Froggies

See-through frogs

27/09/2007 19:16 - (SA)
This picture from Hiroshima University professor Masayuki Sumida shows a see-through frog with visible organs, blood vessels and eggs under the skin (Hiroshima University, AFP)

Tokyo - Japanese researchers have succeeded in producing see-through frogs, letting them observe organs, blood vessels and eggs under the skin without performing dissections.

"You can see through the skin how organs grow, how cancer starts and develops," said the lead researcher Masayuki Sumida, professor at the Institute for Amphibian Biology of state-run Hiroshima University.

"You can watch organs of the same frog over its entire life as you don't have to dissect it. The researcher can also observe how toxins affect bones, livers and other organs at lower costs," he said.

Dissections have become increasingly controversial in much of the world, particularly in schools where animal rights activists have pressed for humane alternatives such as using computer simulations.

Sumida said his team, which announced the research last week at an academic conference, had created the first transparent four-legged creature, although some small fish are also see-through.

The researchers produced the creature from rare mutants of the Japanese brown frog, or Rena japonica, whose backs are usually ochre or brown.

'Dramatic changes'

Two kinds of recessive genes have been known to cause the frog to be pale.

Sumida's team crossed two frogs with recessive genes through artificial insemination and the offspring looked normal due to the presence of more powerful genes. But crossing the offspring led to a frog whose skin is transparent from the tadpole stage.

"You can see dramatic changes of organs when tadpoles mutate into frogs," said Sumida, whose team is seeking a patent.

Such frogs could theoretically exist in the wild but it is "virtually impossible" they would naturally inherit so many recessive genes, Sumida said.

The transparent frogs can also reproduce, with their offspring inheriting their parents' traits, but their grandchildren die shortly after birth.

"As they have two sets of recessive genes, something wrong must kick in and kill them," Sumida said.

Illuminating frogs

While the researchers relied on artificial insemination, they said that genetic engineering could also produce transparent and even illuminating frogs.

Sumida said researchers could also inject into the transparent frogs an illuminating protein attached to a gene, which would light up the gene once it manifests - for example, showing at what stage cancer starts.

Sumida said it would be unrealistic to apply the same method to mammals such as mice as their skin structure is different.

It's raining it's pouring!!!

Ok, i made it to work alive. And not even too wet.

The air is clear WOW what a pleasure. This is the only time JHB air is breathable, just after rains, then it's lovely and crisp and clean.

Please folks, be careful, the roads are vey slippery, and for some reason car drivers sem to think they must drive harder when it rains. I was reading the Arrive alive blog (right under road safety) and already the ambulances are working overtime.

You have the rest of your life to finish this journey.

African Index confirms SA is unsafe

September 27 2007 at 12:42PM

South Africa being the third least safe place out of 48 countries on the African continent, indicates that SA is critically unsafe, the Democratic Alliance said on Tuesday.

The party's spokesperson on Safety and Security MP Dianne Kohler Barnard said that the Mo Ibrahim Index of African Governance, which ranked SA as third most dangerous after "war zone" countries Sudan and Burundi indicated that what citizens of this country had been crying out for years, was the truth.

"South Africa's safety and security performance is utterly abysmal. The fact that we are just 30 points above the most dangerous country in Africa, and right now, probably the world, must act as a loud wake-up call to the Minister of Safety and Security."


She added that countries including Congo, Angola, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe Rwanda and Liberia were far safer in terms of safety and security.
'South Africa's safety and security performance is utterly abysmal'

"Although the government will continue to throw money at the crime problem, such an approach has had only limited success," Barnard said.

She said it was likely that companies and individuals would continue protecting their own security themselves.

"This threatens to spawn a vigilante environment... if a spate of violent robberies and killings of foreigners is repeated during the 2010 Soccer World Cup, the negative consequences for future tourism and foreign investment will be severe."

Bernard said the DA had made suggestions to government to address the shortage of detectives, and to increase facilities and equipment for the South African Police, in order to combat crime.

"ANC spin-doctors are already attempting to denigrate the Index, stating that there is this hullabaloo over crime, and that South Africa is one of the safest countries in the world - for the ministers and their cronies perhaps, but most certainly not for the rest of us," Barnard said. - Sapa
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I was kakked out recently about my blog, it was said to be too negative, especially about the current state in south africa. But honestly, look at this. This is not being "negative" nor "pessimistic" .... it's being bloody realistic, something south africans themselves, in fact PEOPLE are bad at.

