Zazzle Shop

Screen printing

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

New Trailer for The Three Musketeers

Bantam and Del Rey STAR WARS novels Come to eBook Format

Lisa Mason
from: http://www.swtorstrategies.com/


Today the library of Bantam and Del Rey STAR WARS novels will be available in all eBook formats at Random House. Beginning today, just as it was previously announced, you can get the entire catalog of Random House’s Star Wars novels on digital format. This is a great opportunity to enjoy all of your favorite books on your e-reader or even on your computer.


Amazon's downloads work on the company's Kindle reader, as well as on any smartphone or tablet with a Kindle app. Barnes & Noble digital purchases are compatible with B&N's Nook device. In celebration of the news, Del Rey's Star Wars Books Facebook page has a fun trailer that’s really worth the view:




Big Day For Medical Marijuana in Mass?

It's hard to make stoner jokes about this week's hearing for House Bill 625 (and corresponding Senate Bill 1161), which would “regulate the medical use of marijuana by patients approved by physicians and certified by the department of public health.” Sure some token pot smokers were on hand at the Massachusetts Statehouse, sporting homemade jewelry and Rasta head wraps for their testimonies before the Joint Committee on Public Health. But the pachouli stench was overpowered by compelling words from folks who need weed just to stand up and hold down food.

Select Massachusetts legislators have been trying to sanction medical grass for decades, according to veteran Amherst senator Stanley Rosenberg, a lead sponsor of the Senate bill. Still for a number of reasons, the commonwealth has yet to deliver for its most vulnerable citizens. Despite marijuana decriminalization, and reduced risk for those carrying less than one ounce, anyone caught growing cannabis faces severe penalties. To medical marijuana advocates, that's unacceptable.

Bolstering the state's most sophisticated push for prescription weed yet – 27 legislators co-sponsored the House bill – more than 80 citizens filled hearing room A-1 for several hours of testimony yesterday. Setting the tone, Brookline representative (and lead House sponsor) Frank Smizik described the measure – formally known as the Massachusetts Medical Marijuana Act – as a matter of “compassion,” explaining the obvious but oft-ignored fact that trees are less harmful than most legal drugs.

Anyone interested in the detailed mechanics of the bills should read them in full. But for the sake of clarity here are some basic elements:

-First and foremost, this is an “act to protect patients with debilitating medical conditions, as well as their practitioners and designated caregivers, from arrest and prosecution.” In other words: THIS IS NOT FULL-OUT LEGALIZE AND TAX LEGISLATION!!!

-This bill would set up a marijuana prescription and dispensary system similar to those currently in 13 other states, including neighboring Maine and Rhode Island. If passed, however, there won't be a might-as-well-be-legal free-for-all like in California, but rather a maximum of 19 licensed (and heavily regulated) medical treatment centers statewide.

-These medical treatment centers will be not-for-profit entities that are permitted to “acquire, possess, cultivate, manufacture, deliver, transfer, transport, supply, sell, and/or dispense marijuana” to qualifying patients and other approved cardholders like primary caregivers and treatment workers.

-In order to obtain a marijuana card from the Department of Public Health, patients must get written certification from a licensed practitioner (just like any other prescription drug). Qualifying ailments include cancer, glaucoma, and post traumatic stress disorder.

-Qualified patients (and their caregivers) can either use not-for-profit resources, or grow marijuana on their own (cardholders can legally possess up to 24 plants, and between four and eight ounces of smokable weed).

Presentations to the joint committee ranged from fact-filled to frightening, with one bill proponent pleading – while holding up two soda can-sized pill bottles – “What are you saying? That I either have to take these or break the law? Why should I be a junkie just so I don't have to be in pain?” Another gentleman, testifying from his wheelchair, spoke through a computer on account of his suffering from Lou Gehrig's Disease. “I can't function without it,” he said, explaining how weed relaxes his his nerve and muscle spasms. “But I don't want to go to jail for it.”

Some legislators seemed to get it. Medford representative Carl Sciortino, who sits on the committee and co-sponsored H625, even pressed a bill opponent to justify claims that marijuana is a gateway drug. Joint committee co-chair and Jamaica Plain representative Jeffrey Sanchez also showed a sincere understanding, asking questions that demonstrated an apparent commitment to advancing meaningful reform.

Other lawmakers, however, gave insight into why Mass has yet to make this happen. Lincoln senator Susan Fargo suggested the potential benefits of THC alternatives. Worcester senator Harriette Chandler touted the testimony of former Worcester commissioner of public health Leonard Morse – even though she admittedly missed most of it! One of the few outspoken opponents of H625 in the room, Morse rejects this particular measure on grounds that doctors don't know enough about weed.

