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Teenage Lobotomy

. . Top 10 Fascinating And Notable Lobotomies: He then inserted an ice pick above her eyeball, banged it through her eye socket into her brain and then swirled it around in a sort of eggbeater motion to scramble the neural connections.; .; .
Lion finds Kariba couple having sex in bush, kills girlfriend, boyfriend escapes wearing condom only?
. . Inside the KKK summer camp: That’s Kool Koast Kamp where white supremacists went to relax in the 1920s: In the summer of 1924 there was said to be no place ‘kooler’ than the Ku Klux Klan’s ‘Kool Koast Kamp’ – strictly depending on who you asked. Seen in a shocking brochure advertising a four-month resort to KKK members outside the coastal community of Rockport, Texas, is the Klansmens’ self-described ‘Healthiest road to the Koolest Summer.’ Set between a monstrous cross and rippling waves along the shore, guests are illustrated bathing and lying along the beach before tents and boardwalks strictly for white, conservative Christians.
. . Mysterious light blamed for circle of fire: Tasmanian police and firefighters are unable to explain the source of a beam of light which reportedly fell from the sky and formed a circle of fire in a Hobart suburb. Early Saturday morning police and fire crews received calls from concerned residents in Carnegie Street at Claremont, who reported seeing a bright light igniting a fire in a nearby paddock. Tasmania Fire Service officer Scott Vinen says the blaze was quickly put out, leaving an obvious burnt patch. He says the bizarre incident has everyone baffled. “Once we put the fire out, we kind of walked through the fire and tried to find something,” he said. “We thought a flare or something may have landed there, but we couldn’t find any cause.” The Fire Service says it will not investigate further.
. . Ex-DEA Chief Lobbying Holder to Nullify Marijuana Legalization Owns a Drug Testing Company: Peter B. Bensinger, the apparent spokesman for the group, told the AP, “the supremacy of federal law over state law when it comes to drug laws isn’t in doubt.” He added, ”It is outrageous that a lawsuit hasn’t been filed in federal court yet.” It turns out Peter B. Bensinger, who in the letter is representing the lobbying organization Save Our Society from Drugs, has a huge financial stake in preventing the legalization of cannabis. He is the founder and CEO of a drug testing company.
. . New York’s Homelessness Worst Since The Great Depression: State and local governments nationwide have struggled to accommodate a homeless population that has changed in recent years – now including large numbers of families with young children. As the WSJ reports, more than 21,000 children – an unprecedented 1% of the city’s youth – slept each night in a city shelter in January, an increase of 22% in the past year; as homeless families now spend more than a year in a shelter, on average, for the first time since 1987. New York City has seen one of the steepest increases in homeless families in the past decade, advocates said, growing 73% since 2002, and “is facing a homeless crisis worse than any time since the Great Depression.”
. . Unlike – Why I’m Leaving Facebook: Facebook has never been merely a social platform. Rather, it exploits our social interactions the way a Tupperware party does. Facebook does not exist to help us make friends, but to turn our network of connections, brand preferences, and activities over time — our “social graphs” — into a commodity for others to exploit. We Facebook users have been building a treasure lode of big data that government and corporate researchers have been mining to predict and influence what we buy and whom we vote for. We have been handing over to them vast quantities of information about ourselves and our friends, loved ones and acquaintances. With this information, Facebook and the “big data” research firms purchasing their data predict still more things about us – from our future product purchases or sexual orientation to our likelihood for civil disobedience or even terrorism.
. . Alleged Lexington Scam Artist Caught In The Act: Lexington Police warned residents Monday of a scam in which a man in a wheelchair pretends to have a mental disability in order to get people to give him money, and soon after an LEX 18 reporter caught the alleged scammer in the act. Police say the man, Gary Thompson, 30, does have the need for the use of a wheelchair, but is also able to get out of it. They say that he has been spotted at several Lexington shopping centers, including the Lansdowne Shoppes, Hamburg and several places along Nicholasville Road. On Monday, police held a news conference to put out the information about Thompson. After the news conference was over, Thompsonn was spotted by an LEX 18 reporter who had just attended the news conference. The reporter, Kristen Pflum, said that she called to Thompson, who she says immediately went into his mental disability scam. When Pflum informed Thompson she had just attended a press conference about him, she says he immediately dropped the act and said, “Alright, you got me.”
. . The top 10 unsolved ciphertexts: For over 12 centuries an intense battle has been fought between the code-makers and the code-breakers. We previously talked about some ciphers that have been defeated and the impact it had. However, despite decades (or centuries!) of cryptanalysis there are many ciphertexts which still successfully conceal their contents. Here’s a roundup of my top ten, with links to groups actively tackling them provided where possible.
. . Shocking Rikers Security Breach! Convicted Sex Offender Posing as Correction Staffer Roams Jails, No One Stops Him: Matthew Matagrano (pictured at right), was not an inmate during the period. The 36-year-old former resident of Yonkers and South Ozone Park is listed as a high-risk sex offender in the state’s registry. Matagrano has a record of convictions for sodomy, first-degree sex abuse, burglary, and, not surprisingly, criminal impersonation. He has been arrested more than a dozen times, and has served several stints on Rikers. At his size, 5-foot-8 and 340 pounds, Matagrano shouldn’t have been so hard to miss. But he somehow was able to make or obtain a shield and a department identification card, and not only roam at least five facilities but obtain a sensitive Gate One all-access pass that allowed him to bring his car onto the island. He also is believed to have stolen at least two special correction department radios. Correction sources say the sheer number of security breakdowns alone that allowed this to happen is dizzying.
. . Brooklyn man fakes his own kidnapping, duct-taping himself, to explain two-week absence to girlfriend: A Brooklyn man faked his own kidnapping because he was terrified of his lover’s wrath. Rahmell Pettway, 36, told cops he spent two weeks away from his Bedford-Stuyvesant home — and then staged the crime to explain his absence to his girlfriend. But his poorly executed plan unraveled when the cops who found him hog-tied in the street noticed the roll of duct tape still dangling from his wrists. He eventually came clean, and was arrested for filing a false report.
. . ‘Rockstar’ drug hospitalises seven in Lanarkshire: The red or yellow coloured tablets are being sold as ecstasy and have a star impression on them. “The exact contents of the pills are unknown, but they could, from past experience, contain a cocktail of different substances,” say police. Continue reading the main story “ Start Quote Users need to be aware of the dangers and understand the potentially devastating effect these pills can have” Chief Insp Fraser Lamb Strathclyde Police An investigation has been launched by the police along with health officials and medical staff. Chief Insp Fraser Lamb said: “These substances are unreliable, unpredictable and potentially very dangerous. “Users may believe that they have taken ecstasy and it is very likely that they will suffer from a significant negative reaction.
. . Alcohol Is World’s Third Leading Cause of Illness: New research shows that alcohol is now the third leading cause of the global burden of disease and injury — this even though most adults worldwide abstain from drinking. Researchers discovered the relationship while preparing the 2010 Global Burden of Disease study, a report published in the journal Addiction. “Alcohol consumption has been found to cause more than 200 different diseases and injuries,” said Kevin Shield, doctoral student and lead author of the study. “These include not only well-known outcomes of drinking such as liver cirrhosis or traffic accidents, but also several types of cancer, such as female breast cancer.”
. . Mother Teresa Humanitarian Image A ‘Myth,’ New Study Says: A new study by Canadian academics says Mother Teresa was a product of hype who housed the poor and sick in shoddy conditions, despite her access to a fortune. The Times of India, reporting on the controversial essay, wrote that the authors asserted Mother Teresa saw beauty in the downtrodden’s suffering and was far more willing to pray for them than provide practical medical care. Meanwhile, researchers say, the Vatican engaged in a PR ploy as it threw aside concerns about her suspicious financial dealings and contacts to forgo the five-year waiting period to beatify her. One of the researchers, Serge Larivee of the University of Montreal’s department of psychoeducation, told the school’s website, “Given the parsimonious management of Mother Teresa’s works, one may ask where the millions of dollars for the poorest of the poor have gone?”
. . The Militarization of Policing in America: American neighborhoods are increasingly being policed by cops armed with the weapons and tactics of war. Federal funding in the billions of dollars has allowed state and local police departments to gain access to weapons and tactics created for overseas combat theaters – and yet very little is known about exactly how many police departments have military weapons and training, how militarized the police have become, and how extensively federal money is incentivizing this trend. It’s time to understand the true scope of the militarization of policing in America and the impact it is having in our neighborhoods. On March 6th, ACLU affiliates in 23 states filed over 255 public records requests with law enforcement agencies and National Guard offices to determine the extent to which federal funding and support has fueled the militarization of state and local police departments. Stay tuned as this project develops.
. . How Food Companies Exploit Americans: Using banned ingredients that other countries have determined unsafe for human consumption has become a pandemic in this country. To prove this point, I found the best and easiest place to look for evidence was just across “the pond” in the United Kingdom, where they enjoy some of the same types of products we do – but with totally different ingredient lists. It is appalling to witness the examples I am about to share with you. The U.S. food corporations are unnecessarily feeding us chemicals – while leaving out almost all questionable ingredients in our friends’ products overseas. The point is the food industry has already formulated safer, better products, but they are voluntarily only selling inferior versions of these products here in America. The evidence of this runs the gamut from fast food places to boxed cake mix to cereal to candy and even oatmeal – you can’t escape it.
. . Banned Ingredients that Are Still Legal in the U.S.: You think the FDA has your back? Sure, they recently proposed two new regulations to up food safety measures, specifically how food processors and farmers can work better to keep their fresh products free of dangerous bacteria (remember that killer cantaloupe outbreak from 2011?). But while it may seem like the government is out to protect us from bad-even fatal-food-borne illnesses, which cause some 3,000 deaths a year, they don’t completely have our best interest-or health-in mind. “For numerous suspicious and disturbing reasons, the U.S. has allowed foods that are banned in many other developed countries into our food supply,” says nutritionist Mira Calton who, together with her husband Jayson Calton, Ph.D., wrote the new book Rich Food, Poor Food due out this February. During a six-year expedition that took them to 100 countries on seven continents, the Caltons studied more than 150 ingredients and put together a comprehensive list of the top 13 problematic products that are…
