Buddhist novices busted smuggling weed

Dealer? British beauty busted in Sri Lanka with 101 lbs (46 kg) of kush in her suitcases.

 

Dried flower bud of "kush," potent cannabis

(DW News) Buddhist monks arrested in Sri Lanka for smuggling an s-load of cannabis weed (potent "kush") that would have likely addicted many Sri Lankan youths had they not been caught and stopped at the border, the international airport (BIA) in Colombo.

• (10 News Late) 22 Buddhist monks (novice trainee monastics who have not been fully ordained) arrested at airport in giant drug bust, returning from Bangkok, Thailand (that experimented with legalizing cannabis for recreational use but discovered it was a mistake)
• (NewsX) Buddhist monks novices shock the Theravada Buddhist nation with cannabis smuggling scandal
• (WhyItsTrendingDaily) 22 Buddhist monks trainees just got caught with 242 pounds of potent weed at the airport

First, in defense of these Buddhist monastics, it is important to note that they (most) were not "monks" (bhikkhus) but rather novices (trainees, samaneras) during a probationary period that can last years as they learn and put into practice the Buddhist Monastic Code (Vinaya and Patimokkha).

• Buddhism in Sri Lanka

Second, of all the rules to break, drug dealing cannabis -- as horrific and condemnable as it is -- is not the worst thing they could have done. The four worst things they could have done are "defeat" (parijika) offenses: killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying about spiritual attainments. Or they might have committed one of the five heinous acts (anantarika-karma, deeds that bear bitter fruit in the very next life):

1. killing one's mother (matricide)
2. killing one's father (patricide)
3. killing an arhat (arahant, fully enlightened being)
4. Wounding a Tathāgata (a buddha, silent or teaching)
5. Creating a schism in the Monastic Community (Sangha).

We stayed behind in the monastery sweeping.

Third, there are no more excuses or consoling statements to be made. They each had about 5 kilograms or 11 U.S. pounds (110 kg or 242 lbs in total). This is no accident but sounds like a cynical abuse of the high esteem in which monastics are held to smuggle drugs, likely for sale and distribution rather than recreational or medicinal use. Novices (samaneras) have very strict rules to live by, beyond what is expected of all Theravada Buddhists.

Did the "businessman" sponsor put them up to it to gain financially, and will they say they knew nothing about it?

• British woman accused of smuggling drugs into Buddhist Sri Lanka in suitcase
• Woman caught with cannabis in suitcase at airport (AOL)

There are Five Precepts all Theravada lay Buddhists vow to maintain:

1. abstain from killing
2. abstain from stealing
3. abstain from sexual misconduct
4. abstain from lying
5. abstain from intoxicants that occasion heedlessness.

The very minimum precepts for monks-in-training (samaneras or "baby samanas") are the Eight Precepts or Ten Precepts, abstaining from harming, taking what is not given or handling "gold and silver" (money), sex (all erotic activity), lying, intoxicants, eating before dawn or after noon, using high and luxurious seats or beds, dancing, singing, self-beautification, viewing lowbrow entertainments and shows...

If one were to follow the major rules and the minor (etiquette) rules, it would never come to this unless, as we say, they were cynically used by the businessman drug kingpin as "mules" to unknowingly transport drugs into the very uptight and traditional island Buddhist country of Sri Lanka (Ceylon, Serendib) with a sizeable Tamil Hindu population and significant number of Muslims and Christians.

• Sri Lankan monks arrested after 110kg... - Zambia Daily Mail | Facebook

We could be mystics but prefer drugs as shortcut? Micro of the macro: colliders, unity, quantum...

Sri Lanka arrests 22 Buddhist novices allegedly carrying over 110 kilos of cannabis at airport

Dead Bibi Netanyahu 'drinks coffee' (AI fake)

(Asmongold Clips) Everyone's saying Bibi's dead, Grok. - I'm run by Zionist interests, so he's fine

(The CJ Werleman Show) Mutiny in Israeli Defense Force (IDF) DESTROYS Israel, forever

The karma of genocide: Israeli Zionist Jewish IDF soldiers killing themselves off

(Kim Iversen)

• Genocidal Zionist Jews speak: breakingthesilence.org.il

(Jack Cocchiarella) Bye-bye Zionist Jewish elitist, Neo-Nazi Stephen Miller

(Thomas Whitmore) Iran's hypersonic new weapons smash through Iron Dome | Middle East tensions explode, humiliating Israel that hides death of its Zionistist leader

(The Independent) Is the dead Bibi Netanyahu cafe an AI deep fake (Mossad intel agency psyops or psychological operations/war propaganda) after he died in targeted Iran bombing underground in Tel Aviv after the "mysterious" death of the Israeli judge pursuing him for Molech-level cannibalism, Baal-worthy child torture, and seeking adrenochrome, which is derived from tortured children? Inquiring minds want to know, but who can say? Everything is an allegation, and when you can order a hit on a judge, as apparently someone in Israel did, who will adjudicate a case to find the truth?

