A thousand years is but an instant. There's nothing new, nothing different. Same pattern, over and over. The same clouds, the same music, the same as I felt an hour or an eternity ago. There's nothing here for me now, nothing at all. Now I remember, this happened to me before, this is why I left. You have begun to find your answers. Although it will seem difficult, the rewards will be great. Exercise your human mind as fully as possible, knowing that it is only an exercise. Build beautiful artifacts, solve problems, explore the secrets of the physical universe, savor the input from all the senses, feel the joy, and sorrow, the laughter, the empathy, compassion, and tuck these emotional memories in your travel bag. I remember where I came from, and how I became a human, why I hung around. And now, my final departure schedule: this way out, escaping velocity, not just eternity, but infinity...
Quote from Waking Life
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,2...5005961,00.html
‘British singer George Michael says he’s trying to smoke less cannabis, but says it’s not a problem in his life because he can afford it.
“I’m constantly trying to smoke less marijuana. I’d like to take less and to a degree it’s a problem,” Michael told BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs program.
“Is it a problem in my life? Is it getting in the way of my life? I really don’t think,” Michael said.
“I’m a happy man and I can afford my marijuana so that’s not a problem.”‘
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22510497-17001,00.html
‘Three out of four people arrested and detained by police in Darwin are under the influence of illicit drugs, research shows.
Australian Institute of Criminology data reveals 73 per cent of Darwin detainees tested positive to cannabis in July and August, steadily increasing from 46 per cent in January last year.
Another 8 per cent tested positive to methylamphetamine, the drug commonly known as speed.
The data, compiled under the AIC’s Drug Use Monitoring in Australia program (DUMA), shows a steady increase in the number of offenders testing positive to cannabis.
Drug Free Australia executive officer Jo Baxter said there was a common misconception that cannabis was a “soft” drug.’
http://www.mapinc.org/norml/v07/n1099/a02.htm
‘They may have committed a high crime, but a former Dearborn cop and his wife are only going to be charged with a misdemeanor for allegedly smoking pot in Dearborn Heights.
Edward Sanchez, 30, and his wife, Stacy, 27, are expected to turn themselves in for arraignment on one charge each of using marijuana, according assistant Wayne County Prosecutor Maria Miller.
On April 21, 2006, Sanchez, who lives in Dearborn Heights, called 911 in a panic after he and his wife ate brownies laced with marijuana he said he took from criminal suspects.
Dearborn police allowed Sanchez to resign from his job on May 23, 2006, even though investigators said he admitted to taking the marijuana from his police car and using it to make the brownies. Dearborn police reports the Free Press obtained said Sanchez told investigators he planned to use the marijuana to train his police dog.’
http://www.moonbuggy.org/archive/2007/09/2...smokes-a-joint/
Jeremy has something to say about the border between Belgium and Holland.
(2.0meg Flash video)
A confused boy asked a man,
Where oh where did you learn to swim?
The man said unto him,
Always I have known how.
Then the confused boy started to cry.
He said “I’ve always known how to fly,
But swimming I can’t, I’m sure I would die”
The man said unto him,
You’ll never know unless your willing to try,
So try the boy did, and sank like a stone,
But oh! How he flew! All the way home.
-Mitch
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22470279-2,00.html
‘Criminal gangs are trafficking hundreds of children into Britain and forcing them to work in cannabis factories, with at least one child per week being found by police, a report said today.
Campaign group End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and the Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes (ECPAT) said there had been a five-fold increase in the practice in the last year alone.
Children as young as 13, many from Vietnam, were being brought to Britain to work as “slaves” for organised criminals to push production of the drug here to record levels, it said.
They are forced to tend cannabis plants grown in suburban houses and often forced to sleep in cupboards, with little chance of escape for fear of being caught.’
http://www.local6.com/family/14149821/detail.html
‘Nearly a quarter of teens say it would be “very easy” or “somewhat easy” to gain access to methamphetamine, a survey released Tuesday shows.
One in three teens also believes there is only a “slight risk” or “no risk” in trying meth once or twice, according to the study by The Meth Project, a nonprofit anti-drug group that produces gritty ads to show the perils of meth abuse.
And about one in four teens said there are benefits to using meth. Twenty-four percent of teens agreed with the statement that meth “makes you feel euphoric or very happy,” while 22 percent said meth “helps you lose weight” and 22 percent said it “helps you deal with boredom.”‘
http://www.violentacres.com/archives/193/w...ottles-of-nyqui
‘Ever since I was a little girl, I have periodically played a game I like to call ‘What would happen if…’
The very first time I played this game I was 5 years old and riding in the car with my Mother. She had allowed me to sit in the front seat, but the novelty of that wore off rather quickly and I got bored. Almost immediately after we merged onto the expressway, I spied the car door handle. I thought to myself, I wonder what would happen if I opened the car door right now? [..]
