Archive for April, 2011
Ganja Yoga: A Higher Form Of Enlightenment
A stunning breakthrough in body/mind well-being and healing? Or just a case of people looking for any excuse to get stoned? Either way, combining marijuana and yoga sounds like a winning concept. Dubbed “ganja yoga”, the practice has gained devotees and garnered an article in the Globe and Mail:
As the light haze of pot smoke dissipates in the downtown Toronto living room, the ganja yoga session begins.
“When you’re high, you can focus better on your breath,” says Dee Dussault, who runs a monthly session of “cannabis-enhanced yoga” at her home dubbed Follow Your Bliss.
She says smoking marijuana in small doses before a yoga class also makes students more receptive to the poses and philosophies behind the activities. “For some people, it makes them uninhibited and open to the idea of the heart chakra, for example.”
Because Ms. Dussault publicizes ganja yoga openly, there is the question of legal repercussions. But she’s…
Psychedelic Anti-Marijuana PSA
“It’s the hula-hoop of the jet generation.”
Out of several decades worth of iconic anti-marijuana television scare-verts, my favorite is this vintage American Medical Association PSA, which appears to have definitely been made by animators who were high on something.
Will Big Pharma Take Over The American Market For Medical Marijuana?
If the hundreds of uses for cannabis doesn’t plead the case for its legalization, the money made from its medical industry just might do it. The Washington Independent reports:
The American Independent has previously reported on the growing corporatization of the incipient medical marijuana industry at a time when medical marijuana dispensaries scrabble to hold on to their businesses in the face of a multi-pronged federal crackdown. But there are signs afoot that it just may become ever more corporate if a Big Pharma push to get the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to recognize a cannabis-derived drug is successful.
Last week, British prescription drug manufacturer GW Pharmaceuticals announced a licensing agreement with drug giant Novartis, maker of Ritalin and Excedrin, to begin selling GW’s drug Sativex in markets across Asia, Africa, Oceania and the Middle East. The medication is already available in Britain, where it’s produced and marketed by Bayer, and in Canada and…
The Fundamental Injustice That Is Poisoning the Nation
A very thought provoking post from Charles Hugh Smith on Of Two Minds:
The guilty are powerful and free, the innocent burdened and oppressed: that is injustice.
There is a fundamental injustice that is poisoning the soul of the nation, and if it is not openly addressed then the nation will face the explosive consequences of institutionalized injustice.
Simply put, it is this: those responsible for the nation’s financial crisis and its catastrophic after-effects are not paying for the consequences of their actions–it is the innocent, those who were not responsible, who are paying the price.
You can call it whatever you want: the Anarchy of the Super-Rich (as per Paul Farrell), the Financial Power Elite, the financial Oligarchy, Plutocracy or Corporatocracy, or the unprecedented concentration of financial wealth and political power in a financialized post-industrial economy. Whatever you call it, we all know this class of financiers and its minions got away with…
U.S. Debt Outlook Downgraded To Negative By S&P For First Time Since Pearl Harbor Attack (Animation)
If anyone’s confused by the news of Standard and Poor’s downgrading the U.S. debt outlook, here’s the Next Media Animation:
How To Start Your Own Currency
Afraid that the world is collapsing and your hard-earned dollars will soon be worthless kindling? At heart, monetary systems are based upon a shared delusion, so you might as well get empowered and start you own — The Atlantic explains how.
And, lest you think the whole idea is tongue-in-cheek, there are tons of real-world examples of successful alternate currencies right now for inspiration: Ithaca HOURS (used in Ithaca, NY), World of Warcraft money, BitCoin, and Japan’s Fureai Kippu, or “friendship tickets”:
Here’s a nightmare scenario shared by some mainstream investors, goldbugs and Ron Paul devotees: The year is 2013. Inflation has the U.S. economy in a stranglehold. International investors are fleeing to the far corners of the globe. The dollar is in a free fall, and Americans are scurrying to protect their wealth. What do you do?
Start your own currency. It’s not as complicated as it sounds. You can “back” it with…
The Russian Dead Alien Video
Just what the bleep are those Russians saying?!? This video has stormed the Internet, whatever it is, but it’s almost certainly a fake. Isn’t it?
Russia Today says:
A video of what was claimed to be a mutilated alien corpse is said to be fake. The tiny “dead alien” is just skin from chicken filled with bread, reports the website 7d.org.ua. Police questioned the men who claimed to have found the “body” and they allegedly confessed to creating it themselves…
Ruling Opens the Door to Legalize Marijuana in Canada
Sandro Contenta writes on GlobalPost:
TORONTO— Pot lovers are dreaming of July 10, the day Canada’s dope laws go up in smoke.
