Producing cocaine at home by Jason Koebler and Toby Muse

Jason Koebler wrote the article "I Went on a 'Make Your Own Cocaine' Tour in Colombia" describing his encounter with a man that teaches people to do cocaine and this video Toby Muse shows how to produce cocaine using a microwave.
Toby explains:

Published on 14 Jan 2014
Cocaine exports account for roughly 2.5% of Colombia's GDP. It is the equivalent of the mining industry's share of the American economy—Exports of the drug are down—but it's still an $8 billion a year business for Colombian traffickers. That's plenty of incentive to keep production going no matter how hard the government cracks down.

Over the last decade, America has given billions to the Colombian military to fight the narco traffickers*. In some ways it looks like the U.S. is getting bang for its bucks—Colombian authorities destroyed 2,356 labs in 2012, a serious dent in Colombia's cocaine industry. But producers and traffickers of the drug are finding ever more creative ways to keep this lucrative business thriving. It's like a never-ending game of whack-a-mole, just when authorities think they've got the cartels on the run, their methods evolve and adapt.

As a British journalist living in the region, our reporter Toby Muse was curious about the current 'state of the art' for Colombia's processors, traffickers and dealers—what are the latest tricks to outsmarting the authorities? He made a few calls and obtained rare, and potentially dangerous access to a processing laboratory. It's not in the jungle as you might expect, but in an urban center of a Colombian city, which we agreed not to name. It turns out that the latest trend in Colombia's cocaine trade is to move processing out of the huge plants found in the jungle to small, mobile and disposable urban labs. In this new, decentralized world of cocaine production, two men with some buckets, a handful of microwave ovens and only the most basic knowledge of chemistry can take naturally growing coco leaves and turn them into 100% pure cocaine powder. And here's the craziest part...they show us how they do it.
Source: Vocativ.
*At the same time they arm the traffickers who uses US banks to laundry the money. Toby forgot to mention  some facts.

The finished cocaine, before it's whitened by Jason Koebler

Don't forget that it is illegal to make cocaine.

Iraq: “Devastating” Dossier Alleging British War Crimes Lodged with the International Criminal Court

Tony Blair meets troops in Iraq in 2003. A dossier alleging "systematic" war crimes by British forces - sent to Iraq by the former Prime Minister - has been presented to the International Criminal Court (PA)

Source: The Independent.
By Jonathan Owen, 12 January, 2014

Excerpts:
"A devastating 250-page dossier, detailing allegations of beatings, electrocution, mock executions and sexual assault, has been presented to the International Criminal Court, and could result in some of Britain's leading defence figures facing prosecution for "systematic" war crimes.
General Sir Peter Wall, the head of the British Army; former defence secretary Geoff Hoon; and former defence minister Adam Ingram are among those named in the report, entitled "The Responsibility of UK Officials for War Crimes Involving Systematic Detainee Abuse in Iraq from 2003-2008".

The damning dossier draws on cases of more than 400 Iraqis, representing "thousands of allegations of mistreatment amounting to war crimes of torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment".

They range from "hooding" prisoners to burning, electric shocks, threats to kill and "cultural and religious humiliation". Other forms of alleged abuse include sexual assault, mock executions, threats of rape, death, and torture."

"The complaint being considered by the ICC presents evidence of the "systematic use of brutal violence, that at times resulted in the death of detainees, while in the custody of UK Services Personnel". And it claims "there is evidence of brutality combined with cruelty and forms of sadism, including sexual abuse, and sexual and religious humiliation". It points to the widespread use of "hooding", forcing people to remain in painful "stress positions", sleep deprivation, noise bombardment and deprivation of food and water. These interrogation techniques were used by British soldiers in Northern Ireland before being banned in 1972. There are "clear patterns" of the banned techniques being used "in a variety of different UK facilities [in Iraq] ... from 2003 to 2008," says the complaint. And evidence "suggests that failures to follow-up on or ensure accountability for ending such practices became a cause of further abuse. The obvious conclusion is that such mistreatment was systematic.""

read entire article here.

Aww puppies

Image: Sharon Montrose via Getty Images

Gil Scott Heron's "Work for Peace": The Military and the Monetary

Back when Eisenhower was the President
Golf courses was where most of his time was spent.
So I never paid much attention to what the President said
Because in general, I believed the General was politically dead,
But he always seemed to know how muscles were going to be flexed
He kept mumbling something about a military-industrial complex.