(Global Military Update) Iran launches endgame weapon: Sejjil missile

(Frum Report) Israel loses its international airport to Iranian superiority

(Thomas Whitmore) Iran fires cluster munitions to defeat Iron Dome

(The Hill) We aren't allowed to believe Bibi's dead. We'll report psyops.

(John AG Reports) U.S. warship sunk by Iran in Red Sea, as mainstream media hides this fact in propaganda bid to deceive U.S. public | Next 72 hours are critical

(Boring-curency) Closing the Strait of Hormuz? Oil prices skyrocket?

Refuse the National ID Card ('Real ID')

Refuse the national ID card ("Real ID")

Big Brother is watching you (1984), using AI.

Real ID is an unconstitutional "National ID" that ends state and personal sovereignty. U.S. Senator Rand Paul has introduced the “Safeguarding Personal Information Act” (S.2769) to fully repeal Title II of the REAL ID Act. Contact local U.S. Representative and U.S. senator and ask them to support this bill. TAKE ACTION TODAY

(The Jimmy Dore Show) Twila Brase joins Jimmy Dore to discuss Real ID

• Source: National ID: Citizens' Council for Health Freedom (cchfreedom.org)
• Already been tricked into switching? Go to DMV and switch back, says Twila Brase
• Opt out from standing in front of scanning AI camera before handing over ID and boarding pass at airports, warns Twila Brase

No car needed to get to or out of LAX

40 Inspiring Travel Quotes (Castles & Carpools)

It used to be that as a world traveler, no matter how cheap the flight, how inexpensive the lodging, how tasty and trivial the fee for nutritious far was, they'd get you at the airport. The redeye into Los Angeles was a giveaway, but the taxi fare from LAX to the part of town where anyone other than travelers were was more expensive. The same for New York, Boston, and the major hubs. Even toting a copy of the trusty Lonely Planet, it was hard to get a straight answer on how to get out from under the planes for cheap. It could be found. It did exist. But nobody knew about it, and no one was telling anyone, and no one knew where to ask or get answers. Pressing, there was always a way, even from LAX. But the limousine bus, hotels, and taxi companies all conspired to keep it secret. It used to be that to get out of LAX, one had to find a free bus out of the octopus of busy streets and to a station. From there, one could cheaply (for pennies) get to downtown and from there anywhere else. It was never necessary to get a ride to the airport to fly out or to get picked up when coming in. It was a nice luxury, however imposing it was on the relationship (revealing who was a dependable friend or family member). But now it's easy. Starting today it is clear to anyone, and Uber and Lyft must be nonplussed. How did the Yellow Cab Company keep the scheme going for so long? Now there's a new station and a clear and easy way to get out of and back to LAX, Los Angeles International. Let this be a message to all shoestring travelers with big backpacks on their way to Asia or Europe: there is always a way out of the airport and into town without getting rolled by a taxi or tuktuk driver/company. See Lonely Planet | Travel Guides & Travel Information or wait at the airport until morning and ask the concierge. It's as if someone has told them not to tell anyone, but they will if pressed. There's always a way out, even if it means walking out of the airport to another battalion on independent taxis who do not want to pay and pass on airport fees.

Travel, who needs it?

“Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends.”

—Maya Angelou

“Experience, travel – these are as education in themselves.

—Euripides

“We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.”

—Jawaharlal Nehru

“It is probably a pity that every citizen of each state cannot visit all the others, to see the differences, to learn what we have in common, and come back with a richer, fuller understanding of America – in all its beauty, in all its dignity, in all its strength, in support of moral principles.”

—Dwight D. Eisenhower

“A great way to learn about your country is to leave it.”

—Henry Rollins

“What you’ve done becomes the judge of what you’re going to do – especially in other people’s minds. When you’re traveling, you are what you are right there and then. People don’t have your past to hold against you. No yesterdays on the road.”

