Another ‘Bath Salt’ Assault: New Mom Goes Ballistic in Maternity Ward

UPDATE BELOW 2:24 PST

               Good Day Humboldt County!

Not too long ago the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) officially confirmed that the recent spate of cannibalistic acts should not be seen as the beginning of a zombie apocalypse.

I got a good laugh at that announcement. “How stupid can people be?” I wondered. Then the stories started coming out about flesh-eating in connection to the bath salts.

When I first wrote about “bath salts” -

          Ivory Wave Hits American Shores

- these attacks were not happening. Since then they seem to be popping up fairly often in the news. Eerie. Weird. Odd. Bizarre. What’s up?

It appears people get so hot they strip their clothes off after snorting the bath salts, but the weirdest part is the desire to eat flash while flipping out! I just don’t see the connection there, but then perhaps that’s why the CDC put out the Zombie alert!

            Another mom abuses bath salts, strips and goes ballistic in maternity ward

“The summer of naked bath salts-induced attacks continues apace. The latest abuser of the powerful hallucinogen was a brand-new mother in Altoona, Pa., who couldn’t wait until she had left the maternity ward to smoke a dose, strip naked, and embark on a violent rampage.

The Altoona Mirror reports that on June 17, two days after giving birth, 31-year-old Carla Murphy was found by a nurse rolling around on a shower floor naked and confused. When roused, Murphy sprung into frenetic action, taking off down the hall, screaming profanities and kicking and punching whoever crossed her path.” (Source)

Time for me to walk on down the road…

UPDATE 2:24 PST Nationwide raids on synthetic drug labs lead to 90 arrests, seizure of $36 million

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The first nationwide raid ever of synthetic drugs happened today.

                                                                                     Related Articles:

• Latest naked ‘zombie’ on bath salts threatens to eat arresting police officers
• NYS Mom high on ‘bath salts’ Tasered to death after attacking 3-year-old son
• First photos of face-eating victim; another naked man on ‘bath salts’
• Self-professed cannibal porn star nabbed by German police
  • Another story of cannibalism surfaces, suspect under arrest
  • Victim of face-eating attack in Miami graduated from Stuyvesant HS in NYC
  • Naked man who chewed off face of another was high on LSD
  • Miami police shoot and kill naked man chewing on another’s face
  • Brazilian trio arrested for making turnovers out of two murder victims
    • Man arrested for hacking CT resident to death, eating eye and brain
    • Zombie alert: Man tries to chew woman’s face off; a murderer strips

I went to court the other day…it was a very touching experience

 My wife and I had the honor of watching our good friends adopt the sweetest little girl in the world… Emily!

The Judge was great with Emily. At one point he asked her if it would be okay if they adopted her, and she gave a big resounding…YES! Those in attendance had misty eyes watching her give a cupcake to the Judge after the decision was rendered final. It was the first time I’ve seen an adoption become official, and I found it to be very touching and a happy experience.

  

War on Marijuana: LA City Council votes to ban marijuana shops

    Good Day Humboldt County!

Our neighbors to the south are set to have a hard time in the days ahead as the never-ending war on Marijuana adds another shameful chapter.

State laws continue to be flouted with impunity by the Feds who have been busy busting people in the Southern Humboldt area lately.

Perhaps some day the voters of California will get what they voted for back in 1995. That won’t happen however, until president Obama decides to keep his campaign promise from the last election.

The Associated press reports: 

“Unable to rein in hundreds of medical pot shops that blossomed around the nation's second-biggest metropolis, the Los Angeles City Council banned them Tuesday until the state's highest court weighs in. The 14-0 vote drew an angry, profanity-laced response from some medical marijuana advocates who attended the council meeting.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was prepared to sign the ordinance, according to his spokeswoman, Vicki Curry. The storefront ban would then go into effect after 30 days. In the interim, letters will be sent to as many as 900 dispensaries advising them of the ban.

The city has fumbled with its medical marijuana laws for years, trying to provide safe and affordable access to the drug for legitimate patients while addressing worries by neighborhood groups that streets were being overrun by dispensaries and pot users.

"Relief is on the way," said Councilman Jose Huizar, who introduced the so-called "gentle ban." Many cities have struggled with medical marijuana ordinances, but none has had a bigger problem than Los Angeles, where pot shops have proliferated. At one point, the city ordered closure of the shops — a process that failed amid lawsuits and conflicting rulings by appellate courts.

This time around, the city has a stronger case if faced with lawsuits by pot shop owners, city officials said. A recent appellate court ruling seems to support the new ordinance that refers to a marijuana collective as three or fewer people.

