Author: admin

Drug Sentencing and Washington State

Drug Sentencing and Washington State:
The Seattle NPR station, KUOW, had a great program on drug policy this morning on the Weekday program. Instead of regurgitating all the old myths about drugs and crime, the conversation kept turning back to the dangers implicit in prohibition, and how the drug war creates more risk and casualties than the drugs themselves. A very informed discussion from people in law enforcement and prevention.

Grab the MP3 here.

From www.kuow.org. Posted by jamesk.

More fun with Amazon reviews: this time, Bic pens

More fun with Amazon reviews: this time, Bic pens:
Mike says: Some folks are having great fun with their reviews of a standard Bic black ballpoint pen.

200712121341

“I looked down at the Bic Crystal black medium ballpoint pen which I held in my hand, only to see darkness. I dashed it against the wall, recoiling in horror. I saw in the corner of my eye my faithful notebook, which now lay on the ground. Once unmarred, I saw now the small mark which I had made with the devil’s own pen. It spread across the page like a plague, and looking at it I gazed upon true horrors. For, what I thought had been ink was in fact a portal to a dark, unforgiving dimension. A portal whose maw was now widening to engulf all hope and joy in the world.

‘God, what have I done?’ I exclaimed as I weeped and fell to my knees, ‘What have I done?’

From beyond the Dark Gate I heard these words, words which I can never forget. A terrible, booming voice said to me, ‘Ia! Ia! Cthulhu Fthagn!'”

Link

‘General Information: MDMA’
Erowid recently posted a scan of a lovely historical artifact: a flier from back when MDMA was legal, and info was being passed around about its potential therapeutic use. This particular flier, provenance apparently unknown (Erowid simply describes it as a “1980 flyer”), describes various techniques for leading MDMA sessions, and ends with the always accurate reminder: “There are no casual experiments.” Amen.
LINK : www.erowid.org
Scotto Mdma-Flier 35369-1

Mall cops flag juicy cars for thieves

Mall cops flag juicy cars for thieves:
Cops in Rockdale, Georgia are putting helpful yellow stickers on the windows of cars that have packages in plain sight so that crooks know which cars to break into.

Officers with the Conyers Police Department will be on foot patrol in the parking lots of major shopping areas in the city over the next couple of weeks. They will place yellow tickets on vehicles with packages or boxes of merchandise that are visible on the seats or floorboards of cars; in other words, vehicles that are easy targets for thieves.

Conyers Police Chief David Cathcart said the yellow ticket program is part of an overall crime prevention program to help remind people to be careful with regard to their Christmas packages.

Link

Best Buy threatens blogger over someone else’s parody

Best Buy threatens blogger over someone else’s parody:

Best Buy sent a cease and desist letter to blogger Scott Beale (Laughing Squid) for having had the audacity to blog news that prankster/comedy troupe Improv Everywhere selling t-shirts that were a parody of the Best Buy brand. Whether or not the parody is legally in the clear is one matter, but Best Buy nastygramming Beale for simply blogging about it — not selling the shirts or participating directly? IANAL, but seems *way* out of line. Above, the parody logo that appeared on the t-shirts in question.

Dalí: Painting & Film

Dalí: Painting & Film:
Spellbounddream
Last evening, I visited the Dalí: Painting & Film exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Overall, it was a fantastic exhibition and I learned quite a great deal about Salvador Dalí’s interest in film that went far beyond his collaborations with Buñuel, like the famed “Un Chien Andalou.” Dalí created wonderful storyboards and set designs for quite a few unrealized films, including a collaboration with the Marx Brothers! Here’s a quote from a 1937 letter Dalí wrote to surrealist André Breton: “I’m in Hollywood, where I’ve made contact with the three American Surrealists, Harpo Marx, Disney and Cecil B. DeMille.” I also hadn’t realized that Dalí created the dream sequence for Alfred Hitchock’s Spellbound (1945). Apparently, a phantasmagoric ballroom scene was shot for this sequence but ended up on the cutting room floor. Dalí’s artwork and notes for this part of the dream are quite remarkable. It’s sad that the footage was lost.

Link to Spellbound clip, Link to Dalí: Painting & Film at the LACMA

Previously on BB:
• Salvador Dalí on “What’s My Line?” Link
• Salvador Dalí TV commercials Link