This Week in Psychedelics - 10.23.15

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Cannabis

• Incoming Canadian Government Plans to Legalize Marijuana (Reason)
• More Americans Than Ever Support Legalizing Marijuana (TIME)
• Why People Are Giving Marijuana to Their Pets (ATTN:)
• Pot is Legal in Colorado. So Why Can't You Smoke It Anywhere? (Reason)
• Australia to legalize medical cannabis (WDIV Detroit)
• Bernie Sanders Told Jimmy Kimmel Where He Stands on Marijuana (ATTN:)
• Bernie and Hillary's Marijuana Misconceptions (Reason)
• Here's Why Cannabis Legalization Doesn't Lead to Higher Teen Use Rates (Leafly)
• Stiletto Stoners: Why More Women Are Choosing Cannabis Over Alcohol (Reset.me)
• Australia to give green light to medical cannabis (CNN)
• Fed Rejects Colorado's Attempt to Create Marijuana Bank (TIME)
• Ben Carson Wants to "Intensify" the War on Drugs (Reason)
• Women hold far more executive positions in the cannabis industry than other US sectors (Extract)
• DEA Must Stop Interfering With Legal Medical Marijuana Dispensaries, Federal Court Rules (TIME)
• Marijuana Enthusiasts Might Be Flocking to Canada Soon (ATTN:)
• Marijuana Use In America Has Doubled In the Past Decade, Study Says (TIME)
• Hundreds participate in N.J. Cannabis Freedom Rally in Trenton (NJ.com)
• As Prohibition Crumbles, Cannabis Users Are Less Apt To Abuse It (Reason)
• New Canadian Prime Minister Promises To Legalize Marijuana (Reset.me)
• Man denied use of medical cannabis despite qualifying (Valley News Live)
• Judge Agrees DOJ Harassment of Medical Marijuana Suppliers is Illegal (Reason)
• 7 of the most unusual uses of cannabis (Metro)
• The UK's first legal cannabis vaporiser is here — and the user reviews are in (Metro)
• Canada's new governing party promises to legalize, regulate marijuana sales (USA Today)
• Steep fall in cannabis offences points to silent relaxation of drugs policy (The Guardian)
• Brookings Report Decries the Federal Government's 'War on Medical Marijuana Research' (Reason)
• Medicinal cannabis: Turnbull government to introduce bill to legalise and license growers (The Sydney Morning Herald)
• Latest Gallup Poll Puts Support for Legal Pot at 58% (Again) (Reason)
• French customs seize cannabis worth £15m in chic Paris arrondissement (The Telegraph)
• Medicinal cannabis legalisation 'unlikely to benefit' Tasmanian farmers (ABC News Australia)
• Albanian police seize 3.2 tons of cannabis in major sweep, growers escape (Fox News)

LSD

• LSD Archive Has Been on a Long Strange Trip (The Wall Street Journal)
• Man takes LSD for days while watching The Simpsons here's what happens (Metro)
• Blotter: Aurora police find candy laced with LSD during traffic stop (Chicago Tribune)
• On Timothy Leary's birthday, 5 other famous figures in the history of LSD (New York Daily News)
• Local history: A flashback to LSD trips from 50 years ago (Akron Beacon Journal)
• 'Dalai Lama' has arrived (The Times of India)
• LSD Inventor's Archive is Being Ignored (Newser)

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

• Hallucinogens Could Hold Key To Quitting Smoking (ATTN:)
• Kodai's 'magic shrooms' give you a high (Times of India)
• Rockford woman arrested on felony drug charges (Rockford Register Star)

MDMA/Ecstasy

• MDMA Psychotherapy Could Be Legal In Just Five Years (The Huffington Post)
• Hold Up Guys, Amsterdam Is Not Letting People Carry More Ecstasy Because of ADE (Vice's Thump)
• Hair samples can reveal whether you took ecstasy months ago, study finds (Science Alert)
• For Some Reason, Police Believe People Will Give Out Ecstasy And Other Pricey Illegal Drugs On Halloween (Inquisitr)
• Family of teen who suffered crippling drug overdose posts new pictures showing her amazing fightback (Mirror)
• Dog dodges death after devouring ecstasy pills (CBS News)
• 'X Factor' Contestant Anton Stephans Reveals Eight-Year Ecstasy Addiction (The Huffington Post)
• Official Report From M.E.'s Office States TomorrowWorld Death Caused By MDMA (Your EDM)
• Ecstasy drug deal arranged on Snapchat lands Oak Lawn man in jail: Prosecutors (Chicago Tribune)
• Arab Arrested While Trying to Smuggle 1,500 Ecstasy Pills (Arutz Sheva)
• Is ecstasy being passed off as Halloween candy? Probably not (WRTV Indianapolis)
• Ecstasy Masked as Candy Raises Concern as Halloween Nears (NBC Connecticut)

