RKNet Blog... Thing

It’s a two for one special! Come for the paraphrasing of a pretty funny BBC article, and stay for the hook up on ancient cannabis usage!

I happened to pop my head into the ectochat and what to my wondering eyes did appear but a BBC article link!

Upon following it I discovered that this story was indeed lol-worthy as had been indicated.

A rather dedicated but less-than-thorough customs official at Japan’s Narita airport hid a 142 gram baggie of weed into the side pocket of a traveller’s suitcase. The goal was to test the sniffer dogs in a real-life training exercise.

The dogs, however, failed their exercise by not detecting the baggie at all. To make matters worse, the official who hid the 142 gram (that’s 5 ounces for those not familiar with metric) bag couldn’t remember in which suitcase he’d hidden the weed!

That’s right, some lucky schmuck walked out of Narita airport with 5 ounces of free marijuana! Awesome right? Not really, when you consider Japan has rather strict laws against possession which could net this traveller a prison sentence. Officials admitted their mistake and are encouraging the person who got the baggie to come forward in order to avoid unnecessary legal troubles.

In my search for more specifics about the laws, I came across a really interesting history of cannabis, beginning with its place in the ancient world. Which is admittedly far more entertaining than the original BBC story I mentioned. After discussing the knowledge - or lack thereof - by the Greeks, and the ancient Japanese and Indians, it moves on to an entire passage on the history of cannabis in the Arab world.

One of the most fascinating ways to explore the ancient world, I think, is to track a substance or supply through the ages. It brings to light ancient trade routes, how information was shared, which cultures were accepting of new things and which closed themselves off. Following marijuana in such a way is a two fold path. On the one hand you get to see which cultures adapted the plant for use as hemp fibers, and how as a valuable supply the plant travelled the world. You also get to track its history when grown and used as a psychoactive substance, and the attitudes of the cultures which were aware of those properties.

All of that and much, much more at druglibrary.org. If you’re someone who visits Erowid frequently for reference on drug-related matters, I might suggest adding this to your repertoire also.

While the Flickr link and image will undoubtedly automatically post here, I wanted to make sure that the full, original 1400 x 900 version of the image was also readily available. Enjoy!

Chapter 1, passage 3: Every man and every woman is a star.

This morning my mother copied to me via IM an email or a page she had found. Within contains the most complete list of paranoias, hoaxes, wishful thoughts, and general falderall ever generated via email chain letters. It is a tremendously entertaining read and I absolutely have to share with you all. Oh, and if you don’t digg, del.icio.us and put this on your facebook then bad luck and extreme misfortune will infest your pathetic soul for all eternity. Bill Gates told me so. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!

This is pretty cute and I thought you’d get a few healthy chuckles from it. :) I just want to thank all of you for your educational emails over the past year. Thanks to you, I no longer open a public bathroom door without using a paper towel. I can’t use the remote in a hotel room because I don’t know what the last person was doing while flipping through the adult movie channels. I can’t sit down on the hotel bedspread because I can only imagine what has happened on it since it was last washed. I can’t enjoy lemon slices in my tea or on my seafood anymore because lemon peels have been found to contain all kinds of nasty germs including feces. I have trouble shaking hands with someone who has been driving because the number one pass-time while driving alone is picking your nose (although cell phone usage may be taking the number one spot) Eating a Little Debbie sends me on a guilt trip because I can only imagine how many gallons of trans fats I have consumed over the years. I can’t touch any woman’s purse for fear she has placed it on the floor of a public bathroom. Yuck! I must send my special thanks to whoever sent me the one about poop in the glue on envelopes because I now have to use a wet sponge with every envelope that needs sealing. Also, now I have to scrub the top of every can I open for the same reason. I no longer have any savings because I gave it to a sick girl (Penny Brown) who is about to die in the hospital for the 1,387,258th time. I no longer have any money at all, but that will change once I receive the $15,000 that Bill Gates/Microsoft and AOL are se nding me for participating in their special e-mail program. I no longer worry about my soul because I have 363,214 angels looking out for me, and St. Theresa’s novena has granted my every wish. I no longer eat KFC because their chickens are actually horrible mutant freaks with no eyes or feathers. I no longer use cancer-causing deodorants even though I smell like a water buffalo on a hot day. Thanks to you, I have learned that my prayers only get answered if I forward an email to seven of my friends and make a wish within five minutes. Because of your concern I no longer drink Coca Cola because it can remove toilet stains. I no longer can buy gasoline without taking someone along to watch the car so a serial killer won’t crawl in my back seat when I’m pumping gas.. I no longer drink Pepsi or Dr Pepper since the people who make these products are atheists who refuse to put ‘Under God’ on their cans. I no longer use Saran wrap in the microwave because it causes cancer. And thanks for letting me know I can’t boil a cup of water in the microwave anymore because it will blow up in my face…disfiguring me for life. I no longer check the coin return on pay phones because I could be pricked with a needle infected with AIDS. I no longer go to shopping malls because someone will drug me with a perfume sample and rob me. I no longer receive packages from UPS or FedEx since they are actually Al Qaeda in disguise. I no longer shop at Target since they are French and don’t support our American troops or the Salvation Army. I no longer answer the phone because someone will ask me to dial a num ber for which I will get a phone bill with calls to Jamaica , Uganda & Singapore and Uzbekistan I no longer buy expensive cookies from Neiman Marcus since I now have their recipe. Thanks to you, I can’t use anyone’s toilet but mine because a big brown African spider is lurking under the seat to cause me instant death when it bites my butt. And thanks to your great advice, I can’t ever pick up $5.00 dropped in the parking lot because it probably was placed there by a sex molester waiting underneath my car to grab my leg. I can no longer drive my car because I can’t buy gas from certain gas companies! If you don’t send this e-mail to at least 144,000 people in the next 70 minutes, a large dove with diarrhea will land on your head at 5:00 PM this afternoon and the fleas from 12 camels will infest your b ack, causing you to grow a hairy hump. I know this will occur because it actually happened to a friend of my next door neighbor’s ex-mother-in-law’s second husband’s cousin’s beautician… Have a wonderful day… Oh, by the way….. A German scientist from Argentina, after a lengthy study, has discovered that people with insufficient brain activity read their e-mail with their hand on the mouse. Don’t bother taking it off now, it’s too late.-

