IS THIS THE DEATH OF BATMAN?

Is Batman dead? I ask, as I'm shaking my head, as I'm sure most of us are, as to why the massacre last Friday in the Aurora CO. Cinema happened. What would motivate someone to do such a thing as murder 12 innocent people and wound 58 others?

The question here is "what would motivate"? And the suspect was apparently seeing a professional psychiatrist, who I'm sure by now has an attorney. The suspect apparently sent a notebook to her and speculation is he detailed his plan to murder people. The fact is, the notebook is protected under doctor-patient protection.

But what about the rest of the nation?

Gun sales are off the charts, again, as they always are after a tragic event like this. And people and politicians are again calling for stricter gun laws. Ted Nugent today came out and said it - "the AR15 used is one of the most popular hunting rifles in America." The killer used it as a assault rifle, but he goes onto say, he believes, the shotgun is the more dangerous weapon. And I believe him.

But none of that is really the issue. The issue are the victims, who lay in hospitals with medical bills in the millions of dollars. And the injured, and those in that theater that night! How insane to sit down and enjoy a movie and have a madman go berserk?  It's a worst nightmare. I find myself wondering, doesn't a movie theater have insurance for this sort of thing, couldn't the movie industry donate the medical costs to these poor people who have been in hell?

But that only leads me to the real tragedy yet to come. As happened after the September 11, 2001 tragedy, the federal government enacted measures for national security, on a permanent basis, that almost overnight began stripping Americans of their personal rights, freedom and dignity. Muslim Americans became the new suspect. And now, gun owners of America.

Why make more victims. Stricter gun laws won't stop these people from hurting others. The majority of Americans are responsible.

We deserve respect. We deserve logical, scientific and sound decisions to be made when it comes to public safety, not frenzied reactions.

Chicago's Children's hospital canceled the appearance of a Batman entertainer that tries to help many people. THE STORY IS HERE. Understandably the hospital is concerned. But I'm concerned that just as happened after the 9/11 tragedy, we're letting the villain win. We're succumbing to fear, and not letting ourselves get back on the horse. I'm afraid one of the most American Super heroes is Dead! 

I came out with a spontaneous joke this more during a discussion with  a someone. I was given an appointment for Oct. 31. I commented, "well, that's Halloween", to which the person replied, "yes, are you going to dress in a costume?" And I replied, "yes, but not as batman."

Later I had concerns it was a "poor joke", or in bad taste, and a co-worker made the obligatory, he agreed. 

So, when, if ever, can we joke about Batman? Admire Batman. That is the question. And if we can't, why? 

What are we really doing as a society to stop the hurt? Controlling the masses, based on the actions of a few is futile. To control the masses we would need to become a Totalitarian governed society. Is that America?

To President Obama... get your weapons straight - the killer used an AR-15, not an AK-47.Not that it matters much. As I already said, if someone wants to harm others, they can do so without guns. Prohibition and excessive control over the masses yields resistance... both intimidate and tread on the basic principals this Country values as a free nation. 

Batman must live, for us to live on. No Joker can stop Batman... Batman must/will rise again.

My sincere condolences to the victims of the Aurora CO. cinema massacre. 

WHERE'S THE HONOR IN HONOR KILLINGS?

A lot of my posts relate to cannabis/marijuana/marihuana/pot/weed/ganja/hemp/dope and personal freedom, the problem with the "War on Drugs", it's harm to society, and stopping the hurt (the) war is causing.

Why? I mean why don't I simply accept that marijuana, i.e. "drugs" are bad, and that all measures should be taken to eradicate them from society? Isn't that what a good American should believe? Are we not to feel that drugs are a blight on society? That cannabis/marijuana is a big part of that blight? Well, yeah, that's what "they" want me to believe, but I don't. I feel the blight on society are current laws and the War on Drugs. It's hurting people, millions of people around the world. We can stop that hurt; but not without a serious reassessment of what we as a society allow, but what we don't allow, also.

Lately, I've read a lot of articles relating to the murder of children, or in many cases, teens and young adults. They're called Honor Killings, but where's the honor in murdering your child/children? Where's the honor in believing you the parent know what's best for your child, however old they are, if it involves a sense of control over them, so strong, that if they don't grow up and conform, you'd murder them?

There's a popular belief that those who are involved in honor killings are Muslim. I think in general this is true, that it tends to be, statistically, a Muslim issue. But looking deeper, honor killings take place among all religions, among all parts of society. They don't always result in physical death, but rather, many honor killings attack the child's mind, self-esteem, sense of self...

