There is a fine legal line between lobbying and bribery. A nation where bribery has become a way of life is a kleptocracy. Differing social and cultural norms around the globe have different expectations of when a monetary transaction is appropriate. Political campaign contributions in the form of cash, for example, are considered criminal acts of bribery in some countries, while in the United States they are legal.
Politicians, Court Officials, Doctors, and athletes receive payoffs, gifts or campaign contributions from powerful corporations, organizations and individuals. However, such a relationship does not meet the legal standards for bribery here without evidence of a quid pro quo: "a favor for a favor, tit for tat,"or "you scratch my back, and I'll scratch yours."
Follow the money; track political donations in all 50 states.
The ability of individuals, groups, and corporations to lobby the government is protected by the right to petition. Please scroll down from the link to the top lobbying sectors and their total spending between 1998 and 2010 and note these amounts do not include campaign contributions. Special interests retain lobbying firms, many of them located along Washington's legendary K Street; other lobbyists work in-house. Influence peddling happens often; as in election support money in anticipation of favorable policy.
The Best Government Money Can Buy? is an absorbing documentary about lobbyists' role in American politics, the far-reaching implications of their spending on elections and their threat to our Republic. It begs the question, just how influential are lobbyists? One of the core beliefs inciting the Wall Street protests has been our pay to play political system. This video shows lobbying groups writing our laws for congress and telling them what to say and do. It show how various groups and corporations look upon the billions of dollars yearly spent on campaign contributions and to lobby members of congress as investments. ($100 return for every $1 spent). The corruption of our political and judicial systems are exposed. and we are convincingly shown that government to the highest bidder has created an untenable situation. "A GOVERNMENT FOR THE PEOPLE BY THE PEOPLE," hardly exists.
Money makes the world go round but greed (the love of money) is the root of almost all evil.. Our republic is dangerously close to becoming a kleptocracy. The best tools we have to tame the beast (big government) are transparency, education and ethics with a keen focus on down-sizing to regain our roots of self-government.
"The vision of the founders was to set up a government that would remain small and unobtrusive via a system of checks and balances. That it has taken our government so long to get this big speaks well of the original design. The founders also knew the overwhelming nature of governments was to amass power and grow. The Constitution was to serve as the brakes on the freight train of government." Dr. Ron Paul emphatically calls for a return to that original design and for putting a stop to the eroding of our principles.
We can be more effective in responding to a situation if we understand its true character. The web is the fastest growing communications medium in the history of the world. A powerful tool, a window of opportunity, in our war of good over evil; the Internet continues to revolutionize the way we communicate and has enormous potential for reshaping the political process.
Morally bankrupt financiers, empire builders and leaders in their pockets make capitalism abhorrent with their predatory capitalism. Predatory capitalism due to big government interference and protection destroys people. Benign or ethical capitalism, America's founders' vision of the free market, creates a world of abundance for all.
"When buying and selling are controlled by legislation, the first things bought and sold are legislators." -- P. J. O'Rourke. The second things bought and sold are regulators! The free market is a more powerful and efficient regulator than government. Let ethics and the free market rule! Ethics and transparency! The state does not run the affairs of people in a free society. It upholds justice between people who conduct their own affairs.
Our friend in Liberty, Clifford Schaffer, is a history buff who created a library about marijuana laws. "The laws were absolute lunacy, passed by lunatics. Every major government commission in the last 100 years has said that the mj laws are a disaster."
Schaffer enjoys relating these historical facts: "Only two doctors testified before Congress for the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937. The representative of the American Medical Association testified that marijuana was not a dangerous drug and there was no reason for the law. In response, the committee told him to shut up and leave."
Please note, cannabis medicines were once the “drugs of choice” in the United States. Until they were declared illegal, they had been used in about 30 prescription medicines for a 100 specific medical problems.
Schaffer continues, "The only other doctor was Dr. James Munch. His sole claim to fame was that he had injected marijuana directly into the brains of 300 dogs, and two of them died. When they asked him what he concluded from this, he said he didn't’t know what to conclude because he wasn't a dog psychologist. He also testified in court, under oath, that marijuana could make your fangs grow six inches long and drip with blood, and that it could turn you into a bat."
"Dr. Munch was the only doctor in the US who thought that marijuana should be illegal so he was appointed US Official Expert on marijuana, where he served for 25 years. That is just one example of the lunacy. There is far more than that in the history of these laws."
Decriminalize nonviolent behavior, get tough on violent crime! Across the US last year a third of the murders, almost 60% of the rapes and about half of the aggravated assaults went unsolved! The cumulative effect of this is horrendous. While we police individual recreational and medicinal use of drugs; murderers and violent sexual predators roam free.
The proliferation of paramilitary drug raids triggers violence instead of preventing it. Nonviolent drug users have been demonized into the enemy. It is morally bankrupt to punish nonviolent adults for making a safer health choice, cannabis or marijuana, compared to other legal medicinal/social drugs. The people believe in self-government and self-medication.
Steve Jobs could never deny the connection between Apple and psychedelics. He was a very honest man and he gave credit for the benefits he got from drugs. LSD played a huge role in the evolution of Apple. Much high tech and High IQ linked to drug use. "The 'Just Say No' generation was often told by parents and teachers that intelligent people didn't use drugs. Turns out, the adults may have been wrong."
The lobby system is not far from legalized bribery but asset forfeiture really is legalized extortion! We owe reparations to people for all this tyranny. Asset Forfeiture: What To Do When Police Seize Your Property an Ebook by ForfeitureEndangersAmericanRightsFoundation tells citizens what to do if it happens to them. It outlines the law with links to statutes, cases, and Internet resources. Asset forfeiture is a booming money tree for law enforcement; federal forfeiture raked in $2.5 billion in 2010 alone. Over 400 federal statutes trigger forfeiture but you don't even have to be charged with a crime to lose property to forfeiture.
Taking property from people who have made a safer health choice or have not been convicted of breaking a law is legalized discrimination and extortion! End asset forfeiture!
Sixteen states have voted to legalize use of cannabis/marijuana as a medicinal herb. Rescheduling marijuana for medical use is certainly a helpful step, but most smokers are not patients, and they should not have to act as if they are sick and pay some "pot doc" a fee for the permission to smoke.
Regulate cannabis like alcohol and tobacco or just reclassify it, as the herbal supplement it is scientifically!
Taxpayers have paid Monitoring the Future (MTF) to survey 2 million teens aged about 14 to 18 since 1975. In the words of MTF, "[M]arijuana has been almost universally available to American 12th graders over the past 33 years." And "The reason for not using or stopping marijuana use cited by the fewest seniors [less than 7 percent] over the 29 years of data included in this analysis was: availability." The number who say drugs are "easy to get" dwarfs the number who actually use them.
CNN reports: Teens drink bleach to pass drug tests!! Effective drug education based on medical science builds student's confidence to make informed responsible choices. Drug testing, scare tactics and other propaganda can cause terrible unintended consequences like this! The truth about drugs will keep our children safer. Sound medical and unbiased scientific knowledge are the most effective moral persuasions. Present policy falsehoods and scare tactics undermine our credibility.
Drug warriors are desperately trying to keep patients from a safe, effective, often essential medicine in order to "protect" teens by supporting policy that triggers despicable people to sell drugs to minors, recruit them to sell to their peers and arm them to kill the competition. It's been estimated, about a million teens now sell marijuana in our nation's schools. How can such tyrannical hypocrites, caught up in reefer madness, sleep at night and just get through their days except with copious amounts of alcohol or pharmaceuticals, maybe both?
Incarceration is seven times more expensive than treatment. Less than 1% of US are actually addicted to anything illegal. Restore public and law enforcement safety around the globe! Change to ethical policy and show fiscal responsibility! Save lives instead of ruining them. Restore Justice, the guardian of liberty!
Burzynski is an expose' on the business of cancer treatment and the United States government's relentless persecution of Dr. Stanislaw Burzynski, a pioneering biochemist who boldly challenged the in bed with big pharma, FDA. Burzynski has won astonishing legal victories centered around Dr. Burzynski's gene-targeted cancer medicines he discovered in the 1970's called Antineoplastons. Keeping our government from revoking his medical license and staying out of prison has been a 14-year battle Dr. Burzynski and his patients have had to endure in order to obtain FDA-approved clinical trials of Antineoplastons.
Dr. Burzynski lives and practices medicine in Houston, Texas. Initially he was able to produce and administer his discovery without FDA-approval from 1977-1995 since the state of Texas, during that period, did not require that Texas physicians adhere to Federal law in this situation. That has since been changed.
The Spirit of '76 was the Holy Spirit and is our true north! God is one name for the Holy Spirit, the spark of life that resides in our mortal bodies. The part of us with ethics and with an interest in making the world a better place. Quite simple put, God is the union of our consciousness. It is a definite case of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. This Spirit unites us, regardless of religion, politics or culture. United we can Downsize DC and be a shining example for people around the world to secure the blessings of liberty for us all including future generations.
"How do wars start? Diplomats lie to reporters, and then believe what they read in the newspapers." -- Karl Krauss (the Austrian H.L. Menken)
Cut the military industrial complex's budget to the bone. Empire-building, policing the world, and casting off the Constitution's restraints solidifies tyranny at home, devastates the economy, and increases the threats to our national security. I believe in, promote and defend a safer, constitutional, non interventionist foreign policy. This is the safer policy envisioned by our founders. I support our troops and want to bring them home safe.
I am a peace activist and feel our over grown military industrial complex and paramilitary law enforcement complex are the biggest threats to liberty we face. War is a tool governments use to make us more accepting of their waste of our precious lives and resources. War creates a booming economy for some on the suffering of many.
Do we want to be known as a disgusting military super power, policing the world or as a humanitarian super power? "Strike the root!" Be brave, that's how we end terror. All we have to do is stop being afraid, and stop acting out of fear.
Save lives instead of ruining them. Join LEAP, COP and DownSizeDC!
Get tough on violent crime! Restore Justice, the guardian of liberty!
Track your Senators' and Representative's votes by e-mail.
Changing who's in charge will not affect much. The real cause of this huge quagmire of failed policy is the beast, big government, that money hungry beast, Uncle Sam! Ma Freedom tells it like it is! The beauty of it is when we focus on down-sizing our government we regain our roots of self-government and secure the blessings of liberty for future generations and ourselves.
Compiled and written by Colleen McCool
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
The collateral damages of present policies on sex, drugs and violence are unacceptable to true patriots who believe in the American dream of self-government, free from the tyranny of official lawlessness, wars of aggression and religious dogma. The state does not run the affairs of people in a free society. It upholds justice between people who conduct their own affairs.
The Spirit of '76 was the Holy Spirit and is our true north. Many church officials like their government counterparts are corrupted by these morally bankrupt policies. Bible thumpers are blasphemous in their support of the drug war and their hypocrisy is exposed in this very book they bear witness is the true word of God. Drug prohibition goes against fundamental principles in the Scriptures.
Here are clear Biblical messages about these basic ethics*: 1 Timothy 4:4 For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving; 5 for then it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer, puts prohibitionists in opposition to the Bible regarding bans on any plant. Saying that creations of the Almighty are evil and harmful is clearly blasphemy by Bible definition. Blasphemy is a much much more serious sin than being an alcoholic or a drug addict. A key Jewish and Christian premise is "God is always right no matter what men may think," and means you don't tell the Creator he made a mistake. .
JOHN 8:44 and PROVERBS 19: 9 are a couple of many verses about lies and bearing false witness which drug warriors do to excess. In fact all of the "evidence" used to support marijuana prohibition is false witness. The drug warrior's lies about cannabis are direct insults to the Almighty and break Bible teachings about honesty.
Drug prohibition violates the Bible standard of justice. Exodus 21:24, Leviticus 24:20, Deuteronomy 19:21 Punishment should fit the crime. Laws based on lies sure don't meet the Divine standards for just punishment.
The idea that a man is corrupted by consuming a drug scuttles Jesus' teaching at, Matthew 15: 10-19. To paraphrase, its not what we ingest but the morally bankrupt things we say and do that defiles man.
What about the commandment to "love your fellow man as yourself." If a believer or his loved ones developed a drug problem would they want prison as treatment?
Racism is epidemic in how prohibition laws are implemented. What about: every color, every race is precious in his sight, "Jesus loves the little children of the world."
Redford Givens swears, "My study of history reveals that there was no such thing as a "drug problem" before we had drug laws." Repeated searches of old newspaper archives do not reveal any accidental heroin overdoses or drug crimes before drugs were outlawed (i.e. robberies, murders etc. done because of drugs). Crime and drug use became entwined after the drug laws went on the books, not before. No one was robbing, whoring and murdering over addictive drugs when addicts could buy all of the heroin, cocaine, morphine, opium and anything else they wanted cheaply and legally at the corner pharmacy. When drugs were legal addicts held regular employment, raised decent families and were indistinguishable from their teetotaling neighbors. Overdoses were virtually unheard of when addicts used cheap pure Bayer Heroin instead of the toxic potions prohibition puts on the streets." (See: The Consumers Union Report on Licit and Illicit Drugs - Chapter 5. Some eminent narcotics addicts)
"Where drug crime was unknown we now have prisons overflowing with drug users. Where addicts lived normal lives, we have hundreds of thousands of shattered families. Where overdoses were extremely rare we have tens of thousands of drug deaths every year. The addiction rate is now five times greater than when we had no laws at all." What a Snow Job!
Overdose Awareness Day is August 31. More than twenty five thousand Americans will likely die of an accidental drug overdose this year (75 a day). Most overdose deaths can be prevented.
Big corporations and governments have psychopathic tendencies and are often lacking in conscience and empathy. Big churches seem to have the same problem, in God's name! Celebrating our similarities, free trade or the free market plus building bridges of tolerance to differences in religion, race and lifestyle will create a world of abundance and peace.
Prohibition has become a war on parental authority, local government decision making and free speech. Current policies destroy families and official lawlessness rules. Alcohol makes domestic violence 8 Xs more likely, cannabis does not. Taking children out of homes of nonviolent cannabis users and placing them in homes in which alcohol is the drug of choice is discrimination and a policy bordering on insanity! Meanwhile, damage from fetal alcohol syndrome fill our prisons with folks who can not comprehend the consequences for their actions...