• I ID’d a colonist from Aliens as the Captain from Red Dwarf. I am PIMP #
• Did I mention I only saw Red Dwarf for the first time ever yesterday? #
• watching Aliens again. wish I had a copy of Event Horizon to watch afterwards. it’s like peas n carrots! #
• @brianshaler I’ve had at least 1 new follower who seems more about pushing a biz via twitter than anything. I feel yer pain re: 30boxes #
• @gapingvoid DAMMIT! I was in TX a few months ago, right next to a sonic, and i SO missed out. *jealous* #
• not use a social media for experiments or games? I respect @annaleen but it seems paranoid & grumpy #
• This snow is offensive to me. #
• @joanmarie i’ve been sick all week and I walked .25mi with trees pooing snow on me X_X #
• http://tweetstats.com/graphs/Giania infoporn on my tweeting habits! #
• I’ve decided I’m going to follow everyone who follows me, ‘cept other teams. @teamoctarine is where it’s at #
• @drhypercube innit? found it via http://tinyurl.com/2twblw #
• @drhypercube I’m adding a twitter plugin (&updating my other WP plugins) right now #
• @jabancroft thank you for your mention of TwitterTools, I couldn’t find that info anywhere else! #
• just got some REAL sudafed from a coworker. there may be breathing in my future! #
• @iscatterling DUDE. you are Xtreeeeme! :P headcolds are beyond sucky, ya know? #
• @patrickcurl of course it’s okay to ask! Part of having a network is leveraging their help :) #
• man, I really gotta get around to canceling my stupid, useless cable #
• sudafed can’t quite keep up, tea getting cold. oh lawd what will I do?? #
• @gapingvoid I like the idea of PRT. short, recognizable, etc. #
• @gapingvoid you already got my yes vote on PRT! :D #

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They overshot the number for maximum snarky humor by 222.

The Daily Kos has provided a link to the list of committee members who will be dealing directly with this bill in their lengthy commentary. I have no idea why only the Democrats have outbound links.

As with any law-related item, it is strongly encouraged to read the proposed bill yourself prior to espousing your thoughts to a positive or negative. With that in mind, here is a small portion of the opening statement. Those with little tolerance for religion, and those who are disinclined to see our government’s time wasted with trifling arguements for meaningless memorials would do well to take a few deep breaths first.

Affirming the rich spiritual and religious history of our Nation’s founding and subsequent history and expressing support for designation of the first week in May as `American Religious History Week’ for the appreciation of and education on America’s history of religious faith.

Whereas religious faith was not only important in official American life during the periods of discovery, exploration, colonization, and growth but has also been acknowledged and incorporated into all 3 branches of American Federal government from their very beginning;

Whereas the Supreme Court of the United States affirmed this self-evident fact in a unanimous ruling declaring `This is a religious people … From the discovery of this continent to the present hour, there is a single voice making this affirmation’;

Whereas political scientists have documented that the most frequently-cited source in the political period known as The Founding Era was the Bible;

Whereas the first act of America’s first Congress in 1774 was to ask a minister to open with prayer and to lead Congress in the reading of 4 chapters of the Bible;

Whereas Congress regularly attended church and Divine service together en masse;

My thoughts? It’s a waste of human resources to even consider talking about this. This bill strikes me as demonstrating no effort at honoring “American Religious History” so much as it wishes to remind everyone how important Christian religion has been in the history of this country. Regardless of that observation, to approve any bill citing any one faith as essential or preferred in this nation’s past is to imply that it is essential to its present; in short, the bill flies in the face of separation of church and state and is therefore simply not acceptable. I absolutely respect the rights of citizens to practice and celebrate and share their religious beliefs - up to and including sharing their beliefs on how their faith may have shaped this nation’s history and practices - but I cannot and will not condone signing anything into law which then places the state’s official position as one of direct endorsement of a specific group’s personal beliefs. Focusing in such a manner belittles the historical significance and current cultural relevance of all other theological positions, and engenders ill will between differing faiths by inciting heated debate as to why one religion is preferable in the eyes of the government.

