BobKat's Lair

"LIFE SUCKS, THEN YOU DIE"... IS THAT WHAT YOU BELIEVE? - PART THREE

2012-01-30T22:08:00.005-05:00

Wow... I met a wonderful woman online. I courted her the past 5 months. We are a bit distant from each other, but we made the best of it. Two weekends ago I helped her move into a new apartment. No "over-night guests" at the old place, so now, at least I had a couch to sleep on.

Not. She's dumping me. Yeah. She really is.

Which brings me to the subject of suicide - taking one'own life.

First let me make clear I have no licenses in psychology. I'm not a clinician of any kind. I simply have experience. An my good, old, trusty BA in English - makes me a legit writer, yeah. Power to Education.

Socrates...

I always thought Socrates was the first of ancient persons to take their own life. He drank a lethal brew of hemlock.

It turns out, he was sentenced to death by a jury in 399 BC, because his views were considered undemocratic and unconventional. He chose his form of death.

"Socrates had become renowned for his contribution to the field of ethics, and it is this Platonic Socrates who also lends his name to the concepts of Socratic irony and the Socratic method, or elenchus. The latter remains a commonly used tool in a wide range of discussions, and is a type of pedagogy in which a series of questions are asked not only to draw individual answers, but also to encourage fundamental insight into the issue at hand. It is Plato's Socrates that also made important and lasting contributions to the fields of epistemology and logic, and the influence of his ideas and approach remains strong in providing a foundation for much western philosophy that followed."

"According to Xenophon's story, Socrates purposefully gave a defiant defense to the jury because "he believed he would be better off dead". Xenophon goes on to describe a defense by Socrates that explains the rigors of old age, and how Socrates would be glad to circumvent them by being sentenced to death. It is also understood that Socrates also wished to die because he "actually believed the right time had come for him to die.""

"Xenophon and Plato agree that Socrates had an opportunity to escape, as his followers were able to bribe the prison guards. He chose to stay for several reasons:

He believed such a flight would indicate a fear of death, which he believed no true philosopher has."

"If he fled Athens his teaching would fare no better in another country as he would continue questioning all he met and undoubtedly incur their displeasure.

Having knowingly agreed to live under the city's laws, he implicitly subjected himself to the possibility of being accused of crimes by its citizens and judged guilty by its jury. To do otherwise would have caused him to break his "social contract" with the state, and so harm the state, an act contrary to Socratic principle."

"The full reasoning behind his refusal to flee is the main subject of the Crito.

Socrates' death is described at the end of Plato's Phaedo. Socrates turned down the pleas of Crito to attempt an escape from prison. After drinking the poison, he was instructed to walk around until his legs felt numb. After he lay down, the man who administered the poison pinched his foot. Socrates could no longer feel his legs. The numbness slowly crept up his body until it reached his heart. Shortly before his death, Socrates speaks his last words to Crito: "Crito, we owe a rooster to Asclepius. Please, don't forget to pay the debt." Asclepius was the Greek god for curing illness, and it is likely Socrates' last words meant that death is the cure—and freedom, of the soul from the body."

"Freedom of the soul from the body". Suicide.

I've had my fair share of exposures to suicides. There was an employee of mine, whose husband hung himself during X-mas. The owner of the facility we worked refused to give her time off to attend to his body and other matters. I was her manager, until the next day when i quit the job calling the owner an asshole, which he was. There went my resume listing "manager"...

During my time as a custodian at a community college in the 1970's I made two unforgettable acquaintance'. I was in my early 20's and both women were beautiful, very beautiful. One woman made me think of the French, Joan of Ark, short, dark hair, a face to love, and experiences... she was 26 when I met her.

The other woman was a model... in the sense she was beautiful, graceful, but by no means dumb. We had some very good discussions, but then one day she opened up about her body image. She hated herself. She felt the human body was wrong, not right, awkward. She decided she would rather be dead than living in her body. She did so, committed suicide. She was at most 22.

My French friend, she told me one day she was in the nursing program to learn how to properly kill herself. Age 27 she shot herself at the local general hospital, in the restroom.

There was my cousin's best friend, a beautiful woman I got to know well with 3 kiddos and a husband. We used to share "feelings" together. We had fun together. She killed herself and i adopted a kitten the day my cousin and I visited her husband after her death. The cat was my closest companion for the next 11 years, until he died... with him, she died forever, and I was devastated.

Fact is: My father made me promise not to kill myself. He could see I was capable. But, so far so good.

I'll conclude with a very touching, recent story of a SOAP Actor who recently took his own life. Nick Santino, unemployed, was "forced" to euthanize his dog Rocco, on Nick's 47th birthday. Nick got Rocco, a mixed pit-bull, from a shelter, lived in an apartment complex the originally allowed pets. They changed the rules, but "grand-fathered" pre-existing pets as okay to keep.

But for Nick that was at a price...

“People were complaining about his dog,” said neighbor Kevan Cleary, 63, an adjunct professor at Brooklyn Law School. “It was open season on him.”

Rocco couldn’t ride in the main elevators and wasn’t allowed to be left in the apartment alone for more than nine hours.

Santino was then threatened with a $250 fine for having a barking dog, neighbors said.

Santino couldn't live after that... and that's all it takes.

Hey, us human beings, we're a tough lot. But we've got feelings. Part of those feelings is where do we fit into humanity, our brethren?

I can tell you suicide is not the answer, but the solution is complicated. It requires standing back from the present and reassessing the future. With more than two solutions present at all times, one's third eye can often see a way out. I've witnessed it many times. Yet still, those who took their own lives, it's so sad, as it still seems unnecessary and unjustified.

"LIFE SUCKS, THEN YOU DIE"... IS THAT WHAT YOU BELIEVE? - PART TWO

2012-01-29T10:28:00.008-05:00

The phrase above (source: WordPress) is from Dante's Inferno, part one of a 14th century, epic poem titled, "Divine Comedy". It's about Dante's walk through Hell's 9 circle's of suffering guided by the Roman poet, Virgil.

Source - WIKIPEDIA:

"The poem begins on the day before Good Friday in the year 1300. The narrator, Dante himself, is thirty-five years old, and thus "halfway along our life's path" (Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita)—half of the Biblical life expectancy of seventy (Psalm 90:10). The poet finds himself lost in a dark wood in front of a mountain, assailed by three beasts (a lion, a lonza [rendered as "leopard" or "leopon"], and a she-wolf) he cannot evade, and unable to find the "straight way" (diritta via)—also translatable as "right way"—to salvation. Conscious that he is ruining himself and that he is falling into a "deep place" (basso loco) where the sun is silent (l sol tace), Dante is at last rescued by the Roman poet Virgil, who claims to have been sent by Beatrice, and the two of them begin their journey to the underworld. Each sin's punishment in Inferno is a contrapasso, a symbolic instance of poetic justice; for example, fortune-tellers have to walk forwards with their heads on backwards, unable to see what is ahead, because they tried, through forbidden means, to look ahead to the future in life. Such a contrapasso "functions not merely as a form of divine revenge, but rather as the fulfilment of a destiny freely chosen by each soul during his or her life.""

I would say my goal in life is to prove that life can suck, only to die, anonymous for eternity, but that it doesn't have to be that way.

It is an ironic time for me to say that, as the truth is, presently, life sucks big-time, and I expect to die any day now. BUT, I know what I know... and once a feeling of success is experienced fully, it never goes away.

Never.

Nor do experiences with guilt attached, or failure; letting someone down or failing them; making a stupid decision and possibly causing harm, death or damage. Ahhh... growing up.

Worse yet, is being an innocent victim... getting raped by someone you trust, taking the fall for something you didn't do; being misunderstood; being bullied.

There's a lot in the news lately about brutal, senseless crimes. I'm not going to name any explicitly, but either it's the media tends to cover and report these crimes more that ever, or I'm simply more sensitive to their existence.

There's no question that given the economic trauma of the last ten years that quality of life has gone south. More people are finding themselves desperate and depressed. It's sad; a sad state of affairs.

But the worst thing a person can do is what this post warned: "Abandon All Hope, Ye Who Enter Here".

The time may come to do that... but the real battle in life is with death. One can never lose hope. One always has more than two choices in life. The answer always lies in what the question is that's asked.

During the 1970's I can honestly say I lived my life to the fullest. I can never forget those years, though it pains me how the memories from those days fade. That to me was life in all it's different shades and colors. Heaven and Hell.

Yeah, not all memories fade so quickly. The really painful ones, they never go away.

Next Post, Why Suicide, Why is Non-Conformity as Bad Thing, Why Take Others Down With Yourself?

"LIFE SUCKS, THEN YOU DIE"... IS THAT WHAT YOU BELIEVE? - PART ONE

2012-01-27T19:57:00.008-05:00

Go ahead, type that query into Google and you'll get 2, 130,000 results. Yikes! That many hits??? So, where to begin?

How about the English Rock Band album - Cerebral Fix, the band that released an album by that name - "Life Sucks, Then You Die" in 1988. The origin of the expression itself I don't believe is known. The reality is, many people feel this expression is true on a daily basis. That is the reason for this topic... dealing with the reality.

Mike Treder, who posts on IEET.org writes as good of an article on the topic as I believe is possible. A brief excerpt:

"As an existentialist, I am committed to the recognition that most of life is suffering. To be born is to die, and to live is to experience pain and agony.

Only the tiniest fragment of humanity has ever been so fortunate as to “enjoy” life, even briefly. The vast majority of humans who have ever lived have perished in anonymity, their hopes, dreams, joys, passions, laughter, tears, toils, fears, and even names lost forever, abandoned to oblivion."

He goes on to offer hope:

"But, aha, it doesn’t have to be that way."

"If we have proven anything in the last 10,000 years of advancing civilization, and especially in the last 300 years of the scientific era, we have shown an ability—indeed a compulsion—to kick against the pricks, no matter how painful that might be, until we break free from whatever bonds held us down. We will not be satisfied with the status quo. Life can be better, and we can make it so."

Ahhh...

Others are not so optimistic:

ThinkExist, for example...

“Most people think life sucks, and then you die. Not me. I beg to differ. I think life sucks, then you get cancer, then your dog dies, your wife leaves you, the cancer goes into remission, you get a new dog, you get remarried, you owe ten million dollars in medical bills but you work hard for thirty-five years and you pay it back and then -- one day -- you have a massive stroke, your whole right side is paralyzed, you have to limp along the streets and speak out of the left side of your mouth and drool but you go into rehabilitation and regain the power to walk and the power to talk and then -- one day -- you step off a curb at Sixty-seventh Street, and BANG you get hit by a city bus and then you die. Maybe.”

Wow! That sucks!

I have the sort of job where I can browse the internet 8 hours a day in between the work I do. I read the news... most of it is bad news. What's not bad is offensive... what's not offensive is disgusting. So why do I do it. I do it because the internet is my only way to keep abreast of life, and whats happening.

Not all of it is depressing, though. I love what's happening in science, space exploration, cures for diseases, and positive people with a positive role in shaping our future. Angelina Jolie, for example; Bill Gates and malaria prevention and cures; Lady Gaga, her activism! ... yeah, odd choices. Forever being edited, updated and subject to change.

It ALL started for me at birth. Yeah, imagine that - birth. Something my mother would remind me about for 50 years of my existence until I finally told her I don't want to be reminded... about how she gave birth to me... oh joy! And all.

My parents were very decent folks, even if they were neurotic. But here's the thing... on a personal level, why I am a member of the "Life Sucks, Then You Die" collective.

When I was around 16 they took me to a shrink... I was bullied terribly in MS and HS and they were very concerned. It turned out I saw the shrink once, however my parents went for months.

The shrink told them I was "normal", yes, NORMAL but that I needed direction and rules. He told them 1 in 99 people are what shrinks consider "normal"; and to imagine that he considered me one of the 1% who were normal. Let me tell you, looking back, that is not a good thing! I'd give anything to be abnormal... lol!

What was barely tolerable before I saw the shrink, became completely intolerable afterwards. To this day I'm not sure what really happened, I simply know my mother started controlling my every move and my father, oddly, was the "good guy". Like bad cop/good cop.

I graduated HS and by age 18 I couldn't wait to get out on my own... my psyche was changing, maturing...

At the time the only things I knew about life was that "when the bird leaves the nest it needs to survive"... which is exactly what my plan was. To survive, and prosper. That was the seed my parents planted, a seed I wished to grow.

This is simply the tip of the iceberg...

I became the Titanic... unsinkable. Or so I believed. What i didn't adjust for was family tradition... the lengths my mother would go to, especially after I moved out on my own, to assure that I conformed to expectations and tradition.

Although I know the simple answer, to this day I'm tortured by the WHY?

The best years of my life were age 18 to 24... after that it was plain old survival. I'm not ashamed to admit I was defeated, my goals destroyed, my life sent off in directions I'd never intended.

It was almost as if, finding "success" personally was a selfish objective. I know this is not true as I read about personal success stories everyday. I was simply not so fortunate, and it's been a curse ever since a particular day, an event that happened back in July, 1979.

My sinking ship...

And making the best of defeat and rebuilding my life...

Next Post: Life Sucks, Then You Die, but why by suicide (?) and what's the big deal about being unconventional? Why does life have to suck? Why can't we choose how to live and die? Why do some people have the urge to take down others with themselves? Is life really unfair, or is it simply a choice we've accepted as fact?

NEWT GINGRICH, MARIJUANA AND THE DODO - POLITICS 2012 - PART 2

2012-01-24T22:43:00.006-05:00

Imagine... there are no predators. You have wings, but it becomes unnecessary to fly. Your wings slowly disappear, to make you flightless. That is the Dodo bird.

Source: Wikipedia

A "chicken" that stood there to let you kill it... that was the Dodo.

First discovered by Dutch sailors in 1598, by 1681 the Dodo was hunted to extinction.

That is the inconceivable wish that the Federal government has with regards to users/affectionatoes of cannabis/aka marijuana. Eradicate marijuana users, as the theory goes, and you erraticate all "illegal drug users".

If you ask newt Gingrich, illegal drug users are users of cocaine and heroin. If you ask him if cannabis users should be arrested and jailed, he'd say "no". He has absolutely no cognizance of the average cannabis user. He firmly believes that not only are cannabis users unable to provide to a society, but they ultimately go onto harder drugs. Not true. It's all a boogeyman to him.

Hate to tell you Newt, a little late with the sermon... people have been using, what you call "drugs", for millennia. And, cannabis is not a "gateway-drug", so you can forget that line of drivel. Cannabis users, like the Dodo, feel safe in the USA.

You make clear they're not. And they're not. But do you expect to get elected having threatened a good 50% of the population with your "death-threats"???

Cannabis users aren't Dodos... they've been under attack since 1937... and are now victims of a undeclared war. The difference is... cannabis users statistically are well educated. Not stupid by any stretch!

Question for Newt (January 4, 2012 at Concord, NH Town Hall Meeting):

“I’m a recreational drug user, should I arrested?"

Gingrich: "No you shouldn’t be arrested, but you also shouldn’t do it.”

