The internet is weird: 2009

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Friday, December 18, 2009

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

New Jersey Likely Next to Legalize Medical Marijuana

By SUZANNE SATALINE

New Jersey is poised to become the next state to allow residents to use marijuana, when recommended by a doctor, for relief from serious diseases and medical conditions.

The state Senate has approved the bill and the state Assembly is expected to follow. The legislation would then head to the governor's office for his signature.

Gov. Jon Corzine, the Democrat who lost his re-election bid last month, has indicated he would sign the bill if it reaches his desk before he leaves office in January. It would likely be one of Mr. Corzine's last acts before relinquishing the job to Republican Chris Christie.

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Associated Press

New Jersey Sen. Nicholas Scutari, left, discusses his medical-marijuana bill with Sen. Gerald Cardinale in February.

Mr. Christie has indicated he would be supportive of such legislation, but had concerns that one draft of a bill he read didn't have enough restrictions, a spokeswoman said.

The bill has been endorsed by the New Jersey Academy of Family Physicians and the New Jersey State Nurses Association.

Some lawmakers oppose the legislation, saying they fear the proliferation of marijuana dispensaries, as in California, where medical marijuana is legal. "It sends a mixed message to our children if you can walk down the street and see pot shops," said Republican Assemblywoman Mary Pat Angelini.

Federal law bars the use of marijuana. But legislatures in several states, including California, Colorado, Michigan, New Mexico, Rhode Island and Vermont, permit use of the drug for medical purposes. Attorney General Eric Holder said earlier this year that federal prosecutors wouldn't prosecute people complying with state medical marijuana laws.

The New Jersey bill would allow people with debilitating medical conditions to grow, possess and use marijuana for personal use, provided that a physician allows it after completing a full assessment of the patient's history and condition. The conditions that are stipulated in the Senate bill include cancer, glaucoma and human immunodeficiency viruses.

State Sen. Nicholas Scutari, a Democrat who has led the fight for the medical-marijuana bill, said that was not a final list. He said the Senate bill would have to be reconciled with whatever the Assembly might pass.

Support for the legislation stems partly from sympathy for the plight of John Ray Wilson, a New Jersey resident who suffers from multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune disease that affects the central nervous system. Mr. Wilson is scheduled to go on trial in December on felony drug charges, including operating a drug-production facility and manufacturing drugs. State police said they found 17 mature marijuana plants growing alongside his home in 2008. He has pleaded not guilty.

The Superior Court judge who will oversee the case has barred Mr. Wilson from explaining to the jury that he uses marijuana for his multiple sclerosis instead of more conventional medicines, which he said he can't afford, since he has no medical insurance.

If convicted, Mr. Wilson faces up to 20 years in prison. "It definitely helps for pain," Mr. Wilson said. "Stress can bring MS on. And I'm definitely under some stress."

David Wald, a spokesman for the state attorney general, which is arguing the state's position, said: "We're prosecuting the law."

At least two lawmakers, including Mr. Scutari, have asked Mr. Corzine to pardon Mr. Wilson. "I think it's unfair," said Mr. Scutari. "To try to incarcerate him for years and years doesn't serve a good government function."

The governor's office said it wouldn't comment on pardons involving an ongoing case.

Mr. Wilson's case hasn't persuaded Ms. Angelini, who voted against it in the health committee. As the executive director of Prevention First, an antidrug and antiviolence nonprofit, she said she was concerned that the bill would open the door for more liberal drug policies.

"If the drug laws are lax," she said, "that can open it up to eventual drug legalization."

Write to Suzanne Sataline at suzanne.sataline@wsj.com

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Singularity and 2012 - f that movie

Thursday, November 26, 2009

weird gaga

check the photos and similarity

Lady gaga satan Illuminati pose

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Apps of the Week: To infinity, and beyond!

(CNN) -- Space Shuttle Atlantis has blasted off, on its way to the international space station. The annual Leonid meteor shower peaked Tuesday. And NASA just found water on the moon.

The past week in space news has been buzzier than, well, Buzz Aldrin.

To keep up with it all, here are three smartphone applications aimed at your inner space geek. Because you never know when you might get the urge to track the progress of a spacecraft or just look at pretty pictures of stars and planets.

NASA app for iPhone (free). The official app of the U.S. space agency. An orbit-tracker tracks the positions of the space station and other spacecraft orbiting Earth. The app also offers users access to NASA's vast image library and integrates its Twitter feeds.

Pros: A quick finger tap on "Images" turned up galleries of more than 6,000 space-related photos on a variety of subjects, from rocket launches to the reddish landscape of Mars.

Cons: More than 24 hours after Atlantis's Monday launch, the app's "Missions" page offered little new info. Much better was the "Updates" page -- basically a Twitter stream -- that revealed some timelier tidbits, including the news that a post-launch survey of Atlantis' heat shield appeared to have found no problems.

Astronomy Picture of the Day (iPhone, free). This simple app, developed from a popular Web site in partnership with NASA, is pretty much what it sounds like. Every day, a gorgeous new photo of a galaxy or other astronomical feature shows up on your phone's screen. You can scroll through previous days' pictures or leap way back in time to a specific day -- your birthday, maybe? -- through 1995, when the site launched.

Pros: You can use the iPhone's pinch-and-drag feature to zoom in on images.

Cons: Many of these spectacular pictures beg to be seen on a screen bigger than 3.5 inches across.

Pocket Universe: Virtual Sky Astronomy (iPhone, $2.99). Ideal for on-the-go backyard astronomers, this app uses the iPhone's GPS capability to give you a guide to each night's sky as seen from your location. You get information on the moon's phase, which objects are visible with the naked eye (Jupiter, usually) and where to look for them, astronomy news and even a quiz.

Pros: Pocket Universe presents you with a virtual map of your area's night sky. Using the iPhone's compass feature, you can move the phone around and its view of the stars will match what you see. The virtual map also displays

Cons: You occasionally might get a "compass interference" error message that indicates your phone is confused about where it's pointed. Waving the phone in a figure-eight motion, as instructed on the message, appears to fix the problem.