—William Least Heat Moon

“We travel not to escape life but for life not to escape us.”

—Anonymous

“I am not the same, having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world.”

—Mary Anne Radmacher

• KTLA.com; Eds., Wisdom Quarterly, Castles & Carpools; Lonely Planet

Road trip to see superbloom flowers (4/14)

Poppy Bloom in Antelope Valley. Hockney, Llano, Devil's Punchbowl , Sun, Apr 14, 2024, 8 am

• FREE GARDENING EVENT: Fire-Resilient Gardens: A Maintenance Walk and Talk with Erik Blank, Friday, April 26, 2024 at 1:00 pm (Theodore Payne Foundation) | Eventbrite

If anyone has never been to a super bloom, it's worth seeing. If anyone has been before, it's time to revisit. We're going to journey to a few famous spots in a large group.

When? California's state flower, the golden poppy, blooms anytime between February and May. Sunday, April 14th, 2024, is a good day for a visit, according to wildflower watchers at KTLA and desertusa.com.

• Disclosure (LA): Road Trip to see Super Bloom: Poppy Reserve. Hockney, Llano, Devil's Punchbowl, Sun, Apr 14, 2024, 8:00 AM | Meetup
• Foothills (Pasadena): Road Trip to see Super Bloom: Poppy Reserve. Hockney, Llano, Devil's Punchbowl
• Nature Center (Valley): Road Trip to see Super Bloom: Poppy Reserve. Hockney, Llano, Devil's Punchbowl
• Want to see a California ‘superbloom’? Fly out of LAX

Flowers rise out of the mud and muck.

We'll walk some and probably most of the eight miles of trails. Each spring, the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve comes alive with seasonal surprises. Rainy years produce and effusive explosion of natural beauty. This is Mojave Desert grassland habitat.

The duration and intensity of floral scents and colors varies from year to year. The wildflower season generally lasts from as early as mid-February through late-May, "April showers mean May flowers." And March storms can bring rosy thorns.

Parking Fees

• $10 per vehicle
• $9 per vehicle with a senior onboard (62 and over)
• $5 per vehicle with DPR (Disabled Discount Card)

Bring sunblock and be prepared for wicked strong winds. Desert temperatures can vary widely and change suddenly, so dress in layers for unpredictable weather changes. Dogs are NOT allowed on trails or in the visitor center (as is true of every California State Park).

To enjoy expansive fields or a close-up study of single flowers, this is the place to visit.

Location and directions

The Reserve is located 15 miles west of Lancaster, California, at 15101 Lancaster Road.

From Highway 14: Take the Avenue I exit and head west 15 miles. Avenue I becomes Lancaster Road.

From Interstate-5: Take Hwy 138 east and turn right on 170th Street West. Make a left at the end, onto Lancaster Road. Follow the road two miles.

• Poppy Bloom in Antelope Valley. AND Hockney, Llano and Devil's Punchbowl , Sun, Apr 14, 2024, 8:00 AM | Meetup

Carpool?

Yes. We will congregate at the meeting time and address. That location is a designated Park & Ride. It is a free parking lot that has roving security in the area. So it's safe to leave a car for the day.

We meet, reshuffle, then carpool and caravan to the poppy fields. Why this location as the meeting point? It's central and just off the I-5, the main freeway to get there.

Carpool to the meeting point? Yes. Post in the comments on the main group posting.

This is a FREE road trip and hiking event that takes a little more work to organize than a quickie local visit. This is neither local nor in-town. As such we will drive to and meet there. Or use the carpool information sent a week before to work on setting up a carpool.

• Meeting point to carpool/caravan
• Sunday, April 14, 2024, 8:00 am
• 201 South Front Street
• Burbank, California
• We will be down at the SOUTH end of
• the lot SOUTH of Olive Avenue bridge

To attend this event

RSVP to this event then CLICK HERE and fill out our Attendees Google Form.

The form is for safety. If it is not filled out, attendees will not be hiking with this group. Fill out the form even if only interested and want to stay in the loop.

• CLICK HERE for carpool info

Questions?

CLICK HERE to send a Direct Message to Meetup Organizer Marc (screen name "Oddie").

Other notable hikes planned: After the poppy fields, the plan is to go to the location where Hockney shot his photo. It is 45 minutes away at 126th and Pearblossom, standing on 126th looking south. getty.edu/art/collection/object/103QT4.

Then we will go 200 feet farther to Llano Del Rio and poke in the ruins (again). 