. . Technologies of Surveillance: It’s a new day for the New York Police Department, with technology increasingly informing the way cops do their jobs. With innovation comes new possibilities but also new concerns. For one, the NYPD is testing a new type of security apparatus that uses terahertz radiation to detect guns under clothing from a distance. As Police Commissioner Ray Kelly explained to the Daily News back in January, If something is obstructing the flow of that radiation — a weapon, for example — the device will highlight that object. Ignore, for a moment, the glaring constitutional concerns, which make the stop-and-frisk debate pale in comparison: virtual strip-searching, evasion of probable cause, potential racial profiling. Organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union are all over those, even though their opposition probably won’t make a difference. We’re scared of both terrorism and crime, even as the risks decrease; and when we’re scared, we’re willing to give up all sorts of freedoms…
. . Couple Accused in Chase, 2 Stolen Police Cars: The young couple accused of stealing multiple police cars from two cities and leading authorities on a high-speed chase through two states Tuesday morning, have been identified as Blake Bills and Shayna Sykes. “I never heard of anyone stealing two police cars in one incident,” said Philadelphia Deputy Police Commissioner Richard Ross.
. . Jailed cybercriminal hacked into his own prison’s computer system after being put in IT class: Media reports have detailed the playboy lifestyle enjoyed by Nicholas Webber, GhostMarket’s founder, who had only just turned 18 at the time of his arrest in October 2009. Webber was sentenced to five years imprisonment in May 2011, and found himself at HM Prison Isis, a Category C male Young Offenders Institution, in South East London. Normally you would expect (and hope) a hacker’s criminal career to end there, but sadly that wasn’t to be. As the Daily Mail reports, Webber somehow managed to sign-up for the prison’s IT class, and from there managed to hack into the prison’s mainframe computer. According to the report, a spokesman for the prison service has confirmed that Webber was involved in the hack, but has downplayed the significance of the hack: “At the time of this incident in 2011 the educational computer system at HMP Isis was a closed network. No access to personal information or wider access to the internet or other prison systems would have been possible.”
. . For Troubled Teenagers in New York City, a New Tack – Forced Outreach: The New York City Police Department has embarked on a novel approach to deter juvenile robbers, essentially staging interventions and force-feeding outreach in an effort to stem a tide of robberies by dissuading those most likely to commit them. Officers not only make repeated drop-ins at homes and schools, but they also drive up to the teenagers in the streets, shouting out friendly hellos, in front of their friends. The force’s Intelligence Division also deciphers each teenager’s street name and gang affiliation. Detectives compile a binder on each teenager that includes photos from Facebook and arrest photos of the teenager’s associates, not unlike the flow charts generated by law enforcement officials to track organized crime.
. . Man arrested for biting girl on buttocks near downtown Dallas Greyhound bus station: A man was jailed over the weekend on an assault charge for allegedly biting a 16-year-old girl on her buttocks in downtown Dallas, according to police documents. Shortly before 6 p.m. on Saturday, a Dallas police officer parked near the downtown Greyhound bus station heard a girl scream and man laughing, according to police records. The cop turned in the direction of the scream and spotted a man later identified as David Paul Olienyk, 38, laughing as he ran through traffic toward the bus station in the 200 block of South Lamar Street. The officer drove toward the victim, who appeared to be crying. A person with her told the officer, “He bit her on the butt!” Thanks Jasmine
. . Are Smart Gadgets Making Us Dumb?: But there is reason to worry about this approaching revolution. As smart technologies become more intrusive, they risk undermining our autonomy by suppressing behaviors that someone somewhere has deemed undesirable. Smart forks inform us that we are eating too fast. Smart toothbrushes urge us to spend more time brushing our teeth. Smart sensors in our cars can tell if we drive too fast or brake too suddenly. These devices can give us useful feedback, but they can also share everything they know about our habits with institutions whose interests are not identical with our own. Insurance companies already offer significant discounts to drivers who agree to install smart sensors in order to monitor their driving habits. How long will it be before customers can’t get auto insurance without surrendering to such surveillance? And how long will it be before the self-tracking of our health (weight, diet, steps taken in a day) graduates from being a recreational novelty to a virtual requirement
. . Anomalies, Prisons, and Geophysics: How Governments Use Data and How to Stop Them: As a collective we must understand that democracy can only exist in a society with an educated populace, and the right for self-governance can only be obtained through knowledge. When a society embraces ignorance and forfeits its right to control its destiny, it has succumbed to apathy and can only deteriorate. In science, the analysis of anomalies contributes to our understanding of the physical world, improving our lives. In contrast, identifying anomalies in our society based on political doctrine has created fear and misunderstanding, restricting our lives. The lack of accountability from our leaders and our indifference to the consequences of their actions is diminishing our civil liberties. But it is not too late, we can prevent this from happening. We still have the ability to reclaim our future if we begin to educate ourselves.
. . Silicon Valley Is High on Innovation. And Pot: Around 40 percent of Palliative Health’s clients are tech workers, says Ernie Arreola, 38, the assistant manager. “We’re seeing people from some semiconductors, lots of engineers, lots of programmers,” he says. That makes sense, because the shop is an easy shot from some of the area’s biggest employers—Cisco Systems (CSCO), Google (GOOG), Adobe Systems (ADBE), Apple (AAPL), EBay (EBAY)—and a short drive from dozens more. Also, people in Silicon Valley do like their pot.
. . Ohio Man Charged With Shooting Robot: In what is sure to be only the beginning of human vs. robot confrontations, a surveillance robot belonging to the police was recently shot after a six-hour standoff with a 62-year-old heavily inebriated man.
. . Student suspended for shaping Pop-Tart into gun: 7-year-old Josh Welch was eating a Pop-Tart at school. A teacher saw the pastry and said she thought it looked like it was being shaped into a gun. The teacher also said she heard Welch say, “Bang Bang” while he was holding it. That was enough to get him suspended. Welch said his teacher got it completely wrong, “It was already a rectangle and I just kept on biting it and tore off the top, and it kind of looked like a gun but it wasn’t.” Welch said he was trying to shape the Pop-Tart into a mountain. The school sent out a letter late in the day to parents explaining what happened and why they thought it was a threat saying, “A student used food to make an inappropriate gesture.”
. . Gilberto Valle Trial: ‘Cannibal Cop’ Said Fetish Was Ruining His Personal Life, FBI Agent Testifies: As Flatly described the images displayed on video monitors in federal court in Manhattan, some jurors put hands to their mouths. One shook her head. Another wiped his brow. One cannibalism website allegedly visited by Valle promised customers they would “only receive the highest quality human beef.” The jury also heard how the officer allegedly looked up “how to tie up a girl,” “human meat recipes,” “how to chloroform a girl,” “I want to sell a girl slave,” “how to cook a girl,” “death fetish” and “huge cooking tray” among other topics the defense says were part of a fetish fantasy that never posed a real threat. The FBI analysis of Valle’s laptop yielded an apparently staged video of a naked, screaming woman hanging over an open flame that lashed close to her skin. Flatly did not say where the video might have originated. There also were several photos of women with bright red apples stuffed in their mouths.
. . Accused ‘cannibal cop’ Gilberto Valle chatted online about barbecuing a female friend, according to documents released in court: The six-year NYPD veteran predicted that Sauer — a friend from his college days — was “going to be delicious” and said he wanted to use her head “as a centerpiece, frozen with her final expression of fear.” “I just enjoy the thought of making her suffer,” Valle wrote. Meanwhile, Moody Blues, identified in court as Christopher Collins, told Valle he wanted to dine on Sauer’s liver, “lightly cooked to keep it sweet and tender.” Acting like a mentor to a novice cannibal, Moody Blues said he had already eaten two women, while Valle wrote, “I’m dying to taste some girl meat.” Valle, 28, expressed a fascination for feet, and Moody Blues suggested cutting off one woman’s feet “and barbecuing them in front of her” while she was still alive. Moody Blues said face meat is “great for sandwiches,” and noted, “As for feet they are favorite of mine along with the c–t fillet.” He also offered Valle culinary tips, such as brushing human skin with olive oil while cooking it over an open fire
. . Want a longer, happier life? Embrace pessimism, study says: A growing body of research has credited the power of positive thinking for contributing to good health and a longer, happier life. But a new study out of Germany suggests people who are pessimistic about their futures — specifically older people — may find greater life satisfaction down the road than their more optimistic peers. “The optimists are those who basically close their eyes, shut their eyes and don’t really want to know about the truth” about the inevitable costs of aging and death, he said. “That’s how we interpreted this finding — that basically these things [pessimistic expectations] really help people to be aware that they need to be cautious.”
. . Art School Seized 68 Vials of Semen From Student: School of Visual Arts MFA student Marc Bradley Johnson was all set to debut his final piece, titled Take This Sperm and Be Free of Me, before health concerns thwarted everything he’d worked so hard for. First, Johnson accessed his materials. Then he set up a refrigerator at SVA’s Visual Arts Gallery in Chelsea, loaded it with 68 vials of his own semen, and put up a Craigslist ad alerting the public that anyone could walk in and take a part of him home. It was about “creation, parenting, desire, masculinity, fantasy, and reality,” he said. But his liberal Manhattan art school just saw dangerous waste.
. . Now Al-Qaida Wants to Torch Your Car and Snarl Your Commute: That’s the advice from the DIY jihad section in the latest issue of al-Qaida’s English-language web magazine, Inspire. The new “Open Source Jihad” (.pdf) is all about vehicular vandalism. One suggestion, penned by “Ibnul Irhab” in the new issue of Inspire, is to run up on parked cars with gas cans and a matchstick. “How safe will the West feel when parking their cars, knowing they’re up for a TORCHING,” Irhab writes. His helpful tips: avoid CCTV cameras; hide the gas in an apple juice bottle; and, importantly, “don’t get petrol on yourself.” This is what Open Source Jihad bills as “America’s worst nightmare.” Nor is it safe to drive to the store or the office. Inspire encourages the inspired to smear “lubricative oil” on roadways right before sharp blind turns to cause a traffic accident. (“Demolition Derby Style,” it promises.) If that doesn’t sound terrorist-y enough, another tip is to hammer nails into a pegboard painted black so oncoming cars blow out their tires. There’s even…