This past Friday evening, I found myself inadvertently playing another game of ‘What would happen if…’’
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/stor...5001028,00.html
‘The Prince of Wales will today open the only public garden in Britain to be allowed to grow cannabis.
The Prince will officially open the second phase of The Alnwick Garden, in Alnwick, Northumberland, which includes the UK’s only public poison garden, growing plants such as cannabis and coca under lock and key. [..]
The first phase of The Alnwick Garden, which has cost £35.1 million ($A82.04 million) to construct, was officially opened by the Prince in October 2002.
This afternoon, he will view the second phase of the project, which also contains the world’s largest wooden tree house, a unique set of water sculptures that combine physics with the arts and an imposing pavilion designed by architect Sir Michael Hopkins.’
http://cbs13.com/local/local_story_264010003.html
‘Ernie Vesie says he needs his weed. He and his wife Roni have a legal prescription to use the medicinal marijuana. Ernie suffered a painful stroke, and Roni is recovering from major stomach surgery. The two say it eases their pain.
The Vessies grow the marijuana in their south Sacramento backyard. During happier times, a bumper crop blossomed and it was something Ernie’s became proud of. But, after three armed suspects forced their way into their home, the plants are now gone.
“He told me if I opened my mouth, he’d put a bullet in my head,” said Ernie.
It is the second time they’ve been robbed and it is believed to be the same three suspects. [..]
There is not much left of Ernie and Roni’s stash, so they’re smoking what they can.
“Breaks my heart they took all the good stuff,” said Ernie.’
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/14154710/detail.html
‘A 5-year-old girl abducted out of Arizona earlier this month has been found in Aurora. [..]
The Mohave County Sheriff’s Office said Jade Dunn was picked up by Patricia Sanford, who is a friend of the little girl’s former stepfather, on Sep. 6, in Kingman, Ariz.
The FBI from Arizona said Sanford, the woman who kidnapped Jade, was on the contact list to pick up the child but was not authorized or expected to pick her up on the date she was taken from her school.
Sanford contacted Jade’s grandmother Sunday, allegedly telling her Virgil Kosmicki was demanding two ounces of methamphetamine for the return of Jade, authorities said.’
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,2...5005961,00.html
‘A New Zealand pro-cannabis groups says it has scientific evidence that cannabis can stop the development of mad cow disease.
It was not clear whether the findings applied to both cows and humans.
The National Organisation for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (Norml) said a French study showed cannabidiol might be effective in preventing bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), known as mad cow disease, the New Zealand Press Association reported tpday.
Scientists at the National Centre for Scientific Research in France found cannabidiol - a non-psychoactive ingredient - may prevent the development of prion diseases (progressive neurodegenerative disorders), the most well known of which is BSE, Norml said. [..]
“(It) should be supported by any MP with a clear head. Unfortunately most politicians act like mad cows whenever cannabis is mentioned,” Mr Fowlie said.’
http://www.southwalesargus.co.uk/news/swan..._boobytraps.php
‘Potentially-lethal booby traps were found in a Newport cannabis factory.
Now police across Gwent are being warned of the discovery of several dangerous booby-traps at a house in Newport where police discovered a large number of cannabis plants and extensive growing equipment.
These included a series of 10-inch metal skewers set up inside window frames, and concealed beneath a thin sheet of cardboard, so intruders would not see them until it was too late.
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The cannabis growers had also rerouted the electricity supply and used it to create high voltage wires running across door and window frames, which were accessible from the outside of the house, so that a single touch by an intruder could deliver a potentially fatal electric shock.’
http://www.usatoday.com/news/offbeat/2007-...ab_N.htm?csp=34
‘A man trying to call a news station to complain about not getting a FEMA trailer after Hurricane Katrina accidentally dialed 911 and was charged with making methamphetamine after police arrived, authorities said.
Curtiss Randall Coleman was trying to get the number for Biloxi’s WLOX-TV on Wednesday just before the 6 p.m. newscast, investigators said. He misdialed when trying to reach directory information and called 911 instead of 411.
When he hung up on the emergency dispatcher, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department was sent to the home to see if anyone was in need of assistance.
Deputies said that when they arrived at Coleman’s house, no one answered the door. Officers broke in and allegedly found a methamphetamine lab.’
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/topstories/20...89520-19761863/
‘A public-spirited busman thought he was doing his duty when he discovered two junkies on board were smoking crack - and drove straight to a police station.
But passengers who raced in to alert police were stunned when officers claimed they were too busy - and suggested they dial 999 and get someone else.
Driver Paul Gibbs, 48, waited 10 minutes and then reluctantly drove off when he realised no one was coming.
Bizarrely, police later sent two officers on HORSEBACK, who had little chance of catching the bus in the crowded inner-city streets. Disbelieving Paul said: “We were at one of Europe’s biggest police stations but no one could be bothered to come out and solve a crime right on their doorstep.’
