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Suicide Shoe Bomber Assassin: The Art of Shoe Throwing

Suicide Shoe Bomber Assassin: Muntadar al-Zaidi

Iraqi Throws Shoes At Bush During Press Conference [Huffington Post | TPMTV]

The only thing that I believe is upsetting about this situation is that Muntadar al-Zaidi missed with both shoes. I can’t tell if this al-Zaidi doesn’t know how to throw things or maybe he missed on purpose. I believe that he missed because he doesn’t know how to throw shoes. Therefore, I’ve come up with a guide on how to throw a shoe for maximum damage, speed, and accuracy.

The Art of Shoe Throwing: Preparation

The Individual
There are important questions to ask oneself before throwing a shoe. Am I ready to throw the shoe? Have I had enough shoe throwing training? Do I want to simply make a statement or cause maximum damage?
Weapon of Choice
Just as important as preparing oneself mentally and physically, one should also choose the proper shoe – weight, size, shape, and aerodynamics. All of these things must be decided beforehand for effective show throwing.

The Art of Shoe Throwing: Different Shoe Throwing Methods

This Little Piggy

The “little piggy” is the toe of the shoe. Grab the toe of the shoe with the flat part of the heel facing you. Throw in a downward motion. You want the heel of the shoe to hit the target. It works with small shoes because smaller shoes are not as prone to wind resistance.

Size: Small to Medium
Weight: Light to Medium
Best Styles: women’s shoes: stillettos, high heels, low heels; open toe
Damage: 3 to 10 out of 10 depending on what part actually hit

Note: There are five degrees of “This Little Piggy” depending on where you are located.

The Big Toe

This method was developed in Great Britain when an expeditionary group visited North Africa and witnessed the women of a small tribe use this technique when angry at men and children.

Grab the big toe of the shoe with the thinnest side facing you. Throw in either a downward or side-ways manner. You want the shoe to cut through the air effectively minimizing wind resistance for a high speed, high damage shoe assault.

Size: Any
Weight: Any
Best Styles: Any flat style shoe: wingtips, oxfords, slippers
Damage: 7 out of 10

Note: Eddie Murphy is a direct descendent of this tribe [link]

Shoebola Virus

The bola, or boleadora is a throwing device made of weights on the ends of interconnected cords.

Begin by unlacing the shoes to give yourself enough string. Tie both shoes together. Now we have a shoebola. Holding the shoebola by the tied knot, swing it around building up the required momentum, then release at your target. The shoebola will deal damage as the string hits the object causing the shoes to swing around and hit.

Size: 7+
Weight: Medium to Heavy
Best Styles: thick soled; heavy work boots and shoe-boots
Damage: 8 out of 10

Note: Once the person’s been hit, expect some skin to come off.

Sling Shoe

The sling is an ancient weapon used for hunting small game prey and then adapted for war by using larger stones. Normall you would keep the sling but the shoe itself IS the sling as well.

Simply unlace the shoe. Swing the shoe around by the string and release.

Size: Medium to Large
Weight: Medium to Heavy
Best Styles: most large shoes
Damage: 5 out of 10

Note: Do not try to recover the sling

The Pharoah’s Gambit

This is one of the more primitive shoe throwing methods developed thousands of years ago by the ancient Egyptians. In the pyramids of Egypt you can find heiroglyphs depicting this ancient method of shoe throwing.

Grab the shoe and wildly throw the shoe in the direction of the target after which your guards will grab the target and go to work.

Size: Any
Weight: Any
Best Styles: Any
Damage: Death

Note: This method is still in use today. In one case, the Queen of England, in a fit of rage at her son, threw a shoe at the door as Princess Diana walked in to greet the Queen. Although she admitted the mistake to her guards…. (good thing I don’t believe in hell).

The Female Orgasm

This shoe throwing method was adapted by lesbian warrior women in ancient Mesopotamia.

Holding the toe area of shoe in your non-dominant hand, place two fingers, palm-side up, at the top portion of the heel creating a hook. You may use a thumb for stability. Pulling inward, swing up and around and release just above your head. You may use more fingers depending on the size of the shoe.

Size: Any
Weight: Any
Best Styles: Any
Damage: 3 out of 10

Note: Do not try this at home (at least don’t try to throw the chick).

Hail Mary

Just like in football, the Hail Mary is simply a long distance lob that you pray will be caught. There is no real difference in shoe throwing.

You grab a shoe however you choose, lob it, and hope your hit your target.

Size: Any
Weight: Medium to Heavy
Best Styles: Any
Damage: 7 out of 10

Note: I wouldn’t advise aiming for crowds.

The Iraqi Journalist

This is a variant of the Pharoah’s Gambit adopted by peasants as they don’t have any guards.

Grab a shoe any way you can and wildly toss it at the target.

Size: Any
Weight: Medium to Heavy
Best Styles: Any
Damage: 0 to 5 out of 10

Note: Best done at press conferences

Police Corruption: What’s Your Story?

Intro

Yesterday, I put together a post, Stupid Dirty Cops Got Caught, responding to a KopBusters episode in which Barry Cooper, former law enforcement officer, set up a legal grow operation consisting of two mini evergreen trees in an effort to catch a very dirty Odessa, TX police department.As I visited other sites looking for details, I came across comment sections of very, very delighted citizens who actually felt some level of vindication at seeing these dirty cops get caught committing crimes. Next, I started seeing individuals respond with their own stories of police corruption or the typical over-the-top police arrogance. It would seem the comments went from cheers to cheers and anecdotes (stories) to just anecdotes to angry anecdotes of police corruption.