I support separation of church and state. I support the equal exchange of ideas. I support the pursuit of history, unbaised by the agendas of the few. Please share your thoughts with me, and more importantly, please share your thoughts with the representatives of the committee if you feel strongly about this issue (one way or the other).

Do you have a few minutes?
Do you have a microphone or some audio clips of your voice?
Do have a picture on your computer that you feel represents you?

If so, you can go to Lifehouse Method and they will process all of those things into a musical portrait of you! Word of caution to anyone who runs around with all the bells and whistles turned off on their browsers: you will need Java and Flash for this. Don’t worry though, before you go through the process, they do a short browser test to make sure you have everything you need. I found the signup process short and sweet, with just a touch of warm fuzzies. Even at the signup point, they want to know what you think of the site and their tools. That indicates to me a group of people who actually care what their visitors think and it’s rather refreshing.

If you’re interested though, don’t dawdle! You can “sit” for up to 3 free “musical portraits” until July 31st, and then they are going to go to a subscription service.

Check out the project’s pedigree:

The Method Music Software has been developed under the patronage of Pete Townshend by mathematician/composer Lawrence Ball and software developer Dave Snowdon. A team of composers, personally approved by and occasionally including Pete Townshend, will regularly listen to Method Music portraits and select a few for further development/elaboration.

I still have two more portraits left to go. I’ll probably fire up my microphone for the next one, since I used pre-recorded snippets, and didn’t really provide a “rhythm” track for the software to analyze. Download my first muiscal portrait

No names have been changed, but appropriate links have been provided to appropriately ID the other participants in the conversation. Where no appropriate link could be found, the name has been omitted. Some cross-talk has also been omitted, since it doesn’t make quite as much sense out of context as it would with much more text. Rather than retell the story, again, in another format, I figured just sharing this with everyone would suffice.

Read the rest of this entry »

	Remember the illegal number? Well, I converted the hexadecimal number into a set of five different colors (using hex-color codes) and made this lovely GIF to illustrate. Don’t use these colors together. If you do, you’re breaking the law. Or, at least, you’re breaking it enough to get sued for it.

Thanks T3knomanser!
I’d like to also add that this is a primary example of how color could be used to carry information.

“We need more laws with stiffer penalties to rid our community of drugs,”

Says an innocent pawn of Eris. To be sure, these laws make smuggling and selling and buying drugs more risky. That, in turn, drives up their prices - thus making them more profitable. So more money and work goes into expanding the market for the contraband - in keeping with the Law of Eristic Escalation.

Or, as the Taoist sage Chuang Tzu simply said:

“The more laws there are, the more crime there is.”

(Identification and elucidation of anerisms is a favorite pastime of politically conscious Discordians - who note that the whole text of my “Epistle to the Paranoids” on page 00069 is a psychological anerism. Goddess punished me for it, about five years later, by turning me into a paranoid myself. A conspiracy helped Her.
As of this writing, I am still paranoid - according to my friends.) (Or are they my enemies?)

Proliferation of crime in the wake of multiplication of laws is more than a matter of expanded definition. Governments are impositions of order designed to discourage theft and killing. But they wind up taking more in taxes than all the freelance crooks around could steal. Their wars involve more killing than all the meanest toughs and hoodlums can hope to rival.

– Source: Principa Discordia

Formulate your own opinions.

The trumpet of a prophecy! O Wind,
If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?
~ Percy Bysshe Shelley: Ode to the West Wind

Because everyone else will be espousing their philosophical and political agendas, I feel it appropriate to bring up a philosophical and political standpoint that has been on my mind a lot lately. Not as an “I told you so” or a demand for changes in the wake of disaster. Only as a question, something to consider. I like the way the linked question was phrased, for the most part. The alternate spin I would put on it is: are we all simply too involved with the world at large, above and beyond our own area communities, to go without over-arching systems of government?

I bring this up because of concerns raised by a good friend of mine in the wake of Virginia's tragedy. A large enough group of people decided it was perfectly acceptable to keep arms out of the possession of lawful defenders in that area. As demonstrated time and time again, unlawful, violent people with the intent to harm have no regard for such laws. What makes them criminal in cases like this is not so much their disregard for the laws themselves as it is their disregard for the human lives the laws were theoretically designed to defend.

Yet the question on many people's minds must be: If lawful, non-violent citizens were granted their right to bear arms within that area, would there have been as much carnage?

It is anyone's guess and the truth of the matter is the situation is over, done with, and no amount of speculation can reclaim the lives lost today.

I would implore everone to take this opportunity to respect and espouse the benefits of reason and intelligence instead of reactionary snap judgements and fingerpointing. Not only would I encourage that of anyone I have direct contact with, but I would strongly encourage all people of strength and wit to aid others through a scary time, and try to prevent the kind of fearful outbursts that cripple us all.

If we cannot be self-governing en todo, then perhaps we can at least make the democracy we have today worth supporting.