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A Serious Conversation with a Scientist About How the Dragons on 'Game of Thrones' Have Sex

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Game of Thrones promo photo via HBO

The makers of Game of Thrones love sex and nudity, and season six, with its (mild spoiler alert) full-frontal of Daenerys Targaryen on fire, was just further proof of that fact. Some of the sex and nudity is #problematic, and a lot of it is fun for everyone. HBO and author George R. R. Martin have spared no detail about who's enjoying a little incest, who's gay or bisexual, whose genitals can deliver demons into the world, and whose genitals have been removed altogether. So it's weird that the show has dragons, and has never bothered to show us how they bone.

If you read the books, you'll know Martin hasn't avoided the topic altogether. But frustratingly, all the dragon sex information Martin has provided so far has been filtered through the highly fallible historians he has invented, which cloaks all mention of dragon mating habits in contradictions and myth. Characters have claimed that dragons are neither male nor female—meaning hermaphroditic. But others have claimed otherwise.

Since the books were no help, I turned to a different source altogether: science. Dragons are seemingly reptiles, and much of what happens in Game of Thrones is rooted in Earth physics, so I decided to run all of this mythology past Sarah Werning, an evolutionary biologist at Des Moines University who helped me with my many questions about dinosaur sex about a year ago. She filled me in on how Martin's dragons most likely fill each other in.

VICE: In your scientific opinion, do the dragons from Game of Thrones definitely fuck each other to reproduce?
Sarah Werning: So... All reptiles are internal fertilizers, which means they've got to get the sperm inside the females to hook up with the eggs. We definitely know that would be the case for dragons, because they've got a hard shell—of scales—on the outside of the eggs.

What does that mean their dicks are like?
Most reptiles have either a penis or a hemipenis which is like a two-prong deal. We talked about that. Snakes have a two-headed penis, and lizards have that.

What about the shape?
The shapes of the penises? I guess if you think the dragons are more like a lizard, maybe they would have , and if you thought they're more like a crocodile they would probably just have one.

Crocodile penises are really pretty amazing.
Right? The ejector penis.

Does that make sense for these dragons though?
A lot of these lizard hemipenises—the ones that have the two-prong penis—they've got all sorts of crazy spikes all over the outside. That would also be consistent.

Judging from this image of Drogon kind of right at the base of the tail, probably that's where I would place it.

Where that big bulge is?
Behind that bulge is where the eggs came out. Yeah I would say at the base of the tail. Based on the fact that's where it is in most reptiles and it looks like it has a pelvis like a dinosaur or a bird and that's where their cloaca's are.

Would the placement of the genitals at the base of the tail, or the presence of wings require any weird positioning during sex?
Birds kind of do it on the wing. They've got the "cloacal kiss" where they just position the cloacas right next to each other and then the sperm just kind of comes out. Birds just kind of line up slot A next to slot B and shoot the sperm across and it's very fast.

So since a dragon can fly up behind another dragon that's a possibility?
Yeah. Certainly brings a possibility of all sorts of aerial acrobatics.

What's the deal with those weird eggs?
Well is a defining characteristic of these dragons that pretty much separates them from all the other reptiles that exist in the real world. As a female the first time I saw that egg I was like, oh my goodness you wouldn't want that thing to come out backwards. It's like passing a pinecone.

There is also something they say a few times about someone needing to die in order to make dragon eggs hatch, right? Possibly the mother dragon?
That would also be a unique feature among reptiles. If that were the case—if the mom dragon had to give up her life for the baby—I guess, they probably are only going to be laying one clutch of eggs successfully. It seems like that's probably not a wise method of reproduction.

According to a fictional historian in the books, dragons are hermaphrodites. Are there hermaphrodite reptiles in real life?
It would be pretty weird for a reptile. Hermaphrodites are super rare among reptiles. They're pretty rare among vertebrates—animals with backbones—to begin with. There are a few species where that's known. There's a viper that lives off this Brazilian island where they have males and females and intersex, but that's like it.

What would that mean anatomically?
It's like a female with a tiny penis—sometimes just on one side. They're really weird.

Are there any possible types of dragon sex we haven't covered?
Some species of reptiles are parthenogenic, which is basically where you can start developing an embryo without fertilization. It's like the virgin birth sort of thing and those species are all female. Some of these parthenogenic don't do it on their own. They need to have another female mount them. And after that girl-on-girl action gets going, then their ovaries are like, alright we're going to turn these eggs into embryos now.

What would this dragon lesbian sex entail?
They're mounting them. They don't have a penis, so they can't penetrate them so they're just kind of scissoring. Lizard scissoring.

Follow Mike Pearl on Twitter.


The VICE Guide to the 2016 Election: How #NeverTrump Conservatives Actually Plan to Vote in 2016

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Like a lot of longtime Republicans, Heather Fearnside watched the results of this month's Indiana primary with a growing pit in her stomach. Sitting in her North Carolina home, the 42-year-old watched as Donald Trump steamrolled to victory in the state. The polls had barely closed before Texas Senator Ted Cruz was suspending his White House campaign, confirming that Trump, the brash real estate mogul who is equal parts reviled and beloved by opposing factions of the GOP base, had effectively won the party's presidential nomination.

"Right after Indiana, I got a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach, my heart was racing, and I couldn't believe this was actually happening," Fearnside said in an interview with VICE. "My wallet was right next to me, and I'd had a couple glasses of wine ..." Before she knew it, her voter registration card was out, along with a lighter, and Fearnside had burned away her 13-year relationship with the Grand Old Party.

The Strange Saga of the 'Odd Father,' the Mob Boss Who Faked Mental Illness

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Vincent "Chin" Gigante on day two of his trial in 1997. Photo courtesy NY Daily News via Kensington Books

Vincent "Chin" Gigante ran New York's Genovese crime family for nearly a quarter-century. After assuming power in the early 1980s, the Chin raked in some $100 million calling the shots for upwards of 300 made men operating in New York's Little Italy, on the Miami docks and in the streets of Philadelphia. Loyal soldiers apparently referred to him by rubbing their chins after Gigante issued an edict that his name not be uttered in public.

Throughout his reign, Gigante was at the helm of one of the most powerful mafia organizations in the United States. The former professional boxer, who made his bones in the crime world as a ruthless contract killer, was known for enforcing mob code by, well, killing guys who violated it. The Chin was even said to put a contract out on John Gotti after the latter had Big Paul Castellano, boss of the Gambino family, whacked without getting his OK first.

Despite the fearsome reputation, though, the Chin was probably best known as the Odd Father because he feigned insanity at key junctures, puzzling doctors, frustrating law enforcement officials, and prolonging his reign. It might be hard to envision now, but the crime boss routinely gallivanted around Greenwich Village, Manhattan, in a bathrobe, slippers and floppy hat pulled down low on his head. He was known to urinate in public, play pinochle in storefronts, and even hid a second family from his wife.

A 30-year run of psychiatric evaluations finally came to an end when the Chin was declared competent to stand trial in 1997. He was convicted of racketeering and murder conspiracy, and sentenced to federal prison, where he died in 2005. Later this month, veteran New York crime reporter Larry McShane is coming out with a definitive history of the mafioso, Chin: The Life and Crimes of Mafia Boss Vincent Gigante. The seasoned Daily News writer, who covered the aftermath of the 1985 hit on Castellano, goes deep on the life and misadventures of one of the quirker mob bosses in US history.

Ahead of the book's release on May 31, we spoke to McShane about this uniquely American true crime character.

Vincent Gigante after being accused of shooting Frank Costello in 1958. Photo by Art Whittaker courtesy NY Daily News via Kensington Books

VICE: Walk us through how Gigante became head of the Genovese Crime Family in the first place.
Larry McShane: The Chin was the son of Italian immigrants who settled in Greenwich Village during the great wave of immigration of the 1920s. He became a professional boxer, a mob-dominated sport at the time, and gravitated toward his neighborhood's wise guys—most importantly, future bosses Vito Genovese and Tommy Eboli. Don Vito became the head of the family that would bear his surname, and the Chin followed him to the top of the Mafia hierarchy.

An FBI memo described Gigante as "an efficient hit man" for Genovese, although his most famous foray into mob murder was the botched May 1957 hit on mob boss Frank Costello. Chin missed a shot from point-blank range, but the shooting boosted his mob profile and helped convince Costello to step down. Genovese replaced Costello, bringing Chin to the big leagues.

Who were the guys that he came up under in the mob?
Vito Genovese was his mentor, but he was also schooled by guys like Fat Tony Salerno and a terrifying mob enforcer named Gaetano (Cory) Vastola. Chin was also a pal of the legendarily mobbed-up music business impresario Morris Levy.

