SCUSA Moda Nostra

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Monday, December 12, 2011

Cocaine Dollars

90 percent of U.S. money is laced with cocaine

Cheryl Ravelo / Reuters

Scientists have known for years that paper money can become contaminated with cocaine during drug deals and directly through drug use, such as snorting cocaine through rolled bills.

Traces of cocaine taint up to 90 percent of paper money in the United States, a new study finds. A group of scientists tested banknotes from more than 30 cities in five countries, including the United States, Canada, Brazil, China, and Japan, and found "alarming" evidence of cocaine use in many areas.

U.S. and Canadian currency had the highest levels, with an average contamination rate of between 85 and 90 percent, while Chinese and Japanese currency had the lowest, between 12 and 20 percent contamination.

The findings were presented yesterday at the 238th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in Washington, D.C. Study leader Yuegang Zuo of the University of Massachusetts in Dartmouth said that the high percentage of contaminated U.S. currency observed in the current study represents nearly a 20 percent jump in comparison to a similar study he conducted two years ago.

"To my surprise, we're finding more and more cocaine in banknotes," Zuo said.

Scientists have known for years that paper money can become contaminated with cocaine during drug deals and directly through drug use, such as snorting cocaine through rolled bills. Contamination can also spread to banknotes not involved in the illicit drug culture, because bills are processed in banks' currency-counting machines.

"I'm not sure why we've seen this apparent increase, but it could be related to the economic downturn, with stressed people turning to cocaine," Zuo said.

Such studies are useful, he noted, because the data can help law enforcement agencies and forensic specialists identify patterns of drug use in a community.

Previous studies that have reported on cocaine traces on money have had several drawbacks, Zuo said. Some only sampled a small number of bills, while others destroyed the money in the process of testing.

Zuo and his colleagues used a modified instrument that allowed for faster, simpler and more accurate measurement of cocaine contamination than other methods, without destroying the currency.

The amounts of cocaine found on U.S. bills ranged from .006 micrograms (several thousands of times smaller than a single grain of sand) to more than 1,240 micrograms of cocaine per banknote (about 50 grains of sand).

The scientists found that larger cities like Baltimore, Boston, and Detroit had among the highest average cocaine levels. Washington, D.C., ranked above the average, with 95 percent of the banknotes sampled contaminated with the drug. The lowest average cocaine levels in U.S. currency appeared on bills collected from Salt Lake City.

Despite the high percentage of cocaine-contaminated banknotes, Zuo points out that the amount of cocaine found on most notes was so small that consumers should not have any health or legal concerns about handling paper money.

"For the most part, you can't get high by sniffing a regular banknote, unless it was used directly in drug uptake or during a drug exchange," Zuo said. "It also won't affect your health and is unlikely to interfere with blood and urine tests used for drug detection.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Doutzen Kroes Strip Tease

Doutzen Kroes Strip Tease for LOVE Magazine

There are truly no words to describe this video of Victoria’s Secret model Doutzen Kroes dancing, stripping and rolling around on the floor, all while jingling some bells and belting Mariah Carey’s classic “All I Want for Christmas is You” (our favorite). And unlike that time she sang “Jingle Bells”...

Million Dollar Crash

The Associated Press

An outing of luxury sportscar enthusiasts in Japan ended in an expensive freeway pileup — smashing a stunning eight Ferraris, a Lamborghini and two Mercedes likely worth more than $1 million together.

Police say they believe the accident Sunday was touched off when the driver of one of the Ferraris tried to change lanes and hit the median barrier. He spun across the freeway, the other cars collided trying to avoid hitting his car.

Video of the crash aired by NTV, a major national network, showed several smashed, bright red Ferraris cluttering the freeway. Even a used Ferrari in Japan can fetch $100,000 or more, meaning the total damage may be $1 million or more. Police declined to comment on the total amount of damage, but said some of the vehicles were beyond repair.

NTV quoted the driver of one of the tow trucks brought in to clear the scene as saying it was the most expensive crash site he had ever seen.
No one was seriously injured, but police in Yamaguchi prefecture said 10 people were treated for bruises and cuts. Police say 14 cars were involved altogether.
The luxury cars were all in one place because they were being driven by a group of automobile enthusiasts on their way to nearby Hiroshima.

Read more at the San Francisco Examiner: http://www.sfexaminer.com/news/2011/12/fleet-ferraris-ruined-japan-sportscar-pileup#ixzz1fkqj9sTF

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Armani Hotel

Giorgio Armani and the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

The United Arab Emirates skyscraper houses the first Armani Hotel in the World.

Armani Hotel Dubai Entrance

Armani Hotel Lobby

Armani Breakfast

Armani / Amal

Armani Hotel Room

Dining at The Armani Hotel

Armani Cuisine

Armani Hotel Dubai outside.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Star Wars Kid

The mother of all funny movies on the internet...

The legendary Star Wars Kid!

One of the most famous and best viewed classic internet videos of all time. Just in case you're among the few people that never saw this video before or in case you were not yet born or too young at the time, here it is! Your life will never be the same after you've seen the legend of the Star Wars Kid...

SCUSA eh!