Over at LewRockwell.com Butler Schaffer has posted a very eloquent essay putting Tim Russert’s passing and the copious attention paid to it into perspective. Butler concludes by suggesting that, ”at a time when newspapers and weekly news magazines are experiencing major circulation declines, and television news is losing viewers – all to the benefit of more free, open, and responsive Internet reporting – the mainstream media is struggling for its very existence. There may be a metaphorical message in the untimely death of television news’ most visible personage. Like those who gather to celebrate the life and death of a friend, perhaps the mainstream media is using the memory of Tim Russert to celebrate its own life, which seems now to be in a terminal state.”
Hat tip to Kenny Rodgers
Also in California, the state assembly acted tolerantly when it passed a medical marijuana employment rights bill. The law came in response to a decision by the State Supreme Court that employers could fire an employee for failing a drug test even though he or she legally possessed marijuana and used it for health reasons. To assume that someone who uses marijuana will be a poor worker and cause problems at the job site is both unjust and unfounded.
Next, in Hawaii the Aloha State's Big Island Hawaii County Council did its constituents a huge favor by rejecting $441,000 in state and federal funds to continue “Green Harvest” a marijuana eradication program. Not only did their own budget increase by $53,000 but they ended a widely despised program which drew numerous complaints from it inception. The Drug War Chronicle citing critics points out that, “low-flying helicopters searching for pot fields disrupted rural life and invaded their privacy. Others argued that the program has done little to eradicate marijuana and even promoted the use of other, more dangerous drugs.”
Lastly, in the Sun Valley town of Hailey, Idaho the population passed initiatives legalizing medical marijuana, legalizing industrial hemp and requiring city law enforcement to make marijuana arrests the department's lowest priority. These measures had passed in November but town officials would not enforce them. The Idaho Liberty Lobby organized the campaign on the theory that it would be harder for the politicians to ignore the will of the people when expressed twice.
The Drug War Chronicle is an essential publication for understanding the war on people who us certain kinds of drugs. You can subscribe to the e-mail edition here and you can support the work of the vital organization, DRCNet, behind it here.
Cross posted at The Trebach Report
Scholars for Peace in the Middle East (SPME) has responded by emphasizing and updating its petition which now states: "We are academics, scholars, researchers and professionals of differing religious and political perspectives. We all agree that singling out Israelis for an academic boycott is wrong. To show our solidarity with our Israeli academics in this matter, we, the undersigned, hereby declare ourselves to be Israeli academics for purposes of any academic boycott. We will regard ourselves as Israeli academics and decline to participate in any activity from which Israeli academics are excluded.” If you have not done so yet you can sign it here.
Cross posted on The Trebach Report
Because she tried to help mitigate the government black-market imposed high cost of marijuana for her self and her friends the Tallahassee police were able to blackmail her into participating in the very dangerous sting operation that took her life without informing either her attorneys or her parents.
Upon discovery of her body the police immediately called a press conference with the intention of blaming Hoffman for her own death. Her attorneys responded to this cruel farce by stating that, “Bringing to light the victim’s criminal charges, her alleged faults during a sting operation, and repeatedly addressing the fact, in so many different words, that the Tallahassee Police Department is not responsible for the death of Rachel Hoffman did nothing to inform the public about what truly happened the night of the drug sting. It did nothing to inform the public about what is going to happen to the individuals who killed her. It did nothing to inform the public about what policies and procedures are in place to protect a confidential informant before they engage in a police drug sting. The only purpose this information served was to both attack a woman who has been taken away from society in a ruthless, reckless, and vicious manner, and to allow her family to watch it all on television while they are still reeling from the shock of their loved ones death.”
Rachel Hoffman was more than just a marijuana user she was also an activist with organizations such as Students for a Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) and the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) trying to decriminalize marijuana and prevent the type of tragedies that took her own life. Despite the callous indifference shown by the national media and the public at large she will not be forgotten. Her mother has set up the Rachel Morningstar Foundation to continue her work.
There is no better illustration that drug prohibition is a vicious, unjust, expensive, and evil policy than Rachel Hoffman’s story.
Cross posted on The Trebach Report
Scott Horton called the work hilarious during his radio interview with John Cusack today. Also, the clips they played made some devastating points.
