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Breaking News: Rep. Barney Frank and NORML Team Up on Federal Decriminalization Legislation
Posted by Ron Fisher to Legalize It - The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws March 24 10:39pm

US Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) has announced that he will shortly introduce legislation in Congress to strip the federal government of its authority to arrest responsible cannabis consumers. Representative Frank made the announcement Friday on the nationally syndicated television show, "Real Time With Bill Maher."

heres a link:
http://blog.norml.org/2008/03/24/norml-partners-with-rep-barney-frank-d-ma-to-introduce-federal-decriminalization-legislation/

“It's time for the politicians to catch up with the public on this [issue],” Frank said. "The notion that you lock people up for smoking marijuana is pretty silly."

Frank's pending bill seeks to eliminate all federal penalties prohibiting the personal use and possession of up to 100 grams (3 1/2 ounces) of marijuana. Under this measure, adults who consume cannabis would no longer face arrest, prison, or even the threat of a civil fine. The bill also eliminates all penalties prohibiting the not-for-profit transfers of up to one ounce of pot.

NORML Legal Counsel Keith Stroup, who worked closely with Frank's staff to draft this legislation, said, "If passed by Congress, this legislation would legalize the possession, use, and non-profit transfer of marijuana by adults for the first time since 1937." The bill incorporates the basic recommendation of the National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse (also known as the Shafer Commission).

Currently, 12 states have enacted various versions of marijuana decriminalization, eliminating criminal penalties for minor pot violations. Passage of these laws has not led to increased marijuana use.

In fact, the only U.S. government study ever commissioned to assess whether the enforcement of strict legal penalties positively impacts marijuana use found, "Overall, the preponderance of the evidence which we have gathered and examined points to the conclusion that decriminalization has had virtually no effect either on the marijuana use or on related attitudes and beliefs about marijuana use among American young people."

Similar statewide legislation is pending in New Hampshire and Vermont. Additionally, Massachusetts voters will decide on a statewide decriminalization measure this November.

According to a nationwide CNN/Time Magazine poll, more than three-quarters of American adults favor decriminalizing marijuana.

Alerts will be posted to this page and www.norml.org once this bill is assigned a bill # and committee so that folks can contact their representative urging support of this bill.

For more information, please contact Keith Stroup, NORML Legal Counsel, at (202) 483-5500.

http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7561

Published On: 3/25/2008
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I want to take a second to recognize a man who changed history forever in the U.S. To organize a strike is grand, to lead a movment is something special, but to start a revolution of equality in a place that it didnt exist is something totally different. They DO NOT name a federal holiday after just any Tom, Dick, or Larry. $hit, I can't think of a better way to celebrate than tear up Monarch over this three day weekend. I may or may not remeber on Monday why I am on the mountain instead of work. I might not even know what time I'm supposed to be at work after this weekend but isnt that the point. If all my friends get the day off to celebrate my life once a year I would be pi$$ed if they werent slightly cocked...So in honor of the great Dr. I invite you all to share a chair.



Published On: 1/15/2008
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Since the release of our Poachers web story on burton.com, several people have contacted Burton complaining of our actions. While I fully respect their prerogative to voice their opinion, they should in return grant us the same courtesy. We have been snowboarding at major resorts for well over 20 years now and in the process, we have demonstrated our sport to be for real, and of no threat to society. The fact is that two of the four resorts operate on federal forest land, which makes this issue even more frustrating since the taxes of many snowboarders help finance these resorts. I'm confident that if these four resorts outlawed skiing tomorrow, there would be a protest long before 20 years passed, and rightfully so. I want to add that we have been careful not to break any laws, nor to encourage anyone to break any laws (see the Poaching 10 Commandments on burton.com/poachers) in our efforts to liberate these mountains. If you have spent as much time in the mountains as I have, you would know that every mountain has a personality, and while they can be brutally cruel at times, discrimination is not in their DNA.

Jake Burton
Founder-Burton Snowboards
provided by burton.com


Published On: 12/6/2007
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You might be a redneck if…

 

*You've ever vacationed in a rest area.

*Your belt buckle is bigger than your head.

*You think paprika is a third-world country.

*You refer to the fifth grade as "my senior year".

*Your checks feature pictures of dogs fighting.

*Your muffler is held on by a coat hanger.

*Going to the bathroom in the middle of the night requires shoes and a flashlight.

*Bikers back down from your mama

*Your bicycle has a gun rack.

*After removing the empty beer cans from your car you find you get fifteen more miles to the gallon.

*Directions to your house include "turn off the paved road"

*You wet the bed and four other people immediately know it.

*You actually know what kind of leaves make the best substitute for toilet paper.

*Your father encourages you to quit school because Larry has an opening at the oil shop.

*The neighbors have ever asked to borrow the light bulb.

*Your wife keeps a can of Vienna sausage in her purse.

*Your wife can climb a tree faster than your cat.

*You hold a frog and it worries about getting warts.

*You have to take the entire day off to get your teeth cleaned.

*You offer to give somebody the shirt off your back and they don't want it.

*You ever listed fuzzy dice on an insurance claim.

*Your trolling motor used to be a fan in a barber shop.

*You list tick removal as a skill on your resume.

*You use an ironing board as a knick-knack shelf.

*You think the Battle of the Bulge is an argument between your wife and your mother.

*You've ever driven around looking for your porch roof after a bad storm.

*Your nicest towels say, "Motel 6".  

*The photo on your driver's license includes your dog.

*You've been too drunk to fish.

*You've had to remove a toothpick for wedding pictures.

*You ever used a weed-eater indoors.

*You have a rag for a gas cap (on a car that does run).

*You go to the family reunion to pick up on women.

*You have to go outside to get something out of the 'fridge.

*Your idea of a 7 course meal is a bucket of KFC and a six-pack.

*Someone asks to see your ID and you show them your belt buckle.

*You have lost at least one tooth opening a beer bottle.

*Jack Daniel's makes your list of "most admired people".

*You won't stop at a rest area if you have an empty beer bottle in the car.

*Your wife has a beer belly and you find it attractive.

*You consider a three piece suit to be: a pair of overalls, a plaid flannel shirt and thermal underwear.

*When you leave your house, you are followed by federal agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, and the only thing you worry about is if you can lose them or not.

*You have a house that is mobile and 13 cars that aren’t

*Your gene pool doesn't have a "deep end."

*Your huntin' dog cost more than the truck you drive him around in.

*You think that safe sex is a padded headboard on the water-bed.

*It's Easier to spray weed killer on your lawn than mow it.

*You think that John Deere Green, Ford Blue, and Primer Gray are the three primary colors.

*Your idea of talking during sex is "Ain't no cars coming, baby!"

*Taking your wife on a cruise means circling the Dairy Queen.

*You think the last words to The Star Spangled Banner are "Gentlemen, start your engines."

*You think God looks a lot like Hank Williams, Jr., and heaven looks a lot like Daytona Beach, Florida.

*You believe dual air bags refer to your wife and mother-in-law.

*Your father executes the "pull my finger" trick during Christmas dinner.

*You were acquitted for murdering your first wife after she threw out your Elvis 45's.

*You've got more than one brother named 'Darryl'.

*The people on Jerry Springer's show remind you of your neighbors.

*You've been married three times and still have the same in-laws.

*You lit a match in the bathroom and your house exploded right off it's wheels.

*You carried a fishing pole into Sea World.

*Your sister is the third generation of women in your family to conceive a baby as a result of an alien abduction.

*You think subdivision is part of a math problem.

*You think there's nothing wrong with incest as long as you keep it in the family.

*You can get dog hair from out of your belly button.

*You can't get married to your sweetheart ‘cause there is a law against it.

*The beer can collection in the town museum is the big tourist attraction.

*You can change the oil in your truck without ducking your head.

*You think "loading the dishwasher" means getting your wife drunk.

*You take a load to the dump and bring back more than you took.

