tagged w/ War on Drugs
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In yet another attempt to ‘ensure our liberties’, congress is currently debating Stop Online Piracy Act – aka SOPA. The very fact that their current laws are unenforceable due to a lack of personnel and funding, congress apparently feels that more laws are the answer…again. In their twisted heads, they seem to believe that by denying a dns (domain name service) entry onto the web via its ISP (Internet Service Provider), they can somehow save money. Just a few minor holes into this thing that I would like to shoot down right now.
1 – Smaller ISP’s are to be more impacted by this than the larger ones – small wonder as to why the big dogs in the major Companies support this nonsense (for a list of supporting companies, go t......
http://peacefreedomprosperity.com/6151/12-reasons-why-sopa-is-worse-than-you-think/In yet another attempt to ‘ensure our liberties’, congress is currently... more
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Police in New York have announced a plan to block the city’s New Year’s Eve celebration, contending that its crowd control responsibilities in Times Square interfere with a more essential duty.
“The public forgets that New York is one of the world’s leading drug trafficking centers, creating an industry here worth billions of dollars,” a department spokesman said. “The NYPD provides the open playing field on which this industry can thrive.
“Due to recent staffing cuts, we no longer have the manpower to do that and baby sit an overflow of tourists in Times Square at the same time.”
Jack Clavic, president of the city’s police patrolmen’s union, agreed, pointing out that police corruption has become much more task intensive in recent years.
“Getting your cut of the drug money these days involves more than turning your back and keeping your mouth shut,” he said. “We’ve got to provide security for shipments, run errands for the big drug dealers, and still stage the occasional ‘bust’ for the news media.”
A spokesperson for Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is spending the holidays in his Bermuda vacation complex, expressed outrage at the Police Department’s support of the drug trade.
“New York already has Wall Street,” the spokesperson said. “There is no need for a second racket. The mayor urges the NYPD to get off the drugs and get on the tourists. But none of that pepper spray crap, okay?
“And by the way, the Mayor also would like to remind the police commissioner that his envelope has yet to arrive this month.”
The NYPD, meanwhile, plans to take a page from the Occupy Wall Street movement and use its shutdown of Times Square as a publicity opportunity.
“The general public doesn’t realize that tons and tons of narcotics and hallucinogens smoothly pass through New York City and many of its residents every day,” he said. “That doesn’t happen without the assistance and cooperation of a dedicated police force.”
The NYPD’s Times Square protest will publicize that position with the new slogan: “At War With Drugs. At Peace With Corruption.”Police in New York have announced a plan to block the city’s New Year’s... more
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Watch this video from MSNBC, broadcast Dec. 10, 2011.
Newt Gingrich proposed the death penalty for marijuana in 1997, and yet he is one of the 100 million Americans who have smoked marijuana.
December 13, 2011 |
Over the weekend, struggling Republican presidential candidate Gary Johnson reminded MSNBC viewers that GOP frontrunner Newt Gingrich had once to called to punish some drug offenders with death.
“Newt Gingrich, in 1997, proposed the death penalty for marijuana — for possession of marijuana above a certain quantity of marijuana,” Johnson explained. “And yet, he is among 100 million Americans who’ve smoked marijuana.”
“I would love to have a discussion with him on the fact that he smoked pot, and under the wrong set of circumstance he proposed the death penalty for, potentially, something that he had committed. I have troubles with that,” he added.
Johnson, a former New Mexico governor who has advocated for marijuana legalization since 1999, is at least partially correct about Gingrich’s position.
As Speaker of the House, Gingrich introducedthe “Drug Importer Death Penalty Act of 1996.”
The bill would have required a “sentence of death for certain importations of significant quantities of controlled substances.” It would have applied to anyone convicted more than once of carrying 100 doses — or about two ounces — or marijuana across the border. Defendants would have had a window of 18 months to file their one and only appeal.
“If you import a commercial quantity of illegal drugs, it is because you have made the personal decision that you are prepared to get rich by destroying our children,” the Georgia Republican said at a fundraiser for Rep. Charlie Norwood (R-GA) in 1995. “I have made the decision that I love our children enough that we will kill you if you do this.”
“The first time we execute 27 or 30 or 35 people at one time, and they go around Colombia and France and Thailand and Mexico, and they say, ‘Hi, would you like to carry some drugs into the U.S.?’ the price of carrying drugs will have gone up dramatically.”
U.S. law already allows the death penalty in the cases of large-scale drug operations — or continuing criminal enterprises — that result in murder.
Gingrich charged in 1994 that 25 percent of President Bill Clinton’s White House staff used drugs, but at the same time admitted that he had also smoked pot 25 years earlier.
“That was a sign we were alive and in graduate school in that era,” he explained.