Taking property from people who have made a safer health choice is legalized discrimination and extortion! States seized $1.52 billion in 2007. End asset forfeiture! We owe reparations to people for all this tyranny.
The truth about drugs will keep our children off them. Sound medical and unbiased scientific knowledge are the most effective moral persuasions. Present policy falsehoods and scare tactics undermine our credibility.
We want to encourage drug free behavior not awaken their curiosity. Effective drug education based on medical science builds student's confidence to make informed responsible choices. Drug testing, scare tactics and other propaganda don't work as well as truth, trust and reason.
Have you noticed opportunity may knock once, but temptation bangs on your door forever or how forbidden fruits create many jams? Sex and drugs, for both abstinence is safest but few choose it. When individuals remain in control of their own bodies (including anything ingested) society benefits.
Don't believe the propaganda; we wage this war to protect our children! The devastating and deadly facts are our babies; especially teens have become collateral damage in this grossly failed war. The destruction of the sacred family unit is one of the worst consequences prohibition forces on children.
Brutal, bloody prohibition supports despicable people who sell drugs to children, recruit them to sell to their peers and arm them to kill the competition. Despite having six times the Netherlands adult incarceration rate, this insane policy has created an obscene teenage murder rate that's nineteen times higher than in the Netherlands, where drugs are regulated, controlled and taxed!
Only 50 percent of high school students graduate in our ten biggest cities and only 40 per cent graduate in NYC, Baltimore and Detroit. In the Netherlands 92 percent graduate; that's No Child Left Behind!
Stephen H. Frye MD, retired medical school professor's book exposes facts related to our babies, teens especially, being collateral damage of this demented, violence triggering policy! "We Really Lost This War! Twenty-five Reasons to Legalize Drugs." Here's a better alternative to the current failure of a policy: SAFETY FIRST...a reality-based approach to teens and drugs.
See a Power Point Slide Show Now! On the Drug Policy Forum of Texas Speakers page scroll down to Suzanne Wills and click "How We Got Into This Mess and the Special Interests That Keep Us Here" Politics and money, is there a way to separate them? Get Power Point Viewer download FREE!
Across the US last year a third of the murders, almost 60% of the rapes and about half of the aggravated assaults went unsolved! The cumulative effect of this is horrendous. While we police individual recreational and medicinal use of drugs; murderers and violent sexual predators roam free. Law Enforcement keeping the focus on marijuana despite the rise in violent crime is policy bordering on insanity or reefer madness.
Our corrupt policy attracts too many of those who want to milk it for all it is worth. I encourage you to make the LEAP, help restore justice! Attract more of those who will make our system run with the milk of human kindness.
Incarceration is seven times more expensive than treatment. Less than 1% of US are actually addicted to anything illegal. Restore public and law enforcement safety around the globe! Change to ethical policy and show fiscal responsibility! Use resources to catch more violent and sexual predators or incarcerate more of those morally bankrupt selling drugs to children or driving intoxicated. Save lives instead of ruining them. Restore Justice, the guardian of liberty!
The truth about sex and practicing safety fist beats abstinence only programs in protecting young adults. Present policy falsehoods and scare tactics undermine our credibility. A 2010 report to the UN General Assembly dared to say that comprehensive sex education shouldn't merely seek to scare adolescents by emphasizing deadly or disfiguring sexually transmitted infections or lecture on family planning. Instead, it suggested attention to pleasure and enjoyment of sexuality, including as an objective of sex education 'abolishing guilt feelings about eroticism.' "
American advertisers use sex to sell everything from lipstick to laptops but fear and silence around sex and sexuality also permeate our culture. American teens are paying a terrible price for this confusion in unintended pregnancy, STDs, and even HIV. And American taxpayers are paying billions to treat these entirely preventable problems. These facts are from, "Let's Talk About Sex" a 2009 earnest and engaging documentary about modern adolescent sex.
It spotlights a host of these alarming trends and truths: Yearly, the US has over 750,000 teen pregnancies (that's approximately 2,400 young girls a day), experiencing much higher pregnancy rates (1 out of 3 teens) than those in France, Germany, and the Netherlands. Ten thousands US teenagers contract a sexually transmitted disease every day. That's over four times the rate of the Netherlands and over three times that of Germany and France.
"As females become sexually active at younger and younger ages, state legislatures have stupidly raised the age at which it is legal to engage in sexual activity. Today, a significant percentage of new prisoners are young men imprisoned for engaging in sexual activity with teenage girls. In the US, criminal justice (sic) has more to do with ruining people than with punishing criminals," says Paul Craig Roberts. He is coauthor of The Tyranny of Good Intentions.
Happy Birthday, to the US! Sept. 17 is Constitution Day. If the Declaration of Independence was our divorce decree: it said who we are not; then the Constitution is our birth certificate: it proclaims who we are. "The problem isn't the Constitution; it's the fact that it's been applied inconsistently, opportunistically, and dishonestly over the decades like folks urging new laws on guns, because the existing laws haven't been applied." Buford Terrell
Julian Assange: A Modern Day Hero? Inside the World of WikiLeaks is worth the watch. He is a modern day Internet guru and a simply a man of the people, radical and unapologetic. Australian publisher and journalist Julian Assange created massive controversy in 2010 by making public a flood of secret correspondence among US government agencies via the WikiLeaks website. Assange was already engaged in distributing "secret" information in the public interest before the revelations that made him world famous.
Our flag is a symbol of liberty, justice and freedom! It is a beacon for hope in a troubled world. Don't let its reputation be tarnished by incidents of torture and other war crimes. Recapture the Flag by demanding a government that respects human rights, leadership that rejects all forms of corruption, and elected officials who fiercely challenge anyone who seeks to undermine the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. One of the 2011 Rebel with Just Cause portraits will be shared by Bradley Manning and Julian Assange: for posting the Afghanistan war diaries on wikileaks. It is not a crime to expose war crimes.
"An individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law."- MLK. Marc Emery is our hero and wins the other 2011 portrait for taking a stand for justice against a morally bankrupt, violence triggering, nightmare policy.
I am a peace activist and feel our over grown military industrial complex and law enforcement complex are the biggest threats to liberty we face. War is a tool governments use to make us more accepting of their waste of our precious lives and resources. War creates a booming economy for some on the suffering of many. All wars of aggression and the drug war are smokescreens for corruption but something smells rotten!
Do we want to be known as a disgusting military super power, policing the world or as a humanitarian super power? "Strike the root!" Be brave, that's how we end terror. All we have to do is stop being afraid, and stop acting out of fear.
We're in more than 200 TIMES the danger of being killed in our own cars than by terrorists. When we resolve conflict diplomatically within the rule of law, we create peace and abundance. Do not escalate to war, good for absolutely nothing but creating a booming economy for some on the suffering of many.
Empire-building, policing the world, and casting off the Constitution's restraints solidifies tyranny at home, devastates the economy, and increases the threats to our national security. I believe in, promote and defend a safer, constitutional, non interventionist foreign policy. This is the safer policy envisioned by our founders. I support our troops and want to bring them home safe. Secrets put our troops and all of us in more danger than transparency. Truly ethical leaders have no need for secrets, cover ups, covert operations, lies and propaganda.
The truth is the wealthy will do more social good with investing and philanthropy than by paying those dollars in more taxes to the federal government. Let ethics and the free market rule.
Several leading politicians would have us believe that a Balanced Budget Amendment is a good idea because 49 states have such a requirement. As Dr. Phil might ask, "How's that working out?" Unsurprisingly, many state governments have figured out how to game the system. Funny how Congress is great at playing "con" games. Here's the ruse. See if it sounds familiar...read today's DownSizer Dispatch. There’s a much better tool for enforcing budgetary sanity: The debt ceiling must never be raised again.
Tell your government servants, they must MAKE CUTS NOW -- lots of them. "Cap the debt!"
How Rick Perry Created Jobs in Texas made me realize Perry will not get my vote. He thinks big government.will solve all our problems.
Save lives instead of ruining them. Join LEAP, COP and DownSizeDC!
Get tough on violent crime! Restore Justice, the guardian of liberty!
Track your Senators' and Representative's votes by e-mail.
Changing who's in charge will not affect much. The real cause of this huge quagmire of failed policy is the beast, big government, that money hungry beast, Uncle Sam! Ma Freedom tells it like it is! The beauty of it is when we focus on down-sizing our government we regain our roots of self-government and secure the blessings of liberty for future generations and ourselves.
Compiled and written by Colleen McCool
*Special thanks to R. Givens for Bible principles against prohibition.
The Spirit of '76 was the Holy Spirit and is our true north. Many church officials like their government counterparts are corrupted by these morally bankrupt policies. Bible thumpers are blasphemous in their support of the drug war and their hypocrisy is exposed in this very book they bear witness is the true word of God. Drug prohibition goes against fundamental principles in the Scriptures.
Here are clear Biblical messages about these basic ethics*: 1 Timothy 4:4 For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving; 5 for then it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer, puts prohibitionists in opposition to the Bible regarding bans on any plant. Saying that creations of the Almighty are evil and harmful is clearly blasphemy by Bible definition. Blasphemy is a much much more serious sin than being an alcoholic or a drug addict. A key Jewish and Christian premise is "God is always right no matter what men may think," and means you don't tell the Creator he made a mistake. .
JOHN 8:44 and PROVERBS 19: 9 are a couple of many verses about lies and bearing false witness which drug warriors do to excess. In fact all of the "evidence" used to support marijuana prohibition is false witness. The drug warrior's lies about cannabis are direct insults to the Almighty and break Bible teachings about honesty.
Drug prohibition violates the Bible standard of justice. Exodus 21:24, Leviticus 24:20, Deuteronomy 19:21 Punishment should fit the crime. Laws based on lies sure don't meet the Divine standards for just punishment.
The idea that a man is corrupted by consuming a drug scuttles Jesus' teaching at, Matthew 15: 10-19. To paraphrase, its not what we ingest but the morally bankrupt things we say and do that defiles man.
What about the commandment to "love your fellow man as yourself." If a believer or his loved ones developed a drug problem would they want prison as treatment?
Racism is epidemic in how prohibition laws are implemented. What about: every color, every race is precious in his sight, "Jesus loves the little children of the world."
Redford Givens swears, "My study of history reveals that there was no such thing as a "drug problem" before we had drug laws." Repeated searches of old newspaper archives do not reveal any accidental heroin overdoses or drug crimes before drugs were outlawed (i.e. robberies, murders etc. done because of drugs). Crime and drug use became entwined after the drug laws went on the books, not before. No one was robbing, whoring and murdering over addictive drugs when addicts could buy all of the heroin, cocaine, morphine, opium and anything else they wanted cheaply and legally at the corner pharmacy. When drugs were legal addicts held regular employment, raised decent families and were indistinguishable from their teetotaling neighbors. Overdoses were virtually unheard of when addicts used cheap pure Bayer Heroin instead of the toxic potions prohibition puts on the streets." (See: The Consumers Union Report on Licit and Illicit Drugs - Chapter 5. Some eminent narcotics addicts)
"Where drug crime was unknown we now have prisons overflowing with drug users. Where addicts lived normal lives, we have hundreds of thousands of shattered families. Where overdoses were extremely rare we have tens of thousands of drug deaths every year. The addiction rate is now five times greater than when we had no laws at all." What a Snow Job!
Overdose Awareness Day is August 31. More than twenty five thousand Americans will likely die of an accidental drug overdose this year (75 a day). Most overdose deaths can be prevented.
Big corporations and governments have psychopathic tendencies and are often lacking in conscience and empathy. Big churches seem to have the same problem, in God's name! Celebrating our similarities, free trade or the free market plus building bridges of tolerance to differences in religion, race and lifestyle will create a world of abundance and peace.
Prohibition has become a war on parental authority, local government decision making and free speech. Current policies destroy families and official lawlessness rules. Alcohol makes domestic violence 8 Xs more likely, cannabis does not. Taking children out of homes of nonviolent cannabis users and placing them in homes in which alcohol is the drug of choice is discrimination and a policy bordering on insanity! Meanwhile, damage from fetal alcohol syndrome fill our prisons with folks who can not comprehend the consequences for their actions...
Taking property from people who have made a safer health choice is legalized discrimination and extortion! States seized $1.52 billion in 2007. End asset forfeiture! We owe reparations to people for all this tyranny.
The truth about drugs will keep our children off them. Sound medical and unbiased scientific knowledge are the most effective moral persuasions. Present policy falsehoods and scare tactics undermine our credibility.
We want to encourage drug free behavior not awaken their curiosity. Effective drug education based on medical science builds student's confidence to make informed responsible choices. Drug testing, scare tactics and other propaganda don't work as well as truth, trust and reason.
Have you noticed opportunity may knock once, but temptation bangs on your door forever or how forbidden fruits create many jams? Sex and drugs, for both abstinence is safest but few choose it. When individuals remain in control of their own bodies (including anything ingested) society benefits.
Don't believe the propaganda; we wage this war to protect our children! The devastating and deadly facts are our babies; especially teens have become collateral damage in this grossly failed war. The destruction of the sacred family unit is one of the worst consequences prohibition forces on children.
Brutal, bloody prohibition supports despicable people who sell drugs to children, recruit them to sell to their peers and arm them to kill the competition. Despite having six times the Netherlands adult incarceration rate, this insane policy has created an obscene teenage murder rate that's nineteen times higher than in the Netherlands, where drugs are regulated, controlled and taxed!
Only 50 percent of high school students graduate in our ten biggest cities and only 40 per cent graduate in NYC, Baltimore and Detroit. In the Netherlands 92 percent graduate; that's No Child Left Behind!
Stephen H. Frye MD, retired medical school professor's book exposes facts related to our babies, teens especially, being collateral damage of this demented, violence triggering policy! "We Really Lost This War! Twenty-five Reasons to Legalize Drugs." Here's a better alternative to the current failure of a policy: SAFETY FIRST...a reality-based approach to teens and drugs.