Ayahuasca/DMT

• DMT Research from 1956 to the Edge of Time (Reality Sandwich)
• Joe Rogan On Cheating Death With TRT & Tripping Balls ON DMT (Low Kick MMA)
• CUPD Make Arrest in Year-Old Suspicious Chemicals Case (Ithaca.com)

Iboga/Ibogaine

• How A Schizophrenic Drug Addict Reclaimed His Life With Iboga (Reset.me)
• The Case for Studying Ibogaine, the Anti-Addiction Drug (Inverse)
• A New Perspective: How Ibogaine Treatment Helped Turn My Life Around (Reality Sandwich)

Synthetic Cannabinoids/Psychoactive Research Chemicals

• LSD-style legal highs rife in prison after being soaked into pages of books and letters (Mirror)
• SA pair charged after 'liquid acid' seized (Daily Mail)

Dissociatives

• Ketamine trafficking: P'sula man gets death, woman freed (Daily Express)
• 22 drug smugglers held in China (India.com)
• Man arrested for driving a vehicle under the influence of PCP (The Bay Net)
• Hayward: Officer-involved death prompts lawsuit by family, questions about handling of case (Contra Costa Times)
• Cop gone bad CAGED for 5 years - busted with LOADED GUN, ketamine, cocaine and ecstasy (Daily Star)

Opiates/Opioids

• Overdose Reversal Drug Naloxone Is Saving Lives, But Not All Police Departments Are On Board (The Huffington Post)
• The CDC and The Opium Wars: The Trouble with the Guidelines (National Pain Report)
• UN: Opium Grown in Afghanistan Down by 48% (Voice of America)
• Why naloxone wasn't used on pregnant woman who died of likely heroin overdose (Michigan Live)
• Heroin addict films her own detox (CBS News)
• Could Iran be the next country to legalise cannabis and opium? (The Conversation)
• Obama says US will tackle prescription drug abuse (Bradenton Herald)
• Addicts in Kyrgyzstan Fight to Break Heroin's Grip, Armed With Stones (The New York Times)
• Survey shows decrease in Afghanistan opium poppy cultivation (12 News Now)
• As heroin antidote spreads, next step is treatment (Press of Atlantic City)
• Obama targets nation's heroin problem in West Virginia trip (Reuters)
• Fed up with heroin, Vermont town fights back (CBS News)
• Federal agents intercepted 88 pounds of heroin destined for Vermont (Boston.com)
• Afghan Farmers Find Alternative to Opium: Pomegranate (Epoch Times)
• Pennsylvania Cops to Overdose Victims: Drop Dead (AlterNet)
• 'Heroin kingpin' sentenced despite 'witchery' (Pensacola News Journal)
• Prevention, awareness called key in fight against heroin (WMUR9)

Absinthe

• Absinthe bar coming to Germantown (The Tennessean)
• Storied liquor focus of new Germantown Venture (Nashville Business Journal)

Kratom

• Kratom: Therapy or Threat? (Medscape)

Kava

• Catching a healthy buzz (Florida Flambeau)
• The Kava Konnection opens as upstate's first kava bar (Carolina's CW)

Khat

• Ethiopia: It Is Becoming Ubiquitous — A Boon or Bane? (Geeska Afrika)