While I am far from surprised at the concept of police corruption as I do live in New York City, police corruption central tied with Los Angeles, I am surprised at the amount of first-hand accounts of such corruption. It’s so rampant and pervasive that it’s affecting everyone and disproportionately affects African Americans and Hispanics. More and more, we can add people Middle Eastern descent with Arab or Muslim sounding names to that list.

What’s your police corruption story?

Here’s My Story

I’ve already written my own: The 48th Precinct of the Bronx, NY are PUNKS. It’s in five parts because it’s very exhaustive and as detailed as I can get it. Click on the links to take you to my true story of police corruption.

In short, I was arrested for “disorderly conduct” and “inciting a riot”. Supposedly, I did all of this while watching five police officers beat an already handcuffed guy, named Clinton, who didn’t stand more than 5 feet 5 inches. I watched, after he was beaten bloody and thrown into the cruiser, another officer squirt a 5 sec long stream of pepper spray into his face as he lay there in the back seat.

Why was I arrested? Because, I told the officer to stop. No! Because, I witnessed the entire thing while in my second-floor bedroom, still in my underwear. Unfortunately, the case didn’t go any further than a few court dates while the DA tried to get the lying officer to testify, which he didn’t. But, that’s my story. I want to hear your own.

Comments from Reason.com [link]

Tracy Cooper Jr. | December 6, 2008, 2:15pm

This is awesome. It’s going to be fun to watch these cops try and explain this.

jasno | December 6, 2008, 2:19pm

I think I speak for everyone when I say:

Fuck. Yeah.

J sub D | December 6, 2008, 2:57pm

Radley, for all the times you’ve ruined my day, I unreservedly forgive you. Thank you ever so much for calling this beautifully executed sting operation to my attention. I will be e-mailing links to people about this and encourage others to do the same. Odessa is not unique.

REMEMBER KATHRYN JOHNSTON!
FYI: Kathryn Johnston is.. was a 92-year old grandmother (born in 1914, died 2006) in Atlanta, shot to death by police during a drug raid of her apartment. Later it was found out that the informant tip used to obtain the search warrant was a fabricated The officers were indicted on charges of murder and burglary. [Links: 11Alive | WSBTV | CNN]

mc | December 7, 2008, 11:55am

As a rural WV resident, I have seen some of the worst police corruption in the country. Our cops and politicians do things that would make dirty vice in big cities look like girl scouts. Off the top of my head, I can think of a cop who shot the town mayor in a “hunting accident” because the mayor was going to clean up the police, my sister’s best friend and boyfriend getting pulled over no less than 10 times in one day because she was divorcing her cop husband; multiple cops who are having affairs with and supplying drug dealers while falsely imprisoning innocent people to go down for the crimes; cops’ families doing pretty much whatever they want including breaking the speed limit by 40 miles in a residential neighborhood, killing a beloved family pet and keeping on driving; and, one of the worst situations, a cop making an illegal turn at a very high speed, slamming into people obeying all traffic laws on a motorcycle, paralyzing the driver, and ONLY getting 2 weeks of desk work as a result. In another part of the state, a cop shot a man point-blank in front of his entire family, for “killing your kid” in what was actually a tragic, unavoidable boating accident.

I would LOVE for them to take on the cops back here…although I wouldn’t put it past them to kill the guys, though…

Abdul Alhazred | December 8, 2008, 2:38pm

Might as well weigh in with my own stories of local police corruption, there is a certain officer from my hometown who has been “suspended” from TWO different police forces. My experience with him was when he targeted my brother for harassment, he claimed he found a marijuana seed in his car once, which promptly disappeared. He had been known for beating people up for not “showing him the respect he deserves,” he jerked one of the local teachers’ husband out of his car, threw him on the ground and put his boot on the back of his head because he had a rifle in the back seat of his car (extremely normal in this part of the country) Anyhow, my mother was one of many to go in and try to complain to the chief of police, she was told that “they get a little rowdy sometimes, but they’re good boys” and “now, they’re just hot-doggin’ they’re good boys.”

Anyhow, he “resigned” from the local police force when they came under pressure from some of the prominent families in town, without any official action whatsoever, and he took a job on the Rolla police force, where he was just suspended for beating up a woman (in her 70’s) for asking to see his ID when she pulled him over.

Oh, and he has a body-count, he beat one man so severely that he died, and threw another face-first into a puddle where he drowned.

Chuck | December 8, 2008, 12:12pm

As a practicing lawyer I can tell you that COPS LIE. They lie on the street, they lie in their homes, they lie on camera and they lie in court. Nothing is ever done about it, and it is unlikely that anything ever will until we can get the word to the citizenry in a message that they can understand. I had the pleasure last year of showing a video to the jury proving that all six of the cops testifying in the trial were lying, which resulted in my client’s acquittal on two first-degree felony counts. We do not often get lucky enough to find that kind of evidence, so we need other methods of getting the truth out. In that case, despite damning evidence of perjury, the District Attorney did not even investigate. She knows who gets her convictions for her. However, just this year she had a woman indicted for perjury who accidentally checked the “No” box on a jury form asking if she was a US citizen. The fact is that when your top-cop (District Attorney) is a criminal, nothing will ever change until the citizens rise up against the corruption.

I have friends who are cops. They may be good cops, but I am not sure. The fact is that they seem to be good people, fun to hang out with, etc. But I don’t feel that I can or ever will trust them professionally. They are cops.