When I was a child, I had a "crazy aunt", Gertrude. She lived in a small house in my town and occasionally was a part of family gatherings. Also on occasion I would go with my mother to visit her. I remember her as a nice person, not crazy, but I never thought to find out more about her - I was too young. She'd spent time in an insane asylum, and I took my family's word for, she's insane.

Years later, many years later, after my own failed attempts to establish my own independence from my family and what was expected of me, I heard the story about how against the wishes of the family, my Aunt Gertrude had moved to NYC as a young adult with "fantasy ideas of becoming an actress. She'd failed, and came home completely insane." That was the story. And it made sense suddenly to me. It wasn't that she was "insane", it was that her spirit had been broken, her self-esteem destroyed, because she defied the family expectations.

How do I know this? I suffered the same humiliation and character assassination when at age 20 I got a job as a custodian at the local community college. When I began to have sex outside of marriage. When I grew my hair long and stopped going to church. I actually refused to become a member of our church. And I remember actually being scared of my decision. The repercussions.

I spent 4 very successful years at the community college as a custodian, what my mother referred to as "a toilet bowl cleaner", though it was a whole lot better than that. I got free tuition, made many friends, got involved with really nice women and learned a lot. I broke free of the year's of bullying as a child by my peers, and gained a good amount of self-confidence. By age 24 I was ready to move West and live my adult life - except for one event that would change me forever.

The night before I was to leave for Arizona where I had a woman-friend willing to let me live while I could get settled, I called my parents to say good-bye. To be honest, I didn't want to... I got along very well with my father, but it was my mother I feared. Four years I had already endured phone calls every other night "checking on me". I'd endured family visits at my parent's home with my other siblings, or full family picnics, only to be scorned by my mother for my long hair and "lack of pride", doing what I did for work, and my free-natured hippie beliefs. My own father warned me that the "town wasn't big enough for me to live there..." it was he, my father, who suggested I move away.

That night on the phone with my mother, it came down to "who was I going to be staying with?" Well, it was a woman, a friend, but I couldn't admit that to my mother. Why? Well I tried to avert the question but ultimately admitted a woman-friend was going to let me stay with her. The result? My own mother cursed me to hell and damnation and hoped I would never find happiness, as my act was so evil and immoral I didn't deserve to succeed in life.

I was more than stunned. In an instant, every fiber of my self, my self-esteem and my self worth evaporated. I felt like a 7 year old child again. I felt deep shame and guilt. I moved to Arizona, but severely depressed, and moved back home a month later, conceding defeat. My mother took it as a success... on her part, that I had failed, as i should have failed, being the sinner I was.

The long term effects of what happened to me has a label, a psychological definition, called PTSD - post traumatic stress syndrome. But the truth of the matter is simply, I died. Spiritually, I passed on... whatever self-esteem I'd gained, whatever success relating with others, whatever friends I'd made and good experiences I'd had, died. It was made much worse from the fact i had moved back home at age 25. There was absolutely no expectation that prior to moving to Arizona that such a thing would have happened.

Yes, I was ashamed... but not because I had brought my fate upon myself living a life in defiance of that expected by my family, but because they had succeeded in defeating me as a person.

The life of my Aunt Gertrude suddenly became apparent to me years later, in my late 40's, while I struggled to communicate with my mother on yet never-ending arguments regarding life and moral responsibility. It became clear to me that my family defeated my Aunt Gertrude, that she had phoned home and that was her undoing, or that prior to when she left for the Big Apple, she had endured similar humiliation. I suddenly wished my Aunt were still alive, and felt sorrow for what she must have endured as an adult with different ideas about what life is all about.

In Part two of Honor Killings I will discuss the unfortunate, far more tragic events that lead a parent to murder their own child if they don't conform. It's not something I'm going to enjoy, but rather, something that makes me ill thinking about the abuse, and death of a child because they don't abide by the traditions of family. That we should be born, only to fulfill a set of expectations demanded of us by family tradition is unacceptable. That we become victims of such expectations is more than a tragedy in life, it's a travesty of society that control of others is deemed acceptable, so much so that our own government imprisons and subjects people to laws that are no more than efforts at moral and traditional conformity.

LENNOX the DOG - PUT TO DEATH - A MATTER OF "PUBLIC SAFETY"!

