- Morocco's marijuana farmers are a bold, yet
troubled lot. They exist in a fuzzy world ‘twixt possibility and illegality,
facing constant legal harassment even though there seems to be both a market
and a demand for what they have to offer. In the hopes of making life easier
for them and much more chill for everyone else, a potential new law is in the
offing for the north African nation. The law aims to legalize marijuana growing
for medical and industrial uses and would be an incredibly radical step for a
Muslim nation. It could also help with poverty and social unrest, but only if a
conservative populace lets go of is preconceived notions and embraces the
future. Like many nations, Morocco is re-examining its drug policies and slowly
moving toward legalization. To make it all the way there, it must overcome its
Islamic faith, which creates a strong taboo toward drugs. Winning should
involved pointing out that Morocco has a centuries-old tradition of growing the
plant in the north and is one of the world's top suppliers of hashish.
According to the World Customs Authority, an impressive 65 percent of hashish
seized at customs worldwide last year came from Morocco. Legalizing hash would
be huge for Morocco’s farmers, especially because they are suspicious of any
measures by politicians who they claim have never done anything for their poor,
neglected region. Some skeptics fear legalization might depress the already low
price of $8 a kilogram they receive, but it’s worth the risk. It can't get much
worse for farmers who make on average just $3,000 to $4,000 a year for the
ganja that sells like hotcakes – and stoners do love hotcakes - in the famed
coffee shops of Amsterdam. They could stop paying bribes to local officials and
grow the crop that does best in their rocky, nutrient-poor soil. Mehdi Bensaid,
a lawmaker with the opposition Party of Authenticity and Modernity that has
presented parliament with the legalization law, believes it’s time for a new approach
and he’s right. "If Morocco has a crop that could produce these medicines
that could be sold today in the U.S., Canada and France, it is an employment
opportunity for citizens living in a miserable situation," Bensaid said.
True is true, sir…………
- His film is one of the favorites for the Best Picture
Oscar and now, Richard Linklater is getting a different sort of honor. The director
of “Boyhood” is the subject of a documentary on the first 21 years of his
career, courtesy of directors Michael Dunaway and Tara Wood. The duo have built
their project around the notion that the first 21 years of an artist's career
can define them, so they’re taking a closer look at the films that have filled
those 21 years. A trailer for the documentary features tributes from past
collaborators including Matthew McConaughey, Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy, Jack
Black and “Clerks” director
Kevin Smith. Black finds a rare serious moment in which he calls Linklater a
"sneaky Shakespeare," while Delpy says "he's very wise and very
laid back" and Hawke muses that Linklater is “on to something special.” As
for McConaughey, he goes full-on cliché in the trailer and delivers the one
line he knows he can nail every time in his sandpaper-y Texan accent: "Alright.
Alright. Alright." Those who don’t know Linklater’s history may be
surprised to know that his career began in earnest with the stoner comedy “Slacker”
and he was also responsible for Black’s “School of Rock,” before more recently
turning to movies that follow or check in with characters over a span of years,
beginning with the “Before” trilogy and extending to “Boyhood,” which features
scenes shot by Linklater across a period of 12 years as lead actor Ellar
Coltrane went through adolescence. Linklater’s next movie, “That's What I'm Talking About,” will
be set on a 1980s college campus with its story built around the hijinks of a
group of friends trying to make the baseball team during their freshman year.
As for the documentary, it will be released digitally on Nov. 7………
- This is a man every parent across the United States should
be seeking to help their child – once he’s out of jail, that is. Timothy Lance
Lai is a somewhat controversial private tutor who fled the country after
allegedly hacking a Southern California high school computer and changing
student grades. That sort of above-and-beyond effort is exactly what a
struggling student needs to turn their academic career around and make it into
a top college. Unfortunately for Lai and all whom he would otherwise help, he was
taken into custody at Los Angeles International Airport, according to a
statement from the Orange County district attorney's office. District attorney’s
office spokeswoman Susan Schroeder said she did not immediately know whether
Lai had obtained an attorney, but he was booked at the Newport Beach police
jail facility and transferred to the Orange County jail. Lai had been on the
run since December, when he vanished as authorities were investigating a scheme
to hack computers at Corona Del Mar High School to steal exams and change
grades. He was a likely suspect, given that he was a private tutor who may have
worked with as many as 150 students at the school, and fleeing the country also
made him look a tad guilty. But what did anyone expect for a private tutor
working in a wealthy coastal area of Orange County where pressure to get into
Ivy League schools is intense? If Lai didn’t (allegedly) break into the school
and use keylogging devices to record the keystrokes from computers and
subsequently obtain passwords and access the school computer system, then some
other greedy and unethical tutor would have. He only changed the grades of
three students from two different teachers, yet he’s charged with one felony
count of second-degree commercial burglary and four felony counts of computer access
and fraud. Those potential five years, eight months in jail wouldn’t only harm
Lai, but also all of the young learners he could be helping………
- Stay classy, Fabio
Fognini. The Italian tennis star didn’t exactly have a good outing or a classy
exit at the Shanghai Masters on Tuesday, but if not for the latter, no one
would have even known hr was there. Fognini, a 10-year professional ranked 17th
in the world, was probably expecting to have little or no trouble when the
opponent on the other side of the court was 553rd-ranked Wang Chuhan, a Chinese
wild card who was making his ATP Tour debut. But the day didn’t go as Fogini
expected and he lost in straight sets. Yes, he was wiped out by some random
Chinese dude 7-6 (5), 6-4, a result that deligted the home crowd but enraged
the 17th-ranked player in the world. The trouble started at the net, where
Fogini was supposed to shake hands with his conqueror and accept defeat like a
reasonably respectful human being who still makes a lot of money playing tennis
for a living. That clearly did not happen, because what did occur was Fogini
delivering a forearm shiver to Wang as they crossed paths. This gesture would
have been d-baggish enough, but Fogini wasn’t close to being done. Instead, he
stormed off the court and delivered a flaming middle finger salute to the crowd
as he exited. If there was going to be a player who made that sort of exit, it
was very likely to be Fogini, who is known for his fiery temper and has lost
five of his last six matches since reaching the Cincinnati quarterfinals in
August. It was an inglorious ending for a man who clearly didn’t deserve better
and with that sort of class, Fogini undoubtedly won himself legions of adoring
fans…………
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