Miscellaneous Psychedelics/Psychoactives/Drug Policy

• What a Week! Everyone's Hopping on the 'No Drug War' Train (The Huffington Post)
• UN to call on governments around the world to decriminalise all drugs, says Richard Branson (The Independent)
• The economic case for decriminalising drugs (Independent)
• The U.N. Has Not Officially Backed a Paper Calling for the Global Decriminalization of Drugs (TIME)
• The truth behind the UNODC's leaked decriminalisation paper (Transform Drug Policy Foundation)
• The Growing Bipartisan Consensus for Rolling Back the Failed War on Drugs (The Huffington Post)
• From Psilocybin To MDMA: Researchers Are In The Throes Of A Psychedelic Revival (Mintpress News)
• Calling all clergy: Psychedelics study aims to induce spiritual experiences (Crux)
• What is Shamanic Initiation? (Reality Sandwich)
• The Hidden Psychedelic History of Martial Arts (AlterNet)
• The Psychedelic Evolution of a Cell (The Atlantic)
• Finally - a change in course on drug policy (Virgin)
• That Time the UN Almost Called for Decriminalizing Drug Use (Reason)
• Supper with the Psychedelic Society — tales of therapy, poetry and ayahuasca (The Guardian)
• Say 'know' to drugs (The Daily Californian)
• WUD event highlights many uses of psychedelics (The Badger Herald)
• Fun factory: DABSMYLA cover an LA building with psychedelic illustrations (Wallpaper)
• Richard Branson is Pushing for Drug Decriminalization (ATTN:)
• Documentary about a tribe in Nepal who hunt for psychedelic honey (Boing Boing)

Disclaimer: "This Week in Psychedelics" does not censor or analyze the news links presented here. The purpose of this column is solely to catalogue how psychedelics (and other psychoactives) are presented by the mass media, which includes everything from the latest scientific research to misinformation.

Book Review - Letting Go of the Person You Used To Be

Photograph taken by David Wilder.

Lama Surya Das, an authorized lama in the Dzogchen lineage of Tibet and author of the best-selling book Awakening The Buddha Within, offers practical advice about dealing with change, loss, and spiritual transformation in the book Letting Go of the Person You Used To Be.

The book is broken into sections that focus on different aspects of the main topic, such as "Naming Our Losses", "Letting Go of the Person You used to Be", and "Being Heroic in the Face of Loss". Each chapter opens with a thought-provoking and inspiring quote from the likes of Buddhist teachers, Mark Twain, Charlie Parker, and Philo. The words by these wise people offer an excellent introduction to the chapter's topic and serve as a mindfulness reminder before the reader begins the chapter.

Following the opening quote, each chapter launches into a discussion of the topic and includes anecdotes from Buddhist teachers and friends of Surya Das. The chapter then closes with a spiritual or meditation practice that can be cultivated to work on and integrate the topic.

I read Awakening The Buddha Within several years ago when I first became interested in meditation and only had a preliminary interest in Buddhism, and really enjoyed it. I was unaware that it was the first book in a trilogy until picking up this book and reading a bit more about it. This has definitely sparked my interest in reading more by Surya Das!

Overall, I found the book to be extremely valuable and easy to read. I marked inspiring stories, quotes, and pieces of advice to return to later, and also plan to explore the meditation practices included at the end of each chapter. I would recommend this book for anyone, regardless of whether they desire a change or are currently experiencing loss, because both are things that we will all come across during our lives.

4/5 stars. 224 pages.

Weekend Thoughts - 10.17.15

Image by Amre, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Happy Saturday y'all! Below, I have rounded up some things for you to think about this weekend:

1. I hope I will see some of my local readers at the second annual TriVegFest in Raleigh, NC later today! There will be an impressive collection of vendors, speakers, and an amazing community to take part in. If you are able to make it out and see me, feel free to say hello!

2. A tropical mushroom that grows on lava flows gives one in three women spontaneous orgasms from smelling it. Naturally, all of the men tested found the smell abhorrent. 

3. Turns out that over the past ten years, the DEA has spent millions of undisclosed dollars on cell phone tracking. However, the organization refuses to release acquisition documents even though the fact that it is operating like this is publicly-known.

4. A photography project that removed cell phones from pictures of people engaged with them, which results in an eerie commentary depicting mobile phone addiction. They're definitely worth looking through.

5. For the collectors out there, here are some coins that have been carved to reveal skulls underneath the faces.

6. One of my favorite food bloggers, Gena Hamshaw of the site formerly known as Choosing Raw, will be changing the blog's name to The Full Helping in an effort to have the name reflect the site's main content a bit better. While Gena was originally a raw foods, she has evolved the blog to include more than just raw-focused posts. I highly recommend reading her blog for recipe recommendations, healthy journey guest posts, and a weekly link roundup that focuses on food, health, and nutrition.