Lennox the dog, a Pit Bull-Labrador mix, was murdered (euthanized) - put to death by order of the courts, in Belfast, N. Ireland, allegedly this past Tuesday, July 10. His "crime"? Being a Pit Bull-Labrador mix, emphasis on Pit Bull!

SOURCE: CNN (Link to Story)

I found the story on CNN the other day, however the sad saga began over two years ago when Belfast authorities somehow got wind of Lennox the dog. They investigated a possible Pit Bull sighting - Pit Bulls are illegal in Northern Ireland - and found Lennox indeed living with Caroline Barnes, of Belfast, as a family pet. Lennox was seized immediately and confined for two years in a high security prison for dangerous animals. If the city had had it's way he would have been killed in short notice like other "dangerous animals".


In N. Ireland, like marijuana is in the US, Pitt Bulls are considered a serious threat to public safety. Lennox however was a mut. A mixed breed dog. He was 7 years old when imprisoned.


During his two years imprisoned on "death row", guards report Lennox was very good natured and gentle. The seizure trials, appeal process bought time, but according to the news article the city council was all for setting an example of Lennox.


In all the 7 years Caroline Barnes had Lennox, he threatened no one.


Over 200,000 people protested in an online petition to release Lennox. Northern Ireland's First Minister, Peter Robinson, appealed also. He's the man responsible for running the Country.


Victoria Stilwell, of "Animal Planet" fame, a very renowned expert with dogs, made a genuine offer to the city to take Lennox back to the states. The council and courts rejected her offer. They were adamant, as a way to protect the public, Lennox had to die.

Victoria Stilwell

Caroline Barnes never got to hold or say good-bye to Lennox. Appeals exhausted, Lennox was put to death in secret.


I don't think there's anything to add to this tragic story. Yes, it sickens me. Yes, to protect the public, certain laws are necessary... but all too often governments go over the line. And they think nothing of it.


Lennox had no choice over how or what he was born. Perhaps Caroline Barnes had a choice, but Lennox was a mixed breed dog, not a full bred Pit Bull. The moral here is the city showed no humanity, no thought for life. Lennox harmed no one. Yet Lennox was put to death, even with the offer by Victoria Stilwell to take him to the states.


It's murder. The unjust death of a living creature. No different than poachers around the world that kill for insane reasons.


My condolences to Caroline Barnes... and 1 strong shout of protest for the death of Lennox!

BREAKING NEWS: SCIENTISTS INVENT MARIJUANA WITHOUT THC - WITHOUT THE "HIGH".

Fox News Headlines, July 6, 2012: "Researchers Develop Marijuana Without the High".:

"Israeli researchers may have found a way to keep healthy people from abusing medical marijuana: take away the high."

Wow... talk about reinventing the wheel! Scientists actually spent money and time growing marijuana and perfecting it so that it contained no THC? God already did that... it's called wild cannabis, or hemp; "dirtweed" by many.. It used to grow wild all over America. Birds and animals loved it. love to eat the leaves and seeds. The plant can yield hundreds of seeds, so one plant is a lot of food; our government however destroyed,  eliminated, over 90% of it. You might draw a parallel to the Passenger Pigeon. Read up on thier fate, their population. They went from many millions to zero by the early 20th century. You want Reefer Madness??? You couldn't get stoned or high on it, but they destroyed it anyways. A veritable cornucopia for wildlife.


Oh, and did you know, without hemp fiber, we'd be far less advanced than we are; which probaly isn't all that advanced anyways. Scientists are doing their jobs, as are many of the professions; my big concern is government. It's literally acting as if it's from the stone-age.

Well, these ingenious scientists call the new highless marijuana: "Avidekel, (it) is beefed up with 15.8% cannabidiol, or CBD", the chemical in cannabis that is related to it's anti-inflamatory, anti-cancer, pain-relief properties.

In general, cannabis is comprised of up to 48% CBD anyways, the chemical that doesn't get you high, but interacts with the THC to make the experience more relaxing and pleasurable. Pure THC has been shown to make a person very depressed and uncomfortable... the CBD in cannabis enhances the effects of the plant to make the use of cannabis desirable. When it comes to taking your "medicine", one would expect that making that a more enjoyable experience would be desirable.

