D are wearing thin. There are many vibrating into the 4D now, through meditation, healing and raising their energy daily. Imagine 6 years from now....

Cisco Burger

2006-05-14T06:17:00.000-07:00

Cisco Burger is "Now Accepting Applications for: Cashier, Busboys, Dishwashers, Cooks. Must have experience in the specific position you are applying for. Tattoos and Piercings are welcomed.

Jesse James / WCC's latest enterprise...the man is a money-makin' fool...

Rebels Without a Pause

2006-05-14T05:58:00.000-07:00

Series of portraits by Muir Vidler for his project Rebels Without a Pause: Britain's ageing rebels and mavericks.

... Keep Reading

In Our Backyard

2006-05-13T05:02:00.000-07:00

If only McCain and Kennedy lived on ranches in southern Arizona.

By Leo W. Banks

I know how to kill the McCain-Kennedy immigration bill and the illusions that inspire it. We need every citizen to spend a day at John and Pat King's Anvil Ranch in southern Arizona. The experience would create an overnight revolution in America's view of this domestic crisis.

The Kings live every day with barking dogs, vandalism, guns at their bedside, trash on their land, and most tragically, human remains. The bodies of seven illegals were found on the 50,000-acre Anvil last year.

?Can you imagine dying of heat prostration out there?? says Pat King, a 62-year-old former nurse. ?It has got to be the most awful thing. I wish the two countries would get together and stop this. In this whole 50-mile area, there is no law. It's a frontier.?

I visited the Anvil a week ago Sunday. The night before, the Minutemen had wrapped up a month-long watch at the ranch, and the nationwide demonstrations to demand rights for illegal immigrants would begin the next morning.

I've visited many Arizona ranches, and it always surprises me how quickly I can travel from Tucson to a combat zone. It takes 50 minutes to reach Anvil's headquarters in heavily-crossed Altar Valley, located to the southwest of the city. Even with that proximity, most people in Tucson?to say nothing of Maine or Washington, D.C.?live in blissful ignorance of the worsening situation here.

When Pat discusses the problem with friends, they say, ?Don't you think you're exaggerating?? No one would ask that if they saw the 40 bicycles stacked against one of the Anvil's out-buildings. They're the favored means of transportation for drug smugglers, who pack their cargo onto saddlebags and pedal across our border, then abandon the bikes.

As for vandalism, Pat describes what they experience today as ?wanton,??water troughs filled with garbage, pipes cut, valves hammered to pieces. She jokes that they're thinking of putting a tetherball by the troughs to occupy the illegals so they aren't so destructive.

?You have to understand, we're under siege here,? she says. ?Every day my son and husband check water and fences and redo the damage they've done. Not to get on with our work, but to undo the damage. Every. Day.?

Micaela McGibbon, Pat's daughter, took me on a ranch tour, and in one mile we crossed 30 smuggling trails. In a wash, we inspected sophisticated brush huts in which illegals rest during trips north.

But this nightmare comes right to the Kings' doorstep. Imagine living under permanent stakeout. The Kings do. They removed mesquite trees from around their house because illegals would hide underneath them and wait for the house to empty.

For nine years, the family has been unable to leave home unless someone stays to guard against burglars. They celebrate Christmas in shifts. On Christmas Eve, Pat's son and daughter-in-law go to Tucson to visit family, and when they return John and Pat go on Christmas morning.

Micaela can no longer do chores unless accompanied by her father or a brother, and taking her 4-year-old daughter out on horseback is forbidden. ?We can't go anywhere without an escort,? Micaela says.

The Kings have complained to politicians and law enforcement for years. ?They talk this rule of law stuff, but it doesn't mean a thing,? Pat says. ?When you realize nothing's going to happen, you have to do self-protection.?

During their April watch, Minutemen spotted 1,501 illegals on the Anvil, and of these the Border Patrol arrested 500. But it turned into a circus. ACLU volunteers showed up every day to monitor and harass the Minutemen, at times sounding car horns and flashing lights to alert the illegals that the Border Patrol was coming.

This is the border crisis in microcosm?confused Americans rush to defend lawbreakers while ignoring, even demonizing, law-abiding citizens who suffer daily affronts to basic liberties on land their family has tended for 115 years.

The Anvil's location, 38 miles north of the border, means that by the time illegals arrive there, they've been walking for days and are sometimes in desperate shape.

Between May and August last year, cowboy Jason Cathcart found four sets of human remains. He came to dread spotting what looked like little white balls in the distance. Those ?balls? turned out to be human skulls.