We are only behind WAR ZONES ... people being shot in the street etc for NO reason. Ok ... call a cell phone worth R50 a reason to kill someone.
I don't post the horror stories here, others do that, and the media. But for the love of god we read it hear it SEE it daily. Anyone who remains eternally optimistic will get killed through absolute and utter ignorance. This IS war, except the war is again against the govt of this country. Not black vs white, but people vs govt. It's happening again. Here. To us.

Black and white both are suffering. Even shanty huts are being broken into at night, the householders assaulted for their meager possesions. People are afraid to go out at night. Those that believe things are ok learn very quickly how wrong they are, and seem surprised. But their deaths are in vain ... no-one is listning.

Fotr fuck sakes i love this country. It's the only land i've ever had and i've always been proud. But when ANC spin doctors are constantly working to lie to us ... things have gone too far. Mbeki just fired someone, n fact the Scorpions head, wwhile overseas. Can you imagine being fired when the boss is away. Yet the fear that suggests from the president is telling.

*sigh*

Maybe not as bad as Myanmar ... yet, but this bunch of fuckups leading the anc certainly plan to get us there. The pigs (police) are still the world's best in terms of riot control, and the worst for helping the tax paying citizens.

I'm reading a story about a guy who found a 5 year old kid wandering around drunk. Police stations turned him away, telling him it wasn't their jurisdiction (ie problem).

You tell me, and please, gimme feedback, i'm starting to tear my hair out over this.


PS BTFW .... how is is that the richest country is africa is also the 3rd least safe? THIS IS AFRICA GODDAMN .. the most pathetic continent of the lot, and even the RICH countries can't look after their own.

Myanmar (again)

Myanmar breaking news

GOVT moving to quell demonstrations

Monks beaten in Myanmar crackdown
26/09/2007 08:57 - (SA)

Yangon - Myanmar security forces beat hundreds of protestos with batons on Wednesday and arrested dozens more as they moved to crush nine days of mass rallies that have shaken the country's military rulers.

A day after warning that the biggest show of dissent here in 20 years would no longer be tolerated, police baton-charged hundreds of students and Buddhist monks who had defied the decree to gather at Myanmar's holiest shrine.

Witnesses said dozens of protestors, including some of the revered monks who have helped turn public anger into a mass nationwide movement in just a few days, were detained during the clashes in the main city of Yangon.

After the crowd scattered in the frenzy of beatings, armed soldiers used barbed wire to cordon off the area around the Shewdagon Pagoda. About 500 monks were believed to be holed up inside.

It was the first time authorities in this impoverished and secretive country, which has been in the grip of the ruling generals for decades, had used violence to break up the recent series of protests.

But a human chain surrounded 200 monks who gathered in a separate demonstration in Yangon, where crowds of 100 000 people have taken to the streets in recent days in defiance of the junta.

Troops fired tear gas as the number of demonstrators started to grow.

Dusk-to-dawn curfew

The clash conjured memories of the last big showdown between the people and the junta in 1988, when similar mass demonstrations ended with security forces opening fire. Around 3 000 people were killed.

Protests have also been held in other cities in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, in recent days. It was not immediately known if security forces elsewhere were also cracking down.

Authorities had ordered a dusk-to-dawn curfew late on Tuesday, and troops poured into the streets on Wednesday morning, stretching barbed wire across roads and standing guard at pagodas to try to stave off any new effort to protest.

Troops also deployed outside the headquarters of the National League for Democracy (NLD), the opposition party headed by pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi - a Nobel Peace Prize winner who has long been under house arrest.

"We will continue our marching. We are doing this for the well-being and safety of the people," one senior monk told AFP.

"We have already decided to risk our lives for the people, although there might be some clashes," he said.

The unrest began last month when the junta drastically raised the price of fuel overnight. The move left many here unable to afford even transport to their jobs, piling on the misery in one of Asia's poorest nations.

'A 19-year reign of fear'

The initial protests - rare enough in a country where the military quickly crushes any show of dissent - began with only a handful of demonstrators marching through the streets.