Others in the packed conference room took issue with the House and Senate bills for other reasons. Attorney Steven Epstein, who founded the Massachusetts chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (MassCann/NORML) 20 years ago, believes H625 is unconstitutional on grounds that “people have the right to self-medicate.” He's also skeptical of the bill's livelihood, since powerful law enforcement officials are lobbying hard against marijuana prohibition. (It should be noted that legislators heard powerful testimony from members of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), who hopefully convinced some that the war on drugs is a sham).

But for most people in the crowded room, it's too risky to hold out for legalized weed. “This is an issue of life and death for a lot of people,” said Erik Wunderlich, a board member of the Massachusetts Patient Advocacy Alliance, in an interview outside of the conference room. A chronic pain sufferer whose wife also has severe ailments, Wunderlich says there are countless people who count on marijuana just to make their final days tolerable. “This is not about getting high. This is about social justice.”



11,000 Lanterns Floating Over Poland


11,000 Lanterns Floating Over Poland - Watch more Funny Videos

Woman dies after she wakes up at her funeral

London, June 24 (IANS) A sick woman died of shock on waking up at her own funeral, it was reported here.

Fagilyu Mukhametzyanov, 49, woke up as relatives were praying at her open coffin, The Sun reported.

She screamed on realising that she was going to be buried.

The woman was promptly taken to a hospital in Kazan, Russia, where, however, she was declared dead from a suspected heart attack.

'Her eyes fluttered and we immediately rushed her back to the hospital,' the woman's husband Fagili was quoted as saying.

'But she only lived another 12 minutes before she died again, this time for good.'

Fagili is planning to take legal action against the hospital. 'I am very angry and want some answers. She wasn't dead when they said she was and they could have saved her.'

A hospital spokesperson said that they were carrying out an investigation.

Recycled Shipping Containers As Disaster Response: School Built In Four Weeks After Earthquake

by Paula Alvarado
from http://www.treehugger.com/

Recycled Shipping Containers School In Chile Photo

Photos: VientoFuerte.cl.

Shipping containers continue to prove their value to build almost anything, from amazing office buildings to houses to even boy scout cabins.

And although their use as a disaster response has been questioned, they've proven to be a useful resource when a tsunami hit Chile last year and a group of students from a local university was able to re-build a local school in a devastated town in only four weeks.

A fishing town of 3,000 people, Tubul is located about 500 kilometers (300 miles) south-west from Santiago, and was one of the areas most affected by the earthquake and tsunami.

Recycled Shipping Containers School In Chile Model Photo

In an effort called Viento Fuerte (Strong Wind), the architecture department of the Finis Terrae University gathered 56 advanced students to design, mount and equip a school for the town.

The project was built from 22 shipping containers donated by a company, which were properly isolated and used as prefab modules. There are 20 containers on ground level and two on a second level, which were jointed by one of their large sides to conform the different classrooms and spaces.

In between, there are open areas that serve as patios, which are shaded and covered to protect children from the rain. Part of the old school building that survived the earthquake was connected to the new structure.

Recycled Shipping Containers School In Chile Photo

Despite containers having been accused of 'top down' solutions in crisis response, the promoters of the project claim this school was designed not to be a temporary solution but a definitive, full functioning building.

As mentioned, an amazing part of the project is that it was designed and built in only four weeks after the earthquake. The university published a video in English sharing the experience:

The rescue of the Chilean miners and the Japan earthquake have long pushed the Chilean tsunami out of the news, but TreeHugger experienced first-hand that its consequences remain. The initiative Viento Fuerte keeps working on the reconstruction of Tubul and are currently gathering donations for their new projects.

Silver Michael Jordan Shoe Selling for $100,000 on eBay

How much would you be willing to spend on a rare pair of Jordan’s? When considering this hypothetical question, how about if I upped the ante and said the shoes were modeled after a pair game worn by Jordan himself. Then let’s get a bit crazy and say the shoes are dipped in silver and are one of only 10 pairs ever made. Jordan himself owns a pair of them. How much is that worth to a rabid Michael Jordan fan, and/or shoe collector?

Well one ebay’er thinks that value is starting at $100,000 and could possibly garner more. Here is what he has to say about the kicks:

IT WAS GIVEN TO MICHAEL FROM HIS WIFE FOR HIS 32nd BIRTHDAY. HIS WIFE TOOK HIS GAME WORN ROOKIE SHOE AND 10, STERLING SHOES WERE MADE. I HAVE THE ONLY ONE THAT WILL EVER BE SOLD AGAIN TO THE PUBLIC. THE CEO FOR GATORADE OWNS ONE, MICHAEL HAS 2 OF THEM, THE JEWELER WHO HAD THE SHOE MADE OWNS ” I THINK 5 OF THEM” AND 2 OTHER UNKNOWN COLLECTORS OWN THE OTHER 2.