Hasta La Gadget!

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush smoked marijuana while in high school, a personal use of the drug that stands in contrast to his later political stance on the plant.

“I drank alcohol and I smoked marijuana when I was at Andover,” Bush, the current Republican frontrunner seeking his party’s 2016 presidential nomination, told the Boston Globe as part of a detailed new profile that describes his time at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. Both George H.W. Bush, Jeb’s father, and George W. Bush, his brother, also attended the prestigious private school.

“It was pretty common,” Bush said of his substance use during that time. A former classmate of Bush’s, Peter Tibbetts, recalled to the newspaper that the first time he ever smoked marijuana was with Bush, in some woods near their dorm.

“The first time I really got stoned was in Jeb’s room,” Tibbetts told the Globe. “He had a portable stereo with removable speakers. He put on Steppenwolf for me.” Tibbetts was eventually forced to leave the boarding school after being accused of using drugs.

As a politician, Bush has not embraced marijuana. He spent much of his time as Florida governor championing jail instead of treatment for nonviolent drug offenders, and pushed for mandatory prison sentences for drug offenders — with the exception of his daughter, Noelle, who has struggled with crack cocaine use.

More recently, while acknowledging that states should “have a right” to decide on the legalization of marijuana, Bush publicly opposed an amendment to legalize medical marijuana in Florida.

“Florida leaders and citizens have worked for years to make the Sunshine State a world-class location to start or run a business, a family-friendly destination for tourism and a desirable place to raise a family or retire,” Bush said before the November midterm election. “Allowing large-scale marijuana operations to take root across Florida, under the guise of using it for medicinal purposes, runs counter to all of these efforts.”

Reacting to the Globe story, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) blasted Bush over his “hypocrisy” on marijuana.

“You would think he’d have a little more understanding then,” Paul, who may be a rival to Bush in the Republican primary, told The Hill Friday. “He was even opposed to medical marijuana. This is a guy who now admits he smoked marijuana but he wants to put people in jail who do.”

The Globe also spoke to some of Bush’s former classmates, who recalled a “physically imposing” young man who was seen as intimidating by some and a bully by others. Tibbetts recalled a story to the newspaper of an occasion during their boarding school days when he and Bush taunted a smaller student who lived in their dorm by sewing his pajama bottoms so that the student couldn’t put them on.

Bush told the Globe he didn’t remember the incident or any other bullying, and was surprised that some of his former classmates viewed him that way. “I don’t believe that is true,” Bush said, adding that it was more than 40 years ago and not possible for him to remember.

It isn’t the first time that allegations of bullying have surfaced about Bush’s high school years. Another classmate of Bush’s told Vanity Fair in 2001 that he remembered Bush as a bully as well, and that there was “a kind of arrogance” about him during his time at Andover.

The Globe story echoes similar sentiments expressed in a 2012 Washington Post story about then-presumed Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney and alleged bullying during his prep school days.

A Bush spokeswoman told The Huffington Post that Bush did not have any additional comments on the Globe story.

Whether it’s a lace sheath, sexy mermaid or classic ballgown, look to your sun sign to point the way to wedding-gown perfection.

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A new Pacific Rim action figure has landed on ThinkGeek and it’s a very cool collectible indeed. It’s an 18-inch reproduction of the Cherno Alpha Jaeger. Every time I see this Jaeger, I wonder if the creators of the movie meant for it to look like the Black Knight from Monty Python and the Holy Grail or if it was an accident.

The toy has over 20 points of articulation and features sliding X-14 Tesla fists. Those fists have movable fingers and thumbs and extending action. It is also packed with a bunch of LED lights to make it shiny. It does have lots of small parts, so you need to keep it away from kids, but priced at $99.99(USD), this isn’t something you’d want their grubby little mitts on anyhow.

If you’re a subscriber to Amazon Prime’s Instant Video service and a big Doctor Who fan, we’ve got some bad news for you. With an announcement to customers expected sometime this weekend, Amazon Prime will no longer have Doctor Who, nor most of its BBC shows, available for streaming beginning Sunday, February 15th. Sources say the reason is due to … Continue reading

Spirit of the Hawk

Raven was walking along the beach.

He looks far out to sea. He sees an island of fire spouting flames into the nighttime sky. Raven is not a good distance flyer. That fire is too far away for him to make it. But he knows if he can get it, he can do great things for all of the world.

Ravens brother, Hawk, was walking along the beach. Hawk has a long, straight beak, Hawk is proud of his beak.

Raven asks, “Can you help me?

“What do you want me to do?” asks Hawk.

“I want you to get that fire out there for me.” says Raven

“How am I gonna do that?” asks Hawk

Raven goes up in a tree, and he gets a branch and he puts in Hawk’s long beak.

Then he gets some pitch and puts it on the branch.

He tells Hawk, “Fly out there, get me that fire.”

Raven tells him, “It is not an easy thing I ask…”

“…My Brother, be brave, have courage what you are doing is for all the people of the world”

So Hawk flies way out there. He flies around the fire once, twice, three times, and on the fourth time the fire jumps up and he flies right into it. Hawk has the fire and he flies back to shore.

He’s tired. He has been flying for a long time but he keeps on flying. While he flies that fire is burning down closer and closer to his beak. It’s burning him. The flame is right up to Hawk’s beak now, his long beak caused it to shrink down and hook but Hawk keeps on flying. Hawk wants to cry out, but he knows if he does he will drop the fire. So he keeps flying on in his pain and his weariness.

Raven sees him as he is getting closer, sees that he is getting in trouble. He flies out to him, along side of him. Side by side they are flying.

Raven says, “… be brave. I am with you. I am here beside you. It is a good thing what you are doing. … .”

Raven is beside him. It is like he is bearing him up.