An Ontario judge has struck down key aspects of Canada’s marijuana laws, triggering a 90-day countdown when growing, possessing or smoking pot will become legal.
The April 11 court ruling gives the federal government three months to either reform the laws or appeal the ruling to a higher court.
At issue is a 2001 law that allows seriously ill Canadians to access marijuana for medicinal purposes. But Justice Donald Taliano found that the vast majority of doctors refuse to prescribe the drug. Patients are therefore forced to break the law, either by growing their own or buying it on the black market.
“Seriously ill persons who need marihuana to treat their symptoms are forced to choose between their health and their liberty,” Taliano, of the Ontario Superior Court, wrote in his ruling.
“If they…
Who Is Non-Religious In America?
Sociological Images reports on a fascinating study that you may have missed the first time around — the 2008 American Religious Identification Survey, which reveals much about the U.S. atheist/agnostic/”spiritual-but-non-religious” population (referred to as Nones). Perhaps what stands out most is just how “normal” the average American non-religious person is. Demographically, Nones look just like broader populace — being non-religious cuts almost uniformly across income and education levels and racial groups (disproving stereotypes of, for instance, African Americans as being more religious than other groups).
So what is notable about the non-religious? The None population skews male, skews young, has shifted leftwards politically over the last two decades, and, for some reason, is extremely Irish. People of Irish decent comprise a third of U.S. non-religious despite being only 12 percent of the general population. Click the above links for more data.
Is Myth Dead?
An excerpt from the upcoming Immanence of Myth anthology:
It may seem that the word “myth” has lost its meaning to us as a psychological or spiritual term. No, the situation is more drastic than that. Myth has become the opposite of fact, something that is generally accepted but untrue; “it is a myth that reading by flashlight ruins your eyesight.” The popular television show on the Discovery Channel, Myth Busters, uses this definition, attempting to disprove “myths” with something vaguely resembling science. The myths of antiquity are looked upon as quaint stories, despite the fact that they have shaped our cultural history. It is neatly overlooked that myths remain at the center of the bloody stage of modern religious, national, economic or ideological dynamics, not to mention our personal and everyday lives.
The fact that the word “myth” has become synonymous with untruth belies an underlying shift in the Western epistemological focus over…
Sammy Hagar Reenacts His Alien Abduction (Video)
A month ago rocker Sammy Hagar gave an interview to MTV in which he revealed that he’d been abducted by aliens. This week he appeared on Jimmy Kimmel’s late night show and reenacted the experience. Nice to see he has a good sense of humor!
The Top Ten Prescription Drugs In America
Health care research firm IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics has released its annual Top Ten list of prescription drugs:
- Vicodin (hydrocodone/acetaminophen)
- Zocor (simvastatin)
- Lisinopril
- Synthoid (levothyroxine sodium)
- Norvasc (amlodipine besylate)
- Prilosec (omeprazole)
- Zithromax (azithromycin)
- Amoxicillin
- Metformin (Glucophage)
- Hydrochlorothiazide
The list above is clearly dominated by generic drugs, which are shown to quickly overtake sales of the far more expensive brand name drugs. Classified by the amount spent on prescription drugs, the list looks very different:
1. Lipitor®
2. Nexium®
3. Plavix®
4. Advair Diskus®
5. Abilify®
The CIA’s Six Oldest Secret Documents
Don’t get too excited, but the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency has decided to unveil what it terms “the United States Government’s six oldest classified documents, dating from 1917 and 1918.” They mostly have to do with secret ink formulae and while the processes may have been a big deal a century ago, your local spy store will have cooler stuff today.
Here’s what the Agency has to say:
These documents, which describe secret writing techniques and are housed at the National Archives, are believed to be the only remaining classified documents from the World War I era. Documents describing secret writing fall under the CIA’s purview to declassify.
“These documents remained classified for nearly a century until recent advancements in technology made it possible to release them,” CIA Director Leon E. Panetta said. “When historical information is no longer sensitive, we take seriously our responsibility to share it with the American people.”
One document outlines…
Royal Virility Performance: The First Beer Brewed With Viagra
Royal Virility Performance by BrewDog. (BrewDog.com)
Because there isn’t enough alcohol and testosterone-influenced shennanigans at happy hour, BrewDog sells a beer laced with Viagra. Via FOX News:
Forget the little blue pill. A British company has brewed the first beer laced with Viagra.
The new brew is called Royal Virility Performance, and has been specially created to mark the upcoming Royal Wedding.
Downing just three bottles is equivalent to taking one pill of Viagra, which enhances men’s sexual performance.