The military and monetary
The military and monetary
The military and monetary

The military and the monetary
Get together whenever they think it's necessary
They have turned our brothers and sisters into mercenaries,
They are turning the planet into a cemetary.

The military and the monetary
Use the media as intermediaries.
They are determined to keep the citizens secondary
They make so many decisions that seem arbitrary.

We've been standing behind the 'Commander-in-Chief'
Who was under a spotlight, shaking like a leaf
Because the ship of state had landed on an economic reef
So we knew he'd be bringing us messages of grief.

The military and monetary
Were 'Shielded' by January and went 'Storming' into February.
They brought us pot-bellied Generals as luminaries.
Two weeks before I hadn't heard of the sons of Bitches
And then all of a sudden they were legendary.

They took the honor from the honorary
They took the dignity from the dignitaries
They took the secrets from the secretaries
But they left the 'bitch' in 'obituary'

Yeah, they had some 'smart bombs'
But they had some dumb ones as well
They scared the hell out of CNN in that Baghdad hotel.

The military and the monetary
The military and monetary
The military and monetary

Get together whenever they think it's necessary
War in the desert sometimes sure could seem scary
But they beamed out the war to all of their subsidiaries
Tried making 'so damn insane' (Saddam Hussein) a worthy adversary

Keeping all of the citizens secondary
Scaring old folks into coronaries
Making us all wonder if all of this was really, truly necessary.

We've got to work for peace.
We've got to work for peace.
If we all believed in peace we could have peace.
The only thing wrong with peace is that
You can't make no money from it.

The military and the monetary
Get together whenever they think it's necessary
They have turned our brothers and sisters into mercenaries
We are turning parts of the planet into a cemetary.

We hounded the Ayatollah religiously,
Bombed Libya and killed Qadafi's son hideously.
We turned our back on our allies, the Panamanians
Watched Ollie North selling guns to the Iranians
Witnessed Gorbachev slaughtering Lithuanians
So we better warn the Amish, they may bomb the Pennsylvanians.

We've got to work for peace.
Peace ain't coming this way.
We've got to work for peace.

Peace is not (merely) the absence of war
It is the absence of the rumors of war and the threats of war
And the preparation of war.
Peace is not (merely) the absence of war
We will have all touched the power of peace within ourselves.
Because we will have all come to peace within ourselves.

Peace ain't gonna be easy.
Peace ain't gonna be free.
We've got to work for peace.

Great critters by Princefala at DeviantArt

You have to visit Princefala's gallery at Deviart! As there are numerous great pieces it is
hard to choose so I did it by theme: smoking.
This is how he described the right work:

"I don't care what anyone says, Tabitha is ace. She's doing her thing and never saying sorry for it. She probably doesn't even smoke, but if you've got a cigarette, you know she's going to want it. Why? Because it's yours. And anything Kurt's got is at the top of her list, naturellement. Flippin' tarty klepto. Most people hate her. I think she's damn hilarious ^_^

I also love her and Kurt as a pairing that easily could have been but wasn't. He obviously had it bad for her. I wonder how Todd feels about that . . . :P

By the by, if you can not read it and are curious, Todd's paper says "girlie swot." And he doesn't mean Tabitha. ::sigh:: And here all poor Kurt wanted to do was get together for some studying. Ha.

Meh, not my usual lush colouring job, but I thought a slightly simpler approach worked better here. I might use this as a header if I ever get a website up and running."

photoshop, ballpoint pen

Detroit recovery

I did a quick travel around Detroit using Google maps and took this picture.
Ironic.

U.S. General Wesley Clark: explaining Bush Administration planned to take out 7 countries in 5 years

In an interview with Amy Goodman on March 2, 2007, U.S. General Wesley Clark (Ret.), explains that the Bush Administration planned to take out 7 countries in 5 years: Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Lybia, Somalia, Sudan, Iran.

He said: "We made the decision we are going to war with Iraq."
I said:  "We are going to with Iraq? Why?"
He said: "I don't know." "I guess they don't know what else to do."

Dog's world: caption this picture

Vietnam's Ao Dai women traditional dresses

Even thought these dresses are disappearing at the streets in Vietnam they'll remain in our memories.
Images Source: Jeremy; and Andy.