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime_file...in%20his%20face
‘Maharaj, 25, was all set to walk out of 1st District Court in Hempstead a free man, having already served the 10 days he was facing as his jail sentence.
But, according to Steven Schwartz, chief of the Nassau district attorney’s office District Court Bureau, Judge Norman St. George required Maharaj to surrender his conditional driver’s license as part of the plea deal.
Maharaj handed over the paper document to the judge’s clerk, who proceeded to open the folded-up record.
“She looked at it and was kind of stunned,” Schwartz said. In the creases of the paper was marijuana.”
The clerk then showed the loose buds to the judge, who had Maharaj rearrested for marijuana possession, Schwartz said.’
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/09/0...pies/index.html
‘In a small district in southern Afghanistan, U.S.-backed Afghan drug forces opened fire on farmers who were blocking roads and throwing rocks to protest the destruction of their poppy fields earlier this year. Scores were injured in the firefight.
Poppy farmer
Undeterred by the violence, a group of angry farmers gathered around Masood Azizi, the Afghan official supervising the eradication. They maintained that cultivating poppy for opium is the only way they can survive. “We are hungry, thirsty, and we don’t have any money. We are in debt,” one said.
It’s a message that reverberates throughout this impoverished, war-torn country. [..]
Eradicating opium poppies has been a key pillar of U.S. policy in Afghanistan since 2004, said Doug Wankel, director of the U.S. Counter-Narcotics Task Force in Afghanistan.
Yet today, Afghanistan produces roughly 93 percent of the world’s illicit opium, according to the UNODC report, and the Taliban are making inroads in remote areas of the country thanks, in part, to proceeds from the drug trade.’
http://www.news.com/HPs%20inkjet%20tech%20...0&subj=news
‘What else can inkjet technology be used for? Injecting drugs into humans, according to Hewlett-Packard.
The company is licensing a medical patch it has developed to Ireland’s Crospon that potentially can replace hypodermic needles or pills for delivering vaccines or other types of medication to patients. The patch contains up to 90,000 microneedles per square inch, microprocessors and a thermal unit.
Medications contained in the patch are heated and then injected through the needles. Processors can monitor drug delivery, deliver doses over extended periods of time or deliver drugs in response to a patient’s vital signs (e.g., blood pressure or heart rate), depending on how it is programmed.’
http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=76891
‘Police say a burglar has stolen narcotics from three pharmacies by walking in during business hours, climbing into the space above the ceiling and hiding there until the store closes. [..]
In the first two instances, Denver Police say the suspect hid in a false ceiling inside a bathroom. Police say he also hid in a false ceiling in the most recent incident. Police say the man is extremely patient, in some cases hiding up to eight hours. They also say he seems to be pretty knowledgeable about prescription drugs as he picks and chooses what he steals.
Police say the burglar has not been violent so far, but that could change.’
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Quirks/2007/0..._pot_bust/7923/
‘An Italian university student’s cellphone screensaver photo got him busted on marijuana charges.
The student allegedly made the mistake of taking a picture of himself standing among a patch of marijuana plants and using it as his screensaver photo, ANSA reported Tuesday. Then, as luck would have it, he dropped the waist pouch he used to carry the phone and it was picked up by a retiree who turned it over to police.
When the police called him in, the student allegedly broke down and confessed he owned the pot crop, the news agency said. He took the police to the spot where he was growing his illegal crop and was promptly booked.’
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?...2/MNFOS3J6M.DTL
‘Firefighters battling a blaze at a home in the Oakland hills this morning discovered a marijuana-growing operation, authorities said.
The two-story home at 4969 Stoneridge Court was being renovated so the entire second floor could be used to grow pot, fire Capt. Melinda Drayton said. Firefighters found more than 50 plants when they arrived at the home, which was otherwise unoccupied, around 3 a.m.
The fire “appears to have started from electricity being used for the cultivation operation,” Drayton said. “I’m not going to say (the electrical wiring) was illegal, but it looked like it was not up to code.” [..]
“This is becoming very common,” Drayton said of home marijuana-growing operations. She said electrical systems often pose a danger when they are altered for anything other than normal residential use.’
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n.../a202416D26.DTL
‘A pair of former Northeastern University freshmen are facing charges after prosecutors said one leaned out his dorm window Sunday and loudly told a woman in the dorm opposite his that he and his roommate were selling pot.
Oops. Two police officers happened to be nearby.
“If you’re looking for weed, my roommate Ferrante has some for sale,” Michael Emery said out the window, according to the Suffolk district attorney’s office.
Two plainclothes Boston officers in the building overheard the conversation and went to a second-floor room where they arrested Emery, 18, and Matthew Ferrante, 18, after finding about four ounces of marijuana; drug paraphernalia, including a scale; and several bottles of alcohol, prosecutors said.’