The 7.5 percent alcohol India Pale Ale also contains extra aphrodisiacs including horny goat weed and even chocolate.
The makers of the beer, BrewDog, have even sent several bottles to Prince William for his wedding night.
Just 40 bottles of the beer will be produced initially, and will go on sale the day of the Royal Wedding, April 29, at BrewDog.com. All the proceeds go to the charity Centrepoint, which Prince William supports. But buyers will be limited to one…
A Secret Lair Under The White House?
Photo: UpstateNYer
From the Daily Mail:
The West Wing of the White House is all-but disappearing behind an $86 million building project that is going to last for years.
And a mysterious tunnel is being built, fuelling speculation that a secret underground lair is what’s really under construction.
In recent weeks, an expanding and sometimes ear-splitting zone of excavation has enveloped the mansion’s famous office wing.
Heavy equipment and metal-and-concrete superstructures are part of the vast construction project.
The front door and the Marine who guards it have disappeared behind a high green-and-white plywood fence. From Pennsylvania Avenue, all that’s visible is a sliver of second-floor roof line.
For years to come, the front yard at 1600 Pennsylvania will remain a noisy building site, say officials in charge of the White House’s ‘Big Dig’.
Officials describe the job as an overdue upgrade of underground utilities. That includes water and sewer lines, electrical conduits, pipes for chilled and hot…
Happy 4/20! Top 5 Marijuana Stories from Disinfo.com
4/20 is a day of fun, activism, and healing for millions of marijuana users throughout the world, so here are five of the dankest cannabis stories we have posted on Disinfo.com. To read all the pot-related stories in our news archive, go here. Does anyone know the origin of 420? If you’ve heard an urban legend about this most baked of numbers, please share…
Top Five Marijuana Stories:
1. Chronic Art: Making Amazing Mosaics From Roach Papers
2. Graham Hancock on Marijuana & Consciousness
3. Don’t Just Smoke a Joint on 4/20, Take Action Against Marijuana Prohibition
Psychologists Link Election Wins With Higher Internet Porn Use
This is certain to get somebody’s funding cut. ScienceDaily reports:
Some celebrate a political candidate’s victory with a party. Others, according to a Rutgers–Camden researcher, choose porn. Rutgers–Camden psychologist Charlotte Markey and husband Patrick Markey of Villanova University published findings in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior that suggest vicarious winning in elections yields a higher usage of internet porn. Depending on the party wins in 2004, 2006, and 2008, some members “celebrated” with visits to sultry internet sites.
This research, which utilized Google trends, has been popular on blogs as well as with wisecracks from the researchers’ friends. Still, the Rutgers–Camden psychologist, who has long studied how popular culture influences behavior, is curious about how the internet’s wide proliferation of porn will influence future generations.
“Google trends is a way to get a snap shot of what people are really thinking about,” says Markey an associate professor of psychology. “Thirty percent of all content…
Pakistani Teenager Tells Of Failed Suicide Bomb Mission
Coat of Arms of the Taliban regime (1996-2001). Photo: Falerístico (CC)
With the increasing number of suicide bombing, it is often asked, what were they thinking? Why did they do this? After 14-year-old Umar Fidai’s explosive vest failed to detonate, he discusses how the Taliban trained him and his regret towards his actions. BBC News reports:
In early April a suicide blast ripped though a Pakistani shrine packed with thousands of devotees, leaving scores dead. Both attackers were schoolboys in their early teens. But one survived and told the BBC’s Aleem Maqbool what made him want to take his life and the lives of others.
“All I was thinking was that I had to detonate myself near as many people as possible. When I decided it was the right time, it was a moment of happiness for me,” said 14-year-old Umar Fidai.
“I thought that there would be a little bit of pain, but then…
States To Outlaw Undercover Photos And Videos Of Factory Farms
A bill before the Iowa legislature would make it a crime to produce, distribute or possess photos and video taken without permission at an agricultural facility.
In Iowa, Florida, and Minnesota, laws are in the works to criminalize the documenting of animal cruelty and health violations in factory farming. With activists nosing around, “people are scared to death that they might be found in a compromising position,” [says the] president of the Iowa Farm Bureau — it’s about “making producers feel more comfortable.” The New York Times reports:
Undercover videos showing grainy, sometimes shocking images of sick or injured livestock have become a favorite tool of animal rights organizations to expose what they consider illegal or inhumane treatment of animals.
Made by animal rights advocates posing as farm workers, such videos have prompted meat recalls, slaughterhouse closings, criminal convictions of employees and apologies from corporate executives assuring that the offending images are an aberration.
In…