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Non-Traditional Threats

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The Dark Side of Ayahuasca: Devotees talk about ayahuasca’s cathartic and life-changing power, but there is a dark side to the tourism boom as well. With money rolling in and lodges popping up across Peru’s sprawling Amazon, a new breed of shaman has emerged – and not all of them can be trusted with the powerful drug. Deaths like Nolan’s are uncommon, but reports of molestation, rape, and negligence at the hands of predatory and inept shamans are not. In the past few years alone, a young German woman was allegedly raped and beaten by two men who had administered ayahuasca to her, two French citizens died while staying at ayahuasca lodges, and stories persist about unwanted sexual advances and people losing their marbles after being given overly potent doses.; .; .
The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food: What I found, over four years of research and reporting, was a conscious effort — taking place in labs and marketing meetings and grocery-store aisles — to get people hooked on foods that are convenient and inexpensive. I talked to more than 300 people in or formerly employed by the processed-food industry, from scientists to marketers to C.E.O.’s. Some were willing whistle-blowers, while others spoke reluctantly when presented with some of the thousands of pages of secret memos that I obtained from inside the food industry’s operations. What follows is a series of small case studies of a handful of characters whose work then, and perspective now, sheds light on how the foods are created and sold to people who, while not powerless, are extremely vulnerable to the intensity of these companies’ industrial formulations and selling campaigns.
. . Human Bones Found in Altar Bought on eBay: Police said they were pursuing a trespasser when they spotted bones atop the outdoor altar. Steer horns and other animal bones were visible, along with the human bones, candles and incense. “The religious aspect of the case is not our focus–it’s the bones,” said Pasadena Police Lt. Ed Calatayud. Human skulls indeed are listed for sale on eBay. On Monday, for example, one described as suitable for dental study was listed at $710. Jose said his sister practices Palo Mayombe, an offshoot of Santeria.
. . Md. OB/GYN commits suicide after allegations of recording patients: For about 25 years, he worked as an OB/GYN at a medical center affiliated with Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. Now, Johns Hopkins and Baltimore police say Dr. Nikita Levy illegally photographed his patients, and possibly others, without their knowledge. Baltimore police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi says, “One of the cameras that we can confirm is a pen camera. And there are other types that we don’t want to get into – again given the sensitive, sensitivity of the investigation. There were multiple cameras. I really can’t get into a number.”
. . Federal law: Every living American can be arrested right now for felony possession of drugs made in their own brains: You, like everyone else who is alive and breathing, can be arrested right now by the U.S. federal government, charged with felony possession, then proven “guilty” of that possession because you do possess a Schedule I substance in your own brain. What substance is that? Dimethyltryptamine, or DMT, sometimes called the “spirit molecule” because of its ability to allow humans to transcend states of consciousness. U.S. federal code, defines Schedule I drugs as: “Unless specifically excepted or unless listed in another schedule, any material, compound, mixture, or preparation, which contains any quantity of the following hallucinogenic substances:” (1) 3,4-methylenedioxy amphetamine. (2) 5-methoxy-3,4-methylenedioxy amphetamine. (3) 3,4,5-trimethoxy amphetamine. (4) Bufotenine. (5) Diethyltryptamine. (6) Dimethyltryptamine. (DMT) (7) 4-methyl-2,5-diamethoxyamphetamine. (8) Ibogaine. (9) Lysergic acid diethylamide. (10) Marihuana. (11) Mescaline. (12) Peyote. (13) N-ethyl-3-piperidyl…
. . The Miami Beach cop and the meth dealers: a tawdry tale: The Miami Beach patrolman yearned for the ultimate score, his friends told investigators: to engineer an epic drug deal, one that would make him rich and allow him to leave law enforcement behind. They called it the “Coke Dream.” That dream is dead now, as may be Navarro’s police career. He was suspended last September without pay after being charged with racketeering and fraud in connection with a scheme to use phony paperwork to acquire luxury cars. But that might be just the beginning of Navarro’s troubles. Although for now he hasn’t been charged with anything else, the investigation into his actions has produced reams of damning documents detailing bungled trips to the Bahamas to buy kilos of coke, the rip-off of a suspected marijuana grow house, drunken brawls, a botched attempt to collect a drug debt and — perhaps most strikingly — his penchant for lending his police car, uniforms and other gear to meth-dealer pals.
. . New ‘alcohol busting’ drug that sobers you up in seconds being developed: Party animals could soon be able to sober up in an instant just by popping a pill. Researchers have developed a cocktail of alcohol metabolizing enzymes that speedily reduces blood alcohol levels in drunk mice. The treatment, which has been compared to having ‘millions of liver cells inside your stomach,’ could have far-reaching implications for drinkers.
. . Q&A: What Really Goes on In Drug Rehabs: So there were 8 hours a day of group or watching videos or lectures— and that has been found to be among the least effective treatments for alcohol problems. I really didn’t expect that much seat time. I visited outpatient treatment as well and some of those have no individual [sessions] at all or it is ‘as needed’ and even less than in the residential treatment. One of the things I found myself thinking as I was sitting in those programs was, ‘Whoever came up with a model where you take addicts and they are sitting for three hours or more three times a week or longer in group based treatment, talking about the program?’ That’s an awfully long time to just sit on your butt. I would ask, ‘Is there any evidence that this is effective?’ and no one could answer where it came from.
. . Study finds ‘Internet addicts’ can suffer similar withdrawal symptoms to substance mis-users: Scientists at Swansea and Milan Universities have found that young people who use the Internet for excessively-long periods can suffer similar withdrawal symptoms to substance mis-users. In a study of Internet users, published online in the international journal PLOS ONE, Professor Phil Reed of Swansea University’s Psychology Department and Dr Lisa A Osborne of the University’s College of Medicine and Professor Roberto Truzoli and Michela Romano of the Università degli Studi in Milan, reported the results of the first study into the immediate negative psychological impacts of Internet use. Their research found that those who engage in long periods of use reported increased negative moods after they stopped surfing the net, possibly triggering them to re-engage in net use to remove these unpleasant feelings.
. . Chinese Plan to Kill Drug Dealer With Drone Highlights Military Advances: China considered using a drone strike in a mountainous region of Southeast Asia to kill a Myanmar drug lord wanted in the murders of 13 Chinese sailors, but decided instead to capture him alive, according to an influential state-run newspaper.
. . 87 Percent of Snapper , 84 Percent of Canned “White” Tuna is Mislabeled, Study Says: Trust salmon, maybe red snapper, but not canned tuna. These are the lessons a nervous seafood eater could glean from a new study by the marine-life advocacy group Oceana. A whopping 87 percent of red snapper and 84 percent of canned “white” tuna tested was found to be mislabeled, the study found.
. . British men arrested for possession of cannabis in Dubai could face death penalty after being ‘beaten up and given electric shocks by police’: He said: ‘I remember that the police put a towel on my face so I could not see. They kept telling me I was going to die. I was so scared. ‘Once I had been knocked to the ground, the police picked me up and put me on the bed. They pulled down my trousers, spread my legs and started to electrocute my testicles. It was unbelievably painful. I was so scared. ‘Then they took off the towel and I could see there was a gun pointed at my head. I started to believe I was going to die in that room.’ Further torture took place in the desert, it was claimed, where the men were initially taken.
. . Dangerous Heroin Houses Cropping Up In Quiet Tri-State Suburbs: you would have no way of knowing, but drug dealers have moved in and are running multimillion-dollar heroin operations in some of the area’s upscale neighborhoods. You, yourself, could be living right next to the new heroin house. “You never know what might be next door to you,” New York City Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget Brennan said.
. . UK TV Star Ben Fogle reveals how his wine was spiked with LSD: He said last night: “I was acting like a madman. I thought I was doomed. I thought I was going to die. “I picked my daughter up and she felt incredibly light, like a grain of rice. I suddenly had this compulsion to jump through a window. “My wife ran out and got my friends who had to restrain me.” He even began impersonating Monty Python’s Ministry of Silly Walks routine. He was rushed to hospital and doctors said his drink was almost certainly spiked with LSD. Ben reported it to police.
. . The Science of Pornography Addiction (SFW) [Video]: It’s the number one topic for internet searches, but do we ever consider how pornography can have lasting neuroplastic effects? Discover the hard science behind the ‘porn epidemic’ – the internet’s drug of choice.
. . Chinese Cyberwarfare, Explained: On Monday, an American cybersecurity firm called Mandiant released a report accusing the Chinese government of systematically hacking into American computer networks and targeting state secrets, weapons programs, businesses, and even the nation’s gas pipelines. The New York Times vetted the story and concluded that a growing body of evidence “leaves little doubt” that these attacks are originating from a secret Chinese army base. Adam Segal, senior fellow for China studies at the Council on Foreign Relations (an organization that, in the past, has also been targeted by hackers that appeared to be China-based), tells Mother Jones that this “raises the pressure on the increasing drum beat on the US to do something.” So just how freaked out do you need to be?
. . “No More Hesitation” – Homeland Security and Police Dept. Request Targets For Shooting Practice To Help Desensitize Law Enforcement To Shooting Average Americans…: The bill, called the Internet Posting Removal Act, is sponsored by Illinois state Sen. Ira Silverstein. It states that a “web site administrator upon request shall remove any comments posted on his or her web site by an anonymous poster unless the anonymous poster agrees to attach his or her name to the post and confirms that his or her IP address, legal name, and home address are accurate.” The Democratic lawmaker’s bill, which does not ask for or clarify requirements from entities requesting the comment removal, would take effect 90 days after becoming law. Pseudonymous and anonymous comments have long been a critical part of U.S. public discourse, though, and the bill may be on shaky legal ground.
. . Illinois state senator pushes anti-anonymity bill: The bill, called the Internet Posting Removal Act, is sponsored by Illinois state Sen. Ira Silverstein. It states that a “web site administrator upon request shall remove any comments posted on his or her web site by an anonymous poster unless the anonymous poster agrees to attach his or her name to the post and confirms that his or her IP address, legal name, and home address are accurate.” The Democratic lawmaker’s bill, which does not ask for or clarify requirements from entities requesting the comment removal, would take effect 90 days after becoming law. Pseudonymous and anonymous comments have long been a critical part of U.S. public discourse, though, and the bill may be on shaky legal ground.
. . California Bill Could Outlaw Driving for up to a Week After Smoking Pot: If you smoke marijuana in California, there’s a chance you may have to wait a week or more before you can drive legally. A bill introduced last week by state Senator Lou Correa, a Democrat from Anaheim, would make it illegal to get behind the wheel if your blood contains “any detectable amount” of cannabis—a drug which, unlike alcohol, can persist in the blood of its users for a week or more after the psychoactive effects have worn off. “This bill would effectively outlaw EVERY driver who has within recent hours or days used marijuana,” California NORML director Dale Gieringer told the East Bay Express. Strict traffic laws are fast becoming the new front of the war on drugs. Ten states already impose zero tolerance requirements on pot smokers who get behind the wheel. Another four, including Washington, where pot is now legal, set a blood limit for THC, the active ingredient in cannabis, at a level low enough to convict some drivers who aren’t actually stoned.
. . Forced ‘infidelity check’ not rape: Swedish court: A Swedish court has ruled that a 28-year-old man who ripped off his girlfriend’s trousers and underwear to perform an “infidelity check” is not guilty of rape or any other sex crimes. The man had previously been convicted of rape by a lower court after he tore off his girlfriend’s clothes and forced his fingers into her genitals on suspicion that she had been unfaithful, legal trade publication Dagens Juridik reported. The lower court had also convicted the man of several other charges related to repeated assaults and threats directed against girlfriend in a relationship that had been marked by jealousy and suspicion. But upon reviewing the case, the Svea Court of Appeal threw out the rape conviction, arguing that the man’s actions weren’t sexual in nature. Both the man and his girlfriend testified that the act was an attempt to ascertain whether or not the woman had engaged in sexual activity with another man.
. . Whole Foods’ Chicken Ad Featuring Obama Outrages Neighbors: A Whole Foods supermarket in New York has removed a sign that used a drawing of President Barack Obama to advertise a sale on chicken after complaints that the ad was offensive. The sign outside the supermarket on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, featuring an apparent caricature of Obama advertising an upcoming sale on whole organic chickens, outraged neighbor Woody Henderson. “There are certain things that have been used to put down black people — watermelon, fried chicken,” he said.
. . Woman undressed in front of Black History Month elementary school assembly: But that’s when things quickly went in the wrong direction “Suddenly she stepped to the front of the group threw off her coat and stripped from the waist up,” said Lesko. Within seconds staff at the academy rushed the stage and the district says they ushered Meaders to the side and shielded her from the students while they waited for police. Looking back – Lesko says she wasn’t acting out of the ordinary before deciding she needed to shed some layers of clothing. “No behavior that anyone encountered during the assembly and she spent the time talking to the principal having perfectly normal conversation.” She was charged with seven counts of Endangering the Welfare of a Child and one count of Public Lewdness.
. . Leading Geneticist: Human Intelligence is Slowly Declining: Would you be surprised to hear that the human race is slowly becoming dumber, and dumber? Despite our advancements over the last tens or even hundreds of years, some ‘experts’ believe that humans are losing cognitive capabilities and becoming more emotionally unstable. One Stanford University researcher and geneticist, Dr. Gerald Crabtree, believes that our intellectual decline as a race has much to do with adverse genetic mutations. But human intelligence is suffering for other reasons as well.
. . Social media disaster for Burger King: Twitter feed says chain sold to McDonald’s: Even by the standards of social media fiascos, this one’s a doozy. On Monday, Burger King’s official Twitter feed announced the chain had been sold to its rival and began posting pro-McDonald’s messages and tales of employee drug use. The strange Twitter activity took place after hackers apparently took control of Burger King’s account and replaced its name and image with the McDonald’s logo. Here is a screenshot of what followers of @burgerking saw on Monday:

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According to a report released last month by the U.S. Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration, the annual number of emergency room visits associated with energy drinks increased to 20,000 in 2011, a 36% boost from the previous year. Late last year, the New York Times reported that the U.S. Food & Drug Administration is investigating reports of five deaths linked to Monster Energy drinks and 13 deaths linked to 5-Hour Energy shots.

“A Paranoid’s Guide to Bugging” Ramparts (1968)

Back before everyone had a bug on ‘em (Cellphone)

. . KMPH Exclusive Interview w/ Kai, the Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker [Video]

Here is Jessob Reisbeck’s (KMPH News) exclusive raw interview w/ Kai, a hitchhiker who used his hatchet to stop a man that thought he was Jesus from killing people in Fresno, CA. Antoine Dodson, eat your heart out!

. . Female Prison Guard Charged For Having Sex With Cop Killer Inmate

Nancy Gonzalez, a corrections officer at the federal Metropolitan Detention Center in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, was arrested this morning at her home in Huntington, N.Y., on charges that she allegedly carried on a sexual relationship with a man convicted of killing two NYPD detectives. She is charged with engaging in sexual relations with an inmate and she is scheduled to be arraigned later this afternoon in Brooklyn federal court, according to court papers. Gonzalez, 29, is accused of having what is described as inappropriate relationship sex with Ronell Wilson, who was convicted of the 2003 capital murder of two undercover NYPD detectives in a point-blank execution in Staten Island. Gonzalez is now eight months pregnant with a baby, possibly from the relationship with Wilson, according to officials.

. . How to kill Drones

The US Air Force team, dubbed the Space Aggressor Squadron, was set up to look for weak spots in satellite communications and navigation systems by playing the part of a potential enemy. “We ran a search on the Net and found there’s quite a lot of information out there on how to build and operate satellites but also, unfortunately, on how to jam them,” says Tim Marceau, head of the squadron. “Just type in ‘satellite communications jamming’ and you’ll be surprised how many hits you get.” Two rookie engineers from the US Air Force Research Laboratory were ordered to build a jamming system using only a Net connection and whatever they could buy for cash. For $7500, the engineers lashed together a mobile ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) high-power noise source that they could use to jam satellite antennas or military UHF receivers. “It’s just like turning your radio up louder than someone else’s,” Marceau says.

. . A Drug Recall That Should Frighten Us All About The FDA

The FDA announced last week that the 300mg generic version of Wellbutrin XL manufactured by Impax Laboratories and marketed by Teva Pharmaceuticals was being recalled because it did not work. And this wasn’t just a problem with one batch – this is a problem that has been going on with this particular drug for four or five years, and the FDA did everything it could to ignore it. The FDA apparently approved this drug – and others like it – without testing it. The FDA just assumed if one dosage strength the drug companies submitted for approval works, then the other higher dosages work fine also. With this generic, American consumers became the FDA’s guinea pigs to see if the FDA’s assumption was right. It wasn’t.

. . Food Cravings – The Truth Behind The “Mystery”

The fact of the matter is that food cravings are very important biochemical indicators that inform us when our body actually needs a particular nutrient. The thing is, most people (including ourselves) struggle to identify the true implication of the craving(s). Most of us live in the reality that “pre-packaged foods” are now considered an important part of a balanced diet; we also believe that they offer the same nutrient content as a food substance that has not been adulterated or reconstituted. By existing in this reality, we set ourselves up for failure. The truth is, there is hope! We just have to harness our energies by discerning the body’s cries for “real food”. In order to simplify your life a bit, we have found a table outlining the most common “food cravings”, the missing nutrients associated with those cravings, and which foods you can ingest to take corrective action in fulfilling your body’s need to function.

. . Is sign at decaying Packard Plant a chilling reference to Nazi death camp?

Big letters have been placed on the overpass at the Packard Automotive Plant in Detroit that read in German “Work will make you Free,” concerning some metro Detroiters, given the resemblance to an infamous sign at the Nazi concentration camp in Auschwitz. It’s unclear who put up the letters. In capital red letters on a white background, the new sign at the decaying site on Detroit’s east side reads: “Arbeit Macht Frei,” the exact same words at the entrance to the concentration camps in Poland where Jews were forced to work and were murdered. The sign, which was used at other Nazi camps, became well known as an international symbol of cruelty.

. . Anonymous posts personal data of 4,000 bankers online

Anonymous claims it filched the list from computers belonging to the Federal Reserve. Just as the Super Bowl was ending, Anonymous declared on Twitter, “Now we have your attention America: Anonymous’s Superbowl Commercial 4k banker dox via the FED.”

. . U.K. spy agencies plan to install Web snooping ‘black boxes’

The U.K.’s intelligence agencies are planning to install ‘black box’-style surveillance devices in the country’s telecommunications infrastructure to monitor the U.K.’s online activity. According to lawmakers in the country’s capital [PDF], these devices will rely on deep packet inspection—a technique that has been criticized repeatedly by online activists and citizens alike—as part of the government’s efforts to increasingly monitor British Web. Such techniques will allow U.K. law enforcement agencies to log the details of almost everything that citizens’ visit and access online, including Web site domain names and even details of Skype calls.

. . “Wild Thing” singer Reg Presley dies in UK

Reg Presley, the lead singer of 1960s British rock band The Troggs, who scored a hit with the love anthem “Wild Thing,” was reported to have died at his home in England on Monday after a battle with cancer. He was 71.

. . China one-child policy enforcer runs over baby

A Chinese official demanding a couple pay a fine for violating the country’s one-child policy crushed their 13-month-old boy to death with a car, a local spokesman said Tuesday. Under China’s population controls, instituted more than 30 years ago, couples who have more than one child must pay a “social upbringing” fine, while in some cases mothers have been forced to undergo abortions. Authorities in the eastern city of Wenzhou are investigating how the infant ended up beneath the vehicle, a Mayu county official surnamed Zhou told AFP. “The family was agitated,” he said, “After starting the car to bring the family to the office to discuss the matter, the official discovered the child had been crushed underneath the car.”

. . ‘Racism’ of early colour photography explored in art exhibition

Broomberg and Chanarin say their work, on show at Johannesburg’s Goodman Gallery, examines “the radical notion that prejudice might be inherent in the medium of photography itself”. They argue that early colour film was predicated on white skin: in 1977, when Jean-Luc Godard was invited on an assignment to Mozambique, he refused to use Kodak film on the grounds that the stock was inherently “racist”. The light range was so narrow, Broomberg said, that “if you exposed film for a white kid, the black kid sitting next to him would be rendered invisible except for the whites of his eyes and teeth”. It was only when Kodak’s two biggest clients – the confectionary and furniture industries – complained that dark chocolate and dark furniture were losing out that it came up with a solution.

. . Baby perfume? The idea stinks

Where will the objectification and commercialisation of children end? High heels for babies? Nope, that’s already been done. Heelarious provide cowboy boots for tots, as well as bright pink “teethers” shaped like credit cards, allowing baby to play at getting into debt. Ditto iPads for infants – last week, it was announced that the InnoTab 2, an £84.99 “chewable” tablet computer, would be launched in time for Christmas.

. . What Are Perfect Teeth?

As Japan Today put it, yaeba means “‘multilayered’ or ‘double’ tooth, and describes the fanged look achieved when molars crowd the canines and push them forward.” They report it as a uniquely feminine trend: “Japanese women of all ages [are] flocking to dental clinics to have temporary or permanent artificial canines … glued to their teeth.” It’s been gaining in popularity over the past few years.

. . Unbelievably Racist Vintage Valentine’s Day Cards, circa 1900 to 1930

They capture in a material object the racial discourse occurring at the moment…You can really get a sense of how common and everyday and widely accepted these cards were. It gestures to this past moment when racism was more apparent in society.