Talk about the planned hit on John Gotti and why it never actually came about.
The Chin was outraged when Gotti had fellow boss Big Paul Castellano whacked in December 1985, allowing Gotti—the "Dapper Don"—to take over the Gambino family. Gotti's failure to receive permission from Gigante and the other bosses on the Mafia's ruling commission was a violation of basic mob etiquette, and an affront to the power of the sitting Mafia dons.

There was one near-miss in the effort to kill Gotti, a bombing that killed his underboss Frank DeCicco and badly injured a Gotti lookalike who was mistakenly targeted. Gigante was also infuriated by Gotti's high-rolling lifestyle, and his courting of media attention. The old-school Chin preferred to keep his mouth shut and his business to himself.

In an odd twist, Gotti was saved in some ways by his love of attention: The constant presence of the media and the FBI made it extremely difficult for the Chin to kill his rival.

During what years exactly did the Chin run the Genovese family, and what rackets did he oversee?
Chin took over in 1980, and he basically ran the family until his second federal conviction in 2003. He ran the family from prison after his 1997 racketeering conviction, and oversaw pretty much everything under Genovese family control: construction, unions, garbage hauling, gambling—you name it, Chin probably had a piece of it. He was known among his guys as a generous boss who shared the wealth with his mob family.

He seems like an old-school mafioso you just don't see anymore, an archetype we recently got a taste of during the Lufthansa heist trial.
I think it's safe to say he was the last of that breed. I can't think of anyone with a mob pedigree like his: Protégé of Vito Genovese, would-be killer of Costello, and ultimately the most powerful mob boss in the United States. He ran the family for near a quarter-century in a business where few get out intact. The guys of his early days—Snake Persico, Fat Tony Salerno, Tony Ducks Corrallo—all went away in the Commission trial in '86.

OK, we have to talk about the Oddfather nickname and his strange behavior.
The nickname was bestowed on Gigante by the New York tabloids in tribute to his bizarre street persona. The Chin, in a long and successful effort to dodge police and prosecutors, walked the streets of Greenwich Village dressed almost like a homeless man—ratty bathrobe, funky cap and slippers. The outfit was accompanied by bizarre behavior that ranged from chatting with parking meters to pissing on the street. It was an act worthy of Pacino or De Niro, and kept the Chin out of jail for nearly three decades. If there was an Oscar for best performance running a mob family, he would have retired the award.

So wait, in your opinion, was he really crazy or was it just an act?
Crazy like a fox was the FBI's assessment. Two different federal judges ruled he was sane as well. But the act itself was a thing of twisted beauty, complete with annual trips to a suburban psychiatric facility, the weird wardrobe, the loony antics on the Greenwich Village streets. The clothes helped make the crazy man, but it was Gigante who pulled it off in public. The performance was so good that it took the federal government seven years after his 1990 indictment to get him in court, and then only after endless psychiatric evaluations by an assortment of doctors.

It remains the single most brilliant gambit in the annals of organized crime, if not crime dating back to when Cain killed Abel. He's one of a kind, and one who will never be duplicated. To run the Genovese family in two centuries, despite constant FBI attention, was astounding. And to do it with the mental incompetency dodge is the cherry on top of the crazy cake. The mob will never see his like again.

How did you get on this beat in the first place?
I was working at the Associated Press on the night of the Castellano murder, and went to the crime scene outside Sparks Steak House—it looked like the set of a mob movie, except the two bodies in the middle of the street were arriving for dinner an hour earlier. I wound up doing a lot of mob stuff after that, and Gigante always stood out from the rest of the bosses. I spent a lot of the next 18 years writing about the Chin, and was in court for his racketeering trial and his final guilty plea.

Chin's brother, Father Louis Gigante, was kind enough to meet me at the beginning of the project, which was a big help. I had a chance to speak with his daughter Rita when she wrote a book a few years back. I spoke with several mobsters, including Crazy Phil Leonetti of the Philly family and the so-called "Yuppie Don" Michael Franzese. John Pritchard, head of the FBI's Genovese Squad in the 80s, was a huge help, as were a number of federal prosecutors who helped put the Chin away, and other FBI agents involved in the cases.

If he was the last of a dying breed, what's the state of the Mafia in America?
The FBI doesn't devote the resources it once did to the mob, particularly given the threat of terrorism. I'm told the five New York families endure in various levels of disarray, but things like Commission meetings—get-togethers of all the bosses—are history now. The old bosses were known by their nicknames: Don Vito, Tommy Ryan, the Chin, Tony Ducks, Big Paul. Could anybody name the heads of the families these days?

Check out more info on the book and pre-order a copy here.

This interview has been lightly condensed and edited for clarity.

Follow Seth Ferranti on Twitter.

White Space: Inside the Michigan Militia

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In 2008, the first black president was elected in the United States, and the worst financial crisis in almost a century brought the world's economy to its knees. Since then, a form of domestic terror has been on the rise in America and abroad. But it's not the kind of terror we're used to hearing about.

Militia groups and neo-nationalists here and around the world have been growing bolder, more popular, and more powerful. VICE's Ben Makuch investigates the origins of these militia groups and explores the driving force behind the militia movement today. In order to do so, he travels to the place where it all began: the Michigan State militias.

The VICE Morning Bulletin

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Photo by James St John via Flickr.


Everything you need to know about the world this morning curated by VICE

US News

Keeping Weed Illegal Costs Government $28 Billion Per Year
Keeping marijuana illegal means the federal government and states are losing out on $28 billion in annual tax revenue, according to a report by the Tax Foundation. The analysis shows that marijuana tax revenue in Colorado and Washington is exceeding all projections. —The Washington Post

Clinton Focuses on Trump Ahead of Primaries
As primary voters head to the polls in Oregon and Kentucky, Hillary Clinton is hoping to avoid a double defeat to Bernie Sanders that could erode faith in her ability to beat Donald Trump in the fall. The pro-Clinton super PAC Priorities USA will release its first election ads Wednesday, attacking Trump for his treatment of women. —USA Today

Mississippi Town Ordered to Desegregate Schools
A federal court has ordered a town in Mississippi to combine schools to fully desegregate its education system. Black students and white students have been largely separated into two different high schools in the town of Cleveland. The court has also ordered the merger of the town's middle school and junior high, also divided along racial lines. —Reuters

LA School District Settles Sexual Abuse Cases
The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) will pay $88 million to settle 30 cases of sexual abuse at two elementary schools in the city. The average payout will be about about $3 million per family. The school district's attorney said LAUSD was glad to "avoid potentially painful litigation." —Los Angeles Times

International News

World Powers to Arm Libya's Fight Against ISIS
The US and other world powers have said they are ready to arm Libya's new unity government to help it fight against ISIS. Libya has asked for an "exemption" from an international arms embargo, a request expected to be approved by the UN Sanctions Committee. —Al Jazeera

8,000 Canadian Oil Workers Evacuated in Wildfire
Around 8,000 oil sands workers in camps near Fort McMurray have been forced to evacuate for a second time as the wildfire headed towards them. Oil workers had returned in recent days to to restart production, but hot-dry winds have helped the wildfire spread 30 to 40 meters a minute north of Fort McMurray. —CBC News

Security Tightened as Chinese Leader Visits Hong Kong
Top Chinese official Zhang Dejiang has arrived in Hong Kong for a three-day visit, vowing "to listen to all sectors of society." Although Dejiang, the leader responsible for Hong Kong affairs, will meet with pro-democracy lawmakers, more than 6,000 police have been deployed for the protests expected by pro-democracy groups.—BBC News

North Korea Appoints Nuclear Negotiator as Foreign Minister
North Korea has named a former nuclear negotiator as the country's new foreign minister. Ri Yong Ho, who has experience negotiating with rivals South Korea and the United States, will now represent North Korea at the UN. Analysts say Ri's appointment could be a bid to improve ties with the outside world. —AP


Trump in 'Donald Trump's Punch Out,' a parody of 'Mike Tyson's Punch Out.' Image: Jeff Hong

Everything Else

Twitter to Loosen 140-Character Limit
Twitter plans to exclude photos and links from the 140-character limit, allowing people to compose slightly longer tweets. Company executives are reportedly looking at new ways to combat stagnation in user growth.—Bloomberg

Pastor Drops Homophobic Cake Case
The gay pastor who alleged Wholefoods sold him a cake with a homophobic slur on it has dropped the lawsuit and apologized for fabricating the story. Wholefoods says it sees "no reason" to countersue for defamation. —The Huffington Post

Doctors in Canada Could Prescribe Heroin
Canada's federal health agency wants to give doctors the power to prescribe heroin as a treatment for chronic opioid abuse. A proposal would allow them to use diacetylmorphine, a pharmaceutical grade heroin. —VICE News

Trump Takes Over Nintendo Bad Guys
Artist Jeff Hong has launched the Trumptendo, a ROM-hacked group of classic Nintendo games in which antagonists are replaced with an 8-bit Donald Trump. Donkey Kong, Bowser, and Mike Tyson all become Trump in these games. —Motherboard



Done with reading today? Watch our new video 'Inside the Michigan Militia'

Five Girls and a Guy Talk About the First Time They Touched a Penis

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Jonathan's first penis experience in a car. All illustrations by Michael Dockery.