See a Power Point Slide Show Now! On the Drug Policy Forum of Texas Speakers page scroll down to Suzanne Wills and click "How We Got Into This Mess and the Special Interests That Keep Us Here" Politics and money, is there a way to separate them? Get Power Point Viewer download FREE!
Across the US last year a third of the murders, almost 60% of the rapes and about half of the aggravated assaults went unsolved! The cumulative effect of this is horrendous. While we police individual recreational and medicinal use of drugs; murderers and violent sexual predators roam free. Law Enforcement keeping the focus on marijuana despite the rise in violent crime is policy bordering on insanity or reefer madness.
Our corrupt policy attracts too many of those who want to milk it for all it is worth. I encourage you to make the LEAP, help restore justice! Attract more of those who will make our system run with the milk of human kindness.
Incarceration is seven times more expensive than treatment. Less than 1% of US are actually addicted to anything illegal. Restore public and law enforcement safety around the globe! Change to ethical policy and show fiscal responsibility! Use resources to catch more violent and sexual predators or incarcerate more of those morally bankrupt selling drugs to children or driving intoxicated. Save lives instead of ruining them. Restore Justice, the guardian of liberty!
The truth about sex and practicing safety fist beats abstinence only programs in protecting young adults. Present policy falsehoods and scare tactics undermine our credibility. A 2010 report to the UN General Assembly dared to say that comprehensive sex education shouldn't merely seek to scare adolescents by emphasizing deadly or disfiguring sexually transmitted infections or lecture on family planning. Instead, it suggested attention to pleasure and enjoyment of sexuality, including as an objective of sex education 'abolishing guilt feelings about eroticism.' "
American advertisers use sex to sell everything from lipstick to laptops but fear and silence around sex and sexuality also permeate our culture. American teens are paying a terrible price for this confusion in unintended pregnancy, STDs, and even HIV. And American taxpayers are paying billions to treat these entirely preventable problems. These facts are from, "Let's Talk About Sex" a 2009 earnest and engaging documentary about modern adolescent sex.
It spotlights a host of these alarming trends and truths: Yearly, the US has over 750,000 teen pregnancies (that's approximately 2,400 young girls a day), experiencing much higher pregnancy rates (1 out of 3 teens) than those in France, Germany, and the Netherlands. Ten thousands US teenagers contract a sexually transmitted disease every day. That's over four times the rate of the Netherlands and over three times that of Germany and France.
"As females become sexually active at younger and younger ages, state legislatures have stupidly raised the age at which it is legal to engage in sexual activity. Today, a significant percentage of new prisoners are young men imprisoned for engaging in sexual activity with teenage girls. In the US, criminal justice (sic) has more to do with ruining people than with punishing criminals," says Paul Craig Roberts. He is coauthor of The Tyranny of Good Intentions.
Happy Birthday, to the US! Sept. 17 is Constitution Day. If the Declaration of Independence was our divorce decree: it said who we are not; then the Constitution is our birth certificate: it proclaims who we are. "The problem isn't the Constitution; it's the fact that it's been applied inconsistently, opportunistically, and dishonestly over the decades like folks urging new laws on guns, because the existing laws haven't been applied." Buford Terrell
Julian Assange: A Modern Day Hero? Inside the World of WikiLeaks is worth the watch. He is a modern day Internet guru and a simply a man of the people, radical and unapologetic. Australian publisher and journalist Julian Assange created massive controversy in 2010 by making public a flood of secret correspondence among US government agencies via the WikiLeaks website. Assange was already engaged in distributing "secret" information in the public interest before the revelations that made him world famous.
Our flag is a symbol of liberty, justice and freedom! It is a beacon for hope in a troubled world. Don't let its reputation be tarnished by incidents of torture and other war crimes. Recapture the Flag by demanding a government that respects human rights, leadership that rejects all forms of corruption, and elected officials who fiercely challenge anyone who seeks to undermine the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. One of the 2011 Rebel with Just Cause portraits will be shared by Bradley Manning and Julian Assange: for posting the Afghanistan war diaries on wikileaks. It is not a crime to expose war crimes.
"An individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law."- MLK. Marc Emery is our hero and wins the other 2011 portrait for taking a stand for justice against a morally bankrupt, violence triggering, nightmare policy.
I am a peace activist and feel our over grown military industrial complex and law enforcement complex are the biggest threats to liberty we face. War is a tool governments use to make us more accepting of their waste of our precious lives and resources. War creates a booming economy for some on the suffering of many. All wars of aggression and the drug war are smokescreens for corruption but something smells rotten!
Do we want to be known as a disgusting military super power, policing the world or as a humanitarian super power? "Strike the root!" Be brave, that's how we end terror. All we have to do is stop being afraid, and stop acting out of fear.
We're in more than 200 TIMES the danger of being killed in our own cars than by terrorists. When we resolve conflict diplomatically within the rule of law, we create peace and abundance. Do not escalate to war, good for absolutely nothing but creating a booming economy for some on the suffering of many.
Empire-building, policing the world, and casting off the Constitution's restraints solidifies tyranny at home, devastates the economy, and increases the threats to our national security. I believe in, promote and defend a safer, constitutional, non interventionist foreign policy. This is the safer policy envisioned by our founders. I support our troops and want to bring them home safe. Secrets put our troops and all of us in more danger than transparency. Truly ethical leaders have no need for secrets, cover ups, covert operations, lies and propaganda.
The truth is the wealthy will do more social good with investing and philanthropy than by paying those dollars in more taxes to the federal government. Let ethics and the free market rule.
Several leading politicians would have us believe that a Balanced Budget Amendment is a good idea because 49 states have such a requirement. As Dr. Phil might ask, "How's that working out?" Unsurprisingly, many state governments have figured out how to game the system. Funny how Congress is great at playing "con" games. Here's the ruse. See if it sounds familiar...read today's DownSizer Dispatch. There’s a much better tool for enforcing budgetary sanity: The debt ceiling must never be raised again.
Tell your government servants, they must MAKE CUTS NOW -- lots of them. "Cap the debt!"
How Rick Perry Created Jobs in Texas made me realize Perry will not get my vote. He thinks big government.will solve all our problems.
Save lives instead of ruining them. Join LEAP, COP and DownSizeDC!
Get tough on violent crime! Restore Justice, the guardian of liberty!
Track your Senators' and Representative's votes by e-mail.
Changing who's in charge will not affect much. The real cause of this huge quagmire of failed policy is the beast, big government, that money hungry beast, Uncle Sam! Ma Freedom tells it like it is! The beauty of it is when we focus on down-sizing our government we regain our roots of self-government and secure the blessings of liberty for future generations and ourselves.
Compiled and written by Colleen McCool
*Special thanks to R. Givens for Bible principles against prohibition.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Standing Tall for Self-government!
Did you celebrate the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence by renewing your vow to stand tall for self-government in support of the American dream? The state does not run the affairs of people in a free society. It upholds justice between people who conduct their own affairs. Our Founding documents are based on great spiritual principles. We are seekers of truth and justice, as are all liberty lovers worldwide. That spirit unites us. It is the Holy Spirit and our True North.
Our Declaration of Independence is the most important of all our documents. Along with the Magna Carta and the Bill of Rights, it is one of the three greatest documents of the English-speaking world. The fifty-six Signers mutually pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor in the cause of liberty. The Declaration was inspired by a higher purpose for humanity. No other patriotic document has ever produced such successful, beneficial and far-reaching results.
"I had a vision of a way we could have no enemies ever again, if you're interested in this. Anybody interested in hearing this? It's kind of an interesting theory, and all we have to do is make one decisive act and we can rid the world of all our enemies at once. Here's what we do. You know all that money we spend on nuclear weapons and defense every year? Trillions of dollars. Instead, if we spent that money feeding and clothing the poor of the world, which it would pay for many times over, not one human being excluded ... not one ... we could as one race explore inner and outer space together in peace, forever." - Bill Hicks, wherever truth, love and laughter abide, he is there in spirit.
Support a strong defense but DON'T support unnecessary wars. We're in more than 200 TIMES the danger of being killed in our own cars than by terrorists. When we resolve conflict diplomatically within the rule of law, we create peace and abundance. Do not escalate to war, good for absolutely nothing.
The best way to spread the freedom philosophy is by being a shining example not by intervention. Often those foreign regimes we support are just as bad or even more corrupt than those we help fight and this creates hard feelings inciting terrorist retaliation toward US.
The Venus Project promotes life in a resource-based economy. The Project suggests an exciting sustainable new social direction if we intelligently apply science and technology with environmental and human concern, we can build a future where war, poverty and hunger will be but a distant memory.
Last month Barney Frank and Ron Paul introduced legislation that would end federal prohibition of marijuana and would let the states decide whether it should be legal. Just six days after H.R. 2306 was introduce, the Obama Administration broke an earlier promise and declared war on medical marijuana patients -- even in states where medical marijuana is legal.
“What I'm not going to be doing is using Justice Department resources to try to circumvent state laws.” Barack Obama, Oregon Mail Tribune, March 22, 2008. See me shaking my head in disbelief.
U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said they will not take up the bipartisan legislation, effectively killing it by lack of action.
Many leaders are outright servants of tyranny; good at ignoring the rule of law, history and science while catering to the needs of special interests but awful bad at determining what is best or safer for the individual or society. A brilliant friend suggested all Members of Congress should be compelled to wear uniforms just like NASCAR drivers, so we can have no doubt about their corporate sponsors.
“Instead of encouraging the use of marijuana, we should strengthen enforcement of federal drug laws to protect Americans from the devastating effects of drug use,” said Smith, R-San Antonio.
Stephen H. Frye M.D, retired medical school professor's book exposes facts related to our babies, teens especially, being collateral damage of this demented, violence triggering policy! "We Really Lost This War! Twenty-five Reasons to Legalize Drugs."
Rep. Smith and other drug warriors live in the state of denial and that's a lousy coping strategy. It is Un-American, overkill and morally bankrupt to arrest nonviolent adults for making a safer health choice, cannabis or marijuana, compared to other medicinal/social drugs. Stop this tyranny in the guise of good intentions.
The devastating and deadly facts are our babies; especially teens have become collateral damage in this grossly failed war. Despite having six times the Netherlands adult incarceration rate, this insane policy has created an obscene teenage murder rate that's nineteen times higher than in the Netherlands, where drugs are regulated, controlled and taxed! The destruction of the sacred family unit is one of the worst consequences prohibition forces on children.
Brutal, bloody prohibition supports despicable people who sell drugs to children, recruit them to sell to their peers and arm them to kill the competition. Despite having six times the Netherlands adult incarceration rate, this insane policy has created an obscene teenage murder rate that's nineteen times higher than in the Netherlands, where drugs are regulated, controlled and taxed!
Only 50 percent of high school students graduate in our ten biggest cities and only 40 per cent graduate in NYC, Baltimore and Detroit. In the Netherlands 92 percent graduate; that's No Child Left Behind!
The war waged by Mexican drug cartels has resulted in 610 children deaths reports a study and 3,700 children have been left orphans as a result of the violence or execution of their parents. Many minors who are orphaned have been psychologically scarred after witnessing violent actions against their relatives.
The Mexican military reported that 420 children who had been recruited have died in the clashes between rival groups. There were many examples of adolescents between the ages of 14 and 17 dying in fierce battles with the drug traffickers or being tortured and killed as paybacks between feuding clans.
Despairingly, these Mexican drug war numbers have grown since these reports were filed.
"Lockdown High: When the Schoolhouse Becomes a Jailhouse" by Annette Fuentes explores the effect of "Zero Tolerance" policies on public education.. Abstinence may be the safest policy for both drugs and sex but few will choose it even on a dare.
Addiction does not respond well to punitive laws. Preventive medicine is the key to ending drug abuse and most health issues. Incarceration costs seven times treatment. Less than 1% of US are actually addicted to anything illegal.
"Illegal" means turning over control and distribution of product to criminals. Consumers go unprotected because nothing insures the quality, potency or purity of the drugs. Obscene black market profits assure illicit cartels put out of business are quickly replaced.
The most addictive, most deadly drug we know, tobacco is the only drug to have decreased in use during the drug war. Around 65% of American adults smoked tobacco when marijuana, one of the one of the safest, therapeutically active plants known to man, was made illegal. Since then anti-smoking campaigns, using entirely nonviolent, non-coercive, non-punitive methods, have reduced that number to about 20%.
Hudspeth County judge Becky Dean-Walter has overruled Willie Nelson's plea bargain for his November 2010 pot bust in West Texas, six ounces of marijuana was found on his tour bus. Walter told The New York Times she believes prosecutor Kit Bramblett's fondness for Nelson's music influenced his willingness to lighten Nelson's possible punishment. If this case goes to court it may get nullified by the jury. The people believe in self-government and self-medication.
It is a scientifically verified fact that marijuana users are safer drivers than teetotalers.
Most experts agree cannabis is safer with motorists than alcohol and many prescription drugs. Responsible cannabis consumers, like all responsible drug users, never operate motor vehicles in an impaired condition. The prevalence of illicit drug use among US drivers is far less than the prevalence of alcohol among this same population. Both a Canadian and French studies noted that overall few traffic accidents appeared to be attributed to driver’s operating a vehicle while impaired by cannabis.
Actually scientific surveys prove that pot smokers are the safest drivers on the road. The Drugs and Accident Risk in Fatally-Injured Drivers study concluded that marijuana has a "negative risk factor" for fatal highway accidents. A "negative risk factor" means that pot smokers have a lower accident rate than teetotalers.
Several other on-road driving studies funded by the US Department of Transportation prove that marijuana smokers are safer drivers than teetotalers. "The THC-only drivers had [an accident] responsibility rate BELOW that of the drug-free drivers, as was found previously by Williams and colleagues (1986)." "There was no indication that cannabis by itself was a cause of fatal crashes." (Incidence and Role of Drugs in Fatally Injured Drivers K W Terhune, 1992 p. 100)
When cops talk about increasing numbers of marijuana positive driver fatalities, be sure to ask how many of the pot smokers were responsible for the accidents that killed them. In almost every case it will be found that the driver over medicated with alcohol, prescribed drugs, other illicit drugs, a potent mix of alcohol and other drugs or a distracted driver, not the marijuana user caused the accident.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently released a report on human trafficking.