But hundreds of people began lining the streets to cheer them on. After the monks joined the movement, the numbers of protestors swelled. Around 100 000 people marched in Yangon on Monday and Tuesday.

The possibility of a violent reaction from the regime has drawn sharp criticism from the international community.

At the United Nations this week, US President George W Bush announced new sanctions on Myanmar.

"Americans are outraged by the situation in Burma, where a military junta has imposed a 19-year reign of fear," he told the UN General Assembly.

"The ruling junta remains unyielding, yet the people's desire for freedom is unmistakable."

China, one of the regime's closest allies, called for stability but said it would stick to its policy of non-interference.

Myanmar

Protests Reach 100,000 Mark

As many as 100,000 anti-government protesters led by a phalanx of Buddhist monks marched Monday through Yangon, the largest crowd to demonstrate in Myanmar's biggest city since a 1988 pro-democracy uprising that was brutally crushed by the military.

From the front of the march, witnesses could see a one-mile stretch of eight-lane road was filled with people.

Some participants said there were several hundred thousand marchers in their ranks, but an international aid agency official with employees monitoring the crowd estimated said the size was well over 50,000 and approaching 100,000.
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I've added this blog on the right, something to keep an eye on. Myanmar is under the most brutal regime, and south africa has already snubbed them, something Tutu had lots to say about. Point is, nobody minds a corrupt military leadership, so long as we don't have to hear about it. The techies that side are constantly working to get their story told, via pictures or accounts, but the govt is working equally hard at blocking them. Deadly game of cat and mouse.

20 Axioms of Riding

1. Every ride is optional. Every parking is mandatory.

2. If you push the bars left, the bike goes left. If you push the bars right, the bike goes right. That is, unless you continue pushing the bars all the way, in which case the bike will go down.

3. Riding isn't dangerous. Crashing is dangerous.

4. It's always better to be on the sidelines wishing you were on the track than on the track wishing you were on the sidelines.

5. The only time you have too much fuel is when you are on fire.

6. The rear wheel is just a big fan on back of the bike used to keep the rider cool and his butt relaxed. Going into a corner too fast and slamming on the rear brake causes the "fan" to abruptly stop. When this happens you can actually see the rider start sweating and his butt become tense.

7. When in doubt, slow down. No one has ever hit something too slow.

8. A good ride is one from which you can walk away. A great ride is one after which you can use the bike again.

9. Learn from the mistakes of others. You won't live long enough to make all of them yourself.

10. You know you've left the side stand down when all left turn are bat-turns. You know you've left the center stand down when your in 1st gear at 4000 rpm going nowhere.

11. Never let a motorcycle take you somewhere your brain didn't get to three seconds earlier.

12. Always try to keep the number of times you put your side stand down equal to the number of times you put the side stand up.

13. There are two simple rules for riding smoothly and fast in snow and on ice. Unfortunately no one knows what they are.

14. You start with a bag full of luck and an empty bag of experience.
The trick is to fill the bag of experience before you empty the bag of luck.

15. If all you can see in your mirrors is sparks and all you can hear is screaming from your passenger, things may not be as they should be.

16. In the ongoing battle between objects made of metal, rubber and fiberglass going 100+ miles per hour and the ground going zero miles per hour, the ground has yet to lose. Same holds for cars, large trucks, and animals taller than you. Draws don't count.

17. Good judgment comes from experience. Unfortunately, the experience usually comes from bad judgment.

18. Keep looking around. There's always something you've missed.

19. Remember, gravity and centrifugal force are not just a good ideas.
They are laws and are not subject to appeal.

20. The two most useless things to a rider are the braking distance behind you and nine-tenths of a second ago
_____________________________________________________________________

Yeah, i love getting back to the simple things, like check your sidestand.

MY CRASH COURSE IN ENGLISH..

14 September 2007
MY CRASH COURSE IN ENGLISH..

Czech biker wakes up speaking like a native
By Jeremy Armstrong

A SPEEDWAY rider who could barely speak English came to after a crash in Scotland speaking it fluently.

Czech teenager Matej Kus was knocked out cold when a fellow competitor ran over his head as he rode for Berwick Bandits in Glasgow.

Team chiefs said the 17-year-old, who rides for a team in Prague, could barely string an English sentence together before he was concussed.