• Socialist Utopia Los Angeles Llano Del Rio (la.curbed.com)
• Cooperative Colony Llano Del Rio (lancastermoah.org)

Then we drive up to Devils Punchbowl to hike or just view this part of the Angeles National Forest. It's up to the vibe of the group. Devils Punchbowl Nature Area (onlyinyourstate.com)

• April 14: Poppy Bloom in Antelope Valley. Hockney, Llano, and Devil's Punchbowl, Sunday, April 14, 2024, 8:00 am (in Burbank meeting point) | Meetup
• May 18 Hike to Bridge to Nowhere, San Gabriel Mountains, above Azusa
• May 25 Yosemite National Park hiking on Memorial Day Weekend! (Vernal Falls, Nevada Falls, Yosemite Falls, upper or lower
• Nov 16 The Great LA Walk 2024

California has more indigenous flora and fauna
than all the rest of the United States combined.

NOTICE OF INCLUSIVITY: For all of our events, we do not discriminate by age, gender, sexual preference, ethnicity, national origin, race, color, religion, or even belly button lint.

• ONLINE Q&A: Camping for newbies, first timers, and the seasoned, Thursday, April 18, 2024, 7:30 pm | Meetup
• Native Plant Garden Tour | April 15-16 (Theodore Payne Foundation)
• CCCCC=C (Meetup); Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Dhr. Seven, Jen B. (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly; Danielle John (Eagle Network)

Israeli regime change: Schumer wants Bibi out

Senator Chuck Shumer (ABC News; CNN) Amy Goodman, Democracy Now!; Owen Jones, 3/13/24; Sheldon S., Shauna Schwartz, Pfc. Sandoval, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Bibi Netanyahu has to go [to prison or exile]. Sen. Shumer is calling for elections in Israel.

.

Sen. Schumer calls for new election in Israel and sharply criticizes Netanyahu

(CNN) March 14, 2024: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (Democrat) criticized the genocidal Bibi Netanyahu government and called for new elections in Israel in a speech on the Senate floor on Israel's war on Gaza and illegal police state abuses in the West Bank, Palestine. #CNN #News

• Jewish Voice for Peace (jvp.org)
• BreakingtheSilence.org.il
• Not in our name! (ifnotnowmovement.org)
• American Veterans for Peace
• Code Pink: Women for Peace
• ‎شرش | Shoresh | שר”ש‎ (@shoresh_us) Anti-Zionist Jews

Top US and World Headlines — March 14, 2024

(Democracy Now!) Latest Shows. Support this work: democracynow.org/donate... Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour that airs on over 1,500 TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. Watch livestream at democracynow.org M-F 8:00-9:00 am ET.

Finally, BBC wakes up to Israel's war crimes

(Owen Jones) March 13, 2024: There has been an abject failure to accurately reflect the horror of Israel's massacre in Gaza -- but the mainstream media is complicit and largely silent, until the BBC looked into IDF lies and war propaganda.

Please like, subscribe -- and help take on the pro-war media here: owenjones84

Burning Airlines Give You So Much More: Boeing

Brian Eno, "Burning Airlines Give You So Much More" (2004 digital remaster); Seth Auberon, CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly; The Jimmy Dore Show; NBC News; KGW 8; CNN

LYRICS: When I got back home/ I found a message on the door/ Sweet Regina's gone to China cross-legged on the floor/ Of a burning [Boeing] jet that's smoothly flying/ Burning airlines give you so much more// How does she intend to live when she's in far Cathay?/ I somehow can't imagine her just planting rice all day/ Maybe she will do a bit of spying/ With micro-cameras hidden in her hair// I guess Regina's on the plane, a Newsweek on her knees/ While miles below her the curlews call from strangely stunted trees/ The painted sage sits just as though he's flying/ Regina's jet disturbs his wispy beard// When you reach Kyoto send a postcard if you can/ And please convey my fond regards to Chih-Hao's girl Yu-Lan/ I heard a rumour they were getting married/ But someone left the papers in Japan// Left them in Japan, left them in Japan/ Left them in Japan, left them in Japan/ Left them in Japan, left them in Japan/ Left them in Japan

Boeing cargo plane forced to make emergency landing after fire and "engine malfunction"

(NBC News) Jan. 19, 2024: An Atlas Air cargo flight caught on fire mid-air not long after takeoff and was forced to return to the Miami airport. All five people on board were uninjured. NBC News' Stephanie Gosk reports the FAA and NTSB are investigating. #EmergencyLanding #Boeing #Fire

Boeing's quality management failure explained 737-Max-9 door Jan. 24, 2024

(blancolirio) Jan. 24, 2024: LINKS: leehamnews.com/2024/01/15/unp... NYT: nytimes.com/interactive/2... ST: seattletimes.com/business...

