Liberty & Power: Group Blog
Entries by Keith Halderman
Friday, October 10, 2008
Drug Czar Sees New Danger
Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), John Walters, is upset because videos depicting drug use are appearing on the internet Even though a study conducted by the research firm Nielsen Online found that only 5% of the 6000 teens surveyed had seen such videos on sites like MySpace and YouTube, the Drug Czar still thinks parents should be worried enough to spy on their children.
Perhaps, Walters fears competition in the business of encouraging drug use among the nation’s youth. After all back in 2006 USA TODAY, while covering a General Accounting Office study on the program, reported that the “$1.4 billion anti-drug advertising campaign conducted by the U.S. government since 1998 does not appear to have helped reduce drug use and instead might have convinced some youths that taking illegal drugs is normal.” Also, for all the Drug Czar knows these new videos showing people high and acting stupid will actually discourage drug use.
Lastly, since a great deal of the time, effort and money spent in the government’s war on people who use certain kinds of drugs has always been directed towards demonizing and censoring those with opposing views, Walters’ statement that "Nobody's talking about censorship over the Internet here, what we're talking about is legitimate parental supervision” is likely disingenuous at best.
Cross posted on The Trebach Report
Thursday, October 9, 2008
McCain a Hero?
The more I learn about John McCain the less that I like him as a person let alone candidate. When in boot camp for the Navy we all were required to view a film on the catastrophic fire which occurred on board the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Forrestal in July 1967. The purpose of the film was to make clear the danger of fire at sea, however, the self sacrifice and heroism of the crew in fighting the blaze also made a strong impression.
Historian Mary Hershberger has written a fascinating article titled Investigating John McCain’s Tragedy at Sea, which reviews McCain’s role in the event. After presenting evidence that over the years McCain has been less than truthful about his actions and that he may actually have contributed to the severity of the incident, Hershberger states that, ”Whatever the circumstances of the fire’s origins, McCain did not stay on deck to help fight the blaze as the men around him did. With the firefighting crew virtually wiped out, men untrained in fighting fires had to pick up the fire hoses, rescue the wounded or frantically throw bombs and even planes over the ship’s side to prevent further tragedy. McCain left them behind and went down to the hangar-bay level, where he briefly helped crew members heave some bombs overboard. After that, he went to the pilot’s ready room and watched the fire on a television monitor hooked to a camera trained on the deck.” A little later, while fires were still burning, McCain left the vessel by helicopter for some RR in Saigon. This account of McCain’s involvement does not sound very heroic to me.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Charles Whitebread has Passed On
Sadly, Charles Whitebread, respected legal scholar and one of the foremost authorities on the history of marijuana, has passed away. He co-authored The Marihuana Conviction perhaps the most comprehensive history of marijuana prohibition in the United States, A tireless advocate of marijuana law reform Whitebread wrote, ”Law may be rooted in fiction as well as fact. Indeed, a public policy conceived in ignorance may be continuously reaffirmed, ever more vehemently, so long as its origins remain obscure or its fallacy unexposed." His wit, insight, and dedication will be sorely missed.
Cross posted on The Trebach Report
Monday, September 8, 2008
He is Not Worth It
Recently, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has become the darling of both Democrats, Joe Biden has called for giving him another billion dollars of the tax payers’ money, Republicans, John McCain’s top foreign policy advisor was a paid lobbyist for him, and perhaps most importantly the main stream media, most of whom accept uncritically just about everything he says. Now would be a good time to remember that at one time Saddam Hussein received the same kind of treatment, esteem, and billions, from the same parties and information sources.
The two leaders, Saakashvili and Hussein, certainly seem to share many of the same ideas about governing. Neither would tolerate a free press or peaceful demonstrations and both have used a brutal prison system, inclined towards torture, to secure power. In The Jewish Daily Forward Kathleen Peratis calls into question the keystone of the mass media’s narrative, that Georgia is a Democracy. She reports that, “in response to these events, Saakashvili called a snap election for January 2008, which the opposition alleges he stole through voter intimidation and media dominance.”
We must ask ourselves are the aims of Saakashvili, who committed the first acts of violence in this latest confrontation, really worth restarting the Cold War? Do we seriously want our children to be subject to duck and cover drills again and to live every day with the knowledge and fear that the world could be destroyed at any instant?
Cross posted on The Trebach Report
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Fascism is Alive and Well in Minnesota
Glenn Greenwald provides evidence that each year the state repression gets worse. This time potential protesters are being illegally confronted by the police, even before the Republican Convention begins.
We see here the real damage that the terrorists have done to American society. They have made “security” the be all and end all of our values. The most repugnant un-America acts are always justified in its name.
Hat tip to Scott Horton
Monday, July 21, 2008
Ron Paul Effect in Action
The Ron Paul saga is still far from over. I personally can not imagine this article being written, much less published by a student newspaper, before Paul ran for president.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
USA Number One
A student in a class on the history of drugs was asked the following two questions; “Do more arrests and more people in prison necessarily lead to less drug use? Also, does a policy producing fewer arrests and less people in prison necessarily lead to more drug use?” Last week the World Health Organization (WHO) answered both queries with a resounding no.