Big Brother is NOT watching you

There is always a place.

Happy New Year! 2014: Live and Breathe

I rather think it is all about "living" and not "life" because it broadens our experience.
This is the period we think about the last 365 days and do the maths: accomplished/ not accomplished; done/undone; good decisions/ bad decisions...
and prepare ourselves for the 365 days to come.
A paradise!
Ok, i'll join the party and will think that, yes, this will be my year!
It will be yours too. Happy New Year!
Live and breathe!

Heart vs Brain

Medicine: Doctors leading to your demise

This is a must-see for all of us for it is about how are diseases are being treated.

"Your doctor is one of the agents who is most likely to lead to your demise these days rather than a person who is likely to save you."
Dr. David Healy

"Prescription only arrangements are there to control addictive behaviors.
Doctors have a police function whether they like it or not."
Dr. David Healy

""Drug-induced death is at least the third leading cause of death."
Dr. David Healy

CEO of patients' organisation National Voices Jeremy Taylor, practicing consultant and President of the Royal College of Psychiatry Sue Bailey, and outspoken head of Data Based Medicine Ltd. and Pharmageddon author and psychiatrist David Healy question medical authority.

Ravel's Bolero animated by Simon Brethé

I loved this animation by Simon Brethé, a Brazilian artist, and felt like sharing.
I'm still not blogging and I'll be away for two months. I miss blogging but I'm having to take care of some stuffs that is taking all my time.
I hope you enjoy this animation that I watched with a smile on my face.
Have a great Sunday!

Nell meeting the creator

You came into my life and you were everywhere in this house. You asked for nothing but tenderness and filed my heart and soul with something that is hard to explain for it is an emotion that is not related to any kind of human connection.

You had a wisdom that I could never understand but I felt it when I looked at you and you stared me back.

I remember the first time I saw you. You were on a table being you, and just by being you little by little you gained my devotion.

My little angel. You were my guardian angel sometimes, you know that.
I remember you running towards me, straight to my arms.

You got sick and, in 2008, the first surgery, the second in 2011 showed that you were not well.
But you were brave and against all odds you were here till last night.
You started feeling sick two weeks ago. You could not breath. It was getting difficult you could not see and listen anymore.

Yesterday I prayed for God that if you were in pain that he should have mercy.
Today morning I searched for you and you were not in any place you used to be. You were under the armchair with your head showing.

I took you and God, I believe Him occasionally, answered my prayers.

Go my angel, go, go, my angel and find peace to have fun and play.

It is aching because I'm missing you and your body is still here. But is is just a body.
Little angel,I'll never forget you but time will make this pain go away and I'll remember those tiny little things that we shared.

I cannot stop writing... as if I stopped I would have to face your absence,
I'm listening to these songs that express what I'm feeling in a way.
I have to let you go my angel.
Go, go sweet angel.

I'll be offline

I'll be offline for I period.
I don't know exactly when I'll be back.
Be at peace,

Grandma's help

Mr. Bean's "O Mio Babbino Caro"

daniel3231995 1 year ago

Bravo Mr.Bean!Bravo! :') A masterfully poignant rendering of one of the most popular soprano arias...Mr.Bean captures the sincere despair of Lauretta's pining for her lover that so arouses a heartbreaking empathy for her agony while also keeping that comedic touch...even though that bit with the nun crying for her dying son is a bit slightly off from the actual story told in the lyrics...BUT ANYWAY,only geniuses can improvise as good as that!

I took this comment from youTube because when I saw this scene I felt the same. It is amazing how tragedy and comedy are so close in such a way.

The girls with something extra

Sweet, aren't they?

Kurt Vonnegut's son talking about ADHD?

I'm amazed that Mark Vonnegut, who had a first maniac episode  the age of twenty two, is
at this conference - ADHD Consensus Conference, 1998 - stammering about what ADHD without being able to put two sentences together.
He wrote two books about his struggle with bipolarity: "The Eden Express: A Memoir of Insanity" and "Just Like Someone Without Mental Illness Only More So: A Memoir".
From someone who has experienced the nonsense of DSM and its practice being in such a conference surrounded by physician eager to prescribe Ritalin to children is something out of this planet for me.

Mark Vonnegut and son