That's all for this week's edition of Weekend Thoughts. Until next week, keep thinking wilder.

This Week in Psychedelics - 10.16.15

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Cannabis

• Studies by Oregon researchers hint that mild pot-induced paranoia may have a public health benefit (The Register-Guard)
• Ohio man gets 'too high', calls police (USA Today)
• Here's What Marijuana Does to Pain (ATTN:)
• How safe is stoned driving really? (Aeon)
• Federal Cancer Institute Acknowledges Cancer-Fighting Properties of Cannabis (Reset.me)
• Marijuana Could Change the 2016 Election (ATTN:)
• Sanders Suddenly Becomes Pot-Friendliest Major-Party Candidate (Reason)
• Marijuana Separated Sanders and Clinton in a Big Way (ATTN:)
• Legalising cannabis would raise millions in tax, says government study (The Guardian)
• Cannabis should be as legal as cigarettes because war on drugs is a 'disaster' claims Labour MP (Mirror)
• Why are stoners always portrayed the same in film? (Dazed Digital)
• Growing Pains: Regulating the Use of Pesticides on Marijuana (NORML)
• An Introduction To The Endocannabinoid System (Reset.me)
• Tribal Nations May Want to Stash Your Marijuana Cash (TIME)
• Marijuana Could Literally Replace These 5 Prescription Drugs (ATTN:)
• Oregon Pot Stores Sell More Than $11 Million in First 5 Days (The New York Times)
• This is what legalising cannabis would raise in taxes (Mirror)
• How LEDs Are Making Weed Better (Wired)
• Finding a Place for Cannabis Cash (Bloomberg)
• Medical cannabis CEO says Maine could be leader in legal marijuana industry (Portland Press Herald)
• CTU's Helen Kelly wants legal cannabis for cancer pain (Stuff.co.nz)
• 4 Riders in Senate Appropriations Bills Support Cannabis Federalism (Reason)
• Rep. Regan: Medical cannabis task force report being reviewed by House (York Daily Record)
• Free-thinking Brighton wants to legalise cannabis the most - with just one Tory seat in the top 10 (Mirror)
• Legalise cannabis debate: Only 14 out of 650 MPs take part in parliamentary discussion on drug (International Business Times)
• SA's cannabis oil 'Robin Hood' (Independent Online)
• Marlborough man orders cannabis online (Marlborough Express)
• Banning cannabis has failed - now it is time for our MPs to show true courage (Mirror)
• Marijuana recipes: How to make Cannabis Ceviche (SF Gate)

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

• UW-Madison tunes in to 'magic mushroom' medicine (Wisconsin State Journal)
• Psychedelic Mushroom Operator is Arrested in South Austin (Patch)
• Magic mushrooms discovered in Stormont (Sunday World)

MDMA/Ecstasy

• Carrying 5 or Less Ecstasy Pills Will Be Legal at ADE (Vice's Thump)
• Amsterdam under fire over liberal ecstasy policy (NL Times)
• Why European MDMA Looks So Much Better Than American Molly (Inverse)
• When Are You Going To Get Your Prescription MDMA? (Gizmodo)
• Drug smuggler tried to sneak 25,000 ecstasy tablets into Britain inside neck PILLOW (Mirror)
• Ecstasy lab, precursor chemicals, cash discovered in Macleay Island joint police bust (ABC News)
• Annie Lennox girl's lover drowned on drugs - EXCLUSIVE: Traces of MDMA found in his body (The Sun)
• Hair samples shows ecstasy users more stressed (Australian Journal of Pharmacy)
• Study Confirms That Taking MDMA or Ecstasy Directly Increases Your Stress Levels (Vice's Thump)

Ayahuasca/DMT

• When it comes to worldwide religious tolerance, DMT could be the answer (Binghamton University Pipe Dream)
• Demystifying Ayahuasca: An Expert Guide Through the Ritual (Men's Journal)
• Art, Ayahuasca, And Climate Change: Can We Heal Our Way Back To A Healthy Planet (Reset.me)
• Find out what is behind Ayahuasca that natives call sacred (CCTV-America)
• Reassessing life in deepest Peru (Cyprus Mail)

Peyote/San Pedro/Mescaline

• Personal Story: Ayahuasca And San Pedro Taught Me To Love Myself Again And Let Go Of The Past (Reset.me)