Newt's another one of these "born again politicians" that used to use cannabis and other "drugs", and has reformed their ways.

“Gingrich’s response to questions about his youthful drug experimentation (“That was a sign we were alive and in graduate school in that era”) was uncharacteristically graceful and in perspective and mature… ”

1 May 1995, New York Magazine, page 42: SOURCE:

Initially, in Newt's early years, during the 1980's he was pro-legalization, at least for medicinal purposes. In the 1990's he did a reversal... sponsoring a bill that would make marijuana smuggling a felony with a sentence of death.

H.R. 4170 (Drug Importer Death Penalty Act of 1996) to the House of Representatives, which sought to “provide a sentence of death for certain importations of significant quantities of controlled substances”.

Section 2: Increased Penalties For International Drug Trafficking

Section 1010 of the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act (21 U.S.C. 960) is amended by adding at the end the following:

(e)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the court shall sentence a person convicted of a violation of subsection (a), consisting of bringing into the United States a mixture or substance--

(A) which is described in subsection (b)(1); and

(B) in an amount the Attorney General by rule has determined is equal to 100 usual dosage amounts of such mixture or substance;

to imprisonment for life without possibility of release. If the defendant has violated this subsection on more than one occasion and the requirements of chapter 228 of title 18, United States Code, are satisfied, the court shall sentence the defendant to death.

(2) The maximum fine that otherwise may be imposed, but for this subsection, shall not be reduced by operation of this subsection.'

September 25, 1996, 104th Congress (1995 - 1996), H.R.4170

So How did Newt go from supporting legalization of cannabis to outright hostility?

"See, when I smoked pot it was illegal," he reportedly told the Wall Street Journal's Hilary Stout in 1996, "but not immoral. Now, it is illegal AND immoral. The law didn’t change, only the morality... That's why you get to go to jail and I don't." reportedly Newt said.

So, okay, change of morality. But is Newt God? I guess in a way the way I read him he thinks he is. He implies, marijuana use is now a violation of morals? Holy Batman on that one... how does he validate that statement???

Several quotes summarize his position, courtesy of NORML:

“If you import a commercial quantity of illegal drugs… it is because you have made the personal decision that you are prepared to get rich by destroying our children. I have made the decision that I love our children enough that we will kill you if you do this.”

August 27, 1995, New York Times, Gingrich Suggests Tough Drug Measure

“I don’t have a comprehensive view. My general belief is that we ought to be much more aggressive about drug policy. And that we should recognize that the Mexican cartels are funded by Americans. In my mind it means having steeper economic penalties and it means having a willingness to do more drug testing.”

(Yahoo! News Interview, November 28th, 2011

“I think that we need to consider taking more explicit steps to make it expensive to be a drug user. It could be through testing before you get any kind of federal aid. Unemployment compensation, food stamps, you name it.

It has always struck me that if you’re serious about trying to stop drug use, then you need to find a way to have a fairly easy approach to it and you need to find a way to be pretty aggressive about insisting–I don’t think actually locking up users is a very good thing. I think finding ways to sanction them and to give them medical help and to get them to detox is a more logical long-term policy.”

(Yahoo! News Interview, November 28th, 2011

So, if you like to use marijuana, newt mandates detox...

He would like to see an increase in enforcing the War on Drugs.

Much like Mitt Romney, he's another "prehistoric thinker..." but what really gets to me is this quote:

“I think Jefferson or George Washington would have rather strongly discouraged you from growing marijuana and their techniques with dealing with it would have been rather more violent than our current government.”

(New Hampshire Voter Event, January 2012

I don't think so Newt! Especially Thomas Jefferson. Both probably even used it... it was a common herb and medicine even back then - far from being illegal, immoral, or discouraged.

Neither President believed infringing on the rights of adult individuals was good governing. But somehow Newt, you believe otherwise. Maybe that's why the Dodo bird appears in Lewis Carroll's - "Alice In Wonderland". Newt's in his own wonderland.

Think the casual cannabis user, generally with a college degree, is going to listen to Newt? Not likely.

Sorry Newt... but you're also a prehistoric thinker, like Mitt Romney.

Prohibition doesn't protect children. It endangers them.

MITT ROMNEY, MINISKIRTS AND MARIJUANA - POLITICS 2012

2012-01-22T12:14:00.015-05:00

Here begins my 2-Cents towards the upcoming Presidential Election. I'm the guy on the fence, a member of neither party. Even the Libertarian Party, though I like the Jeffersonian (ref towards: Thomas Jefferson, 3rd President of the US, 1801-1809) approach to politics, I feel we've grown far beyond what a Libertarian gov't could provide and accomplish.

What I'd like is a Party that's Not a Party. I'd like a government that is rational, realistic, fair and humane, believes in the US Constitution, Human Rights, Personal Rights and Liberties. One that serves and protects.

The question is who qualifies... Obama? Or one of the ever dwindling stock of Republican contenders? The only modern, really intelligent man I see is, Ron Paul, and his own party won't endorse him. The most conservative of the bunch, and he's seen as too libertarian.

Mr. Obama is a good man. He's smart. He's made some good decisions and at least things haven't gotten worse, yet. He's had the worst Congress perhaps in history to deal with, and overall, he's taken action in stride, not fumbling. But he's done some things in office that give me serious mis-givings. He's not done enough for the average guy/gal. He's not pushed for common sense, science based laws; protection of civil liberties, an end to the War on Drugs.

Now a part of me feels he's got the potential to do a lot of good if elected to another four years as President. Another part of me also realizes, he's not exactly the man who campaigned for President in 2008. It's like he was given a script, told to follow it when he was elected, and he's done what he can to both follow the rules and achieve his goals.

Would I vote for him again? Well that depends upon who's running against him. I wouldn't if Ron Paul was the nominee. More on that in my next post perhaps. What if, Mitt Romney was the nominee, as is now being predicted?

Mitt Romney:

Ex-Governor of Massachusetts. A state with a mandated health care-law that he created. The same law he now denounces as bad... this in response to President Obama's health care law. A state where marijuana was decriminalized for several years ago. Mitts state...

What's Mitt's views on marijuana? If you ask me my opinion, marijuana to Mr. Romney is a lot like a woman in a mini-skirt. Remember the 1960's? If not, here's a peek:

This gorgeous gal, circa 1960, is rocking the planet, from gov't perspective, same as marijuana and hippies.

Others felt a woman dressed like this was "begging to be raped". And that's no joke. Some people still believe it today. Just like some people today still believe marijuana is the gateway drug, to hard drugs.

Mitt Romney:

October 4, 2007, Romney speaking to students at St. Anselm Institute of Politics in Manchester, New Hampshire

“I believe marijuana should be illegal in our country. It is the pathway to drug usage by our society, which is a great scourge -- which is one of the great causes of crime in our cities, and I believe we are at a state where, of course, we are very concerned about people who are suffering, and there are various means of providing pain management.”

or:

“People talk about medicinal marijuana, and, you know, you hear that story: People who are sick need medicinal marijuana. But marijuana is the entry drug for people

trying to get kids hooked on drugs. I don’t want medicinal marijuana. There are synthetic forms of marijuana that are available for people who need it for prescription.

Don’t open the doorway to medicinal marijuana.”

Sorry Mitt... it's already open.

In this country maybe we've pretty much gotten over the min-skirt madness era... but in other parts of the world they have not. It's very much like politicians in this country do not want to understand, marijuana is much like a min-skirt. Using marijuana doesn't cause crime. In the majority of the cases it doesn't lead to hard drugs. It's safer than prescription forms of the plant, and in fact much safer than what most humans ingest. The Marijuana Myth is Broken!!!

In Malaysia, in the news recently, was the alleged attacks by street vendors on women wearing trousers and mini-skirts. The men in question assaulted the woman and stripped them naked. They claim they were enforcing the law.

Man In Military Fatigues Undresses a woman in public. 2012

SOURCE: BULAWAYO NEWS 24

The law they are speaking of, "The Decency in Dress Act", 1973, was repealed in 1993. It did in fact make it a crime for women to wear trousers or mini-skirts in public.

This is what a cannabis user feels like when accosted by inane laws. Laws with no more basis in reality than women should not wear mini-skirts or trousers.

I don't believe Mitt Romney seriously knows what is a danger to society today. I think he pretends to know. There may be hope for him, just as there may be hope yet for President Obama.

By now most everyone is aware the of the fact that use of marijuana does not lead to hard drugs or increased crime. It's been legal for years in CA, NY, CO, ME, CT, AZ... and a number of other states. The nations rate of homicides I read recently is down, to # 16, the first time since the 1960's. And in MA, people are not jumping out of windows, nor has there been an increase in crime. CA is still more likely to fall into the ocean than it is to get overrun by hoards of rabid cannies/cannabinoids. Time for this country to get real... deal with real problems, and let people alone that aren't harming others.

A woman wearing a mini-skirt is not an invitation to rape, anymore than a marijuana user is a future user of hard drugs or or a threat to society.

50,000 dead in Mexico, and 100'000's Americans with criminal records, or incarcerated because

of the noble cannabis plant. Thousands more either dead in the US because cannabis is a thriving underground business, with many shady and dangerous players. The War on Drugs is like a war on the mini-skirt. There's no Just Cause to make war on people because of what they wear, read, express or ingest.

This link to The Women's Center for Change (WCC) Panang offers an excellent "Myth Vs. Reality" when it comes to the myth about the mini-skirt, as well as other worthwhile reminders; the point being - a woman wearing clothes is not inviting rape, just as a person using marijuana is not asking for trouble, nor likely to harm society just because... it's a mindset people have, and when the laws cause more harm to society than the perceived goal and/or validity of a law, it's time to stop. As they did in Malaysia.

Not that Malaysia has a great Human Right's record, but then neither does the US.

When voting for President I want someone with for the US Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and a respect of an individual's pursuit of "Life, Liberty and Happiness".

Mitt Romney is a prehistoric thinker. It's time he and others realize the year is 2012. It's not 1912... Mitt Romney is not a man who thinks like a 21st Century thinker. He's stuck in the past, and we really need a future of real change. The kind President Obama promised.

Think FREEDOM, Legalize cannabis! Vote to Stop The Hurt!

And Save the Mini:

Source: Photobucket: http://s192.photobucket.com/albums/z229/Swinging_Sixties/1960s%20-%20Mini%20Skirts/?start=all

Jane Birken, c 1960's

Twiggy, c 1960's

Amsterdam Cannabis Cup Winner: White Widow

THE WAR ON SEMEN - SPECIAL REPORT

2011-12-14T22:26:00.011-05:00

SPERM:

It's come to that.

The FDA has determined your gonads are factories, "manufacturing cells"... and as such, the FDA believes that what your gonads produce/manufacture is a controlled substance. Under their control. Imagine that while it's pending. The goal of the FDA is your well-being, naturally; I suspect that may not be true. Decide for yourself...

Originally this topic was going to be an interlude, a break for a bit before I tackled a more difficult topic... it was to be light-hearted satire to warn against the encroachment of government on human freedom. A humorous topic, I thought!

Seriously. The FDA has declared a "war on semen"...

Case in point:

Trent Arsenault:

Tim has his own blog where he advertises free "donor sperm". He runs it as a business, a not-for profit business. He provides full medical disclosure to potential clients. He's fathered 14 children, and the FDA recently raided his home, and attempted to ... they, the FDA is conducting some kind of investigation... determining what crimes Trent committed. Odd thing is, semen is in high demand. Who would have guessed? Click the image for the story or here:

CBS San Francisco News - "FDA Cracks Down On Fremont Man’s Sperm Donations".

Trent is not alone.

Here's a link to a forum Post-It Board where anyone can ask for, or advertise, they're seeking, or willing to donate sperm:

VOY_FORUMS.COM

I simply never thought of myself as a "factory".

I'll bet the ex-AL politician who was running a private sperm donation clinic didn't think of himself as a factory. The irony with the case of Bill Johnson, 52 of Alabama is that #1, his age. #2, he's married and his wife didn't know. #3, He donated mostly to lesbian women, yet was opposed as a politician to gay rights. In New Zealand, Bill felt generous, and fathered at least 4 children.

What really convinced me to take this topic seriously was when reading that Jennifer Aniston's former agent encouraged her to ask Brad Pitt for some of his semen, before he left for good. The story is here: Agent Urged Jen Aniston To Ask for Brad Pitt's Sperm Post-Split; Published December 23, 2011; FoxNews.com

There's the story of the Texas man who found out he was the father of twins. He always used a condom with his previous girlfriend who gave birth to his children. She stole his sperm in the condoms he used and deposited the sperm in a sperm bank. He's suing.

Story Here: "A New York man was stunned to find out that his four-year-old twins were not an accidental pregnancy after all — but that his desperate girlfriend secretly stashed away his sperm..."

Here's an account of what it's like to donate sperm at a "government approved facility"... THE GENIUS FACTORY, by David Plotz.

And to conclude an in-depth news report entitled: "You Got Your Sperm Where?" Newsweek.com. This last article goes way into the reality of donated sperm. College student can make $1200/donation, I've heard. Gosh, wish I'd known!!!

But as the article begins, one can see that all is not well being a sperm donor:

The Daily Beast: ""

That's enough...

It's bad enough when the government tells me what plants I may have and use. It's another when it tells me my "sperm is manufactured in a factory"! My own personal factory. So, the FDA is thinking of regulating my sperm.

What is it about government that as an elected entity it believes it can decide plants and semen are manufactured, and therefore, subject to government regulation? That it believes it can regulate and even prohibit certain naturally occurring substances? Taking this mindset to semen is taking it way too far. If a guy wants to donate his sperm, when has it been the government's business to interfere? We're talking about SEX. Since when has the government had the right to tell a man where he can plant his seeds? Especially since we're talking about consenting adults.

I'm thinking 2012 should be especially interesting...

CRITICAL THINKING 101 - GRADUATION

2011-11-24T08:51:00.004-05:00

As I've said, "critical thinking" is not the same thing as "being critical" or even "thinking critically"... The latter two actions the result of a "reaction" or "fore-thought".

"Critical Thinking 101" is/has been about thinking before you act. To think before acting, and often to think more often than we do act. To be a successful, "critical thinker" tools are required. Tools we gain growing up; or at least hope we do, that give us an advantage as adults, as well as while growing into adults.

That is generally the job of our parents and our educational system. Both are pretty much required by law - "parents that provide..." and a system of education we accept in writing that we will subject our children to; unless the parents chose to home-school their children. Religious studies are also often provided, as with most, graduation of some kind follows.

From around age 5 to age 18 we are called kids or teenagers. We are not adults. We are not told many truths, but rather are told what we're expected to be told. We are taught the 3 R's, civility, right and wrong within our society. We are told we are kids and tempted with being adults. Mostly, narrow guidelines separate us from disaster, but that is not always followed, and the result of deviation are often severe. Often result in death.

One would think growing up would contain more common sense experience and truthfulness; but such is not the case. This would be a crucial tool, growing up, knowing the difference at any age. My first experience:

In 1963, November 23 at around 10:30 AM I was home sick from school, age 9, and watching TV. I was alone in the house. The scheduled program was interrupted with a news flash... President John F. Kennedy had been shot!