The ban also allows hospices and home health agencies to provide medical pot. "A judge could file an injunction but we think that is unlikely," said Jane Usher, a special assistant city attorney.

The ban comes during a confusing time for Californians — despite voter approval in 1996 for medicinal use of marijuana with a doctor's recommendation. The state Supreme Court has decided to clarify marijuana's hazy legal status by addressing whether local governments can ban medical marijuana clinics. But a hearing has yet to be set by the high court.

Meanwhile, U.S. authorities have cracked down on pot clinics around the state, saying such operations remain illegal under federal law.” (Read the rest here)

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Eternal Fires? The Door To Hell Can Be Found in Derweze, Turkmenistan

          Good Day Humboldt County!

  Hell on earth.

  It’s hell dealing with cranky people all day.

  Go to hell. Hell’s bells! The hell of it is, I had fun. Oh…hell!

  We use the word so often in public, hell is like saying… hello.

No one raises an eyebrow if you say hell nowadays. Once upon a time this wasn’t true.

Hell was a bad word.

The subject only came up if you were in fear of going there, or were offering to give someone hell for whatever reason. 

In many religious traditions, hell is a place of suffering and punishment in an afterlife, often after resurrection.

 Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless.

Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations.

Typically these traditions locate hell under the Earth's external surface and often include entrances to Hell from the land of the living.

Other afterlife destinations include Heaven, Purgatory, Paradise, and Limbo.

Other traditions, which do not conceive of the afterlife as a place of punishment or reward, merely describe hell as an abode of the dead, a neutral place located under the surface of Earth (for example, see sheol and Hades).

Modern understandings of hells often depict them abstractly, as a state of loss rather than as fiery torture literally underground, but this view of the concept of a hell can, in fact, be traced back into the ancient and medieval periods as well.

Hell is sometimes portrayed as populated with demons who torment those dwelling there.

Many are ruled by a death god such as Nergal, Hades, Enma or the Christian and Islamic Devil (Satan or Sheitan, otherwise known as the fallen angel Lucifer or Iblis).

In Islam, the Devil does not actually reside in Hell.

Hell appears in several mythologies and religions.

It is commonly inhabited by demons and the souls of dead people.

A fable about hell which recurs in folklore across several cultures is the allegory of the long spoons.

 Hell is often depicted in art and literature, perhaps most famously in Dante's Divine Comedy.

Photos with Text Via BoxNut

"Dramatic" New Maya Temple Found, Covered With Giant Faces

Some 1,600 years ago, the Temple of the Night Sun was a blood-red beacon visible for miles and adorned with giant masks of the Maya sun god as a shark, blood drinker, and jaguar.

Long since lost to the Guatemalan jungle, the temple is finally showing its faces to archaeologists, and revealing new clues about the rivalrous kingdoms of the Maya.

The sides of the temple are decorated with 5-foot-tall (1.5-meter-tall) stucco masks showing the face of the sun god changing as he traverses the sky over the course of a day. Despite the obvious care that was taken to construct and preserve the newfound temple, it wasn't used for long. Evidence at the site suggests the building was abandoned sometime in the fifth century, for reasons unknown. (Source)

AS IT STANDS UNIQUE INDIVIDUALS: Part 2: 'Goat man' spotted in Utah mountains

 

I’ve been on the lookout lately for unique individuals and a man dressed like a goat, living with goats, definitely qualifies a s a unique individual.

“The sighting of a man dressed in a goat suit on a Utah mountain is causing concern among state wildlife officials, The Associated Press reported. Officials are worried about him getting shot when hunting season opens soon. The man, who remains unidentified, was spotted by photographer Coty Creighton on July 15 during a hike on Ben Lomond peak just north of Ogden in northern Utah.” (source)

PHOTO:The "goat man," in white, traverses an incline near Ogden, Utah, on July 15

                                                                  Coty Creighton / AP file

Why does the NRA get away with bullying Congress?

          Good Day Humboldt County!

Every time there’s a sensational shooting event in this country, like what recently happened in a movie theatre in Colorado, the NRA gears up and goes on the offensive by looking for anyone who dares to call for stricter gun laws.

They need not look far as articles like the following are popping up already:

 When is enough, enough? Will Movie Massacre finally spur sensible gun control?

“When is enough, enough? Will the Movie Massacre finally spur sensible gun control? Not likely Certainly not in an election year.”

 

                                    The question is; WHY IS THE NRA SO POWERFUL?

“The House of Representatives recently voted to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress, for withholding documents pertaining to the “Fast and Furious” program that allegedly put guns in the hands of Mexican drug gangs.

Seventeen Democrats voted for the measure after the National Rifle Association indicated future endorsements could ride on the vote. The NRA is considered by many the most powerful lobbying group in the country, despite relatively modest financial resources and just 4 million members.