Iboga/Ibogaine

• Scott Disick, another Kardashian ex, is back in rehab (The Washington Post)
• Scott Disick Reportedly Enters Rehab For Drugs And Alcohol (The Huffington Post)

Salvia Divinorum

• Tripping down memory lane with Leaves of the Virgin Mary (The Coast)

Synthetic Cannabinoids/Psychoactive Research Chemicals

• Man in critical condition after taking 'unpredictable' N-bomb (Stuff.co.nz)
• 'Hallucinations, confusion and agitation': Police sound warning over LSD-type synthetic drug (TVNZ)
• 'Hell of a shock': Father of drug user - The family of 20-year-old university student on life support after taking synthetic LSD had no idea the man wasn't going to his classes. (NZCity)
• Hospital staff attacked by man who snorted dangerous synthetic drug 'blue scissors' (The Sydney Morning Herald)
• Thought ice was bad? Introducing 'Flakka' - Australia's most terrifying new drug, which turns users into 'zombies' and causes them to strip naked as their bodies overheat (Daily Mail)

Dissociatives

• Ketamine Could Soon Be Used To Treat Depression (Inverse)
• Ketamine Causes Long-Lasting Changes in Brain Function in Young Mice (Brain & Behavior Research Foundation)
• Hong Kong Customs seizes about 12 kilograms of suspected ketamine at Man Kam To Control Point (7th Space Interactive)
• High on PCP and bleeding, Jersey City man tries escaping ambulance after fight: police (NJ.com)
• Burglary suspects caught in Southbridge with $10,000 worth of ketamine (Worcester Telegram)

Opiates/Opioids

• How Mexican drug cartels are feeding America's deadly heroin epidemic (The Week)
• Poppy cultivation up 50% in Mexico: DEA (Mexico News Daily)
• Heroin crisis: presidential candidates forced to confront issue on campaign trail (The Guardian)
• Charge heroin dealers as killers? Not so fast, law says (SI Live)
• Heroin's Death Toll Reaches Another Gruesome Landmark (Mother Jones)
• Government to consider giving more opium poppy cultivation licenses (The Economic Times)
• No, you can't send a block of opium via courier. Two arrested in Richmond Hill, Ont., and 1.8kg package seized (National Post)
• Heroin mailed in sandals brings prison for Mich. dealer (Detroit Free Press)
• University of Kentucky training pharmacists to distribute naloxone (American Pharmacists Association)
• $100,000 federal grant to help prevent opioid overdose deaths in WMass (Mass Live)
• UN: Afghan Opium Production Down 48% (Voice of America)
• Lehigh Valley police have yet to get heroin overdose antidote (The Morning Call)
• Heroin worth over 500 million rupees seized from Jalandhar (ANI News)
• Australia, ACT once again on an upward epidemic curve of opioid, heroin overdose (The Canberra Times)
• Heroin Proves a Formidable Foe in Suburban Ohio County (ABC News)
• Demand Iowa overdose legislation (Quad-City Times)
• Grant to help Northern Berkshire group fight opioid overdoses (The Berkshire Eagle)
• Howard awarded $50,000 to combat heroin addiction (The Baltimore Sun)
• Heroin, pain-pill addicts face lifelong struggle (The Journal News)
• SA to allow farmers to grow opium (Nine MSN)
• Government mulling more licenses for opium cultivation (Business Today)
• Heroin deaths exceed traffic fatalities in Virginia, Fredericksburg area (The Free Lance-Star)
• Kentucky Lets Pharmacists Distribute Drug That Reverses Overdoses (Governing)

Absinthe

• Library Goers Sample Craft Liquor at St. George Spirits Talk (Santa Clara Weekly)
• 'The Green Hour', a Late Night Absinthe Bar, Is Coming to Germantown's Tempered European Indulgence (Eater Nashville)

Kambô

• Scientists Put Shamanic Medicine Under The Microscope (The Huffington Post)

Kava

• Ambassador convinced kava quality study nearing standard (Vanuatu Daily Post)
• Police chief bans kava, alcohol consumption at the academy (The Fiji Times)
• New export opportunities for Kava and Breadfruit (Fiji Broadcasting Corporation)

Khat

• Bonds set for men arrested for foreign drug (WHLT22)