*You believe that beef jerky and beer are two of the major food groups.

*You let your thirteen-year-old daughter smoke at the dinner table in front of her kids.

*You keep empty beer cans in your fridge for your friends that don't drink.

*You think a woman who is "out of your league" bowls on a different night.

*You think taking a bubble bath starts with eating alot of beans for dinner.



Published On: 11/14/2007
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....FOR FREEDOM!!!

 

 “In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act. –George Orwell

 

The year is 1913, Woodrow Wilson is president, and powerful banking interests, who have been trying for year, finally achieved their long term goal, of silently taking control of the American government.

     The first thing the did to accomplish their take over was convince secretary of state, Flan Denox, to lie to the American people, and tell them that the 16th amendment [Income Tax Amendment] had been legally ratified by the states when it was not. The bankers knew that this tax would ultimately end up in their pockets.

     Because of this fraud the American people were led to believe there was a tax on their labor. Congress and the President ARE completely aware of this fraud and it was cited in a recent court case:

 

“If you… examined [the 16th amendment] carefully, you would find that a sufficient number of states ratified that amendment.” -U.S. District Court Judge, James C. Fox, 2003

 

That very same year [1913] the bankers committed their second, and by far most diabolical fraud ever perpetrated on the American people, by bribing senators to pass the Federal Reserve Act, without the required Constitutional amendment. They did this during Christmas vacation, when many senators where home celebrating Christmas with their families.

     And that is how the unconstitutional Federal Reserve Act came into being. They were very clever, and understood that who ever issued the money for America controlled the government.

 

“Give me control of a nations money supply, and I care not who makes its laws.” -Mayer Rothschild, Private Banker

 

President Wilson, who signed the Federal Reserve Act later said in regret:

“I’m a most unhappy man; I have unwittingly ruined my country a great industrial nation is now controlled by a system of credit. We are no longer a government by free opinion, no longer a government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a government by the opinions and duress of a small group of dominant men.” -Woodrow Wilson, 1919

 

How did America transform from being a truly free country with a servant government where our individual rights are protected by our Constitution, to being a country that talked about being free but really wasn’t?

     The change started when the Federal Reserve came into existence, and America adopted one of the major planks of the Communist Manifesto by creating for America this central bank.

     The very same people that back the Federal Reserve System also back the graduated income tax, a second plank from the Communist Manifesto.

     And now our Congress so dominated by the banks, is helping them entrap people even further by passing new Bankruptcy Laws making it more difficult for the people to declare bankruptcy and get a fresh start.

 

“Who controls money controls the world.” -Henry Kissinger, Council of Foreign Relations

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

*President Bush has signed executive orders give him sole authority to impose martial law and suspending Habeas Corpus. This gives him dictatorial power over the people without any checks or balances.

 

*The government can jail you for life without charges, without trial, and without a lawyer.

 

*Because of globalization the U.S. must accept other nations’ laws. Under the CAFTA treaty the sale of vitamins and supplements will be illegal.

 

*Executive Order# 10999: Allows the government to take over all modes of transportation.

 

*Executive Order# 11000: Allows the government to mobilize civilians into work brigades under government supervision.

 

* Executive Order# 11921: Provides that the president can declare a state of emergency that is not defined and Congress cannot review the action for six months.

 

*Senate Bill# 1873: Allows the government to vaccinate you with untested vaccines against your will.

 

*The FDA says: Americans do not have a right to know which foods are genetically modified.

 

*Congressman Sensenbrenner’s Bill (HR1528): Requires you to spy on you neighbors including wearing a wire. Refusal would be punishable by a mandatory prison sentence of at least two years.

 

*The government claims the power to seize all financial interments: gold, silver, and everything else if they deem an emergence exists. –treasury department letter, Aug. 12, 2005

 

*There are 190 countries in the world; American has bases in 130 them.

 

The Patriot Act permits:

*Secret FBI and police searches of your home and office.

*Secret government wiretaps on you phone, computer and/or internet activity.

*Secret investigations of your bank record, credit cards and other financial records.

*Secret investigations of your library and book activities.

*Secret examinations of your metical, travel and business records.

*The freezing of funds and assets without prior notice or appeal.

*The creation of secret watch lists that ban those named from air and other travel.

 

“The Constitution is just a goddamn piece of paper.” -George W. Bush, Nov. 2005, Capitol Hill Blue

 

During the 1990’s President Clinton monitored millions of private phone calls placed by U.S. citizens. He did this under a secret program code named: Echelon. The wide spread use of wire tapping Americans during the Clinton administration proves that this practice was not started because of 9/11 but is standard procedure.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

The new legislation for the national ID card is in and takes three to for pages to describe. It will be connected to our driver’s licenses and Social security numbers. A physical ID such as finger prints or retinal print will be on it.

This law known as the Real ID Act takes effect in May 2008. Anyone with out a card will not be permitted to board an air plain, Amtrak train, open a bank account, or enter a federal building.

The bill mandates that all drivers’ licenses contain “common readable technology. A radio frequency identification (RFID) chip will be used.

 

 

“It is time to wake up America. Those ID cards are NOT about defeating terrorism, they are all about controlling the American people.” -Aaron Russo

 

The latest technology for identifying people when they make purchases is the implantable chip that can be directly imbedded into human flesh. Its tiny glass capsule is about the size if a grain if rice. It contains an RFID computer chip with a coiled antenna.

Homeland Security, the Department of Defense, and others have expressed great interest in being able to more closely monitor the American people. And one way to do that would be to determine who buys what and where they take these things.

     Radio frequency can travel through walls, wood, the things we normally rely on to protect our privacy. For example your backpack, your pocket, anything you’re wearing or carrying.

     They were talking about having reader devices in every airport, on every bus, every train, on every port and every dock.

     One of the most worrisome applications of RFID is proposals to put in cash. Meaning that you’d be able to track every bank note, where it has been, who it has been issued to, and create an essence an audit trail that would essentially take away the anonymity of cash, that we enjoy today.

     The ATM machine itself, as the money came through the roller device, would be reading each number. And it would know who you are; of course you identify yourself at banks or ATMs. And the ATM would tag the number, and transfer the possession name from, say Bank of America to Joe Jones.

     Once every thing you do is tied down to a single number, and there is no longer the option to pay with cash, then all it takes to render you a non citizen is to simply turn you chip off. Then you won’t be able to participate in ant function in society, including buy food.  

     Through the implementation of the Federal Reserve System, the American citizen has gone from being a private individual who had real money, and gold in possession that was private, to a citizen who has no privacy because all money is now being digitized. They can deduct however amount of money they want out of your digits when ever they want, and they can trace you when ever they want. You’ll be at there mercy. God forbid we allow this to happen in America

    

“This is outrageous! I mean your talking about the government looking over your shoulder at absolutely everything you do, every purchase you make, every place you go, every company you interact with, would be recorded back to potentially the government.” -Katherine Albrecht, author of “Spy Chips”

 

Have we become so controlled and ignorant about our rights, that big institution and big governments can do whatever they want with us even with out our approval?

I know for certain that our founding fathers would resist to the death what is happening in America today. And I for one will not accept a national ID card. And if nobody accepts a national ID card, and nobody can board a plain without one, then let the airlines go bankrupt. And if you can’t open an account in a big national bank, then open one in a small local bank. And if we can’t walk into a federal building, I’d personally consider that a blessing.

Don’t allow these institutions to dictate to us how we conduct our lives. This is America, and we have free choice! We the people have the power not the government. The government gets its power from us, not the other way around.

Think of all the men and women that died in all our wars fighting for freedom, not Federal Reserve bankers. Do you think they sacrificed their lives so America could get chipped like a dog, so we can all have homing devices inside us? NO! This ID card is the last step before they implant us, and that is precisely the reason no one should accept one.

And you know what they’re going to do? They’re going to call in the propaganda machine, the media, and try to sell this RFID chip as if it was in everybody’s best interest.