Stupid Dirty Cops Got Caught

Background [CBS7 news report]

As I was perusing my marijuana-related news site, I came across, Cops ‘Busted’ for Raid on Fake Grow Op [Reason via High Times]. Seems our old friend, Barry Cooper is at it with Kop Busters. Barry Cooper rented a house in Odessa, TX to set up a grow operation. The great part about it is that they were growing two tiny Christmas trees (no taller than a foot each from what I saw in the video). The theory is that if police were as honest and straight as they claimed, this grow operation should go undetected. Obviously, it didn’t.

Who’s Barry Cooper

Barry Cooper is a veteran law enforcement officer and anti-drug-war lecturer made famous throughout the anti-drug-war community for his film Never Get Busted Again Vol. 1. During the course of his eight year career as a drug enforcement officer he made more than 800 drug arrests, 50 vehicle seizures and confiscated over $500,000 in cash and assets.

Barry Cooper is a man who saw something wrong with the system. He realized that he was being lied to about marijuana and sought to effect change. In many rights, he’s still a law enforcement officer. He’s just brave enough to do something about the dirty police tactics that corrupt his duties. Where he was considered a hero to many during his time as a police officer, he’s more of a hero without the badge because he didn’t need the badge or a gun to do the right thing.
Never Get Busted [website | youtube]
Kop Busters [website]
Marc “Prince of Pot” Emery interviews Barry Cooper

How We Know Cops Were Crooked [Raw Footage]

First of all, this grow operation was 100% legal as there is nothing illegal about growing plants indoors much less Christmas trees (just in time for Christmas too). Secondly, the only people who knew about the grow operation were Barry Cooper’s staff.

So, new questions are raised:

  1. How did Odessa police “know” there was an “illegal” grow operation?
  2. How did they obtain a warrant to raid the location?

First of all, the police did NOT know about the grow operation. With no marijuana and no way to know there was marijuana in this house, the police, the people you trust with your lives, had to have found out illegally. But, even then, with that illegally obtained “evidence” how did they go about obtaining a search warrant? Lies beget lies. They had to have lied on to get the warrant. If they knew for a fact there was marijuana being grown on this property, there would be no way for the police to lose. But, they did indeed lose.

Now that we know Odessa police lied to obtain this information, we want and deserve real answers to those questions. What did the police do, illegally, to target this location? Exactly, what did they use to lie to obtain the search warrant? While we can guess at a few things, we’ll never know unless the police stop lying. But, lies beget lies.

Why Set Up A Grow Operation: Yolanda Madden

Well, it seems this isn’t the first time Odessa police have lied.. go figure. In 2005, Yolanda Madden was set up by the very same police department in a methamphetamine scheme in which the police informant planted evidence on her. But, this is not some lie to get Yolanda off. The informant admitted planting the evidence on Yolanda. She’s currently serving 8 years in federal prison on distribution charges because the police set her up near a junior high school. If you don’t know, many counties, cities and states apply harsher punishment when dealing drugs within a school zone.

Yolanda Madden is just an example of the police corruption that exists all over the United States. As long as innocent citizens continue to get targeted by police for their own fun and excitement, we’ll continue to have these problems. This should let people know that we are all at risk from police, innocent and guilty.

The Real Problem: Judges

We can play this game of “cat and mouse” with police departments around the nation as much as we please. In the end, it comes down to what happens in the court room. When police officers set innocent people up, informants misinform, and evidence is fabricated, it’s all left up to the judge to decide what’s fair and what’s NOT fair. Far too often, it’s the judges that take the word of police over other people. When you have entire police departments acting criminally, it’s up to the judges to do a better job of protecting the people from the animals that attack them.

The very reason police corruption exists is because the judicial system allows it. The people ought to begin chastising and scrutinizing the judges for their decisions to allow evidence that was obviously illegally obtained. If this continues, then what’s the point of the US Constitution and other laws. Police officers can not continue to choose what laws they decide to follow and enforce. As long as judges continue to allow this activity, there’s no reason for police to stop being badged criminals.

Sweet Bitch Slap to Local Police

State Medical Cannabis Laws Are Final [Salem News via High Times]

The U.S. Supreme Court refused to review a landmark decision yesterday in which California state courts found that its medical cannabis law is not preempted by federal law.

The Supreme Court’s decision in Garden Grove v. Superior Court means that federal law does not prevent state and local governments from implementing medical cannabis laws adopted by voters or state legislatures. In short: the group Americans for Safe Access, says federal law does not override state law on medical cannabis.

Understanding

This is really an issue of state’s rights. We learned this back in high school. The way this nation is run is like a collective of mini nations that work together (supposedly). The federal government is that collective at work in the form of the executive, legislature, and judicial. Whatever the federal government doesn’t legislate, it leaves up to the individual states. In this way, the states can react to their own respective situations quickly.

What’s been happening is that some police officers in medical marijuana states, in their supreme arrogance and stupidity, try to decide which laws they want to enforce – state or federal. What they don’t realize is that they are NOT federal employees. They are state employees. Therefore, they have absolutely NO business, nor right, playing the role of federal law enforcement. That means whatever state laws are on the books for medical marijuana, they MUST follow. Otherwise, they’re just violent weapon-wielding vigilantes hiding behind their badges.

The supreme court simply solidifies this distinction effectively telling local police around the nation: DO THE DAMN JOB YOU WERE HIRED TO DO. YOU DO NOT WORK FOR FEDERAL GOVERNMENT! That means, if you’re in a medical marijuana state, DEAL WITH IT. If local police are enforcing federal laws, it undermines the will of the people. What if the federal government decides that murder was now legal? But, your state still has laws against murder. Do you want local police enforcing state laws against the will of the people or federal laws?