Ever since the Progressive Era the United States government has pursued a policy relying primarily on punishment to curb drug abuse, with abuse and use being considered largely synonymous. While the program has always been a mixture of state coercion and drug treatment, the bulk of the funding has gone into maintaining prohibition. As a result, this country has a racially biased overcrowded prison system on the verge of collapse. We have a law enforcement system employing often very brutal tactics which accomplish very little in way of ending drug use. Our medical system is denying people in pain the medication they need to ease their suffering. And, the nation’s economic system must come up with billions of dollars each year to pay for this activity.
We are told these sacrifices are necessary to keep drugs in check but what do we really get for our money and our pain? Well, U.S. News and World Report, writing about research done by the WHO, tells us that the United States has “the highest percentage of people who reported using marijuana or cocaine at least once in their lives.” We have achieved this distinction despite the fact that many other countries have much more liberal and humane policies than us. Writing on AlterNet Bruce Mirken argues that this study shows the punitive approach to be ineffective and that the people in charge of the policy know this. Mirken quotes the WHO researchers; "The U.S., which has been driving much of the world's drug research and drug policy agenda, stands out with higher levels of use of alcohol, cocaine, and cannabis, despite punitive illegal drug policies. ... The Netherlands, with a less criminally punitive approach to cannabis use than the US, has experienced lower levels of use, particularly among younger adults. Clearly, by itself, a punitive policy towards possession and use accounts for limited variation in nation level rates of illegal drug use."
Cross posted on The Trebach Report
Monday, July 7, 2008
Astonishing Display of Ignorance
I have often thought it is a shame that there are no annual awards for the most amazing displays of stupidity by university administrators. If there were, this would be my nomination for 2008.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Ron Paul Democrat
Maybe all of those hero activists scrapping for delegates in Idaho, Montana, and Nevada are at the wrong conventions. In South Carolina a Ron Paul Democrat ,Bob Conley will be running against Republican Lindsey Graham for one of South Carolina’s Senate seats. In a superb article for Taki’s Magazine Dylan Hales’ analysis gives us plenty of reason to be optimistic about his chances. After looking at Conley’s website, I believe his election would be step forward.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
The Over Mourning of Tim Russert
The death of Tim Russert has become a huge media story on the level of Britney Spears leaving rehab early. Now, Russert may have been a good family man and nice to those he knew personally (although I have my doubts after the way he was one of the first to call for the head of his supposed friend Don Imus after the Rutgers joke), however, in my opinion the praise for him as a journalist is unwarranted. Take a close look at his interview (see here, here, here, and here) with Ron Paul and it becomes clear that he has no journalistic interest the importance of the revolution only trivial matters designed to tear it down. Tim Russert was not a great reporter he was a staunch defender of the status quo and that is where his success came from. If he had been Russian and born a bit earlier he would have fit in well at Brezhnev’s Pravda.
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
Monday, June 9, 2008
Ballot Access
Today in newspapers across the country the Libertarian Party is getting at least partial recognition with regards to ballot access.
Friday, May 30, 2008
Marijuana and Tolerance
No less than four out of eleven news stories in the latest edition of The Drug War Chronicle demonstrate significant progress in reforming marijuana laws. First, the 2nd District Court of Appeal in Los Angeles made a ruling that the state legislature there acted unconstitutionally when it passed a law limiting the amount of marijuana any one patient could have. This finding is particularly good because the law allowing cannabis for medical purposes came about through the initiative process and the lawmakers were trying to overrule the people.
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
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Israeli Academics Threatened Again
In Great Britain lecturers belonging to the University and College Union have once again voted for an effective boycott of Israeli Academics. They have done this despite the fact that in 2007 that organization’s leadership determined that such action was illegal under British law.
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
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
I do not Think They are Ever Going to Find Anything Real
The latest mainstream media evidence of the totally evil nature of Ron Paul is the assertion that he has too many family members on his campaign staff. Do I really need to say it? Let us compare who works for Ron Paul with those employed by John McCain.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Drug Prohibition Kills Again
The same national news networks that devoted countless hours of coverage to the disappearance of Natalee Holloway and the killing by her husband of Laci Peterson can not seem to spare even a minute for the murder of Rachel Hoffman. Why, is it because she was a marijuana user and therefore subhuman or perhaps this is due to the fact that the Tallahassee Police Department was largely responsible for her death?
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
Friday, May 23, 2008
Support this Important Film
If you live in New York City or Los Angles then perhaps the most important way you could spend you time tonight is by seeing the premier of the new anti-war movie War, Inc.. The film promises to be very controversial and may have trouble getting venues, so a good money making first showing tonight is crucial.