 

“We shall have a world government whether or not we like it. The only question is whether the world government will be achieved by conquest or consent.” -Paul Warburg, architect of the Federal Reserve System, 1950

 

The central bankers of the world are working together to create a one world government. A global police sinister was the only thing George Orwell ever wrote about. Where every person on the planet Earth will have an RFID chip implant, where the bankers and the governments have access to every transaction you make.

A chip in every in everybody would be the universal monitory system, because there would be no escape from it.

Most people don’t have a clue that these unelected private bankers, actually control the governments of the world. They have actually financed and profited from ever war since World War I, without concern for humanity. The war in Iraq is an attempt by the Federal Reserve and their partner the Bank of England to control the middle east, and make it part of the new world order.

 

“Military men are just dumb stupid animals, to be used as pawn in foreign policies.” -Henry Kissinger

 

     The war on terrorism is the war on your freedom.

 

“The bankers own take it away from them but leave them the power to create money, and with the flick of the pen they will create enough money to buy it back again. However, take away the power to create money, and all great fortunes like mine will disappear and ought to disappear, for this would be a happier and better world to live in.

But if you wish to remain slaves of the bankers and pay the cost of your own slavery, let them continue to create money.” - Sir Josiah Stamp, former director of the Bank of England

 

“We are grateful to the Washington Post, the New York Times, Time Magazine, and other great publications whose directors have attended our meetings and respected their promises of discretion for almost 40 years.

     It would have been impossible for us to develop our plans for the world if we had been subjected to the lights of publicity during those years. But now the world is more sophisticated and prepared to march toward a world government. The supra national sovereignty of an intellectual elite and world bankers is surely preferable to the national auto determination, practiced in past centuries.” 

-David Rockefeller, private banker, council on foreign relations, June 1991

 

“The real rulers in Washington are invisible and exercise power from behind the scenes.” -Felix Frankfuter, U.S. Supreme Court Justice

 

“It is well enough that people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning.” -Henry Ford

 

     Now that you do understand what happened in 1913, and how it is leading to world government, the future depends on you. Will you choose freedom or slavery? Stop living in fear of your government. Government is the servant. We are the masters.

So what are you going to do about it? Join together in civil disobedience. Be willing to take part in nationwide strikes, boycotts, and marches on Washington. Force Congress to use their power to shut down the Federal Reserve. Government has authority to issue money, without paying interest to the bankers. This will take away the power to control our government from the bankers. Only vote for candidates who have signed an affidavit to shut down the Federal Reserve System and stop world government.

If you are in the military or law enforcement, remember you swore an oath to defend the American Constitution. You didn’t swear an oath to promote world government. Honor your Oath.

DONOT accept the national ID card, even if it’s your drivers’ license. We must demand that the American peoples gold be audited, and make certain that it has not been stolen. This asset must be returned to the American people.

Abolish computer voting in the state where you live. Stop being a good Democrat, stop being a good Republican, start being good Americans.

And when the media starts telling you that the country will fall apart if this is done, don’t be fooled. This is just the Federal Reserve trying to save itself. Squash it!

 

“I like the old idea, where you could do what you thought you could do and what you wanted to do as long as you didn’t hurt anyone.”

 -Ron Paul

 

If you believe in civil disobedience and wish to organize with millions of Americans in this battle for liberty, please sign up at freedomtofascism.com, and if you choose not to help, report to Central Services immediately and we will have you fitted for an RFID chip… for you own safety, of course.

 

”We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.”
-Benjamin Franklin, at the signing of the Declaration of
Independence, July 4, 1776

 Uninted we stand, Divided we fall.

www.ronpaul2008.com

 

www.wethepeoplefoundation.org

 Source:

America: from freedom to fascism (DVD)
 
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1656880303867390173

 



Published On: 11/10/2007
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My Blog: ZEITGEIST
By: yo_redneck89


What does Christianity, 9/11, & the Federal Reserve have in common? 
 
 
 

-------------------------------------------

"When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace."
-Jimi Hendrix

 "The Christian religion is a parody on the warship of the sun, in which they put a man called Christ in the place of the sun, and pay him the adoration originally payed to the sun."
 - Thomas Paine

 

"They must find it difficult....those who have taken authority as the truth, rather than the truth as authority."
-G. Massey, Egyptologist

 

"Religion can never reform mankind, because religion is slavery."
-Robert G. Ingersoll, 1833-1899

 

"There is something behind the throne greater than the king himself."
-Sir William Pit, House of Lords, 1770

 

"The world is governed by very different personages from what is imagined by those who are not behind the scenes."
-Benjaman Dislaeli, English Statesman, 1844

 

"The real truth of the matter is that a finacial element in the large centers has owned the government since the days of Andrew Jackson."
-Franklin D. Roosevelt, U.S President, 1933

 

"If you want to remain slaves of the bankers and pay for the costs of your own slavery, let them continue to create and control the nation's credit." -Josiah Stamp, 1880-1941  

 

"Power Corrupts; Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely." -Lord Acton, English Historian, 1834-1902

 

I belive that the banking institutions are more dangerous than standing armies.... If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of currency.... The banks and corporations that will grow up arownd them will dprive the people of their property until their children wakeup homeless on the continent their fathers conquered."
-Thomas Jefferson, 1743-1826
 

 

-------------------------------------------

 

ZEITGEIST, The Movie - Official Release - Full Film

1 hr 56 min 23 sec - Jun 26, 2007
Average rating:   (14201 ratings)
Description: ZEITGEIST, The Movie - Official Release - Full Production (including the 'Overture') What does Christianity, 911 and The Federal Reserve have in common? Overture: 0:00-9:34 Part 1: 9:35-35:53 Part 2: 35:54-1:09:16 Part 3: 1:09:17-1:56:23 Please visit www.zeitgeistmovie.com for information and the full source list for this work.

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Published On: 10/23/2007
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Universal Life Church Houston

 

www.universal_life_church_houston@yahoo.com.  Is seeking assistance in the form of donations to help the homeless. Many of these people receive Social Security and other Federal and State assistance. However; due to rising costs, and the lack of mental capacity, these people are victimized and left homeless, often with drug and alcohol dependencies... These people squander their Federal and State assistance in days. This money is meant to last the month, these are your tax dollars being wasted … we are helping them but in the wrong way…so a proposal to establish a care treatment center to teach and assist these publicly dependent people is being established by this church.

Adult care for those that need it... they will no longer wander the streets day and night and be prone to crimes or victims of crime. Their direct supervision will stop crime and reduce reciditivness of those on public support by our church’s watchful eye.

The church seeks to direct these people to areas away from the mainstream population so you will not need to be bothered with them any further... them and yourselves will be reasonably safe. Your tax dollars will no longer be wasted for each person we assist in this program.

This is a self supporting program. Once established with your donations the program will take in enough funds to offset its operating costs... so no additional cost will be incurred for this program...

We do not wish to seek government grants or funds since the government would then dictate to the program how it is operated...the governments’ structure has failed to date; to do anything but waste your tax money and promote crime in these areas. They fail to regulate existing programs in a manner necessary to ensure compliance for those receiving your tax based financial support.

What is this program??? Simply put…

It is the purchase of a building for habitation by those in need of affordable housing that are currently receiving government funding (social security –disability payments, welfare  etc..) for alcohol and drug dependencies or physical and mental disabilities. Or for those who are being released from prisons, hospitals, mental institutions, or found on the street; homeless. These people are incapable of sustaining a living without direct or indirect form of direction and supervision...

Please send donations to:

Rev. Christopher Deiotte

Universal Life Church Houston

2505 Fannin Street

Houston, TX 77002

www.universal_life_church_houston@yahoo.com

 

Thank You and Have a Blessed Day!