“See, when I smoked pot it was illegal, but not immoral,” Gingrich reportedly told Wall Street Journal reporter Hilary Stout in 1996. “Now, it is illegal AND immoral. The law didn’t change, only the morality… That’s why you get to go to jail and I don’t.”Watch this video from MSNBC, broadcast Dec. 10, 2011.
Newt Gingrich proposed the... more
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Ever since the federal government announced a major crackdown on medical marijuana cultivators and dispensaries in California, a lot of people have been wondering what the hell Barack Obama is thinking. Message boards for medical marijuana activists in the state have been abuzz with one-time Obama supporters swearing allegiance to Ron Paul, who supports legalization, and expressing outrage at Obama's perceived betrayal of their cause.
After all, the Prez smoked weed in college and unlike certain would-be non-inhalers wasn't afraid to admit this fact during his 2008 campaign for the White House.
And then there was the fact that Obama's hand-picked law enforcement chief, Eric Holder, promised back in 2009 that his Justice Department would not waste resources prosecuting marijuana cases in states like California that have passed voter initiatives allowing residents to smoke pot for medicinal use.
So, given the huge outcry in the wake of this fall's crackdown, it's no surprise that Holder is now trying to soothe the masses with more sweet-talk. Specifically, in a hearing on Capitol Hill yesterday pertaining to the feds' disastrous program of providing automatic rifles to the Mexican cartels in the lame attempt to trace the weapons (which ended up being used to massacre cops south of the border), Holder reiterated the Obama administration's support of the so-called Ogden Memo from 2009, which declared fighting voter-approved medical marijuana to be the feds' lowest priority in the war on drugs.
"What we said in the memo we still intend, which is that given the limited resources that we have, and if there are states that have medical marijuana provisions . . . if in fact people are not using the policy decision that we have made to use marijuana in a way that's not consistent with the state statute, we will not use our limited resources in that way," Holder stated. The operative phrase in Holder's somewhat vague statement is "consistent with state law."
Given the fact that state law, as it applies to medical marijuana, is full of inconsistencies and gray areas, those four words amount to a huge loophole that the Obama administration can use to justify prosecuting any marijuana grower or dispensary that happens to end up its cross-hairs. Since the feds' recent crackdown, landlords who rent to marijuana growers or dispensaries throughout the state have received letters threatening seizure of their property, including Yousef Ibrahim, who had been renting to several cannabis clubs in Lake Forest before evicting them and filing for bankruptcy.
Suffice it to say that these letters invalidate everything Holder has said about Obama's policy up to now, and that time is running out for the president to win back the stoner demographic before November 2012.
http://blogs.ocweekly.com/navelgazing/2011/12/obama_administration_promises.phpEver since the federal government announced a major crackdown on medical marijuana... more
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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.
A new British study finds children with high IQs are more likely to use drugs as adults than people who score low on IQ tests as children. The data come from the 1970 British Cohort Study, which has been following thousands of people over decades. The kids' IQs were tested at the ages of 5, 10 and 16. The study also asked about drug use and looked at education and other socioeconomic factors. Then when participants turned 30, they were asked whether they had used drugs such as marijuana, cocaine and heroin in the past year.
Researchers discovered men with high childhood IQs were up to two times more likely to use illegal drugs than their lower-scoring counterparts. Girls with high IQs were up to three times more likely to use drugs as adults. A high IQ is defined as a score between 107 and 158. An average IQ is 100. The study appears in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.
The lead researcher says he isn't surprised by the findings. "Previous research found for the most part people with high IQs lead a healthy life, but that they are more likely to drink to excess as adults," says James White a psychologist at Cardiff University in the United Kingdom.
It's not clear why people with high childhood IQs are more likely to use illegal drugs. "We suspect they may be more open to new experiences and are more sensation seeking," says White. In the paper, White and his co-author also mention other studies that find high IQ kids may use drugs because they are bored or to cope with being different.
That seems to ring true for one of my childhood classmates. Tracey Helton Mitchell was one of the smartest kids in my middle school. But, by the time she was in her early 20's, Tracey was a heroin addict. I found out while flipping channels one sleepless night and stumbled upon the documentary "Black Tar Heroin."
"I was confident in my abilities but there was a dissonance," says Tracey, with whom I recently reconnected. "No matter what I did, what I said, where I went, I was never comfortable with the shell I carried called myself."
http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2011/11/14/high-iq-linked-to-drug-use/The "Just Say No" generation was often told by parents and teachers that... more
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US authorities find major drug tunnel in San Diego
SAN DIEGO (AP) — An estimated 17 tons of marijuana were seized in the discovery of a cross-border tunnel that authorities said Wednesday was one of the most significant secret drug smuggling passages ever found on the U.S.-Mexico border.
The tunnel discovered Tuesday stretched about 400 yards (400 meters) and linked warehouses in San Diego and Tijuana, authorities said.