But when he regained consciousness after nearly an hour, he appeared to have an almost flawless command of the language.

Berwick Bandits promoter Peter Waite, 50, said: "When I met him at the airport on Saturday, he only spoke broken English and had a very strong accent.

"He rode for us on Saturday in Berwick and did fine but then on Sunday in Glasgow, in the third ride, he crashed and was thrown over the handlebars. He went from 60mph to a halt and after he was thrown off, a rider ran over his head with his bike.

"He was knocked out for three-quarters of an hour and the doctor was very concerned about him.

"They had to work on him to bring him round.

"Even then, he did not know who he was, where he was, what his name was, the fact he was riding in Glasgow. It was terrible.

"But I noticed as soon as he came round he was speaking fluent English."

Matej was taken from the Glasgow Tigers' Saracen Park track in Possilpark to hospital.

Peter said: "It was the same at the hospital. On Saturday, he could barely string a sentence together, then by Sunday at 11pm he was speaking perfect English. It was just unreal."

Matej was well enough to travel back to Berwick with the rest of the Bandits team on Sunday night and flew back to Prague on Monday.

Peter, a former rider with Berwick, said: "I have heard of this kind of thing when people get a bang on the head and come to speaking good French or Spanish.

"I have just never heard it myself. It was really amazing."

Oxford University research has found that patients with so-called foreign accent syndrome had tiny areas of damage in various parts of the brain, which might explain the changes.

Dr John Coleman, a doctor in phonetics at the university, said one explanation was that Matej's inhibitions in speaking a foreign language had been removed by his head injury.

Matej's agent Pavel Kubes said: "He had English lessons with a tutor when he was at school so that must have stayed in his subconscious.

"It is amazing to think the accident could have made him speak the language again."

One

I can't remember anything
can't tell if this is true or dream
deep down inside I feel to scream
this terrible silence stops me

now that the war is through with me
I'm waking up, I cannot see
that there's not much left of me
nothing is real but pain now

hold my breath as I wish for death
oh please God, wake me

back in the womb it's much too real
in pumps life that I must feel
but can't look forward to reveal
look to the time when I'll live

fed through the tube that sticks in me
just like a wartime novelty
tied to machines that make me be
cut this life off from me

hold my breath as I wish for death
oh please God, wake me

now the world is gone I'm just one
oh God, help me hold my breath as I wish for death

darkness imprisoning me
all that I see
absolute horror
I cannot live
I cannot die
trapped in myself
body my holding cell

landmine has taken my sight
taken my speech
taken my hearing
taken my arms
taken my legs
taken my soul
left me with life in hell

Metallica

Racism

I touched on this the other day, but i think it deserves a spot of it's own. But it is not only racism, it includes sexism, athiesm, and all sorts of god-complex type attitudes, including religion.

We are human. This involves quite a lot of *stuff*. The chemical, physical and spiritual, and also intellectual. It's the last where the problem comes in, we think too much. But with such complex beings, it seems inevitable we would start thinking about ourselves, and othes like us. This is where it all goes pear shaped.

Thr truth is, we think a lot of ourselves. Imagine the reaction when Darwin tells people: Your ancestor is a baboon, this in victorian england. The shock, the horror, the absolute impertinence!! Now feeling good about yourself is one thing, but honestly, we all sit down to shit.

Somewhere along the line, some people decided that they were better than others. It started with our tribe is better than theirs, then quickly became more complex. Fom there they decided that women were inferior, and any woman who disagreed was promptly beaten up. The other tribe regularly got attacked, and any captured and not eaten were treated like foodstuffs, or animals.

So we ended up with a bunch of males running around being assholes. It was very obvious. So musch so that the assholes started looking like animals themselves. At this point they realised that they can't only beat people up, they have to justify it. So they started thinking about how to beat people up and get away with it. They decided that god told them that they were better. Easy enough, since anyone who didn't accept it didn't believe in god, and that would not do. So this group had made themselves gods, even the gods agreed, but you couldn't ask the gods yourself, that's what THEY were there for. God said so.

