| Charles Haynes/Wikipedia |
| Foie gras with mustard seeds and green onions in duck jus |
The World According To Jack
I’m Tired of Having Shit Jammed Down My Throat
Commentary By Jack Rikess
Toke of the Town
Northern California Correspondent
Gavage; (French orig., to gorge)
1. Practice of feeding an animal against their will
2. Supplying a nutritional substance by means of a plastic tube.
On July 1st of 2012, California banned Foie Gras from being sold in state’s restaurants or stores. Those epicureans among us know that Foie Gras is made from the liver of a goose or a duck that has been forcibly enlarged by being fed utilizing a long funnel that transfers corn or other grains directly into the bird’s stomach. The mash is forced down their throats many times a day fattening up the birds for slaughter while producing, some say an exquisite liver-like substance in the process. That’s basically Foie Gras, not counting thousands of years of French history.
This popular and well-known delicacy is like smashed giblets drenched with butter purée and pressed in a liver-casing that’s guarantees a creamy rich good time. Now it is prohibited to sell Foie Gras in California, just as it has been outlawed Illinois and in London for some time.
So your first thought is, when they outlaw Foie Gras, only outlaws will have Foie Gras.
Wrong, Ducky. When the ban came down prohibiting the fatty bloated liver spam, dedicated activists hardly wasted any time responding with the birth of the Foie Gras Black Market. The parallels to the prohibition on… alcohol are uncanny.
| Kush |
Results from a new study show indicate that bipolar patients with a history of marijuana use have better neurocognitive function than those who have never used cannabis.
The team, from The Zucker Hillside Hospital in Glen Oaks, New York, found that patients with bipolar I (BD I) disorder who used marijuana performed better on tests of attention, processing speed, and working memory than other BD 1 patients, reports Mark Cowen at News Medical.
“These data could be interpreted to suggest that cannabis use may have a beneficial effect on cognitive functioning in patients with severe psychiatric disorders,” said lead researcher Raphael Braga.
| North Coast Journal Blogthing |
It’s not Weeds, it’s real.
By Sharon Letts
The property manager broke
it to her gently. The house she grew up in, the home she hoped would one day
help her through retirement was damaged by a grow operation she knew nothing
about. Of course, the property management people didn’t know either. No one
knew.
“That’s how it is,” she thought as she drove through her own
neighborhood. “All of these homes could be grow houses. You really can’t tell.”
| Rise & Pine |
Patients Will Protest In Oakland Monday, Demand End To Federal Attacks
President Obama’s visit to Oakland follows aggressive DOJ actions aimed at shutting down city-permitted dispensaries
Hundreds of medical marijuana patients and advocates will stage a rally Monday in downtown Oakland at a fundraiser for President Obama’s re-election campaign. The president’s visit to Oakland follows a recent forfeiture action aimed at shutting down Harborside Health Center, a city-permitted dispensary that has operated since 2006 without incident.
Earlier this year, the Obama Justice Department raided and shut down another of Oakland’s permitted dispensaries, Blue Sky, leaving the city with a dwindling number of facilities to serve Oakland’s patient population. On Monday, protesters will demand an end to federal interference and call for the firing of Melinda Haag, the U.S. Attorney for Northern California.
| Ohio Medical Marijuana |
President Obama seeks campaign contributions from Oakland community after federal interference causes hundreds to lose jobs and healthcare benefits
News conference scheduled in conjunction with presidential visit: Monday, July 23, 2012 at 1:45 p.m.
Oaksterdam University, 1600 Broadway, Oakland, CA
President Barack Obama is scheduled to visit the heart of America’s medical marijuana community just days after his appointed U.S. Attorney, Melinda Haag, intentionally and admittedly targeted Harborside Health Center – a state-legal medical cannabis facility – in violation of administration policy.
On July 23, President Obama is scheduled to give a speech at the Fox Theater in Oakland. To coincide with this event, advocates are planning a permitted, peaceful protest originating at Oakland’s City Hall; a press conference at Oaksterdam University; and concurrent actions in Oregon, Washington, and Colorado.
Multiple businesses in the vicinity of the Fox Theater are also expected to display green flags on their storefronts in solidarity with local medical cannabis collectives targeted by the administration.
| Spin Sucks |
If all goes according to plan, Toke of the Town, along with all its Village Voice Media sister sites, will be rolling out the new Livefyre commenting system throughout the day tomorrow (Friday).
This is a big switch, so there might be a bit of weirdness while all the databases update. This isn’t proof of some sinister conspiracy, and it doesn’t mean that the Cops Are Watching You®.
It just might take a little while for all the older comments to be imported into the new system and appear.
Here are a few relevant points about the new Livefyre commenting system and the allied My Voice Nation, a global profile system.
| Virgin |
2012 World AIDS Conference: Criminalization of Drug Use is Fueling the Global HIV/ AIDS Pandemic
Landmark Report Calls for Decriminalization and Expansion of Proven, Cost-Effective Solutions to Reduce HIV/AIDS
The International AIDS Conference, the world’s largest gathering of HIV/AIDS experts and activists, will be held in the United States for the first time in 22 years on July 22-27, in Washington D.C. Distinguished world leaders and public health advocates are mobilizing with a clear message: Criminalization of drug use is fueling the global HIV/ AIDS pandemic.
| Vaporizers FTW |
In an innovation sure to please patients who can’t afford to, well, cough up almost $700 for a Volcano vaporizer, one San Francisco medical marijuana delivery service is now offering the top-shelf vaporizers for rental.
Volcanoes, like other vaporizers, gently heat the herbal material without burning it, so you get pure flavor and aroma without smoke. Vaporization creates a fine mist, similar to steam, with the result being what many say is better flavor, increased purity, and greater effect.
Many patients who find cannabis smoke to be irritating report effective relief through inhaling vapor.
But with the latest digital model of the Volcano retailing for $669, many patients couldn’t afford to experience the healthy luxury of German vaporizer engineering (the Volcano is manufactured by the German firm of Storz & Bickel).
| Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ |
| This collective, in Olympia, Washington, is a real innovator among medical marijuana access points |
Washington’s Sonshine Organics Also Features A Marijuana Farmer’s Market Twice A Month
A medical marijuana access point in Olympia, Washington, has taken convenience to the next level, opening a drive-through window for patients.
Having visited about 70 collectives now in my capacity as “Toke Signals” marijuana/dispensaries reviewer for the Seattle Weekly, the drive-through window at Sonshine Organics is a feature I’ve never seen before. To my knowledge, this is the first one in the Pacific Northwest.
According to Sonshine’s Sarena Haskins, the drive-through window is open on Fridays and Saturdays for the convenience of patients. “For example, busy mothers who don’t want to leave their kids in the car,” she told me.
| AllGov |
A petition which aimed to persuade the Obama Administration to allow military veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder to use medical marijuana was rejected by the White House.
Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), wrote last month that marijuana is not a “benign drug,” and does not meet standards for safe or effective medicine, reports Patricia Kime at USA Today. (Apparently, “real” medicines are supposed to kill people in droves — you know, like all the poisons Big Pharma is peddling. Pot doesn’t do that.)
It’s particularly ironic, in a crazy-making sort of way, for the Drug Czar to answer any questions about legalizing marijuana for any purpose, since he is bound by law to oppose marijuana legalization. But if Kerli was feeling any of the irony, he didn’t let on; he was a good robot, mouthing meaningless platitudes on a dead stage.