If you love phallic art and ancient history, here’s a news story for you: A 1,900-year-old Roman house has been uncovered in northern Israel, Live Science reports. Making the find more notable: the home was apparently covered in penis-shaped amulets.
Last month, Daniel Schowalter, a professor at Carthage College in Wisconsin, told attendees of a meeting the Archaeological Institute of America and the Society for Classical Studies that the newly uncovered abode was likely two stories tall and was constructed during the late first or early second century A.D.
“One would guess that it might have been commissioned by a Roman official who was stationed in the area, but it could also be the home [of] a local elite who adopted some traditional Roman motifs in decoration,” Schowalter told Live Science.
It’s unclear if the penis-shaped amulets, which were discovered in the fill top of the house, were part of the home or if they pre-dated it. “That fill was probably put down in the early third century,” Showalter said. “So the amulets date to before that time, but since it is fill, we aren’t sure how long before.”
The T-Mobile Super Bowl ad featuring Martha Stewart and Snoop Dogg was designed to elicit some giggles as the “Queen of Living Well” dropped a slew of weed puns in 3o seconds while the rap artist/ganjapreneur sat on a couch.
T-Mobile understood that the commercial would not be for everybody. But was the phone carrier expecting a potential boycott?
The ad begins with Stewart extolling the virtues of T-Mobile’s services, prompting Snoop to reply: “You might even say it’s all that and a bag of . . . ”
And then Stewart began her litany puns:
“Purple, cushy throw pillows”
“Herb-roasted lamb chops.”
“Greenery … for your topiary garden”
“Pot”
“Can of bisque”
Fairly mild stuff that even the network censors approved. But one Missouri mom did not approve. Since the airing of the spot, she has organized a petition drive to boycott T-Mobile.
According to Parents Opposed to Pot, an anti-marijuana group whose tagline is “bursting the bubble of marijuana hype” :
How much more of an attempt to normalize this to youngsters can you get? The Super Bowl is something whole families watch. This was the worst place to air a commercial like this UNLESS the goal was to make drug use a joke and get kids to think marijuana is ‘no big deal,’ “explained a Missouri mom who has had several friends lose children to drug abuse, including marijuana addiction.
“Ads like this show exactly what the marijuana legalization movement is about—addiction for profit. Last year, tens of millions of pot lobby dollars bankrolled an initiative in California that would allow pot smoking ads to run on television. Three months later, the same lobby promotes this ad during an event when millions of kids were watching. It’s Big Tobacco all over again.”
Sabet runs Smart Approaches to Marijuana, another anti-legalization group which lists Parents Opposed to Pot as a partner group.
Last year, the parents group posted a story titled “10 Reasons Not To Date A Stoner.” No. 7: Activists Like To Cause A Racket.
As of this writing, the boycott petition has 135 supporters in 16 days. The group has a goal of 1,000 signees.
While New Jersey governor Chris Christie searches for a viable solution to combat the opioid epidemic currently running rampant in the state, a legion of cannabis advocates suffering from chronic pain have emerged to offer him the angle he has been searching for: medical marijuana.
Although New Jersey has a medical marijuana program in place, it is not available to those people suffering from chronic pain. However, plenty of evidence has emerged over the years indicating that the scourge of painkiller addiction in not running as rampant in states where patients have the option to use pot as an alternative to opioid medications.
On Wednesday, the Medicinal Marijuana Review Panel conducted a public hearing in order to gauge the types of health conditions to consider adding to the state’s limited program. It was there that more than two-dozen believers in the cannabis plant stood up in support of allowing those riddled with pain to have access to the herb, reportsNJ.com.
“If Chris Christie really wanted to reduce opioid addiction, he would get behind this,” one person told the panel.
Governor Christie has not exactly been an avid supporter of marijuana legalization, even if it is for medicinal use. Since the state legalized medical marijuana several years ago, Christie has maintained that the state should continue with its to-in-the-water approach to this issue for fear that any sudden movements could drag New Jersey down the path to full legalization – something Christie has said will never happen as long as he is in office.
But Christie finally took a stand with the issue late last year when he signed a bill allowing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to be added to the states list of qualified conditions. This modest expansion to the state’s medical marijuana program “would provide struggling veterans and others with the ability to use medical marijuana,” Christie said in a statement.
New Jersey’s medical marijuana supporters believe the next logical step toward a functional program is for Christie to give pain sufferers the green light to use the herb.
Panel members told reporters that they believe “chronic pain” will be recommended as a qualified condition. But then, it is out of their hands.
Although the Medicinal Marijuana Review Panel can advise Christie to incorporate pain conditions into the program, the final decision is ultimately up to Health Commissioner Cathleen Bennett.