Then came the ultimate insult. They started realising that god hadn't said anything. Either to them or anyone else. Now they always have something to say about everything, and they're gods guys right? So if a god doesn't say something about everything, he's not a god. Ergo, no comment = irrelevant, and most likely not even there. Hence athiesm. Now here we have about the dumbest idea in the history of the world. THERE IS NO GOD. Oooooooooooooo .... i like that idea. That means .... I'M THE BOSS. No-one or thing better bigger or likely to prove me wrong.

Now here the story gets muddled. You got the guys who believe they're better than the others because they think so. Then you have more who believe they're better because god said so. Then you have the others that think that, because they also think that god isn't there. And anyone who doesn't agree with ANY of the above, well kill them, it'll give the others something to think about.

So i'm right you're wrong and if you disagree i'll kill you. But if you agree with me then the other guys will kill you. And if you truy point out how fuckd up it is, we'll all get together and have a lynching. Because NONE of us can afford to have these illusions broken by a little bit of reality?

*sigh*

All well and good in cave man days, but exactly as i have descibed continues globally today, everywhere. The latest fashion is: i have a lot of money. I am worthy of a lot of money. You don't have a lot of money, ergo you are not worthy of it, ergo i am better than you. Anyone with logic skills, try argue that. It was Ben Franklin who said: All men are born equal. I can't believe someone so smart said something that dumb. They're not, they should be, but they are most definitely not.

The thing that bugs me the most, is the inherent stupidity. I may be smarter then you, fitter, stronger, quicker, more emotional and many other things. But never can i claim to be better in a whole sense than anyone else. As i said, we're all the same animals. Assuming you're better than others means that you have lied to yourself. And once you do that, you misguided. Easy enough to fix something where the person knows better. But these people don't like being told how it is, so they choose to believe the lie, to the exclusion of anything else. Then they try convince you that they are scientific men, rational, thinking free men.

If you read this, know that you are an animal. You eat, breathe, shit and sleep like me, and just like the monky in the zoo. I guess if hearing that disturbs you, you have issues. You need a reality re-assessment. But it's all good. Humility is one of the greatest character traits, and requires honesty and a very realistic world view.

Ok this thread gone on far too long, but thanks for reading, let me know what you think. Peace.

Roads

The roads are wild today. Unpredictable and nasty. There were so many cars, taxis, trucks and bikes, of all shapes and sizes. Fucking trucks better watch out though, they're driving like they own the road. Going to have to give them *stuff* to think about.

So many bikes on the roads!! It's good, mostly, i mean, morepeople on the roads means that the roads are emptier, which is great considering. But none of these boys have been driving for the last few months, epecially not in traffic, which is it's own bastard. Read about some girl dropped a scooter on Hans Strydom last night in traffic. Fortunately not hurt seriously, but no gear, tracksuit pants basically.
All these guys you see without jackets .... Just imagine them sliding along the tar, at a SLOW 40km/h *shudder*

I'm not trying to be an alarmist, but i've fallen. This is just about being smart, which is the same as not being stupid. That's not hard is it?

Yeesh, i just remembered the one bike i saw .... wow it actually goes. Old green kwaka ... about a 750/900 i thik, smoking, no back lights, back wheel was about 10cm across, no more. Not exactly what i would go into traffic on.

I am discovering new things daily though, like hooting at taxis ... it works!! Because you never really know if they are going to sideswipe you out of absolute apathy. I also drive with brights on, sorry to cagers who are annoyed, but i'l take any chance i get thank you. I also interact with drivers, thank them for pulling over, and swear when they don't, or actually if they don't i go round anyway. If they try kill me i swear at them. But banging the hazards when i guy moves over helps "image" saying thank you etc, and the guys in front will see an orange flick behind them, so dual purpose. Most of the guys are really cool in cars. Same people same time same placve every day, biker dude coming past, i guess makes them react in some way. Just because it's different to sitting there staring at some chick doing makeup.

I need to get busy working.
Oh btw - IT RAINED LAST NIGHT!!!!

Only a little but hey, every drop counts. Garden happy, air clean, me smiling.

1000!

1001 in fact :p

Hey, in this crazy world 1000 anything (except rands) goes a long way.