DEA Next to get Bitch Slapped (Hopefully)

Also noted in the article is a case in which a California officer, Patrick Hedges, felt it necessary to call in the DEA when he couldn’t find anything against a specific marijuana dispensary. This is how sad and arrogant some local police departments have become. However, all of that may come to an end soon. President-elect Obama said (and it IS just words for now) he would put an end to DEA raids on medical marijuana dispensaries.

In this weak economic climate, it’s going to be great when Obama looks over the DEA budget to realize they’re blowing billions of dollars annually with, at best, minimal returns on investment. In other words, these pricks better catch more than 1-5% of drugs in the nation and start arresting real criminals (not sick patients) to justify that level of expenditure. It’s pitiful. With that much money, this nation can do a lot more than throw it down a hole. Healthcare. Education. Infrastructure.

How are truly serious addicts (cocaine, heroin, meth) getting OFF the drugs by going in and out of prison? They’re not. Think about it. How much money is spent per prisoner per year? Only the most ignorant, or devoid of humanity, would believe it makes sense to allow addiction to continue while spending billions per year NOT addressing the problem. It’s pitiful.

“King of the Hill” on weeeed!

The Setup

I don’t watch King of the Hill as often as I used to watch it. I catch it from time to time, here and there. Last night it came on at about 1pm. The episode started somber as usual. It was time for football tryouts. Hank, being the former football hero and father, wants Bobby to tryout for the team. Bobby, being the eclectic individual and somewhat polar opposite of his father, proudly goes for and gets the job of towel boy to the initial dismay of his former quarterback father. But, Hank doesn’t care as long as Bobby is somewhere in and around football.

The Twist

During one of the games, Bobby is disrespected by the coach even as the team won. This puts Bobby in a bad place. He signed up to be a towel boy, not the team’s bitch. Now, he’s not even happy doing that. As Bobby’s on his way home, he passes his neighbor Min as she’s tending to the roses in her garden. Did I mention Bobby is eclectic? He takes interest in growing his own roses. Unfortunately, Hank is not too supportive of this. He’ll accept towel boy but where’s the manhood is growing roses. Hank is raising a man, not a gardener.

This forces Bobby to seek ways to indulge his new passion. He goes to the local garden shop to purchase some bare root roses to grow. However, his dilemma is in trying to keep his hobby secret from his father. He asks the clerk if there’s a way he could grow in his closet.

Here Comes The Weed

The clerk at the garden shop tips Bobby off to a store that would help him grow plants in secret. And the name of that store: Seeds and Stems. However, when Bobby walks into the store, you see all kinds of smoking paraphernalia, most notably bongs and pipes. The clerks are at first bewildered by some kid asking for grow advice but are relieved to find out that he genuinely wants to grow roses in his closet and in secret because of his father’s disapproval. So, Bobby gets his start in horticulture, cultivation, or growing.

Unfortunately, his passion makes him forget the big game which the team lost due to their lack of a towel boy. Hank comes home furious that Bobby didn’t show up. In searching for Bobby, Hank finds him slipping out of the closet. When Hank goes to inspect, he finds the potted rose stems. After a conversation with Peggy, Hank decides to support his son, in secret. He couldn’t bare to have the neighbors know that his son was into roses.

Hardcore Grower

Hank goes back to the garden shop to find a tall and burly man who’s just as intense about growing as the most hardcore football player. He explains to Hank about the competition and that growing isn’t just some past time. It’s hard work. “It’s science and art.” When he finds out that it’s Bobby that’s doing the growing, he berates Hank for putting such a young boy through such pain. Hank is intrigued, attracted even, by the man’s high intensity and competitiveness. He wants to do more than support Bobby. He wants Bobby to be a winning grower.

Unfortunately for Hank, Bobby doesn’t have the same same intensity as his father. Hank goes back to Seeds and Stems shop to get more grow supplies and information. Upon seeing this, the clerks get serious with Hank. They let him know Bobby got the “kiddy stuff”. If he’s serious about growing, he’ll step up his game. Seeing the high costs of growing indoors, Hank persuades Seeds and Stems to sponsor him in the competition. Now, they’ve got a real indoor grow operation.
In the end, Hank ends up going way overboard and sees that he’s doing more damage to Bobby than he intended. They ended up losing the competition to the intense grower from the grow shop . Hank decides to transplant the roses outdoor in an effort to respect his son’s hobby as well as the hobby itself.

Real Marijuana Growing

I always say that marijuana growing is easy. All you need is what mother nature provides – earth, water, air, and light. However, the intense grower is right. It is science and it is art, when you want to grow the best. Growing the best marijuana is a delicate combination of biology, chemistry, genetics, math, love, and patience.

Imagine a grow operation. Organic fertilizer or synthetic salts? Organic requires things like bat guano (manure), beneficial bacteria, mycorrhizae fungi and other things. Synthetic salts requires the right combination of formula. Get any of these things wrong and you can severely underfeed or overfeed your plant, slowing growth and/or causing nutrient burn. You can test your mix with electrical conductivity (EC) meters, parts-per-million (PPM) meters, and pH testers. And that’s just what’s going on in the dirt or water solution if hydroponic.

Above ground, growers contend with air quality, proper light and intensity, temperature, humidity, insects, disease, mold, rot, and fungus. A grower has to maintain appropriate conditions to ensure the plant is healthy and strong.

Although it’s overwhelming in the beginning, you can get the hang of it quickly. $300 will get you started with a mini system growing plants no taller than two feet. Eventually, you’ll want to step your game up just like Hank did. Costs can easily reach into the tens of thousands but that’s for the commercial growers who invest in all of those lights, meters, air conditioners, dehumidifiers, carbon dioxide, and various other items.