At last, finally, they make it back to shore. Raven takes that fire and he throws it in the rocks. He throws it in the river. He throws it in the trees, into all the things growing in the forest there. He throws it in the animals. He throws it in the human beings. Now people have the fires. But more than fire, now they have the spirit. The spirit that is in all things.

Now it is in all of us.

That time then, Raven put the Spirit in all things. Now we have the fire. Now we have the Spirit. Now we are alive. Now we are all part of it.

You see the Seattle Seahawks have lit the fire in the hearts of the people. They have lit the fire in the heart of this city. But more than lighting the fire, we all share in that spirit. That’s what it is all about is sharing the spirit. Now we have the fire, now we have the spirit, now we are alive and now we are all part of it. – Gene Tagaban, Native American Storyteller

Spirit of the Hawk, Photo Credit: Brad Puet

Thank you for that awesome story, Gene. For our readers please introduce yourself and what you do.

My name is Gene Tagaban, My Tlingit name is Guy Yaaw. I am of the Takdeintaan the Raven Freshwater Sockeye clan from Hoonah, Alaska.

I am the child of the Wooshkeetaan Eagle Shark clan from Auk Kwaan, Juneau Alaska. I am Cherokee, Tlingit and Filipino. I am a storyteller, speaker, performing artist and mentor. I teach wilderness connection, awareness, empowerment, leadership, relationship, communication, spirit and honor. I assist individuals, families, groups, communities in healing. Healing from trauma, historical trauma, mental, emotional and spiritual trauma.

Can you explain to our readers the art of storytelling and how culturally that influences the work that you do?

We are a story, we are storytellers, your life is a story. Before we were born your story was being told.

You can find your story being told in the old, old stories. As a story teller I don’t just tell the story, I don’t just remember the story, I relive the story. I imagine the story, I see the story, I feel the story and then I share the story.

Stories teach, stories entertain and stories heal. The story is alive. We do not pick or choose the story the story chooses us. My teacher told me “When you talk to the people don’t just talk to them you talk to their spirit, that is how you are gonna reach them, that is where they will change, that is where they will heal, talk with their spirit.” This is what story telling does, you are talking to their spirit.

In many cultures, the storyteller role was passed down from one generation to the next. Can you tell us how you became a storyteller?

When I was in grade school storytellers would come in and tell stories of raven, eagle, bear, killer whale, salmon. I listened as my relatives sat around the dinner table at my grandmothers house sharing stories of how they grew up. I listened and I remembered. When I was 24 I was mentored to become a personal awareness teacher. It was there I learned the value of storytelling. In my late twenties I joined a Native American Storytelling Theater company and was trained on the art of storytelling. I use storytelling in every aspect of my work as a speaker, performing artist and mentor.

Can you tell us about the Raven, who the Raven is, and how he relates to the region, to your people, and to the many other communities in the Pacific Northwest?

Raven is the trickster, teacher, wise one, foolish one. There are many stories about Raven. Raven tells us about being human. Raven teaches us how to teach. Raven teaching or trickster teaching is a skill used by the indigenous people. Raven teaches us to not give direct answers but to encourage the learner to want to learn.

Gene Tagaban and The Incredible Hawk, Photo Credit: Brad Puet

You seem to have adapted the Raven to the Seattle Seahawks. In your eyes can you tell us the relationship between the two?

When you see the Hawk, you’ll see him as a very fierce hunter. He’s always flying around on the hunt. His presence is always with strength. All the other birds and all the other animals know that he is around.

The Raven is the trickster. Like for instance in Alaska, the Raven is always playing. Whether looking for food or just moving around, the Raven always has the presence of curiosity.

So when I dance, you’ll notice that I’ll have the presence of either the Raven or the Hawk. That will go as far as how I move, how I hold my wings. Even with my head movements, as the Raven my head is more playful and animated with the presence of curiosity. With the Hawk, my head movements are more direct.

Hawk is much more serious than Raven is.

As far as the masks and the regalia, how do you want audience members to see you?

This Hawk mask is made by Jake Lucas. I made the wings and everything else. The original design of the Raven was made by Chris Macua and by Aaron Elmore up in Alaska. These masks and regalia have traveled all over the world. For example, I am going to Venezuela next week and I’ll probably just take the Raven with me.

I see these masks as alive.

They contain the spirit of the Raven or the Hawk or any animal. They are able to tell their stories through me. They are able to tell the stories that my ancestors told through me. It helps me connect that to the people I am telling my story to.

When I bring out the Seahawks mask, the Hawk, children recognize it. They are automatically drawn in and I got them. I can talk to them. I can talk to them about how beautiful they are, how awesome they are, how special they are, how to believe in their self, and work hard. I can really start to build them up. I am not trying to just talk to them, I am really talking to their spirit. That is what I really want to touch.

Do you think that translates to the Seattle Seahawks (and especially recently with their success in the last 5 years) and the community (12s)?

There’s a spirit in this community. There’s a spirit and fire in Seattle and the Pacific Northwest. Their fire is lit. With them doing well, everyone is behind them. It’s given everyone hope. It’s given everyone this connection. This is what the team has given to us the community. The chance to join in. Even if they lose and they’re not because I don’t want to jinx them, but this community will always believe. There’s healing in this. This is what I mostly see is that it’s about the healing.

I don’t care if your white, you’re black, you’re Native, or you’re Asian, this is for all people.

———–

The original mask meets the Spirit of the Hawk, Photo Credit: Brad Puet

Gene was performing at the Burke Museum during one of the Seattle Seahawks Super Bowl rallies. In November 2014, the museum and the Seahawk organization put on display the original mask that inspired the 1976 Seahawk logo. The Kwakwaka’wakw transformation mask is currently on display at the Burke Museum in the Here & Now: Native Artists Inspired exhibit. It will be on display until July 2015.