In March, a man arrived at the Anvil's front gate so distraught that he ran into the yard and tried to impale himself on a pitchfork. Later he took up a bale hook and used the pointed end to slash his throat.

?This is what life is like in the Altar Valley,? says Pat.

Certainly the McCain-Kennedy bill will do nothing to change life here. Pat likens the bill, with its plan for amnesty, a guest-worker program, and negligible enforcement, to swatting flies in your house with the doors and windows wide open.

Ask yourself: Would the Altar Valley be a war zone if McCain lived here? If Kennedy's Hyannis Port compound were magically transplanted to southern Arizona, how long do you think it'd be before he rewrote his bill? The first time Kennedy saw 30 illegals dashing across his property, he'd trip over his Guatemalan lawn guy rushing to the Senate floor to demand enforcement.

That's one of the American tragedies at play here, the abandonment of ordinary citizens by our country's elites, and most strikingly, the abandonment of the very laws they themselves have written.

The resulting invasion has driven legal Arizona residents from their land, including John King's aunt. She lived south of the Anvil for more than 40 years, but sold out rather than keep fighting a battle the federal government has no intention of winning.

Pat thinks the street demonstrators?she calls them cowards?need to show their bravery by returning to Mexico and changing that country, not ours.

?We did that with the Boston Tea Party,? she says. ?We were taxed without representation and we rose up and changed it. I think the students in the streets and these young ACLU individuals here are being used. When you talk to them you realize it's all emotion. There's no logic. They don't have a clue.?

When it comes to what's really happening on our southern border, neither does the rest of the country. But that would change if every American spent a day at the Anvil.

?Leo W. Banks is a writer in Tucson.

Blackout

2006-05-13T04:39:00.000-07:00

The media has portrayed the immigration protests as orderly and peaceful yet in Santa Ana California alarming reports have emerged of illegal aliens swarming around in mobs invading schools, carrying out violent beatings and in one incident a county worker had a Mexican flag plunged into his chest.

Latino Americans For Immigration Reform spokeswoman and senatorial candidate Lupe Moreno appeared on The Alex Jones Show to discuss the two incidents.

She first described how on March 27th how a group of rioting Mexicans ran into a local Santa Ana high school and attempted to tear down an American flag. The school police and a police SWAT team had to stand guard to prevent the youths from getting to the flag. This story received no mainstream press coverage whatsoever during the first wave of immigration demonstrations.

Moreno said that the Mexican consulate had penetrated Californian schools with books teaching Hispanics that the American flag is a symbol of the enemy.

County workers in Santa Anna looked out of their windows on May 1st to see Mexicans beating other county workers and police before they rushed towards the government building and stormed it, stabbing one worker with a Mexican flag in the process.

Moreno described the stabbing as seen on a video tape of the incident.

"The men start running and then you can see all these people, and they weren't just kids, some adults and the kids were behind them, but you can see this guy chasing this man down and he plunges the stick of his flag pole into this man's chest."

In all, illegals had broken into five government buildings in the area, causing the county to take the decision to lock down all government buildings during planned demonstrations.

"Why are we letting this happen? It's like a trojan horse, they come bearing gifts to kill us," said Moreno.

"Our country is in serious serious trouble. My children do not want to live in the city they were born in anymore because we have been taken over so badly. 78 per cent of my neighbors are illegal aliens."

Why hasn't the media reported on these violent attacks and stabbings? How many more similar incidents have occurred without receiving any coverage whatsoever?

Moreno said that government workers were afraid that more attacks would take place to coincide with future immigration demonstrations.

Happy Birthday, Fats Domino....

2006-05-10T14:09:00.000-07:00

I traveled all over for about 50 years, I love a lot of places and I've been a lot of places, (but) I just don't care to leave home.
Fats Domino