. . Flash Mob Mayhem: Violent Groups Of Teens Leave Neighborhoods Worried

In New York and across the country, the mobs of kids – 20, 30, 40 or more — appear out of nowhere and suddenly charge a newsstand or convenience store. They ransack, steal and wreak havoc with no consideration for customers, such as Bennett, who get in their way. “They assemble, they do whatever it is that they’re going to do, and then they disassemble in a matter of minutes,” said Jon Shane, assistant professor of criminal justice at John Jay College. “By the time somebody recognizes what is happening or is injured, if the police are able to respond, it’s slow.”

. . Justice Department memo reveals legal case for drone strikes on Americans

A confidential Justice Department memo concludes that the U.S. government can order the killing of American citizens if they are believed to be “senior operational leaders” of al-Qaida or “an associated force” — even if there is no intelligence indicating they are engaged in an active plot to attack the U.S.

. . Facebook party wreckers threatened teenage host at knifepoint

“It took three days to clean up the house, and we had to face excrement that was put on the floor of the toilet, and mud all through the house,” he added. “The lad had no control of events when they got out of hand. He was hoodwinked into having a party, but when it went on Facebook the whole world got to know about it. “If he knew 10 people there, that would be the height of it; the rest were strangers just out to destroy the place,” he said. The boy’s aunt described the people who trashed the house as “scumbags”. “What sort of people can do a thing like this?” she asked. “Somebody set up a Facebook page in the lad’s name afterwards, making it look like he was the one posting the messages, but it’s not him.” “And then people were making all sorts of things up about what happened. There was no goldfish boiled, there was no hamster taped to the ceiling, the front door was not ripped off the hinges,” she explained.

. . Stranger gave me SUV: stabbing accused

An offer of a free SUV from an affectionate stranger at 5 a.m. was too good to pass up, a man on trial for attacking an Ottawa couple in their home with a pair of knives testified Monday. Little did Richard Blake know the vehicle he had just been handed had just been stolen in a home invasion on Rideout Crescent where homeowners François Renaud and Amalle Thomas had been held captive for hours. Renaud was stabbed 20 times; Thomas had her throat slashed. Both survived. Blake explained that he was thirsty for milk after a sleepless night and was on his way to the corner store when he had a chance encounter with the stranger, who gave him a big chest-to-chest hug on a narrow pathway. The man promised him there was nothing wrong with the SUV, said Blake. A “naive” Blake said he was skeptical at first, but soon convinced himself it was a good idea. “I was pretty excited about it,” said Blake. “Free car, you know. Never had one before.”

. . John Kerry to write ‘JK’ after all of his State Dept. tweets

Newly-installed Secretary of State John Kerry will begin tweeting soon from the Department of State’s official Twitter account. All tweets that come directly from Kerry will have his initials, “JK,” included at the end of the messages. But in the world of Social Media, “JK” is widely understood to mean “just kidding.”

. . Effort building to change US pot laws

An effort is building in Congress to change U.S. marijuana laws, including moves to legalize the industrial production of hemp and establish a hefty federal pot tax. While passage this year could be a longshot, lawmakers from both parties have been quietly working on several bills, the first of which Democratic Reps. Earl Blumenauer of Oregon and Jared Polis of Colorado plan to introduce Tuesday, Blumenauer told The Associated Press. Polis’ measure would regulate marijuana the way the federal government handles alcohol: In states that legalize pot, growers would have to obtain a federal permit. Oversight of marijuana would be removed from the Drug Enforcement Administration and given to the newly renamed Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Marijuana and Firearms, and it would remain illegal to bring marijuana from a state where it’s legal to one where it isn’t.

. . The power of TV: watching 20 hours a week halves sperm count, according to new study

The study, published by the British Journal of Sports Medicine, looked at the lifestyles of 189 healthy men between the ages of 18 and 22, over a three-month period, to establish a link between environmental factors and semen quality. It found an increasingly idle lifestyle might be a contributing factor to declining sperm levels. Other factors assessed included medical or reproductive health problems, diet, stress levels and smoking. Men who watched more than 20 hours of television a week had a sperm count 44 per cent lower than those who watched the least, it found.

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Conjured by o~ SeMeN SPeRmS ~o on February 6, 2013