Mira Sorvino asked fellow discussion panelist Luis CdeBaca "how much the government spends on human trafficking compared with war on drugs." "The equivalent of about three weeks of spending on the drug war," said CdeBaca, President Barack Obama’s ambassador-at-large to coordinate US government efforts against modern forms of slavery.
“Every month, we spend twice the TIP [Trafficking in Persons] budget on military marching bands,” observed Sorvino, whose role in “Human Trafficking” portrays a NYPD detective who becomes an immigration agent to fight the crime.
The web is the fastest growing communications medium in the history of the world. A powerful tool, a window of opportunity, in our war of good over evil; the Internet continues to revolutionize the way we communicate and has enormous potential for reshaping the political process.
"The hottest place in Hell is reserved for those who remain neutral in times of great moral conflict. He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it. The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people. Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal." - MLK
Save lives instead of ruining them. Join LEAP, COP and DownsizeDC!
Get tough on violent crime! Restore Justice, the guardian of liberty!
Track your Senators' and Representative's votes by e-mail.
Changing who's in charge will not affect much. The real cause of this huge quagmire of failed policy is the beast, big government, that money hungry beast, Uncle Sam! Ma Freedom tells it like it is! The beauty of it is when we focus on down-sizing our government we regain our roots of self-government and secure the blessings of liberty for future generations and ourselves.
Compiled and written by Colleen McCool
Our Declaration of Independence is the most important of all our documents. Along with the Magna Carta and the Bill of Rights, it is one of the three greatest documents of the English-speaking world. The fifty-six Signers mutually pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor in the cause of liberty. The Declaration was inspired by a higher purpose for humanity. No other patriotic document has ever produced such successful, beneficial and far-reaching results.
"I had a vision of a way we could have no enemies ever again, if you're interested in this. Anybody interested in hearing this? It's kind of an interesting theory, and all we have to do is make one decisive act and we can rid the world of all our enemies at once. Here's what we do. You know all that money we spend on nuclear weapons and defense every year? Trillions of dollars. Instead, if we spent that money feeding and clothing the poor of the world, which it would pay for many times over, not one human being excluded ... not one ... we could as one race explore inner and outer space together in peace, forever." - Bill Hicks, wherever truth, love and laughter abide, he is there in spirit.
Support a strong defense but DON'T support unnecessary wars. We're in more than 200 TIMES the danger of being killed in our own cars than by terrorists. When we resolve conflict diplomatically within the rule of law, we create peace and abundance. Do not escalate to war, good for absolutely nothing.
The best way to spread the freedom philosophy is by being a shining example not by intervention. Often those foreign regimes we support are just as bad or even more corrupt than those we help fight and this creates hard feelings inciting terrorist retaliation toward US.
The Venus Project promotes life in a resource-based economy. The Project suggests an exciting sustainable new social direction if we intelligently apply science and technology with environmental and human concern, we can build a future where war, poverty and hunger will be but a distant memory.
Last month Barney Frank and Ron Paul introduced legislation that would end federal prohibition of marijuana and would let the states decide whether it should be legal. Just six days after H.R. 2306 was introduce, the Obama Administration broke an earlier promise and declared war on medical marijuana patients -- even in states where medical marijuana is legal.
“What I'm not going to be doing is using Justice Department resources to try to circumvent state laws.” Barack Obama, Oregon Mail Tribune, March 22, 2008. See me shaking my head in disbelief.
U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said they will not take up the bipartisan legislation, effectively killing it by lack of action.
Many leaders are outright servants of tyranny; good at ignoring the rule of law, history and science while catering to the needs of special interests but awful bad at determining what is best or safer for the individual or society. A brilliant friend suggested all Members of Congress should be compelled to wear uniforms just like NASCAR drivers, so we can have no doubt about their corporate sponsors.
“Instead of encouraging the use of marijuana, we should strengthen enforcement of federal drug laws to protect Americans from the devastating effects of drug use,” said Smith, R-San Antonio.
Stephen H. Frye M.D, retired medical school professor's book exposes facts related to our babies, teens especially, being collateral damage of this demented, violence triggering policy! "We Really Lost This War! Twenty-five Reasons to Legalize Drugs."
Rep. Smith and other drug warriors live in the state of denial and that's a lousy coping strategy. It is Un-American, overkill and morally bankrupt to arrest nonviolent adults for making a safer health choice, cannabis or marijuana, compared to other medicinal/social drugs. Stop this tyranny in the guise of good intentions.
The devastating and deadly facts are our babies; especially teens have become collateral damage in this grossly failed war. Despite having six times the Netherlands adult incarceration rate, this insane policy has created an obscene teenage murder rate that's nineteen times higher than in the Netherlands, where drugs are regulated, controlled and taxed! The destruction of the sacred family unit is one of the worst consequences prohibition forces on children.
Brutal, bloody prohibition supports despicable people who sell drugs to children, recruit them to sell to their peers and arm them to kill the competition. Despite having six times the Netherlands adult incarceration rate, this insane policy has created an obscene teenage murder rate that's nineteen times higher than in the Netherlands, where drugs are regulated, controlled and taxed!
Only 50 percent of high school students graduate in our ten biggest cities and only 40 per cent graduate in NYC, Baltimore and Detroit. In the Netherlands 92 percent graduate; that's No Child Left Behind!
The war waged by Mexican drug cartels has resulted in 610 children deaths reports a study and 3,700 children have been left orphans as a result of the violence or execution of their parents. Many minors who are orphaned have been psychologically scarred after witnessing violent actions against their relatives.
The Mexican military reported that 420 children who had been recruited have died in the clashes between rival groups. There were many examples of adolescents between the ages of 14 and 17 dying in fierce battles with the drug traffickers or being tortured and killed as paybacks between feuding clans.
Despairingly, these Mexican drug war numbers have grown since these reports were filed.
"Lockdown High: When the Schoolhouse Becomes a Jailhouse" by Annette Fuentes explores the effect of "Zero Tolerance" policies on public education.. Abstinence may be the safest policy for both drugs and sex but few will choose it even on a dare.
Addiction does not respond well to punitive laws. Preventive medicine is the key to ending drug abuse and most health issues. Incarceration costs seven times treatment. Less than 1% of US are actually addicted to anything illegal.
"Illegal" means turning over control and distribution of product to criminals. Consumers go unprotected because nothing insures the quality, potency or purity of the drugs. Obscene black market profits assure illicit cartels put out of business are quickly replaced.
The most addictive, most deadly drug we know, tobacco is the only drug to have decreased in use during the drug war. Around 65% of American adults smoked tobacco when marijuana, one of the one of the safest, therapeutically active plants known to man, was made illegal. Since then anti-smoking campaigns, using entirely nonviolent, non-coercive, non-punitive methods, have reduced that number to about 20%.
Hudspeth County judge Becky Dean-Walter has overruled Willie Nelson's plea bargain for his November 2010 pot bust in West Texas, six ounces of marijuana was found on his tour bus. Walter told The New York Times she believes prosecutor Kit Bramblett's fondness for Nelson's music influenced his willingness to lighten Nelson's possible punishment. If this case goes to court it may get nullified by the jury. The people believe in self-government and self-medication.
It is a scientifically verified fact that marijuana users are safer drivers than teetotalers.
Most experts agree cannabis is safer with motorists than alcohol and many prescription drugs. Responsible cannabis consumers, like all responsible drug users, never operate motor vehicles in an impaired condition. The prevalence of illicit drug use among US drivers is far less than the prevalence of alcohol among this same population. Both a Canadian and French studies noted that overall few traffic accidents appeared to be attributed to driver’s operating a vehicle while impaired by cannabis.
Actually scientific surveys prove that pot smokers are the safest drivers on the road. The Drugs and Accident Risk in Fatally-Injured Drivers study concluded that marijuana has a "negative risk factor" for fatal highway accidents. A "negative risk factor" means that pot smokers have a lower accident rate than teetotalers.
Several other on-road driving studies funded by the US Department of Transportation prove that marijuana smokers are safer drivers than teetotalers. "The THC-only drivers had [an accident] responsibility rate BELOW that of the drug-free drivers, as was found previously by Williams and colleagues (1986)." "There was no indication that cannabis by itself was a cause of fatal crashes." (Incidence and Role of Drugs in Fatally Injured Drivers K W Terhune, 1992 p. 100)
When cops talk about increasing numbers of marijuana positive driver fatalities, be sure to ask how many of the pot smokers were responsible for the accidents that killed them. In almost every case it will be found that the driver over medicated with alcohol, prescribed drugs, other illicit drugs, a potent mix of alcohol and other drugs or a distracted driver, not the marijuana user caused the accident.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently released a report on human trafficking.
Mira Sorvino asked fellow discussion panelist Luis CdeBaca "how much the government spends on human trafficking compared with war on drugs." "The equivalent of about three weeks of spending on the drug war," said CdeBaca, President Barack Obama’s ambassador-at-large to coordinate US government efforts against modern forms of slavery.
“Every month, we spend twice the TIP [Trafficking in Persons] budget on military marching bands,” observed Sorvino, whose role in “Human Trafficking” portrays a NYPD detective who becomes an immigration agent to fight the crime.
The web is the fastest growing communications medium in the history of the world. A powerful tool, a window of opportunity, in our war of good over evil; the Internet continues to revolutionize the way we communicate and has enormous potential for reshaping the political process.
"The hottest place in Hell is reserved for those who remain neutral in times of great moral conflict. He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it. The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people. Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal." - MLK
Save lives instead of ruining them. Join LEAP, COP and DownsizeDC!
Get tough on violent crime! Restore Justice, the guardian of liberty!
Track your Senators' and Representative's votes by e-mail.
Changing who's in charge will not affect much. The real cause of this huge quagmire of failed policy is the beast, big government, that money hungry beast, Uncle Sam! Ma Freedom tells it like it is! The beauty of it is when we focus on down-sizing our government we regain our roots of self-government and secure the blessings of liberty for future generations and ourselves.
Compiled and written by Colleen McCool
Saturday, May 28, 2011
No Perfect Answers, Just Better!
Dear reader, find your voice and stand tall for self government, support the American dream! It could be a fatal flaw, for those who can do little to do nothing. Write your leaders nationally and locally. Petition them! March for the American dream of very limited government if you are able. People of all faiths and goodwill can stand together for a more just, science based and compassionate alternatives to current senseless policies.
In a few days, a group of powerful world leaders will ask the UN to "end the war on drugs and move towards regulation." But drug warriors still say that the public will not support alternative drug policies. Let's grab this unique opportunity for massive public support and take urgent action. Pass the word to like-minded individuals.
This could be a once-in-a-generation tipping-point moment, if enough of us call for an end to this madness. Let's show them we not only accept a sane and humane policy; we demand it. Click here to sign the petition and pass on the link. When we reach 1 million voices, it will be personally delivered to world leaders by the global commission. I just checked and 353,128 have signed already!
Reports that show the war on drugs has failed!
Reports that show alternative approaches of decriminalization and regulation are working!
General report on drug law reform in practice!
The Global Commission on Drug Policy that will call on the UN to end the war on drugs.
Drug War by the Numbers
Final Report of the Latin American Commission on Drugs and Democracy
I am a portrait artist. Since 2006 I have awarded two Rebels with Just Cause portraits yearly.
Ron Paul is a true patriot taking a stand for the American dream of self-government, free of big government waste, tyranny and oppression. He would be a truly great president. He instigated the Love Revolution that is sweeping America and was one of McCool's 2008 Rebels with Just Cause.
Drug warriors live in the state of denial and that's a lousy coping strategy. It is Un-American, overkill and morally bankrupt to arrest nonviolent adults for making a safer health choice, cannabis or marijuana, compared to other medicinal/social drugs. Stop this tyranny in the guise of good intentions.
Morally bankrupt policy is a violence triggering nightmare! Control illicit drugs similar to alcohol and tobacco.
Less than 1% of US are actually addicted to anything illegal. About 9% are alcoholics but much of the public health burden of alcohol use is caused by the non-addictive use; including fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, incest, child molestation, spouse abuse, other family violence, fatal car crashes, accidents, and homicides. On college campuses alone, almost 2000 deaths, 100,000 sexual assaults, 600,000 injuries, and 700,000 assaults are the annual consequences of alcohol use.
I dare say if more would use cannabis instead of alcohol like Willie Nelson, one of my 2010 Rebels with Just Cause, we might see a drop in some of the gloomy statistics listed above.
If more could use safer cannabis to replace dangerous opiates and other harmful pharmaceuticals or tobacco, many more lives would be saved. If those who report overdose to medical personnel did not fear arrest, overdoses would virtually disappear.
Its not a perfect answer just better.
Texas is one of the 5 Worst States for Getting Busted with Marijuana. Cannabis arrests comprise over half of all annual arrests in the Lone Star State. It is easy to see why. In 2009, more than 97 percent of all Texas marijuana arrests, over 77000 people, were for possession only.
Drug warriors can get their adrenaline rush chasing murderers and other violent predators. They don't have to look far for something better to do. Many murders and rapes go unsolved every year; the cumulative effect is horrendous! More resources could be spent on DUI and keeping drugs from minors. We can spend more on effective education instead of ineffective incarceration. Prison costs seven times treatment.
We are punishing people because servants of tyranny ignore science in naming their choice unwise when in fact it is a scientifically proven safer, wiser health choice, compared to legal alternatives. Taking children from the homes of parents who made a safer health choice in a medicinal or social drug is insane policy. Taking property from these same, destroyed by government families, is legalized extortion! States have seized billions. End asset forfeiture!
Save the Children, from Prohibition! In reality we owe reparations for the destroyed lives and destroyed families this appalling demented policy has created!
A"Run From the Cure – the Rick Simpson Story," suggests big pharma may be withholding a potential cancer cure, hemp oil, from the people in the interest of their bottom line. Cannabis oil is that cure all some of our ancestors used! Thank God, they did not let us all be brain washed into forgetfulness about the wonder of it! Oooops, they spilled the beans, in spite of the oppression promoted by medical profiteers.