Mickey Jones

2006-05-10T13:59:00.000-07:00

... While in high school, Mickey met Trini Lopez, who offered him a steady job. It was his first real taste of living on the road -"nothin' but cokes and cheeseburgers." ... A young fan and frequenter of P.J.'s finally persuaded Mickey to team up with him for a fresh challenge. His name was Johnny Rivers. Together they recorded a string of hits including "Maybelline," "Mountain of Love," and "Secret Agent Man." During the following three years Mickey recorded seven albums and toured the world, including a trip to Vietnam with Rivers and Ann-Margret. ... Then another admirer entered Mickey's life. Bob Dylan noticed Mickey while he was playing at the Whiskey-A-Go-Go in Los Angeles, and a professional alliance began that lasted for years. The two became close friends as well. ... Through old acquaintances, The Smothers Brothers, Mickey was contacted by "four singers who needed a drummer." The four singers turned out to be the seed of what later grew into "The First Edition." Of their initial meetings Mickey remembered, "I was really impressed by their unique vocal sound and when we rehearsed it was like I'd known them all my life - everything just fell into place." This relationship was to last a decade. During that period "Kenny Rogers and The First Edition," with Mickey as drummer and singer, recorded a stack of albums and dozen of singles including "Just Dropped In To See What Condition My Condition Was In," and "Ruby Don't Take Your Love to Town." The First Edition made a half dozen tours, a film and a TV series, "Rollin' On the River," which is still in reruns around the world. Engagements kept Mickey on an airplane 288 days in 1975. ... To not know Mickey Jones by name is understandable, but to not recognize him is surprising. Mickey has played hundreds of characters in films and on television, including his long stint on "Home Improvement"

Interesting man with an interesting life ...

GUNS AND DOPE PARTY

2006-05-06T16:08:00.000-07:00

May we Suggest

EVERYBODY FOR PRESIDENT!

-- Well, at least everybody who feels ready for the responsibility of self-goverment. Those who still need a Big Daddy or a Big Momma to discipline and dominate them should vote for whatever furhrer or saviour they like best. If you want self-government don't vote for the Two Lying Bastards of the Democan and Republicrat parties.....or for any minority party that also wants to govern you....

WRITE IN YOUR OWN NAME

We advocate
[1] guns for those who want them, no guns
forced on those who don't want them (pacfists, Quakers etc.)
[2] drugs for those who want them,
no drugs forced on those who don't want them (Christian Scientists etc.)
[3] an end to Tsarism and a return to constitutional democracy
[4] equal rights for ostriches.

The official flag: the Gadsden flag -- the oldest American flag of all

Official motto: "Like what you like, enjoy what you enjoy, don't be afraid to make slurping sounds, and don't take crap from anybody"

First order of business on assuming office: Fire 33% of the Congress [names selected at random] and replace them with full-grown adult ostritches, whose mysterious and awesome dignity will elevate the suidaen barbarity long established there.

Both the pro-gun people and the dopers [medical, religious and/or receational] feel like minorities, and the TSOG [Tsarist Occupation Government] agrees with this estimate of their weakness. Our contention holds that in the West both groups working together make a MAJORITY. Ergo, they have much to gain and nowt to lose in combining forces. Each side only has to realize this and agree "We'll tolerate their hobbies if they'll tolerate ours" and we can drive the Tsarists back to Russia!

On the block....

2006-05-06T07:08:00.000-07:00

From The Brucker Collection - an auction; Saturday, May 13, 2006 - including a "Collection of original studio photographs of Steve McQueen, kept by him in his hanger at Santa Paula airport."

Impressive lot of 'stuff' at auction

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar....

2006-05-06T05:23:00.000-07:00

No one who has seen a baby sinking back satiated from the breast and falling asleep with flushed cheeks and a blissful smile can escape the reflection that this picture persists as a prototype of the expression of sexual satisfaction in later life.

Happy Birthday, Sigmund Freud; you ol' stinker, you!!

Mexico Drug Law / Users Tourism Boom

2006-05-06T04:53:00.000-07:00

Mexico?s new proposal to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of illegal drugs would have a spectacular, if perhaps unintended, impact on the Mexican economy. As the seventh most popular tourist destination in the world, Mexico could now become Earth?s most sought after party place. Drug legalization has certainly helped Amsterdam to attract a certain hippie-type clientele, but Mexico could cash in big time. Promotions like the Love Bus to Mexico, and the Cancun Spring Break Hash Bash, would be a moneymaking bonanza. However it is not clear if the Mexican Senate even realized this when they passed this bill. Supposedly, the rationale is that the law will free up police resources to enable cops to focus on big time drug dealers. Apparently, President Vicente Fox has already said that he will sign the legislation. There are only two possible explanations for this law. Either the Mexican Senate is incapable of foreseeing the most basic implications of its actions, or else they knew exactly what they were doing.

Either scenario is seriously scary.

Earth's Artificial Ring: Project West Ford

2006-05-06T04:45:00.000-07:00

At the height of the Cold War in the late 1950s, all international communications were either sent through undersea cables or bounced off of the natural ionosphere. The United States military was concerned that the Soviets (or other "Hostile Actors") might cut those cables, forcing the unpredictable ionosphere to be the only means of communication with overseas forces. The Space Age had just begun, and the communications satellites we rely on today existed only in the sketches of futurists.

