This is utterly shocking.

Airline Pilot Proselytizes in the Air

An American Airlines pilot asked Christians on his flight to identify themselves and suggested the non-Christians discuss the faith with them, the airline said.

American’s Flight 34 was headed from Los Angeles to New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport on Friday when the pilot asked Christians on board to raise their hands, Wagner said.

The pilot, whose name was not released, told the airline that he then suggested the other passengers use the flight time to talk to the Christians about their faith, Wagner said.

Passenger Amanda Nelligan told WCBS-TV of New York that the pilot called non-Christians “crazy” and that his comments “felt like a threat.” She said she and several others aboard were so worried they tried to call relatives on their cell phones before flight attendants assured them they were safe and that people on the ground had been notified about the pilot’s comments.

The pilot also told passengers he would be available for discussion at the end of the flight. Wagner said the pilot had just returned to work from a weeklong mission trip to Costa Rica.

caught with pants down

Uncle Sam's Genitals Go on Display

Uncle Sam, that symbol of U.S. patriotism, has a front seat on an extravagantly decorated float in the parade of samba schools in Rio de Janeiro's upcoming Carnival.

It won't be a pretty sight though. His pants are down around his ankles, his genitals exposed for all to see, and his outstretched fingers smeared with ink.

And somewhere out in the crowd will be hundreds of Saddam Hussein look-a-likes.

[...] "It is critical and satirical," Sao Clemente vice president Roberto Gomez told a visitor to the warehouse. "Uncle Sam will reflect the frictions between the United States and Brazil."

The two countries have been embroiled in a dispute this past year over international trade accords. When the float was first designed, Uncle Sam was to be squatting toilet-fashion over a model of the Brazilian Congress, Gomez said.

Then Washington offended Brazilians by imposing compulsory fingerprinting when they entered the United States. Brazil retaliated with a similar measure.

"With the fingerprinting, we decided to move him to the front of the float," Gomez said.

Uncle Sam is also be gagged, symbolising a perceived U.S. clamp-down on freedoms.

Not Canada but California

Judge Orders Pot Returned to Suspects

A judge ordered police to return marijuana to the two men it was confiscated from.

Police pulled over Leo Beus on Sept. 22 because his car had tinted windows. Beus, 47, and his friend, Jon Balesteri, 54, had purchased 18 ounces of marijuana a day earlier at the Oakland Cannabis Buyers Club, said their attorney, Ben Rice.

They didn't have their medical prescriptions with them, but police allowed them to go home and retrieve them, Beus said. However, their $3,000-plus worth of marijuana was confiscated for evidence.

Beus and Balesteri were charged with transporting and possessing marijuana for sale, but the charges were later dropped.

California allows people to grow, smoke or use medical marijuana with a doctor's recommendation.

Rice said Superior Court Judge Art Danner ordered the pot returned because of the December federal appeals court ruling that a congressional act outlawing marijuana can not apply in states with such laws.

(no subject)

Blow Your Mind with a Look at Your Beer

Income/IQ test at Guardian Unlimited

Try it, you'll like it. . . after a fashion.

(by way of prema)

(no subject)

Court Win Opens Doors for Hemp Food

[L]ate last week a federal appeals court ruled that the Drug Enforcement Administration cannot prevent sales of hemp foods, dismissing the government's argument that it has the right to regulate food that contains traces of tetrahydrocannibinol (THC). THC is the compound that gives marijuana its psychoactive effects and is a Schedule I substance under the Controlled Substances Act, thus illegal for consumption.

[...] The court said hemp seeds and oil used in food were naturally occurring and weren't considered marijuana, and as such fell outside the definition of a Schedule I drug.

Moreover, the court concluded, the DEA tried to change the definition of THC to include food products without following precise federal requirements for reclassifying a drug.

"The DEA has no authority to regulate drugs that are not scheduled, and it has not followed procedures required to schedule a substance," wrote Judge Betty Fletcher.

[...] Hemp advocates believe it is unlikely the DEA will appeal, in large part because the judges' decision was unanimous and one judge on the panel, Reagan appointee Alex Kozinski, is a well-respected conservative jurist whose opinions hold sway even with conservative Supreme Court justices.

During a Sept. 17, 2003, hearing, Kozinski asked how the DEA's efforts would differ from an attempt to outlaw poppy-seed bagels. The seeds can contain trace amounts of opiates.

(no subject)

My gap helped me see myself as a nonsymmetrical being early in my development.

My face would be rather symmetrical if I did not have a diastema.

At the same time, I like my gap.