U.S. to yield marijuana jurisdiction to states U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is sending strong signals that President Obama – who as a candidate said states should be allowed to make their own rules on medical marijuana – will end raids on pot dispensaries in California. “I think it definitely signals that Obama is moving in a new direction, that it means what he said on the campaign trail that marijuana should be...

The USS HARDER’s (SS 257) Fifth Patrol Report is online at the National Archive’s Navy Records site.  The three page report is also available right here on malum.org. Some prime examples of the crew’s unquantifiable excellence: Bridge lookout sighted float type plane; – close.  Made quick dive to 120 feet.  Bomb exploded as we passed 75 feet; – also close!  The sub was thoroughly shaken and the event...

THE FRINGES OF THE FLEET By Rudyard Kipling FOURTH ARTICLE “Tin Fish” 1914-18 The ships destroy us above And ensnare us beneath. We arise, we lie down, and we move In the belly of death. The ships have a thousand eyes To mark where we come . . . And the mirth of a seaport dies When our blow gets home.   We agree with this poetous bastard.  A submariner’s life is a perilous life but, where they tread, doom follows....

Admiral Sir Arthur Wilson VC, the Controller of the Royal Navy, stated in 1901 that, “Submarines are underhand, unfair and damned un-English.  The crews of all submarines captured should be treated as pirates and hanged”. Subsequently, (from the Royal Navy Submarine Museum): Lieutenant Commander (later Admiral Sir) Max Horton first flew the Jolly Roger-two flags in fact- on return to harbour after...

The ultimate Christmas gift for the discerning sailor. Just log on to eBay, lodge any bid more than $4.9 million, and the 2000-tonne former Royal Australian Navy submarine, the HMAS Otama, could be yours. Unfortunately, I can’t seem to find this listing on the Australian Ebay, so it may have been pulled or sold since this article was originally posted on The Australian online newspaper. Still, we’re keeping our eyes open. More...

In recent months at least 25 ships of British registry have been attacked in the Mediterranean, numerous Russian ships have been sunk, French merchantmen have been fired on. Last week the British destroyer Havock was also on Mediterranean patrol, off Alicante. Shooting past her went the long white wake of a submarine torpedo. Out crackled a message for help and whooshing overboard went a cylindrical depth charge, then another and...

Youtube...

Rookie please.

TIME Magazine, 1981: The released Soviet sub heads for port and hard questions The antiquated gray submarine was towed part of the way down the channel it had navigated on its own ten days before. Finally it cast off. Then, joining the flotilla of naval vessels hovering anxiously beyond the twelve-nautical-mi. limit, Soviet “Whiskey”-class submarine No. 137 headed for its home base at Baltiysk, near the port of Kaliningrad....

“The study of 369 men, published in the journal Cancer, found being a regular marijuana user doubled the risk compared to those who never smoked it. The results suggest that it may be linked to the most aggressive form of the cancer.” Goddamnit.

Holy smokes, pretty good stuff.  Nubs. The rest of the series can be found...

Stumbled across this.  Take the quiz and get a little write-up with your pirate name.  Good for killing time when not standing watch (only when we’re at periscope depth with the internet mast raised, of course). My pirate name is: Bloody Tom Flint Every pirate lives for something different. For some, it’s the open sea. For others (the masochists), it’s the food. For you, it’s definitely the fighting. Like the...

This is what other subs do when the Patience is in...

Direct link to video on youtube.  They’re on Facebook, too.  Goddamn...