Nevertheless, the US Military looked to space to help solve their communications weakness. Their solution was to create an artificial ionosphere. In May 1963, the US Air Force launched 480 million tiny copper needles that briefly created a ring encircling the entire globe. They called it Project West Ford. The engineers behind the project hoped that it would serve as a prototype for two more permanent rings that would forever guarantee their ability to communicate across the globe.

The project itself was a virtually unqualified success. Though the first launch ended in failure, the second launch went without a hitch on May 10th, 1963. Inside the West Ford spacecraft, the needles were packed densely together in blocks made of a napthalene gel that would rapidly evaporate in space. This entire package of needles weighed only 20 kg. After being released, the hundreds of millions of copper needles gradually spread throughout their entire orbit over a period of two months. The final donut-shaped cloud was 15 km wide and 30 km thick and encircled the globe at an altitude of 3700 km.

American by Gods Amazing Grace

2006-05-03T13:39:00.000-07:00

Bottom of my boots sure are gettin' worn
there's a lot of holes in this faded uniform
My hands are black with dirt and so is my face
I aint never been to hell
but it couldn't be any worse than this place.
Tell my wife don't worry 'cause I know what to do
it makes you feel better sometimes, but don't know if it's true.
I know if I die it's just my time to go
but I pray to God every day that I may get back home.

Well when you've seen what I've seen
things don't seem so bad
quit worrying 'bout what you aint got, thank God for what you have
'Cause I could be raising my family in this place
but I was born an American
by Gods Amazing Grace.

For the last twelve months I've had a new address
the neighborhood smells like sewerage and the streets are lined with trash.
You never know what's gonna be the next thing to explode
but unlike these people, I have another home.
It breaks my heart to see these kids out on the streets
walking barefoot through the trash, diggin' for something to eat.
I give them what I got, just to let them know I care
and I thank God it's not my son that's standing there.

Well when you've seen what I've seen
things don't seem so bad
quit worrying 'bout what you aint got, thank God for what you have
'Cause I could be raising my family in this place
but I was born an American
by Gods Amazing Grace.

You want to talk about it, you better keep it short
cause I got a lot of lost time I gotta make up for.
Really don't care why Bush went in to Iraq
I know what I done there and I'm damn sure proud of that.
You got somethin' bad to say about the USA
you better save it for different ears 'less you want to crawl away.
And I laugh in your face when you say you've got it bad
until you've spent some time on the streets of Baghdad

Well when you've seen what I've seen
things don't seem so bad
quit worrying 'bout what you aint got, thank God for what you have
'Cause you could be raising your family in this place
but you were born in America, By God's Amazing Grace!!!!

Luke Stricklin ~ American by Gods Amazing Grace

Happy Birthday, Nic....

2006-05-03T13:34:00.000-07:00

Before all else, be armed.
Niccolo Machiavelli

Happy Birthday, Godfather of Soul...

2006-05-03T13:29:00.000-07:00

The one thing that can solve most of our problems is dancing.
~James Brown

Rachel Papo Photography

2006-05-01T17:50:00.000-07:00

Photographer Rachel Papo presents Serial No. 3817131, a project showing Israeli female soldiers during their two-year mandatory military service.

The life of an eighteen-year-old girl in Israel is interrupted when she is plucked out of her environment at an age when sexual, educational, and family values are at their highest exploration point. She is then placed in a rigorous institution, where individuality becomes a secondary matter, making room for nationalism. ?I solemnly swear?to devote all of my strength and to sacrifice my life to protect the land and the liberty of Israel,? repeats the newly recruited soldier during her swearing-in ceremony. She enters the two-year period in which she will change from a girl to a woman, a teenager to an adult, all under a militaristic, masculine environment, and in the confines of an army that is engaged in daily war and conflict.

Happy Birthday, Willie Nelson

2006-04-30T05:35:00.000-07:00

We create our own unhappiness. The purpose of suffering is to help us understand we are the ones who cause it.

~ Willie Nelson

400 Dead Dolphins Found Off African Coast

2006-04-30T04:44:00.000-07:00

Hundreds of dead dolphins washed up Friday along the shore of a popular tourist destination on Zanzibar's northern coast, and scientists ruled out poisoning.

It was not immediately clear what killed the 400 dolphins, whose carcasses were strewn along a 2 1/2-mile stretch of Nungwi, said Narriman Jidawi, a marine biologist at the Institute of Marine Science in Zanzibar.

But the bottleneck dolphins, which live in deep offshore waters, had empty stomachs, meaning that they could have been disoriented and were swimming for some time to reorient themselves. They did not starve to death and were not poisoned, Jidawi said.