To know then what I know now would be a significant advantage. To know anything while growing up would have been an advantage. But I think "facts" were rather ignored, replaced by tradition, textbooks and propaganda. Think I'm cynical? I am.

To know I was a nine year old kid would have made a big difference while watching a news flash as big as an atom bomb going off.

It was a nexus in time... and so many things changed.

I believe it was the summer of 1970 when the Woodstock movie was shown in movie theaters. I would have been around 16yo then. We were in LI, NY for a family gathering - us with my father's side of the family. They were a rare welcome event as I have many cousins on that side of my family. My aunt, Katherine, often sided with me during family arguments. This was a much larger family, and time spent with my father's family was worlds apart from my mothers side of the family. It was like leaving a compound where strict rules and regulation applied, to a week of rational freedom. My cousins and I did it all, or most all...

We smoked and drank beer, liquor... all hidden from the parents of course. There wasn't any sex I recall, nor "drugs". yet, I felt free, and have no doubt it led to a more open mind when my time came for the initiation to adulthood, which in our case was, the ability to go into a bar and order a beer or a drink. That was it.

But I get ahead of myself. I was at a park with my cousins, in Syosset LI, and they all decided to go to town to see the movie, WoodStock. I was third oldest among the 8 of us, the oldest on my mother's side. In an ensuing argument, my mother won out against my aunt and my oldest cousin that I wasn't allowed to see the movie. My cousins went, and for the first time I felt something new, like a spark of individuality.

My mother's argument was one of tradition, and protectionist child-rearing. My aunts argument was that I was old enough. I was 16.

Being old enough? Wow, what a question. And what a question it's not. I searched Google and didn't find one post-a-ble link. But a new tool was added to my toolbox.

It was soon after my sister and I and our family were vacationing in Sarasota FL. I think I was 17. She was 16. Beginning when darkness fell, the beaches would liven up with campfires. My sister and I wandered the beach and found what were now bon-fires. This was a week where several other tools were added to my toolbox.

I smoked pot for the first time, and nothing happened. There's more, but that's it until I'm about 19. See, for the most part what I remember from age 5 to age 18 is not much, once I box up years of loneliness, years being picked on and bullied, years being told what to do, and yes, I suppose it's fairly typical. Anyways, I boxed it up as such.

I graduated HS at age 18. I had a job at a Dept. Store. I got laid-off one X-Mas eve... and hired back in the Spring, largely due to my father, who had a way of doing things. I didn't attend my graduation. I did attend the rehearsal, and that was enough. The rehearsal was one final afternoon at the HS in the auditorium. The skits were rehearsed, and two of them were etched on my brain.

#1 was a NYC junkie, reformed, who on stage described the night he was arrested, after swallowing several needles he used to inject heroin.

#2 was Elmo. He was the school custodian and the administration thought he should appear onstage. I wanted to cheer, but my classmates booed him offstage. The school custodian, disgusting!

I found an excuse not to attend graduation, and also one to move out on my own as soon as I could. Around age 19 I did that. Moved to an old converted horse-barn, made into upper and lower apartments, at the edge of the community college campus. I moved upstairs into a one room apt. sharing kitchen and bathroom with 4 other rooms. I worked still at the dept store, took classes by day at the college, and sought to attain my independence.

My motivation? Like why did I move out on my own? Might seem obvious, in that in 1973 isn't that was 19 yo men did? Well, not in my case. It's quite ironic what happened in my case. Nothing one would expect anyways.

No mater how hard you try you couldn't guess my motivation. Books that I'd read growing up were a huge motivation. Making my own decisions was another.

In one of my recent posts: http://bobkatlair.blogspot.com/2011/10/critical-thinking-101-welcome-to-second.html, my friend and fellow blogger Slam Dunks, comments:

"I think it is healthy for folks to reflect on turning points in there life--how they became what they are today. Though I can't relate to your choice, I respect the right for people to make their own decisions."

October 18, 2011 9:44 PM

Making my own decisions Key to that comment, if I may, is his admission that he "can't relate to ... (the) choice," yet he respects the right of people to make their own decisions.

After HS graduation which I didn't attend, and working at that dept store and classes at college made no sense to me... I really didn't know what to do. There was a side of me that was social, but another side of me that was quite a-social. I considered suicide, as I was not happy. I had a girlfriend, but it was more frustrating than fun. My studies were very difficult, having barely been a C avg. student during HS. Originally I did not see myself moving away from home. Literally, I had no future. Just dreams, and they were worthless I thought at the time.

No, what changed ultimately was me. An old story by now, but one I repeat, one I understand not everyone can relate to. One not everyone can believe, nor accept.

Fact is, around age 19 I smoked cannabis for the second time, and something wonderful happened. Something extraordinary and completely unexpected. My brain snapped into focus. I discovered myself. My dreams held meaning, and my future promise.

God, to live with that awakening in complete opposition to current and past prohibition of just that activity. And no end in sight as the federal government gears up to spend everything it can to continue to wage war on cannabis, in the name of "Battling Drugs"!

Critical Thinking 101 required of me my ability to think for myself, to take possession of of my spirit and my survival. To look out for #1.

Things didn't work out exactly as I'd planned after that... but I sure did make ground... progress.

So tell me again why cannabis is illegal? Why I should feel shame for my past, and why my future is filled with more of the same hypocrisy and oppression? Tell me again why the federal gov't has a patent relating to the medical benefits of cannabis, and yet refuses to remove it from it's Schedule One classification that emphasizes ZERO medical value?

Why are people allowed to get drunk after work, but not allowed to relax with cannabis?

It takes critical thinking to figure the answers out. You decide.... regardless of polls, recent legal battles to legalize pot, what benefit to society is there to ban a plant that is non-toxic, 100%natural, and safer than legally available alternatives? What spend billions of dollars a year, destroy countless individuals and families to support a law with no bearing in reality? Seriously, cannabis prohibition is without merit. Without justification. It needs to end.

That is critical thinking. To see the obvious.

CRITICAL THINKING 101 - Aliaa Magda Elmady - Egyptian Rebel

2011-11-17T20:51:00.007-05:00

You'll notice a new addition to my "Favorite Blog List"... Aliaa Magda Elmahdy, a 20 year old Egyptian woman, a rebel. To be honest I'd been putting off writing a post about the "Petition The White-House", and the 76,000 signatures that went into a petition by NORML to legalize cannabis or explain why not. The President rebuffed the most popular petition, sending it to the ONDCP to be answered, that's the "Office of National Drug Control Policy". They're paid by us tax-payers to lie to us, if you don't believe me refer to my "Favorite Media" section.

That is still to come, before you can graduate from "Critical Thinking 101", but right now, about Aliaa...

Best to explain this woman's goal, is this link from Business and Law: Aliaa Magda Elmahdy: Egytian Blogger's Nude Pictures Trigger Heated Debate".

WARNING: This Post is for Adults Only as it contains nudity.

Aliaa published a nude photo of herself on her blog to protest oppression in Egypt. Female nudity in Egypt is akin to cannabis in this country. And there are plenty who would like to see Aliaa arrested for posting the nude picture of herself. Some reports say there were 8 nudes, but there was only one, but in addition to her nude art, she posted nude art from several other sources.

In Egypt women are by law required to live in the shadows, covered up, and their femininity never revealed. '' I read an article today where the "Public Decency Police" are to arrest women in Saudi Arabia who have sexy eyes if they are not covered. Speak about Machismo... Egyptian men are expected to sow their seed, and women, are to become shadows.

Due to Aliaa's blog... there is a good chance she will be arrested, heavily fined, and flogged in public, naked I expect.

Aliaa has beautiful eyes, don't you think? Can you see her being arrested... ?

Additional Links:

Aliaa Magda Elmahdy, Nude Blogger: In Pictures

Do I need to expose myself smoking a joint, or eating a pot-brownie, to get recognition for the reality that exists in this country? Oppression exists? In our own homes. And it shouldn't have ever come to this.

[Both alcohol and tobacco are manufactured drugs. Alcohol should be obvious, but with tobacco, try smoking organic tobacco... very alkaline, noxious to inhale, unlike tobacco cigarettes today which are created expressly to bring pleasure and addiction to it's user.]

Cannabis, like a nude Egyptian woman are both natural. No amount of "manufacturing" can change that reality. That human nudity in an artful form is wrong, not a "a human right", is wrong. Just as it's wrong to arrest people for cannabis.

You decide - should we stone Aliaa, or sit with her and smoke some cannabis?

CRITICAL THINKING 101 - The Death Of Amy Winehouse

2011-10-27T19:56:00.020-04:00

Amy Winehouse was a performer, singer, artist. I admit, I am unfamiliar with her work, her songs, but I am keenly aware of her death; she, like myself, are fellow artists. The death of any artist effects me deeply.

In particular, Amy Winehouse's most poignant act might just be her death - a song she performed while dying. With all due respects... to Amy Winehouse, her family and friends, permit me, to continue. I do believe Amy sang us a final song in passing on.

WIKIPEDIA LINK: AMY WINEHOUSE

"Amy Jade Winehouse... an English singer-songwriter known for her powerful deep contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres including R&B, soul and jazz. Winehouse's 2003 debut album, Frank, was critically successful in the UK and was nominated for the Mercury Prize. Her 2006 follow-up album, Back to Black, led to six Grammy Award nominations and five wins, tying the then record for the most wins by a female artist in a single night, and made Winehouse the first British female to win five Grammys, including three of the "Big Four": Best New Artist, Record of the Year and Song of the Year."

"On 14 February 2007, she won a BRIT Award for Best British Female Artist; she had also been nominated for Best British Album. She won the Ivor Novello Award three times, one in 2004 for Best Contemporary Song (musically and lyrically) for "Stronger Than Me", one in 2007 for Best Contemporary Song for "Rehab", and one in 2008 for Best Song Musically and Lyrically for "Love Is a Losing Game", among other distinctions. The album is the biggest seller of the 2000s in the United Kingdom. Winehouse is credited as an influence in the rise in popularity of female musicians and soul music, and also for revitalising British music."

Wow!

How many people can claim the success she'd achieved?

Amy Winehouse died, July 23, 2011 at age 27. Speculation was she died of a drug overdose. After her death, the rumors began circulating. The irony is toxicology found no illegal drugs in her system; she died from consuming too much alcohol, vodka. Still, she gained a sort of notoriety in her latest album when she ranted against "Rehab"...

"They tried to make me go to rehab / I said, 'No, no, no.' " --Amy Winehouse, "Rehab"

She sang about her experiences in, "Back to Black": "released in the UK on 30 October 2006. It went to number one on the UK Albums Chart numerous times, and entered at number seven on the Billboard 200 in the US. It was the best-selling album in the UK of 2007, selling 1.85 million copies over the course of the year."

Critical Thinking 101 is about common-sense. About how maybe "Rehab" isn't all it's cranked up to be. It's true, in my opinion, that rehab itself is an oft abused sentence of society towards an individual. Same with "community service". The question comes down to when is it appropriate to sentence an individual to either? And does it help? The individual that is.

It's okay to drink alcohol and smoke tobacco (you wouldn't want to eat it), but it's not okay to use cannabis, aka, marijuana, although you can eat it, and most scientific research suggests it's not only not harmful, but beneficial too. Still, don't try to convince the ONDCP or Drug Czar of those studies, their job, by law, is to lie and do everything possible to create the worst possible scenario.

Drugs are a class of substances in 3 categories. 1) Over-the-counter drugs: aspirin, vitamins, cough medicine, etc. 2) prescription drugs: those your doctor prescribes that you fill at a pharmacy. 3) illegal drugs, recreational drugs, prescription drugs given to you by someone else.

Alcohol and tobacco are "drugs", but are never described as such, and the government makes a point of never linking those tow substances to the classification of a drug. The truth is, they are, drugs. Both have the potential to kill or cause injury, and do. Both are considered as being "regulated" by the law, and therefore, legal for adult consumption and any harmful effects or even deaths are written off as normal causes of death or in Amy Winehouse's death - "Death by Experimentation".

But not so with cannabis/marijuana. It is classified as a "dangerous drug" and users or local home-growers are targeted by the federal government, state governments and local gov'ts as an imminent threat to society, and actually, so dangerous to society that billions of dollars are spent every day on cannabis prohibition enforcement, eradication, and arrests of persons found to violate those laws. Yet no one dies from using cannabis, nor is any cognitive impairment equal to the danger of a few drinks. So why the prejudice?

Critical Thinking 101 is about looking at the law... the laws... and how they impact society.

In Amy Winehouses's final song she sings about injustice, about hypocrisy, about right and wrong. About freedom, pursuit of happiness and the obstacles to attaining happiness. Our government prides itself on our supposed constitutional freedoms. On adherence to the laws because our laws are constitutional and just.

The reality is not so simple, as laws are passed all the time that are not constitutional. Or federal laws trump state laws, where state laws - or their constitutions, are violated. An example is in NH, and it's Constitution, look at Article 83, and how it relates to agriculture, educational freedom, and how no law shall be passed that makes a commodity such as cannabis illegal.

When news of the death of Amy Winehouse was first released, the former Whitehouse Drug Czar, William Bennett, Washington Fellow of the Claremont Institute and special commentator for CNN news, promptly jumped on-board to scrutinize Amy's death as drug related. He went even further in criticizing her latest Grammy Award, suggesting that because of her out-spoken criticism of rehab, and suspicions of recurrent drug use, she didn't deserve such an award.

William J. Bennett... an outspoken opponent against legalizing any plants/recreational drugs such as cannabis/marijuana.

He commented the following on CNN:

CNN "With those awards, a message was sent: Mock addiction, create a rallying cry for those in its grip, blow your life up in every aspect other than financial success and name recognition, and you will be rewarded with the industry's gold medals. Today, at age 27, she is dead. The cause of death is unknown, but drugs took a toll on her life even if they did not they cause her death."

He continues:

CNN: "It now looks like Amy Winehouse joins the sad list of other talented entertainers whose lives were cut down by drug abuse. Citing the drug-fueled deaths of other troubled musicians at the same age, some are speculating there is something special, or ominous, about the age of 27. But change the age by just a few years, and you still have too much evidence of too much talent cut too short by substance abuse. From Heath Ledger to Brittany Murphy to River Phoenix to Andy Gibb to Elvis Presley, the list just goes on and on. Age is not the problem; drug abuse is."

Well, William J. Bennett, in my humble opinion, is a narrow-minded hypocrite whose understanding and knowledge is driven by a self-satisfying narcissism! He is a recovering gambler who lost a great deal of money gambling, is a drinker, and a man obsessed with his own ideals.

Brittany Murphy for example, again speculation and rumor was rampant regarding the cause of her death. Again, as William Bennett chose to believe, drugs were the cause. But again, as in the case of Amy Winehouse, drugs do not appear to be the cause of death.