Published On: 3/1/2007
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One evening, I asked my eldest daughter how her homework was coming along. "Terrible," she said, "I have to read the Odyssey. Of what relevance is a story about some Greek who was supposed to have lived thousands of years ago to me today?" I picked up her copy of the Immortal Bard's epic poem and fondly remembered when I had read it as a high school freshman more than 30 years earlier. But while I had always enjoyed mythology, my daughter was no fan of Hellenic legend. In an attempt to motivate her with this assignment, I told her, "Sherri, although I didn't know it at the time, this book showed me how to set a world record and gave me a new lease on life. If you'd read it with an open mind, it just might do you some of the good it did me." To prove my claim, I told her the story of my odyssey.

When I entered New Trier in 1963, I was well aware of its reputation as the "Harvard of High Schools" because of its lofty academic standards and the achievements of its students. Many considered the school's crown jewel to be its English Department. Incoming freshman cut their teeth on the Odyssey, and my love of mythology made this assignment one of my more enjoyable school tasks.

But we were taught more than the Homeric account of Odysseus' return to Ithaca from Troy. In every myth lay some grains of truth. Some of those facts I verified in my Ancient World History class. I read of Heinrich Schliemann's excavations in Asia Minor during the late Nineteenth Century where several "Troys" were unearthed. I was also taught that the men who destroyed those cities were the ancestors of the people who established the Greek civilization. Odysseus personified those men. When Rome conquered Greece, the story of the clever Greek gained a wider audience and he became better known by his Latin name, Ulysses.

I read other books in English and studied other peoples in history, but I never forgot the Odyssey. What made it unforgettable to me was the drive that compelled Ulysses to overcome insurmountable obstacles on a ten- year voyage home after fighting a decade-long war. Was his compulsion fictional like the poem or was Homer aware of some force that explained this extraordinary drive? I didn't know but hoped that one day I would find the answer to my question.

New Trier not only taxed the minds of its students but their bodies as well. Physical education exposed pupils to a variety of sports and other physical endeavors. I enjoyed gym because I had always been athletically inclined and had established a daily physical fitness program consisting of five calisthenic exercises. After eight months I had become quite proficient in the push-up.

Students were tested annually in five physical fitness tests, one of which was the push-up. Since my personal best was 200, I felt confident that I could break the school record. When tested, however, I performed only 123 push-ups, four shy of a new standard. The classmate who counted my total sensed my disappointment and suggested that I lighten up because I had just proved that push-ups were as simple as one, two, three. Outwardly, I smiled at his joke but inwardly I had become a push-up perfectionist and felt that I had failed.

Solace was found in the words of Jascha Heifetz, the concert violinist, who said, "There is no such thing as perfection, there are only standards. And after you have set a standard you learn that it was not high enough. You want to surpass it." In an effort to be able to perform calisthenic totals close to my personal bests anytime, I established daily minimum repetitions for all of my exercises and began to increase those minimums.

Late that fall and the following winter, I tried out for and earned positions on both of New Trier's Freshman and Sophomore Gymnastic Squads. During a January practice, a member of the varsity team told me that he didn't believe my push-up total and challenged me to perform 100. Picking up the gauntlet, I made a believer out of him. Successfully meeting this challenge energized me. Still flush with victory and feeling especially "good" during my workout the next day, I performed 222 push-ups. Twenty-four hours later, I still felt "good" and shattered my performance of the day before by ticking off 333 push-ups. Two weeks later, the "good" feeling returned and I executed 444.

I owed my January push-up records to Heifetz's maxim of raising standards. Every day I performed at least one more push-up than the day before. I was like a mountain climber, using these minimums as "base camps" from which I could launch new push-up heights when feeling "good." But the greatest result of my three new personal bests was the breaking of a psychological barrier. Until that time, I was convinced that records could only be broken by small increments. By more than doubling my personal record in less than three weeks, I knew that I didn't have to settle for being merely good at the push-up, I could be great.

How great was an open question. The summer before, I read the Guinness Book of World Records. I found that the book listed records for two of my exercises, sit-ups and chin-ups, but not push-ups. I did, however, have an inkling of what that record was. Several years before while watching the TV show "People are Funny," one of the guests was the world push-up champion who had set a standard of 3,000. I set my sights at exceeding that number and dreamed of my name in the Guinness Book. By the spring, my daily workouts consumed so much of my time that I decided not to go out for the track and field team as a pole vaulter. But my sacrifice of this sport was not in vain. I kept raising the base number of push-ups I performed daily and waited for days when I felt "good" to set new records. By the end of my freshman year, my personal best stood at 2,002 push-ups.

On a day in late July, I executed 3,003 push-ups. But my dream for inclusion in the Guinness Book was dashed. After mentioning my achievement to a friend, he informed me that a Marine had performed 5,000 push-ups. So it was back to completing at least one more push-up than the day before. More than a year passed before the "good" feeling returned. In late August 1965, I performed 4,004 push-ups. The "good" feeling returned four days later and I executed 5,005. Barring some new revelation, I was the world's unofficial push-up champion. Now it was time to put it all together, a record-breaking effort in front of witnesses to make it official.

I decided to go for it during the physical fitness tests administered at school. The year before, I performed 1,000 push-ups, the most I could squeeze into a gym period. This time, I had obtained permission to sign out of a last period study hall and finish the test after school.

On October 5, 1965, I reported to the gym for my junior year push-up test. As I stretched out on a mat, I felt a bit apprehensive. Up until that time, all of my personal best efforts hadn't been planned but rather took place on days that I felt "good." I asked myself, "Can I make this day 'good'?"

After three hours of continuous exercise, my fears had proven groundless. I passed my personal best of 5,005 push-ups and felt so "good" that only the sky was the limit. However, at 5,900, the test administrator informed me that he would stop the exam when I reached my pre-test target of 6,006. For the next fifty push-ups, I pleaded with him to let me continue. But as the responsible adult in charge, he wanted to be sure that I wasn't doing something physically damaging to myself without knowing it. If I didn't stop, he'd sit on me to ensure test termination.

After performing my 6,006th push-up, I stopped and received a round of applause from an audience of about twenty students. The test administrator announced that he was reporting my feat to the newspapers and that any future record-breaking effort by me would have to be monitored by a medical doctor. When I arrived home, dinner had already been served so I ate alone. While dining, I thought about what I had just accomplished.

I had succeeded beyond my wildest expectations. Deep in my heart, I knew that every drop of sweat, every hour of training, and every personal sacrifice I had made to achieve this record had been worth it. I was on top of the world and I liked the view. As Christmas grew near, I began planning to break my own record. After all, I had been stopped when I knew I could do more. Push-ups had become an obsession. Heifetz was right, even though my standard was now the best in the world, it wasn't enough. I felt that I had to surpass it.

To achieve that new standard, I'd need a "good" day, witnesses, and medical supervision. But my quest to discover the limit for my favorite exercise was never realized. Sixty-nine days after breaking the world push-up record, I broke something else, my neck, during a gymnastics practice and was permanently paralyzed.

As I lay in my hospital bed, I looked toward the future and saw only darkness. The body I had worked so long and hard to develop now failed to respond to my commands and imprisoned me. I worried that I would never be able to work or take care of myself and would be a burden on my family. Fears that I might die were replaced by the dread that I would live.

But while my body was shattered, my spirit, although badly bruised, was still intact. I decided to fight back and redirected the effort that had made me a champion toward the arduous task I hoped would lead to my physical independence.

During my rehabilitation, I harkened back to my quest for the push-up record when the going got rough. Knowing that I was capable of achieving what other people considered impossible, I did all that was asked of me and more. I lived in a world of three colors. Black represented the things I couldn't do, white the activities I could. Between these two tones were many shades of gray. I concentrated on this tint and through trial and error discovered what was truly light and dark. While doing so, I brightened my world to an extent that surprised my doctors, nurses, therapists, and me.

When I saw my name in the 1968 edition of the Guinness Book of World Records, my spirit was buoyed and I worked even harder. When the next edition came out two years later, my situation had greatly improved and I was attending the University of Illinois.