In the United States, experts were investigating the possibility that sonar from U.S. submarines could have been responsible for a similar incident in Marathon, Fla., where 68 deep-water dolphins stranded themselves in March 2005.

A Day without a Mexican?

2006-04-29T07:51:00.000-07:00

So let me get this right, we are going to have to suffer through "A Day without a Mexican' to more appreciate those citizens of Mexico who have broken into our country? Ok, I think I get it; it is ok for someone to break into your home as long as they do the dishes. I got it!

Will the organizers also demand we have a day without social services, education, health benefits and a day without filling our jails? Will we have a day of ordering our food to someone who speaks English? I wonder if they will then demand a ?Day Back to Mexico? to really teach us a lesson. It is completely ungrateful for a people to demand respect from a culture that has sheltered, employed and educated them. All we get from the world is jealously and envy. Stop whining and go build your own country and stop crossing the desert into ours.

As Mexicans, demand respect from Mexican President Fox and fight for a nation worth staying in. You are poor because of Mexico ? not the United States. You have hope and opportunity because of America, and you are a guest in our home, EVEN THOUGH YOU WERE NOT INVITED.

You wish to leave the oppressive government of Mexico and try to import their corrupt culture to America! Sorry, we would rather have a ?Day without a Mexican? than a ?Country like Mexico.? If you are proud of Mexico do not demand Spanish in our classroom ? demand a bus ticket to Mexico. Do not celebrate Cinco de Mayo in Los Angeles ? celebrate it in Mexico City.

Mexico was colonized by the Europeans, just like America. The only difference is that they spoke Spanish, and English was spoken in America. The Europeans still dominate the Mexican culture, language and jobs. That is why the ?Indians? who are running across the border speak Spanish and not Aztec or Mayan. As I have said many times, there are no ?Mexicans? crossing the border illegally. Mexicans are crossing at the border at the checkpoints to work or visit as tourists. People you see crossing the borders illegally are the ?Indians? of Mexico being discriminated against by the Europeans dominating the Mexican culture.

If it is dignity you want, earn it. Do not demonstrate in Dallas, march in Tijuana, ask for equal rights from Washington, DC, or return to Mexico and demand it from Mexico City. You are being forced out of your country by a government that has always hated you. You want to take the Southwest United States back for the Aztecs? Great, start with Mexico. The Spaniards took it from the Indians and now their European descendants are forcing them to march across the desert to pick crops in America. Where is your anger? Where is your courage? Do not march and protest here where it is free; protest where the real problems are and where the real fight exists.

America became a great country in part by how we faced discrimination. Indians, Black folks and their European counterparts finally had to face the problem. It took us a long time and it was very difficult and the process made us great. Black Americans tried escaping to other countries instead of fighting for dignity here. It did not work for us and it will not work for the oppressed Indians of Mexico. America is great because America has faced great challenges. You want a ?Day without a Mexican?? Try having a Day without America!? God bless America!

Blowin' a joint goes hi-tek

2006-04-29T07:45:00.000-07:00

Now that you understand vaporization better and can consistently get a good hit there are some finer points to consider. There are two good ways to increase efficiency of the vaporizer. The first, is to stir the bowl between hits with the included poker being careful not to poke through the screen. To more evenly cook the bowl, you can stir the material and change which of it is receiving the hot air first. Second, you can rotate the glass bowl around its long(symmetrical) axis while you are taking a hit. This is helpful because heat rises and so the hot air heats the top edge of the bowl more than the bottom edge of the bowl. During rotation, you slowly change the instantaneous top of the bowl, thereby vaporizing the bowl more evenly. Rotating the bowl too fast can require drawing in slower in order to maximize your hit. Once again, experiment to find the way that works most efficiently for you.

Also, as you inhale you draw heat off of the vaporizer and cool it down slightly. This means that there is a slight refractory period between hits while the vaporizer heats back up. Another side affect of this is that the iron is hotter at the beginning of a hit than at the end. If you really wanted to maximize the efficiency of your hit, you will learn to draw faster towards the beginning of the hit and slowly decrease the speed with which you inhale as the vaporizer cools. This technique is not something which can be mastered immediately.

Tom 'to eat afterbirth'

2006-04-22T05:30:00.000-07:00

[	theme	\|	Lost Interest	]
[	music	\|	Ray Scott "My Kind of Music"	]

Sofa leaping father-to-be Tom Cruise has revealed his latest bizarre plan - to eat Katie Holmes' placenta.