This article originally appeared in VICE Australia.

For most people, their first experience touching someone else's junk is awkward, surprising, and pretty hard to forget. Whether it was in a movie theatre, in the back seat of a car, or under the covers at a friend's sleepover, fumbling with a dick is usually a gateway experience into a whole new complicated world.

We asked some young people from around Australia to relive their first experience. Were they surprised by how it looked? What about how it felt? And, ultimately, how did that first interaction affect their journey towards being a sexually active adult?

Jonathan, 23

I was 16 years old. I was at a party, talking to this guy on the front lawn. He was in the year above me at school and was straight. We were discussing how I was a virgin and I had never done anything with a guy before. I mentioned that I'd looked at guys but had never touched when, suddenly, he put my hand down his pants. He was hard. I was nervous, but I was excited too so I kind of just went with it all. I lost my virginity that night too. We eventually moved to his car, and well, he's definitely gay these days. I'd never done anything but it was weird how I knew just what to do. Honestly, I'd seen that much porn beforehand I had a good enough idea. It was super classy.

Madi, 20

My first experience was when I was 15 and had been with my boyfriend a few months. He was almost 17. At the time I thought I was ready and we were in love. My first time touching it also resulted in also my first blowjob. I soon realised I was too young and not ready to do it, but of course I felt it was rude to just stop. So I finished and managed to hold in the sick stomach feeling until I got home where I could finally vomit. I think I felt more sick from the act of doing it: The entire time I was thinking too young, too young. He is going to leave you, what are you doing?

Looking back now, it was likely just my brain overthinking as per usual, but I was a complete virgin when I met him. I was proud of my reputation and I thought I may have now lost that respect. I could no longer say I'd never done anything before. That was a huge fear of mine but my boyfriend was totally accepting of it and was keen to wait until I felt ready again.

Keira, 21

So I thought I was just going to be hanging out with this guy I was seeing, maybe make out, roll around the bed at most. Then I swear I blinked and all of a sudden his dick was out and he wanted me to touch it. I was trying so hard not to laugh. To mask it, I did touch it and I remember thinking it was squishy like those toys you have when you're a kid.

Can I just say I was traumatised by this. I was 15. He was older and I really liked him but I distinctly remember looking out the window of his bedroom—it was a raining, misty day—and thinking I just don't want him to do anything to me. I was so insistent that my clothes were staying on. I even remember the underwear he was wearing, they were this bright blue with a black band around the top. I definitely just think of that experience every time I see that colour.

Afterwards I called someone and asked, "Are they all this weird?"


Sarah, 26

It was in a cinema and I was so grossed out about touching it. It felt sweaty, strange, and not like anything I'd touched before. I was 12 years old. I immediately wanted to pull my hand away. Not understanding what a handy was at the time I thought it was just holding the penis for a little bit. I just sat there holding it, staring straight ahead at the screen.

He told me to rub up and down, so I did that a couple of times, but for most of the movie I sat there with his sweaty, weird penis in my hand. When I left I went straight to the bathroom to wash my hands and then when I got home I sat in the bath. I felt so dirty and so guilty because I thought I should have told my mum. We never kept secrets from each other but I'm glad I kept this one. It was a long time until I touched another one again.

Steph, 25

My first experience with a penis was when I was 15 years old in a park one Saturday night. When I saw it I had no idea what to do next. So then he asked for head and I was like, "Ahh... okay." I sucked the tip and obviously it didn't make anything happen. I remember thinking, Am I doing this right, is he enjoying this? I'm pretty sure I had Googled it beforehand.

All my other friends were around drinking and hooking up at the same time. After I remember feeling shocked and grossed out. When I got home my mum asked whether I'd had fun and I kind of shrugged it off and asked whether could get Maccas. I distinctly remember a few weeks later my friend gave him head, made him cum, and I was devastated.

For most of the movie I just sat there with his sweaty, weird penis in my hand.


Courtney, 21

I met this guy on Tinder and it was weird because I'd got a few dick pics before but this was the first time I'd ever seen one in real life. He knew I wasn't very experienced because when it came out, I was just looking at it. After a while he just said, "What the fuck? Just touch it." I was just thinking why is it so hard?

I had so many questions to ask so I started asking with does it bounce when you walk? Does it float in water, can you control it? He was alright with it but I think he got annoyed towards the end, which was valid—I was interrogating him with his dick out. When I was giving him a hand job, I was a bit in shock. I remember saying, "Oh my God, so the skin moves with it?"

He was fine, but it was a really foreign experience for me. Obviously because I don't have one. I was the last one left of my friends to do anything like this, so afterwards I called someone and asked, "Are they all this weird?"

Follow Greta on Twitter.

All illustrations by Michael Dockery.

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'Suits' and 'Stoners' Are Fighting for the Soul of the Weed Industry

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The World Congress Weed Expo last year in New York City. (Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images)

This piece was published in partnership with the Influence.

"It took me getting into the weed business to actually put on a suit," laughs Duncan Cameron at the Denver grow he oversees. As chief production officer at Colorado dispensary Good Chemistry, Cameron has given tours of the company's 20,000 square-foot grow to businesspeople and politicians in the era of legal cannabis. Often, his role requires him to dress up. Today, he sports a Good Chemistry t-shirt.

Good Chemistry exemplifies its products' recently elevated image. Stepping into the shop's Denver location, customers are greeted by a long, white-marble counter supported by what looks awfully like cocobolo wood. The dispensary is located just steps away from the Colorado State Capitol, underscoring the brave new world of legal marijuana: mainstream, easily accessible and chic.

But a cultural conflict rumbles within a nascent industry that was once a countercultural, underground operation. As fancy dispensaries and stylish products proliferate, many in the industry are calling to "rebrand cannabis" and "shed the stoner stigma."

Those calls rub some people the wrong way. "Some of us take a little bit of an insult to it," says Russ Belville, a cannabis activist who hosts a show on cannabisradio.com. " as if who and what we are is somehow a negative."

Indeed, the whole anti-stoner schtick can get companies in trouble. In 2014, the Denver-based cannabis ad agency Cannabrand and its co-founders Olivia Mannix and Jennifer DeFalco scored a profile in the New York Times examining pot's rebranding.

"We're weeding out the stoners," Mannix told the Times.

The backlash was immediate, with advocates criticizing the company's stance as offensive and divisive. Mindful, a dispensary group, cut ties with Cannabrand, saying the comments "conflict with our company values."

"We understand that these comments were hurtful and insulting to the industry and to the many that have fought so hard for years in the name of patient rights and safe access," Meg Sanders, CEO of Mindful, said in a statement at the time.

"We never meant to put down anyone when we were talking about that," Jennifer DeFalco, co-founder of Cannabrand, now tells the Influence. "We were strictly talking about the image of cannabis in advertising."

But DeFalco emphasizes that they stand by their original comments: "We still feel very firmly about the fact that the industry needs to change its image in order to be taken seriously.... Lawmakers are looking at the industry, and if it's still associated with that negative, stigmatized , it's going to be a lot harder for policies to change."

"There's no doubt that capitalism has moved the ball forward as far as marijuana legalization goes." —Russ Belville, cannabis activist

DeFalco is one of many who think rebranding will be instrumental in the political movement to end pot prohibition.

"We believe brands will shape the future of the industry," says Brendan Kennedy, CEO of Privateer, which owns Tilray, Leafly and Marley Natural. "Business is just another form of political activism."

Privateer has come under criticism for appropriating Bob Marley and Jamaican culture, despite its partnership with the Marley estate. Kennedy is quick to defend his company's Marley Natural brand. "Over the last 20 to 30 years, a lot of bootleg product producers have appropriated his image really unfairly," he says. "I would see all these trinket-y, bric-a-brac products that were using his image in an unlicensed manner. Those products brought down his legacy and insulted his legacy."

"I think we've created a brand in a way that embraces respect his social justice values and his values towards nature."

Belville, who has been a vocal critic of Marley Natural, calls Kennedy's comments "interesting spin."

"Let's keep in mind they're benefiting Rita Marley—they're not benefiting growers in Jamaica," says Belville. "It may be too soon to tell, but maybe they will take some of these profits and reinvest in Jamaica."

Check out our documentary about the ambitious weed legalization project in Uruguay.