Scott Horton called the work hilarious during his radio interview with John Cusack today. Also, the clips they played made some devastating points.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Questionable Methodology
The headline links marijuana to an increased risk of heart disease but the article concerning work done for the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) by Dr. Jean Lud Cadet describes highly questionable methodology. Reuters reports that, “the study did not look at whether the heavy marijuana users actually had heart disease.” and that, ”the marijuana users in the study averaged smoking 78 to 350 marijuana cigarettes per week, based on self-reported drug history.” Once again the government is desperately trying to justify the evils of prohibition by producing research that does not prove what it purports to and that has no relationship with the way people actually use marijuana. This study is blatant propaganda with a veneer of science.
Cross posted on The Trebach Report
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Generating Increased Terrorism
In an article linked to at Anti-War.com former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter discusses an important resolution before the Chicago City Council opposing war with Iran. He reports on each section of the resolution, amplifying it and defending it, including one which argues that an attack against Iran will inspire more terrorism. Ritter writes that, ”the only way to truly win the war on terror is to identify the point at which an individual decides to embrace terror as a means of achieving an objective, along with the means for which such a decision was made, and then to take actions to prevent that point from ever being reached. To operate as if American policy and actions in Iraq, and the potential of similar actions and activities in Iran, do not influence this equation is simply to ignore reality and embrace ignorance."
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Futility in San Diego
One has to strongly suspect that the American public generally views the massive drug bust at San Diego State as a good thing because we all know that no one ever did drugs on that campus before those particular seventy-five students matriculated there and now no one ever will again. However, not everyone sees these arrests as a positive and some concerned parents will protest by holding a mock graduation ceremony with empty chairs representing the missing students. Fortunately, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) has an outstanding video, where ex-police officers explain the rationale and methodology behind similar operations, that leads one to understand that the protestors not the general public are correct on this issue.
Cross posted on The Trebach Report
War Not School for You Transgressor
Quite naturally, Students for a Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) has as a primary goal of changing the provision in the Higher Education Act which denies financial aid to students convicted of drug possession. They have noted that while those offenses preclude education they do not keep the offenders involved from serving in the military. Therefore SSDP has produced a video which explains how the growing number of conduct waivers offered by military recruiters amounts to a drug war draft.
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
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Marijuana May Help Prevent Cancer
Under the title ”The Greatest Story Never Told” Fred Gardner, the editor of O'Shaughnessy's, explains what is involved in making so many people falsely believe that marijuana smoking is a cause of lung cancer. He reveals that the work of Dr. Donald Tashkin, in the past no friend of cannabis, not only failed to find causation but also discovered evidence of a protective effect. Gardner reports that, ”as to the highly promising implication of his own study -that something in marijuana stops damaged cells from becoming malignant- Tashkin noted that an anti-proliferative effect of THC has been observed in cell-culture systems and animal models of brain, breast, prostate, and lung cancer. THC has been shown to promote known apoptosis (damaged cells die instead of reproducing) and to counter angiogenesis (the process by which blood vessels are formed -a requirement of tumor growth). Other antioxidants in cannabis may also be involved in countering malignancy, said Tashkin.”
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
Sunday, May 4, 2008
When Good Magazines Go Bad
When I first became a libertarian back in the late 1980s I used to love Reason Magazine. On the day an issue appeared in my mailbox it got read cover to cover and the information presented was invaluable to a budding activist trying to convince others that freedom was the correct path. Now, I would not let my dog take a dump on it because it is just not good enough for him.
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
Sunday, April 27, 2008
War on Terror $$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Ian S. Lustick, a Research Fellow at the Independent Institute and Professor of Political Science and Director of Graduate Studies in the Political Science Department at the University of Pennsylvania, in a very impressive essay argues that, ”al Qaeda’s most important accomplishment was not to hijack our planes, but to hijack our political system. For a multitude of politicians, interest groups, professional associations, corporations, media organizations, universities, local and state governments and federal agency officials, the War on Terror is now a major profit center, a funding bonanza, and a set of slogans and sound bites to be inserted into budget, project, grant and contract proposals. For the country as a whole, however, it has become a maelstrom of waste and worry that distracts us from more serious problems.”
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Government Worship
Anthony Gregory has an important essay titled “Why Waco Still Matters” posted on LewRockwell.com. He ends his piece this way; ”It is rather the statist mindset – the ideology of state worship, on both left and right – that has brought us a standing army of militarized police forces in every corner on this country. Those forces were tyrannical before Waco, and they have been so ever since. Waco is not necessary to indict the police state. But it really should be sufficient to do so. That it has not been for so many people reveals the problem.”