Miscellaneous Psychedelics/Psychoactives/Drug Policy

• Psychedelics Lawyer: Darknet Markets are the New Frontier of 'Cognitive Liberty' (Vice's Motherboard)
• Rebooting Psychedelic Science (Al Jazeera)
• Psychedelics Are the Buzz This Weekend in NYC (Vice's The Creators Project)
• Meth isn't an argument for drug prohibition. It demonstrate's prohibition's failure. (The Washington Post)
• Psychedelic GIFs of Pop Icons by Le Cube (HUH.)
• The Proponent of Psychedelic Art (The New Indian Express)
• Psychedelic Press UK journal 2015 Volume V is out now! (Psychedelic Press UK)
• Vilified drugs can be beneficial (Minnesota Daily)
• Janis Joplin's Psychedelic Porsche vs. John Lennon's Rockin' Rolls (Forbes)

Disclaimer: "This Week in Psychedelics" does not censor or analyze the news links presented here. The purpose of this column is solely to catalogue how psychedelics (and other psychoactives) are presented by the mass media, which includes everything from the latest scientific research to misinformation.

Weekend Thoughts - 10.10.15

Image by Wonderland, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Happy Saturday y'all! Below, I have rounded up some things for you to think about this weekend:

1. After watching mycologist Paul Stamets' inspiring TED Talk presentation "6 Ways Mushrooms Can Save The World" seven years ago, I have been interested in the awesome powers of the humble mushroom, and impressed by Stamets' innovative mycelium-based techniques that clean up nuclear waste, fight pest invasions, and more. I found an article this week from Vice's Munchies that explores the new technological ability to create batteries out of portabello mushrooms that will be able to power mobile phones and electric cars. These batteries use the mushrooms in place of the synthetic graphite that usually acts as the anode component of a lithium-ion battery. The best news is that the combination of the naturally-high levels of porosity and concentration of potassium salt in the portabello leads to improved performance of the battery over time, as opposed to the way batteries typically run out of juice after a while.

2. From the Electronic Frontier Foundation:

"New law enforcement technologies are raising new questions about what civil rights abuses look like in the digital age. Historically, allegations of police misconduct were based on visible behavior: people generally know when they have been assaulted, detained unjustly, or had their property searched or seized without due process. Today, civil rights violations occur on computer screens, amplified by automated processes, or exacted invisibly and indiscriminately on large populations. These problems are exacerbated by a lack of transparency, with journalists and researchers unable to access records critical to an informed public debate.

That's where civilian oversight bodies may have a role."

With that in mind, EFF published a law enforcement technology primer for civilian oversight bodies. The primer focuses on new technologies that officers are using to spy on us, including IMSI catchers (i.e. Stingrays), automated license plate recognition, drones, and mobile biometrics. The document details methods that police are using to analyze and infiltrate online social networks, and explores emerging civil liberties issues, actions that oversight boards should take, and what questions they should ask regarding local law enforcement surveillance.

3. KrebsOnSecurity tackles the question, "What's in a boarding pass barcode?" The answer?: "A Lot". It turns out that the data stored inside a boarding pass barcode include your name, frequent flyer number, record locator, and other personally identifiable information. A nefarious person would be able to use the information to gain access to your entire account and view, change seats, and cancel future scheduled flights. I highly suggest reading the article linked above, but at any rate, your next used boarding pass should probably find its home in a document shredder rather than an airport waste bin.

4. Fans of the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy may enjoy looking at the sketches that J.R.R. Tolkien used to build Middle-Earth. The accompanying article explains how Tolkien's process of drawing the story out was an important part of writing the books. Definitely worth a peek if you are a fan of his works.

5. I quite enjoyed this collection of Americans who purport to love English but have a very hard time expressing that in writing.

6. Bikram Choudhury, the millionaire (and accused serial rapist) who is best-known for making hot yoga popular in America, sued other hot yoga studios in 2003 for violating a copyright Choudhury claimed to hold regarding the sequence of poses in his class. The United States Federal Appeals Court for the 9th circuit has ruled that his copyright claim in invalid, making this classy Choudhury quote from earlier in the court proceeding even more hilarious: "I have balls like atom bombs, two of them, 100 megatons each. Nobody fucks with me." Sounds like the court system just did, buddy.

That's all for this week's edition of Weekend Thoughts. Until next week, keep thinking wilder.