" continually express support for what we're doing," Kennedy says. "They ask us for money all the time.... Activists reach out to us for help because we can do things to end prohibition that they can't. And that's the end-game."

Indeed, Privateer has put money into legalization campaigns and advocacy groups. The company partners with global nonprofits and supports several clinical trials on medical cannabis in Canada and Australia.

And while activists may be critical of business interests, they certainly don't deny the industry's role in the legalization movement.

"There's no doubt that capitalism has moved the ball forward as far as marijuana legalization goes," says Belville. "Governments want the tax revenue; entrepreneurs want to be a part of the 'green rush.'"

Businesspeople and activists are both committed to ending prohibition—but their motivations are fundamentally different.

"Responsible legislation equals responsible business," says Derek Peterson, CEO of TerraTech, a cannabis agriculture company. "We have to be involved in legalization efforts because they open up markets for us."

But businesspeople couch their calls for legalization in terms of returns, while activists speak of the issue in terms of civil rights.

"Even if we weren't making any money, locking up people for marijuana is not something we should do," Belville says. "It's a social justice issue for me."

"I've seen show up late to the meeting, totally undressed, and they don't have a business card. That drives me crazy." —David Paleschuck, VP of licensing and brand partnerships for Dope magazine

Cannabis "suits" may talk about their contributions to the movement, but it only makes sense for them to donate when the legislation benefits them. Remember the almost $25 million spent on attempting to create a marijuana monopoly in Ohio last year?

Unsurprisingly, support from businesses for grassroots initiatives and legislation that favor home-grow—allowing consumers to bypass the industry—is decidedly weaker.

"We received a token amount from marijuana businesses. Less than $5,000," says Adam Eidinger, the activist who spearheaded Washington DC's successful Initiative 71.

The ballot measure allows adults over 21 to possess, grow and give away cannabis—but sales remained banned. "We got so little , because they did not see the business opportunity here if you aren't able to sell marijuana," says Eidinger.

Pot smokers near the State Capitol in Denver, Colorado on April 20, 2015. (Photo By Helen H. Richardson/ The Denver Post)

David Paleschuck, VP of licensing and brand partnerships for Dope magazine, says he's seen the worst of both worlds in his time in the industry.

"I've seen show up late to the meeting, totally undressed, and they don't have a business card," he says. "That drives me crazy."

On the flip side: "I've been in meetings where some dude with a Wharton MBA comes in with a suit and has millions in the bank.... I roll my eyes at those guys because, what do you know about cannabis? What do you know about this game?'"

Indeed, Colorado has seen its fair share of un-savvy investors. "Those folks really don't know what they're getting into," says Duncan Cameron. "You have to understand the culture." Even though the industry is legal at the state level, marijuana's Schedule I status makes the business still somewhat of a "street game."

"I try to avoid those types of people," says Paleschuck. "It's in the middle where you can relate to people on a business and personal level.... I think that's the best place to be."

Despite the fact that businesses seem to only support legalization efforts that benefit the bottom line, bigger companies in the industry can benefit small growers. Many independent farmers from California's Emerald Triangle are partnering with bigger companies and investors, according to Hezekiah Allen, executive director of the California Growers Association*. The group represents more than 500 small, independent cannabis growers, who tend to be distrustful of big money in general, not just in the cannabis space.

"Our membership is interested in partnerships," says Allen. "Money is not a problem so much as the consolidation of the industry.... Putting profits ahead of consumers, employees and natural resources is a problem."

The question is, will new cannabis brands be owned by the investor class, or by the producers themselves? Currently, growing experience is undervalued by Wall Street types.

"There's this idea, 'Get out of the way stoners, the businesspeople are here,'" says Allen. "I bet there are people who would be surprised by the level of education and the level of sophistication that goes into running a cannabis business."

He calls for a very different attitude: "Don't come and take this. Come and work with us."

Some businesspeople in the industry agree that a middle way makes most sense. "The people coming in and saying, 'We got to get these stoners out of here,' or 'I can't stand big business,' are shortsighted. The better way is a win-win approach," Peterson offers. "There's a significant lack of appreciation for those that paved the way, and that's frustrating."

According to Peterson, cannabis doesn't need to be rebranded as much as it needs to be branded, period. "Does it always need to be chic? No. Can it look hippy dippy? Absolutely."

And that's something that independent cannabis growers can get behind. Despite their distrust of big business, farmers are excited about branding. "Brands are going to change everything. Our growers can't wait to tell consumers all about their farms and all about their struggle," Allen says.

Check out our documentary about the fortunes to be made in the legal weed game.

Almost everyone interviewed for this article spoke of cannabis going the way of the wine industry. "It's an independent model where there's thousands of estates and thousands of brands diversity of products in the marketplace," says Allen.

But that will depend on how regulations are written. California has created a horizontally-integrated model for its medical marijuana program, which limits the size of grows and the number of licenses a company can hold, thus favoring smaller producers. States that go for vertical integration, however—requiring the same company to cultivate, process and sell the product—will tilt the playing field in favor of fewer, bigger producers.

How that balance will play out remains to be seen. And so does the overall role of Big Business in the industry.

According to Zack Hutson, Privateer's VP of corporate affairs, Marley Natural does plan to support Jamaican farmers.

"As soon as the system gets up in running," he says, "we intend to explore the best way to bring our brand to the market in a way that respects Jamaican culture and contributes positively to Jamaica's ganja growers."

Mona Zhang is a New York-based writer and editor of the cannabis newsletter Word on the Tree. Follow her on Twitter.

This article was originally published by the Influence, a news site that covers the full spectrum of human relationships with drugs. Follow the Influence on Facebook or Twitter.

*Update 5/17: An earlier version of this article misidentified the California Growers Association as the Emerald Growers Association.

What It's Like to Dance for Top North Korean Officials

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The Spanish delegation after their performance, proudly displaying their three gold medals. All photos courtesy of Xavi Benaque García

This article originally appeared on VICE Spain

Xavi Benaque García brought flamenco to North Korea last month. The 25-year old dancer—trained in traditional Spanish dances and classical ballet—was part of a delegation of ten Spanish dancers and musicians who participated in North Korea's April Spring Friendship Art Festival. That festival, which was held for the 30th consecutive year, brought together people from all over the world to perform different dances and music from their countries of origin. According to the North Korean Secretary of Culture, "the festival promotes friendship, solidarity, exchange and cooperation among countries and nations."

The Spanish show consisted of six different performances combining traditional dance, copla, and other kinds of Spanish folk music. According to Xavi, the North Korean audience was delighted. We spoke to him about what it's like to olé your way into North Korea.

VICE: How did you end up dancing in North Korea?
Xavi Benaque García: I'm a self-employed professional dancer, so I received a call from a friend who told me they were looking for people to go on tour in North Korea. The original idea came about when this old school artist manager called Tommy Lara met the North Korean ambassador in Madrid, two years ago. In their conversation, the ambassador brought up this festival where several countries are invited each year to showcase their culture and traditions—he suggested to Tommy that he bring over a delegation from Spain.

Xavi Benaque

What went through your mind when you knew you were going to North Korea?
I first thought, 'He must have meant South Korea.' But when I realized he didn't, I thought it would be a unique opportunity to visit a country that's generally very difficult to get access to. When the departure day got closer, people kept asking me if I was really sure I wanted to go. That made me a little less emboldened than I was when I'd just agreed to go. You see things in the news about the tensions between North Korea and the rest of the world—I wasn't afraid but I was a little concerned. On the other hand: I was well aware that North Korea always tries to give off an image that it's the best country in the world. I was pretty sure they were going to treat us amazingly well so that we would only have good things to say coming home.

And was that the case?
Yeah, sure. They showed me around a relatively modern Pyongyang. There were a lot of big buildings—not very fancy ones, those typical communist constructions.

Did you have a guide?
We had a Spanish translator who was obviously very well-prepared. He spoke perfect Spanish but had never left the country. He accompanied us during our ten days in Korea, translated for us, and told us how to dress for whatever excursions we had that day.

So how did people respond to your show? Did they connect with Spanish culture?
The reception was amazing actually, yeah. In fact—we took home three gold medals. There were delegations from a lot of other countries like Russia, Cyprus, Belarus, France, and Italy. We had no idea it was supposed to be a competition though, at first. There's a committee that stops by all the theaters where the festival takes place and they decide who gets awarded the medals. It's a symbolic prize, of course. Just recognition. One of the acts we had prepared was called "Copillas del olé" and it had a very catchy chorus: "Y olé, con olé, olé y olá." Whenever we ran into other people from the festival in the hotel they sang that to us.

