Weekend Update - Long Strange Trip Edition

• All right, first let's get all scientific on everyone, okay? Whether or not marijuana is a "gateway drug" has been debated for decades. But could it also lead to total enlightenment? (Sure, just look at me...) Mark Morford reveals the truth behind the so-called Foundation for a Drug-Free World.


• A former CIA agent has testified that in 2002 the agency hired Blackwater in order to outsource assasinations. "What the agency was doing with Blackwater scares the hell out of me," said Jack Rice, a former CIA field operator who worked for the directorate of operations, which runs covert paramilitary activities for the CIA. Click HERE for the rest of the story.


• Joe Bageant writes, "There ain't any health care debate going on, Bubba. What is going on are mob negotiations about insurance, and which mob gets the biggest chunk of the dough."


• Something strange has happened in America in the nine months since Barack Obama was elected. It has best been summarised by the comedian Bill Maher: "The Democrats have moved to the right, and the Republicans have moved to a mental hospital." Johann Hari: Republicans, religion and the triumph of unreason.


• While I never really enjoyed his magazine, Hustler, I've always liked Larry Flynt for his outrageous opinionated truth-telling. You don't have to agree with everything he says, but you've got to admit, Larry's got a point. Common Sense 2009.


• Are you a "proud right-wing terrorist?" Well God bless you, you're a great American, according to Rep. Wally Herger. Is there anyone on the other side still sane?