In 1973, I graduated, married, and continued my education. Two years later, I began a career as a federal civil servant. Shortly after, I was informed that my record had been broken. I wrote to Guinness for confirmation and my letter was forwarded to Robert Knecht, a professional acrobat. He answered my letter by stating that he had trained for eight years to perform 7,026 consecutive push-ups. "My hat is off to you," he wrote, "Your record was a tough one to beat."

Sherri interrupted and said that while my story was interesting, I hadn't told her how reading the Odyssey helped me set my record or gave me a new lease on life. I responded by asking her what question did I ask myself as a high school freshman. When she answered, "what motivated Ulysses," I told her of a book I had read several years earlier, The Ulysses Factor by J.R.L. Anderson. It was the author's premise that "There is some factor in man, some form of special adaptation which prompts a few individuals to exploits which, however purposeless that they may seem, are of value to the survival of the race." Anderson had found that the grain of truth to the Odyssey was that Homer knew that in the soul of man there is a factor driving him to firsthand discovery. Although this factor is present in all humans, it is highly developed in only a few. In times of trouble, those few lead themselves and others to safety.

Homer personified this factor in the character of Ulysses. The hero of the Odyssey wasn't driven around the Mediterranean by the whim of the gods alone. He drove himself. Once committed to the fight, there was no stopping him. Even though he was eager to return home, he had to know what was across the sea, over a range of hills, and beyond the horizon. History proved Homer correct. Conquerors and explorers who followed were also driven by this force that compelled them to unveil the unknown.

After all the seas were crossed and the land was explored, men invented new challenges to satisfy this compulsion. Some explored the polar regions, climbed mountains, and sailed across the oceans alone in small boats. Others were athletes who prepared their bodies and minds to new extremes.

I was such an athlete. At first all I wanted to do was to improve my physical condition. As my fitness program continued, I discovered that I had a propensity for the push-up. I didn't know what my physical limit for this exercise was, but I simply had to find out.

While seeking that limit, I surpassed all who had come before me. A catastrophic injury put an end to my quest, and I was never able to find my limit. Disappointed, I nevertheless was consoled by the fact that I am one of the few who objectively knows that he'd done something better than it's ever been done before. For ten years and four months no one performed more push-ups than I had.

Eventually, my record would have been broken no matter how many push-ups I would have done. I was touched by the Ulysses factor but Robert was too. Someone will always be waiting in the wings who has trained harder, longer, and wants the record more.

But in the greater scheme of things, it really doesn't matter who can do the most push-ups. What is important is what I derived from the quest. I discovered and cultivated the virtues of discipline, sacrifice, and perseverance within me while pursuing a dream. Shortly after achieving that dream, I found myself engulfed in a nightmare. But the survival component of the Ulysses factor, that leads people to safety in times of trouble, came to my rescue. Had I known in advance that I was going to break my neck, I couldn't have prepared myself better for the demanding task of rehabilitation than to train for the world push-up record. I strove, sought, and found, but unlike Tennyson's Ulysses, my quest yielded me the fortitude I needed to rehabilitate myself to complete independence. My story inspired Sherri to the extent that she read the Odyssey with enough comprehension to pass her English teacher's test. Should her little sister Katie need similar inspiration when she is assigned to read the Odyssey, I'll repeat my story. While it's too early to know whether my daughters will set any records, I hope that they'll give their best efforts to those things that are truly important to them and find within themselves the strength to persevere.

During my life, I have fought many battles, winning some while losing others. After a loss, I still remember the moment when I stood on top of the world. That one act proved to me what I was capable of if I set my mind, body, and spirit to it. It has fortified me to go on fighting battles. The experience has stood me in good stead, because the very essence of the independent life I fought so hard to regain is struggle. The founder of the modern Olympic movement, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, equated those contests to life when he said, "The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle." My greatest hope is that during my final battle I will be able to look back on my life and know in my heart that I struggled well.

Published On: 1/25/2007
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My Blog: school
By: findurownb08


Source Information: http://www.indigenouspeople.net/cherokee.htm

 

The Tsalagi (Cherokee) are a nation of North American Indians that formerly inhabited the mountainous region of the western Carolinas, northern Georgia, and eastern Tennessee. An Iroquoian-speaking people, they originally lived near the Great Lakes they migrated to the Southeast, eventually becoming the largest and most powerful group in that region. Their traditional culture included maize agriculture, settled villages, and well-developed ceremonialism. In 1827 the Tsalagi (Cherokee) established a constitutional form of government.

The first explorers of the Southeast discovered the most talented Indians north of Mexico. Builders, agriculturists, artisans, fishermen, and hunters epitomized especially the Tsalagi (Cherokees)' varied skills. Knowledgeable in herb culture, they developed useful medicines from them that are still used today. They also developed environmental concepts about ecological thought and survival. We are blessed by the legacies of Tsalagi (Cherokee) oral traditions, providing ethnologists with opportunities for cultural interpretations: legends about man, animals, supernatural deities, witches, and other evil influences. Their most famous leader, Sequoya, believing literacy provided power to the white man, alone developed the Tsalagi (Cherokee) alphabet (c.1820), and became immortalized when his name was given to Sequoia National Park in California.

A series of fraudulent, land-acquiring treaties were imposed on the Tsalagi (Cherokee) in the 1830s. The Treaty of New Echota (1835), in which a small tribal faction sold 2.83 million ha (7 million acres) of Tsalagi (Cherokee) land, required their removal westward within 3 years. The vast majority of the Tsalagi (Cherokee) Nation repudiated this document, but under Gen. Winfield SCOTT, most remaining Tsalagi (Cherokee) were driven from their land and forcibly marched to Arkansas and Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) in 1838-39. About 4,000 of the more than 15,000 Tsalagi (Cherokee) who made the journey died of disease and exposure.

In Indian Territory, they joined the CHICKASAW, CHOCTAW, CREEK, and SEMINOLE to form the so-called FIVE CIVILIZED TRIBES. Tribal lands were lost in the 1860s, after the Five Tribes sided with the South during the Civil War, and again in the early 1880s, when the federal government abolished tribal ownership of lands. When Indian Territory became the state of Oklahoma in 1907, all tribal lands were opened for white settlement.

In the 1980s, 43,000 persons of Tsalagi (Cherokee) descent lived in eastern Oklahoma; about 15,000 of these are considered full-blooded. The Tsalagi (Cherokee) who avoided the forced removal of 1838 escaped into the Great Smoky Mountains and resettled in North Carolina, where they formed a tribal corporation in 1889. Tsalagi (Cherokee) on or near the reservation in North Carolina numbered 6,110 in 1987.

 



Published On: 8/29/2006
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August 28th, 2006

FYI: The Federalley's shut us down for the last couple weeks but we're back. They thought any blog this fun must be illigal. 3 weeks of investigation and we came up clean. Now back to business.

Just incase you thought we were messing around this year check out Tadashi Fuse on the cover of the October issue of Transworld Snow.

Mikey then Tadashi. Which I.S. rider's going to grace the cover of Transworld next? Dev has an interview in the next issue, could it be him??

Muffin Mondays:

Muffins of the past brought to you courtesy of Ronnie and Wolfgang. Photo of photo taken by Kale Stephens.

Wheelie of the day:

Here at IS Design we're big fans of wheelies and skids. So much so that anytime I see an impressive photo of one or the other I'll be posting it right here in the furious blog. The wheelie in the photo above takes place in Tokyo and is performed by our very own Steven Day. If you have a blog worthy wheelie or skid please send them to us.



Published On: 8/28/2006
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Grow More Pot
by Jello Biafra
From I Blow Minds for a Living, recorded at Slim's, San Francisco, Nov 21, 1990


Does anybody out there know that for the first time in American history the U.S. Army was used in a war operation against the American people? Right near here, up in Humboldt County about 200 miles north of San Francisco right near a town called Shelter Cove, get this: three- to four-hundred American G.I.s dressed with automatic rifles and fully armed for battle, fanned out on maneuvers through the woods, backed up by a dozen Blackhawk attack helicopters. The mountain people up there were frightened out of their wits! They thought there was a war going on, especially the ones that had soldiers kicking in the doors to their cabins and putting guns to their heads in front of their children.

