Marijuana Inc.: Inside America's Pot Industry [film]

I came across this documentary on the medical marijuana industry in my reader today, and it is worth checking out.

Head over to Top Documentary Films for more free documentaries online. They have thousands of documentaries on countless subjects including drugs, sexuality, history, society, nature, technology, health, etc.

California Serial Killers [crime, california]

If you know me, you know one of the things I most like to read about are serial killers. I've noticed over the years of reading about these fascinating people that a great deal of them live and commit their crimes in the Golden State. Why are so many of these killers in California?

While living in Los Angeles, I compiled a list of Californian serial killers. I started out by dividing the list into simply Northern and Southern California, eventually adding Central California, and ultimately, an entire category for just the Los Angeles area itself.

California has a disproportionate amount of serial killers compared to the rest of the nation while LA has a disproportionate amount of serial killers compared to the SF Bay Area and the rest of California.

What makes the Golden State, especially the LA area, such a popular destination for serial killers?


California Serial Killers

Northern California

San Francisco Bay Area

Zodiac Killer
Trailside Killer - David Carpenter
Michael Bear Carson & Suzan Carson

Sacramento

The I-5 Strangler- Roger Reece Kibb
The Vampire of Sacramento - Richard Chase
Gallego Sex Slave Killers - Gerald & Charlene Gallego
Dorothea Puente
Morris Solomon, Jr.
Leonard Lake & Charles Ng (Calaveras County)

Santa Cruz

Herbert Mullin
The Co-Ed Killer - Edmund Kemper

Yosemite

The Yosemite Killer - Cary Stayner

Humboldt

Wayne Adam Ford

Yuba City

The Machete Murderer - Juan Corona

Central California

Bakersfield

Vincent Brothers

Fresno

Marcus Wesson

Southern California

Los Angeles

The Night Stalker - Richard Ramirez (also SF Bay area)
Charles Manson
The Dating Game Killer - Rodney Alcala
The Red Light Bandit
The Grim Sleeper - Lonnie David Franklin, Jr.
The Hillside Strangler - Kenneth Bianchi & Angelo Buono, Jr.
The Freeway Killer - Patrick Kearney (shares this nickname with William Bonin and Randy Steven Kraft)
Sunset Strip Killer - Doug Clark
Michael Hughes
Timothy Joseph McGee
The Freeway Killer - William Bonin
Bruce Jeffrey Pardo
Chester Dewayne Turner
The Lonely Hearts Killer - Harvey Glatman
Wineville Chicken Coop Murderer - Gordon Stewart Northcott
Mack Ray Edwards
Thor Nis Christiansen
Louise Peete

Orange County

The Freeway Killer - Randy Steven Kraft
Bedroom Basher - Gerald Parker
I-5 Killer or I-5 Bandit - Randall Woodfield

San Diego

The Clairemont Killer - Cleophus Prince, Jr.

Riverside

Riverside Killer - William Suff
Dana Sue Gray
Phillip Carl Jablonski (Riverside & SF Bay area)


Sources:

List of Serial Killers by Country

California’s Most Notorious Killers


If I've left anyone off the list, feel free to comment or contact me and I'll update the list.

Methamphetamine [drugs, society]

Watched Meth: A County in Crisis earlier, and now watching "Meth's Deadly High" on Lifetime.

The first show detailed the meth problem in Missouri, and focuses on the epidemic in Franklin County, but meth is a plague rampant everywhere in the United States.

The Bay area is no stranger to the meth problem either but has launched rigorous campaigns to combat the meth crisis and according to Life or Meth, meth usage has almost halved in three years here in San Francisco.

Meth is also a huge problem in Los Angeles and throughout Southern California; the photo below details the admissions into drug and alcohol rehab centers over a four year time in California.

One can clearly see meth usage has spread like wild fire in California in just several years.

The San Diego area is also known for its numerous bizarre crimes involving meth; below is a video of the infamous incident in San Diego on May 17, 1995, when meth-addicted Shawn Timothy Nelson stole a tank from the National Guard Armory near Mesa College and went on a rampage through a city, only stopping when he ran into a median on the highway.

Authenticity [video].

Last night I was feeling inspired while listening to "Fake Empire" by The National, so I put together this video using footage I have taken over the past couple of years since moving out to California.

King of Juicer, Infomercials Jack LaLanne Dies [celebrities]

Jack Lalane, King of the Juicer and infomercials for just about everything has died of respiratory failure due to pneumonia at age 96 in his California home.

The Juicer, the Legend:


Jack LaLanne Face Workout:



Jack LaLanne Fingertip Push-ups:


95-year-old Jack LaLanne pens new book:


Jack LaLanne - "How to Live Forever:"

Marijuana Economics: Prop 19 [SF events]

Tonight at the Commonwealth Club, 7:30pm.

via SF Weekly:

From where we sit, it looks like a done deal. Marijuana will be legalized sometime within the next ten years. Certainly, the industry as it stands is preparing itself for change. Uh, not that we would know anything about it. Tonight at "Marijuana Economics: Prop 19," the heavy hitters of the current bid for legalization sit down and discuss the actual facts of the matter. Richard Lee, the author of Proposition 19, the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010, is in the "pro" seat. Tim Rosales, the campaign manager of the No on Prop 19 outfit, is in the "anti." And somehow, somehow, Beau Kilmer of the RAND Drug Policy Research Center is thought not to have a position, but rather a lot of information.

Unlikely Suspects. [playing the race & age card]

This 30-year-old (white) man was recently arrested for donning a black mask called "The Player" and robbing five banks.

Can I get a WTF?

Speaking of WTF and bank robbery, a 60-70 year old man has been robbing banks in SoCal since last August.