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.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Iraq Situation Report
Under the title 12 Answers to Questions No One Is Asking About Iraq Tom Engelhardt offers a comprehensive and distressing look at the situation in Iraq. Three points seem very clear; there are plans in place to continue sending money and lives into this vortex of misery for an unlimited period of time, victory is not only unobtainable but also indefinable, and the U.S. occupation is aiding and abetting all of the horrendous outcomes that those who say we must stay predict will be result of our withdrawal.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Peter Franchot Needs to be Instructed on Liberty
An ongoing issue in Maryland is the legalization of slot machine gambling, unfortunately the issue is very rarely debated in terms of individual liberty, just how much needed money they will bring in or how it will help a horse racing industry in serious decline. So when Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot sent me an unsolicited e-mail asking me to join him in the fight to keep slot machines prohibited I felt a reply, replicated below, was appropriate. Although, I expect that it will fall on deaf ears, Perhaps some added voices would help. peter@franchot.com
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.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Wafa Sultan is a Hero
The Syrian born psychologist Wafa Sultan, who lives under a death threat, participated in a debate with an Egyptian Islamist named Tal'at Rmeih about the Danish cartoons depicting Mohammed. Al-Jazeera televised the event and in a perceptive column Frank J. Gaffney Jr. discusses it. He quotes Sultan as saying that, “all religions and faiths, throughout the history of humanity, have been subject to criticism and affronts. With time, this has helped in their reform and development. Any belief that chops off the heads of its critics is doomed to turn into terrorism and tyranny.” He also relates her advice to the Islamists: “If you want to change the course of events, you must reexamine your terrorist teachings, you must recognize and respect the right of the other to live, you must teach your children love, peace, coexistence, and productive work. When you do that, the world will respect you, will consider you in a better light, and will draw you in a better light.” Later, Al-Jazeera felt it prudent to apologize for allowing Wafa Sultan airtime.
Cross posted on The Trebach Report
Saturday, March 29, 2008
If I Had the Power
In my last post I referenced an article by Rick Steves and so far it has sparked 93 comments, some of them very interesting. The last one appeared under the name Arcfault and my purpose here is to make my response more public.
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.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Marijuana Policy Moving Towards Change
On the most recent edition of HBO’s Bill Maher program Representative Barney Frank (D) Massachusetts states his intention to file a bill which would end federal prohibition of possession of small amounts of marijuana for personal use. Congressman Frank is already receiving some published support. In an excellent column for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer travel writer Rick Steves compares the European approach to marijuana policy with that of the United States, He observes that, ”when it comes to marijuana, European leaders understand that a society must choose: Tolerate alternative lifestyles or build more prisons. They've made their choice. We're still building more prisons.”
Hat tip to Ian Goddard
Cross posted on The Trebach Report
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
2nd Amendment Conveys Individual Right
Robert A. Levy, co-counsel to litigant Dick Heller in the 2nd Amendment case currently before the Supreme Court concerning the handgun ban in the District of Columbia, discusses the stakes in The Washington Times. He concludes by saying that, ”at root, the Heller case is simple. It's about self-defense: Individuals living in a dangerous community who want to protect themselves in their own homes when necessary. The Second Amendment to the Constitution was intended to safeguard that right. Banning handguns outright is quite plainly unconstitutional.”
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Every Dog has His Day
Alright, all of you Ron Paul haters and environmentalist whackos out there thinking you are so much smarter than me, who has often been accused from afar of being drug addled, I got 10 out of eleven questions right on this intelligence test. How will you fare?
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Drug Prohibition Exposed
The Showtime cable network is now showing a powerful documentary titled American Drug War: The Last White Hope. It includes some especially insightful comments from Judge James Gray and former Governor of New Mexico Gary Johnson.
When asked in an interview about motivation for making the film auteur Kevin Booth replied, “when my mom was dying from liver failure, she was in an ICU unit with several others facing the same fate, all from a life of hard drinking. I was hit with this horrible smell that sickened me so deeply that I instantly lost my appetite for alcohol. After attending my third funeral in a row, I realized that the corporate culprits, Smirnoff, Dewar's, RJ Reynolds, DuPont and others, would never be punished.” You can view the entire film here.
Cross posted on The Trebach Report
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Misleading Phrase “War on Terror”
While I do not agree with every notion expressed in this essay by Zbigniew Brzezinski he does have some interesting thoughts on the phrase “war on terror” and its misleading destructive overuse. In the beginning of the article you would think you were reading Robert Higgs on the state’s use of fear.
To me, the most suprising fact that Brzezinski relates to support his argument is that, ”a recent study reported that in 2003, Congress identified 160 sites as potentially important national targets for would-be terrorists. With lobbyists weighing in, by the end of that year the list had grown to 1,849; by the end of 2004, to 28,360; by 2005, to 77,769. The national database of possible targets now has some 300,000 items in it, including the Sears Tower in Chicago and an Illinois Apple and Pork Festival.” This has to be considered a classic example of the governmental tendency to produce useless products.
Hat tip to Kenny Rodgers
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Does the War on People Who Use Certain Kinds of Drugs Have Anything to Do with This?
The Associated Press is reporting that for the first time in history more than one out of every one hundred American adults is in prison, 2,319,258 people overall. This of course is causing enormous expense with just the states spending more than $49 billion last year. Also, there is a racial component with one in thirty white males between the ages of 20 and 34 years old being behind bars, while the numbers for black males of the same age group is one in nine.
Cross posted on The Trebach Report
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Old Versus New Musically
Lately, Opie and Anthony have been playing and justly mocking a campaign song for Hillary Clinton set to the tune of the theme song from the old sitcom Laverne and Shirley. In my humble opinion it is spectacularly awful.