Why!? Who was the enemy in this war? Not the communists! Not Saddam Hussein! Not Earth First! or even the spotted owl. No! The enemy they called out the army to put down, secretly, so few people outside of Humboldt would get alarmed as possible, it wasn't even a person or an army or a terrorist group! It was a plant, the marijuana plant.

And they actually did manage to find a few for the G.I.s to pull up, and then they had to fly in more from the government stash so the pile would look big enough when they lit the bonfire for the network TV news cameras, so that they could say "Yes! Another triumph in the Drug War!"

Drug War. War. The American army sent to war against the American people. And we're supposed to feel relieved and secure and protected. Protected from what?!

A lot of people with more guts than I'll ever have risked their life and limb all last summer at the Earth First! Redwood Summer Action up in Humboldt County. They were chaining themselves to redwoods that were three times wider than they were, 800 years old, they were spread-eagled, as the saws buzzed right over their heads. They stood in the dirt as the bulldozers charged them and stopped right at their toes. Or people waved clubs at them, charged them with logging trucks, shotguns, you name it. All to try to save some of the last unspoiled virgin forest we have left anywhere in this country from being chopped down and turned into toilet paper, TV Guides and the Weekly World News.

On the other side the loggers saying "What about our jobs!? What about our families!? What about our lives?! You needed wood and cardboard to make those protest signs!"

We need fuel! We need paper! It's almost gone! Where are we gonna get more? The answer, for centuries, has been right under our nose: grow more pot!

If we're serious about saving the earth, saving the ozone and our freedom to go about saving the earth and the ozone, we should start by paying all those dirt-poor coca farmers in South America and out-of-work loggers in Fortuna and Eureka, and Midwest family farmers and rust-belt families too, to all get together and grow more pot!

Why? Get ready for this...! There's a book out called The Emperor Wears No Clothes. The author's name is Jack Herer. It's published by Queen of Clubs, and I think there's ads for it in High Times, or NORML, the National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws, could direct you to a copy I'm sure, and in this book, among other places, it is written that before the 20th century, the marijuana plant provided almost all the world's paper, all the world's clothing and textiles, and almost all the world's rope.

According to none other than the U.S. Department of Agriculture you can make four times as much paper from one acre of hemp plants as you can from an acre of trees. And instead of chopping down all the redwoods in Humboldt County and turning Northern California, Oregon and Washington and Appalachia into the Sahara Desert, if you do it with hemp plants, you can just grow another crop a few months later and make more paper! At one-quarter the cost of making paper from wood pulp and only one-fifth the pollution. The ancient Romans knew this and grew it, Henry VIII made each farmer in old England grow their share, because they knew if you want the strongest natural fiber there is, you all have gotta do your part for the King and grow more pot!

And we did, too! Guess what Levi jeans were originally made out of? And guess what American flags used to be made out of? And guess what the early drafts of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution were written on? And if that's too un-Christian for you, guess what they made Guttenberg and King James Bibles out of? Guess what you can use to power a car? You can get at least four times as much cellulose to make gasohol or methanol from hemp stems as you can from a corn stalk. Which along with solar energy would be a great way to avoid dying for oil in Saudi Arabia.

In the 1920s and 1930s most American cars and farm machinery had the option of running on gas or on methanol; most racing cars still do run on methanol. And George Washington and Thomas Jefferson grew cannabis on their plantations and smoked it, too!

In the 1760s in the American colonies you could even be jailed for not growing pot! Because that was part of the key to becoming economically independent from Britain. Hemp was legal tender in the Americas, a substitute for money, from 1630 clear up to the early 1800s. And hemp seeds are a great source of protein, better than soybeans, and it's cheaper than soybeans, too. Or so says the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Marijuana is legal for medical use in 34 states used to treat glaucoma and pain caused by cancer, and you can digest more protein from a hemp seed than a soybean seed. It's even shown some signs at being able to combat herpes. And, guess what kind of a parachute Mr. Drug War Junta-Man himself George Bush used when he bailed out of that bomber in World War II?

Hemp was illegal by then, but farmers were briefly ordered to grow it again in this country for the war effort and all, and the U.S. Army had their own stash all along in the colonies in the Philippines.

So, how did everything get turned around so damn bad? Doesn't it strike you as a little dumb that we burn oil and choke ourselves and chop down all our trees and ruin innocent people's lives by branding them criminals and throwing them in jails, or sending them off to drug camps, or taking all their property and selling it before they're brought to trial? In the process, making crack and heroin cheaper and easier to get than pot? Why do we do this when we don't have to?

Meanwhile the Police Chief of L.A., Darryl Gates gets front page approval for telling a U.S. Senate committee that pot smokers should be shot on sight. Because smoking pot is treason because, after all, it's illegal.

Why was marijuana cracked down on? And why was it done so violently? Well ... Ready?!

In 1936 Popular Mechanics magazine hailed the invention of a new machine to process hemp, predicting that marijuana/hemp would once again become the world's largest cash crop. This did not at all sit well with people like Hearst Paper Manufacturing or Kimberly-Clark or other cutthroat multinationals who happen to have large timber holdings. It didn't sit to well with tobacco barons for obvious reasons, and it sure as hell didn't sit too well with old buddies DuPont. Hemp processing uses only one-fifth the chemicals need to process wood pulp, and DuPont had just patented a new wood pulp sulfide process, and DuPont's patented plastic fibers had just passed up hemp as the No. 2 fiber, next to cotton, and they wanted to keep it that way!

And the last thing the big drug companies wanted was to lose their share of the ever lucrative disease industry market, to more affordable medicine made from marijuana or other natural ingredients because, check this out, you can't own and make money off a patent for medicine in this country, unless the medicine has chemicals in it. If it's all natural ingredients, you can't patent it. Maybe that's why we don't have access to a cure for cancer or AIDS, or why the health food store I go to keeps getting harassed by federal authorities for selling herbal medicines.

Meanwhile, guess who owns Congress? So marijuana was outlawed in 1937 and they fanned the racism fires playing the racism card just like they do when they want to crack down on rock-and-roll or rap or hip hop or something like that. They said that smoking marijuana might cause you to fall under the influence of listening to jazz! I believe that it was even said on the floor of Congress that marijuana had to be banned because smoking it might make a black man look at a white woman twice. And let's not forget that U.S. Treasury Department funded documentary film, called, "Reefer Madness!" So marijuana was outlawed as devil weed in 1937. Only 53 years ago it was legal. Need I say more, on why our beloved fearless leaders go out of their way to censor our access to information so damn much? Can you imagine the mass outrage if this kind of stuff ever really got out? And people knew that this big drug problem that they keep reading about and hearing about is being caused by the government themselves? And people knew how easily each one of us individually could turn our ecological and human crisis around without resorting to Nazi bullshi*t like oil wars and drug wars by just saying no! to George Bush.

And if people knew that the very companies that provide us with such crucial conveniences as Kleenex, paper towels and junk mail, have systematically and brutally rearranged every single one of our lives so that we are literally wiping our ass with out own future?

And it doesn't have to be this way! I mean, I'll tell you, I do feel kind of funny saying all this because I used to be a pothead and I hate smoking the stuff, and the whole low-energy stoner Deadhead vibe that comes with it. But, you don't need to smoke pot to realize that the real drug problem in this country is not the drugs. And we can help solve drug problems, crime problems, environmental problems - even our racial problems if we say no to George Bush and get together and grow more pot!