At 08:00 (16:00 GMT) on December 20, 2009, the Los Angeles Fire Department responded to "a medical request"[33] at the Los Angeles home Murphy and Monjack shared. She had apparently collapsed in a bathroom. Firefighters attempted to resuscitate Murphy on the scene. She was transported to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead on arrival at 10:04 after going into cardiac arrest.

RE: Brittany Murphy: Shortly after her death, Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter told the Associated Press: "It appears to be natural." An autopsy was performed on December 21, 2009. Her death certificate listed the cause of death as "deferred". On February 4, 2010, the Los Angeles County coroner stated that the primary cause of Murphy's death was pneumonia. It is suspected that Brittany died of exposure to a deadly mold, as her husband died shortly after under similar circumstances.

So why the fixation with drugs???

Incompetence and stupidity is my opinion. Ignorance and the bliss associated with such blissful blindness to the facts. For politicians it sounds good, to themselves anyways, to come down hard on what they call "drugs". It feels good to point a finger at something, even if it lacks substantial proof. Cannabis/marijuana for example - listed as a schedule one drug with severe potential for abuse and zero medical benefit, has been patented by the fedral government as an anti-oxidant and with potential to prevent or shrink cancerous tumors - see patent, #6,630,507 which reads as follows:

Cannabinoids as antioxidants and neuroprotectants

Abstract

Cannabinoids have been found to have antioxidant properties, unrelated to NMDA receptor antagonism. This new found property makes cannabinoids useful in the treatment and prophylaxis of wide variety of oxidation associated diseases, such as ischemic, age-related, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. The cannabinoids are found to have particular application as neuroprotectants, for example in limiting neurological damage following ischemic insults, such as stroke and trauma, or in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and HIV dementia.

In response to a letter I sent asking for legalization of cannabis in America, my congresswoman, Senator Jean Shaheen, replied:

"Regardless of whether a state chooses to legalize medical marijuana, I believe that we should make a concerted effort to prevent recreational drug use, especially by youth. A study by the American Medical Association recently found that young people who smoke marijuana are up to five times more likely to move on to harder drugs. At a time when America's excessive demand for drugs is fueling violent crime at home and in neighboring countries, we need to strengthen initiatives to educate young people about the risks of drug use."

All about young people, and more of the same about the "stepping stone" effect; and excessive drug violence; all but disproved, except maybe in Mexico. The message - better to wage war on Americans, ignore the constitutional rights of adults and make statements targeting children and young adults.

In conclusion, simple question:

So, you want to protect the children, you have children or you know children. You care. But shit happens, and when you're not around you cannot always control what happens - that being the unexpected. So, albeit the fact that cannabis is "illegal" for adult use, tobacco and alcohol are also illegal for those under age 18. So, the question is this?

Children in a home find an opportunity to search for, find, and experiment with one of 3 different drugs they might find.

1) Tobacco

2) Alcohol

3) Cannabis/marijuana

Which do you think is the safer drug for that young person to experiment with, if the worse were to happen? Which do you think is safer?

My opinion... I pray that kid finds the cannabis first.

We all contributed to the death of Amy Winehouse, since we as the people of this world are not able to distinguish between the different grays and colors of our reality. We are taught zero tolerance, passing standardized testing, accepting what we're told by those who are the authorities. We are encouraged to ask questions, but also encouraged not to question that which the authorities emphasize is unquestionable. We are herded into kennels, and raised as sheep. We are told it is for our own good.

Without a doubt, I don't want to see any drugs in the hands of youth, but for adults, I want to experience freedom, not oppression. I think we all do, because without freedom, how can we properly raise our children?

***

CRITICAL THINKING 101 - Welcome To Second Class...

2011-10-16T17:50:00.008-04:00

I knew I was in trouble the next morning; when nothing bad happened.

Previously, you might recall I ended by saying I'd smoked marijuana with two good friends. I said I believed it to be the first time I'd really thought critically about a decision I had to make. It's important to understand I was very much against "drugs". And in my mind at the time marijuana was the number one worst drug out there.

So why did I do it?

Possible reasons put forth by various theories includes:

1) A need to belong; abandonment of good judgement and what's right or wrong.

2) A naive individual easy manipulated by his peers.

3) The search for truth being more important than accepting the word of others.

4) The criminal mind is just that, Criminal.

5) The desire to rebel against the system and blatant disregard for conformity and, the law.

6) Don't believe everything you're told!

I'll give you a few moments to decide what you think. You may want to go back to my previous post - "To Do or Not To Do", to get a better understanding of my question. Please do.

Without a doubt, my reason's centered on #3, and #6.

The next morning, after using marijuana - for the 2nd time, actually (the first time was 3 years earlier and I felt absolutely nothing, though it was without question marijuana), and actually experiencing "getting high/stoned, I fully expected to wake up needing heroin, or brain damaged. But I didn't. I felt fine. Better than fine, in fact. For the first time in my life I'd actually laughed my ass off, laughed so hard and good that I thought I would die (I didn't). I also got to really feel what paranoia feels like, followed by more laughter and camaraderie.

When I work up and realized I felt quite fine, I had to think about it for a few days. At the time, drinking age was 18, and I was 19. The Viet Nam War draft had ended just shy of my 18th birthday, and they had a draft lottery then, and the number picked for my DOB was 16, sweet 16, and straight out to Viet Nam, only the draft ended and then the war. The year was 1972... I was 18 and Pres. Nixon did the only good deed I'll ever remember him for, ending the war.

Promptly starting a new one, called the War on Drugs, with even more victims in the years that followed, and still do today. I my next post I will shed more of my expertise on this topic, as there is much more to it.

This topic isn't about marijuana. But without the influence of marijuana there's a good chance "critical thinking 101" would have never happened. I had never questioned anything in the past like I did from then on. That night, more than any other, defined the divide between my past and my future.

I no longer saw the world in black and white. I know longer looked at education as something I was expected to do. I no longer believed everything was as it seemed, or that those in a position of power knew what was truly right, or wrong. I began to make my own decisions, and sought knowledge and advice from people I respected when I had a question.

Ultimately I grew to understand the question was more important than the answer, that being free was a challenge, and difficult, but also worth every effort.

I was close to stopping my education prior to that night, simply because I was expected to do so, just getting a job in a factory, getting married, having children and buying that white house with the white picket fence. Staying put where I was born - in that locale, no interest in bettering myself. After-all, the only thing I heard from my parents was how I needed to succeed, get married, buy that house, etc... I was frankly overwhelmed by the expectations and sacred traditions.

I did NOT think outside the box then. I wasn't capable of doing so and would have looked at anyone who suggested it as nuts.

Sometimes I do miss the fact that I didn't simply succumb to the status quo and say NO to using marijuana. But I'm reminded that at age 16 I almost died from a overdose of alcohol, and that fact, held a wealth of information, in that, legal, didn't/doesn't mean safe to use. So why I wondered, even before I knew what I was thinking, was marijuana illegal when (I discovered later) it was "safe" to use, in the sense it being is virtually non-toxic? And why, when I woke up that morning after using marijuana, why did I feel real good, even motivated, when everything I'd been told had said I'd regret the decision the rest of my life.

When actually I didn't.

CRITICAL THINKING 101 - TO DO OR NOT TO DO?

2011-10-15T08:31:00.005-04:00

You're presented with a present, doesn't matter from who; The reality is what matters... inside that box could be anything. ANY THING! This is not simply an obvious fact, but rather, it's Quantum Physics.

Rule #1: Nothing hidden is fixed on a quantum level until experienced on the physical level.

"Critical Thinking", the art of painting, creating, surviving with the human mind.

I think most professionals in the field of education, in particular, our public school system, as well as many private, religious, and charter schools know that "critical thinking" is key to a good education.

Trouble is, critical thinking is being pushed aside, in favor of standardized skills and standardized testing. That to be a contributing adult in the 21st century requires standardized skills, not critical thinking. The process and integration of standardized curriculum is well established already; most prominently in the Federal Government's, "No Child Left Behind", NCLB act. A noble idea maybe, gone wrong.

In addition we have a New right in schools... Today, a child can be arrested for bringing a pocket-knife to school; or a squirt-gun, even a toy soldier. If they write a story about war, murder, rage, destruction, they are suspected child-terrorist. They're not considered creative, or expressing themselves in the sense that students prior to the 1990's experienced things. Everything a student does or says today is noted and documented... if it's unconventional.

I know of one story where a student, I believe in middle-school, returned to school after Summer break, was asked to to the boring "What did you do over your summer vacation" assignment, and he wrote that he experimented "making bombs". It was a big story... he was arrested, his house searched, parents questioned, and they found pipes, matches, and other "bomb-making" materials at his house.

Yet, I know of another story where a student describes "over the summer", he ordered nuclear material, experimented with explosives, a nuclear reactor, and nuclear fusion. Turns out he's a child genius, and he works for the Dept of Homeland Security. He built nuclear reactors at home!

As a kid I had occasion to experiment with building exploding things using matches, or gunpowder (secured by opening a live bullet). I've asked people my age if they did the same (men), and they answer "sure, who didn't?"

Critical Thinking 101 involves making decisions based on circumstance, knowledge, rational interpretation, and either doing something or nothing. We always have at least three choices in life: 1) Do, 2) Do Nothing, 3) Take a moment and think about it.

Situation: You're 19 years of age; you graduated from HS; You're going to the local community college pursuing an AS degree in a subject that you are led to believe is your destiny; you don't question this reality.

Good or Not Good?

A dumb question actually, as we always have at least 3 choices. It may be neither good, nor not good. It may require "critical thought and consideration". At age 19 things aren't anywhere near figured out. To blindly accept one's situation is folly.

Situation 2: You're 19 years of age; it's a Friday night, the weekend, you're spending time with two childhood friends. You're able to drink alcohol legally, being as it's early 1970's, and most staes considered 18 the legal age; you haven't decided to go to a bar this night, instead, one of your friends asks if you want to smoke some Panama red - marijuana?

In school they taught you that "marijuana is a dangerous drug". They told you it would quickly lead to harder drugs, would destroy your brain, and you'd possible jump off a roof. As a result you're very ant-drug, and you think in right and wrong. You're presented with one of the worst challenges in life. Marijuana is illegal, you'd call the police, so righteous you are, if anyone offered such a deal; but in this case, you do the most unusual thing you've ever done. You say, "sure, I'll try it".

Somehow realizing there were more than two choices here, one being calling the police, and two being abandoning everything I'd ever been led to believe about marijuana, right and wrong, by simply saying "sure, let's spark it up!" I had perhaps the longest moment in time right then. I looked at my other friend who seemed to be teetering on the same edge as was I.

I finally decided, the truth about marijuana meant more to me than any principles, or what I'd been taught in school to believe without question. I thought critically perhaps for the first time in my life about a situation, and my options. Both my friend and I decided to try it.

Next Time: My cat is addicted to Kitty-Treats... and Now What???

Additional reading:

WIKIPEDIA: Critical thinking, in general, refers to a higher-order of thinking that questions assumptions. It is a way of deciding whether a claim is true, false, or sometimes true and sometimes false, or partly true and partly false. The origins of critical thinking can be traced in Western thought to the Socratic method of Ancient Greece...

Critical thinking...the awakening of the intellect to the study of itself.

CRITICAL THINKING.ORG: "Critical thinking is a rich concept that has been developing throughout the past 2500 years. The term "critical thinking" has its roots in the mid-late 20th century. We offer here overlapping definitions, together which form a substantive, transdisciplinary conception of critical thinking."

BOBKAT'S HISTORY OF HUMANKIND, PART 3; Creationism and Gov. Rick Perry

2011-10-02T09:34:00.017-04:00

My apology for how long it's been since I last posted. I've been a bit preoccupied - a lot is in the news these days, especially with the 2012 Presidential election looming ever closer. Much piques my interest, and it's hard to focus in on what my goals are.

Continuing my History of Humankind is one of those goals.

History is forever in the making... forever being formed, and forever investigated, disputed, explained, espoused and exploited/used everyday, often.

Our history is who we are, where we've been, what we're to become. History is both immutable and in flux, depending. It's in flux because much of history is not fixed, and open to human interpretation. On the other hand it's immutable as certain facets of history are fact, established fact; they are indisputable, immutable.

The picture to the upper-left there is Charles Darwin, 1809-1882.

In 1859 Charles Darwin, stunned the world with the publication of his book - "On The Origin of the Species". On that day the "theory" of evolution was born... a "theory" that's not so much a theory as it is presently, but rather a science subject to continual scrutiny and reform. It is also science that is disputed by so called "Creationist", who believe not only that "evolution" is simply a theory, but that the science behind evolution is unnecessary, and flawed.

It is governed by a higher power, that of the Bible, and of God who created the Earth and all living things. A God who placed man as the supreme being on earth, and a companion called woman. This God created two human beings, according to the Bible, one man, called Adam, and the other woman, called Eve. They lived in a garden, called Eden. And as long as they abided by God's rules, they could continue to live in Eden. Eden, was God's paradise...

In history it is noted that it was Eve who screwed things up. Eve who was twice cursed, suffered twice the guilt and shame, who at least until the 1920's AD, had little in the way of person rights or equality. They'd been pretty much viewed as men's concubines. Eve's first sin was to eat of the fruit of the "Tree of Good and Evil". The second sin was turning Adam onto the consumption of the fruit. Together they donned fig-leaf's to cover their nakedness, to flee Eden, their idyllic home, a home they could have remained at for eternity, if only Eve hadn't sinned.

It's quite the story. And what we've made of it as a society is even more amazing. Adam and Eve weren't created to live out life in Eden. Rather, it's a profound story of how we became who we are today, suffering feelings of guilt and shame. Of course the Tree of Knowledge was forbidden... as it was undiscovered. The story of Eden is one of self-awakening, of how Eve discovered a "fruit" that brought about enlightenment. How she shared it with Adam. How they became aware of themselves/self-aware.

That is "CREATIONISM". The "science" originating from the Book of Genesis, from the Christian Bible. That man and women did not evolve, but rather, were "created in God's image". As such, those who believe in creationism, believe history is immutable, and that all humankind needs to know about evolution is what is described in the Bible. And that the "theory of evolution" is just that, "a theory", and for the most part a myth, or deviation from the truth, embraced by atheists and non-believers. That we could have ascended from a linage of apes and monkeys is blasphemy.

A history derived from the Bible, in which Eve was tempted by an apple, from the tree of Good and Evil, and though the Bible does not specifically mention her being seduced by a serpent, to eat of the fruit, our history has it as such, that Eve was dared by a serpent to eat the fruit God forbade her to eat, thus discovering the truth. Having discovered the truth of "good and evil", Eve convinced Adam to experience the same fate, and thus they broke God's law, and were evicted from paradise.

It is a this point in time that "God's curse on humans" is pronounced. Man, Adam, must live by the sweat of his brow", tilling the fields, and women, Eve, are cursed to become subservient to man, and to bear children. Humankind will grow old and die. Their offspring will populate the earth and based on God's law rule the animal and plants. Catholics therefore believe it is a man's place to dominate, and a woman's place to be his slave, and to bear children. Sex is for procreation only, and no pleasure is to derived from sex except for the man, for whom his duty is to impregnant his woman, and thus fulfill the curse.