But, the “rose buds” are worth the effort…

National Geographic Explorer: Heroin vs Meth vs Marijuana

Intro

Last night, I watched three back to back Explorer episodes on National Geographic. Heroin Crisis looked at heroin around the world, the second episode was The World’s Most Dangerous Drug (methamphetamine), and the final episode was titled Marijuana Nation.

Heroin Crisis

I knew a lot about heroin already. One thing that stood out to me was when the program got into the manufacturing side of heroin. Afghanistan was producing 30% more heroin than the actual demand. While I didn’t know that, I did know that Afghanistan was indeed responsible for producing 90% of the world’s heroin. In fact, I wrote about: Wakeup: Back to Reagan’s Drug War.

You see the Taliban had crushed the drug trade in Afghanistan in 2001. They tortured and murdered farmers to get their point across (much worse than the DEA’s torturing and murdering of American citizens over marijuana). Then, the first coming of the idiot-Christ, President mis-Elect Bush, came around, guns-a-blazing, to shut down the Taliban. That’s when poppy production went BACK into overdrive.

Question: Why did we decide to go into Afghanistan? Al Qaeda? Osama Bin Laden? Does it even matter?

World’s Most Dangerous Drug

Methamphetamine (crystal meth or meth) scares me! Simply put, it’s a frightening drug. I’d heard a lot about it. But, being that my one and only interest is and will always be marijuana, it didn’t make sense for me to gather more information about this drug. But this Explorer program gave me that view of meth that set me straight about it once and for all. One thing that stood out to me more and more were the before and after images of meth users. Strong healthy people now looking thin, emaciated, and gaunt within a matter of a few months to two years. Not even cocaine or heroin is that bad on the body. Don’t get me wrong. I grew up in the Bronx, New York City. I’ve seen first hand the destruction cocaine and heroin can do to a community. But, meth is a beast unto itself.

Anyway here’s a Youtube video of meth users, before and after. As much as I hate to use these people because they demonize a harmless plant along with other man-made chemicals, even a broken clock is right twice a day.

Marijuana Nation

Finally, we get to Marijuana Nation and I am happy, yet pensive due to the twisting and spinning of information by police and DEA agents. I have a problem stomaching the ignorant and arrogant ranting of bold-faced habitual liars.

Let’s think about it critically for a minute.

Who do you believe, or side with, in the War on Marijuana? Would you side with marijuana growers and traffickers over the DEA and police when it comes to legalizing marijuana? I’d side with the criminals because it’s a question of who will lose if marijuana is legal.

First and foremost, criminals – growers and dealers. They lose because if marijuana is legalized, prices drop. That’s not good for a would-be former criminal’s pocket. If you’re in the business of selling marijuana, you’d want to keep the prices high so that you can profit as much as possible. However, that will be difficult to do when you can buy a pound of decent marijuana in Zimbabwe for $20. You see where I am going on the criminal side of things. Yet, it’s the criminals, like Marc Emery, that want it legalized. People don’t sacrifice themselves unless it’s important to them, morally important.

Secondly, the police and DEA. As I watched this program, comparing it to the other two, I realized there was an incredible bump in the amount of money and resources used for marijuana eradication. But, they lose if marijuana is legal because marijuana accounts for a high percentage of their work. If marijuana is made legal, it would be difficult for the DEA to account for the expenditures they currently use $70 billion annually. In other words, they’d be losing jobs.It’s in their best interest to keep the pressure high on marijuana demonization in an effort to paint themselves as saviors and worth the cost. On top of that, if they’re not concentrating on petty marijuana crime, they’d have to actually do real police work like solving murders or catching rapists.

Who wins? Scientists and Researchers. Doctors and medicinal users. Casual Users. US citizens in general who don’t like the criminal element (the DEA) nor the wayward and errant dealers on the corner. And yes, even police. Remember Al Capone, Eliot Ness and the Untouchables? Alcohol Prohibition in the 1920’s? There’s a lesson the authorities of the United States should study extremely carefully because they’re already repeating the past. If that’s the case, we know the inevitable result.

Anyway, Marijuana Nation was good even if it rehashed a lot of the old stuff (old to me, at least) – Marc Emery (BC3 and Cannabis Culture), indoor and outdoor grow operations, and of course the obligatory save-my-DEA-job lies.

Last Puff

It’s a wonder why people continue to lump marijuana in with heroin or methamphetamine. The substances are so drastically different on so many levels. It’s like comparing water to nuclear runoff – one’s safe and naturally occurring and the other is fatal and man-made. If you “enjoy” a cup of nuclear runoff, you’re going to need lots of help. And, the people of this world, all nations, fail at the job of helping one another. We can’t continue to murder, torture, and imprison our way out of our problems. It’s the very reason they keep coming back. These people – friends, family, and others – need help in the form of common sense policy through education (which has worked for decreasing tobacco use). We can also put some of that DEA largesse into healthcare and addiction treatment. And, at $70 billion a year, we could probably provide free healthcare for all Americans as well.

2700 year-old marijauna stash (and then some)

Quick Announcements

  • National Geographic will be having an “Explorer” episode dedicated to “Marijuana, the most widely used illicit drug on the planet….” at 10pm tonight on December 2nd, 2008. It’s preceded by two more Explorer episodes, “Heroin Crisis” and “World’s Most Dangerous Drugs” regarding Methamphetamine addiction at 8pm and 9pm, respectively. I’ll be tuning into to all three episodes.
  • Congratulations to Arjan from Green House Seeds Co. for winning this year’s Cannabis Cup with their Lemon Haze strain. I look forward to trying it in the future.. one day.. hopefully.