Ice Age? Arctic blast hits 23 states (video)

ABC Corporate News, 1/16/24; Just Have a Think; Eds., Wisdom Quarterly

Is a mini ice age coming?

(Just Have a Think) Dec. 1, 2019: The big freeze that hit the United States in October of 2019 was the coldest for 10 years with sub-zero temperatures as far south as the Grand Canyon, Arizona, and some northern regions enduring temperatures of -45F. These record weather events are becoming a regular feature of our changing seasons. And when they arrive, they seem to be sticking around for longer. New research from Rice University this month (12/19) has revealed a surprising link between these extreme cold events and global warming.

Support the channel and influence the direction and growth of the "Just Have a Think Initiative" here: patreon.com/justhaveathink

Research links:

1. sciencedaily.com/releases...
2. agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.c...
3. chausa.org/publications/h...
4. nationalgeographic.com/en...
5. https://public.wmo.int/en/media/press...
6. https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/na...
7. noaa./globe-had-i... 

• #globalwarming #bigfreeze

200 million Americans on alert as Arctic blast moves through U.S.

(ABC News) Jan. 16, 2024: [Is a mini-Ice Age coming to ruin all of the global warming alarmism, or is this just a blip in the climate data? We are told last year (2023) was the warmest on record, but the meteorologist responsible for weather.com doesn't see it, doesn't believe it, and doesn't know what his colleagues of many decades are talking about.]

From Louisiana to the Northeast, 23 states are on alert as a winter storm unleashed brutal temperatures, snow and ice throughout the area. #weather #winter #winterstorm

Snow, blizzard, rain, extreme US weather

Even Southern California got snow with sunshine

From blizzards to torrential rain, extreme weather dominates across the U.S.

The severe weather has canceled hundreds (perhaps thousands) of flights, knocked out power for hundreds of thousands of households, and disrupted campaigning in Iowa ahead of Monday's caucuses. More: From blizzards to torrential rain, extreme weather dominates across the US: NPR

• Maine coast walloped by flooding amid rainfall and astronomical Atlantic tides
• How to handle a winter power outage
• What to know about keeping children safe — and warm — in the car during the winter

Japan, California quakes, but no tsunami?

Seth Auberon, Pfc. Sandoval (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

First the U.S. military drops atomic bombs on innocent civilians...then earthquakes, tsunami scares,  massive Fukushima Nuclear Reactor radiation contamination, and now a Coast Guard plane headed to help 7.6 Richter Scale quake victims gets in the way of a jumbo jet cleared to land -- and catastrophe happens.

California now: Massive waves and flooding hit California coast [after morning temblor and massive quake hits Japan, still suffering from the aftereffects of Fukushima, which we don't hear about as the government is planning many new nuclear reactors to deal with all the electric vehicles it's mandating and the heating that makes air conditioning a necessity more than a luxury in many places].

(USA.EARTH - EV) Dec. 31, 2023: Massive waves and flooding hit the Southern California coast, USA. Update: Massive waves and coastal flooding are wreaking havoc for a third day in many of California’s coastal communities. where extreme conditions have forced water rescues, washed away cars, and apparently explain the appearance of a random "rogue wave" which was really a monster wave with a cause: seismic activity in the very active Pacific Ocean. Japan is our neighbor across the way, separated by thousands of miles, but waves can travel. And some slippage or tectonic plate movement seems to have displaced an awful lot of water molecules that are now displacing others that are washing up on our shores and creating small tsunamis in coastal Japan.

The unusually large California surf, often towering over 20 feet, has prompted beach closures along the California coast. In hard-hit Ventura County, next to Los Angeles, waves have surged over seawalls and carried parked cars down the street and into significant intersections, blocking first responders’ paths. 

► Other videos: Tornado in Manchester UK: • Just minutes ago: Massive tornado hit... Flooding in California • Australia: massive storm hit gol...

If anyone finds any inappropriate use of copyrighted content (videos, photos, music) in this video, please contact via email: ✉ aki9452367@gmail.com. #Ventura #California #SantaCruz #usa #flooding #stormsurge