In an admission which seems to prove Cruise desperate to stay in the headlines, the Mission Impossible star has apparently vowed to eat Katie's placenta straight after she has given birth as he believes it will be very nutritious. The admission is just the latest in a long line of crazy outbursts which Tom has appeared adamant to shock the world with. Just days ago the star completely backtracked on comments he had made, saying that Katie would have to give birth in complete silence and that she should not scream. Surprising as it may seem, Tom is not the only person to have odd placenta wishes- after the birth, some women take a piece of paper and lay the placenta on it and later frame it and hang it on the wall! Eating the placenta, placentophagia, is practised in many parts of the world- famously back in 1998, a British television chef fried it and served it to all of his guests! Showbiz couple Rod Stewart and wife Penny Lancaster took home their baby's placenta and buried it in the garden.

The act may appear odd to many, but it is believed eating the placenta helps avoid postnatal depression and is deemed as normal in many cultures.

Happy Birthday, Carl Perkins

2006-04-09T06:05:00.000-07:00

[	theme	\|	Sunday Morning	]
[	music	\|	Aurora "Kaoru Inoue"	]
[	filed under	\|	Main	]

If it weren't for the rocks in its bed, the stream would have no song.
- Carl Perkins

Saving the Earth with Ebola

2006-04-08T06:16:00.000-07:00

[	theme	\|	Saturday Morning slowdown	]
[	music	\|	Boney James "201AM"	]
[	filed	\|	Main	]

Professor Pianka said the Earth as we know it will not survive without drastic measures. Then, and without presenting any data to justify this number, he asserted that the only feasible solution to saving the Earth is to reduce the population to 10 percent of the present number.

He then showed solutions for reducing the world's population in the form of a slide depicting the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. War and famine would not do, he explained. Instead, disease offered the most efficient and fastest way to kill the billions that must soon die if the population crisis is to be solved.

Pianka then displayed a slide showing rows of human skulls, one of which had red lights flashing from its eye sockets.

AIDS is not an efficient killer, he explained, because it is too slow. His favorite candidate for eliminating 90 percent of the world's population is airborne Ebola ( Ebola Reston ), because it is both highly lethal and it kills in days, instead of years. However, Professor Pianka did not mention that Ebola victims die a slow and torturous death as the virus initiates a cascade of biological calamities inside the victim that eventually liquefy the internal organs.

After praising the Ebola virus for its efficiency at killing, Pianka paused, leaned over the lectern, looked at us and carefully said, ?We've got airborne 90 percent mortality in humans. Killing humans. Think about that.?

With his slide of human skulls towering on the screen behind him, Professor Pianka was deadly serious. The audience that had been applauding some of his statements now sat silent.

After a dramatic pause, Pianka returned to politics and environmentalism. But he revisited his call for mass death when he reflected on the oil situation.

?And the fossil fuels are running out,? he said, ?so I think we may have to cut back to two billion, which would be about one-third as many people.? So the oil crisis alone may require eliminating two-third's of the world's population.

How soon must the mass dying begin if Earth is to be saved? Apparently fairly soon, for Pianka suggested he might be around when the killer disease goes to work. He was born in 1939, and his lengthy obituary appears on his web site.

When Pianka finished his remarks, the audience applauded. It wasn't merely a smattering of polite clapping that audiences diplomatically reserve for poor or boring speakers. It was a loud, vigorous and enthusiastic applause.

Eddie Vedder wants you to Save Trestles

2006-04-08T05:58:00.000-07:00

Yesterday the Surfrider Foundation announced that Pearl Jam, a Seattle-based foursome who perform something called ?grunge? music, will donate $1 from every ticket sold for their upcoming L.A. shows to the Save Trestles campaign.
The money will be donated through the band?s Vitalogy Foundation in the name of Dave ?The Rapscallion? Russell. Base ticket price is $49 plus $2 to Vitalogy. The Forum seats up to 18,000 people for concerts.
?Our planet and the ocean are currently under siege due to certain peoples overwhelming need to profit at our fragile environments expense. Dave Russell was a surfer and activist who worked tirelessly to defend against these threats, and it is in his name that we would like to offer our assistance to Surfrider Foundation and the California coast,? said Pearl Jam singer Ed Vedder.
Russell, longtime friend of the band and Surfrider supporter, was busy chronicling the history of the Surfrider Foundation when it was discovered he had a rare form of thyroid cancer. The friend of musicians and surfers shuffled off his mortal coil on Feb. 1, 2006 at the age of 39.
Pearl Jam play the Forum on July 9th and 10th. Tickets available at Ticketmaster

technorati tags: Pearl Jam / Surfrider / Save Trestles / Ed Vedder /

Happy Birthday, Bob Marley

2006-04-06T15:28:00.000-07:00

[	theme	\|	chillin'	]
[	music	\|	Merle Haggard "40 #1 Hits"	]