Reports indicate that the vetting process for new qualified conditions will be complete at some point this summer. If all goes well, it is conceivable that people living in pain could be given access to the program later this year.
Soup is a favorite food of mine now matter what the season, but if you’re a vegetarian, some soups don’t have the same joie de vivre that the meat based ones can have. This is especially true when ordering what passes for vegetarian ramen at many restaurants.
Ramen is typically a blend of dashi broth made from seaweed and either a pork broth with lots of fat or a bonito flake fishiness. Excellent choices if you eat meat, but if you don’t, you’re usually relegated to a much thinner stock, both in mouthfeel and in taste. The seaweed is rich in glutamate, the main ingredient in MSG, which gives you that umami sensation on your tongue.
Legendary Ivan Ramen shop in NYC blew my veggie socks off, thanks in major part to their silky, oily, rich flavored and vegan broth. After much research, the secret is not very well hidden on the web, lucky for all of us. It’s oily richness also makes a great place to stick our good friend cannabis, for a two-birds-one-stone scenario.
Photos by Maria Penaloza
Ivan Veggie Fat
Original version Ivan Orkin, edited by Danielle Guercio
1.5 cups oil, neutral in flavor like canola or vegetable oil
5 strips of kombu seaweed
5 strips of nori seaweed
20 garlic cloves, whole peeled
1 bunch scallions
½ oz cannabis infused oil *
Photos by Maria Penaloza
Peel garlic and heat in a slow cooker with oil and rough chopped scallions, heat until garlic is tender.
Photos by Maria Penaloza
Strain and keep all of those luscious cloves to make garlic bread or smush on vegetables and meats, return oil to slow cooker. Place seaweed in blender and grind as much as possible, then stir into oil.
Photos by Maria Penaloza
Infuse for at least one hour, then remove and strain for use or refrigerate overnight and strain the following day for stronger flavor. I like it to be more mild since kombu usually goes in the water based part too. You can alternatively use powdered kombu and nori and then leave in the mixture, you will need to blend it really well and allow a full day for the powder to settle into the oil.
Photos by Maria Penaloza
Once heating and straining is complete, no matter when/if you do it, stir in the cannabis oil. This lets you keep all the THC in the mix and it won’t overheat or attach itself to the other items you’re straining out.
Photos by Maria Penaloza
*Cannabis Infused Oil
Decarboxylate 3.5g of finely ground cannabis at 225 degrees for 20 minutes in a tightly sealed, oven safe container. Put in lidded mason jar or vacuum sealed bag with cannabis and four ounces of canola oil. Heat in water bath just under boiling for at least 1 hour. Strain and chill to use in recipes.
Now that you have this flavored and scented oil, go ahead and use a tablespoon per person you’ll be serving to take your broth go from basic to baller.
Store in the fridge for up to two weeks or freeze it in four servings. This means anytime I want to make ramen in a pinch I can make it as good as when I fully plan it out. You can also use this oil in other soups or to season meats and veggies, after they’re cooked if you want to keep as many cannabinoids in the mix as possible.
It doesn’t seem that long ago that cronuts were the hashtag du jour. Everyone was freaking out about them, posting photos all over Instagram, which is highly credited for the pastry hybrid’s success. And now, the floodgates have opened and businesses are creating foods specifically to be splashed all over social media. These viral photos are an astute marketing trick, as people tend to flock to restaurants serving foods that make better photos than meals. Here are 9 prime examples of food that seem to be nothing more than consumable art installations. If it’s possible to get eye diabetes, these pictures are a health hazard in addition to being absurd.
Every day we wake up and don’t know how the political climate will twist upside down. Who will say what outlandish statement and launch a thousand debates across media platforms? This time the political nuclear bomb comes courtesy of Iceland’s President Guðni Th. Jóhannesson. He declared that if he had executive power to create laws on his own, he’d ban pineapple on pizza.
Just typing that sentence I can feel the disruptive wave rippling across the world.
This week Guðni was in the North Iceland town of Akureyri, visiting a history class to lecture on this history of their school and country. A former history professor, Guðni took questions from the class near the end, ranging from numerous topics.
Guðni answered questions about various personal things, including which team he rooted for in the English premiere league (which turned out to be Manchester United). He was then asked about his opinion about pineapples as a pizza topping. Guðni answered that he was fundamentally opposed to putting pineapple on top of a pizza.
Then he went one step further, announcing that he would pass a ban on pineapple as a pizza topping if he had the power to pass laws on his own.
When news of his sordid opinion went viral, Guðni backtracked a bit. As is the presidential norm these days, he released a statement via social media to better explain his views.