Intro

I think we all know marijuana has been around for thousands of years in just about every culture outside of the Americas. All over the world, people have used cannabis for all kinds of purposes, primarily medical and secondarily because people like to get high. Yeah, they do.

2,700-year-old marijuana stash found [link]

I found this story in the Toronto Sun (via High Times). Simply put, researchers found 789 grams of marijuana that…

was clearly “cultivated for psychoactive purposes,” rather than as fibre for clothing or as food, says a research paper in the Journal of Experimental Botany.

Yes folks. People smoked marijuana just to get high 2,700 years ago. And guess what! 2,700 years later, people STILL smoke marijuana just to get high. And, what else!? 2,700 years from now, people will STILL be smoking marijuana JUST TO GET HIGH.

Anyway, back to the article.

The 789 grams of dried cannabis was buried alongside a light-haired, blue-eyed Caucasian man, likely a shaman of the Gushi culture, near Turpan in northwestern China.

So, it was a white guy in China who decided he wanted to be buried with almsot two pounds marijuana to take with him into the afterlife. Honestly, I don’t know if that would have been enough for me to take into the afterlife. I don’t rightly know how long an afterlife would be if it does exist but just in case I might want to go in with a long ton (2200 pounds). Check on it in one year. If it hasn’t been touched then feel free to take it out the grave. I am positive a one-year cure underground will make it worth the wait.

Other Marijuana History

As I’ve said before, there are plenty of other cases in which marijuana shows up in history and much further back than the above article. For example, in Egypt, the pharaohs used to bath in cannabis oils. We’re talking some 5,000+ years ago. Egyptians were growing and harvesting fields of this stuff for their daily use. And check the process.

Even in the Bible, the name for marijuana is kaneh bosem. Drop the “em” and you’ve got kaneh bos which sounds a hell of a lot like cannabis and is considered the root of the word cannabis. Unfortunately, the problem is that most Christians never really know what the Bible is saying due to bad translations and missing sections. So, there is a debate about what exactly kaneh bosem is today. The reason it’s a problem is because kaneh bosem is the main ingredient in anointing oil or what is known today as holy water. We’ve got one side of people who can’t imagine that Jesus or Moses used marijuana in some way, shape or form. (It’s the devil weed, right!?) And, you’ve got the other side that’s made the connection between kaneh bos and cannabis.

It’s all about the use of oil.

You see, the THC in marijuana is not water soluble. In other words, it won’t dissolve in water. However, THC is fat soluble as well as alcohol soluble. The fat soluble part is important because oil contains plenty of fat. This is why people make cannabis butter for use in cooking; butter has fat.

I believe the people were interested in the THC more than the plant. If it were just plant itself, they could have just as easily used water. But I don’t know enough about that time period to jump to that educated guess. It wouldn’t be far fetched for me to believe that Egyptians, and later on Jews followed by Christians, used marijuana for multiple purposes.

This history of marijuana is specifically why many people also call it God’s herb. Rastafarians believe that you can connect with God more through the use of marijuana. It’s a sacrament to them and many others all around world.

Quick Tip

If you’re ever having trouble searching for marijuana-related info, like the stuff I am talking about here, use the word “cannabis” instead. In fact, the scientific name is Cannabis Sativa. Usually, when people are speaking “intelligently” about marijuana, they choose to use the more scientific term. Personally, I think it’s a subconcious, and sometimes concious, effort to maintain some air of legitimacy. Ridiculous, but it works.

Marijuana Monday Ep 14.2: Hush and other developments

Marijuana Mondays

Well folks I’ve decided to amp the marijuana advocacy a bit. I’ve relegated myself to talking about marijuana only on Monday, hence “Marijuana Mondays”. However, trying to get some common sense and education into folks is an everyday thing. But, don’t worry about me and my other non-marijuana related topics. I will still be using my heavy brain to analyze all the other stuff around the globe.

The world is changing all around us and in a good way. In the US, marijuana has already won on a few fronts. But, people are still losing in many other places, in the US and around the world, because of misinformation and ignorance. They’re still murdering people in some Asian nations. The DEA is still fear-mongering around the world as well. Switzerland giving out free heroin to their citizens, yet marijuana continues to be criminal.. interesting.

This is why I need to speak on it more often.

But, I digress.. I want tell you about the other best marijuana I’ve ever had.
Check the last episode: Marijuana Monday Ep 14.1: Best marijuana I’ve ever had!

Hush (pronounced hoosh)

I got into contact with an actual grower. We’ll call him “Dread”. He was actually a tall, light-skinned, bald head, Buddhist with a bad ass wife and two kids. He was like the Russell Simmons of marijuana. The first time I met him, my friend took me over to his house. This was those days when I was still smoking that garbage.. regular.. ugh. When we got there, he was hospitable of course. We smoked, got drinks, etc etc etc. We were all high and nice. I was watching TV when I got a tap on the shoulder. I turned around to see Dread unloading the largest Ziploc bag of marijuana from a case he carried. One after another, clear plastic bags of varying sizes came out. That first largest bag was OG Kush. The other bags had all kinds of different strains. I felt bad because I was only there to pick up some garbage weed.

This is when I found out he was the grower. He had to actually go to one of his connects to get the garbage because he doesn’t carry garbage but he doesn’t turn customers away either. Now that we understand the individual I was dealing with.

That day would also be the last day I purchased garbage weed in my life.

One cold winter day, my friend and I decide to call up Dread. He’s on the move but he’s not far away. We drive over to his location and he tells us he grew out some marijuana from some seeds he had. It was an accident. He missed a male and it pollinated a nearby plant but he caught it in time. It didn’t spread much. So, he took those “accident” seeds and grew them out. That’s how he got the Hush and we were going to be one of the first few people to try it.