On the other hand, this new campaign song supporting Ron Paul by Aimee Allen is perhaps the best one I have ever heard and the more you listen to it the more it grows on you.
I will admit that I am completely baffled by the fact that so many people have voted for Clinton and so few for Dr. Paul. Are we Americans as a group really that clueless? Comparing the two above efforts just intensifies the mystery for me.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Medical Marijuana Endorsed
The Drug War Chronicle is reporting that American College of Physicians has endorsed the use of medical marijuana. The nation’s second largest doctor’s group, with 124,000 internal medicine specialists, wants more studies of medical use for cannabis and an end to government interference in that process.
In their position paper they state that, “additional research is needed to clarify marijuana’s therapeutic properties and determine standard and optimal doses and routes of delivery. Unfortunately, research expansion has been hindered by a complicated federal approval process, limited availability of research-grade marijuana, and the debate over legalization. Marijuana’s categorization as a Schedule I controlled substance raises significant concerns for researchers, physicians, and patients.”
One person who would have been delighted and vindicated by the above news was Dr. John Morgan, who ironically passed away on the same day that the physicians issued their statement. In a farewell to the good doctor piece posted on the Reason website Jacob Sullum tells an anecdote which illustrates just how much the drug reform movement specifically and the world in general has lost. After a conference panel in December during which Sullum had with some trepidation talked about the taboo subject of controlled use of amphetamines Dr. Morgan told him that, ” he agreed that concern about the ‘methamphetamine epidemic’ had made it difficult to talk about the drug's legitimate uses, which do not necessarily require a doctor's prescription to validate them. He said he had personally found methamphetamine tremendously useful during his education and career, calling it one of the safest drugs around when used responsibly. Coming from most people in most contexts, this would have been a startling admission. But coming from the eminently reasonable Morgan and delivered in his usual matter-of-fact tone, it cut through the hysteria and introduced a much-needed alternative perspective. Morgan made a career of doing that, and his well-informed skepticism will be sorely missed.”
Cross posted on The Trebach Report
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Medical Marijuana Violence
Playboy Magazine has a fascinating special report by Frank Owen which looks at the 2007 murder in Denver of registered caregiver and medical marijuana activist Frank Gorman and the growing association of violence with legal medical marijuana distribution. A very clear conclusion can be drawn here that these inadequate state medical cannabis laws do not end the black market in pot with its attendant mayhem.
The article quotes Jeff Schaler one of the harshest critics, from a libertarian perspective, of the medical marijuana movement: ”Being pro-marijuana is a religious crusade just as being anti-marijuana is a religious crusade. It has nothing to do with medicine. The reformers lie about marijuana just as much as the prohibitionists. To say marijuana is a cure all is just as ridiculous as saying it is evil. It’s neither.”
While we may disagree with Dr. Schaler on the medicinal worth of cannabis, after all aspirin does not cure anything either, we do agree on the solution to the problem, an end to government involvement with all aspects of the plant, medical, industrial and recreational, then people can decide for themselves if marijuana has medical value.
Cross posted on The Trebach Report
Monday, February 18, 2008
Dr. John Morgan R.I.P.
Another courageous pioneer in the drug reform movement, Dr. John Morgan, has passed away. He died from leukemia on February 15th.
He was a tireless advocate of scientific rationalism when it came to the study of and policy towards marijuana. This approach produced an invaluable resource, the book Marijuana Myths, Marijuana Facts which he co-wrote with Lynne Zimmer and published in 1997. It remains the most reliable source of scientifically accurate information on marijuana yet written.
While he did not claim marijuana to be 100 percent harmless, he did argue that the evidence showed cannabis to be one of the most benign psychoactive drugs known to man. However, when he pushed for the legalization of marijuana he made it clear that it was not because the drug was largely safe but rather because there were some hazards that prohibition was ill advised. Morgan believed that a regime of regulation and control offered the best way minimize these dangers.
Dr. Morgan offered us a much needed rational, humane, courageous, authoritative voice and he will be missed.
Cross posted on The Trebach Report
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Thuggish Health Care Plan
Star Parker has an excellent essay in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer on the serious flaws that characterize Hillary Clinton’s proposed health care plan. Below is a comment I left on their website.
One thing that Star Parker forgot to add is that the government mandated plan, which takes a third of your paycheck, will probably stink. Let us face facts here, when it comes to your grandmother's hip replacement or a defense contractor's profits you know who will win that battle in a Clinton administration. After all, she has taken more money from the defense industry than any other candidate from both parties.
Universal health care or single payer would not be nearly as popular if we called them what they were, government rationed health care. Neither Clinton nor Obama are proposing to deal with the real medical care problem, the fact that it is paid for by third parties. Because people do not feel like they pay themselves for their own health care, the insurance company or the government does, there is no incentive to hold down costs. If people are forced by the government to buy insurance there will be even more incentive to maximize use.
You can put out all of the ideological rants against the free market that you want but there is one thing you can not deny that it does every time, it reduces costs and improves quality. Both the Democratic candidates and probably McCain for that matter want to move us in the opposite direction.