U.S. authorities seized about nine tons of marijuana inside a truck and at the warehouse in San Diego's Otay Mesa area, said Derek Benner, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement special agent in charge of investigations in San Diego. Mexican authorities recovered about eight tons south of the border.
Authorities spoke at a news conference near packages of seized dope festooned with labels of Captain America, Sprite and Bud Light. The markings are codes to identify the owners.
Photos taken by Mexican authorities show an entry blocked by bundles that were likely stuffed with marijuana, said Paul Beeson, chief of the Border Patrol's San Diego sector. Tunnel walls were lined with wood supports. The passage was equipped with lighting and ventilation systems.
The tunnel was about four feet high and three feet wide. It dropped about 20 feet on the U.S. side.
Two men allegedly seen leaving the warehouse in a truck packed with about three tons of pot were pulled over Tuesday on a highway in suburban La Mesa and arrested. A California Highway Patrol officer was overwhelmed by the smell, according to a federal complaint.
Cesar Beltran and Ruben Gomez each face a maximum penalty of life in prison if convicted of conspiracy to distribute marijuana, said Alana Robinson, chief of the U.S. attorney's narcotics enforcement section in San Diego. They were scheduled to be arraigned Thursday.
Cross-border tunnels have proliferated in recent years, but the latest find is one of the more significant, based on the amount of drugs seized.
Raids last November on two tunnels linking San Diego and Tijuana netted a combined 50 tons of marijuana on both sides of the border, two of the largest pot busts in U.S. history. Those secret passages were lined with rail tracks, lighting and ventilation.
read more: http://news.yahoo.com/us-authorities-major-drug-tunnel-san-diego-185929368.htmlUS authorities find major drug tunnel in San Diego
SAN DIEGO (AP) — An... more
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When people cannot for some reason govern themselves – they turn to a small group of people to do it for them. They lack the belief in their own abilities to fix something, so they turn to an outside force to level the playing field. The irony here is that the playing field itself was never tilted to begin with. As such, it is the idea that everyon
http://peacefreedomprosperity.com/5785/the-plight-of-mariestown/When people cannot for some reason govern themselves – they turn to a small... more
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Anarchist Artist Victor Pross takes on a few common objections to the idea of a stateless society, philosophical anarchism. Those objections remain the same, forever spinning out on a hamster wheel, repeatedly and persistently: “What about the roads? What about the poor? What about violent crimes? What about theft?”
Listen to this video for a different perspective to the nature of the issue.
http://peacefreedomprosperity.com/5782/objections-to-the-freedom-movement/Anarchist Artist Victor Pross takes on a few common objections to the idea of a... more
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Just in case there was any doubt, the White House turned down a petition to legalize and regulate marijuana "in a matter similar to alcohol."
Backers had submitted 75,000 signatures to the Obama administration's "We the People" project. That vaulted it to the top spot among petitions the White House promised a quick policy response to if enough signatures were ...
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So much for change, freedom and liberty. What a pathetic, hypocritical, sell out!
Keep running guns to Mexican drug cartels, a$$hole.Just in case there was any doubt, the White House turned down a petition to legalize... more
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The hyphenated anarchists can be a combative bunch. I’ve done my share of arguing from an Ancap perspective, against sects of the movement I believe wish to achieve freedom- so long as it is done their way. Tired and stale as the news on it may be, the Occupy Movement lends itself well to unification behind a few vital, strategy-related principles for pushing back the state. Libertarian and anarchist circles have reacted to the Movement in a number of ways, ranging from complete dismissal to complete embrace. The implications of the current Movement, which has now spread to Europe, are too large not to take advantage of, but in a measured way. Because the Movement presents an opportuni.......
http://peacefreedomprosperity.com/5749/ows-an-anti-state-perspective/The hyphenated anarchists can be a combative bunch. I’ve done my share of... more
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After breaking $4 a gallon for a short time in may, the steady decline in gas prices over the last five months has come as a breath of fresh air to commuters and consumers everywhere. The current average is hovering around $3.46 a gallon.
In such times it is far too easy to look at the current price and gain false hope in a recovering market. For example in July 2008, gas prices were pushing $4.12 a gallon. In a highly unusual dip the prices fell to nearly $1.60 a gallon in less than 6 months – something that has never happened in at least over 7 years.
Why? Well, the price of light crude on the WTI at the time was at an all time high in July, and made a very sudden decline from $133/barrel monthly average to $41/barrel monthly average in less than 5 months – right before elections. While it was noticeable at the time, it was hardly used then as a political stateme
http://peacefreedomprosperity.com/5738/on-oil-and-gas/After breaking $4 a gallon for a short time in may, the steady decline in gas prices... more
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The highway from percocet to heroin.