“For pizzas, I recommend seafood.” Your mans would rather order anchovies on his pizza than pineapple. However, the Icelandic news press seems to be taking this story in stride, as a goofy bit of viral news than anything serious. He has a sky-high approval rating, with only 3.8% of the population viewing him negatively. In other words, just like our past and current President in America.
If you live in a major city you’re likely used to seeing rats outside or on the subway tracks. But running into one of the large rodents inside your house is an entirely different thing. Sure, you might host a mouse or two, but a full grown rat? Probably not. But if you did find one hiding in your house, the odds of you getting rid of it with the skill and fearlessness of the four young women below are practically nil.
The clip opens with a shot of one woman squatting on a toilet in the apartment’s bathroom, then pans to two other women armed with brooms standing in the hallway outside before turning to show a long, steep staircase leading to the building’s open front door. “Aren’t they scared? Wouldn’t they just be running?” someone asks before screaming as a large rat sprints out of the bathroom.
“Hit it!” one woman yells as the two with brooms quickly knock the rodent down the stairs, where an until-now unseen fourth woman hockey shots it straight out the door.
Watch the full video—which is an early contender for 2017 Best Picture—below.
We came up with this ridiculous plan to get this rat out of our house and IT ACTUALLY WORKED!!!! BYE BITCH pic.twitter.com/c5qW76mzP8
There are some people in the world who pride themselves on being daredevils, thriving off of adventures and moments where they get to take crazy risks. It all sounds really cool in theory, but in practice these people are just batshit crazy. Take this guys swimming in lava.
There’s an implicit survival rule in Hawaii that expects visitors and residents of the island to be wary of volcanoes, especially when lava is involved. During hiking trips and excursions, its recommended for people to wear the appropriate gear (heavy boots, thick pants, etc.) and to not deviate from the trails. There’s also volcanic fumes to worry about, which suck.
This guy didn’t get the memo.
In the video above we can see a man swimming towards the lava while still trying to maintain a respectful distance from it, equipped with a selfie stick to record his heroic moment. The video was shot by Kawika Singson, a Hawaiian photographer known for his daring images, where he also enjoys getting uncomfortably close to boiling lava. What’s up with these Hawaiians?
Now that marijuana has been made fully legal in states like California, it seems that lawmakers all over the nation are pushing for legal marijuana in their neck of the woods.
It has been an uphill battle in Rhode Island over the past few years to get the state legislature out of their heads enough to go all the way with respect to legal marijuana. However, that attitude seems to be changing, at least to some degree, especially ever since voters in Maine and Massachusetts took leadership on the issue and passed recreational marijuana last fall. What was once a guaranteed dead issue in Rhode Island committee is now something that has a fighting chance at seeing the light of day.
But the momentum does not stop in Rhode Island. There are currently 17 states pushing legal marijuana in a manner that would tear down decades of prohibition and allow the herb to be treated like alcohol. This jumping on the bandwagon, of sorts, can be largely attributed to what was once referred to as “The Great Colorado Marijuana Experiment,” which has certainly proven to be a viable part of Rocky Mountain commerce since it was launched in 2014.
Some of the latest accounting statistics show that Colorado generated an impressive $200 million in tax revenue last year from the sale of legal marijuana. In Washington, another “experiment,” state officials saw somewhere $256 million in pot taxes flow into the old piggy bank in 2016.
It is for this reason that many state lawmakers are now leaning toward the concept of full legalization as a solution to economic downtrodden. In Maryland, state delegate Mary Washington recently submitted a proposal to tax and regulate marijuana in a manner similar to booze, which she predicts would pour $165 million per year into state coffers.
Still, there has not been a single state to ever legalize marijuana by way of legislative forces. It remains to be seen which state will be the first in the nation to bring pot prohibition to a screeching halt by pushing one of the many cannabis bills that typically bombard the halls of Capitol buildings all over American during this time of political grind.
Nevertheless, there is no question that the majority of the population wants legal weed.
A couple of national polls published last year show public support for a nationwide policy that would treat marijuana like alcohol and tobacco is now in upwards of 60 percent. Even some of the local polls to come out of states pushing for this reform show similar results. In Rhode Island, for example, nearly 60 percent of the population supports the legalization of recreational marijuana, according to the latest from Public Policy Polling.
Overall, it seems that lawmakers are starting to fall into place with respect to legalization. Rhode Island Representative Scott Slater, a lawmakers who is leading the effort to legalize marijuana, told the Los Angeles Times that it has been a “slow trickle,” but lawmakers, who once opposed legalization, are now defecting to the side of common sense.