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Butt Of Course

Is Wheat Addictive?: Within the Primal/paleo community and elsewhere, it’s often stated offhandedly that wheat is addictive. And absolutely, wheat for many people feels like something they could never give up. I hear it all the time: “I couldn’t live without bread.” “What would I do without cereal, dinner rolls, toast, {insert your favorite grain-based food item here}.” And wheat is often the main culprit in the sugar/insulin rollercoaster that drives sugar-burners’ need to eat (more wheat) every few waking hours. But is wheat addictive in a different sense – as an opiate like heroin and other drugs? Today I take a look at the research and attempt to separate fact from fiction. What do we really know about wheat as an opiate?; .; .
Cops Paint Over Inwood Mural That Depicts NYPD as ‘Murderers’: A pair of plainclothes officers arrived at New Edition Cleaners at 4929 Broadway at 11 a.m. Tuesday, armed with buckets of black paint, rollerbrushes and drop cloths, and began painting over local graffiti artist Alan Ket’s five-day-old mural titled “Murderers.” The two identified themselves as police to a reporter. The mural, which included the word “murderers” painted above several tombstones and coffins with epitaph names that included the NYPD, the Environmental Protection Agency and global corporations including Halliburton and Monsanto, was painted on the wall of the business with the permission of its owners. Officers visited the store on Monday, telling owners that the painting needed to come down and calling the message a “bad idea.” “I can’t confront them, because I don’t want problems,” New Edition Cleaners owner Marina Curet, who has owned the business for five years, said in Spanish. “There is no freedom of expression.; .; .
The truth about sports drinks: These links between sports medicine journals and the sports drinks industry may help to explain a characteristic of the sports drinks literature that is familiar to those who have analysed drug trials over the past 30 years—the relative (or almost complete) absence of negative studies.; .; .
Dead East River ‘monster’ confounds New Yorkers, animal experts: What the hell IS that thing? A bloated, pig-like carcass spotted beneath the Brooklyn Bridge over the weekend has spooked New Yorkers buzzing about mutant river “monsters.” Photographer Denise Ginley shot pics of the rotting, sand-covered corpse on Sunday. “My boyfriend and I were walking along the East River on our way to a farmer’s market when we spotted it among some driftwood on a small stretch of sand below the Brooklyn Bridge that you can barely call a beach,” she emailed the Daily News.; .; .
Memphis Man Was Paid Three Slices For Serving As Lookout In Robbery Of Domino’s Deliveryman: Domino’s worker Jose Reyes told police that he was delivering a pizza around 9 PM when he was approached by two men, one of whom threatened to shoot Reyes if he did not “give him the money and pizza.” Reyes said he handed over $20, his HTC cell phone, and the pizza. Hamer, seen in the adjacent mug shot, told investigators that he “participated as a look out and provided protection for the other male during the robbery.” Cops noted, “Hamer received three slices of Pizza for his participation in this robbery.”; .; .
4 NYC Beachgoers Stuck by Needles in Sand: Four people walking or playing on New York City beaches have suffered puncture wounds from needles in the sand in the last three weeks, park officials said. In the most recent incident, a lifeguard on duty at Rockaway Beach stepped on a needle at Beach 139th Street Tuesday afternoon, officials said. The other three people were wounded over the last three weeks on Staten Island. On July 16, a 63-year-old woman stepped on a hypodermic needle on Cedar Grove Beach, cutting her foot. On July 14, a 37-year-old man was stuck in the hand by a needle while he was on the sand at South Beach, near Father Capodanno Boulevard and Sand Lane. And on July 4, a 40-year-old man was stuck by a needle at South Beach. All three beachgoers were taken to Staten Island University Hospital North. “You don’t know where these needles come from,” said Crystal Matis of Elm Park, who was at the beach Wednesday with her young daughter. “It’s very scary.”; .; .
248 human fetuses found in Russian forest: Villagers in Russia’s south Urals region have stumbled upon a gruesome discovery — four barrels left in a forest containing 248 human fetuses, prompting an official probe, officials said Tuesday. Police in the Sverdlovsk region said the fetuses, preserved in formaldehyde, were kept in barrels with tags marked with surnames and numbers.; .; .
Police: Nude Teen, Apparently On LSD, Attacks Car: A 17-year-old boy was arrested after police found him lying completely naked in the middle of a street while apparently high on LSD. Police said the boy also jumped on the hood of their patrol car and broke out the windshield with his fists.; .; .
Teacher with “food fetish” asks student to put a pie down his pants: A former teacher with an apparent “food fetish” is accused of asking a female student to put a pie down his pants, BBC News reported. The man is also accused of having inappropriate video-chats with his students, in which he asked them to smear themselves in ketchup and eggs and to pour sour milk into their underwear.; .; .
The Jeffersons Star Sherman Hemsley Had An LSD Lab In His Basement: Yes, George Jefferson was a head. He wasn’t just a fan of prog music – he actually cut an album with YES founder Jon Anderson. Called Festival of Dreams, it has never been released. Hemsley was pretty evangelical about his prog obsessions. Besides dancing on Dinah! (if someone has that video, please share!), he wore a shirt for the band Nektar while doing press. And he pulled every string he could to hang out with Daevid Allen of the band Gong. Allen later gave an interview to Magnet Magazine where he talked about the bizarre experience of visiting the short TV star and discovering the guy had an acid lab in his basement (which means if you were taking acid in LA in the 70s it may well have been coming from George Jefferson himself); .; .
How to Make a Syringe in Prison: Addicts in prison go to extreme lengths to get their fix. But scoring the drugs isn’t the only obstacle they face—how to shoot them up? With no works available, a heroin user in jail needs a little ingenuity. The result of this ingenuity is a “binky.” But even though these can be manufactured, not every user has his own—shakedowns and a lack of materials make them scarce. Prisoners try not to share, but when it comes right down to it, they’re likely to overcome their reservations. “I usually don’t share needles,” says one prisoner. “But if there’s only one binky, and my homeboy got the chiva, you know I’m taking a hit. Why wouldn’t I? This is prison, fool, and I’m trying to get blasted. I’ll deal with all the rest later.” The “rest” includes widespread HIV and Hep. C. But here’s how you make a binky:; .; .
Personalized Cremation Urn – Comes out a Head: An Arlington Vermont company called Cremation Solutions is creating custom made cremation urns in the shape of your loved ones head. Thats right, with just one or two pictures of the persons face, and by using state of the art 3D imaging techniques, the company will make a polymer compound likeness of your loved one’s head and mount it on a marble base. Excellent. I know you’re probably wondering, so yes, the heads will have hair, for folks that had very closely cropped hair, it can simply be digitally added to the head, or the company will gladly add a wig, per your specifications. Ashes are loaded from the bottom and a beautiful brass nameplate is affixed to the heads luxurious black marble base.; .; .
Solar flare: The sun touches our psyche: Solar Effects From 1948 to 1997, the Institute of North Industrial Ecology Problems in Russia found that geomagnetic activity showed three seasonal peaks each of those years (March to May, in July, and in October). Every peak matched an increased incidence of anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, and suicide in the city Kirovsk. One explanation for the correlation is that solar storms desynchronize our circadian rhythm (biological clock). The pineal gland in our brain is affected by the electromagnetic activity. This causes the gland to produce excess melatonin, and melatonin is the brain’s built in “downer” that helps us sleep. “The circadian regulatory system depends on repeated environmental cues to [synchronize] internal clocks,” says psychiatrist Kelly Posner, Columbia University. “Magnetic fields may be one of these environmental cues.”; .; .
Man has penis stolen by masked intruders after alleged affairs: A MAN is recovering in hospital after four men broke into his flat and cut off his penis. Police are hunting the masked intruders, who are thought to have acted over accusations that their victim was engaged in affairs with local women. The 41-year-old told cops he had been asleep when the men burst into his bedroom around 4am. “They put something over my head and pulled down my trousers and then they ran off. I was so shocked I didn’t feel a thing – then I saw I was bleeding and my penis was gone,” he said. Although emergency workers searched for the severed organ, they failed to locate it and believe it was taken away by the attackers.; .; .
Chik-Fil-A Called Out For Pathetic Attempt At Damage Control: Uh oh, Chik-Fil-A: Looks like your half-assed attempt to cover up the fact that the Muppets recently ended a partnership with you over your anti-gay views just hit a little roadblock called “anyone with a computer.” How does it feel to be outed? Sorry no one bought your airtight “kids are trying to finger their kids’ meal toys” defense (seen below), or your sassy new fictional tween spokeswoman. Maybe you should stick to what you’re best at: putting pickles on chicken sandwiches and alienating customers with your creepy religious views.; .; .
Tijuana Bibles From Wesley Morse, Creator Of Bazooka Joe (NSFW): Bazooka Joe has endured for almost 60 years now, but few know the name of the man who created him (and his original gang; Bazooka Joe’s gang has been revamped a couple of times). That man is Wesley Morse, and he was a pornographic cartoonist. Morse is one of the only known artists of the famous Tijuana Bibles. These 8 page porno comic strips were wildly popular in the 30s and 40s; some were dirty jokes illustrated, some were porn parodies of famous stars or cartoons and some were wholly original tales. The vast majority of Tijuana Bible creators were anonymous but Morse, who also did pin-up art, was a known figure in the field. His most famous Bibles were tied in to the New York World’s Fair of 1939; legend has it that Morse sold his books at the Fair itself (a risky proposition in those more strict days). It was his Tijuana Bible work that actually got Morse the Bazooka Joe job.; .; .
Ecstasy Drug Harms Memory, Study Reveals: Recreational use of the club drug Ecstasy could cause memory problems, new research finds. The research is the first study of Ecstasy users before they begin to use the drug regularly, which helps rule out alternative causes for the memory loss, said study leader Daniel Wagner, a psychologist at the University of Cologne in Germany. “By measuring the cognitive function of people with no history of Ecstasy use and, one year later, identifying those who had used Ecstasy at least 10 times and remeasuring their performance, we have been able to start isolating the precise cognitive effects of this drug,” Wagner told LiveScience.; .; .
A Working Assault Rifle Made With a 3-D Printer: While there are still some details to sort out, it’s pretty clear that making weapons at home using 3-D printers from commonly available materials is going to become much more commonplace in the near future. In fact, as 3-D printing technology matures, materials feedstock improves, and designs for weapons proliferate, we might soon see the day when nearly everyone will be able to print the weapons of their choice in the numbers they desire, all within the privacy of their own homes.; .; .
The $40 Million Counterfeit Coupon Caper: Talk about extreme couponing! Three women in Arizona were arrested recently for selling counterfeit coupons—a lot of counterfeit coupons. After an eight-week undercover investigation, police raided three homes in the Phoenix area, seized $40 million worth of bogus coupons, and arrested the women, who were enjoying a life of “opulence and the money was the equivalent of drug cartel-type of stuff,” according to the police.; .; .
Just A Dick Away: Walmart’s Bad Kerning; .; .
Honey, I’m Working Late, and Other Stories: The human voice is the most natural and the most nuanced form of communication. Introduce new technology like email, instant messaging and the telephone and people start behaving differently. They tell an astonishing number of lies per day… or per conversation. Here’s how it differs depending on what sort of media you are using. And there’s also some advice on what you can do ti keep it real!; .; .
Lucky Restaurant in a Indian Cemetary: The owner Krsihan Kutti Nair who built the restaurant that’s spread out over a centuries old Muslim cemetery, doesn’t know who the patrons in the basement floor are, but claims their presence has been great for business. And he’s right. Business is brisk at the bustling restaurant where the graves are scattered erratically. The plan wasn’t to begin a restaurant right in the middle of a cemetery. In India, however, where death and life mix as smoothly as tandoori chicken and rum, and reincarnation theories are a permanent fixture of folklore and Bollywood movies, people aren’t as spooked by graveyards as Westerners are. Plus, in a country of a billion with space at a premium, graveyards are often used for commercial and even residential purposes. The constant flow of relatives, who visit graveyards to visit their dead kin, has meant that these macabre locations are actually great from a business point of view.; .; .
Bath Salts May Be as Addictive as Cocaine: Recreational drugs called bath salts, which have gained popularity recently and have been in the news for their bizarre effects on users, have the potential for abuse and addiction, similar to that of cocaine. Bath salts, which, despite their name, have no use in the tub, are different variations of the compound called cathinone, an alkaloid that comes from the khat plant. Currently, 42 U.S. states have laws banning many substituted cathinones. Mephedrone is one of the most common derivatives of cathinone and was listed federally in October 2011 on Schedule 1 of the Controlled Substances Act for one year, pending further study. Then on July 9, 2012, President Barack Obama signed a law placing bath salts containing mephedrone or the stimulant MDPV onto the controlled substances list. The drugs can cause a laundry list of body and mind changes, including dizziness, delusions, paranoia, suicidal thoughts, seizures, nausea, vomiting and even death.; .; .