Cross posted on The Trebach Report
One person who has been reached by the above presentation is Congresswoman Yvette Clarke (D-NY). In a speech given on the floor of the House of Representatives she observed that the Bush Administration is allowing “more people with criminal records, including drug convictions, to serve in the Armed Forces. As a matter of fact, conduct waivers granted for felonies and other crimes constitute the majority of all waivers, about 60 percent for the Army, and 75 percent for the Marine Corps.” Clarke then went on to argue that, “it is important to note that the vast majority of such convictions stem from juvenile offenses, but at the same time, a provision of the Higher Education Act, which Congress is currently in the process of reauthorizing, bars young people with drug convictions from receiving Federal financial aid to go to college. I find it absolutely alarming that the Bush administration seems to think that youth who are prone to youthful indiscretions and get into trouble with drug use are, on the one hand, not worthy of Federal support to obtain a college education, but on the other hand, are perfectly fit to go and to fight the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.” egregious
Cross posted on The Trebach Report
Cross posted on The Trebach Report
Nevertheless, the government has decided to ruin the lives of 75 students attending San Diego State University. The DEA, at great taxpayer expense, has arrested them primarily for supplying fellow classmates with marijuana, a practice that has been going on since the 1960s. While it is true that these young people went about their business in a particularly reckless and arrogant manner using cell phone text messages to fill orders, still the effects of using marijuana do not even come close to justifying the waste of their talents and destruction of their careers.
Hat tip Ian Goddard
Cross posted on The Trebach Report
A case in point, Ron Paul has published a book, The Revolution: A Manifesto, which shot to the top 10 of the bestsellers lists virtually upon release and that has the potential to be the most influential book with the general public, in the cause of liberty, since Milton Friedman’s Free to Choose: A Personal Statement and this libelous nonsense is how Reason responds to the event. Author David Weigel should be true to himself, quit his job, and go to work for The Weekly Standard where he belongs.
Hat tip to Justin Raimondo
I wish to add an anecdote that illustrates Anthony Gregory’s last point. Back in the 1990s I participated in Waco protests organized by Carol Moore author of the book Davidian Massacre: Disturbing Questions About Waco Which Must Be Answered. One time someone, either a patriot or an individual with a perverse sense of humor, granted us a permit for the Ellipse right across from the White House on the same day as the traditional Easter egg roll. About ten of us showed up to display our crosses representing each person killed and an outstanding banner, created by Ian Goddard, depicting the tanks crashing into the building. Meanwhile, the tens of thousands of people waiting for hours a mere 15 yards away, seeking their chance to step foot on some of government’s most hallowed ground, treated us, for the most part, with profound indifference. They reminded me of a line for communion only instead of the body of Christ they would receive paper bunny ears and a cheap plastic egg. In a just and knowledgeable world the number of protestors and the number of worshippers would have been reversed.
Keeping people from playing the slots is not a proper role for government in a free society. This e-mail represents a very real destructive problem because it reinforces the pernicious idea that people are not responsible for their own behavior. And, that is the underlying philosophy of slavery, blacks were too childlike or worse to be trusted to govern their own lives, you just want to extend the principle to everyone. I strongly suspect that you do not particularly enjoy gambling on the slots, however, I also believe that you do enjoy doing something that carries as much or more potential for harm as does playing slot machines. Therefore, your ban is completely arbitrary. I think that sending your e-mail was an immoral act and I offer Lysander Spooner’s essay Vices Are Not Crimes: A Vindication of Moral Liberty to support this opinion.
Cross posted on The Trebach Report
Arcfault wrote: ”As you say,"There are too many negatives with marijuana," well, there are FAR MORE negatives with NOT supporting its legalization.
I doubt that.
I have smoked marijuana and I have felt the negative effects. The severely impaired brain function for hours, much like alcohol. The big negative I see that is blindingly clear, alcohol can be tested and verified in the field with a breathalyzer. As far as I'm aware, marijuana cannot.
I have worked around pot smokers, something which I refuse to do now. They are a danger to me in my profession; they put my life at risk just so they can have their"high".
I also who have friends that are addicted to pot, socially addicted mind you. They cannot even talk to people without being high. They are so hooked on the high that without it they can't function. Sounds remarkably like an alcoholic.
So no, you have me pinned wrong. I have been on your side and I have experienced pot first hand. Frankly I see no reason to legalize it beyond medicinal purposes.
My Response: Arcfault, you had a bad experience with pot so I suggest that you do not use it anymore. But, literally millions of people have had very good experiences with it. Why should you get to decide the true nature of marijuana for every one? You say it is a hazard on the job and if this is correct I have no problem with your employer firing anyone who works while high. However, for 99% of all work place situations the statement that being stoned while there constitutes a danger simply is not true.
You talk about socially inept friends but I know people who use marijuana who are bright, energetic, articulate, and successful. In fact there are whole websites devoted to famous achieving people who use marijuana such as Louis Armstrong.
You know something, Arcfault; I do not like your girlfriend. I think she is bad for you. You spend too much time with her. She is too good a cook and you will gain weight causing lethal medical problems down the line. She is too flirtatious which means that she will cheat on you in the future leading to substantial heartache. You will lose a great deal of sleep over this making you a hazard to your co-workers. I am ordering you to break up with her. If you do not stop seeing her by the end of this week I will send the police to your door and they will throw you in prison. It is for your own good and I do not care what you yourself think of her.