Friday, February 8, 2008
Addiction is a Choice to be Discussed in London
Jeff Schaler will be presenting the Inner Circle Seminar No. 131 in London on November 12th 2008 from 10AM to 5PM. Below is the announcement:
ADDICTION IS A CHOICE
Professor Jeffrey A. Schaler is the world’s leading disbeliever in ‘addiction’. He is an existential psychotherapist and full time professor in the Department of Justice, Law and Society at American University’s School of Public Affairs in Washington, D.C. His book Addiction is a Choice (2000) argues:
1. No drug (including alcohol and tobacco) is ‘addictive’.
2. Drugs are not intrinsically safe or dangerous, good or bad.
3. Disease refers to cellular pathology, not behaviour.
4. ‘Loss of control’ is an unfalsifiable, hence unscientific, hypothesis.
5. ‘Addiction’ is ethical, not medical.
6. Focusing on the existential reasons for ‘addiction’ can help drug users address and resolve the problems in living they try to solve with drugs.
Whether you agree, disagree, or are undecided, you are welcome to discuss Professor Schaler’s argument and evidence with him in this important seminar.
Venue: Herringham Hall, Regent’s College, Inner Circle, London NW1
Subscription: Students £88, others £110, by 12 April 2008
Apply to: Anthony Stadlen, ‘Oakleigh’, 2A Alexandra Avenue, London N22 7XE
Tel: +44 (0) 20 8888 6857, E-mail: stadlen@aol.com
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Obama on Marijuana Decriminalization
Columnist Steve Chapman has a perceptive article in The Washington Times commenting on Barak Obama’s seeming inability to make up his mind on the subject of marijuana decriminalization. Chapman asserts that this, “episode reveals that as a candidate, Mr. Obama is more fond of bold rhetoric than bold policies. But it also proves the impossibility of talking sense on the subject of illicit drugs during a political campaign. That course of action would mean admitting the inadmissible: that the prohibition of cannabis has been cruel, wasteful and fraudulent.”
Cross posted on The Trebach Report
Saturday, January 19, 2008
A Critique of Beltway Libertarians
Ilana Mercer offers an eloquent and passionate defense of Ron Paul from the attacks by some libertarians with special attention paid to Reason magazine. She correctly points out that virtually all of them have never had to live in a situation where they had no fundamental rights. Mercer ends her essay by asserting that, ”Paul's vision is as close to The Good Life as we could hope to come in the current ideological climate. Only tinny ideologues encased in worthless ideological armor – worthless because it exists in the arid arena of their minds, not on earth – would turn their noses up at the prospect of Paul.”
Monday, January 14, 2008
Why I Support Ron Paul
All you libertarians out there who are so concerned with old newsletters that Dr. Paul did not even write pay close attention to this video of a 2002 police riot that occurred in Portland Oregon because if we do not elect Ron Paul, who is perhaps our last chance, we are going to see much more of this type of thing in the future. When that starts to happen I want to know that I did what I could to prevent it
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Someone Who Has Earned His Wisdom
Here is an important voice discussing the election that is not being heard anywhere near as much as it should be.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Marijuana Cause or Cure?
From the beginning until today an association with insanity has always been a major argument in favor of marijuana prohibition. This link, however, has never withstood scrutiny very well and once again a recent study from Emory University in Atlanta shows this to be true. In fact, they discovered a negative correlation between marijuana use and symptoms of schizophrenia. The researchers found that, “alcohol use in the 6 months prior to hospitalization was associated with a higher frequency of positive psychotic symptoms among first-episode patients. Cannabis use was associated with a lower likelihood of having prominent negative symptoms. These associations remained even after controlling for relevant covariates in logistic regression models.”
Cross posted on The Trebach Report
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
A Question for the Reverend Huckabee
Some courageous people ask Mike Huckabee a very important question in a dramatic way. Does he support the peaceful Jesus of the Bible or the empire building Jesus of George Bush?
Monday, December 31, 2007
Two Economics Lessons
A book which had a profound effect on my thinking was Henry Hazlitt’s Economics in One Lesson. Watching this video reminded me of the experience I had reading that book. Clear explanation can be invaluable.
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Ron Paul and Immigration, a Response
I agree with pretty much every argument Sheldon Richman makes in this post and others on the subject of immigration. One of my most important philosophical touchstones is Lysander Spooner’s Vices are Not Crimes and it is clear that with regard to laws against crossing the border no crime has been committed. The border fence designed to stop the act is a complete waste of money. Penn and Teller did a Showtime program on immigration where they hired six Hispanic day workers to build a fence to the government’s proposed specifications. They then divided the laborers into three teams, one to go over, one to go through, and one to go under the fence. No team took more than ten minutes to accomplish their task. In a brilliantly conceived but somewhat poorly executed film A Day Without a Mexican the consequences of removing the immigrants are shown and they amount to economic chaos.