Hardly anyone starts getting high with the intention of becoming a full-blown heroin addict. The chicken-versus-egg approach of blaming marijuana as “the gateway drug” could ramble on forever, as could defining alcohol and nicotine as “drugs”. http://wp.me/p1RkpB-1The highway from percocet to heroin.
Hardly anyone starts getting high with the... more
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Washington, DC - A Congressional panel that’s searching for ways to save the crumbling US Postal Service has recommended that the agency increase its profits by becoming the nation’s narcotics distribution network.
With the Internet and e-mail devastating its lucrative first-class mail business, the post office needs to either expand into new areas or shut down entirely.
“We originally were debating whether to allow the Postal Service to deliver wine and beer,” said subcommittee chairman Jack Rackcall (R-Wyoming). “Then we realized, heck, why stop there when we can get higher?”… More…
To gain support for its controversial plan, the subcommittee has formed a political awareness organization called the Benefits Of Narcotics Group (BONG). Under the proposed Congressional plan, the BONG would replace the Drug Enforcement Administration, which has been losing the war on drugs since 1973.
“After spending some quality time with the BONG, we have concluded that it would be a simple task for the Postal Service to take over drug distribution from coast-to-coast,” Rackcall said.
“HBO has already done the research for us. All the Postal Service has to do is deliver. They have the trucks, and we need the bucks.”
But testimony heard later by the subcommittee indicated that the post office could have some trouble executing its narcotics distribution plan.
“I don’t know if youse gentlemen and ladies understand the idea of territory,” testified Vincent Gonaduce, president of the Genco Pura Olive Oil Company. “Think of it as a congressional district, only with cars that blow-up when you try to start them.”
Undeterred, Rackcall and his subcommittee are scrambling to find immediate solutions. It’s projected that USP will need to layoff 200,000 carriers or do away with Saturday mail delivery, unless additional revenue sources are discovered by the end of the year. Reportedly, 11 million vicious dogs have begun investigating new ways to spend their weekends.Washington, DC - A Congressional panel that’s searching for ways to save the... more
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“I, David P Shirk, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.” – August 8, 1998.
If there is one regret I have had in my lifetime, it was the utterance of those words. My intentions were good, after all, I wanted to protect people and serve them – just as so many I knew and respected who came before me. What I didn’t know at the time was my countries history (great job public school system), and the full actions taken by the government since its founding.
Before 9-11, I started seeing my job as having no real point. I was good at it to be sure, but could not see its use. We were not under attack, and the US seemed to be doing okay without using us. Then 9-11 happened, and everything changed. At first, I was eager to find the people responsible, and go earn my pay. Thank goodness my name was never called up for the task. I never would have thought at the time that the attack on the towers was the result of foreign meddling for the better part of 50 years.
Yet that one event set off a red flag in my head, and it was during that time tha.......
http://peacefreedomprosperity.com/5734/oathbreaker/“I, David P Shirk, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the... more
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One of the biggest beefs I have with those of the Libertarian persuasion is the idea that in a country of over 300 million people, now struggling to survive in a global setting and a global economy, no federal government whatsoever can somehow work and that if you allow every man to be an island and allow the free market to police itself, everything will somehow turn out OK, because it’s worked out so well in the past.
http://veracitystew.com/2011/09/27/extended-interview-ron-paul-visits-the-daily-show-video/One of the biggest beefs I have with those of the Libertarian persuasion is the idea... more
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October 7th 2011 will mark the 10 year anniversary of the war in the Middle East. This 10 years of war, has gone on for far too long.
War has a heavy cost, a heavy cost that we don’t think about in our daily busy lives. That cost is your children or your grandchildren dying before their time, being severely injured or mentally scarred for life.
War is your brothers and sisters being taught to kill other people — and to hate people who are just like themselves and who don’t want to kill anyone either.
War is your children seeing their friends killed before their very eyes or seeing their limbs blown off their bodies.
War is genocide; it is hundreds of thousands of human beings dying years before their time.
War is millions of people separated forever from their loved ones.
War is the destruction of homes which people worked for.
War is the end of careers that meant as much to others as your career means to you.
You cannot put a cost on a human life, but the financial cost on war is now running into the trillions of dollars. As illustrated by Cost Of War Dot Com.
War is the imposition of heavy taxes on you, other Americans, and on people in other countries — taxes that remain long after the war is over.
War is the suppression of free speech and the jailing of people who criticize the government.
War is the imposition of slavery when young men and women serve in the military.
War is goading the public to hate foreign people and races.
It is time to end the war and bring the troops home.
If you like the majority of Americans want to end the bombing and occupation of the Middle East.
Visit http://www.AntiWar.com, or Call Angela at: 1-323-512-7095
http://peacefreedomprosperity.com/5719/10-years-in-the-middle-east-is-far-too-long-antiwar/October 7th 2011 will mark the 10 year anniversary of the war in the Middle East.... more
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