Friday, February 13, 2009

President Obama's Drug Czar

Obama has selected his Drug Czar, and it looks to be a huge improvement over what we've had for the last 20+ years. Certainly not an advocate for decriminalization, but definitely not another gung-ho "drug warrior", either....

From an e-mail I received from Students for a Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP):

President Obama has finally selected a Drug Czar, and thanks to your advocacy, he may be the most reasonable person to ever fill that post. This is his story in a nutshell:

During a summer day in Seattle eight years ago, a feeling of uncertainty hung in the air over Myrtle Edwards Park. So did a lot of marijuana smoke.

More than 100,000 people had gathered for the city's 10th annual Hempfest. There was a new police chief in town, and nobody was sure what to expect. Nonetheless, the clock hit 4:20pm and the park filled with a haze.

How many marijuana arrests were made at Hempfest that year? Only one.

Thus began Gil Kerlikowske's career as Seattle's police chief. Under his watch, the city embraced more sensible drug policies: establishing needle exchange programs, openly discussing alternatives to prohibition, protecting the rights of medical marijuana patients, and making marijuana possession the lowest priority for law enforcement. While the chief didn't create these forward-thinking policies, he stood by them.

And now, if he is confirmed by the Senate, he'll be standing by President Obama.

While we would have preferred a public health specialist to someone in law enforcement, this new "Drug Czar" could very well pave the way to more sensible and humane drug policies. But to ensure that he does, we must "brief the chief"! http://www.ssdp.org/briefthechief

After signing the petition, you'll be directed to a page where you can purchase him a welcome gift from a wide selection of books and DVDs that question the wisdom of the Drug War.

Could this be the first Drug Czar to have a copy of How to Legalize Drugs on his book shelf? It may be a long shot, but as Louis Brandeis once said: "Most of the things worth doing... had been declared impossible before they were done."
http://www.ssdp.org/briefthechief

Cautiously optimistic,

Micah Daigle, Associate Director
Students for Sensible Drug Policy
http://www.SchoolsNotPrisons.com
P.S. Fun Fact: The police chief of Seattle who preceded Kerlikowske became an outspoken member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. Maybe there's just something sensible in that Pacific Northwestern air...

Sign the petition here.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

5 Days and Counting

Every day the poor old Rethuglicans are getting closer and closer to the reality they are forced to face. After several years of dominance over all 3 branches of government, after pissing away our Nation's blood and treasure on an unnecessary war, after leading around the ignorant unwashed masses using religion as a tool of division, after leaving thousands of Americans to needlessly suffer and die in New Orleans -- this how it ends. The Republican President George W. Bush is the most reviled president in modern times. History will not be kind to the Grand Old Purveyors of ignorance. The xenophobic, disingenuous party of hate will be relegated to the political wilderness for an entire generation, if not longer. Officially. Beginning in 5 days. God Bless America!!!!!!

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

13 Days and Counting

A quick and to-the-point set of figures (from NBC News) shows us just how far our great Nation has fallen after 8 years of Chimpy McCokeSpoon:

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

Then: 4.2% (Bureau of Labor Statistics, January 2001)
Now: 6.7%
(Bureau of Labor Statistics, November 2008)

DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE

Then: 10,587 (close of Friday, Jan. 19, 2001)
Now: 9,015
(close of Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2009)

BUSH FAVORABILITY RATING
Then: 50% (1/01 NBC/WSJ poll)
Now: 31% (12/08 NBC/WSJ poll)

SATISFIED WITH THE NATION'S DIRECTION
Then: 45% (1/01 NBC/WSJ poll)
Now: 26% (12/08 NBC/WSJ poll)

CONSUMER CONFIDENCE (1985=100)
Then: 115.7 (Conference Board, January 2001)
Now: 38.0, which is an all-time low (Conference Board, December 2008)

FAMILIES LIVING IN POVERTY
Then: 6.4 million (Census numbers for 2000)
Now: 7.6 million (Census numbers for 2007 -- most recent numbers available)

AMERICANS WITHOUT HEALTH INSURANCE
Then: 39.8 million (Census numbers for 2000)
Now: 45.7 million (Census numbers for 2007 -- most recent available)

U.S. BUDGET
Then: +236.2 billion (2000, Congressional Budget Office)
Now: -$1.2 trillion (projected figure for 2009, Congressional Budget Office)

Of course, the Rush Limbo's and Sean Hannity's of the world would say this is all the Media's fault. Or Clinton's fault. Or somebody other than the guy in charge*.....


* for 13 more days

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Almost New Years - Taking Requests

New Years Eve is almost upon us. For those of you coming to our annual bash, I am finishing up the music playlist (about half Beatles, and the other half is a mix of other stuff), so if you have any songs you'd like me to add to the playlist, let me know by adding a comment here - or, if registering so you can comment is just too damn complicated for ya, you can just email me at john@john420.com.

Monday, December 29, 2008

23 Days and Counting

Let the spinning begin! Seeing as how old Chimpy McFlightsuit is finally on his way out, his surrogates are now out in full force trying to rewrite history for the most embarrassing President of all time.

A small sampling:

"History, though, is going to be kind to [Bush] at the end." - Karl Rove


"[This generation is going to] thank this president for what he's done," - Condi Rice


"In 100 years people aren’t going to remember Guantánamo or Abu Ghraib" - John "The Walrus" Bolton


I do have to agree with Condi though. I am thankful that Bush has been so terrible that he has opened the door for us to fundamentally reshape our politics, which have been nothing but right vs. left and gridlock for the last 20 or so years. So, yeah, um, thanks Chimpy....

More details here.

Friday, December 26, 2008

Merry Christmas!


The Christmas insanity is over, and 2008 was one of the best Christmases ever. Julia and David got TONS of toys (and other stuff, but do they really care about anything except the toys?) and they really seemed to enjoy everything. Went to quite a few parties, some family friendly ones - and some not so much (thanks Brigette and Al!).

Anyway, the new blog is now up and running and I plan to post at least once every day (we'll see how that works out). Please visit often and say hello or share your thoughts in the comments section!