Me pats myself on my back *grin*

PEACE & LOVE & CHICKENWINGSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Bill Hicks

Why I Ride
By: Bill Hicks

Riding along on my two wheel machine
the pavement takes from me the painful reprieve

Thoughts and fears leave my "brain cloudy" mind,
but only those that are worried or unkind

The sky expands my horizons, inner peace and compassion's
my soul rides beside me and intercepts all distractions

Reality is around me, but I have a cleansed mind to confront it
frustration is behind me, the foe that cloaked and compounded it

Please understand that this is my sanction
its not the chrome or image or acceleration

It's not an escape or a good place to hide
it's approaching Zen that makes me ride

If this touches close to why you must ride
you are my brother or sister in kind

And I hope to share a few miles or a friendly high sign
as we pass while I'm out "untanglin my mind"

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I don't know for it is the same, but the name Bill Hicks ... can't be too many of them. He was a comedian in America, died of cancer a few years back, still quite young too. Brilliant, but ecause of that he wasn't famous, he pissed too many people off. Very VERY direct, even on stage, and was way ahead of his tme in what he was saying. I'll be looking for more of his stuff soon.

Manto's Mantra

You may have to click on it, it's a bit small here, but well worth the read!!!

Black Diamond

Against The Wind

Artist: Stratovarius
Album: Fourth Dimension

Words & Music by Tolkki/Kotipelto

Once again I try to make things work
facing all the power of society
Searching all the answers of the life
Ill never make it on my own

Was I meant to fail everytime
Seems to me thats my destiny
Is this all thats left to me
Confusion and bad memories

But now my time has come
No more running in the dark
I want much more than this
I really want it all

Against the wind we run
to every place under the sun
Weve got so much power inside
We will never give up
Against the wind we go
towards the new shore
together well forget the sorrow
its forever gone
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Right we had the sex, and the drugs, what's left but some rock n roll?

This band is something else, new, alive, loud and technically brilliant....

I'm going to go find a you-tube clip, just to give an idea ...

Peace Love & Chickenwings!!!!!!!!!!!

Types of drugs

Dagga: This is the most common drug in South Africa as it is cheap and readily available.

It is either smoked or ingested and takes only a few minutes to take effect, bringing about feelings of euphoria, hallucinations, increased perceptions (not always accurate), short-term memory loss, giggling, anxiety and paranoia.

Long-term effects include glassy, red eyes, sleepiness at strange times, loss of motivation and interest in activities previously enjoyed, weight gain or loss, memory lapses, concentration difficulty, lung and respiratory problems and difficulty learning new things.

Ecstasy: Usually in tablet form, small and white in colour, but can be yellow/brown.

It is a stimulant and can have a mild hallucinogenic effect.

Effects include euphoria, heightened emotional and sensory experiences, and uninhibited feelings and enhanced energy.

The long-term effects of this drug are not known, but it is known that it can change the structure of the brain and prune the serotonin receptors.

Psychological effects include fits of depression, anxiety attacks and feelings of intense paranoia.

Heroin: pure heroin is a white powder with a bitter taste; illicit heroin can be white/dark brown. It is usually snorted, injected or smoked.

It is two to three times more potent than morphine and cuts through the blood brain barrier 100 times faster than morphine does.

Injecting heroin into a vein can produce an effect in four to eight seconds; injecting it into a muscle or under the skin can produce effects in five to eight minutes.

Heroin depresses the central nervous system. It locks onto the body’s endorphin receptors ad mimics the body’s feel-good hormones.

The symptoms include mood swings, personality changes, dilated pupils, changes in weight and appearance, slurred speech, decreased sex drive and retarded social and emotional development.

Tik: this is otherwise known crystal meth. It is also known as the "stay-awake drug that makes you violent" and is one of the most popular drugs of choice in South Africa, especially amongst the youth.

Recent studies showing children as young as 13 are using it. It has been marketed as a weight-loss product and some of its side effects include psychotic symptoms, hallucinations and violence.

It’s also known as “tuk-tuk”, "tik", "crystal", "straws" and "globes". It is highly addictive and is often manufactured in the home, which means it is readily available on the streets.

Mandrax: This comes in pill form and can be swallowed or injected, but is usually smoked. The tablets are crushed and mixed with dagga.

The effects take place after a few minutes and the user will feel relaxed, calm and peaceful. But after the effect wears off, some users could feel aggressive.

Symptoms of excessive use include nausea, vomiting and stomach pains. Red, glazy and puffy eyes are common.