However, I am glad that Dr. Paul takes in his mind the principled position that he does because that fact greatly enhances the prospect of him being elected. Sadly, people who look at the immigration question the way that Sheldon Richman and I do are a decided minority in this country. During my years as County Fair Coordinator for the Montgomery County Libertarian Party my booths used to prominently feature the Nolan quiz and I compiled statistics on how people answered. The question on open borders received by far the most negative responses, outstripping even the drug legalization query. In fact, this latest version has eliminated the question altogether. If I must disagree with Ron Paul on an issue I am happy it is this one because for too many people adopting my position on immigration would be a deal breaker.
Also, we need to consider the practical effect of Ron Paul’s ascent into office on the so called illegal immigrants. It would be of enormous benefit to them. Dealing with the inflation tax and a renewed respect for civil liberties would most definitely improve their lives. And, if Smith, Von Mises, and Friedman are right, a strong move in the direction of free market economics, one of Paul’s top priorities, would lead to an obvious need for more immigration not less. The irony is that Sheldon Richman and Ron Paul both want to get to the same place, open borders, Richman through repeal of law and Paul through economic necessity. Lastly, it is neither feasible nor desirable to remove the undocumented workers that are here now and a truly closed border is a fantasy. So, the most likely result on the immigration issue of electing anyone other than Ron Paul is the status quo.
Friday, December 14, 2007
Global Warming the Math Does Not Add Up
Yes, there is a substantial amount of science that supports the human induced global warming theory but this does not mean that it is good science. Someone who has been demonstrating that quality is more important then quantity when it comes to global warming studies is Canadian mathematician Douglas Keenan, who has just published The Fraud Allegation Against Some Climatic Research of Wei- Chyung Wang. The NZZ am Sonntag reports that, ”Keenan's most recent targets are two pieces of work that examine the influence of urbanization on climate change between 1954 and 1983. In order to be able to compare measurements made over different periods, it is absolutely crucial that the location of the station where the measurements are carried out not change throughout the observation period. For example, because a city generates warmth, a measuring station that is moved from the center of the city to its periphery would record lower measurements. On the other hand, the measurements would be more likely to rise if a measuring station was moved from a position upwind from the city to a position downwind. Even small changes of location, like for example from a field to the asphalt road next to it, lead to deviations. Keenan was above all doubtful about the measurements made in China. He didn't believe that during Mao's Cultural Revolution, when scientists were thought very little of, a scientific study would have been carried out with much care.”
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
You Want Some Science
For those of you that refuse to see human engendered global warming as the big government scam that it is, who are continually accusing we skeptics of ignoring the science the shoe is now on the other foot. See here.
Campaign Finance Hypocrites
An article in Wired magazine about the Ron Paul Blimp has a quote in it which demonstrates the nauseating hypocrisy of the modern good government movement now called campaign finance reform. Paul Ryan, an attorney at the Campaign Legal Center says ”the blimp project may not fly with regulators.” That organization’s Mission Statement indicates that it ”represents the public interest in administrative, legislative and legal proceedings” and in my opinion that is a blatant lie.
Here we have a candidate whose whole platform is limiting the size of government and cutting out the moneyed special interests that are supposed to be the problem with a project, independent of the official campaign, funded by regular Americans contributing as little as $25 dollars, getting no corporate largess, and what is the almost universal response from the campaign finance reform crowd, it is wrong shut it down. They continually rail against the evil influence of the big money boys but their real purpose is to tell ordinary people to shut up and take it. There are thousands upon thousands of reasons to hope Ron Paul wins and one of them is for Trevor Lyman’s sake because I am very much afraid that if anyone else does they will try to put this patriot in jail for daring to speak up.
Ultimately, the campaign finance reform hypocrites want public financing of elections which will entrench the status quo even more thereby benefiting the special interests presently in charge enormously. They want the people who love Ron Paul to be forced at the point of a gun to contribute to the likes of Rudy Giuliani and Hillary Clinton. Ask yourself this question if we had publicly paid for contests right now would there be any Ron Paul revolution?
Monday, December 10, 2007
An Open Letter to Tim Robbins
Dear Mr. Robbins,
First let me say that I admire your work in film especially the movie Bob Roberts. I am writing to you because the moral imperative of our time is to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, prevent war with Iran and change the philosophy behind the bipartisan foreign policy that has led to these disasters, which are killing and maiming innocent people, diminishing our capacity for defense, crushing our civil liberties, and bankrupting this country. It is my belief that you agree with me on this point, so the question is what are we going to do about it?
I want you and everyone else reading this letter to clear their minds for a second and think about an American soldier, maybe your younger brother or a good friend’s son, who is walking down a road in Iraq during the year 2010. Suddenly, a sniper’s bullet, fired by a man whose seven year old sister was ravaged by an American bomb and died in his arms, comes out of nowhere and smashes into the GI’s face, killing him on the spot. When we ask ourselves the most important question of our time, how can we save this man’s life and really concentrate it becomes clear that we only have one viable option.