Some of the Spanish artists sightseeing around Pyongyang

Did Kim Jong-un see you perform?
I never saw him. The secretary of culture did show up, and when he came in the theater everyone stood up and started applauding. We just followed suit—even though we had no idea who we were applauding, or why. They told us afterwards.

Did you notice a lot of security measures during your trip there?
You usually get an itinerary when you travel for these kinds of things—way in advance. Flight details, hotel addresses, that sort of things. For our trip to North Korea, everything was done at the last minute. We didn't know what day we were flying or where were staying until a few days before. Everything was pretty top secret. We gave them our passports and they gave us a visa. There was no interview or anything. We met the other delegations in Moscow, where we had flown via Paris.

Pyongyang has a very small but modern airport with two terminals. The procedure from there is basically the same as in other airports: You go through customs and collect your luggage. But then you go through luggage control, where they asked us to show the images we had on our mobile phones and electronic devices. We guessed that was to see if we had taken photos from the plane, but I'm not sure.

Were you able to then use your phone there?
There's no 3G in North Korea and there's no network coverage, so it quickly became a useless device. We had a small room where we could make phone calls for $2.60 a minute and to send emails for $3.39 per mail. We could take photos, but they told us where to take them and of what. So I saw what they wanted me to see. Everything was organized and prepared—they knew exactly how to answer every question we'd ask. I think bringing people into the country is a form of cultural contamination for them. They were very careful and cautious.


This is Why a Transsexual Woman Burned a Rainbow Pride Flag

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Brooklyn Fink faces mischief charges in BC court today.

When reports that someone burned a pride flag on a university campus surfaced in February, it seemed like a pretty clear-cut case of close-minded bigotry. The University of British Columbia obviously condemned the incident, calling it "an act of hate and in contravention of the values of equity, inclusion and respect deeply held by the university community."

And while hate or close-mindedness may have played a role, we've since learned the case is anything but clear cut. Brooklyn Fink, a transsexual student who feels "outed" by queer activism, took responsibility for the act last month, and told VICE she felt triggered by the rainbow flag's presence. Her story raises questions about how inclusive queer communities should respond when people just don't want to be included.

"I would like it if transsexual wasn't included in LGBT," she told VICE.

In case you need a refresher: transsexual is a term we've had for at least half a century, and refers to people whose gender doesn't match their assigned sex, many of whom pursue reassignment treatment and surgery. Transgender, on the other hand, is a relatively new umbrella term that includes all kinds of of expressions, including transsexual. Trouble is, Fink says her identity is much closer to "straight" than "queer."

"Twelve years ago I was just a tall female and nobody knew," Fink said. "If I knew I'd be lumped in with the gays and lesbians, instead of being accepted as a female, then I never would have gone through the process. They've made me stop half-way though."

Fink's views come from her experience transitioning long before politicians debated about all-gender washrooms. Now, with the global spotlight on gender-nonconforming identities, Fink feels misgendered and threatened.

"These people do lots of the talking," she said of queer activists. "Transsexual patients try to stay anonymous and silent, and they're bringing attention onto us."

Fink has been suspended from UBC and faces mischief charges for setting the rainbow flag on fire. Today she'll ask a judge to dismiss those charges, on the grounds that the school is already handling the case. A university decision is expected next month.

Justin Trudeau waves the flag with a new trans rights bill today. Photo by Justin Ling

Her day in court comes on the same day Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to introduce a bill protecting trans rights under the Canadian Human Rights Act. Though its aim is to protect people like Fink, she says the legislation will do some harm by singling transitioners out and adding the label trans. Citing a well-known case in BC, she argues for the right of young Harriette Cunningham to identify as simply a "girl." The 13-year-old Cunningham has so far embraced a transgender identity, however.

Fink has since expressed regret for some of her actions, but her stance against "LGBT hegemony" has grown deeper roots.

"Burning it was extreme," she said. "I didn't think it through hard enough. Instead of burning the flag, which is destruction of property, I should have come prepared to remove it from the pole... I should have just folded it up and left it on the ground."

Before her flag protest, Fink says she'd already faced discrimination "from every angle"—from bigots and well-meaning trans advocates alike. Even when someone reaches out to her to say, "Hey honey, I'm trans too," Fink feels the sting of someone reading her appearance in a different way than she identifies.

She likens her transsexual status to a medical condition, one that she prefers to keep private. But after taking such dramatic action against a queer symbol, Fink's name and transition history were both published widely in the media. She claims university staff played a role in "doxxing" her before she came clean.

Fink said she suffered severe mental health symptoms after the story broke, and checked herself into a hospital that day. "Now I'm humiliated," Fink said of the incident, "the whole world knows my secret—thanks a lot."

With her name now in the Vancouver spotlight, Fink says she's considering a move to Quebec, where she might pursue an art degree. She says she's still searching for a "safe space" like the ones she sees queer communities enjoying on UBC's campus.

Those communities would likely know a thing or two about Fink's feelings of alienation. It's why things like International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia exist. But because of her identity and beliefs, Fink doesn't have this or any community to fall back on.

Follow Sarah Berman on Twitter.

People Tell Us About Their Most Awkward Post-Hookup Run-Ins

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Photo by Matt Seppings via

Millennials get called the hook-up generation. I guess that's true: we have the tools and the technology to arrange short-term mating, and no previous generation had that. Yet we're having less sex than them, which might have more to do with the fact we're settling with just one person happens less and less.

This may be a reason that running into someone after the two of you have shared a brief night of passion is practically inevitable. We live in a very small world, and destiny plus geography equals difficult encounters. That is, difficult encounters that seem funny to others.

To get a few such stories, we reached out to some friends and colleagues around New Zealand.

Image via

CHARLOTTE, 21, Retail Assistant

Any awkward post-sex run-ins?
So I went home with this guy one night, and the next day had a date at a café with another guy. Turned out the guy from the night before was our waiter.

No. How did you handle it?
Oh I didn't say anything and he didn't say anything. It was this mutual decision to ignore it.

Was it obvious you were on a date?
Oh yeah. Like the guy I was on date with, you know, paid and stuff. It was a Tinder date so it had all those awkward date dramas.

Did you ever see either guy again?
I did end up going on a date with the second guy again, but that was pretty much it. The one-night stand guy actually messaged me after like "that was so awkward" and we became pretty good friends. We laugh about it now.


A screenshot from the group chat Kate was added to. Image supplied

KATE,* 21, Marketing Executive

So you had an awkward run-in with a one night stand?
Well I'd just come out of this really messy break-up, and this guy was actually the second person I'd ever slept with. It was at Northern Bass , so over New Year's. I saw him out a few weeks later and went back with him and his friends to his house. Nothing happened, we both just weren't feeling it and I just went home the next morning.

That sounds sweet.
Yeah, it was. Then that night I got added to the group chat he had with his boys and I scrolled up and he was ripping me out on the group chat.

So they added you by accident?
I think it was banter, but some guy took it too far and actually did add me. It was quite shitty. There are screenshots. He screenshotted me following him on Instagram and sent it to the boys being like: "It never fucking ends."

That's really messed up.
Yeah he actually Facebooked me personally and apologized saying I was a really nice girl. Such a dick.

Image via

JASMINE,* 21, Design student

Tell me about running into a guy you slept with once and never heard from again.
Okay, so this happened with a guy I knew from my hometown but never spoke to who I thought was super cute and then we both moved to Wellington. This one night I ran into him at a liquor store and then at the club. We eventually went home together. We had a great night full of lust. He actually found a condom in my bed from the previous night—yikes. I found out later he gave me chlamydia.

When did you run into him again?
I saw him a month later when he skated past me. I freaked out. He shakka-ed me and skated on.

No words, just a shakka?
Pretty much.

Does he know he gave you chlamydia?
Nah, I never had the guts to tell him. But that was real cute, huh.

Image via

CODEE, 25, Advertising creative

Tell me what happened.
Okay. See, in gay culture you run into people you've slept with all the time. It's not that awkward because everyone's hooking up with everyone. So it's just kind of weird. I did get with a guy once and when we woke up I reached over to cuddle him, but he was just crying—like sobbing.

You woke up and he was just lying there crying?
Yes! I tried to comfort him but he was like pushing me away. And he didn't say anything for like ten or 15 minutes. It was the most awkward experience of my entire life. Eventually he kind of shouted, "I'm engaged!"

Oh shit, what happened next?
I offered to call him a taxi and he was like "No, I live on the North Shore and don't have any money." So he called his fiancé to come pick him up. His fiancé came to the fucking door and like opened the door and was like, "Get in the fucking car." And they drove off.

What did you do?
He was crying so much. I'm talking full on Kim Kardashian crying face, I didn't know what the fuck to do. He's since moved to Melbourne and broken up with his fiancé. He blocked me on Facebook.

You're a homewrecker!
I know. I actually wrecked a home.