Published On: 8/5/2006
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  • You pronounce it "Muntreal", not "Mahntreal".
  • You have ever said anything like "I have to stop at the guichet before we get to the dep."
  • Your only concern about jaywalking is getting a ticket.
  • You understand and frequently use terms like 'unilingual,' 'anglophone,''francophone,' and 'allophone.'
  • You agree that Montreal drivers are crazy, but you're secretly proud of their nerves of steel.
  • The most exciting thing about the South Shore is that you can turn right on a red.
  • You know that the West Island is not a separate geographical formation.
  • In moments of paranoia, you think that there's no red line on the Metro because red is a federalist colour.
  • You have to bring smoked meat from Schwartz's and bagels from St-Viateur if you're visiting anyone west of Cornwall.
  • You refer to Tremblant as "up North."
  • You know how to pronounce Pie IX.
  • You have an ancient auntie who still says "Saint Dennis."
  • You believe to the depth of your very being that Toronto has no soul - but your high school reunion is held in Toronto because most of your classmates live there now.
  • You greet everyone, from lifelong bosom friends to some one you met once a few years ago, with a two-cheek kiss.
  • You know at least one person who works for the CBC, and at least one other person who used to work for Nortel.
  • You're not impressed with hardwood floors.
  • You've been hearing Celine Dion jokes longer than anyone else.
  • You can watch soft-core porn on broadcast TV, and this has been true for at least 25 years.
  • You cringe when Bob Cole pronounces French hockey player names.
  • You get Bowser & Blue.
  • You were drinking cafe-au-lait before it was latte.
  • You order fries 'with sauce', not 'with gravy'.
  • Shopper's Drug Mart is Pharmaprix and Staples is Bureau en Gros, and PFK is finger lickin' good.
  • You really believe Just For Laughs is an international festival.
  • For two weeks a year, you are a jazz afficianado.
  • You need to be reminded by prominent signage that you should wait for the green light.
  • Everyone on the street - drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists - think they're immortal, and that you'll move first.
  • You're proud that Montreal is the home of Pierre Trudeau, Mordechai Richler, William Shatner, Leonard Cohen and the Great Antonio...and, you consider Donald Sutherland (and by default, Keifer), Guy Lafleur, Charlie Biddle, and Roch Carrier Montrealers, too.
  • You know that Rocket Richard had nothing to do with astrophysics.
  • You know the apocryphal story of the fat lady at Eaton's.
  • You miss apostrophes.
  • You've seen Brother Andre's heart.
  • No matter how bilingual you are, you still don't understand "ile aux tourtes."
  • You know the difference between the SQ, the SAQ, and the SAAQ.
  • You measure temperature and distance in metric, but weight and height in Imperial measure.
  • You show up at a party at 11 p.m. and no one else is there yet.
  • April Wine once played your high school (alternatively, Sass Jordon or Gowan).
  • You know that Montreal is responsible for introducing the following to North America: bagels, souvlaki, smoked meat and Supertramp. Also, Chris de Burgh.
  • You don't drink pop or soda, you drink soft drinks.
  • You have graduated from high school and have a degree, but you've never been in grade 12.
  • The margarine in your fridge is the same colour as lard.
  • Every once in a while, you wonder whatever happened to Luba.
  • You never thought that Corey Hart was cool, but you know someone whose cousin or something dated him.
  • There has to be at least 30 cm of snow on the ground in less than 24 hours for you to consider it too snowy to drive.
  • You remember where you were during the Ice Storm.
  • You used to be an Expos fan, but now all you really miss is Youppi.
  • You're a Habs fan; always was, always will be...
  • You know that your city's reputation for beautiful women is based on centuries-old couplings between French soldiers and royally-commissioned whores (aka Les Filles du Roi).
  • You don't understand anyone from Lac-St-Jean, but you can fake the accent.
  • You've been to the Tam Tams, and know they have nothing to do with wee Scottish hats.
  • You discuss potholes like most people discuss weather.
  • You encounter bilingual homeless people.
  • While watching an American made-for-TV movie, you realize that "Vienna" is actually Old Montreal, that "New York" is actually downtown and that the "The Futuristic City" is actually Habitat '67.
  • You find it amusing when people from outside Quebec compliment you on how good your English is.
  • You have yet to understand a single announcement made on the Metro PA system, no matter what the language.
  • You think of Old Montreal as nothing but a bunch of over-priced restaurants, old buildings and badly paved streets.
  • You understand that La Fete Nationale is not a celebration of "Quebec's birthday".
  • You don't find American comedians speaking "gibberish" French even remotely funny.
  • You don't find it weird that there's a strip club on every corner downtown.
  • You like your pizza all-dressed.


Published On: 3/20/2006
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Q. Is Marijuana Addictive?
A. No, it is not. Most users are moderate consumers who smoke it socially to relax. We now know that our population have "addictive personalities" and they are neither more nor less likely to overindulge in cannabis than in anything else. On a relative scale, marijuana is less habit forming than either sugar or chocolate but more so than anchovies. Sociologists report a general pattern of marijuana use that peaks in the early adult years, followed by a period of levelling off and then a gradual reduction in use.

Words of Wisdom:

Q. Has Anyone Ever Died From Smoking Marijuana?
A. No; not one single case, not ever. THC is one of the few chemicals for which there is no known toxic amount [10]. The federal agency NIDA says that autopsies reveal that 75 people per year are high on marijuana when they die: this does not mean that marijuana caused or was even a factor in their deaths. The chart below compares the number of deaths attributable to selected substances in a typical year:

Tobacco...............................340,000 - 395,000
Alcohol (excluding crime/accidents).............125,000
Drug Overdose (prescription)............24,000 - 27,000
Drug Overdose (illegal)...................3,800 - 5,200
Marijuana.............................................0



Published On: 1/9/2006
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My Journal: 7/4/2004
By: sevamula


"I've been to war [sic]. I've raised twins. If I had a choice, I'd rather go to war." -- Bush, flat out lying in 2002.

"One of the interesting initiatives we've taken in Washington, D.C., is we've got these vampire-busting devices. A vampire is a—a cell deal you can plug in the wall to charge your cell phone."—Denver, CO. Aug. 14, 2001

"Well, it's an unimaginable honor to be the president during the Fourth of July of this country. It means what these words say, for starters. The great inalienable rights of our country. We're blessed with such values in America. And I--it's--I'm a proud man to be the nation based upon such wonderful values."--Visiting the Jefferson Memorial, Washington, D.C., July 2, 2001

"We spent a lot of time talking about Africa, as we should. Africa is a nation that suffers from incredible disease."--After meeting with the leaders of the European Union, Gothenburg, Sweden, June 14, 2001

"It's very important for folks to understand that when there's more trade, there's more commerce."--Quebec City, Canada, April 21, 2001


"I've coined new words, like, misunderstanding and Hispanically."—Radio-Television Correspondents Association dinner, Washington, D.C., March 29, 2001

"I am mindful not only of preserving executive powers for myself, but for predecessors as well."—Washington, D.C., Jan. 29, 2001

"Then I went for a run with the other dog and just walked. And I started thinking about a lot of things. I was able to—I can't remember what it was. Oh, the inaugural speech, started thinking through that."—Pre-inaugural interview with U.S. News & World Report, Jan. 22, 2001 issue

"Redefining the role of the United States from enablers to keep the peace to enablers to keep the peace from peacekeepers is going to be an assignment."—Interview with the New York Times, Jan. 14, 2001 (Thanks to Rachael Contorer.)