Saturday, December 8, 2007
Radical Feminism and Ron Paul
In his reply to David Gordon below in Roderick Long’s post, Charles Johnson wrote ”First, I don’t think that libertarianism should be subordinated to certain cultural values such as radical feminism. I believe that libertarianism, rightly understood, is both compatible with and mutually reinforcing with the cultural values of radical feminism, rightly understood.” Back in the day at the University of South Florida I once took seminar in women’s history with fifteen students where I was the only male in the classroom. I liked the professor very much, aced the course, and published a paper out of it; however, one day towards the end she brought in some old boxes of radical feminist writing, newspapers pamphlets that sort of thing from the 1970s, to show the class. I could not help noticing the extraordinary number of depictions of men having their genitals cut off in this literature. I also recall prominent radical feminists arguing that sex between a man and a woman in marriage was a form of rape. In addition, calls for an extremely broad definition of workplace sexual harassment and assertions that government should intervene to raise the pay of occupations staffed primarily by women have been a mainstay of radical feminist ideology. This going hand in hand with demands to expand the welfare state to include such things as free daycare and employer paid maternity leave for long periods of time. I do not see how this practical record of radical feminism, which I have always viewed as a thinly veiled form of collectivist socialism, is compatible with libertarianism.
Now, Johnson uses the qualifier ”rightly understood” to reconcile the differences no doubt finding some philosophical compatibility and I think this reveals the essence of the controversy over libertarian support for Ron Paul. The question is are we going to be concerned about winning a philosophical argument or are we going to be concerned about some American soldier in Iraq being blown up by a roadside bomb in 2010?
Thursday, November 22, 2007
More on David Bernstein and Ron Paul
In his critique of Ron Paul, David Bernstein writes,”And come on, the idea that the federal government ‘most divides us’ is absurd. I don't know how to measure the precise effect of government on harmony among Americans, but I do know that historically there is a positive correlation between a small federal government and high levels of bigotry in society.” Implicit in that passage is the notion that when the federal government was small it opposed racist policies but had no power to end them. Perhaps he has forgotten that the Fugitive Slave Act was a federal law or that when the people in Missouri wanted to join the union the federal government explicitly told then that they had to allow slavery. Does he not remember William Lloyd Garrison's argument that before it was amended, after the Civil War, the Constitution, as it was popularly interpreted, provided an implicit federal acceptance of slavery. And, that the federal Supreme Court, in the Dred Scott decision, ruled that black people had no rights that needed to be respected
The brisk growth of the federal level of government did not change its nature with regard to race. The racist color of many of the Progressive Era arguments is well documented and in her book Farewell to the Party of Lincoln historian Nancy Weiss brilliantly described how the rapid expansion of federal power called the New Deal featured a distribution of benefits characterized by high levels racial discrimination. In addition, as David Beito and Ron Paul have already pointed out, the war on people who use certain kinds of drugs is the most racist institution in modern America and the federal government is the most enthusiastic participant in that endeavor. During my lifetime, a period featuring a very large national presence in everyday life, there has been a constant stream of complaints and lawsuits by black people correctly asserting racial discrimination by a wide variety of federal government departments and agencies.
It is a popular misconception that the federal government freed the slaves. If you believe in the concept of inherent individual rights then there never were any slaves, there were only people whose natural rights were being systematically violated because of the color of their skin. Chattel slavery, by far the most egregious example of racism in American history, could not have existed without the active participation of government. In some areas of the South black people out numbered whites by as much as one hundred to one, so the system would not have been maintained without the kind of organized effort available only from the state. Slaves were sold on public auction blocks and the slave patrol was paid by the county. When Lincoln debated Douglas, on the extension of slavery to the territories and the concept of self determination on the issue, he argued that the point was mute because without the countenance of local government slavery could not survive. Therefore, the Emancipation Proclamation does not represent an expansion of government power to do good but rather a limitation on government power to do bad.
Friday, November 16, 2007
Ron Paul is Not Anti-Semitic
Ron Paul’s call for ending foreign aid to all countries including Israel and the unsavory nature of some people who publicly support him have caused the charge that he is anti-Semitic to circulate. Some responsible commentators believe the charge to be true. However, the Jewish Theological Seminary’s news service JTA examines the question in depth and it finds an argument that in fact such an end to aid would benefit Israel. They quote Paul as saying that, “our foreign military aid to Israel is actually more like corporate welfare to the U.S. military industrial complex, as Israel is forced to purchase only U.S. products with the assistance. We send almost twice as much aid to other countries in the Middle East, which only insures increased militarization and the drive toward war.” He also asserts that the American control over policy, which comes with the assistance, limits Israeli options and hurts progress towards peace.
In addition, the JTA discovered that though it is not widespread there is some support for the Ron Paul candidacy within the Jewish community. It includes groups such as Jews For Ron Paul and Zionists For Ron Paul.
Cross posted on The Trebach Report
Saturday, November 10, 2007
A Serious Problem Within the Military
Retired Air Force Colonel David Antoon, a proud graduate of the Air Force Academy, has written a very interesting article about why his son gave up a life long dream and turned down an appointment to his father’s alma mater.
Hat tip to Kenny Rodgers