That is Creationism.

The state of Texas is on top of the list of states wanting to teach Creationism, and distance itself from teaching the science of evolution in schools. At the top of the list of proponents to abandon teaching the science of evolution in favor of creationism, is Governor Rick Perry, a current contender in the 2012 presidential elections.

In 2009, Gov. Rick Perry picked Gail Lowe, an outspoken supporter of Creationism to head the Texas Board of Education. Gail Lowe: thinks evolution should be taught and "kids ought to be able to hold religious beliefs and still study science without any conflict." But in 2008, she took the position that "biology textbooks which do not teach both the scientific strengths and weaknesses of the theory of evolution must be rejected by the board." She has voted against new textbooks that do not contain those "weaknesses."

During a recent campaign visit to New Hampshire, at his mother's urging, a young boy asked Gov. Perry how old the world is? His answer: "I hear your mom was asking about evolution and, you know, it's a theory that's out there," Perry told the boy. "It's got some gaps in it, but in Texas we teach both creationism and evolution in our public schools, because I figure you're smart enough to figure out which one is right."

So, how smart are we as Americans? And which is right?

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the earth is 4.54 billion years old. According to creationists, the earth is 6015 years old - the origin of the world as we know it today occurred at 4004 BC. That Gov. Perry doesn't know that surprises me.

How do I know that? "A UNIVERSAL HISTORY", published in 1855 by Emma Willard.

That's 4 years prior to Darwin's publication of the "Origin of Species". At the time, the author acknowledges that history and the age of the world, and it's history, is limited to one's understanding and the "science" derived from the Bible. In 1855 this was the textbook used by teachers to teach the history of mankind and of the world.

Let's explore:

Index, from the beginning, 4004 BC to 2085BC, the "Shepherd Kings", with much more to follow, obviously.

The facts derived from the Universal History are that little of the world is unknown by 2000 BC, that it is fact that Adam and Eve were driven out of the Garden of Eden, which is thought to be located in the area of the Mediterranean.

By 2348 BC, Mankind is out-of-control, and the sins of man force God to bring on the Great Flood that wipes out all of humankind, plant and animal, other than those safe in Noah's Ark. It is God's hope that mankind will exit the ark and live a life of obedience to God's rules, abstain from sin, and the women will bear children, and stop causing trouble. That those children born of Noah's sons will grow up obedient to God's laws.

Okay, great in theory, but hardly realistic. I also note a obvious disregard for the children of "the mother of Noah's children"... at least this author disregards them completely, but it should be noted, this is a textbook, this is what you learned at a "good Christian school".

Rather naive, if you ask me, and shortly thereafter, the Tower of Babel happened, 2300BC and rather confirms my suspicions mankind has an affinity towards vice and sin. What surprised me however, even more than that obvious fact, was how mankind was divided up after the waters of the Great deluge (Flood) receded, and humankind once again inhabited the earth.

This from the book "Universal history":

"The mosaic history informs us that of the descendants of Noah, were three peoples..."

1) The children of Japheth: the Caucasians, from the Isles of the gentiles," Children of Eden..

2) The children of Shem; moved west to Eastern and Southern Asia. The Mongols.

3) The children of Ham, Western Asia and Africa. The Blacks.

"Scientists of the time classified the human species by using logic based on these three distinct races":

The Mongol, the Negro, and the Caucasian.

The Negro race without explanation, as far as I was able to find, was "held to servitude by their brethren". But for what reason - things didn't go well in the Ark? Did Noah have more than one "wife"? And maybe he had his favorites? Ham apparently had done something to destine his children into servitude.

Such was the world in 1855AD, during the height of, and the unquestionable period of Creationism. Evolution at the time was if not unknown, it was scorned. And the only source of the history of humankind was extracted from the Bible.

It is no wonder that in the year 2011 there are those who long to go back to those simpler times... simpler in that one relied on the Bible for facts, and for reality.

The following are reprints from that early history from A "Universal History" by Emma Willard.

***

To Be Continued...

BOBKAT'S HISTORY OF HUMANKIND, PART 2; DARWINIAN/HOLMES WILMA

2011-09-11T16:44:00.003-04:00

This is "WILMA"... A National Geographic composite photo of a (it doesn't specify - I'd say a 20-something year old) Neanderthal woman, assembled and rendered from 43,000 year old bones:

We begin our journey in the origin of our species, pre-humans some 4.4 million years ago. These included a broad variety of hominids, like Australopithecus. Some fossils representing this early species of hominids date back to around 6 million years ago. Two particular discoveries should be noted. In 2009, a female, named ARDI, was introduced. Ardipithecus ramidus. She had a small brain, was 110 pounds, 47 inches tall - 3.9 feet. The face of "Ardi" did not project as much as those of modern apes, but was not as flat and massive as the later Australopithecus. As noted in the article by the Nation geographic Magazine, "Ardi ... shows an unexpected mix of advanced characteristics and of primitive traits seen in much older apes that were unlike chimps or gorillas. As such, the skeleton offers a window on what the last common ancestor of humans and living apes might have been like." ARDI:

And Many of us have probably heard about LUCY, discovered 3.2 million years ago, and once considered to be the "missing link" in our evolution. There isn't any longer a theory or discussion about a missing link, or links. Human evolution is described more like a tree these days, with branches of hominid species, some isolated, others interlinked, all that to go extinct while the whole of our ancestry merges with other branches, branches like a river and all it's tributaries. The first of the genus Homo appears in Africa 2.5 million years ago, and modern humans appear around 200,000 years ago. This was during a period of glaciation, the Riss Glacier in Europe, the Illionian Glacier in North America. A period of time when the earth was cooler and dry. From around 2 million years ago to around 50,000 years ago ancestors of homo must have been migrating/relocating to different parts of the world. I have heard that around 125,000 years ago modern humans made their way out of Africa. It would have been very dry, and it's theorized humans were able to traverse distances normally covered by water in North Africa. It is the beginning of the great deserts on earth. Neanderthals died out around 25,000 years ago. But 50,000 years ago an interesting blend of humans and human cousins populated the earth. In Western Europe it was the Neanderthals, in Asia were the Denisovans - WikiLink1,

" There is DNA evidence that the three groups, humans from Africa included, interacted together and mated, producing off-spring. According to scientist studying human DNA, our genetic make-up is due in part to up to 6% Denisovan, and 4% Neanderthal. According to the source of this news, this cross-breeding gave us a boost in immunity from disease, among other traits. "Sex with Cavemen Gave Humans an Immune Boost: Study". Seems there is no such thing as a pure "White Aryan Race". Next Time: What our 19th Century relatives knew about our evolutionary history, and why, Pres. nominee Rick Perry's views on the Origin of our Species is set from that age of our history.

BOBKAT'S HISTORY OF HUMANKIND, PART 1; BORN TO BE WILD -

2011-09-05T19:31:00.005-04:00

Edited Sept 07, 2011 I feel a a lot like Darwin... Charles Darwin... 1809-1892, an English naturalist renowned for his documentation of evolution and for his theory of its operation, known as Darwinism.

Yes, Charles and I share a resemblance too, remote, but there all the same. There's also a similarity in our being innately inquisitive and studious, our love of nature and the way it works. I used to think I was more like Sherlock Holmes, a fictional character based on the genius of writer Sir Author Conan Doyle, 1859-1930.

However, I've never served in law enforcement and Sir Arthur did.

This is my 200th Post, by the way! It's also the week of my birthday, some 3557 year's old now (more on my age later). Born to be wild... I wish. I heard from my family today... my cousin Becky, who was like a sister growing up, died today of alcoholism, age 55. Was I close to my cousin? Yes, until about 15 years ago when she'd had enough of the family abuse and detached herself from all of us, or tried to. Today she detached herself permanently... my thanks to the Federal government for it's charity when it comes to the abundance of access to alcohol, to drown one's soul, while continuing to prohibit and make criminals of those who might chose a safer alternative. Cannabis/marijuana I suggest, not only safer but therapeutic too... not the poison alcohol is. My cousin might be alive alive today had she and many millions of others had a choice, a natural choice!!! Seems people I know are either dying from alcohol related causes or tobacco... not a one from cannabis, and I know many people who enjoy it. All harmless, hard-working, honest citizens - albeit criminals. This post is about history, it is... but our origins, and where we are today are vitally important when looked at together. Fact is the race of humans goes back at least to 10 Million years BC and I plan to write about facts recently discovered that were of interest to me. In the next post - how Homo Sapiens screwed around with not only Neanderthals, but Denisovans too. Seems, the human race and it's complicated history is much more than Whites, Blacks, Asians and Jews. Seems we have a lot more to consider than putting people in prison for possession of plants, when the majority of harms to our society are alcohol, tobacco and interpersonal cultural hatred. Was I really born over 3000 years ago? Yes. To be continued... In Memory of My Cousin Becky!

THE CRIMINAL MIND,CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR, CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECKS - Part Two

2011-08-18T22:28:00.000-04:00

In my last post, Part One of this topic, I discussed an online service posted on my blog, as an AdSense member (they do that), which entices and claims to provide "you with access to another person's background; and what we would expect with this service are no results if there is no criminal history. But that is exactly what they are hoping you'll think, as you're presented with results, for virtually anyone you enter to search on.

We all want to feel SAFE. Even serial killers want to feel safe, safe as safe can be. That's not to say we actually feel safe, which many of us don't, reinforced by gruesome murders, child abductions and murders, spouse murders, suicides, kidnappings and murder(s), massacres, government massacres, like the current atrocities occurring in Syria right now and the past several months/years... disappearances, missing persons, bodies found or never found... husbands that murder wives, wives that murder husbands, parents that murder their children, friends that murder friends. Where does it stop, the murders, the deaths, the disappearances?

Why does our tax-payer $$$ fund a 1.4 trillion dollars to date War on Drugs, mostly marijuana, and next to nothing on the things I mentioned above?

Why were the Butts Family Murders, or Nikki Ladue January never given proper proceedure in bringing a predator/killer to justice?

Without a doubt we can't be too trusting these days... civilization isn't yet attained. The wild, wild west is not too far back... late 1800's, in fact. Having protection is a must. Having a gift of second nature intuition is a must.

So websites offering information with regards to a possible criminal background for that new neighbor, new employee, or potential new friend, seems wise and prudent.

There are people with criminal brains. People that make no sense to the majority of people. Igor found that out in Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein", when sent by his master, Dr. Frankenstein, he grabbed the brain of a criminal in haste, and that is the brain Frankenstein got. The villagers massacred them all...

On that note... turn to the latest in White House Politics...

I know, it's a vast turnaround; and another one soon to come; what Congress accomplished of late is nothing next to phenomenal, how our new Tea-Party elected Republicans brought this country to the brink of economic default, and how House Majority Leader Boehner (pronounced bain-er) seems to have come away unscathed, while Pres. Obama takes the heat. As well he should, as President.

I personally don't hold Obama accountable, i think he acted extremely well in the face of it. What annoys me is how preoccupied this Administration has been with issues that should not be issues.

There are REAL ISSUES to deal with...

Which brings me to the conclusion of this topic... Brains, normal brains/criminal brains...

How do you know what brain is near to you? Imagine we're all Frankenstein... now imagine the idea of a person having a "criminal brain"... the brain of a person who is a serial killer, a murderer, kidnapper, marijuana user? All bring down harsh punishments if caught, and that is why we have a government that "serves and protects us".

Who is the real Frankenstein? Please stand up.

THE CRIMINAL MIND,CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR, CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECKS - Part One

2011-08-06T10:12:00.003-04:00

An Advertisement on my blog got me thinking about this topic. The advertisements are to the left of my topic, under my "Followers". It's not the image/Amazon link on my topic, but rather the from the Ads added from a 3RD Party there as an AdSense member. To be able to monetize and offer up suggestions for books, different media and relevant merchandise (the Amazon links I post next to my topics), I accept this 3RD party can place ads on my blog. It's actually quite common, even with corporate and government blogs.

The particular advertisement that inspired me here, not available under the ads section right now, was about conducting a "Criminal Background Checks". How you could find out all you wanted to know about that new neighbor, employee, boss, new friend or lover... anyone.

I've actually tried several companies like this over the years. One or two I can say do what they claim, but several others are useless. Still, you never know, and not knowing about that new person can really gnaw at your neck. So, what to do? It's so easy to click the link these days...

But Be Forewarned... On the following link, CheckMate, aside from a small disclaimer when you first enter the site, nothing can prepare you for the results when you type in someone's name. And you'll get results!

Here, try it: CHECKMATE

OK, you tried it... now for around $40 dollars you get to click on the links to find out more, most likely not much more. And if you don't pay the money, you're left wondering...

When I first tried it - from a link on my own blog, multiple listings for people I typed in came up. I even typed in the state governor, and our State senator, and every time - it appeared there were "criminal records" linked to the person... but of course to find out those details I would have to pay. I didn't. I just was left to assume they were guilty of something - being politicians, and all.

What I did do was make the mistake of telling one of my housemates, a registered nurse, that several links were there about her. She freaked, burst into tears, and not because she was guilty of anything, but rather, her job demands a high level of accountability. The shear thought or indication of anything criminal or in bad judgement could cost her her job.

I was stunned and heart-broken over the fact I'd upset her with this website and it's links. What have I done, I wondered.

I wrote to a fellow blogger who happens to be ex-law enforcement. I asked him to try the site... I told him what happened. He wrote back and said:

"Yes, with the popularity of criminal justice databases online, there are several of these comprehensive background report companies selling services. It is important to remember that any agency claiming comprehensive background checks should be viewed as suspicious--since law enforcement, which has the best system, still has to search/jump through hoops using a variety of areas to conduct a criminal history (federal, state, local)".

"As you observed, this one is particularly misleading with their "supposed" criminal info once you pay the fee. They have been accused of being a scam several times online (here are two)--"

1) Complaint Review: Corporate Headquarters Instant Checkmate LLC

2) Instant Checkmate does not provide "background checks" and incompletely provides criminal records.

The secrete behind their back-ground tease? They use commonly available online data about where you have lived and currently live. That's it. Your record of where you've been sometimes goes back decades... they simply generate a record for every address you've lived at, plus some (meaning I found some errors).

Next time... Criminal Behavior... What is it, and why is it so common in our country?

The Tea-Party; The Fed. Debt Crisis; Casey Anthony and, US Patent # 6,630,507 - PART THREE

2011-07-30T12:42:00.004-04:00

What possible link could there be between the subjects in the title of this post? Yes, I bit off a lot... the truth is, what links these subjects together are lies, politics, the public circus, failure to do diligent research and failure to act responsibly.

Let's investigate:

The current crisis in Congress - the so-called Federal Debt Crisis. I believe I've covered the facts surrounding the crisis. As noted, the "Tea-Party" elected Republicans have a stake in the outcome of the stand-off regarding an increase to the federal debt ceiling - something raised hundreds of times in the past without a grotesque parade. But this time around, D-Day, as the Tea-Party elect have an oath-bound duty to cut spending, reduce the national debt, cap the national debt, and end social programs. What's ironic is that when Pres. Geo W Bush was elected President he inherited a budget surplus...