Nationwide raids on synthetic drug labs lead to 90 arrests, seizure of $36 million: In the first-ever nationwide crackdown on the synthetic drug industry, law enforcement officers arrested more than 90 people, seized $36 million in cash and more than 4.8 million packets of synthetic cannabinoids Wednesday, authorities said. Agents also confiscated material to make 13.6 million more packets and 167,000 packets of synthetic hallucinogens, more commonly known as bath salts. In addition, materials to make 392,000 more packets of bath salts were seized. Operation Log Jam, a joint effort between the Drug Enforcement Administration and federal and local agencies, was conducted in more than 90 cities spanning 30 states, DEA Administrator Michele M. Leonhart said at a news conference Thursday. She said the raids included 29 manufacturing facilities at every level of the industry, from small-scale operations to large warehouses.; .; .
I fell for cocaine honeytrap, claims British physicist in Argentine jail: Paul Frampton, 68, said he thought that he was to meet Denise Milani, a Czech-born glamour model and former Miss Bikini World in a hotel, and was asked by a man in the lobby to look after a suitcase that he was told belonged to her. The suitcase contained 2kg of cocaine hidden in its lining. Dr Frampton now believes that a fraudster was posing as 32-year-old Miss Milani in an online chat room. The physicist, who has a double first from Brasenose College, Oxford, and has collaborated with winners of the Nobel Prize, was stopped from boarding a flight from Buenos Aires to Peru in January after customs officials found the cocaine. Since then he has been on remand in Argentina’s Villa Devoto jail and faces a 16-year sentence if convicted.; .; .
Former DARE officer gets 3 years for sexual exploitation of a child: Mangino pleaded guilty to sexually exploiting a 15-year-old girl who was in his custody in March 2011. He was child while still an Aurora Police officer for having sexually explicit pictures of the girl on his cell phone. Chief Deputy District Attorney J.P. Moore said during Thursday’s sentencing the March 2011 crime was not an isolated incident but rather a pattern of conduct. “Mangino took advantage of his position as a police officer…the violation of trust was beyond the victim, the violation also extended to the Aurora Police Department and the community,” he said. Aurora Police Chief Daniel J. Oates says, “Mr. Mangino, by his perverse and sexually deviant actions, did great harm to the image of the Aurora Police Department. He insulted and offended all the wonderful men and women of this agency.”; .; .
Law enforcement likes getting really high off drug busts: Cops calculate the “street value.” It’s a branch of mathematics in which economies of scale meet public relations. By envisioning thousands of transactions that will never occur — and sometimes padding the numbers on top of that — law-enforcement agencies can wind up doubling, tripling, quadrupling, quintupling, sextupling or even septupling what the confiscated drugs are worth to the bulk-level dealers who got popped. In the hands of a narcotics cop with a calculator, $2 million of heroin can become $9 million, $500,000 worth of meth can become $2.5 million, coke worth less than $1 million can become several million.; .; .
Cannabinoids, like those found in marijuana, occur naturally in human breast milk: Woven into the fabric of the human body is an intricate system of proteins known as cannabinoid receptors that are specifically designed to process cannabinoids such as tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), one of the primary active components of marijuana. And it turns out, based on the findings of several major scientific studies, that human breast milk naturally contains many of the same cannabinoids found in marijuana, which are actually extremely vital for proper human development. Cell membranes in the body are naturally equipped with these cannabinoid receptors which, when activated by cannabinoids and various other nutritive substances, protect cells against viruses, harmful bacteria, cancer, and other malignancies. And human breast milk is an abundant source of endocannabinoids, a specific type of neuromodulatory lipid that basically teaches a newborn child how to eat by stimulating the suckling process.; .; .
Uroko Onoja death: Husband ‘raped to death’ by 5 wives, because he was paying too much attention to the sixth: A wealthy businessman – and husband of six – has died after allegedly being forced into a marathon sex session with his ‘jealous’ wives. Nigerian Uroko Onoja was having sex with the youngest of his spouses when the remaining five are reported to have set upon him with knives and sticks – and demanded that he have sex with each of them too. Mr Onoja went on to have intercourse with four of his wives in succession, but ‘stopped breathing’ as the fifth was making her way to the bed in Ogbadibo, according to Nigeria’s Daily Post. Two women have been arrested following the incident in the state of Benue last week, said the report, which used the term ‘raped to death’ to describe the businessman’s fate.; .; .
Medical News: DMAA Found Not ‘Natural,’ Not Geranium: A substance marketed as a natural stimulant in nutrition and sports supplements has proven to be entirely synthetic, investigators reported. Chemical analysis of 1,3-dimethylamylamine (DMAA) from supplements found it indistinguishable from two known synthetic versions of the compound. Purportedly derived from geranium plants, DMAA did not show up in analyses of extracts from eight different types of geranium.; .; .
21 Burned in Hot Coal Walk Hosted by Motivational Speaker: Fire officials said 21 people at an event hosted by motivational speaker Tony Robbins suffered burns while walking across hot coals and three of the injured were treated at hospitals. The injuries took place during the first day Thursday of a four-day event at the San Jose Convention Center hosted by Robbins called “Unleash the Power Within.” Most of those hurt had second and third degree burns, said San Jose Fire Department Capt. Reggie Williams. Walking across hot coals on lanes measuring 10 feet long and heated to between 1,200 to 2,000 degrees provides attendees an opportunity to “understand that there is absolutely nothing you can’t overcome,” according to the motivational speaker’s website.; .; .
The ‘chemputer’ that could print out any drug: At the same time, one branch of that thinking has itself evolved into a new project: the notion of creating downloadable chemistry, with the ultimate aim of allowing people to “print” their own pharmaceuticals at home. Cronin’s latest TED talk asked the question: “Could we make a really cool universal chemistry set? Can we ‘app’ chemistry?” “Basically,” he tells me, in his office at the university, with half a grin, “what Apple did for music, I’d like to do for the discovery and distribution of prescription drugs.”; .; .
Serial infector: Arrest made in hepatitis C outbreak (scary stuff): Kacavas said Kwiatkowski engaged in “diversion,” an act in which a person injects a drug with a syringe and leaves behind another syringe filled with a substance such as saline. By doing a switch, rather than just taking the syringe, it becomes more difficult to detect drugs that have gone missing.; .; .
Dance music has gone mainstream, but it doesn’t have to sell out: The draw to see any DJ live usually stems from an affinity for their original productions, so their skills in the studio should be able to make up for the fact that they are going to just “hit play.” These guys get more music submissions than anyone on the planet; is it really that hard to find new material to play out? They spend countless hours on planes with their laptops and production tools at the ready; is it really that hard to put together a new mashup or bootleg before a set? I miss the days where I would say “Whoa, what is this?!” instead of “Ugh, this bootleg again?” As much as it sucks when Shazam can’t ID a track, it sucks even more when you know every single song being played. If the current trajectory of DJ sets continues, it won’t be long before everyone catches on to what’s really going on here. In the same way that mainstream radio stations have killed songs by playing them far too often, DJs are quickly doing the same.; .; .
united we fail, we all hit play.: I think given about 1 hour of instruction, anyone with minimal knowledge of ableton and music tech in general could DO what im doing at a deadmau5 concert. Just like i think ANY DJ in the WORLD who can match a beat can do what “ANYONE else” (not going to mention any names) is doing on their EDM stages too.; .; .
A-Trak: Don’t Push My Buttons: Traditionally, a DJ spun vinyl records on turntables and would change his set every night. So what about guys who play on laptops? Those who spend more time raising their hands than mixing? Or those whose presence is lost behind intricate light shows? Esteemed electronic producer deadmau5, who recently graced the cover of rock bible Rolling Stone wearing his namesake, robo-rodent mask, decided to blow the whistle himself with a refreshingly frank tumblr post entitled “We All Hit Play.” Explaining how his pre-planned stage show works, he admits that the term “live” is an overstatement. But his tone is strangely defensive and he unjustly lumps DJs into the argument, reducing their craft to mindless beat-matching: “I had that skill down when I was 3.”; .; .
Pornography in Public Causes Some to Gasp, Others to Shrug: The library has been stung by complaints about the content, including explicit pornography, that some people watch in front of others. To address the issue, the library over the last six weeks has installed 18 computer monitors with plastic hoods so that only the person using the computer can see what is on the screen. “It’s for their privacy, and for ours,” said Michelle Jeffers, the library spokeswoman. The library will also soon post warnings on the screens of all its 240 computers to remind people to be sensitive to other patrons — a solution it prefers to filtering or censoring images. It is an issue playing out not just at libraries, but in cafes and gyms, on airplanes, trains and highways, and just about any other place where the explosion of computers, tablets and smartphones has given rise to a growing source of dispute: public displays of mature content.; .; .
Are Authorities Closing In On the Online Drug Market Silk Road?: Just over a year ago, we broke the story of Silk Road, the underground online market that’s like an eBay for illegal drugs. It’s been thriving ever since. But as the summer drags on, Silk Road users are becoming increasingly paranoid over a series of unexplained disappearances. And the Drug Enforcement Agency has now revealed it’s investigating the site. Is Silk Road really as invincible as it seems? In early July, the DEA told the Austin TV news station KXAN that it was investigating Silk Road, where users openly buy and sell drugs, from heroin to ecstacy and pot. New York Senator Chuck Schumer had asked the DEA to look into the site after we first wrote about it about a year ago, but this is the first public acknowledgement that the DEA has heeded his call.; .; .
Urine, feces found in courthouse coffee machine: The best part of waking up? Not exactly. County employees in Anaconda got an unexpected morning jolt last month after someone left urine and feces in their coffee pot at the courthouse. Police Chief Tim Barkell said the prank could land felony assault charges against the culprit, who both urinated into the can of coffee grounds and four days later smeared feces directly in the machine. Two county employees are being tested for hepatitis A after they unknowingly drank the coffee tainted with urine. Nobody else drank the coffee. Thanks Jasmine; .; .
Termites explode to defend their colonies: A species of termite found in the rainforests of French Guiana takes altruism seriously: aged workers grow sacks of toxic blue liquid that they explode onto their enemies in an act of suicidal self-sacrifice to help their colonies (see video). The “explosive backpacks” of Neocapritermes taracua, described in Science today1, grow throughout the lifetimes of the worker termites, filling with blue crystals secreted by a pair of glands on the insects’ abdomens. Older workers carry the largest and most toxic backpacks. Those individuals also, not coincidentally, are the least able to forage and tend for the colony: their mandibles become dull and worn as the termites age, because they cannot be sharpened by moulting.; .; .
N.J. Terrorist Hideout Actually NYPD Operation: On June 2, 2009, an apartment superintendent in New Brunswick, N.J., stumbled upon what he thought was a terrorist hideout and called 911. It was really an NYPD operation to conduct surveillance well outside its jurisdiction; .; .
Giving the green finger: Gardener who carved bush into rude gesture ordered to remove it: A gardener who carved a giant bush into a hand displaying a rude gesture has been ordered to remove it after being accused of committing a public order offence. Richard Jackson has displayed the offending topiary, which shows the middle-finger sign, in his garden for the last eight years. The 53-year-old has now been told by the council to alter it after a neighbour complained, but he has refused to comply.; .; .
Kissing device lets you smooch remotely [Video]: Thanks Nico; .; .
Holding onto a Who ticket? You can finally cash in 33 years later: The Who announced on Wednesday that they’re playing at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center on Feb. 26 as part of their 2012-2013 North American tour. It’s their first Providence show since 1975; a scheduled 1979 show was canceled due to security concerns by then-Mayor Vincent A. Cianci in the wake of a fatal crowd stampede at a Who concert in Cincinnati. If you were headed for that cancelled show, you may finally make it. Dunk general manager Larry Lepore said on Thursday that anyone who still has a ticket for the 1979 Who Providence concert can trade it in for a free ticket to February’s show. The vintage ticket will be donated to charity, Lepore says: “It’s got to be worth something.”; .; .
FBI Wants a Database of Your Tattoos: The FBI is consulting local police and vendors about technology currently in use that can spot crooks and terrorists by interpreting the symbolism of their tattoos, according to government documents. The inquiry follows work already underway at the bureau and Homeland Security Department to add iris and facial recognition services to their respective fingerprint databases. The FBI on Friday issued a request for information on existing databases “containing tattoo/symbol images, their possible meanings, gang affiliations, terrorist groups or other criminal organizations.” The mass collection of multiple biometric markers, potentially including vocal tracks and handwriting samples, has upset immigrant communities who say the FBI and DHS are misusing the technology to deport innocent people.; .; .