Image via

JAMES*, 21, Marketing Intern

What's been your most awkward post sexual-encounter story?
One time I was at a party drunk as fuck and went up this hill with a girl and then we were chatting and laughing etc. and we hooked up. All was well and we came back down the hill and were chatting about who we knew at the party. I was like "Oh I know Levi" and then she's like "Omg same he's my cousin," and then I said (just not thinking about it) "Yeah he's my cousin as well!" Then she looked at me and realized and then I realized.

So Levi was a cousin to both of you?

Yeah! She was just on the other side of the family. Pretty sure she's been at a reunion ages ago as well.

Did you ever see her again?
Well we just walked off separate ways and didn't say another thing to each other. I saw her at the party again but she ignored me and I ignored her. Good times but also traumatic.

Wow.
Moral of the story: never drink mud shake.

Follow Beatrice Hazlehurst on Twitter.

*Names have been changed.

Photos from Inside an Anti-Muslim Protest

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Last weekend in the Belgium city of Antwerp, the third ever Muslim Expo was held—a lifestyle fair for Muslims. Like pretty much any other lifestyle fair in the world, the Muslim Expo had stalls, discussion panels, workshops, shows, and a keynote on time management. But according to the Flemish right-wing nationalist party Vlaams Belang, something much shadier was going on here. "This Islam fair is an apartheids fair, where they preach segregation instead of integration," according to Filip Dewinter—one of the leading members of Vlaams Belang. "People here want only one thing: to expand the influence of Islam in Belgium. If you want to know how young people become radicalized, I advise you to visit this expo."

About 40 Vlaams Belang supporters gathered on Saturday at two in the afternoon across the street from the expo center, with signs saying "No headscarf" and "Stop Islam." Some members of the militant nationalist group Voorpost joined them and handed out slices of pork sausage to passersby. According to Belgian newspaper De Standaard some local residents yelled profanities at the Vlaams Belang supporters from their window sills and threw eggs in their direction.

Back on the other side of the street, visitors to the Muslim Expo didn't really involve themselves much with the protesters—aside from one girl, who decided the best way to deal with these people was to take some selfies with them. Photographer Jurgen Augusteyns was there and saw Zakia Belkhiri happily taking some snaps with the protesters and Filip Dewinter.

The rest of Jurgen Augusteyns' pictures from the protest are below. You can see more of his work on his website.

Your Sculpted Pecs Are Worthless

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Photo courtesy of Marcus Jecklin

Marcus Jecklin is fucking gorgeous. His body comes at you like an old Batman fight: Biceps, BOOM! Pecs, KABLAM! Abs, POW! Glutes, WHAMMO! And his traps... if FettyWap hadn't already claimed it, people would call Jecklin the Trap King.

But let's be clear about what we're looking at. Yes, his endless capacity for bicep curls and lat pulldowns earned him the nickname "Powerthirst." Yes, he's six feet and 185 pounds of beastly brawn, with 8% body fat. Jecklin, 26, is often tapped to join pick-up games of basketball, beach volleyball, flag football, soccer, or softball. But he has a secret: he's terrible at those sports. "I never live up to the expectations people have of my body," he told VICE. "I'm constantly disappointing people. It's more embarrassing than anything else. I'm not as fast as people expect. Not as strong. Not as anything. I'm basically average. Secretly average."

By contrast, John Baranik, 22, is a senior at the University of Pennsylvania who regularly runs a mile in under five minutes, works out with the Penn cycling team, does 25 pushups like it's nothing, and pops high-rep bench presses of his own weight (at 5'8", he's 150 pounds). He can do sit-ups "until the cows come home," he told VICE. Baranik is gorgeous too, but he describes his body as "medium build" because he doesn't have abs. Well, not visible abs.

When Baranik worked as a mountain hiking guide in Colorado, he regularly had difficulty with the Jecklin types. "Those are the only guys who struggled in our hikes," Baranik said. "This was right by the Air Force Academy. These were military guys. And I'd be forcing fruit snacks down their throats to get them through it. They just had no idea how their bodies worked outside of a gym." Their giveaways, he said, are their protein bars and shakes, their endless peacocking about "chest days" and "leg days," and their disbelief at the fact that many skilled rock climbers often can't do pull-ups, a gym favorite that has surprisingly little real-world application.

Photo courtesy of John Baranik

These men are known colloquially as facade-bods. They are second-generation Schwarzeneggers, contemporary iterations of the chicken-legged meatheads of yesteryear. Despite the current talk about centeredness, health, fitness, self-respect, their main goal is, as one gym's slogan puts it, to #lookbetternaked.

Facade-bod types are missing the point by developing muscles that do little other than please the eye. Take biceps. "Bulging biceps are required by almost no sport. You don't need them to throw a ball, swing a bat or a racket or a punch, swim, or climb," Nic Berard, 32, who runs a physical therapy practice in Los Angeles, told VICE. "They get in the way. And yet guys want those big biceps because they want to look good in a shirt. Or without a shirt."

A glance (or glare) at underwear-model pro athletes—David Beckham, Rafael Nadal, Hidetoshi Nakata—reveals they're not that built or ripped. True athleticism, Berard noted, comes from muscles that are more hidden.

A sculpted physique can even be dangerous. "Having six-pack abs can make you as vulnerable to spine injury as having a gut," Berard said, "because what we call 'six-pack abs' are the most superficial muscles, the rectus abdominis, but real strength and stability comes from the transverse abdominis and the multifidus, which are closest to your spine, and obliques for rotational strength." He added that bench presses are "not healthy" and sit-ups are "the worst exercise you can do because they're spine-crushing." Men who build up only their pecs and biceps often develop serious shoulder damage because of a lack of "scapular stability," he said, adding, "If you want to look good, that's easy. But then that's all you get. I see a lot of injured personal trainers , actually."

There are unexpected, ineffable consequences of pursuing a body that's more, um, eff-able than functional. "I hear the worst things from girls about those guys in bed—sex with a statue, basically," Aaron Copeland, 27, a trainer in Houston and cofounder of SwoleSquad Apparel, told VICE. "I've been that guy," admitted Sanders Omoshebi, 29, a trainer in Miami who has worked as Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's body double. "Sex for me was over in ten minutes," he recalled, "You're doing shitty cardio. Your hip muscles are too tight. You can't thrust. I felt sorry for the girls."

Basketball and bedroom hustle alike, Copeland noted, involves "fast-twitch muscles that don't pop when you build them. A lot of muscle that pops is unnecessary. That's for ego lifters. I can train those guys for months and never hear them talk about their actual health."

Noah Nieman, 32, a New York-based celebrity trainer with Barry's Bootcamp and founder of his own brand, Noah Nieman Fitness, laughed: "We call these guys 'all show and no go.'" Nieman, who regularly leads fitness camps with Nike, stresses benefit over brawn, which means he rarely talks with clients about how they'll look. "I keep it real. I don't talk about aesthetics. I talk about emotional benefits," he told VICE. "That way you never get frustrated because you're leaving every exercise feeling good. And, honestly, the six-pack will come quicker and stronger if you feel good. It's a tougher road when you're focused on looks. Feeling good is wealth. Looking good is new money. It gets real stupid real quick."

For his part, Jecklin, of BOOM-POW splendor, now laughs at the days he craved attention and validation so hard he'd "wear short shorts and ripped, stringy tank tops, basically being naked at the gym," he said. He segued to CrossFit until a herniated disc forcibly segued him into gymnastics. "Gymnastics is more injury-preventive," he said. "Spine, hamstring, glute, groin, shoulder flexibility. It's all better for your back." Now his goal isn't measured in pounds; he wants to be able to do the splits.

"I wish I'd been doing gymnastics my whole life," he said. "Now I can do more than I ever could." He still avoids pick-up games, though.

This Movie About Selling Magazines on the Road Might Be the Most Stunning Film at Cannes

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Exuberant, unforgettable—but at least half an hour too long—American Honey is set in an America largely forgotten by the middle-class-centric coastal media. Centering on an 18-year-old drifter named Star, played by newcomer Sasha Lane in a revelatory turn, the picture meditates on a scarred outsider trying to find some sense of peace and self-determination in a world that has put her two steps behind from the start.

Directed by the British-born Cannes regular Andrea Arnold, who didn't know the US that well before embarking on an odyssey from the oil fields of North Dakota to the parking lots of Kansas, American Honey has become a prime contender for the Palme d'Or. As Arnold prepared the film, she traveled the country, driving 12,000 miles through the American South and Heartland, trying to give its forgotten corners a place in her heart. "I needed to make a connection with it," she said at the press conference for the film, flanked by her mostly unknown cast, her veteran producers, and the inimitable Shia LaBoeuf.

