February 25, 2022

Hashish, Putin, and a Libyan Beach


Hashish, Putin, and a Libyan Beach
Don't do it, kids. Twitter user @Amr Fatihalla

Police in Al-Marj, a town in the northeast of Libya, recovered 323 hashish blocks washed up on a beach. What makes this even more interesting? Each hashish block was wrapped with a portrait of Vladimir Putin. The hashish was reported to Al-Marj police by a local resident, and police suspect the drugs came from a sunken boat attempting to transport them.

Putin is not the only one to have his face on the cover of a large hashish load. Days before this incident, residents in Boutraba and Talmitha reported vast amounts of hashish blocks covered with the face of Pablo Escobar. Granted, Pablo Escobar may be more fitting than Vladimir Putin in this case. 

While it is comical, no one knows why Putin was chosen to be the cover model for hashish in Libya. A photo of the Putin-covered hashish can be seen here

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Life Stories

The Life Stories collection is a nice introduction to contemporary Russian fiction: many of the 19 authors featured here have won major Russian literary prizes and/or become bestsellers. These are life-affirming stories of love, family, hope, rebirth, mystery and imagination, masterfully translated by some of the best Russian-English translators working today. The selections reassert the power of Russian literature to affect readers of all cultures in profound and lasting ways. Best of all, 100% of the profits from the sale of this book are going to benefit Russian hospice—not-for-profit care for fellow human beings who are nearing the end of their own life stories.

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Faith & Humor

A book that dares to explore the humanity of priests and pilgrims, saints and sinners, Faith & Humor has been both a runaway bestseller in Russia and the focus of heated controversy – as often happens when a thoughtful writer takes on sacred cows. The stories, aphorisms, anecdotes, dialogues and adventures in this volume comprise an encyclopedia of modern Russian Orthodoxy, and thereby of Russian life.

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Murder at the Dacha

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Woe From Wit (bilingual)

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