                                              What makes the NRA so influential?

Focus and emotion. Groups with large constituencies often address a wide variety of issues. The AARP, for example, attempts to influence such diverse issues as Social Security, health care, energy, and ballot access laws.

The NRA focuses almost exclusively on gun control, which enables its leaders to doggedly pursue their legislative ends. Perhaps more important, many NRA members are as single-minded as the organization itself. Polls often show that more Americans favor tightening gun control laws than relaxing them, but gun rights advocates are much more likely to be single-issue voters than those on the other side of the question. As a result, the NRA can reliably deliver votes. Politicians also fear the activism of NRA members. They’re widely believed to be more likely to attend campaign events, ring doorbells, and make phone calls to help their favored candidates—or defeat their opponents—than senior citizens, members of labor unions, or public school teachers.” (Read more here)

Time for me to walk on down the road…

AS IT STANDS: Presidential Candidates Should Wear Sponsorship Logos

                                 

                       By Dave Stancliff/For The Times-Standard
We live in the Age of Sponsorship, where everything is brought to you by someone trying to make a buck or a point.
Traditionally, NASCAR racing has been the standard for mixing advertiser sponsorship with the sport so the two are almost always mentioned in the same breath. For beer companies and auto related products like Edelbrock headers, it was always the best way to target advertising for maximum results.
Lately the beer companies and auto part sponsors have had to shift over and share sponsorships for NASCAR advertising. Companies like Tide Soap, Microsoft, Red Bull, M & Ms, and Oreo Cookies proudly sport their logos on the hoods and of top race cars, too.
Over the years, the practice has been so common, people accepted it and moved on. Sponsorship for sports teams and scholarships are ingrained into our society. Corporate sponsorship has been the trend in the last decade, as we see football stadiums and baseball fields nationwide re-named.
Some examples: Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the Indianapolis Colts (NFL); Coors Field, home of the Denver Broncos (NFL); Heinz Field, home of the Pittsburg Steelers (NFL); and Energy Solutions Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah, which hosts indoor events from professional basketball to circus legends like Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey.
The deal goes like this; sponsorship is a cash and/or in-kind fee paid to a property (typically sports, but also arts, entertainment and causes), in return for access to the exploitable commercial potential associated with that property.

Let’s keep in mind the driving force of sponsorship is the expectation of a profitable return. In the simplest terms, it’s an investment that keeps on paying. Commercial sponsorship of stadiums, etc., are often limited in years (20 years is common), but contracts can be renewed.

The American public, having been slowly numbed over the years to commercial sponsorship, doesn’t even object to the idea anymore. There was a time when people shook their head sadly as the Los Angeles Lakers left The Great Western Forum and moved into the new mega arena called Staples Center.
Now, it’s time to discuss another aspect of sponsorship. One that has steadily slipped into our political system since Big Oil was in its infancy. It’s no secret our politicians often represent commercial interests.
If this news comes as a surprise, I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings. The fact is, there’s not a Congressman or State Governor in this nation who doesn’t get sponsorship support from special interests.

Most try to hide their illicit relationships with rhetoric and party lines. If you follow the money in any election, like our current Presidential election, you’ll see that the big players get donations from people who expect big returns.
  I’ve been thinking about this for some time. The solution is to level the playing field for voters by making candidates wear the logos of the corporations, groups, and companies, that support them.
I saw a funny photo-shopped picture on the internet a while back that gave me the idea. It showed the Supreme Court judges with logos (Shell Oil, etc.) stitched onto their black robes. That was pretty clever, and it made sense when I thought about it.

The names of big campaign donors - like the Koch brothers - could be listed on the back of the candidate’s shirt. The corporate logos could be fashionably arranged on the sleeves and fronts of shirts and jackets.
Meanwhile, I found an interesting blog called, What if politicians had to wear sponsorship logos? The creators of this website are keeping tabs on the cost of campaigning during the presidential election.
  If we could just get President Obama and soon-to-be Republican nominee, Mitt Romney to agree to wearing their sponsorship logos on their clothing, it would make the voters’ job a lot easier. We could draw up a pro and con list, compare logos, and make an informed decision on which one will screw us the least!
As It Stands, I know it’s a far cry from a major voting reform, but don’t you think this would be a step in the right direction?

Shameful Milestones in Research: When Psychological Experiments Go Terribly Wrong

                                   Good Day Humboldt County!

Psychology as we know it is a relatively young science, but since its inception it has helped us to gain a greater understanding of ourselves and our interactions with the world.

Many psychological experiments have been valid and ethical, allowing researchers to make new treatments and therapies available, and giving other insights into our motivations and actions. Sadly, others have ended up backfiring horribly — ruining lives and shaming the profession.