OH. MY. GOD. This marijuana looked fantastic. From afar, it had a light green look to it. When you get close you can see it’s the green of the leaves and the white of the “diamonds” on the bud that combine for that light green color. It looked amazing. Unfortunately, I can’t remember the smell or the taste. I do remember that it smoked incredibly smoothly as I didn’t cough even once.

Off of one blunt, my friend and I were tripping out. Everything was hilarious. My jokes weren’t just funnier but they were actually funny. I could barely open my eyes from all the laughing. After about an hour, we had the munchies really bad. Then again, we didn’t eat much that day. This marijuana didn’t make us sleepy or anything either. We were wide awake after the high went away.

We told Dread he should take this strain to the Cannabis Cup.

Hempstar vs Hush
The reason I have these two strains as my best is because they accomplish something very well. Hempstar is more of a indica. It’s meant to relax and calm. Smoke enough and it will relax you right to sleep. However, Hush was more of an indica. It’s meant to activate your mind and energize you; it won’t put you to sleep. But, smoke enough and you’ll go into those laughing fits or even hallucinate a bit. But, that’s why Hempstar, now Brainstorm, and Hush are my two favorites.

And NO.. I won’t be sharing which two strains combined to make Hush.

Marijuana Media: Marc Emery aka The Prince of Pot (CNN)

Marijuana Monday Ep 14.1: Best marijuana I’ve ever had!

Marijuana Mondays

The big thing in marijuana is medical. Now, I won’t act as if I am some debilitated, terminally ill individual that uses marijuana medicinally to relieve insurmountable pain. However, I am an insomniac which affects everything else in my life. Sometimes, I could stay up 36 hours before I finally crash and the most I’ve slept is about 6 hours which is an oddity for me. However, while smoking marijuana I get regulated to a degree. Depending on how I use, I can get varying and helpful effects. Overall, I enjoy the high. So, I want to tell two short stories about the best marijuana I’ve ever had.
Check the last episode: Marijuana Monday Ep 13: Education is Legalization

Brainstorm (aka Hempstar)

A few years ago, I purchased this marijuana called Hempstar from my connect (dealer). It was in the first few days of me getting top quality bud and not that crap on the street – the discovery phase, so to speak. The Hempstar was funky, stink in a good way. It was packed with little “diamonds” or trichomes which is where the THC is manufactured in the plant. Basically, in looks and smell, Hempstar was just very good.

I got home with this new marijuana and rolled a good sized blunt, chocolate philly (which is easier to roll that most people think). As I began to smoke, I got upset. I was watching tv and I felt nothing. Ok I am never getting this marijuana again. I wanted something to drink. As I got up to go to the kitchen, I wobbled a bit and fell right back down. Whoaaaaaaa! I looked at the television, it began to rotate ever so slightly. WHOAAAAAA! Eventually, I made it to the kitchen on those wobbly legs and got some cold water.

When I made it back, I laid down and woke up. No. I didn’t go to sleep. At least, I don’t remember going to sleep. All I remember was waking up about three hours later. And, I was HUNGRY. My appetite was monstrous to say the least, super munchies. After I fed the munchies, I looked up Hempstar online. I found out it’s bred by Dutch Passion and found out they changed the name from Hempstar to Brainstorm. The site says that the line was updated. That’s a lot to explain so I won’t.

The next day, I found out my boy Will was coming from NJ. I don’t miss those occassions to hang out with friends, I don’t get to see often. And, I had to share the Hempstar. It’s only natural. I rolled a Honey Dutch which I only smoked a third and would smoke the rest with my boy. And, I threw in a little bit of the Hempstar on the side for when he got home. The plan: Will would come over, smoke a little, head to the movies, then to my friend Fred’s spot. After Will smoked that first few puffs, it was the same story. He didn’t feel anything but when he went to the bathroom, he wobbled slightly.

I don’t remember what we watched at the movies but after about 45 minutes into it, I smelled the Hempstar. Mind you, Will had the marijuana including a half-blunt on his inside pocket. On top of that, he was layered because it was cold. I asked Will if he could smell it. At first he said no but confirmed it 15 minutes later. Then, this loudmouth hoodrat about 5 seats away screeches, “I SMELL MARIJUANA.” I had to laugh. The guy the girl was with was trying to quiet her down. Will apologized for the marijuana being so strong.

We get to Fred’s spot and they smoke the rest of the blunt. I didn’t want anymore. I know my limitations. We did get the munchies later on. Just when we were about to go to the store, Fred throws me his keys. Why? He says, “This shit got me couchlocked!” He really didn’t want to get up to open the door when we got back. Will turned quiet as his high settled in. He couldn’t really go to sleep but I could tell he was going down. He ended up going back home a little early.

Hopefully, the US will legalize marijuana for all and I can get some seeds and grow these out.

Stay tuned for next Monday.
There’s another story about another strain that’s the best ever for me. It’s called Hush (pronounced hoosh). I’ll discuss the difference between Hempstar and Hush and tell you why I don’t think that many people know about Hush. Hint: This strain is too new for the streets.