The tobacco, alcohol and pharmaceuticals gangs deal drugs causing more death annually than all illicit drugs We tolerate their salesmen!
Medical marijuana is now a $1.7 billion market in the US. This means that sales of medical marijuana rival the annual revenue generated by Viagra, a $1.9 billion business. According to MSNBC: "The cannabis industry as a whole (including the underground black market and medical gray market) generates anywhere from $18 billion to $35.8 billion a year."
Blood is on the hands of all who support this demented Drug War II. It is soft on public safety, out-of-control, historically ignorant policy. The carnage and crime associated with illicit drugs are triggered by our insane, punitive policy. Notice alcohol distributors no longer kill off the competition! The people believe in self-government and self-medication.
Restore public and law enforcement safety! Save lives instead of ruining them. Get tough on violent crime! Restore Justice, the guardian of liberty!
If anyone doubts that our fearless leaders are bordering on insanity, consider the fence (costing $7mil a mile) that cut Brownsville, Texas in half. The Mexican border follows the meandering Rio Grande in this area and the river's muddy banks are too soft and too prone to flooding to support a fence.
The hated barrier was constructed on a levee that follows a straight line from half a mile to two miles north of the river, leaving the homes and land (roughly 50,000 acres) of dozens of angry US citizens unprotected and marooned in no man's land on the Mexican side. Is this a sane solution?
One resident's response, "Round these parts, people like alligators a whole lot more than politicians."
Tyranny's growth depends on keeping the people fearful and begging for more protection from an infinite number of invented or exaggerated enemies and hazards.
Educate the powerful, be brave and end the terror by changing our intrusive, big-bully policies, both foreign and domestic. The monetary and environmental costs are staggering and the human suffering unconscionable. Bring our troops home! Reduce our military presence and spending around the world. Cut the interventionists, military industrial complex, warmongering budget to the bone!
Support a strong defense but DON'T support unnecessary wars. We're in more than 200 TIMES the danger of being killed in our own cars than by terrorists. When we resolve conflict diplomatically within the rule of law, we create peace and abundance. Do not escalate to war, good for absolutely nothing.
The best way to spread the freedom philosophy is by being a shining example not by intervention. Often those foreign regimes we support are just as bad or even more corrupt than those we help fight and this creates hard feelings inciting terrorist retaliation toward US.
Audit the Fed!! End the destruction of the dollar and our economy by bringing real accountability and transparency to the Fed! Cap the debt of a government gone wild!
The web is the fastest growing communications medium in the history of the world. A powerful tool, a window of opportunity, in our war of good over evil; the Internet continues to revolutionize the way we communicate and has enormous potential for reshaping the political process.
"The hottest place in Hell is reserved for those who remain neutral in times of great moral conflict. He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it. The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people. Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal." - MLK
Save lives instead of ruining them. Join LEAP, COP and DownsizeDC!
Get tough on violent crime! Restore Justice, the guardian of liberty!
Track your Senators' and Representative's votes by e-mail.
Changing who's in charge will not affect much. The real cause of this huge quagmire of failed policy is the beast, big government, that money hungry beast, Uncle Sam! Ma Freedom tells it like it is! The beauty of it is when we focus on down-sizing our government we regain our roots of self-government and secure the blessings of liberty for future generations and ourselves.
Compiled and written by Colleen McCool
In a few days, a group of powerful world leaders will ask the UN to "end the war on drugs and move towards regulation." But drug warriors still say that the public will not support alternative drug policies. Let's grab this unique opportunity for massive public support and take urgent action. Pass the word to like-minded individuals.
This could be a once-in-a-generation tipping-point moment, if enough of us call for an end to this madness. Let's show them we not only accept a sane and humane policy; we demand it. Click here to sign the petition and pass on the link. When we reach 1 million voices, it will be personally delivered to world leaders by the global commission. I just checked and 353,128 have signed already!
Reports that show the war on drugs has failed!
Reports that show alternative approaches of decriminalization and regulation are working!
General report on drug law reform in practice!
The Global Commission on Drug Policy that will call on the UN to end the war on drugs.
Drug War by the Numbers
Final Report of the Latin American Commission on Drugs and Democracy
I am a portrait artist. Since 2006 I have awarded two Rebels with Just Cause portraits yearly.
Ron Paul is a true patriot taking a stand for the American dream of self-government, free of big government waste, tyranny and oppression. He would be a truly great president. He instigated the Love Revolution that is sweeping America and was one of McCool's 2008 Rebels with Just Cause.
Drug warriors live in the state of denial and that's a lousy coping strategy. It is Un-American, overkill and morally bankrupt to arrest nonviolent adults for making a safer health choice, cannabis or marijuana, compared to other medicinal/social drugs. Stop this tyranny in the guise of good intentions.
Morally bankrupt policy is a violence triggering nightmare! Control illicit drugs similar to alcohol and tobacco.
Less than 1% of US are actually addicted to anything illegal. About 9% are alcoholics but much of the public health burden of alcohol use is caused by the non-addictive use; including fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, incest, child molestation, spouse abuse, other family violence, fatal car crashes, accidents, and homicides. On college campuses alone, almost 2000 deaths, 100,000 sexual assaults, 600,000 injuries, and 700,000 assaults are the annual consequences of alcohol use.
I dare say if more would use cannabis instead of alcohol like Willie Nelson, one of my 2010 Rebels with Just Cause, we might see a drop in some of the gloomy statistics listed above.
If more could use safer cannabis to replace dangerous opiates and other harmful pharmaceuticals or tobacco, many more lives would be saved. If those who report overdose to medical personnel did not fear arrest, overdoses would virtually disappear.
Its not a perfect answer just better.
Texas is one of the 5 Worst States for Getting Busted with Marijuana. Cannabis arrests comprise over half of all annual arrests in the Lone Star State. It is easy to see why. In 2009, more than 97 percent of all Texas marijuana arrests, over 77000 people, were for possession only.
Drug warriors can get their adrenaline rush chasing murderers and other violent predators. They don't have to look far for something better to do. Many murders and rapes go unsolved every year; the cumulative effect is horrendous! More resources could be spent on DUI and keeping drugs from minors. We can spend more on effective education instead of ineffective incarceration. Prison costs seven times treatment.
We are punishing people because servants of tyranny ignore science in naming their choice unwise when in fact it is a scientifically proven safer, wiser health choice, compared to legal alternatives. Taking children from the homes of parents who made a safer health choice in a medicinal or social drug is insane policy. Taking property from these same, destroyed by government families, is legalized extortion! States have seized billions. End asset forfeiture!
Save the Children, from Prohibition! In reality we owe reparations for the destroyed lives and destroyed families this appalling demented policy has created!
A"Run From the Cure – the Rick Simpson Story," suggests big pharma may be withholding a potential cancer cure, hemp oil, from the people in the interest of their bottom line. Cannabis oil is that cure all some of our ancestors used! Thank God, they did not let us all be brain washed into forgetfulness about the wonder of it! Oooops, they spilled the beans, in spite of the oppression promoted by medical profiteers.
The tobacco, alcohol and pharmaceuticals gangs deal drugs causing more death annually than all illicit drugs We tolerate their salesmen!
Medical marijuana is now a $1.7 billion market in the US. This means that sales of medical marijuana rival the annual revenue generated by Viagra, a $1.9 billion business. According to MSNBC: "The cannabis industry as a whole (including the underground black market and medical gray market) generates anywhere from $18 billion to $35.8 billion a year."
Blood is on the hands of all who support this demented Drug War II. It is soft on public safety, out-of-control, historically ignorant policy. The carnage and crime associated with illicit drugs are triggered by our insane, punitive policy. Notice alcohol distributors no longer kill off the competition! The people believe in self-government and self-medication.
Restore public and law enforcement safety! Save lives instead of ruining them. Get tough on violent crime! Restore Justice, the guardian of liberty!
If anyone doubts that our fearless leaders are bordering on insanity, consider the fence (costing $7mil a mile) that cut Brownsville, Texas in half. The Mexican border follows the meandering Rio Grande in this area and the river's muddy banks are too soft and too prone to flooding to support a fence.
The hated barrier was constructed on a levee that follows a straight line from half a mile to two miles north of the river, leaving the homes and land (roughly 50,000 acres) of dozens of angry US citizens unprotected and marooned in no man's land on the Mexican side. Is this a sane solution?
One resident's response, "Round these parts, people like alligators a whole lot more than politicians."
Tyranny's growth depends on keeping the people fearful and begging for more protection from an infinite number of invented or exaggerated enemies and hazards.
Educate the powerful, be brave and end the terror by changing our intrusive, big-bully policies, both foreign and domestic. The monetary and environmental costs are staggering and the human suffering unconscionable. Bring our troops home! Reduce our military presence and spending around the world. Cut the interventionists, military industrial complex, warmongering budget to the bone!
Support a strong defense but DON'T support unnecessary wars. We're in more than 200 TIMES the danger of being killed in our own cars than by terrorists. When we resolve conflict diplomatically within the rule of law, we create peace and abundance. Do not escalate to war, good for absolutely nothing.
The best way to spread the freedom philosophy is by being a shining example not by intervention. Often those foreign regimes we support are just as bad or even more corrupt than those we help fight and this creates hard feelings inciting terrorist retaliation toward US.
Audit the Fed!! End the destruction of the dollar and our economy by bringing real accountability and transparency to the Fed! Cap the debt of a government gone wild!
The web is the fastest growing communications medium in the history of the world. A powerful tool, a window of opportunity, in our war of good over evil; the Internet continues to revolutionize the way we communicate and has enormous potential for reshaping the political process.
"The hottest place in Hell is reserved for those who remain neutral in times of great moral conflict. He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it. The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people. Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal." - MLK
Save lives instead of ruining them. Join LEAP, COP and DownsizeDC!
Get tough on violent crime! Restore Justice, the guardian of liberty!
Track your Senators' and Representative's votes by e-mail.
Changing who's in charge will not affect much. The real cause of this huge quagmire of failed policy is the beast, big government, that money hungry beast, Uncle Sam! Ma Freedom tells it like it is! The beauty of it is when we focus on down-sizing our government we regain our roots of self-government and secure the blessings of liberty for future generations and ourselves.
Compiled and written by Colleen McCool
Friday, May 6, 2011
Legislating Under the Influence
Our Founding documents are based on great spiritual principles. We are seekers of truth and justice, as are all liberty lovers worldwide. That spirit unites us. It is the Holy Spirit and our True North. Many leaders are outright servants of tyranny; good at ignoring the rule of law, history and science while catering to the needs of special interests but awful bad at determining what is best or safer for the individual or society.
In a speech on "Leadership and Spirituality in America," Former Mexican President Vicente Fox said, "the United States should legalize drugs to end the violence in Mexico." The audience applauded. He also called for tearing down the fence we built to reduce illegal immigration. "Instead of building walls, we should be building bridges." Celebrate our similarities, build bridges of tolerance to differences in race, religion and lifestyle. That's how we create peace and abundance.
"More than 35,000 people have been killed, and thousands more have simply disappeared, since Calderon sent the military to battle Mexican organized crime with $1.6 billion in US support." Blood is on the hands of all who support our soft on public safety, out-of-control, historically ignorant drug policy. It is tyranny in the guise of good intentions.
The carnage and crime associated with illicit drugs are triggered by our demented, punitive policy. Notice alcohol distributors no longer kill off the competition! We tolerate these salesmen.
Murderers and other violent predators roam free, while we police nonviolent adult social, medicinal and religious drug use.
It is overkill and morally bankrupt to arrest nonviolent adults for making a safer health choice, cannabis or marijuana, compared to other medicinal/social drugs. The people believe in self-government and self-medication.
Less than 1% of US are actually addicted to anything illegal. About about 9% are alcoholics but much of the public health burden of alcohol use is caused by the non-addictive use; including fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, incest, child molestation, spouse abuse, and family violence, fatal car crashes, accidents, and homicides. On college campuses alone, almost 2000 deaths, 100,000 sexual assaults, 600,000 injuries, and 700,000 assaults are the annual consequences of alcohol use.
Treatment is seven times less expensive than prison. Restore public and law enforcement safety around the globe! Change to ethical policy and show fiscal responsibility; use resources to catch more violent and sexual predators or incarcerate more of those morally bankrupt selling drugs to children or driving intoxicated. Save lives instead of ruining them. Get tough on violent crime! Restore Justice, the guardian of liberty!
Prohibition destroys the lives of poor people of all colors! Race and features are differences that literally are only skin deep. Everyone on this planet's DNA is 99.9% the same; we descended from the same scientific Adam and Eve, out of Africa. We are brothers and sisters as Jesus taught us. Genetically there is no such thing as race, according to National Geographic's "The Human Family Tree." This should make us all more tolerant and reinforce our great shame over race hate crimes and policies enforced in a racist manner.
The US federal government spent over $15 billion dollars in 2010 on the War on Drugs, at a rate of about $500 per second, mostly on the enforcement of a marijuana market ban that serves to protect alcohol industry profits and drive more people to drink. (Source: Office of National Drug Control Policy) State and local governments spent at least another 25 billion dollars. (Source: Jeffrey A. Miron & Kathrine Waldock: "The Budgetary Impact of Drug Prohibition," 2010).
Texas should not be spending $300-400 million annually on the enforcement of a marijuana market ban that serves to protect alcohol industry profits and drive more people to drink.
Please support TX House Bill 548, which will reduce possession of 1 ounce or less of marijuana from a Class B misdemeanor (punishable by up to six months in county jail and a fine of up to $2,000) to a Class C misdemeanor (punishable by a fine of up to $500). HB 548 would significantly reduce law enforcement and socioeconomic cost of arresting people for mere possession of marijuana and tagging them with a criminal record. Call Rep. Pete Gallego, the Criminal Jurisprudence Committee Chair, at (512) 463-0566 to allow a vote on HB 548.