Cocaine and crack: It’s a white powder and is a local anaesthetic which acts as a stimulant to the central nervous system.

Cocaine is inhaled, injected, smoked or applied directly to the nasal membranes or gums.

Minutes after taking this drug the user will feel a sense of euphoria and excitement, confidence and strength.

Death from cardiac or respiratory arrest is a symptom of excessive use and other symptoms include ulceration of the nasal membrane, weight loss, tremors, insomnia, impotence, constipations and seizures.

Personality changes include deceptiveness, stealing, a superior attitude, short-temper, work-related problems, depression, being accident prone, confusion, anxiety, paranoia, dulled emotional responses and a loss of interest in sex.

Magic mushrooms: It can take from 15 to 60 minutes for effects to be felt and trips can last between three and six hours.

The effects include pupil dilation, distorted vision, hallucinations, ataxia, and feelings of euphoria, mood swings, laughter, anxiety, paranoia and confusion.

Magic mushrooms can act as a trigger for latent psychological disorders, such as schizophrenia.
________________________________________________________________

Very nice precis of the major ones. Found in a news 24 article here.
As interesting as what they say, is what they don't say. Absent is LSD, which despite all the hype, is noticable because it is untraceable, and leaves no physical damage to the system.
Magic mushrooms as a "latent psychological disorders" .... now i read recently an article about a certain strain of afrikaans blood, traced to a lady who came to south africa in the 1700's, where the people have gone overseas, and had a "latent psychological disorder" triggered, purely by the high stress experience of living overseas. So whether or not you use mushrooms is irrelevant to whether you may be a closet schizophrenic.
Now for my favourite drug .... alcohol. What a depressing, unhealthy, unsocial bucket of vomit is the alcohol trade. Broken homes, abused kids and mothers, lost jobs, broken cars, dirty smelly worthless old men with more money than dignity *puke*. Another news24 article today asked about drug tests by the roadside. But alcohol, because it is legal and accepted, seems to be less of a threat (?)

Remember folks, drugs are good for you. Your government makes you take drugs from day 1, and at regular intervals along your life. These drugs make you sick, make your body week, and cause immense pain, and you are told it's good for you!!! BTW .... did anyone know that with baby vaccines, there is a difference between the govt issued stuff, and that which you can buy? The govt issue stuff knocks the baby out (sick) for about a week. Intense pain, misery etc.

SAY NO TO DRUGS. So every time i light a spliff i say NO, then smoke it stukkend.

Don't work, have sex

12/09/2007 11:23 - (SA)

Ulyanovsk - The governor of a central Russian province urged couples to skip work on Wednesday and make love instead.

And if a woman gives birth in exactly nine months time - on Russia's national day on June 12 - she will qualify for a prize.

"It's normally something for the home - a fridge or a television set," Yelena Yakovleva at the Ulyanovsk regional administration press office, said.

"It doesn't matter if it's a girl or a boy."

Regional governor Sergei Morozov told employers to contribute to a Kremlin campaign to boost the birth rate by giving couples Wednesday off to have sex.

Russia wants to reverse a trend in which the population is shrinking by about 700 000 people a year as births fail to outpace a high death rate boosted by Aids, alcoholism and suicide.

This is the third year Ulyanovsk region, famous as the birthplace of Soviet state founder Vladimir Lenin, has dedicated a day to encouraging couples to produce more babies.

Prizes will extend equally to unwed women who produce children on the right day, though the biggest prizes will go to married couples.

On Russia Day this year, a family won a jeep after their fourth baby was born on the holiday.

This year a record 78 babies were born on June 12 at the main hospital in the regional capital of Ulyanovsk, beating the 2006 total of 26, said chief doctor Andrei Malykh.

"The scheme is working. People want the prizes," he said.

A mass wedding and special lessons for children at school on how to deal with having a brother or sister are also planned in Ulyanovsk city, which is about 900km from Moscow.

This week First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, a possible successor to President Vladimir Putin, said he wanted to stabilise the population at about 142 million by 2015 and boost it back to 145 million by 2025.
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Gotta luv the ruskies!!!

Zille for president

Cops Arrest

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I don't care what other spins people may wish to add to this story, this wman is doing it!!! Standing there with her sign amongst the poor people, demanding basic rights, like SOME protection from police against those who would do us harm.