"The California crunch really is the result of not enough power-generating plants and then not enough power to power the power of generating plants."—Interview with the New York Times, Jan. 14, 2001

"They misunderestimated me."—Bentonville, Ark., Nov. 6, 2000

"I know how hard it is for you to put food on your family."—Greater Nashua, N.H., Chamber of Commerce, Jan. 27, 2000

"I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully."-Saginaw, Mich., Sept. 29, 2000

"The great thing about America is everybody should vote."-Austin, Texas, Dec. 8, 2000

"It's clearly a budget. It's got a lot of numbers in it."--Reuters, May 5, 2000

"Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?"-Florence, S.C., Jan. 11, 2000

"I understand small business growth. I was one."-New York Daily News, Feb. 19, 2000

"The most important job is not to be governor, or first lady in my case."-Pella, Iowa, as quoted by the San Antonio Express-News, Jan. 30, 2000

"It's important for us to explain to our nation that life is important. It's not only life of babies, but it's life of children living in, you know, the dark dungeons of the Internet."—Arlington Heights, Ill., Oct. 24, 2000

"I think if you know what you believe, it makes it a lot easier to answer questions. I can't answer your question."— Reynoldsburg, Ohio, Oct. 4, 2000

"Natural gas is hemispheric. I like to call it hemispheric in nature because it is a product that we can find in our neighborhoods."—Austin, Texas, Dec. 20, 2000

"The senator [McCain] has got to understand if he's going to have—he can't have it both ways. He can't take the high horse and then claim the low road."—To reporters in Florence, S.C., Feb. 17, 2000

"We ought to make the pie higher."—South Carolina Republican Debate, Feb. 15, 2000

"They want the federal government controlling Social Security like it's some kind of federal program."—Debate in St. Charles, Mo., Nov. 2, 2000

"It's your money. You paid for it."—LaCrosse, Wis., Oct. 18, 2000

"It's not the governor's role to decide who goes to heaven. I believe that God decides who goes to heaven, not George W. Bush." -- George W. Bush, in the Houston Chronicle.

"There ought to be limits to freedom. We're aware of this [web] site, and this guy is just a garbage man, that's all he is." -- George Jr., discussing a web site that parodies him

"I'm a uniter not a divider. That means when it comes time to sew up your chest cavity, we use stitches as opposed to opening it up." -- Bush, on David Letterman, March 2, 2000. (the audience booed)

"I didn't -- I swear I didn't -- get into politics to feather my nest or feather my friends' nests." -- Bush Jr., in the Houston Chronicle


Has anyone seen the Ali G movie? Remind you of somebody?

Published On: 4/7/2004
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My Journal: 9/1/2003
By: Meggs


ok i am definitely bummed b/c after i wrote the longest journal entry today the thing crashed but oh well...

i suppose i shall begin again...

my W2's came yesterday...this past year i grossed $13,902.88 from that subract:

$512 for car insurance
$1,600 for car loan
$6,850 for school loans
$1,320 for gas and car repairs
$555.30 for state taxes
$201.59 for medicare
$1400.30 for federal income tax
$861.98 for social security
$720 for phone
________________________________________
$14,021.17 ??? how does that work

i hadn't even included xmas gifts, birthday gifts, my trip to tahoe, clothing, food, wedding, snowbording...

how did i do it?

i had best get all of that shit back or else i will kill the government until they are dead!!!


Published On: 1/9/2003
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My Journal: 15/10/2003
By: Meggs



um ok, would you ever answer this add?

www.craigslist.org


TOPLESS HOUSECLEANER WANTED

3 story, 4 bedroom home in Federal Way. Seeking topless housecleaner for once a week approx. 3-4 hours. Owner is member of AANR (www.aanr.com). Photos on my homepage at

www.dazzled.com/windzcry/sanctuary.html

under the "Sleepless in Seattle" link. Respond with photo.

Compensation: $30 hour


Shall we say WACK JOB!


Published On: 10/15/2003
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My Journal: 30/10/2002
By: crash1


Gosh, I had to get up so early at 7.30 am. I'm not used to it - I'm a student. LOL. Lectures have been pretty interesting, even though it was just macroeconomics and federal law. My english class has been ridiculous as always, but funny anywayz. Our teacher has no idea about english and he's so much into british english which leads to kinda like confrontations sometimes. Now I'm finished with school and tomorrow's a day off, which is really kewl. Dunno, what I'm gonna do this evening or tomorrow, but I'm sure there will be a kewl party or whatever...

Oh, I received a way kewl postcard from Hawaii today, which made me smile. Thx Skip I'll c ya soon.

Finally I found accomodation in Austria. I'll go snowboarding there in the end of december, so I'll be celebrating new year's eve in Austria, too. Yippppieeeh.

IT'S SO MUCH BETTER TO BE A CORE MEMBER, COZ YOU DON'T HAVE THOSE FUCKIN POP-UP ADS ANYMORE.

Published On: 10/30/2002
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My Journal: 20/1/2004
By: zoki


so, i study urban planning. i started out studying architecture, but then switched to urban planning. basically, i found i was more interested in why the architecture was important as a small piece of the landscape, than designing the architecture itself.

one of my classmates once explained the people dont understand urban planning because it is focused on studying what most would consider the everyday mundane. i was reading this article for class this weekend that i found really interesting, and pretty much explains my classmates theory.

The American Metropolis at Century’s End:
Past and Future Influences by Robert Fishman
Rutgers University

The top 10 influences on the American metropolis of the past 50 years are as follows:
1. The 1956 Interstate Highway Act and the dominance of the automobile
2. Federal Housing Administration mortgage financing and subdivision regulation
3. Deindustrialization of central cities
4. Urban renewal: downtown redevelopment and public housing projects (1949 Housing Act)
5. Levittown (the mass-produced suburban tract house)
6. Racial segregation and job discrimination in cities and suburbs
7. Enclosed shopping malls
8. Sun-belt Style Sprawl
9. Air conditioning
10. Urban riots of the 1960s
The 10 most likely influences on the American metropolis for the next 50 years are as follows:
1. Growing disparities of wealth
2. Suburban political majority
3. Aging of the baby boomers
4. Perpetual “underclass” in central cities and inner-ring suburbs
5. “Smart growth”: environmental and planning initiatives to limit sprawl
6. The Internet
7. Deterioration of the “first-ring” post 1945 suburbs
8. Shrinking household size
9. Expanded superhighway system of “outer beltways” to serve new edge cities
10. Racial integration as part of the increasing diversity in cities and suburbs

yes, i find this thoroughly interesting.





Published On: 1/20/2004
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My Journal: 30/1/2003
By: Raze


If you buy an XBOX - you support terrorism....

http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/homefront.html

Major Companies Donated Money to Al Qaeda

C H I C A G O, Jan. 30 — Believing they were giving to a reputable charity, Microsoft and other corporations donated thousands of dollars through an employee matching program to a group prosecutors accuse of funneling money to Osama bin Laden's terror network.

The donations were disclosed in court papers made public Wednesday in the federal racketeering case against Enaam Arnaout, head of Palos Hills-based Benevolence International Foundation.

Arnaout, 40, a Syrian-born U.S. citizen, is scheduled to go to trial Feb. 10 on charges of conspiracy to commit racketeering and providing aid to terrorist organizations in connection with his Islamic charity.

Arnaout, in federal custody pending trial, denies his group ever aided terrorists or other violent organizations. He has described the group as a charity helping the poor and downtrodden in Muslim countries.

Arnaout's indictment said the group had a "matching gift program" that urged donors to persuade their employers to match their contributions.

But the indictment never made clear just what was entailed by the matching program.

The reference to the corporate gifts was contained in court papers made public Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Suzanne Conlon. The papers earlier had been ordered sealed at the request of Arnaout's defense attorneys.

The Chicago Tribune had intervened, asking Conlon to unseal the papers and make them public. She ruled in response to the Tribune's motion.

The court papers quote a "Double the Donation" memo written by a Benevolence International official as naming three corporations that have donated money to the group.

"In actual fact BIF has long received direct employee donations as well as matching gifts from many firms including Microsoft, UBS and Compaq in Houston, TX," the memo says.

Microsoft spokeswoman Stacy Drake said in reply to questions that the software giant had furnished $20,000 in such matching donations to BIF "over a period of time."

__________________________________________

As if it wasn't bad enough Gates was cheering and celebrating his xbox in Times Square while peopole were cleaning up body parts less than 2 miles down the road at Ground Zero....now it turns out that he helped make 9/11 possible.




Published On: 1/30/2003
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