"Chemical components of Cannabis, called cannabinoids, activate specific receptors found throughout the body to produce pharmacologic effects, particularly in the central nervous system and the immune system. Cannabinoids may have benefits in the treatment of cancer-related side effects." (Source Cannabis and Cannabinoids (PDQ), National Cancer Institute, March 2011)
Our marijuana laws tragically impact families in other ways. Please support Tx HB 1491, which would simply allow seriously ill patients to raise a medical necessity defense to charges of possessing marijuana for medical use. If arrested for possession of marijuana, a patient with a recommendation from his or her physician would have an affirmative defense in court to charges arising from his or her medical use of marijuana. If a court accepts such an affirmative defense, a patient could avoid jail time and fines. Cannabis has been used for medicinal purposes for thousands of years prior to its current status as an illegal substance. Call Rep. Lois Kolkhorst, the Public Health Committee Chair, at (512) 463-0600 to allow a vote on HB 1491.
HB 548 and 1491 are a small step in the right direction but will still leave intact the dangerous message to our society that alcohol is more acceptable than marijuana, perpetuating a “culture of alcohol” in our communities. Therefore, please ask your leaders to demonstrate their commitment to future marijuana policy reform by abstaining from alcohol industry campaign money until marijuana is regulated and taxed in a manner similar to alcohol.
The Women's Marijuana Movement is calling on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to examine the potential impact of making marijuana a legal alternative to alcohol. Take action by contacting Linda Degutis, Director National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, which is the division within the CDC that is responsible for studying the factors that contribute to sexual violence and investigating new strategies for prevention.
Elected Officials Legislating Under the Influence of Big Alcohol - Top 5 Texas recipients of alcohol industry contributions during the 2010 Election
Governor Rick Perry - $571,617
US Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison - $392,135
Lt. Governor David Dewhurst - $402,638
State House Speaker Joe Straus - $273,658
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott - $158,424
Total: $1,798,472
A brilliant friend suggested all Members of Congress should be compelled to wear uniforms just like NASCAR drivers, so we can have no doubt about their corporate sponsors.
NAACP calls shift in funding from education to incarceration "alarming." We should invest in effective education rather than ineffective arrest and incarceration. The truth about drugs will keep our children off them. Sound medical and unbiased scientific knowledge are the most effective moral persuasions.
Present policy falsehoods and scare tactics undermine our credibility.
We want to encourage drug free behavior not awaken their curiosity. Effective drug education based on medical science builds student's confidence to make informed responsible choices. Scare tactics, drug testing and fear don't work as well as truth, trust and reason.
Nearly 2.4 million people are incarcerated in the United States. According to the Justice Policy Institute (JPI), US policymakers should look outside our borders for examples of criminal justice policies that can save money while improving the well-being of both individuals and communities.
Educate the powerful, be brave and end the terror by changing our intrusive, big-bully policies, both foreign and domestic. The monetary and environmental costs are staggering and the human suffering unconscionable. Bring our troops home! Reduce our military presence and spending around the world. Cut the interventionists, military industrial complex, warmongering budget to the bone!
Audit the Fed!! End the destruction of the dollar and our economy by bringing real accountability and transparency to the Fed!
Save lives instead of ruining them. Join LEAP, COP and DownsizeDC!
Get tough on violent crime! Restore Justice, the guardian of liberty!
Track your Senators' and Representative's votes by e-mail
Changing who's in charge will not affect much. The real cause of this huge quagmire of failed policy is the beast, big government, that money hungry beast, Uncle Sam! Ma Freedom tells it like it is! The beauty of it is when we focus on down-sizing our government we regain our roots of self-government and secure the blessings of liberty for future generations and ourselves.
Compiled and written by Colleen McCool
In a speech on "Leadership and Spirituality in America," Former Mexican President Vicente Fox said, "the United States should legalize drugs to end the violence in Mexico." The audience applauded. He also called for tearing down the fence we built to reduce illegal immigration. "Instead of building walls, we should be building bridges." Celebrate our similarities, build bridges of tolerance to differences in race, religion and lifestyle. That's how we create peace and abundance.
"More than 35,000 people have been killed, and thousands more have simply disappeared, since Calderon sent the military to battle Mexican organized crime with $1.6 billion in US support." Blood is on the hands of all who support our soft on public safety, out-of-control, historically ignorant drug policy. It is tyranny in the guise of good intentions.
The carnage and crime associated with illicit drugs are triggered by our demented, punitive policy. Notice alcohol distributors no longer kill off the competition! We tolerate these salesmen.
Murderers and other violent predators roam free, while we police nonviolent adult social, medicinal and religious drug use.
It is overkill and morally bankrupt to arrest nonviolent adults for making a safer health choice, cannabis or marijuana, compared to other medicinal/social drugs. The people believe in self-government and self-medication.
Less than 1% of US are actually addicted to anything illegal. About about 9% are alcoholics but much of the public health burden of alcohol use is caused by the non-addictive use; including fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, incest, child molestation, spouse abuse, and family violence, fatal car crashes, accidents, and homicides. On college campuses alone, almost 2000 deaths, 100,000 sexual assaults, 600,000 injuries, and 700,000 assaults are the annual consequences of alcohol use.
Treatment is seven times less expensive than prison. Restore public and law enforcement safety around the globe! Change to ethical policy and show fiscal responsibility; use resources to catch more violent and sexual predators or incarcerate more of those morally bankrupt selling drugs to children or driving intoxicated. Save lives instead of ruining them. Get tough on violent crime! Restore Justice, the guardian of liberty!
Prohibition destroys the lives of poor people of all colors! Race and features are differences that literally are only skin deep. Everyone on this planet's DNA is 99.9% the same; we descended from the same scientific Adam and Eve, out of Africa. We are brothers and sisters as Jesus taught us. Genetically there is no such thing as race, according to National Geographic's "The Human Family Tree." This should make us all more tolerant and reinforce our great shame over race hate crimes and policies enforced in a racist manner.
The US federal government spent over $15 billion dollars in 2010 on the War on Drugs, at a rate of about $500 per second, mostly on the enforcement of a marijuana market ban that serves to protect alcohol industry profits and drive more people to drink. (Source: Office of National Drug Control Policy) State and local governments spent at least another 25 billion dollars. (Source: Jeffrey A. Miron & Kathrine Waldock: "The Budgetary Impact of Drug Prohibition," 2010).
Texas should not be spending $300-400 million annually on the enforcement of a marijuana market ban that serves to protect alcohol industry profits and drive more people to drink.
Please support TX House Bill 548, which will reduce possession of 1 ounce or less of marijuana from a Class B misdemeanor (punishable by up to six months in county jail and a fine of up to $2,000) to a Class C misdemeanor (punishable by a fine of up to $500). HB 548 would significantly reduce law enforcement and socioeconomic cost of arresting people for mere possession of marijuana and tagging them with a criminal record. Call Rep. Pete Gallego, the Criminal Jurisprudence Committee Chair, at (512) 463-0566 to allow a vote on HB 548.
"Chemical components of Cannabis, called cannabinoids, activate specific receptors found throughout the body to produce pharmacologic effects, particularly in the central nervous system and the immune system. Cannabinoids may have benefits in the treatment of cancer-related side effects." (Source Cannabis and Cannabinoids (PDQ), National Cancer Institute, March 2011)
Our marijuana laws tragically impact families in other ways. Please support Tx HB 1491, which would simply allow seriously ill patients to raise a medical necessity defense to charges of possessing marijuana for medical use. If arrested for possession of marijuana, a patient with a recommendation from his or her physician would have an affirmative defense in court to charges arising from his or her medical use of marijuana. If a court accepts such an affirmative defense, a patient could avoid jail time and fines. Cannabis has been used for medicinal purposes for thousands of years prior to its current status as an illegal substance. Call Rep. Lois Kolkhorst, the Public Health Committee Chair, at (512) 463-0600 to allow a vote on HB 1491.
HB 548 and 1491 are a small step in the right direction but will still leave intact the dangerous message to our society that alcohol is more acceptable than marijuana, perpetuating a “culture of alcohol” in our communities. Therefore, please ask your leaders to demonstrate their commitment to future marijuana policy reform by abstaining from alcohol industry campaign money until marijuana is regulated and taxed in a manner similar to alcohol.
The Women's Marijuana Movement is calling on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to examine the potential impact of making marijuana a legal alternative to alcohol. Take action by contacting Linda Degutis, Director National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, which is the division within the CDC that is responsible for studying the factors that contribute to sexual violence and investigating new strategies for prevention.
Elected Officials Legislating Under the Influence of Big Alcohol - Top 5 Texas recipients of alcohol industry contributions during the 2010 Election
Governor Rick Perry - $571,617
US Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison - $392,135
Lt. Governor David Dewhurst - $402,638
State House Speaker Joe Straus - $273,658
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott - $158,424
Total: $1,798,472
A brilliant friend suggested all Members of Congress should be compelled to wear uniforms just like NASCAR drivers, so we can have no doubt about their corporate sponsors.
NAACP calls shift in funding from education to incarceration "alarming." We should invest in effective education rather than ineffective arrest and incarceration. The truth about drugs will keep our children off them. Sound medical and unbiased scientific knowledge are the most effective moral persuasions.
Present policy falsehoods and scare tactics undermine our credibility.
We want to encourage drug free behavior not awaken their curiosity. Effective drug education based on medical science builds student's confidence to make informed responsible choices. Scare tactics, drug testing and fear don't work as well as truth, trust and reason.
Nearly 2.4 million people are incarcerated in the United States. According to the Justice Policy Institute (JPI), US policymakers should look outside our borders for examples of criminal justice policies that can save money while improving the well-being of both individuals and communities.
Educate the powerful, be brave and end the terror by changing our intrusive, big-bully policies, both foreign and domestic. The monetary and environmental costs are staggering and the human suffering unconscionable. Bring our troops home! Reduce our military presence and spending around the world. Cut the interventionists, military industrial complex, warmongering budget to the bone!
Audit the Fed!! End the destruction of the dollar and our economy by bringing real accountability and transparency to the Fed!
Save lives instead of ruining them. Join LEAP, COP and DownsizeDC!
Get tough on violent crime! Restore Justice, the guardian of liberty!
Track your Senators' and Representative's votes by e-mail
Changing who's in charge will not affect much. The real cause of this huge quagmire of failed policy is the beast, big government, that money hungry beast, Uncle Sam! Ma Freedom tells it like it is! The beauty of it is when we focus on down-sizing our government we regain our roots of self-government and secure the blessings of liberty for future generations and ourselves.
Compiled and written by Colleen McCool
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
An Obamanation of America!
Don't let that headline fool you, both parties have contributed to the corruption and growth of big government and the abomination of the American dream; our founders' vision of self-government! An America free of big government oppression and tyranny, is the one true patriots still hold dear.
The Obama Administration does continue the warring policies and tries to sell it as a changeling, Obamanation of America! But dear readers with a burning desire for liberty; with a gnawing hunger for small government, true believers in the American dream of self-government, we know that is not our real true America.
"I bet after seeing us, George Washington would sue us for calling him "father." Will Rogers mused.
"Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder." Our first president warned. Many leaders are outright servants of tyranny; good at ignoring the rule of law, history and science while catering to the needs of special interests but very bad at determining what is best or safer for the individual or society.
As Honest Abe stated, "The people of the United States are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution, but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution."
It is worth repeating, the Spirit of 1776 was the Holy Spirit and is our true North. The real visionaries, who gave birth to this Nation, those who defined what an American patriot would be, were rebels with just cause!
Since 2006 I have awarded two Rebel with Just Cause portraits yearly.
One of my 2010 Rebel with Just Cause portraits goes to Willie Nelson for his passionate support for marijuana legalization. The other will be awarded to Daniel Ellsberg for the documentary "The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers." The Oscar-nominated account of Pentagon insider, Ellsberg's daring endeavor to leak top-secret government papers that disclosed shocking truths about the Vietnam War and Nixon's presidency. They are our heroes of the decade, maybe the past century.
One of my 2011 Rebels with Just Cause portraits goes to Bradley Manning for posting Afghanistan war diaries on wikileaks. It is not a crime to expose war crimes. " The Manning case is at the center of revolutionary change in the United States and around the world. Please call the White House at 202-456-1414. And, please send an email to President Obama! He can end the the daily torture Manning faces! "Truth will ultimately prevail where there is pains to bring it to light." The man who could not tell a lie proclaimed.
Repeal the Patriot Act. Do NOT renew any of its provisions. The name itself is a misnomer. True patriots with a burning desire for liberty; with a gnawing hunger for small government, true believers in the American dream of self-government see it as a dark moment of fear-imposed unfaithfulness to the Bill of Rights and other founding documents.
Please take action to prohibit the President from intervening in Libya. "No Intervention!" read a banner displayed by Libyan insurgents, "We have to get him ourselves."Yelled a Libyan demonstrator. Intervention has created new enemies for the American people. Nothing undermines the insurgents more than the perception that they are US stooges.
Reduce our military presence and spending around the world. Bring our troops home. Cut the interventionists, military industrial complex, warmongering budget to the bone! Big government or the establishment ideology of unethical capitalism and the welfare/warfare state is an assault on the American dream of self-government, free of tyranny and oppression.
All dreams of freedom around the world come from the Holy Spirit. At America's heart are well-wishes for the freedom and independence of everyone.. America is the champion and vindicator only in her own constant vigilance to protect liberty. We spread the freedom philosophy best by being a shining example.
"Wherever the standard of freedom and Independence has been or shall be unfurled, there will her [America's] heart, her benedictions and her prayers be. But she goes not abroad, in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all. She is the champion and vindicator only of her own". — John Quincy Adams
Watch a comprehensive analysis of the 2008 global financial crisis, which at a cost over $20 trillion, caused millions of people to lose their jobs and homes in the worst recession since the Great Depression, and nearly caused global financial collapse. Trace the rise of a rogue industry and realize the corrosive relationships which has corrupted politics, regulation and academia. Bring corrupt, predatory financiers and their enablers to justice. We will be derelict in our duties to maintain an in fact, free republic if we don't insist on it.