Look, I'm not into bashing Bush, but Pres. Obama inherited quite the burden. To top it off the Congressional elections in 2010 - with the introduction of the rogue element "The Tea-Party", was a bit too much. Today, at a time of record unemployment, cuts to social services, threats to income and health benefits for senior citizens, the current House is inundated with rogue Tea-Party elect, and causing chaos in Congress. That's a fact. At the head of the House body is Republican Speaker of the House Boehner, pronounced (Bane - er). I feel sympathy for him because i believe strongly he is an experienced, intelligent man, but he is powerless to mediate among the rogue elements in the House, and so he is treading water... hoping for a miracle that will likely not arrive.

D-Day is inevitable...

Casey Anthony is a private citizen suspected of murdering her daughter Caylee in the 1st degree. Her trial was televised nationally over a number of weeks. She was found "Not-Guilty" of the charge. The prosecution perhaps aimed too high in pursuit of Justice. She was found guilty of "lying to the police", subject to a 4 year prison term, of which she served 3 years. She was released a short time ago and her whereabouts are unknown.

She will be forgotten eventually, but recently a mask of her face sold for 1 million dollars on E-Bay. That's more than most celebrities get for their memorabilia at auction. Unlike a public figure like O.J. Simpson, which i previously tried to suggest as a public figure, I can understand televising his trial. But Casey Anthony, was a private citizen. Televising her trial was inappropriate. It became nothing but a Reality TV Show, with her as the main character.

The death of Caylee Anthony is extremely tragic, and it's natural we'd want Justice to be served. But the facts in this case highlight a prosecution team over-inflated with it's own ideals... charging Casey Anthony with 1st degree murder and other charges for which they really had no proof. Early on in the case, doubt was raised in my mind that Casey may have killed her daughter based on premeditation... it seemed more likely she freaked, and accidentally killed her daughter, then tried to cover it up. But that is not what the prosecution thought...

Casey Anthony was freed... but, as a result of her trial being televised, she is one of the most "hated people" in this country.

After her release the following article emerged from MSNBC: Casey Anthony: How does she rebuild a life?
Advocates who work with former prisoners say she'll need to establish a 'new normal'

According to the article which reveals never before disclosed facts about the life of a person, after incarceration, having been subject to arrest and incarceration, is no casual, simple to recover come effect. Yet we subject 100's of thousands of non-violent "offenders" to this reality yearly. We on the outside hardly give it a second thought... however I urge you do do so.

"Being incarcerated is a traumatic event no matter who you are and no matter how long you stay in," said JoAnne Page, president and chief executive officer of The Fortune Society, a nonprofit social service and advocacy group in New York that works with former prisoners. "I think especially when somebody’s high-profile and when it’s a hard case for people to stomach, it’s much harder."

About 730,000 people are released from state and federal prisons across the country every year, while another seven million cycle through jails annually, Page said.
“No matter what the crime was, what you want is for them to enter society as people who can be constructive in the community," she said. "If that doesn’t happen, everybody gets hurt.” - MSNBC

#4: PATENT # 6,630,507:

United States Patent 6,630,507
Hampson , et al. October 7, 2003
Cannabinoids as antioxidants and neuroprotectants

Abstract
Cannabinoids have been found to have antioxidant properties, unrelated to NMDA receptor antagonism. This new found property makes cannabinoids useful in the treatment and prophylaxis of wide variety of oxidation associated diseases, such as ischemic, age-related, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. The cannabinoids are found to have particular application as neuroprotectants, for example in limiting neurological damage following ischemic insults, such as stroke and trauma, or in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and HIV dementia. Nonpsychoactive cannabinoids, such as cannabidoil, are particularly advantageous to use because they avoid toxicity that is encountered with psychoactive cannabinoids at high doses useful in the method of the present invention. A particular disclosed class of cannabinoids useful as neuroprotective antioxidants is formula (I) wherein the R group is independently selected from the group consisting of H, CH.sub.3, and COCH.sub.3. ##STR1##

This is a patent the Federal Government filed and owns with regards to staking a claim on medical benefits.

There are actually many other patents too, not just owned by the Federal Government.

U.S. Patent Documents
2304669 December 1942 Adams
4876276 October 1989 Mechoulam et al.
5227537 July 1993 Stoss et al.
5284867 February 1994 Kloog et al.
5434295 July 1995 Mechoulam et al.
5462946 October 1995 Mitchell et al.
5512270 April 1996 Ghio et al.
5521215 May 1996 Mechoulam et al.
5538993 July 1996 Mechoulam et al.
5635530 June 1997 Mechoulam et al.
5696109 December 1997 Malfroy-Camine et al.
6410588 June 2002 Feldmann et al.
Foreign Patent Documents
427518 May., 1991 EP
576357 Dec., 1993 EP
656354 Jun., 1995 EP
658546 Jun., 1995 EP
WO9305031 Mar., 1993 WO
WO9412667 Jun., 1994 WO
WO9612485 May., 1996 WO
WO9618600 Jun., 1996 WO
WO9719063 May., 1997 WO
99/53917 Oct., 1999 WO

Several attempts have been made over the past 40 years to have cannabis/marijuana reclassified on a federal level, with the DEA. Currently it has been classified and reclassified as a Schedule One drug.

That status conflicts with current laws enacted in 16 states, thus far, as well as 3 or more states where possession of cannabis has been decriminalized. Based on a substantial amount of scientific research (not conducted by the federal government), over the past 40 years, while a Federally sponsored War on Drugs has been waged, proof has emerged that clearly shows cannabis is not the dangerous drug it's been made out to be. It's safer than alcohol and tobacco, and has proven medicinal value. As evidenced in the list of current patents, above.

Yet despite repeated attempts to have cannabis reclassified, the DEA has used it's Big Rubber Stamp every time a petition for rescheduling is submitted.

The first time was:

"NORML, (The National Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws) which began in the early 1970's as the only cannabis lobbyist group in Washington, had filed rescheduling petitions with the DEA in 1972, but was not granted a federal hearing on the issue until 1986. In 1988, DEA Administrative Law Judge Francis Young ruled that marijuana did not meet the legal criteria of a Schedule I prohibited drug and should be reclassified. Then-DEA Administrator John Lawn rejected Young’s determination, a decision the D.C. Court of Appeals eventually affirmed in 1994."

A subsequent petition was filed by former NORML Director Jon Gettman in 1995, but was rejected by the DEA in 2001.

In 2002 another petition was filed...

May 26, 2011 - Washington, DC, USA

Washington, DC: A coalition of public interest advocacy groups filed suit this week in the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to compel the Obama administration to respond to a nine-year-old petition to reclassify marijuana under federal law.

The suit was filed by attorneys Joe Elford of Americans for Safe Access (ASA) and Michael Kennedy of the NORML Legal Committee on behalf of the Coalition for Rescheduling Cannabis (CRC). The Coalition, which includes NORML and California NORML, filed a comprehensive rescheduling petition with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) on October 9, 2002, challenging marijuana's Schedule I federal classification as a controlled substance with "no currently accepted medical use" and a "high potential for abuse." The agency formally accepted the petition for filing on April 3, 2003

In all cases the petitions to reclassify cannabis were all but ignored, in the latest case it took the government 9 years to act... and the petition was Rubber Stamped as usual. I note with interest that the DEA apparently submits such petitions to the Dept. of Health and Human Services; something I find of similar concern as I'd expect DHHS to be more informed:

Excerpt from: 40552 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 131 / Friday, July 8, 2011 / Proposed Rules

"Services (DHHS). DHHS concluded that
marijuana has a high potential for abuse,
has no accepted medical use in the
United States, and lacks an acceptable
level of safety for use even under
medical supervision. Therefore, DHHS
recommended that marijuana remain in
schedule I. The scientific and medical
evaluation and scheduling
recommendation that DHHS submitted
to DEA is attached hereto."

The War on Drugs is over 40 years old, and still the DEA is cemented into a 1971 ideology. An ideology not even supported by then Pres. Richards Nixon's blue-ribbon conservatives who studied cannabis, and proclaimed there was no reason to make continue criminal status. But Pres. Nixon ignored the report. As the DEA has done ever since.

One has to wonder about the Nature of a Lie? Casey Anthony was found guilty of lying to the police. Have not the DEA proven they are lying to the American people, given evidence of patents for medical value of cannabis owned by the American Government? If true, what function is the DEA employed in? What are the taxes we pay to fund the DEA supporting?

It's a circus in Washington, and President Obama PROMISED to end it... made a lot of promises.

Question is... will he come through for US?

Will the current Congress act responsibly, or be held accountable for damages they cause through oaths to special interest groups or refusal to acknowledge reality and science. As Pres. Obama said recently, some catastrophes we can't plan for, but the federal debt crisis is not one of them. Nor is the DEA's refusal to accept reality. As the following article suggests, The act of growing your own doesn't create violence:

"The Kids Are All Right, Even if Their Parents Grow Pot..." Credit: ParentDish.com

"Just because the folks next door are drug dealers doesn't mean they're bad parents.

In fact, researchers at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children say the children of couples who operate marijuana grow rooms are often extremely healthy, physically and emotionally..."

Fact is... no one is suggesting cannabis be available to those under a legal age without a doctors prescription, but currently, the War On Drugs is hurting or has hurt millions of American citizens, including myself. Even if you may not approve of it's use, the fact is it's much safer to use than alcohol and tobacco, and as a medicinal herb it's the real thing. It has many benefits for those who want to use it, and to classify it as it currently is, as a dangerous drug, is wrong, incorrect, and harmful to society, especially a free society. It's a plant, a safe plant, non-poisonous, non-toxic, and useful in it's natural form. The only lab that is involved in the manufacture of this plant is Nature. Put a seed in the ground and God does the rest.

Yet we subject people to severe criminal offences for this. Is that right and just?

It's time to stop the hurt, time to demand a credible government and one that is accountable. Is that too much to ask???

The Tea-Party; The Fed. Debt Crisis; Casey Anthony and, US Patent # 6,630,507 - PART TWO

2011-07-28T20:38:00.000-04:00

D-DAY - MONDAY@MIDNIGHT! As IF Mondays aren't bad enough.

The Circus that is our Federal Government right now is simply ludicrous and unacceptable. Recently elected Republican House Reps are making good on their loyalty to the "Tea-Party". Now I understand that the tea-party is based on the principal of lowering gov't spending, reducing the debt, and reigning in gov't handouts in the form of social services; however; there exists no clear and true charter to any such party; no clear recognition or definition of just what the tea-party is; nor are they apparently playing with a full deck!

So, as I understand it, the basic principles and demands of the House republicans, aka, tea-party elected Republicans is, with regards to what's created the so-called Debt Crisis is, reduced spending equal to the increase to the debt ceiling. So how hard is that? Hard perhaps since the $$$ they want cut have already been approved and spent. Hard in that zero tolerance is vowed towards any new tax revenue. Hard in that no new tax revenue equals no end to ex-Pres. Bushes tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, many who openly want to contribute more. Hard because what the tea-party republicans will and want cut are social programs, to Medicare, Social-Security, Food-Stamps, Unemployment benefits, public health programs, etc. Essentially, a smaller gov't but a more robust one when it comes to supporting Wall-Street, Big Oil, Corporations, the Military, DEA, ICE (with regards to illegal immigration, not human slavery), an end to all social services and a government that is cutting edge that cuts the throats of average and poor Americans. These are the people, the politicians bringing us to the first ever, artificially, pre-meditated murder of the American Dollar.

#3: CASEY ANTHONY

There may be some people out there who don't know who Casey Anthony is, and those same people never heard of O.J. Simpson. Casey Anthony for those people, of to clarify who I'm writing about was arrested for 1st degree murder of her young daughter, Caylee Anthony. She was found "Not Guilty" of the crime, but found guilty of a lesser crime, "lying to the police".

The death/murder of a little girl is repulsive and extremely tragic. I can't understand how such a thing can happen, or how any person can take another person's life and think it's justified. The recent mass murders in Norway are a prime example. But there are many examples... Ted Bundy, Whitey Bulger, The Green River killer, Charles Manson, Dru Sjodin, Fort Hood Massacre, the list is endless...

Justice is not always a victor, when often additional murders occur when violent persons are paroled, as in the Dru Sjodin case. Often, the wrong person is found guilty of the crime. Sometimes those most served by a life sentence in prison are put to death instead... like the recent case in Texas. Or people are put to death when all options for Justice have not been met, as in the other execution in Texas recently of the Mexican National.

But Justice is blind... it is an ideal that we as Americans value as much as we value family, honest government, the Constitution. In the case of Casey Anthony, Justice was done. A jury of twelve sequestered jurors heard the case as presented by the prosecution, and her defense. It cost a lot of money, the trial, but the alleged crime was serious enough to make it worth it to the state. Unfortunately several things happened that ultimately upset the American public, and why did it upset the American public? Because it was a Nationally Televised Event, 24 hour coverage for several weeks, more air time than even the O.J. Simpson case, and in the end it wasn't the fact that the glove didn't fit, it was a case where the prosecution had failed in proving 1st degree murder. They didn't have the evidence.

It should have never been televised... for several weeks it was a staple of Nancy Grace and CNN, FOX and NBC... I read the news but to watch the circus on TV, no thank-you! It was one thing to watch the O.J. Simpson trial on TV; he was a celebrity. But to watch Casey Anthony LIVE for the alleged murder of her daughter Caylee, to hear about scandalous family issues like incest, rape and abuse... it should have never been televised. It was not public fodder this case. And all it created was a lynch mob, a mob completely angered by the verdict. Well that verdict is what we call Justice.

Fortunately for the Not Guilty Casey, the following scandals and crises' happened... Murdock and the World News, The Federal Debt Crisis, and the massacre of over 70 in Norway by a right-wing extremist.

No one knows where Casey is today, and no one even cares anymore. But the money still follows her... just today I read where a latex mask of her face sold for One Million Dollars ($999,900 to be exact) on E-Bay: STORY HERE The person selling it described it the "scariest face in the world", or something like that. Ahhh, I think not... plenty scarier; like House Speaker Boehner (pronounced bane-err); or Michele Bachmann, aka Queen Bee of the Tea-Party; or Michele Leonhart, Director of the DEA (more on her in the next and final post/conclusion).

We will never know what happened to Caylee Anthony, but to make the whole case a Reality TV Show was plain wrong. We as a nation should have more common sense when it comes to matters of Justice, as well as matters such as the current fabricated Debt Crisis that is likely to spin this country in ways Homeland Security should already be preparing for. To have our Congress playing Russian Roulette with the power invested in them by the American people is a travesty; it is just cause to enact a national vote of No-Confidence; to seriously question whether certain newly elected representatives are acting in the best interests of the American People, or fulfilling oaths to unrecognized/fringe parties with their own self-interests?

Think Casey Anthony is scary? Look at the circus in Washington!!!