Man is a universe within himself.
Bob Marley

Happy Birthday, Hag

2006-04-06T15:20:00.000-07:00

In 1960, when I came out of prison as an ex-convict, I had more freedom under parolee supervision than there's available... in America right now.
Merle Haggard

THE SNAKE HANDLERS

2006-04-04T14:34:00.000-07:00

[	theme	\|	chillin'	]
[	music	\|	Trace Adkins "Rough & Ready"	]

Snake handling was an outgrowth of the Azusa Street revival. In 1910, after reading in Mark 16:18 "they shall take up serpents? and it shall not hurt them," former bootlegger George Went Hensley, aka "Little George," took a rattlesnake box into the pulpit. He reached in and lifted out the venomous viper, showing his faith to take God at his Word. He then challenged his congregation to do the same. News spread throughout the hills of Grasshopper Valley in southeastern Tennessee. Before long, others joined in the handling of rattlers. The practice continued for ten years until one of the faithful died of a snakebite. Hensley moved to Harlan, Kentucky.

Ambrose J. Thomlinson, a travelling Bible salesman and founder of a Church of God of

Prophecy (a new Pentecostal denomination), ordained Hensley into the gospel ministry. For the next ten years Hensley preached and demonstrated snake handling. While on a preaching tour, he discovered his wife and a neighbor were having an affair. Hensley attacked his friend with a knife. Fleeing to the hills and turning his back on the faith, he rebuilt his whiskey still. A short time later, the law apprehended "Little George" and sent him to work on a chain gang. But Hensley executed a brilliant escape to Cleveland, Ohio, where he remarried and resumed preaching the Oneness Pentecostal message. Before long, he was again picking up serpents and heading back to Kentucky. Hensley?s fame spread far and wide. He married and divorced four times.

In 1928, the Church of God in Prophecy revoked Hensley?s license to preach and forbade all its members from further handling of snakes.

Snake handling did not return to Grasshopper Valley until 1943 when Raymond Hayes, one of Hensley?s converts, conducted a revival there. The outcome was the founding of Dolly Pond Church of God with Signs Following. Located on the spot of the first snake handling service, Dolly Pond Church is considered a hallowed site...

WHAT BEING BITTEN REVEALS ABOUT THE HANDLER

When a person is bitten in a religious ceremony, it can signify one of five things:

1. That the person has sin in his/her life. If discovered to be the case, the faithful members shun the sinners.
2. That the person handled the snake without being under "the anointing" of the Holy Ghost. Since God promises no protection to the unanointed, snakes are prone to bite them.
3. That the person lacks the faith to handle the serpent. Handling snakes without faith is presumption.
4. That God is testing the handlers to see if they will deny the faith when they are bitten.
5. That God is a healer. One of the ways to know this is for him to heal the victim of a venomous snakebite (see Acts 28:1-5).

In each case, the embedded poisonous fangs reveal something about the handler or God.

I urge you not to throw away time

2006-04-02T05:45:00.000-07:00

[	theme	\|	chillin'	]
[	music	\|	Jonathan Butler "Jonathan"	]

I urge you not to throw away time, for it's swift as an arrow, fast as a stream. Distraction is entirely due to lack of concentration; stupidity and blindness are caused by lack of true knowledge.

-Yung-Ming, "Five Houses of Zen"

Americans swear allegiance ... to swearing

2006-04-01T01:16:00.000-08:00

[	theme	\|	Midnight Moodies	]
[	music	\|	Remy Shand "Rocksteady"	]

Are we living in an Age of Profanity?

Nearly three-quarters of Americans questioned last week -- 74 percent -- said they encounter profanity in public frequently or occasionally, according to an Associated Press-Ipsos poll. Two-thirds said they think people swear more than they did 20 years ago. And as for, well, the gold standard of foul words, a healthy 64 percent said they use the F-word -- ranging from several times a day (8 percent) to a few times a year (15 percent).

technorati tags: F-word / Profanity / swearing / fuck /

2002 LAUGHLIN RIVER RUN RIOT

2006-03-31T15:18:00.000-08:00

[	theme	\|	chillin'	]
[	music	\|	Charlie Pride "Comfort of Her Wings"	]

"Help me, help me," pleaded the man, who appeared to be a bystander like Richard.