SOURCE:http://raman-rumania.blogspot.com/p/science_29.html

In other words, who would want to smoke marijuana without the "high"? Actually, some people would. But many wouldn't. And in fact, THC itself in combination with CBD is more than likely the combination that makes the plant valuable in treating PTSD and OCD, along with other neurological problems. Or, to be quite frank, at the end of a long hard day at work, many people would prefer inhaling cannabis with the THC rather than drinking alcohol, to unwind.

For example, for those of you who have a glass of wine, or a couple of beers at the end of the day, how does a non-alcoholic beer or wine (grape-juice) sound to you? Sure, some might like to compare cannabis to tobacco and say how would you like a cigarette without the nicotine? Who would want the cigarette? No one. Cannabis however is unlike both alcohol or tobacco, and it's best that it is.

Cannabis has been used by humans for thousands of years, and safely. In the past 75+ years that it has been illegal, it's still used as a relatively safe plant. The harm now are mostly from the penalties in the laws making it's use and possession illegal. These harms include forfeiture of property, criminal arrest and costly legal fees, imprisonment with dangerous people, loss of your children to a state agency, loss of your job, and a crippling buffer against future employment.  All of this danger inherent in a plant used safely for over a thousand years is ludicrous and insane.

The article goes on to say, but if "Avidekel" is used to replace current marijuana, how would law-enforcement know the difference between the stuff that gets one high and  Avidekel?

Good question, but one that only makes me ask, why is marijuana use and possession even a crime? Why involve law-enforcement at all??? Marijuana use itself harms no one. Compared to alcohol, the violence associated with cannabis use is minimal, by comparison. And we learned during alcohol prohibition that if you back a human against a wall over a substance, they'll get angry. 

So, why doesn't our government force us to drink grape-juice and near-beer instead of beer and wine? Alcohol is a drug, in spite of the false belief that it's just alcohol and not a drug. It gets people high! 

What is it about cannabis that in and of itself causes politicians to foam at the mouth? When these same politicians think nothing of having beers on public television? Do those people realize the message that sends to kids? It's okay to drink, but not okay to get stoned? Why?

Isn't it that in the world of politics and law, our federal government has made several huge mistakes with regards to cannabis, starting in 1937? And now they feel they're bound by their mistakes despite the huge cost to society, by continuing what's called "The War On Drugs".

The only two reasons cannabis was renamed marijuana and made illegal in 1937 are:

1) Yellow Journalism; illegal immigration from Mexico and anger from southern states about it; and the fact that Mexicans brought with them what they called marijuana (we called it ganja or cannabis); and to try to stop illegal immigration, southern states forced the hand of Congress to pass the Marihuana Tax Act ("marijuana" being  blatantly mis-spelled as it is today, as law-makers didn't even know what they were signing into law). Their hope (southern states) was by busting Mexicans for marijuana they could keep them back in Mexico; same old problem we have today. It never went away. Immigration reform anyone???

2) Yellow Journalism, and mixed race relationships. Quite simply... it turned the stomach and made the white-mind churn to see a black male with a white female. This happened noticeably among black-man blues and jazz musicians. "Reefer Madness", the movie and ideology was born, to be carried like a torch forevermore. 

Prejudice feelings can be hidden, but they don't go away simply by hiding them. The majority of non-violent offenders in US prisons are Black-Americans. This is not a simple correlation between Blacks and non-Black Whites, as to criminal behavior. Just as many whites indulge in the same behavior as Black Americans do. The torch continues to be carried...

Marijuana prohibition is that torch. Born of racial hatred and prejudice. It lives on today in the form of strict marijuana laws. It is the symbol for politicians to use to prove they're "being tough on crime"!

It is the job of law-enforcement to enforce the laws. So we, the cannabis loving American - millions of us, are collateral damage, caught up in a last gasp fire-storm of immigration and prejudice that people just won't face and reform.

The following article by CNN Special Correspondent, Lisa Bloom, "When Will The US Stop Mass Incarcerations"? is quite sobering, or should be. " (CNN) -- The United States leads the world in the rate of incarcerating its own citizens. We imprison more of our own people than any other country on earth, including China". 60% of our prison population are considered "non-violent offenders", in for drugs. Compared to the 1970's the author goes on to say that if we were to go back to standards established then, 4 out of 5 inmates would be released. The cost of the War on Drugs is staggering! The harm to society is catastrophic.

Inventing "dirt-weed" in a lab is not science! It is not helping people. It is a waste of time. It does not stop the hurt!

Please: Stop the Hurt!!!