The Tea-Party; The Fed. Debt Crisis; Casey Anthony and, US Patent # 6,630,507 - PART ONE

2011-07-23T10:53:00.008-04:00

World News Today, with BobKat...

The news these days is rather overwhelming, don't you think? It's immediate and generally shocking or suspenseful, and biased, depending on where you find it. All bad news it seems; one catastrophe, crisis or scandal after another. So yeah it feels like I'm destined to provide, the news of the world.

Odd how the title of this post is four different stories, yet you'll see how they all come together in the end.

In the Old World, the age of the Greeks and Romans, this was the opposite of their reality. They had no newspapers, radios, televisions... everything arrived via courier. That the Roman Empire could spread as far north as present day England, is truly amazing. They grew so large a second capitol was founded in Constantinople. With a second emperor... Imagine the USA with two federal governments? One in Washington, the other in California. Two Presidents with equal power over the whole of the nation? That's how large the Republic of Rome became by about AD200.

What they lacked contributed greatly to the fall of the Roman Empire. They lacked rapid communications; something we have an over-abundance of.

We are a "Republic" too. Not a "Democracy" as we are brought up to believe. A republic can have the roots of a democracy, that I believe would be the original Constitution. Sacred in all things we do. A republic has representatives for the people's vote... which is our political electoral college. A true Democracy is quite different, the people actually vote. Look it up!

Topics for Today:

#1)"The Tea-Party", c2010: First, they stole my "flag" for their own purposes without asking. Not that they had to ask, being as it was open-source. It's just that this flag, represents a lot of things to a lot of people, and to hijack that image, for the purposes of the organization, is irresponsible. I understand the whole "No New Taxes" thing, and "Cap and Cut". What I don't understand is, Speaker of the House Boehnor, speaking over and over yesterday about the President wanting "new taxes". They are not NEW. They are a roll-back from Pres. George W. Bush's Tax-cut era... for which the wealthy benefited considerably with a tax-cut. Pres. Obama wants that tax cut changed, and I strongly agree. The Tea-Party" apparently is in support of the wealthy Americans, and Big Corporations... not me, or others of us in the middle to lower classes, who would only see improvements if Pres. Obama could find a way to organize the House Republicans, the teenagers of the bunch, many of whom signed "VOWS" or pledges, unbreakable vows pertaining to their decisions in office. Like, "No increase of taxes", and "'marriage vows' - marriage is sex only between a man and a woman."

They stole my flag

The Federal Debt "Crisis", is a crisis to House Republicans, and a threat to the American people. It is immaturity in Washington,a result in part of a newly elected mass of republicans in the House that signed oaths, to get elected by Tea-Party members. Michelle Bachman, presidential hopeful for 2012, is an example of a politic aspired party who signed such an oath the "Marriage", in her case. The crisis is their own invention, their own problem, until, it becomes a problem for and an embarrassment to the American people. If we default, it will be the end of cooperation between the People and Washington. When people see their interest rates go up, their income go down, and their status in the world crumbles... there will be more than a debt crises, you think things were bad during the 1960's, well just wait.

The following link shows how not only are those oaths and vows these politician's are signing are a hindrance to good governance, change and adaptation, but rather, they sign them under an oath to God.

According to biblical scholars on the subject these republicans are committing a sin....The following article from CNN, by Stephen Prothero, Special to CNN, highlights how these republicans have been led astray by Satan.

Next time:

Part Two: Casey Anthony... There's much more to learn from this media phenomenon than a woman acquitted of murdering her child, and the "public gallows" it represented to the World public. Herein is Justice...

THE HUMAN CONDITION - INTRODUCTION

2011-07-03T22:57:00.003-04:00

40 years I've considered this topic... lived it, as we all do. It's an ambitious topic for me, as it is subjective, yet I have a lot of objective experience to draw from, experience that's had an effect on me and my psyche.

Some of the topics within The Human Condition I wish to approach, include: "self-image", "sexuality", "gender identity", "mental health issues", "suicide", "career decisions", "acceptance and rejection", "bullying - both as a victim and as an offender", "physical and/or psychological abuse", "fatigue", "ecstasy - 'the feeling', not the drug", and "drugs", of course - "both illicit and licit ones and the general effects of their use on the person, and the empirical extension of use into society".

An enormous goal on my part, but one that I have studied and researched for 40 years. A subject I can't help but be fascinated by, drawn into, and at times obsessed with.The "human condition is our life, and our death. We follow our fiddler within and it takes us places. Some of these places are bland and boring, like a job where one works but watches the clock day after day, waiting to be released, while other jobs, the time goes too quickly, and one can't wait for the next day. Some of these places are like dreams, perhaps exotic and euphoric, or perhaps life-threatening, and for some, what started out as a routine day ends either in tragedy or a near death experience.

We fall in love, we fall out... we are wrapped in the embrace of those we are in love with one day, and exiled the next. We are conscious of it all, even if, we succumb to hard drugs to forget, or casual ones that either help us cope, or those which help us to become more immersed in the experience.

A daunting task for me to pursue... one which I feel is vital and essential do undertake. One that begins with ME, my experiences, and builds from there.

**********************************************************************************************

Wikipedia has the following link to "the Human Condition: The human condition encompasses the experiences of being human in a social, cultural, and personal context. It can be described as the irreducible part of humanity that is inherent and not connected to gender, race, class, etc. -- a search for purpose, sense of curiosity, the inevitability of isolation, fear of death, etc.". The page is a bit crude by Wiki standards... but it gets me going in a direction, starting with Existentialism - This from Wikipedia: "Existentialism is a term applied to the work of a number of philosophers since the 19th century who, despite large differences in their positions,[1][2] generally focused on the condition of human existence, and an individual's emotions, actions, responsibilities, and thoughts, or the meaning or purpose of life.[3][4] Existential philosophers often focused more on what they believed was subjective, such as beliefs and religion, or human states, feelings, and emotions, such as freedom, pain, guilt, and regret, as opposed to analyzing objective knowledge, language, or science."

That link brought back some memories... from my early 20's... when I began to question the world I found myself in. Until that time, I didn't question things in quite the same way.

I didn't question the Human Condition... for the first 17 - 19 years of my life. I questioned survival, and being a voracious reader, I questioned fiction and fantasy about space travel, aliens, other worlds, future space wars, being in love, with a alien female, finding a partner, a female partner, love, devotion, a world different from what I lived everyday for all those years.

I got into my first fight with another boy around age 4, about the same time my mother let me cross our not so busy street to the other side. It's so mind-blowing today, remembering how at 4 I crossed the road, to what was a side lawn to a house, met my nemesis, Michael, fro a block away, roughly my age, and he beat me up.

Why?

Why not?

It's not why... it just was. At that age, those things just happen. The human condition, which over time evolves.

I got glasses around age 6, had bad allergies that swelled my eyes shut. I wasn't good at baseball or football... though in our extended neighborhood of kids my age, we formed both; we played at a corner of the elementary school property, and I became their 3RD baseman - for our Yankee's team. I remember being thankful I wasn't the pitcher... since pitchers can get hit by the ball. I wasn't good at catching those balls that came my way, nor batting. I just didn't get it. My mind told me to be the best, to become popular and successful, but that same mind was off in fantasy land - aliens, other worlds, growing up.

I was the underdog, small for my age up through 11th grade in HS. My family moved during 5TH grade, to a smaller, more prominent town. The first day in school, 5TH grade I was standing in the hallway waiting to get into homeroom with everyone else, when a jerk walked by and kicked my feet out from under me. My ass hit the floor with a thud, hurt like hell.

I didn't make any friends, all through middle school into high school. I suffered much in the way of bullies. Spoke often to counselors at the school, and to my parents who helped the best they could. I loved my reading and science classes... a bully in among ever mix.

Somehow I survived.I graduated age 18, but didn't attend graduation. My next stop was college, not to be questioned, however I had no idea what to enroll in, other than electrical technology, because I liked experimenting with electronics, and chemistry. So I enrolled in a BS of Electrical Technology and switched to liberal arts, after I discovered an interest in writing, and my imagination awakened.

I have a sister a year and a half younger than me. At age 4 to 7 I hung out with her and her friends Ann and Julie. We sang "Row, Row, Row your boat...", played Simon Says, and Hop Scotch... caught grasshoppers in a field next to a neighbors house. I went to kindergarten for the first time, remember trouble tying my shoes, getting along with others, and while laying down for nap-time, the teacher who was very heavy walked over me so I could see up her skirt. Now why would that even attract my attention - at 5 years old, why would the crotch of a women even interest me. But I remember that, and little else.

Around age 7 my mother forbid me to hang out with my sister... I was to hang out with boys my age, so she fixed me up, and things moved on from there to where that fixed-up friendship didn't last long but I found male friends in the extended neighborhood, which is where being a Yankees 3Rd baseman came to be.

After moving, although I was often treated as the underdog among my friends in my birth neighborhood, rather than find friends at my new school, I took the bus on weekends and visited my old friends, staying with my grand-parents.

I didn't get it, any of it. I did have a childhood, and it wasn't marred by any sexual abuse; thank God! But what haunts me is I had very little self-awareness. I had a lot of imagination, and and company, but going into puberty, I can recall having no idea of where I was, while other boys my age knew a lot about where they were... they followed their libido, scored, and were getting married as I graduated high school.

So what was the meaning of life? I really didn't know, and really I didn't care. I liked girls, but had no social skills. I enrolled in college because that was what I was suppose to do. I got a job at a department store, and although i worked hard, I don't recall any recognition of my work. In fact after the 2nd year I got laid off Christmas Eve... rehired a year later.

The "Human Condition" I lived with was getting me nowhere... although while working at the department store I began to flirt, began to reach out to women and even a couple male friends. One girl I really liked I got a date with her... we ended up parking down off the road next to a college park... we began some heavy make-out, only to be interrupted by the police, that tapped on my car windshield, ending my first sexual encounter. Causing much embarrassment. We didn't have a second date.

A friend at the store had a cousin who I started to see. I don't recall that we ever did much... I remember often, visiting her at her house, her parents would disappear, and I would lay on top of her, on the couch kissing - closed mouthed, me trying to get a feel of her breasts beneath her shirt or sweater. She would not french-kiss or let me see her naked because she'd gone that far before with a past guy, and he'd dumped her. That convinced her she'd been wrong in the past to provide erotic pleasures. The relationship lasted about 3 years, going nowhere. What a waste... but that is the Human Condition.

Meanwhile, my parents were eager for me to get married, have children, get a good job and live the American Dream. Eager in the sense my phone rang daily and I was asked, "are you married yet, and why not?"

Next time: Friedrich Nietzsche, and my introduction to the Human Condition.

SPECIAL REPORT: HB 2306 - Cannabis/Marijuana Reform; And BobKat's 1ST Naked Emperor Award

2011-06-29T22:20:00.014-04:00

Edited 11-06-30

SPECIAL REPORT: News that will undoubtedly make millions of Americans happy and hopeful, along with a healthy measure of skepticism, that it'll actually happen.

HB2306: "Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act of 2011", submitted to end federal prohibition of cannabis/marijuana, with the intent to permit states to regulate it. The recent bill was sponsored by Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) and Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX); Initial co-sponsors include Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN), Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) and Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO).

Rep. John Conyers is on the House Judiciary. Which will prove very significant in a moment.

First, before I attempt to report on this surprising turn of events, one I fully support, I wish to point out, if you haven't read my previous post, that Nixon's legacy - "The War on Drugs " is alive and well, a complete failure. The media loves to report that America's two wars since 2001 (9/11) have cost American taxpayers over 3 Trillion dollars. They fail to recognize there is a 3RD War, the War on Drugs begun by President Nixon in 1971, at which time he created the enormously costly dept of the DEA.

With the looming prospect of America defaulting on it's debts, a fight by Republicans to not raise the debt ceiling for the first time since the ceiling was created in the early 20th century, the cost of Three Wars, one on American soil is exceedingly important. To the 3 trillion in debt brought about by the 2 foreign wars brought about under Pres. G.W. Bush, there is in excess of another trillion dollars in the cost of the failed War on Drugs, of which the primary victims are non-violent users of cannabis/marijuana, a majority who are black Americans, and degradation of respect for authority based on a lack of transparency by government as to the science behind the prohibition of cannabis, and the excessive penalties that are crushing our legal system. Not to forget, the unexplained harm to millions of Americans who choose to use a plant - given to us humans by God, in a country that proudly proclaims on the back of all our money - "In God We Trust".

The War on Drugs, against cannabis/marijuana is in my opinion equal to the an inquisition, in which individuals protected by the most civilized Constitution and Bill of Rights in the world and in known history, are not granted the rights provided by the Constitution, but rather, harassed, hunted down like rabid dogs, and denied equal rights, as opposed to their peers who can drink the highly addictive and proven dangerous drugs alcohol and/or tobacco. Two drugs that are minimally regulated.

It is a no-brainer in my opinion that HB2306 should be voted on and passed. There is literally no science to prove it shouldn't, just anecdotal hearsay and propaganda from the 1930's that say otherwise. You might all remember the scientific proof put forth by the federal gov'ts "Just Say No" campaign, such as your "Brain as an Egg in a Frying Pan", or monkeys, given 100% marijuana smoke through gas masks that died - which of course they would without any oxygen! The "Stepping Stone" theory? Yeah, expects now are convinced tobacco is much more a stepping stone to hard drugs than cannabis. And finally, there has never been an overdose from cannabis, in fact, users, heavy users, use to the point they become sober. Cannabis, unlike alcohol is not a poison to one's body... a person can only get so high, no matter what the THC content, the more THC, the less the individual needs to use. In contrast to alcohol use, the more one uses the closer to an overdose they become. This is fact.

Another fact... cannabis/marijuana has two recognized chemicals (alcohol and nicotine are also chemicals) - THC and cannabidiol. THC is the psychoactive component of cannabis, cannabidiol is non-psychoactive, however the combination of these two constituents make up the "high" of marijuana. As well as the medicine, for which many states has legalized it. Cannabidiol is generally 40% of the drug present in cannabis, while THC varies from about 5% to 15%, depending on the cultivation and strain of cannabis. Pure THC has been documented on the BBC, and proved to be a total bummer. The quality and desired "high" (to relieve stress, induce hunger, relieve nausea, etc.) comes from the average presence of 40% cannabidiol, which is sedative in nature, anti-psychotic, well, read here for yourself: .

It's a lot like the effects of alcohol, except that a person can get more intoxicated to the point of death/overdose with alcohol. But my point is that alcohol is sold as a legal high as anything from hard cider to spirits like 151 proof Rum, or liquors such as "White Lighting". One would hope the legal age drinker starts with a light beer, not White Lightning!!! They at least have a legal choice in the matter.