Marijuana Media: Nice Bong Hits

Marijuana Monday Ep 13: Education is Legalization

Marijuana Mondays

Education is proving to be legalization in the United States. For far too long, Americans have been lied to about marijuana by various entities feeding off of other entities. The DEA has led the charge in misinforming the American people about marijuana. This campaign of misinformation is like the misinformation that put American voters behind Bush when he decided to go to war in Iraq. Usually people are afraid of what they don’t know. But, the DEA uses misinformation to promote and grow that fear of marijuana. Just as we, as a people, were educated that the War in Iraq was based on a lie, we are also realizing the War on Drugs is based on numerous lies. There is nothing wrong with questioning our government. Doing the right thing is the obligation of any citizen but we must know the full truth to do THAT right thing.
Check the last episode: Marijuana Monday Ep 12: Oh, Happy Days!

Pot Mumblings

Medical marijuana could ease economic pains

“There is a great opportunity here for the government to collect significant tax revenue currently being lost to the street market,” Nash, one of the best-known legal cannabis producers, enthused.

Although this article is from Canada, they have some of the same problems that we have here in the US in regards to marijuana. That is, rampant ignorance of marijuana leading to irrational policy making by an out of touch government controlled primarily by corporate/business interests that are frightened of the competition from marijuana (alcohol, tobacco, pharmaceuticals, lumber, and so on). The point of the article is to alleviate the economic burden of marijuana prohibition on a society that is suffering financially.

The problem around the world is the lack of education which needs to be addressed first. People still believe that marijuana is some evil substance. It’s interesting when hundreds of thousands of people die each year from consumption of alcohol and cigarettes while they decide the fate of a plant that is about as toxic as a cold glass of water. Something to think about here in the USA.

Marijuana Advocates Look to National Agenda

A bill introduced by Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) that would decriminalize possession of up to 3.5 ounces of marijuana in the U.S. is cited as a starting point for hearings and discussion of the issue on a national level.

Those crazy folks in Massachusetts are trying to go national with their successful campaign. Although the effort is already nationalized, there’s something to be said about whatever they did in Mass. because all 83 counties voted for marijuana decriminalization by a margin of 2 to 1. That’s resounding success. I don’t know exactly what they did but the only way I could see it working is if they were out there educating people on marijuana. We have to undo the fear factor taught by the DEA and other groups and agencies that ignorantly peg marijuana as a bad substance.

Carl Olsen v. Drug Enforcement Administration – 2008

Here is an individual trying to get marijuana reclassified in the schedules of the Controlled Substances Act. Marijuana exists in Schedule 1 (or section 1) of the CSA.

Schedule 1 of the Controlled Substances Act
(A) The drug or other substance has high potential for abuse
(B) The drug or other substance has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States
(C) There is a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug or other substance under medical supervision.

It has this distinction because the DEA (no one else makes these decisions) decided that marijuana fits it. But, anyone who knows anything about marijuana knows that it doesn’t fit at least one of those requirements. But, here’s the truth about it:

  • (A) Marijuana is not addictive and can’t be abused. (Then again, anyone can abuse anything. Fat folks abuse Big Macs. This doesn’t mean that Big Macs should be a Schedule 1 narcotic.)
  • (B) 13 states along with many medical associations agree that marijuana has incredible medical value.
  • (C) Marijuana is nontoxic and can not kill therefore there is NO safety issue

The DEA knows that if people are educated on the truth, they’re job gets harder. It gets harder because marijuana is too easy to get. You can see plants growing if they’re outside. Dogs can smell marijuana through anything. It’s the most widely used “illegal” substance in the US so there’s no shortage of “criminals” to catch. Marijuana makes the DEA look like a capable and functioning agency when you hear they’ve pulled up millions of plants per year and arrested hundreds of thousands of people. It looks good on paper because of the high numbers.

You take marijuana away, they’ll HAVE to concentrate on fighting REAL drug crime – cocaine, heroin, meth, extasy, and so on. These chemicals cost much much more than marijuana so they come in smaller quantities and they don’t stink like marijuana. Dealing with addicts are much more violent and likely to end in violence. Let’s be honest, what kind of danger can someone high on marijuana pose when they show smokers “deflated” on a couch because marijuana makes you “boring and lazy”. Do you really need no-knock raids and assault weapons for a marijuana smoker?

Green Tip of the Week: Anthony’s Reminders

Reminder: Roll tighter to decrease air flow so that the blunt or joint doesn’t burn faster.
November 1st is the official day that I started back smoking marijuana. I’d chosen June 1st as my official stop smoking day although I had stopped somewhere in mid-May after a food poisoning. After 5 months of not smoking, I lost a bit of my skill in rolling. I found myself rolling blunts too tight. Anyone who knows me knows that I roll just a little tight to control air flow. The more air flowing, the faster a blunt burns down.

Reminder: If you’re going to roll a blunt, use enough marijuana to get a good roll
Although on Nov. 1, I rolled perfectly the first time back, I had some trouble over the weekend. Serious medical aid was needed. I rolled it way too tight. But, it didn’t dawn on me why I rolled so tight until I got home. I forgot something important. My boy is very cheap when it comes to weed. I remembered that unless I put in more of my own, we’re gonna end up on some little skinny shit. The problem is that my natural rolling style is to feel for a proper roll with my fingers; I stopped looking a long time ago. If there’s too little marijuana, the roll is going to be too tight.

Reminder: Use a tip or “filter” for your blunt
Finally, the one thing that I do which I forgot is to use a tip. Most people use rolled up pieces of paper which they’ll call a “filter”. I use quotes around the word because it doesn’t filter out anything but marijuana that might fall out or be pulled out when you inhale. However, the tip I use is actually from the stem of a plant. And, I forgot to use it until I saw it in my kit and remembered why I use it. See, plant stems are hollow to help aid in water transport within the plant. On top of that, it keeps the back from collapsing which is helpful. It definitely helps.

Marijuana Media: Medical Marijuana Testimonies via MPP [site]

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