                         The Third Wave

Running along a similar theme similar to the Milgram experiment (see diagram above), The Third Wave, carried out in 1967, was an experiment that set out to explore the ways in which even democratic societies can become infiltrated by the appeal of fascism.

Using a class of high school students, the experimenter created a system whereby some students were considered members of a prestigious order. The students showed increased motivation to learn, yet, more worryingly, became eager to get on board with malevolent practices, such as excluding and ostracizing non-members from the class. Even more scarily, this behavior was gleefully continued outside of the classroom. After just four days, the experiment was considered to be slipping out of control and was ceased. (Read about more examples here)

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Massacre at a Movie House – Gunman opens fire on audience at premier of ‘Dark Knight Rises’

Update below

It was a dark night for movie-goer’s at the Century 16 Movie Theater #8, in Aurora Town Center, Colorado.

  Twelve people were killed and at least 50 others were wounded early Friday when a gunman wearing a bulletproof vest opened fire during a midnight premiere screening of the latest Batman movie near Denver, authorities and witnesses said.

  The question is, why would a former graduate student in the neuroscience program at University of Colorado medical school, want to murder all of those people? Is there some tie-in to the movie that’s not apparent yet? Did James Holmes relate to the villains Batman has faced?

  We may never really know why Holmes did what he did. You can bet in the coming days there’s going to be a lot of autobiographical information on him, and the progress of those who were wounded in the attack.

  Life is full of surprises, ironies, and mysteries. How could a person so wantonly murder innocent strangers? In the end, only one person knows why this happened; James Holmes. The rest of us will never fully understand his actions.   (Go here for the full story, and updates).

Related: Witnesses react online to 'Dark Knight' theater shooting

Update: Very deranged' gunman shoots 71, killing 12, at 'Dark Knight Rises' screening in Aurora, Colorado

                                  5:15 ET

James Holmes, sporting dyed red or orange hair told police he was the Joker after opening fire in a theater showing the premiere of the latest Batman movie.Twelve people have been confirmed dead and 59 others, many of them seriously, were in hospitals. 

2:30 p.m. PST 

It’s what I feared; the killer related to a Batman foe, the Joker. It’s one of the first thoughts that hit me this morning. His rampage just underscores the fact that no one is really safe anywhere in these violent times. You can NOT prepare for a lone crazy.

How to Fight Excessive Doubt: Should you really question everything?

           Good Day Humboldt County!

 I think we’ve all experienced self doubt at one time or other in our lives. It’s perfectly normal.

I ran across this essay on the subject and thought you might find it interesting, and perhaps even helpful:

“A little critical, analytical thinking is a good thing. Without doubting ourselves sometimes we'd find it difficult to make good decisions.

Too much doubt, though, can stop us living our lives to the full. Some people can never make up their minds about their careers, their love lives or much else. Unfortunately that sense that you're not quite sure can leave you living in permanent limbo, never taking that final decisive step.

The problem is that we can we never really know what the outcome of our decisions will be, that's the nature of life. But the person who never takes a risk, however small, never gets anywhere. At some point, after a little looking, you've got to leap.

Psychologists have found that people who doubt themselves too much end up engaging in excessive information processing which leads to procrastination and self-handicapping. Self-doubters are also more likely to suffer from depression and social anxiety. Some soul-searching and self-analysis can be useful, but too much is a recipe for stagnation.

A recent study, though, points to a possible path for escaping the doubt habit. For their research Wichman et al. (2010) recruited people who were chronically uncertain. They were then given a test which unconsciously encouraged them to be uncertain about their uncertainty. This was done by getting them to unscramble sentences which were related to uncertainty, like: "her speaker doubt I explanations" (you're allowed to drop one word, in this case 'speaker').

Ironically it didn't increase their uncertainty further but reduced it. This suggests that doubting your doubt can be useful. Of course this wasn't a permanent solution, but it did momentarily reduce their levels of uncertainty.

Just the same effect could be seen when participants in a second study shook, rather than nodded their heads. The physical action of shaking their head while thinking about their uncertainty caused one to cancel out the other. Through this they temporarily reduced  their doubts.

This is a fascinating counter-intuitive case when lack of confidence in your own thoughts is beneficial. For some people having confidence in their doubts just leads to more procrastination, self-handicapping and worse.

Perhaps learning to doubt the doubt more will offer one way of helping to escape from some of the crippling effects of excessive self-doubt. While shaking your head can't be considered a miracle cure, it is interesting that doubting your doubt can work to dispel the original doubt.” (Source) Image credit: paurian

Time for me to walk on down the road…