Deadly count: US averages 20 mass shootings every year: All of the US has turned to Aurora, Colorado after a Friday morning shooting left more than a dozen movie-goers dead. But while the latest massacre has scarred millions of Americans, it’s also just another item added to a list of gruesome sprees. According to an ongoing tally kept by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, the United States is experiencing an average of around 20 mass shootings each year. While Friday morning’s incident inside of a Aurora movie theater has perhaps the unfortunate distinction of being the most violent in recent memory — taking no fewer than 12 lives and injuring around 50 more — it is only yet only one example out of many that has marred society this year. The Aurora massacre is believed to be one of the worst incident on American soil since a rampage at Virginia Tech in 2007 left 32 people dead. The Fort Hood, Texas massacre two years later also ended with massive bloodshed, as well, with 13 people losing their lives in that event.; .; .
Judge: Man who stripped nude at airport not guilty: An Oregon man who stripped nude at Portland’s airport security to protest what he saw as invasive measures was found not guilty of indecent exposure. Multnomah County Circuit Court Judge David Rees ruled Wednesday that John Brennan’s act was one of protest and therefore, protected speech. Multnomah County Deputy District Attorney Joel Petersen argued that Brennan’s strip-down was an act of indecent exposure. “I was aware of the irony of removing my clothes to protect my privacy,” Brennan said from the witness stand on Wednesday.; .; .
Adult theater where Fred Willard arrested is frequent LAPD target: The manager of the adult theater in Hollywood where actor-comedian Fred Willard was arrested said Los Angeles police have conducted checks there dozens of times since late 2011. Tiki Theater manager Kazi Jafor said that since November 2011, officers have been to the theater 40 times and made 23 arrests. Jafor said the theater displays in writing rules against lewd conduct. “If we see anybody in this activity, we try to stop them,” he said. He said three adult movies were showing on a continuous loop, including the “Client List” parody and “Follow Me 2.” Several people were in the theater when two uniformed vice officers conducted a spot check Wednesday night around 7:45 p.m. Jafor said he saw the officers talking to the 72-year-old actor before they placed him in handcuffs. “The police officers were telling him he did something wrong, he denied it,” Jafor said. According to the LAPD, Willard “engaged in a lewd act,” but police did not elaborate.; .; .
9-year-old boy with massive tumor, living in one of Mexico’s most dangerous cities, is brought to U.S. for treatment: A 9-year-old boy with a massive tumor was whisked from a dangerous neighborhood in Mexico in an armored vehicle by U.S. agents and taken across the border for treatment in New Mexico, his family said. The boy and his parents were snatched Thursday from the gang-infested neighborhood in Ciudad Juarez — one of the deadliest cities in the world — after members of a New Mexico Baptist church saw him near an orphanage and sought help. The parents of the child, identified by officials only as Jose to protect his family, said the tumor on his shoulder and neck has grown so large that it affects his eyesight and could move into his heart.; .; .
Woman: Geek Squad employee copied, kept racy phone photos: Ellison says after learning she had not backed up her data on her home computer, the employee offered to buy the iPhone with a cracked screen she was replacing. She says he paid her $60 out of his own wallet, and promised to wipe clean her older iPhone after transferring the data to her new iPhone 4s. A day later, she realized her new iPhone 4s didn’t have any of her 900 photos, including suggestive personal photos and a video taken by her young children of themselves, joking after getting out of the shower. “I felt sick. I felt violated. I felt so embarrassed,” Ellison tells WTOP. Ellison called the Best Buy to complain, and asked a manager to call her. Instead, the Geek Squad employee called her, promising to retrieve her photos. “A few days later, he called back to tell me he’d made a CD at his house with all my photos, and when can I come get them. I could pick them up at his house,” Ellison said. Ellison hung up the phone.; .; .
Compact Fluorescent Bulbs Could Cause Ultraviolet Damage to Skin: We know CFL bulbs are world-changingly efficient, producing the same level of light as their incandescent parents while using a quarter of the energy. But they’re still a relatively new device, and few long-term studies have been carried out on them. One of the most recent, a new report from a team at Stony Brook, suggests CFLs might cause damage to skin by releasing UV rays.; .; .
YouTube Launches Face Blurring Tool to Keep Protesters Anonymous: A “blur all faces” option in YouTube’s video enhancement tool lets a user edit their video, creating a new copy with obscured faces. After that, you can preview what the video will look like, then delete the blurless original. (There’s still some bugs to be worked out in facial recognition, but the feature goes live today.); .; .
Video Game addiction underscored as teen dies after 40-hour marathon: The 18-year ran a 40-hour marathon session with the game in Taiwan before then he was reported to have booked a room at his local Internet café before plunging into Diablo III and foe the entire 40-hours he neither slept or stopped or had anything to eat. He was checked on by an employee of the cafe and was found lifeless on a table Sunday but he immediately woke up as he notched but after moving a few steps he collapsed and was immediately rushed to the hospital and he was later pronounced dead at the hospital. Hospital authorities suspected that he probably suffered blood clots due the long period of sitting.; .; .
The deadly rise of ‘hippy crack’: For celebrities, it’s the party drug du jour. Now inhaling laughing gas – is spreading to middle-class living rooms: Cheap, seemingly harmless and guaranteeing a night of raucous laughter, so-called ‘hippy crack’ is increasingly popular with celebrities and their well-heeled young fans alike. Even Prince Harry was seen indulging two years ago. There is just one problem: nitrous oxide is no more legal than it is innocuous. Despite being touted openly at music festivals and in bars and nightclubs across the country, sale of the gas for recreational use is very much against the law. As for being innocuous, that is only true if one ignores the alarming side-effects it can cause: strokes, hallucinations, seizures, blackouts, incontinence, stress on the heart, chronic depression and even — in cases of prolonged use — depleted bone marrow. Few would tack the word ‘harmless’ on to such a list.; .; .
Vt. gov. to sign emergency rule banning bath salts: Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin is going to be joined by Barre Mayor Thomas Lauzon and police officials when he signs an emergency rule banning 83 new dangerous drugs commonly known as “bath salts.”; .; .
Bolivia Becomes Better Cocaine Producer, US Says: The U.S. government confirmed that Bolivia has fewer coca plantations but it is producing more cocaine because drug traffickers are using a more “efficient” process known as the “Colombian method,” according to an interview published Sunday in the daily Pagina Siete.; .; .
This much I know: Marilyn Manson: My body is a place where drugs and alcohol have made germs afraid to live. I have no health problems to speak of, touch wood.; .; .
10 pounds of meth found hidden in a baby crib: “The narcotics and a shotgun were found hidden in a baby crib inside the residence,” Ruiz said in a statement. “Investigators believe the suspect in the case is involved with the distribution of narcotics to other drug dealers in the city of Burbank.”; .; .
Oregon kills medical marijuana deduction for food stamp applicants: Oregon and two other states will no longer allow certain food stamp applicants to deduct medical marijuana expenses from their incomes after federal officials threatened the states with penalties. The U.S. Department of Agriculture issued a nationwide memo to regional directors of the food stamp program, also known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, after The Oregonian contacted the agency about the practice last week. The newspaper surveyed 17 states that permit marijuana for medicinal use and found three – Oregon, New Mexico and Maine – allowed certain applicants to deduct the cost of the drug from their income when applying for the benefit.; .; .
Police bust $3M drug ring allegedly led by 17-year-old Mason High School student: For about a year, the Warren County Drug Task Force had been investigating the trafficking of high-grade marijuana being sold to students at Mason and King Mills high schools, which they say they traced to the 17-year-old. When officials searched the boy’s house, they found more than $6,000 in cash in his bedroom at his parents’ house. As part of the investigation, task force members searched locations in Blue Ash, Norwood and Hamilton where they seized more than 600 hydroponic high grade marijuana plants . Officials with the Warren County Drug Task Force say the street value from the pot was $5,000 a pound. They seized thousands of dollars in grow equipment as well. Authorities valued the drug operation at more than $3 million and say they believe the 17-year-old was grossing more than $20,000 a month.; .; .
3 Accounting Tricks the Obama Administration Uses to Hide the Cost of the Drug War: “Since day one, President Obama has led the way in reforming our Nation’s drug policies by, among other things, addressing drug use and its consequences as a public health problem,” reads a statement posted on We the People, the petition site started by the, er, Obama administration. If you’ve been the victim of a federal raid—one in which, say, your two-year-old was yanked out if his crib—or worked at one of the 500 California medical pot dispensaries the DEA and the IRS have shut down in the last year, you’re probably rolling your eyes right now.; .; .
Marketing the Munchies: That kind of winking and nudging is typical in the emergent genre of ads aimed at stoners, a once taboo marketing approach recently embraced most blatantly by the fast food industry. Just look at the actor in the next burger commercial you see. Odds are he’ll be a glassy-eyed Spicoli, dropping coded reefer references (see Jack in the Box’s favorite mumbling pothead). Companies as big as Taco Bell and General Mills have gotten in on the act and they’re reaping the rewards. Taco Bell, with its Doritos-taco hybrid and “late night munchies” tagline saw a six percent sales increase in the first quarter of 2012. General Mills, which revived Cheech and Chong for a Fiber One web campaign, deemed the ad so successful it plans to do more just like it. Then there’s Sonic and its hallucinating twenty-something dreaming of man-sized cheesy tots. Carl’s Jr. is touting its “wake and bake” habit. Denny’s is promoting a reggae-loving unicorn.; .; .
Pot-smoking moms tired of being judged by wine drinkers: The drug helps her keep focus on the giant statue of popsicle sticks she’s building with her kids and relaxes her so she can get through the rest of the night without stressing. “It can make folding a pile of laundry fun,” says Margaret, 45, who asked that we not use her last name for fear of getting in trouble with the law. “If I didn’t smoke, that’d be three piles later in the week.” Still, she doesn’t flaunt her marijuana use. Her sons aren’t allowed to go into the room where she keeps the drugs locked up, and she hides it from other moms who would keep their kids away if they knew she smoked pot. “Being judged for doing something nontoxic and totally organic, enjoying a god-given plant, by moms who suck back two bottles of Chardonnay like sports drinks feels like s—,” complains Margaret. “Any hypocrisy is hard to swallow. A drunk mother is pathetic and I often leave parties when I experience other mothers tying one on.”; .; .
Deodorant sniffing outbreak ‘incredibly serious’: Australia’s peak drugs body says it is concerned by reports young Aboriginal people in central Australia are stealing deodorant from supermarkets to get high. An Alice Springs youth organisation says there is a deodorant sniffing outbreak in the town involving children as young as seven. The Alcohol and other Drugs Council of Australia’s David Templeman says it is a dangerous situation. “In some cases, it can include hallucinations and drowsiness and coma and that can then sometimes lead to death,” he said.; .; .
Man allegedly DWI on a Wal-Mart scooter: Houma police say a 24-year-old man is accused of driving a shopping scooter while drunk. Police say Thomas J. Phillip’s breath tested at more than double the amount considered legal proof of intoxication under Louisiana law when he was pulled over Sunday. Police say they got a call about a motorized scooter pulling a wheelchair, and found Phillip on the scooter and a friend of his in the wheelchair. They say Phillip was arrested after allegedly telling police he’d been at a Wal-Mart store and decided to take the scooter for a joyride.; .; .
New Jersey Medical Marijuana: Legal for Some, Pot Crops Up in N.J.: In a sign that the Garden State’s budding medical marijuana program is finally moving forward, the first crop has been growing hydroponically for about a month in a 5,000-square-foot warehouse in an undisclosed location, officials said. The first plants are about a foot high, said Joseph Stevens, president of the Greenleaf Compassion Center, the first licensed provider of medical pot. By mid-September, the center’s Montclair dispensary should be open and accepting patients to buy marijuana, he said.; .; .
New Welfare Restrictions Target Booze, Tattoos: New York lawmakers have proposed barring spending on alcohol, strip clubs, cruise ships and psychics. “It’s a slap in the face to people who are on public assistance and are trying to get off, when others abuse the system,” said state Sen. Thomas Libous, a Republican. Ann Valdez of Brooklyn’s Coney Island section said it’s “crazy” for the government to be dictating where people spend their assistance instead of creating living-wage jobs. She said she struggles just to cover toiletries, clothing and other expenses for herself and her 13-year-old son on the $120 she receives every two weeks. “I don’t know one person who uses their EBT money to buy liquor or anything like that,” Valdez said. Washington state lawmakers have prohibited purchases of tattoos, body piercings, alcohol and tobacco. Bars, bail bond agencies, gambling establishments and strip clubs are also now required to deactivate the ability of their ATMs to accept benefit cards.; .; .