The film was shot by Arnold's regular cinematographer Robbie Ryan in the 4:3 aspect ratio they have used on many of Ryan's shorts and her remarkable 2013 adaptation of Wuthering Heights. The camera weaves and darts around its characters with the same abandon that Star tries to navigate a hard-luck life with pluck and dexterity. In this story of a wayward young woman of color, the daughter of a deceased meth addict, trying to get by in an America not designed to allow her to self-actualize, Arnold and Ryan have captured an America the cinema rarely visits. The resulting movie blends Larry Clark's low-country lyricism and the ecstatic splendor of Terence Malick with a pop-heavy soundtrack to remarkable effect, and the film feels like a culmination of Arnold's singular aesthetic. American Honey displays an immediacy and a prairie candor that few filmmakers go searching for in what the most callous of us call flyover country.

For the mixed-race protagonist, getting by means running off from everything she knows to join up with a door-to-door magazine sales crew that she encounters at a K-Mart. Members of an off-the-grid economy, the salespeople go from house to house pushing subscriptions on unsuspecting families that are, more and more, likely to be wielding an iPad when they come to the door. Although at first seemingly led by the charismatic Jake (Shia LaBoeuf, never better), they actually report to Krystal, an ice-cold, blue-eyed Southern lady (Riley Keough) who rules with an iron first from her second-story motel room in a roadside roachfest. She's the type of woman who occasionally delivers sterns lectures while wearing a stars-and-bars bikini, and Jake seems in thrall to Krystal, despite the instant sparks whenever he and Star encounter each other.

The spirited and damaged Star isn't the most efficient salesperson. She doesn't like lying and isn't very good at holding back her opinions of others. Trained by Jake, she veers into profanity in an upper-middle-class Christian home, scaring off a potential mark. Frequently she runs off—one episode, involving four white guys in gallon hats is simultaneously the movie's most entertaining and disturbing interlude. Yet she always returns to the crew, who display a lived-in chemistry that belies that fact that most of them are non-actors. Casted by noted documentarian Jennifer Venditti, only Arielle Holmes—who had a recent, star-making turn in the Safdie brothers' Heaven Knows What—had acted in a film before. Lane, a Texas college student who is the whirling dervish at the center of the piece, was spotted by Arnold and Venditti at a Spring Break party in Panama City, Florida. They initially met over lunch at Waffle House and afterward Arnold knew she had found her woman.

The film drew its initiation inspiration by a 2007 New York Times article by Ian Urbina about crews of wayward, homeless youth that travel the American plains selling magazines. Arnold tracked down such crews to see how they operate in person. She traveled the American byways with just such a crew, sleeping in flee-ridden motels and embarking on long day trips in 15-passenger vans, past West Virginia towns where the only open businesses were pharmacies that deal out painkillers to the old.

For LeBoeuf, who was eager to do the film after meeting with Arnold, little about this white underclass was new. "In Bakersfield, where my father lived for a stint, the only thing that there is a prison," he said, when asked about his research. "That's not new information. I'm part of that underclass. That's where I come from, so I know about it.

Regardless of what where research ends and experience begins, it has resulted in a stunning, if slightly overlong epic that seems like a real contender for the coveted Palme D'Or.

"They aren't really buying the magazines, they are buying the person who is selling the magazines," Arnold said when asked who on earth, in our web-centric media culture, still buys magazines from traveling salespeople. Not that many other opportunities exist for the small-town uneducated.

"In a lot of the smaller towns, the fast-food restaurants seemed like one of the main things you could do," Arnold recalled. "That seemed sad to me."

Follow Brandon Harris on Twitter. Read more of his coverage of Cannes 2016 here.

Death of the Great Barrier Reef: To Save the Great Barrier Reef, We May Have to Selectively Breed it

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A World Heritage-listed coral graveyard after bleaching earlier this year. Image via

New research from Melbourne-based scientists may provide a way to redesign the Great Barrier Reef around stress-tolerant corals to withstand warm ocean waters.

The study, published in the journal Science Advances, has identified the unique sections of coral DNA that can indicate a higher tolerance to environmental stress factors like unusually warmer water, excess sunlight, poor water quality, and ocean acidification.

This year excessively high temperatures combined with still, clear conditions literally cooked large sections of the reef's coral, with only seven percent unaffected by bleaching. Bleaching occurs when the algae living within coral decides conditions are too warm and leave. The algae, known as zooxanthellae, are photosynthetic and provide the coral with chemical energy. Once this algae has left, corals are unable to grow and left vulnerable to damage.

Speaking to VICE, one of the leaders of the study Professor Madeleine van Oppen from the University of Melbourne explained how her team has discovered that some corals are better at withstanding harsh conditions than others.

"In this research we worked on colonies from the same species, where some were found to be hardier than others," she said. "And this was to a considerable extent related to the coral's genetic make-up."

The team's findings could act as a guide for futuristic reef restoration. Both selective breeding and assisted migration of genetically blessed stress-tolerant corals could help scientists completely redesign reefs to cope with dramatic weather events.

Potentially, reef managers could choose to move particular corals from one area to another, or breed certain strains of coral and release them into areas particularly affected by bleaching.

"The two markers we identified can be used for spatial mapping of relative bleaching tolerance across the reef, and they can also be used to identify relatively tolerant colonies which could be used for selective breeding or translocation of corals, if managers wished to implement such strategies," said van Oppen.

"We are developing what I call a biological tool box to try and make coral stock with enhanced environmental stress tolerance."

Is it depressing that we've come to this? A bit. So far the Australian Government's commitment to climate change policies has been non-committal at best, and Australia has reached a stage where, for now, damage control and a bit of biological creativity could be the only way forward.

And there is certainly something a bit tempting about redesigning a genetically advantaged reef that can withstand El Nino events. But while it looks like the technology might be there, actually implementing changes will still require government approval and funding.

"This work is in the early stages, so it's hard to say whether we will be able to achieve this on time," says van Oppen. "We have started a discussion about this with coral reef managers, and if we are successful, then of course we would need legislative approval to seed reefs with enhanced coral stock."

Follow Kat Gillespieon Twitter.

Surreal Estate: Surreal Estate: Inside Vancouver's Skyrocketing Housing Market

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Vancouver, BC is a town built on real estate. And for seven years running, it has also been ranked as the least affordable city in North America. While some cities boast lively arts or hip-hop scenes, Vancouver is home to one of the most insane property markets in the world—a place where decades of global capital, lax regulations, and government indifference have transformed it into a city of displaced renters, empty condos, and multimillion-dollar teardowns.

This video has been made possible by Vancity.


Alberta Man Who Stabbed Five Students to Death at a House Party Thought He Was Killing Werewolves

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Matthew de Grood stabbed five students to death in 2014. THE CANADIAN PRESS

As the trial for Calgary's worst ever mass killing began this week, defendant Matthew de Grood, 24, through an agreed statement of facts, admitted he stabbed the five victims to death. He didn't enjoy it, but said "the son of God was controlling me."

De Grood has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder charges in the deaths of Lawrence Hong, 27, Joshua Hunter, 23, Jordan Segura, 22, Kaitlin Perras, 23, and Zackariah Rathwell, 21. The first three were students at the University of Calgary while Perras went to Mount Royal University and Rathwell attended the Alberta College of Art and Design. They were killed early on April 15, 2014, at a house party celebrating the end of the school year.

The defence is expected to argue de Grood is not criminally responsible for the crimes.

In court Monday, Crown prosecutor Neil Wiberg read aloud the statement of facts, which included de Grood's interviews with police officers, the Canadian Press reports. It reveals that, de Grood, a U of C student and son of a veteran Calgary police officer, told cops "what I did may seem atrocious but I was killing Medusas, werewolves."

He also said he tried to be merciful when committing the stabbings.

"I aimed for their heart. They put up a struggle which made it hard, but, so you know, it wasn't sadistic or anything."

De Grood was working a shift at Safeway on the night of the stabbings. His friend Daniel Butler, quoted in the statement of facts, said he invited de Grood to the party, located in the city's Brentwood neighbourhood. De Grood acted strangely, telling Butler he believed the apocalypse was coming at midnight.

Later, according to the agreed facts, he smashed his cell phone with an axe after dropping it into a fire.

De Grood said he grabbed a 21-centimetre blade chef's knife from inside the kitchen with which he attacked Rathwell; they'd had an argument about Buddhism.

"Then the people on the couch saw and obviously started freaking out, so I killed them from left to right as quickly as I could," he told police. "The girl ran into the corner so I went and stabbed her. I said 'I'm sorry I have to do this.' Then the guy from the kitchen wasn't dead. I had to hunt him down. Then I just left."