Richard lifted up the man's shirt, saw a bullet wound, and noticed the man kicking at something.

"I thought he had been hit by a stray bullet," Richard said. "Then I looked closer as to what he was kicking at and it was either a Mongols vest or a Mongols coat."

He concluded the man had abandoned his colors.

"That's when I became even more concerned, because my thoughts were that if he was a Mongol then whoever shot him might be coming to shoot him and finish him and I'm assisting him, might think that we're brothers or friends."

He asked the Mongol if he had any weapons and the man pulled out a knife and put it in the coin tray of a nearby slot machine.

Buhr, the blackjack dealer, said he saw a Hells Angels member firing a gun six to 10 times. "I could see him moving his fingers," he testified.

He said a Hells Angels member later reloaded his weapon in the pit, where Buhr and others were hiding.

"I said, `Hey, buddy, get out of the pit, because if somebody starts to shoot at you, all the rest of us are in danger. Now you're, you know, you're using us as a shield basically.' "

Southern, also a blackjack dealer, said he saw one Hells Angel come to the aid of a wounded comrade.

"During the shootout there was a Hells Angel that grabbed a friend of his who had been shot but was still alive and literally dragged him, propped him up with his back against the blackjack table."

"Another one of his friends was kind of running guard over him and had a big crescent wrench out and was literally attacking anyone that came within 20 or 30 feet of him. `This is my area. I'm protecting my friend here, get away.' "

"Somebody came around the corner and started up towards him and this man with the crescent wrench, it's a big long crescent wrench, real heavy, literally jumped up, ran after him, buried it in his head, and then turned around and ran back to watch his friend again."

Dharma Punx

2006-03-26T11:09:00.000-08:00

[	theme	\|	chillin'	]
[	music	\|	Jazzinho "Moody Maria"	]

This is the story of a young man and a generation of angry youths who rebelled against their parents and the unfulfilled promise of the sixties.

As with many self-destructive kids, Noah Levine's search for meaning led him first to punk rock, drugs, drinking, and dissatisfaction. But the search didn't end there. Having clearly seen the uselessness of drugs and violence, Noah looked for positive ways to channel his rebellion against what he saw as the lies of society.

Fueled by his anger and so much injustice and suffering, Levine now uses that energy and the practice of Buddhism to awaken his natural wisdom and compassion

Happy Birthday, Rufus Thomas

2006-03-26T05:12:00.000-08:00

March 26, 1917

Rufus, solo and with Carla, would release a string of popular songs over the following years for Stax. Among the songs that would reach prominence were favorites such as "Walking The Dog" (1964) and "Do The Funky Chicken" (1969). The latter spawned a whole series of novelty dance songs named for "funky" animals.

Rufus Thomas was always an outspoken ambassador for Memphis and the music that originated there. When promoters in Chicago attempted to claim their city as the birthplace of the Blues, Thomas was first to step up and deny the statement. Over the years, he has appeared in numerous documentaries on the history of Blues and Rock music, Sun Records and Stax Records and Memphis in general. He also had a small role in the movie, "Mystery Train," filmed in Memphis.

In January,1992, he was honored by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, named as an "Early Influence". At the ceremonies he performed onstage, singing "Dust My Broom" backed by a band which included Jimmy Page, Neil Young, The Isley Brothers, Johnny Cash, Keith Richards and John Fogerty. That same year, he saw recognition by The Rhythm and Blues Foundation's Pioneer Awards; he was a featured performer at the 1996 Olympic Games. The City of Memphis also honored Thomas with a portion of a street along Beale Street being renamed in his honor.

Do the Funky Chicken...

Atomic Bomb

2006-03-26T04:50:00.000-08:00

Automatic Camera situated 7 miles from blast with 10 foot focal length. Shutter speed equaled 100 microseconds.

Note: the electric like energy that runs down the towers guide wires

Joshua tree's near base get vaporized in just microseconds.

Atomic Bomb detonation Photos by Harold Edgerton

Acid Trip

2006-03-26T04:41:00.000-08:00

These 9 drawings were done by an artist under the influence of LSD -- part of a test conducted by the US government during it's dalliance with psychotomimetic drugs in the late 1950's. The artist was given a dose of LSD 25 and free access to an activity box full of crayons and pencils. His subject is the medico that jabbed him.

First drawing is done 20 minutes after the first dose (50ug). An attending doctor observes - Patient chooses to start drawing with charcoal. The subject of the experiment reports - 'Condition normal... no effect from the drug yet'.

yuko nishimura gallery

2006-03-26T04:37:00.000-08:00

The art of paper folding