In March 2010, an Australian class-action lawsuit against Merck ruled that Vioxx doubled the risk of heart attacks, and that Merck had breached the Trade Practices Act by selling a drug which was unfit for sale. Hold Congress members and the other lawmakers responsible, too! Many were partners of the FDA and pharmaceutical industry. Viox, alone, has been estimated to have caused more deaths than the Vietnam War. Investigate why and how the FDA became a partner instead of a watchdog of the industry or its role in approving even one of the 13 dangerous drugs pulled from the market in the fall of 2002 that caused thousands of needless deaths and injuries. We will be derelict in our duties to maintain an in fact, free republic if we don't insist on it.
CATO: "Social Security as we know it is facing irresistible demographic and fiscal pressures that threaten the future retirement benefits of today’s young workers."
I have heard this all my working life. I was forced to pay into SS everywhere I worked for the past 50 odd years whether I liked it or not. I would have done better with private investment of what I was forced to pay SS. Now they owe me and all workers who were forced to pay.
CATO: "Although Social Security is currently running a surplus, according
to the system’s own trustees, that surplus will turn into a deficit within the next nine years. That is, by 2017, Social Security will be paying out more in benefits than it takes in through taxes.
In theory, Social Security is supposed to continue paying benefits after
2017 by drawing on the Social Security Trust Fund. Furthermore, the trust fund is supposed to provide sufficient funds to continue paying full benefits until 2041, after which it will be exhausted. At that point, by law, Social Security benefits will have to be cut by approximately 27 percent. However, in reality, the Social Security Trust Fund is not an asset that can be used to pay benefits. Any Social Security surpluses accumulated to date have been spent, leaving a trust fund that consists only of government bonds (IOUs) that will eventually have to be repaid by taxpayers."
How is it our leadership can get away with continually ripping US off?? Morally bankrupt financiers, empire builders and leaders in their pockets give American capitalism a black eye with their predatory capitalism. Predatory capitalism due to big government interference and protection destroys people, benign or ethical capitalism, America's founders' vision, creates a world of abundance for all.
CATO: "Congress should allow workers to privately invest at least half their Social Security payroll taxes through individual accounts."
Privatize SS. At least if you get ripped off by an individual or a corporation you can use the court system to charge them with embezzlement or fraud. Well, except for those predator corporations that own the government and are therefore above the law, somehow, for now.
Tell President Obama and Congress not to subsidize nuclear energy. We have much safer, better options. Put those millions to use by making good on some of government bonds (IOUs) to the SS trust fund. We will be derelict in our duties to maintain an in fact, free republic if we don't insist on it.
Instead of cuts to education, health care, and Social Security, cut the military industrial complex's budget to the bone. Bring our troops home! End prohibition and see all related agencies disbanded. Put more resources toward incarcerating violent and sexual predators.
Marc Emery is our hero and wins the other 2011 portrait for taking a stand for justice against a morally bankrupt, violence triggering, nightmare policy.
Restore public and law enforcement safety!
Paramilitary drug raids trigger violence rather than lessen the risk. "Over grown military establishments are under any form of government inauspicious to liberty, and are to be regarded as particularly hostile to republican liberty." According to our Father, George. The carnage and crime associated with illicit drugs are triggered by our demented, punitive policy. Notice alcohol distributors no longer kill off the competition!
End demonizing drug courts! The people believe in self-government and self-medication. Murderers and other violent predators roam free, while we police nonviolent adult social, medicinal and religious drug use. That's soft on public safety, out-of-control, historically ignorant policy.
It is down right sinister, a crime against humanity, for the medicinal uses of cannabis to be suppressed. Some scientific researchers speculate that cannabinoids play a protective role in the brain, slowing the rate of disease. Ooooops! Who spilled the beans? Scientists and patients all over the world, that's who!
It is morally bankrupt to punish nonviolent adults for making a safer health choice, cannabis or marijuana, compared to other medicinal/social drugs. Less than 1% of US are actually addicts. Treatment is seven times less expensive than prison. Change to ethical policy and show fiscal responsibility; use resources to catch more violent and sexual predators or incarcerate more of those morally bankrupt, who sell drugs to children or drive intoxicated.
Save lives instead of ruining them. Join LEAP, COP and DownsizeDC!
Get tough on violent crime! Restore Justice, the guardian of liberty!
Track your Senators' and Representative's votes by e-mail
Changing who's in charge will not affect much. The real cause of this huge quagmire of failed policy is the beast, big government, that money hungry beast, Uncle Sam! Ma Freedom tells it like it is! The beauty of it is when we focus on down-sizing our government we regain our roots of self-government and secure the blessings of liberty for future generations and ourselves.
Compiled and written by Colleen McCool
The Obama Administration does continue the warring policies and tries to sell it as a changeling, Obamanation of America! But dear readers with a burning desire for liberty; with a gnawing hunger for small government, true believers in the American dream of self-government, we know that is not our real true America.
"I bet after seeing us, George Washington would sue us for calling him "father." Will Rogers mused.
"Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder." Our first president warned. Many leaders are outright servants of tyranny; good at ignoring the rule of law, history and science while catering to the needs of special interests but very bad at determining what is best or safer for the individual or society.
As Honest Abe stated, "The people of the United States are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution, but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution."
It is worth repeating, the Spirit of 1776 was the Holy Spirit and is our true North. The real visionaries, who gave birth to this Nation, those who defined what an American patriot would be, were rebels with just cause!
Since 2006 I have awarded two Rebel with Just Cause portraits yearly.
One of my 2010 Rebel with Just Cause portraits goes to Willie Nelson for his passionate support for marijuana legalization. The other will be awarded to Daniel Ellsberg for the documentary "The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers." The Oscar-nominated account of Pentagon insider, Ellsberg's daring endeavor to leak top-secret government papers that disclosed shocking truths about the Vietnam War and Nixon's presidency. They are our heroes of the decade, maybe the past century.
One of my 2011 Rebels with Just Cause portraits goes to Bradley Manning for posting Afghanistan war diaries on wikileaks. It is not a crime to expose war crimes. " The Manning case is at the center of revolutionary change in the United States and around the world. Please call the White House at 202-456-1414. And, please send an email to President Obama! He can end the the daily torture Manning faces! "Truth will ultimately prevail where there is pains to bring it to light." The man who could not tell a lie proclaimed.
Repeal the Patriot Act. Do NOT renew any of its provisions. The name itself is a misnomer. True patriots with a burning desire for liberty; with a gnawing hunger for small government, true believers in the American dream of self-government see it as a dark moment of fear-imposed unfaithfulness to the Bill of Rights and other founding documents.
Please take action to prohibit the President from intervening in Libya. "No Intervention!" read a banner displayed by Libyan insurgents, "We have to get him ourselves."Yelled a Libyan demonstrator. Intervention has created new enemies for the American people. Nothing undermines the insurgents more than the perception that they are US stooges.
Reduce our military presence and spending around the world. Bring our troops home. Cut the interventionists, military industrial complex, warmongering budget to the bone! Big government or the establishment ideology of unethical capitalism and the welfare/warfare state is an assault on the American dream of self-government, free of tyranny and oppression.
All dreams of freedom around the world come from the Holy Spirit. At America's heart are well-wishes for the freedom and independence of everyone.. America is the champion and vindicator only in her own constant vigilance to protect liberty. We spread the freedom philosophy best by being a shining example.
"Wherever the standard of freedom and Independence has been or shall be unfurled, there will her [America's] heart, her benedictions and her prayers be. But she goes not abroad, in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all. She is the champion and vindicator only of her own". — John Quincy Adams
Watch a comprehensive analysis of the 2008 global financial crisis, which at a cost over $20 trillion, caused millions of people to lose their jobs and homes in the worst recession since the Great Depression, and nearly caused global financial collapse. Trace the rise of a rogue industry and realize the corrosive relationships which has corrupted politics, regulation and academia. Bring corrupt, predatory financiers and their enablers to justice. We will be derelict in our duties to maintain an in fact, free republic if we don't insist on it.
In March 2010, an Australian class-action lawsuit against Merck ruled that Vioxx doubled the risk of heart attacks, and that Merck had breached the Trade Practices Act by selling a drug which was unfit for sale. Hold Congress members and the other lawmakers responsible, too! Many were partners of the FDA and pharmaceutical industry. Viox, alone, has been estimated to have caused more deaths than the Vietnam War. Investigate why and how the FDA became a partner instead of a watchdog of the industry or its role in approving even one of the 13 dangerous drugs pulled from the market in the fall of 2002 that caused thousands of needless deaths and injuries. We will be derelict in our duties to maintain an in fact, free republic if we don't insist on it.
CATO: "Social Security as we know it is facing irresistible demographic and fiscal pressures that threaten the future retirement benefits of today’s young workers."
I have heard this all my working life. I was forced to pay into SS everywhere I worked for the past 50 odd years whether I liked it or not. I would have done better with private investment of what I was forced to pay SS. Now they owe me and all workers who were forced to pay.
CATO: "Although Social Security is currently running a surplus, according
to the system’s own trustees, that surplus will turn into a deficit within the next nine years. That is, by 2017, Social Security will be paying out more in benefits than it takes in through taxes.
In theory, Social Security is supposed to continue paying benefits after
2017 by drawing on the Social Security Trust Fund. Furthermore, the trust fund is supposed to provide sufficient funds to continue paying full benefits until 2041, after which it will be exhausted. At that point, by law, Social Security benefits will have to be cut by approximately 27 percent. However, in reality, the Social Security Trust Fund is not an asset that can be used to pay benefits. Any Social Security surpluses accumulated to date have been spent, leaving a trust fund that consists only of government bonds (IOUs) that will eventually have to be repaid by taxpayers."
How is it our leadership can get away with continually ripping US off?? Morally bankrupt financiers, empire builders and leaders in their pockets give American capitalism a black eye with their predatory capitalism. Predatory capitalism due to big government interference and protection destroys people, benign or ethical capitalism, America's founders' vision, creates a world of abundance for all.
CATO: "Congress should allow workers to privately invest at least half their Social Security payroll taxes through individual accounts."
Privatize SS. At least if you get ripped off by an individual or a corporation you can use the court system to charge them with embezzlement or fraud. Well, except for those predator corporations that own the government and are therefore above the law, somehow, for now.
Tell President Obama and Congress not to subsidize nuclear energy. We have much safer, better options. Put those millions to use by making good on some of government bonds (IOUs) to the SS trust fund. We will be derelict in our duties to maintain an in fact, free republic if we don't insist on it.
Instead of cuts to education, health care, and Social Security, cut the military industrial complex's budget to the bone. Bring our troops home! End prohibition and see all related agencies disbanded. Put more resources toward incarcerating violent and sexual predators.
Marc Emery is our hero and wins the other 2011 portrait for taking a stand for justice against a morally bankrupt, violence triggering, nightmare policy.
Restore public and law enforcement safety!
Paramilitary drug raids trigger violence rather than lessen the risk. "Over grown military establishments are under any form of government inauspicious to liberty, and are to be regarded as particularly hostile to republican liberty." According to our Father, George. The carnage and crime associated with illicit drugs are triggered by our demented, punitive policy. Notice alcohol distributors no longer kill off the competition!
End demonizing drug courts! The people believe in self-government and self-medication. Murderers and other violent predators roam free, while we police nonviolent adult social, medicinal and religious drug use. That's soft on public safety, out-of-control, historically ignorant policy.
It is down right sinister, a crime against humanity, for the medicinal uses of cannabis to be suppressed. Some scientific researchers speculate that cannabinoids play a protective role in the brain, slowing the rate of disease. Ooooops! Who spilled the beans? Scientists and patients all over the world, that's who!
It is morally bankrupt to punish nonviolent adults for making a safer health choice, cannabis or marijuana, compared to other medicinal/social drugs. Less than 1% of US are actually addicts. Treatment is seven times less expensive than prison. Change to ethical policy and show fiscal responsibility; use resources to catch more violent and sexual predators or incarcerate more of those morally bankrupt, who sell drugs to children or drive intoxicated.
Save lives instead of ruining them. Join LEAP, COP and DownsizeDC!
Get tough on violent crime! Restore Justice, the guardian of liberty!
Track your Senators' and Representative's votes by e-mail
Changing who's in charge will not affect much. The real cause of this huge quagmire of failed policy is the beast, big government, that money hungry beast, Uncle Sam! Ma Freedom tells it like it is! The beauty of it is when we focus on down-sizing our government we regain our roots of self-government and secure the blessings of liberty for future generations and ourselves.
Compiled and written by Colleen McCool
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Drug War II, Git-R-Done!
US Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) has announced he will not seek reelection in nearly two years but he has reintroduced the National Criminal Justice Commission Act and he plans to push for it's passage. The measure, after a top-to-bottom review, hopes to offer concrete recommendations for reform of the nation’s criminal justice system and had bipartisan support last year; it cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee and passed the full House of Representatives. The Senator is confident it will pass in this session.
"We're going to get it done," proclaimed the true patriot; servant of the American dream of self-government! Now is the time to insist American warriors get their adrenaline rush catching murderers, child molesters and rapists.
The carnage and crime associated with illicit drugs are triggered by our demented, punitive policy. It is a policy created problem! Notice alcohol distributors no longer kill off the competition! The people believe in self-government and self-medication.
Blame the drug war for the disastrous shooting in Arizona recently! Jared Loughner was self medicating with cannabis but an arrest got him off his medication. I believe the cannabis aided in calming his violent tendencies until he could not use for fear of failing to pass a piss test.
Cannabis promotes a feeling of being connected, of calm and peace, "a drug which helps produce the serenity and insight, sensitivity and fellowship so desperately needed in this increasingly mad and dangerous world." As Carl Sagan so aptly put it.
It is overkill and morally bankrupt to arrest nonviolent people for making a safer health choice, cannabis or marijuana, compared to other medicinal/social drugs.
I have always maintained that Drug War II is a war on our best and brightest. People who use the term doper for individuals who make a safer choice are showing their ignorance. We can educate them. One of 20 Scientifically-Proven Signs You're Smarter Than Average is: you use social drugs.