Witnesses approaching the house after 1 AM saw de Grood chasing Hunter outside; Hunter then collapsed on the ground. De Grood, his hands covered in blood, threw his knife on the ground and ran off. Segura, Rathwell and Hong were dead inside the home while Perras was fatally injured.

When cops caught up with de Grood, they found cloves of garlic on him, which he said were to "keep the zombies away." That same night, he also said he was an alien, according to the CBC.

De Grood's father, Calgary police inspector Doug de Grood, had reportedly been concerned about his son's mental health leading up the killings, as was at least one of his friends. The court heard that de Grood had been posting Facebook updates that referred to killing vampires and incarnation.

As the proceedings started, Gregg Perras, father of one of the victims, read a statement to reporters.

"It is immeasurable to comprehend the anguish and sorrow we have experienced over the last two years," he said. "Only those who have experienced significant loss can relate."

The trial continues Tuesday.

Follow Manisha Krishnan on Twitter.

Inside the Luxury Fat Camp for America's Wealthy Dogs

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Photo via Wikimedia Commons

The Morris Animal Inn, located in scenic Morristown, New Jersey, is a state-of-the-art spa for pets. It caters to the same people who might give their dog a Bark Mitzvah.

The 25,000 square foot facility offers such amenities as a heated indoor pool, luxury pet suites, room service, happy hour with homemade treats, and doggy tuck-in service. There are "doga" sessions (yoga for dogs), a gym equipped with canine treadmills, and a grooming facility that offers pedicures, blueberry facials, and baby powder belly rubs.

But the Morris Animal Inn is not merely a luxury dog spa. It's also a doggy fat camp, complete with personalized exercise plans to help overweight pets lose weight.

"There could be a lot of reasons why pets are overweight," said Deborah Montgomery, the Morris Animal Inn's marketing manager. "Nowadays, everyone is very busy. They're working or maybe don't have time . So that's where we come in and do it for them."

Lola, one of the regular residents at the Morris Animal Inn, is a miniature dachshund who once tipped the scales at 28 pounds. She's since slimmed down to 22 pounds. (The ideal weight for a miniature dachshund is 11 pounds.)

"Because she spends a lot of time in bed with me, my guilty conscience throws treats at her so she wont be bored," Lola's owner Roxana Sheikh told me. "It started as one treat a day and it has gone up to many, many, many treats."

When Sheikh noticed Lola was having a hard time breathing and quickly got exhausted on walks, she turned to Morris Animal Inn's canine exercise program.

"I needed to start doing something," Sheikh told me. "Obesity for children is discussed, obesity for people is discussed, but our animals are our children and we are responsible for them. I'm her mother and I feel responsible for her health and well-being."

As with humans, carrying extra weight is associated with a multitude of health risks in dogs, including diabetes and heart attacks. Even a couple extra pounds can shorten the already-short life of a dog. But in the United States, obesity rates among dogs are swelling: Roughly half are either overweight or obese, according to research published this year from the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention. In 2014, Nationwide—the largest provider of pet health insurance—reportedly received 42,000 claims for arthritis in dogs, a condition that's exacerbated by extra weight.

"I do see an immense number of overweight and obese pets, so it is a topic I frequently discuss with clients and help develop some basic weight loss strategies," said Lisa Kerwin, a veterinarian with Boston Valley Animal Hospital in Hamburg, New York. "I find it interesting that people will happily part with their money for things they could do themselves—exercise their pets and feed them properly—yet ignore sound advice from their veterinarians on how to properly maintain their pets."

Watch: The Most Expensive Dog in the World

At the Morris Animal Inn, chefs create all-natural daily treats and even smoothies, with ingredients like peanut butter, kale, and carrots, served up in martini glasses. Exercise packages range from the "Athlete" (at a daily rate of $39.95) to the "Olympian" ($99.95 a day), on top of the daily lodging fee ($44.95). The exercise programs are tailored to meet the individual needs of each dog.

Sheikh told me when Lola first arrived, trainers put her on a canine treadmill and ran her up and down a set of stairs. Afterward, she was rewarded with a healthy treat—a mixture of yogurt, string beans, carrots, and granola. Then she'd paddle laps in the indoor heated pool, kept afloat by a dog-sized life jacket. On other occasions, Montgomery said dogs take part in aquatic games like "barko polo."

"When you have a pet that has more weight than they can handle, we don't want them to work too hard, because they won't want to come back," Montgomery explained. "Our main goal is that able to move around and do those things that little dogs like to do."

Sheikh said she's seen an amazing difference in the three years that Lola has been visiting the Morris Animal Inn, and that her mobility and breathing issues have eased up.

"This is crazy," said Ginger Hughes, practice manager at Northside Veterinary Clinic in Brooklyn. "The pets didn't get fat by themselves. Fat camp may help them slim down, but it's the owner that needs to be educated on how to maintain healthy weight for pets," which she summed up as monitoring a dog's diet and giving them basic exercise.

Even the benefits of the luxury grooming services seem overstated, according to Hughes. "It is hard to say whether or not these services have any more or less benefit than grooming or services performed at conventional boarding facilities," she said. The antioxidants in a blueberry facial might help tear staining, but "it works better if you just feed your pet blueberries." And as far as the specialty smoothies go, those are "not ideal. Dogs like to chew, not drink a smoothie."

Kerwin, the vet in New York, said she'd rather see dog owners spend money on veterinary care than fancy boarding facilities. "But someone saw a niche and jumped on it," she said of places like the Morris Animal Inn. "I think it plays on the guilty conscience of pet owners who don't take the time to regularly exercise their dogs."

Follow Harmon Leon on Twitter.

The VICE Guide to Right Now: American Employers Can't Find Enough Workers Who Can Pass Drug Tests

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Photo via Flickr user Steven Depolo

Read: The Colorado Supreme Court Says Smoking Weed Can Still Get You Fired

Bosses around America have been frustrated lately in their search for workers who don't need to strap on a fake plastic penis or smuggle clean urine into the bathroom to pass a drug test, the New York Times reports.

The recession may technically be over—"full employment," anyone?—and jobs all over the country are seemingly up for grabs. Employers for transportation and construction gigs, though—which tend to require drug tests for safety reasons—are increasingly coming up empty on solid prospects.

The drought of drug-free bodies isn't just affecting places with liberalized marijuana laws like Colorado—where marijuana use can still get you fired. Sure, the widespread acceptance and use of marijuana among adults probably has something to do with it, but the Times suggests the problem also stems from a growing trend of opioid and heroin use across the US.

At the same time, more bosses in industries like trucking are drug-testing than ever before.

Whether companies that operate dangerous machinery double-down on drug tests or resign themselves to the specter of stoned workers remains to be seen.

Comics: 'Butterface's Bunny Hutch,' Today's Comic by Coralie Laudelout

Alberta Bans Pill Presses as a Move to Combat Fentanyl Crisis

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Fentanyl seized in a bust (photo via Calgary Police Service)

Alberta, the Canadian province with the highest rate of fentanyl overdose where close to 300 people died last year due to the synthetic opiate, has officially banned pill presses as a major move in the ongoing battle against its opiate crisis. The new legislation, Bill 205, requires licenses for owning a pill press and sets fines and jail time for those found to be in possession of one without the proper paperwork.

Fines for unlicensed pill press owners range from $50,000 to $375,000, and potential jail time could be up to one year. And now, Alberta's police association is calling for the federal government to pass legislation that will affect sale and possession of pill presses countrywide.

Though fentanyl is available as a prescription in Canada—usually in patch form—much of what is currently on the streets of Alberta is bootleg fentanyl believed to come from China. That bootleg fentanyl is generally trafficked into the country in powder or crystal form, then illicit drug manufacturers in Canada press it into the familiar blue-green Oxy80 pill (known colloquially as "beans" by users) that was originally meant to disguise fentanyl as Oxycontin. Pill presses like this one found in a Burnaby, British Columbia bust last year are capable of pressing up to 18,000 pills per hour.

This method of pressing pills has accelerated the current state of the fentanyl crisis. One metaphor commonly used compares pressing pills of fentanyl to making chocolate chip cookies: Not every cookie is going to have the same amount of chocolate chips in it, just like not every pill is going to have the same amount of fentanyl in it. Because of this, users are constantly dealing with pills that are weaker than usual and some that are stronger. This discrepancy in dosage increases the likelihood of overdose since users aren't always sure what they're going to get when they snort a bean.

Mike Ellis, a former cop, was involved with putting Bill 205 forward. In a written statement he said: "Alberta now leads the nation in our fight against illicit drugs by restricting pill presses... This bill will save lives. However, this is just one small step in our fight against opioid drug abuse. We must ensure there are strong intervention supports such as addiction counselling and long-term treatment beds to address the root causes of drug addiction."

Follow Allison Elkin on Twitter.

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