What happens? They arrest HER for some technicality, which is doubtful in any case. From what i can see, they decided that the leader of the peaceful and legal march had contravened on some minor way, and promptly arrested him. The marchers, among whom the MAYOR OF CAPE TOWN was found, stood outside the police station and demanded his release. Now this lady knows something about the law in this country, and i don't believe she would behave in a flagrantly illegal manner. She disobeyed a police order, according to reports. Now please understand that while police do have the authority to order people, it is at best a tenuous right that they have, and only applicable in extreme situations. They don't realize that, and honestly believe that if they tell you to shut up, and you do not, they have the right to arrest you.

This march was to protest the fact that known drug dealers were left alone by police to sell drugs to schoolkids. I repeat. Drug dealers are selling drugs to schoolkids, and the police are doing nothing. How clear does THIS issue need to be? The proof of this pudding is in the way the policve arrest the protesters, and NOT the drug lords, who must have paid their bribes this month.

This wonderful new south africa, this rainbow nation. Only fucking rainbows around are seen by the drug dealers, their users, and the corrupt PIGS.
Seriously, where in the world do you see a mayor arrested while protesting against the free trade enjoyed by drug dealers. Drug dealers. Drug dealers. Not children. Not mothers. Not hard working fucked over fathers. Drug dealers. They get all the rainbows they want, while the fathers are sent to hell daily, kept nicely out of the way. It's the parents of these kids that were peacefully, legally using their god-given right to freedom of expression that were arrested, presumably while the drug dealers watched. God damn their souls to everlasting hell.

Although, there is a bright side to all this. The people now know where they stand. And the people of the cape flats have had enough. Next up is vigilanteism. They've done it before. The police implored them to follow the rule of law, which they did now, and the result is for all to see. The PEOPLE will come for you drug dealers. They will attack you in your house, burn your house, and your car, and kill you when you try escape. Ahhhhhhhh mob justice, very under-rated lately. They've done it before, and after this slap in the face from the police, you got to bet they're already planning an example to be set.

I wish them luck, and courage in the face of overwhelming adversity.

Happy monday everyone

I need to type something up. Otherwise my brain really will rot. Constant fear of mine *shudder*
The weekend was good to me, mostly, did a lot of gardening, hard work, sore body, burnt skin, and the garden weeds just sneer at me .... as they do. Fixed the pool heating, only to realise the roof was leaking, so saturday and sunday on the bleeding roof. *bleh*
Well it kept me out of mischief and shuld please the family (their royal asses) and hey, nothing beats a warm pool *grin*.

Took the bike for a service this morning frst thing, then i realised why monday mornings are bad for that kinda thing. Please folks, remember this. The guys are all yawning and stretching and blinking their eyes like they woke up only after getting to work (most likely). Not really nice for them to practice on YOUR vehicle.
And they didn't have an air filter ..... *sigh*. If you don't know, an air filter on a bike is a bugger to get to, cos it's under the tank, in a box. Either way they're going tosort that once they get stock, and one hundred and summin rand for 1 spark plug (!) of course i needed 4. But once they do the filter it will be worth it.

Late to work, e-mails galore, check on the news, fuck this country's bullshit. Was watching the traffic while i waited this morn. Either single user cars, or overloaded taxis. Extremes. The VERY rich and the rest. But honestly, they're not rich, they're just getting by. But the cars are all newish. So take some of those lazy fucking white wankers in their airconditioned cars, and get them onto bikes. And help those taxi commuters get bikes too, suddenly they'll all be equal. It IS that simple. Then those arrogant prats can wake up before leaving for work, and those bloody women can do make up before leaving home. I think what bugs me is the arrogance. Completely heedless to the reality in fornt of their noses. *sigh*

I was rearing to go this morn, but this city just wears you out. Ignorance is bliss. Lots of really happy people round this place, just ask them. I started slowly though .... yellow line on the highway, best way when you're not tops. Crikey, that hell run through 2 lanes of cars ...... anybody got a camera i can borrow? It's like a cross between comedy, horror, mystery and plenty of suspense. One month of recording to work and back, i'll gaurentee an hour long documentary on the foolishness of JHB traffic. No really i like this idea.