Cannabis oil is that cure all some of our ancestors used! Thank God, they did not let us all be brain washed into forgetfulness about the wonder of it! Oooops, they spilled the beans, in spite of the oppression promoted by medical profiteers.
I am afraid; murderers and other violent predators roam free, while we police nonviolent adult social, medicinal and religious drug use. That's real soft on public safety, soft-in-the-head, out-of-control, historically ignorant policy.
The spiraling violence triggered by this scandalous, senseless, morally bankrupt war on some drugs and government impotence in the face of it are a threat to public safety around the globe. Paramilitary drug raids trigger violence rather than lessen the risk. All this unconscionable bloodletting is on the hands of leadership as much as those who pulled the trigger or contributed in other ways to the monstrous, unnecessary bloodshed.
Get tough on violent crime! Restore Justice, the guardian of liberty!
Some of our leaders live in a state of denial. Others are like bad horseman; too concerned about staying in the saddle to worry about where they are headed. Many are outright servants of tyranny; good at ignoring the rule of law, history and science while catering to the needs of special interests but very bad at determining what is best or safer for the individual or society.
Big government or the establishment ideology of unethical capitalism and the welfare/warfare state is an assault on the American dream of self-government, free of tyranny and oppression.
True patriots, lovers of liberty, insist morally bankrupt US warriors are held responsible for torture and wars abandoning our ideal of nonintervention. The world knows they violated international law. They are traitors to the republic for which we stand. We will be derelict in our duties to maintain an in fact, free republic if we don't insist on it.
Truth is always the first casually of any war. Violent, hate filled, morally bankrupt, authoritarian warmongers are a different species than us, mere human beings. They use fear and propaganda to make us more accepting of their waste of our precious lives and resources. They are the opposite of true patriots; who believe in the American dream of self-government and value public safety first!
Everyone on this planet's DNA is 99.9% the same; we descended from the same scientific Adam and Eve, out of Africa. We are brothers and sisters as Jesus taught us. Genetically there is no such thing as race, according to National Geographic's "The Human Family Tree" This should make us all more tolerant and reinforce our great shame over race hate crimes. Fifty per cent of black males in America carry a white y chromosome marker from a European male! Race and features are differences that literally are only skin deep.
Plato said "Only the dead have seen the end of war." But with tolerance of our differences and celebration of our similarities we can build bridges that unite us and prove him wrong!
If you research old newspaper reports about heroin, cocaine, morphine and other addictive drugs before Drug War II you'll find no evidence of these drugs causing society problems but you'll see plenty violence and chaos triggered by prohibition of alcohol during Drug War I.
Demented prohibition supports despicable people who sell drugs to children, recruit them to sell to their peers and arm them to kill the competition. Society has always been caught betwixt and between in these scandalous, senseless morally bankrupt wars on some drugs.
Throughout history people have found ways to alter their consciousness. In primitive societies psychoactive plants were sacred and ingested with care, with supposed spiritual intent, but use was often limited to a corrupt powerful few who used fear and superstition to control the masses. If some carry on the ancient tradition of using drugs as a sacrament, to enhance spiritual growth, it is cause for rejoicing not incarceration.
"When it comes to drug abuse, treatment is seven times more cost effective than incarceration. Seven times. It’s an indisputable fact.” - Harriet “Harry” Korn (Kathy Bates in Harry's Law)
And as Harry so effectively points out, prison “neither treats nor trains nor rehabilitates” — it merely risks making someone more dangerous and more likely to commit crimes in the future. Harry is right; these are the facts. Watch a murderer's autobiography, Killer: A Journal of Murder.
Didn't I read that Marc Emery and Roger Christie are being kept in solitary? Does anyone know how many enter the system on a nonviolent drug charge (and history) but end up in solitary confinement, " tantamount to torture"?
National Geographic's Solitary Confinement explores the potentially devastating psychological effects of isolation, paying particular attention to the thousands of Americans who spend, sometimes, years on end imprisoned in solitary confinement. While correctional officers claim the practice effectively controls unruly prisoners, others say being alone in a small space without any outside contact is tantamount to torture.
This injustice system makes me so ashamed. Only fools can believe we are presently the land of the free. Over "80,000 poor souls" in solitary right now! This injustice system creates serial killers and drives sane people over the edge. Where is the public safety in that?
The scourge of meth will disappear with change to a better, safer drug policy for society and the individual just as the deaths and blindness caused by bathtub gin ended with repeal of alcohol prohibition. Overdose deaths were virtually unheard of before Drug War II because callers for help did not fear arrest.
Veterans in states where medical marijuana is legal may use it without getting thrown out of killer Veterans Administration pain treatment programs, a life saving victory!
Regulation, science based education and treating abuse as a medical problem is rational; a better drug policy increasing public safety and harm reduction plus freeing up untold billions in wasted funds to use toward catching more violent and sexual predators or incarcerating more of those morally bankrupt, who sell drugs to children or drive intoxicated.
Less than one per cent of the population are actually addicts and drug treatment is seven times less costly than prison. Restore public and law enforcement safety! Change to ethical policy and show fiscal responsibility! Save lives instead of ruining them. Get tough on violent crime!
Join LEAP, COP and DownsizeDC! Get tough on violent crime! Restore Justice, the guardian of liberty!
The web is the fastest growing communications medium in the history of the world. A powerful tool, a window of opportunity, in our war of good over evil; the Internet continues to revolutionize the way we communicate and has enormous potential for reshaping the political process.
Only agents of tyranny; ones happy with the status quo want to regulate this modern marvel. Tell those authoritarian purveyors of oppression,"Hands off the Internet!"
Congratulations! You've had another victory! The House passed one of the bills in our Downsize DC Agenda, the Enumerated Powers Act. Every House bill must now cite its Constitutional authority.
"The hottest place in Hell is reserved for those who remain neutral in times of great moral conflict. He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it. The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people. Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal." - MLK
The only real wealth is well being and happiness. We, the nonviolent members of the pro-better-world society, far out number the violent evil doers. Get tough on violent crime! Take away violent offenders' and sexual predators' ability to reproduce. Aggressive behavior can be bred out of us as it has been done in dogs. We shall overcome the violent and inherit the earth. We shall create Peace on Earth!
Track your Senators' and Representative's votes by e-mail
Changing who's in charge will not affect much. The real cause of this huge quagmire of failed policy is the beast, big government, that money hungry beast, Uncle Sam! Ma Freedom tells it like it is! The beauty of it is when we focus on down-sizing our government we regain our roots of self-government and secure the blessings of liberty for future generations and ourselves.
Compiled and written by Colleen McCool
"We're going to get it done," proclaimed the true patriot; servant of the American dream of self-government! Now is the time to insist American warriors get their adrenaline rush catching murderers, child molesters and rapists.
The carnage and crime associated with illicit drugs are triggered by our demented, punitive policy. It is a policy created problem! Notice alcohol distributors no longer kill off the competition! The people believe in self-government and self-medication.
Blame the drug war for the disastrous shooting in Arizona recently! Jared Loughner was self medicating with cannabis but an arrest got him off his medication. I believe the cannabis aided in calming his violent tendencies until he could not use for fear of failing to pass a piss test.
Cannabis promotes a feeling of being connected, of calm and peace, "a drug which helps produce the serenity and insight, sensitivity and fellowship so desperately needed in this increasingly mad and dangerous world." As Carl Sagan so aptly put it.
It is overkill and morally bankrupt to arrest nonviolent people for making a safer health choice, cannabis or marijuana, compared to other medicinal/social drugs.
I have always maintained that Drug War II is a war on our best and brightest. People who use the term doper for individuals who make a safer choice are showing their ignorance. We can educate them. One of 20 Scientifically-Proven Signs You're Smarter Than Average is: you use social drugs.
Cannabis oil is that cure all some of our ancestors used! Thank God, they did not let us all be brain washed into forgetfulness about the wonder of it! Oooops, they spilled the beans, in spite of the oppression promoted by medical profiteers.
I am afraid; murderers and other violent predators roam free, while we police nonviolent adult social, medicinal and religious drug use. That's real soft on public safety, soft-in-the-head, out-of-control, historically ignorant policy.
The spiraling violence triggered by this scandalous, senseless, morally bankrupt war on some drugs and government impotence in the face of it are a threat to public safety around the globe. Paramilitary drug raids trigger violence rather than lessen the risk. All this unconscionable bloodletting is on the hands of leadership as much as those who pulled the trigger or contributed in other ways to the monstrous, unnecessary bloodshed.
Get tough on violent crime! Restore Justice, the guardian of liberty!
Some of our leaders live in a state of denial. Others are like bad horseman; too concerned about staying in the saddle to worry about where they are headed. Many are outright servants of tyranny; good at ignoring the rule of law, history and science while catering to the needs of special interests but very bad at determining what is best or safer for the individual or society.
Big government or the establishment ideology of unethical capitalism and the welfare/warfare state is an assault on the American dream of self-government, free of tyranny and oppression.
True patriots, lovers of liberty, insist morally bankrupt US warriors are held responsible for torture and wars abandoning our ideal of nonintervention. The world knows they violated international law. They are traitors to the republic for which we stand. We will be derelict in our duties to maintain an in fact, free republic if we don't insist on it.
Truth is always the first casually of any war. Violent, hate filled, morally bankrupt, authoritarian warmongers are a different species than us, mere human beings. They use fear and propaganda to make us more accepting of their waste of our precious lives and resources. They are the opposite of true patriots; who believe in the American dream of self-government and value public safety first!
Everyone on this planet's DNA is 99.9% the same; we descended from the same scientific Adam and Eve, out of Africa. We are brothers and sisters as Jesus taught us. Genetically there is no such thing as race, according to National Geographic's "The Human Family Tree" This should make us all more tolerant and reinforce our great shame over race hate crimes. Fifty per cent of black males in America carry a white y chromosome marker from a European male! Race and features are differences that literally are only skin deep.
Plato said "Only the dead have seen the end of war." But with tolerance of our differences and celebration of our similarities we can build bridges that unite us and prove him wrong!
If you research old newspaper reports about heroin, cocaine, morphine and other addictive drugs before Drug War II you'll find no evidence of these drugs causing society problems but you'll see plenty violence and chaos triggered by prohibition of alcohol during Drug War I.
Demented prohibition supports despicable people who sell drugs to children, recruit them to sell to their peers and arm them to kill the competition. Society has always been caught betwixt and between in these scandalous, senseless morally bankrupt wars on some drugs.
Throughout history people have found ways to alter their consciousness. In primitive societies psychoactive plants were sacred and ingested with care, with supposed spiritual intent, but use was often limited to a corrupt powerful few who used fear and superstition to control the masses. If some carry on the ancient tradition of using drugs as a sacrament, to enhance spiritual growth, it is cause for rejoicing not incarceration.
"When it comes to drug abuse, treatment is seven times more cost effective than incarceration. Seven times. It’s an indisputable fact.” - Harriet “Harry” Korn (Kathy Bates in Harry's Law)
And as Harry so effectively points out, prison “neither treats nor trains nor rehabilitates” — it merely risks making someone more dangerous and more likely to commit crimes in the future. Harry is right; these are the facts. Watch a murderer's autobiography, Killer: A Journal of Murder.
Didn't I read that Marc Emery and Roger Christie are being kept in solitary? Does anyone know how many enter the system on a nonviolent drug charge (and history) but end up in solitary confinement, " tantamount to torture"?
National Geographic's Solitary Confinement explores the potentially devastating psychological effects of isolation, paying particular attention to the thousands of Americans who spend, sometimes, years on end imprisoned in solitary confinement. While correctional officers claim the practice effectively controls unruly prisoners, others say being alone in a small space without any outside contact is tantamount to torture.
This injustice system makes me so ashamed. Only fools can believe we are presently the land of the free. Over "80,000 poor souls" in solitary right now! This injustice system creates serial killers and drives sane people over the edge. Where is the public safety in that?
The scourge of meth will disappear with change to a better, safer drug policy for society and the individual just as the deaths and blindness caused by bathtub gin ended with repeal of alcohol prohibition. Overdose deaths were virtually unheard of before Drug War II because callers for help did not fear arrest.
Veterans in states where medical marijuana is legal may use it without getting thrown out of killer Veterans Administration pain treatment programs, a life saving victory!
Regulation, science based education and treating abuse as a medical problem is rational; a better drug policy increasing public safety and harm reduction plus freeing up untold billions in wasted funds to use toward catching more violent and sexual predators or incarcerating more of those morally bankrupt, who sell drugs to children or drive intoxicated.
Less than one per cent of the population are actually addicts and drug treatment is seven times less costly than prison. Restore public and law enforcement safety! Change to ethical policy and show fiscal responsibility! Save lives instead of ruining them. Get tough on violent crime!
Join LEAP, COP and DownsizeDC! Get tough on violent crime! Restore Justice, the guardian of liberty!
The web is the fastest growing communications medium in the history of the world. A powerful tool, a window of opportunity, in our war of good over evil; the Internet continues to revolutionize the way we communicate and has enormous potential for reshaping the political process.
Only agents of tyranny; ones happy with the status quo want to regulate this modern marvel. Tell those authoritarian purveyors of oppression,"Hands off the Internet!"
Congratulations! You've had another victory! The House passed one of the bills in our Downsize DC Agenda, the Enumerated Powers Act. Every House bill must now cite its Constitutional authority.
"The hottest place in Hell is reserved for those who remain neutral in times of great moral conflict. He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it. The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people. Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal." - MLK
The only real wealth is well being and happiness. We, the nonviolent members of the pro-better-world society, far out number the violent evil doers. Get tough on violent crime! Take away violent offenders' and sexual predators' ability to reproduce. Aggressive behavior can be bred out of us as it has been done in dogs. We shall overcome the violent and inherit the earth. We shall create Peace on Earth!
Track your Senators' and Representative's votes by e-mail
Changing who's in charge will not affect much. The real cause of this huge quagmire of failed policy is the beast, big government, that money hungry beast, Uncle Sam! Ma Freedom tells it like it is! The beauty of it is when we focus on down-sizing our government we regain our roots of self-government and secure the blessings of liberty for future generations and ourselves.
Compiled and written by Colleen McCool
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