Cannabis/marijuana is currently illegal and essentially like alcohol, during Prohibition era 1920's, buyer beware. The product you buy could be anything, including adulterated, much like alcohol was adulterated during prohibition by our own government, as documented in an earlier post available here: BOBKAT'S LAIR - Part Three: MARIJUANA AND PUBLIC SAFETY; OR IS IT - MARIJUANA AND THE PUBLIC GOOD? CONCLUSION. "Frustrated that people continued to consume so much alcohol even after it was banned, federal officials had decided to try a different kind of enforcement. They ordered the poisoning of industrial alcohols manufactured in the United States, products regularly stolen by bootleggers and resold as drinkable spirits. The idea was to scare people into giving up illicit drinking. Instead, by the time Prohibition ended in 1933, the federal poisoning program, by some estimates, had killed at least 10,000 people."

Appears until HB2306 our government didn't care. It also didn't care where Americans got the cannabis from. During alcohol prohibition, the "cartels" were Americans... during cannabis it's reportedly Mexican. Wasn't always that way, but that's another story.

Fact is, as long as cannabis is prohibited, the source will be the current source (drug cartels, violence) and innocent people and cannabis lovers caught in the middle, just like during alcohol prohibition. The only way to change that is to legalize cannabis which is what HB2306 would do. It would put cultivation into the hands of reputable growers, along with plants like spinach, another excellent drug, used by "Popeye the Sailor Man" to defeat evil, and promote the American way of life, against the oppressors the likes of Brutus.

No, I'm not high, except on the facts!

Irrationally opposed to HB2306 is my pick for the "Naked Emperor Award" for 2011, Hon. Lamar Smith,

Chairman of the House Judiary who has vowed to make sure the bill never sees the gavel of a vote in the House. Best explained from this link from NORML: "Rep. Smith, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, responded to press inquiries yesterday about the new federal legalization bill, that will be referred to his committee, saying he had no intention of considering the bill, or even giving it a public hearing. Unfortunately, under current Congressional rules, a committee chairman is given great discretion regarding what bills to consider, and which to ignore, and it is only when another member or members of that committee, or the general public, make a big deal out of it that sometimes one can overcome the stiff opposition of a committee chair."

That's where

Hon. John Conyers, Ranking member of the House Judiciary - becomes a pragmatic hero, as he has co-sponsored HB2306. His vote actually nullifies Rep. Smith's angst against legalization.

You can view the members of the House judiary here at this link: HOUSE JUDICIARY MEMBERS. Feel free to write to them and give them your voice.

But to be fair and transparent there are those critics, like the ex-drug czar under Pres. George H.W. Bush, William Bennett, currently an editorial writer for CNN, and his repertoire of lies and misinformation, which I have no interest in propagating, but will provide this critical site for it's contrasting views on the subject of legalization:

NipItInTheBud.Org: "The youth of our nation is faced with an uncertain future in many ways, due to the economic climate and must be wondering how this issue keeps popping up once in a while and why people are making so much noise about it. Haven’t we learned enough about smoking cigarettes? Don’t we know enough about alcohol? Aren’t we more evolved than getting high on marijuana and other drugs?"

Note, the topic/focus of the critic is "Youth", a common argument with regards to legalizing cannabis, but hardly one that holds any truth anymore, as HB2306 is for the rights of Adults! Niether alcohol or tobacco are legal for children or teens to buy or use, and that's regulation, which works pretty well, much better than prohibition, which doesn't work. Prohibitionists often use the defense that "youth are at risk if drugs are legalized". However number one, alcohol and tobacco are drugs, and they are legal. Two) There are many drugs that can be abused, and not only should we make distinctions between what drugs we are referring to, but also, youth learns nothing if we lump dangerous drugs like alcohol and tobacco into a legal drug category as if they are okay, and cannabis and heroin into a "drug" category, as cannabis is not harmful as either the legal or illegal heroin, nor do youth grow up with respect for the science behind laws if we as a society are not truthful about the differences. Youth will learn the truth, and not from programs like DARE that educate them using propaganda and half-truths.

Now for the Advocates in favor of HB2306.

NORML... of course. Check them out! They're still around all you aging Hippies are stronger than ever!

And a new formidable advocate: Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP):

"Cops Say the War on Marijuana Has Failed, Let States End Prohibition"

"WASHINGTON, DC -- The first-ever Congressional bill to let states legalize marijuana will be introduced in the U.S. House by a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers on Thursday, and a group of police and judges who fought on the front lines of the failed "war on drugs" is announcing its support."

My personal thank-you to Rep. Barney Franks and Pres. candidate 2012, Rep. Ron Paul.

Please Support HB 2306. Now is the time to end the third War, fought against Americans on their own soil, with no validated scientific reason to support the war and, the harm it's caused, and is causing to millions of American citizens. The proof required to infringe on our Constitutional Rights as American citizens.

Please take a stand and send a message to your government representatives in the House, and especially Chairman, Hon. Lamar Smith, that he is wrong. (Note: Smith is refusing to communicate with the American People. He has taken down all means to contact him, the last as was reported by those trying to reach him.)

Spread the word of peace and End the 40 Year "War on Drugs" and Stop the Hurt!!!

The Meaning of PRACTICAL, and RECOGNIZING 40 Years - The War on Drugs - President Nixon... "Not A Crook".

2011-06-22T22:19:00.005-04:00

The meaning of practical I discovered a couple of weeks ago. It was from a quote - a famous person, but it came and went, but left a legacy. Practical comes from Practice. If you practice something over and over again you become accomplished with that practice. That is the meaning of Practical.

In 1971 President Richard Nixon declared the "War on Drugs...", in particular cannabis, aka marijuana, as being "the stepping stone". I was 16. I first experienced cannabis as a medicinal herb age 19. It changed my life - without a doubt improved my life. Proof in the pudding... still plenty left!

In 1971 Nixon created the federal dept. of the DEA.

Sad day in history.

The EASTERN CARPENTER BEE And Other Relevant Issues...

2011-06-18T11:46:00.000-04:00

It's been awhile since my last post - I've been busy.

I work 40 hours a week, and commute an additional 3 and 1/2 hours a day. That's 57.5 hours a week I allocate to my job.

I get home around 7PM, week-nights, and then have the joy of browsing select websites and blogs, doing research into issues that interest me, and accomplishing little by fact that dial-up internet is obsolete, I go to bed, wake up, and it begins all over again.

I'm not complaining... I feel I'm accomplishing a lot despite my limited assets. I've been busy posting at the NORML Blog... "HIV in chimps slowed with administering cannabinoids to test subjects...", yet another potential pharma drug in the pipeline based on the cannabis plant.

And I've been busy with the topic posted by Slam Dunks re: Sgt. Patrick Rust who was found dead in a field after serving a tour of duty in Afghanistan.

And, I've been contacted by a producer at NBC Universal Studios who is doing a story on Brianna Maitland, a missing person case I devoted a lot of time to starting in late 2004, and lasting for several years... the story can be found here at Slam Dunks Blog: Brianna Maitland. I am being invited to participate in the show: "DISAPPEARED", on NBC.

I've had "car problems", but nothing I can't handle myself... it's simply the time involved, given weekends are both to unwind and forget work, as well as to do what needs being done, i.e., fixing my car. And sleeping, resting, unwinding.

The title of this topic is "the Eastern Carpenter Bee"... of which I had the pleasure of witnessing for several weeks.

Originally - I don't like bees, am very phobic towards them, so this bee the size of a bumble-bee scared me as it hovered next to a wooden shed at work.

It turned out the bee fascinated me every time I went out for a smoke break. This rather large bee hovered from what I can only guess was dawn till dusk, flying after other insects in it's range of sight. It never showed aggression towards me, so I began to like the bee, and appreciate it. I was particularly amazed that it was airborne and hovering during the whole day, I mean, how can it do that all day with it's big body and small wings?

It turns out after doing some research this is the Eastern Carpenter Bee - Xylocopa virginica, and this was a male, incapable of stinging me; only the females have stingers, and they're busy collecting pollen. What I thought was a male bee attacking any other bugs including hornets and wasps, turned out to be different. Apparently, the male guards the nest while eager to mate, and what I took to be defensive apparently is this male bee attempting to "mate" with these other bugs, along with it's curiosity.

With the disappearance of honey bees and the rare glimpse of a bumblebee anymore, these carpenter bees may be our only hope. We need insects to spread pollen from plants... the carpenter bee seems resistant to whatever is killing of other bee species. Unfortunately, carpenter bees get a bad rap, since they make their nests in soft wood that often is a part of a human dwelling or storage shed. They "drill" out a dime sized hole in soft wood, and their home branches off at a 90 degree angle from the insertion hole.

Websites claiming to be mediaries of humans and insects recommend applying insecticide and plugging such hives. Killing the bees. They do, for their credit offer up the alternative of building a structure made out of soft pine for the bees to relocate to. But who's going to take the time and spend the money to do that? Fact is, these bees are crucial to our survival, and as I see it, they cause minimal harm to that old storage hut.

The bee I was fascinated by lasted about 3 weeks, hovering and flying off after other insects. I found it dead one morning...

Fortunately, another male has taken it's place by the old shed. I am suddenly, not phobic of bees anymore... cautious, yes, but not phobic.

FREEDOM RIDERS - AND THE FRENCH RESISTANCE - MEMORIAL DAY 2011

2011-05-28T12:50:00.006-04:00

Memorial Day weekend 2011:

Memorial Day; it means a lot of different things to each of us. To many, perhaps it's simply the beginning of Summer, a long weekend off from work. To others it's about remembering loved ones who have passed on. And to many others, it's about war, and soldiers lost in fighting for our freedoms.

Or fighting a war that we perceive was unjust, and the victims - soldiers; civilian casualties, wrongly placed in harm's way. The Viet-Nam War, as an example, a war that I remember well, and my place in the politics of that war... I never saw war, but I was draftable, and would have been, drafted, had not the draft ended just days before I turned 18. Then, there was a "Draft Lottery". (Based on your birthdate, your date would be put in a hat, and your number drawn. Mine was 16; sweet 16, which meant upon turning 18 I would be drafted into the Viet-Nam war.)

The French Resistance, WW2, French citizens fighting against the German occupation. I don't know why, but the French Resistance fighters of WW2 was an unforgettable history lesson in my life. I don't know if it's the war movies I grew up with in the early 60s, or reincarnation memories.

Memorial to the French Resistance:

CREDIT: Trailblazersww2

"The French Resistance refers to the many groups of French citizens who fought German occupation of France during WWII. In 1940, French soldiers were overwhelmed by Nazi forces and the government sought for peace with Germany... Charles De Gaulle, later the President of France, fled France for Britain, from where he sent radio casts urging the French to fight the occupation."

"Primarily sponsored by the British, the French Resistance first referred only to a few groups around France that fought back, usually through acts of terrorism, guerilla warfare, murder of German soldiers, or through aiding the escape of Jews and others seen as enemies of the Nazis."

CREDIT: FLICKR_French Resistance

CREDIT: FLICKR_French Resistance

Viva la France!

# * * * * * * * # * * * * * * # * * * * * * ##

FREEDOM FIGHTERS: circa 1961

History: During the 1950's through the 1960's civil rights were a hot-bed topic of the hottest kind.

I remember as a kid, around 8, while enroute to a Florida vacation we stopped at a restaurant in Georgia I think. My father who traveled a lot within the US on business, told my sister and I what the etiquette is around Blacks. Our waitperson was Black, which is why the topic came up. My father was concerned if we violated the status quo.

During the same period their were those now known as "Freedom Fighters". American citizens who were defying the status quo, and the discrimination against Black people. Whites travelling on buses with Blacks who were not in assigned seats at the back, and other violations. Many times these "Freedom Fighters" were attacked by mobs and beaten, and killed.

Having lived through that period of our history as a young man, gives me a lot of insight into that mindset.

The most famous "Freedom Fighter" perhaps is James Zwerg

CREDIT: CNN; "Editor's note: This is an excerpt from John Blake's 2004 book "Children of the Movement." The PBS documentary "Freedom Riders,".

The real problem James faced after the fact wasn't the beatings he received from mobs he encountered, but from his own family. He became a "disgrace to his family", and was blamed for a heart-attack his father had.

The article related to this story relates how for many years the sense of guilt and shame were key to James' life.

In my own life, to pursue my dream I became a custodian at the local community college at age 21. I too became a disgrace to my family. I suffered several years of guilt and shame by my family because I chose a job as a custodian at the local CC.

The rule was: There Is Only One Road In Life, just One. And I wasn't on that road and neither was James Zwerg.

The consequences were a life of self-doubt, guilt and shame...

ADDITIONAL LINKS:

NPR FREEDOM FIGHTERS
javascript:void(0)
WIKIPEDIA LINK

Have a Good Memorial Weekend...

STOP THE HURT!

THE "END OF THE WORLD" - SPECIAL REPORT - AND HOW HOWARD CAMPING IS WRONG!

2011-05-21T13:09:00.009-04:00

Edited May 23, 2011

God, where did the time go? The end of the world is here! Now! It gives me cause, to pause... to think back and review my life. Today we must make amends. Today we must confess our sins. Today is the last day we can get a ticket to Heaven, but only if we fully accept ... fully accept, what???

Guaranteed I'll still be around; in the forth-coming Godless 1000 years of Armageddon.

First, the rapture!The Puritans all go to Heaven... their trapped souls rise up to heaven... and disappear. The evil dead, they rise up out of their graves with Earth as their paradise; to the horror of those of us left living - us sinners...

Introducing: Zombies...

CREDIT: CDC Social Media: "Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocalypse"

It's true, though, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) has already published a Zombie Preparedness/Survival Guide, available here: Zombie Apocalypse CDC Survival Guide.

Some background to today being the "End of the World".

It's a complex mathematical/biblical calculation, that today is the DAY. The person behind the prediction is HOWARD CAMPING.

CREDIT: The Washington Post National

So how exactly did Howard Camping determine "today is the end?

E Bible Fellowship has the answers you seek: Link: "...information was never previously known because God had closed up His Word blocking any attempt to gain knowledge of the end of the world. We read about this in the book of Daniel:

Daniel 12:9 And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.

However, now in our present day, God has opened up His Word (the Bible) to reveal a great deal of truth concerning the end of time (and many other teachings). Also, in the same chapter of Daniel, it says:

Daniel 12:4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.

God is now opening up His Word because we have arrived at the time of the end. For this reason, it has become very obvious to the serious student of the Bible that we are now living in the last few days of earth’s history. As a matter of fact, because we are living at the end of time, God is now revealing to His people the following information:"

In addition, E Bible Fellowship provides detailed data that one can view to see that what they're predicting is in fact based on irrefutable evidence/data from God/the Bible.

Here is a brief account of their data:

TIMING OF IMPORTANT EVENTS IN HISTORY

11,013 BC—Creation. God created the world and man (Adam and Eve).

4990 BC—The flood of Noah’s day. All perished in a worldwide flood. Only Noah, his wife, and his 3 sons and their wives survived in the ark (6023 years from creation).

7 BC—The year Jesus Christ was born (11,006 years from creation).

33 AD—The year Jesus Christ was crucified and the church age began (11,045 years from creation; 5023 calendar years from the flood).

1988 AD—This year ended the church age and began the great tribulation period of 23 years (13,000 years from creation).

1994 AD—On September 7th, the first 2300-day period of the great tribulation came to an end and the latter rain began, commencing God’s plan to save a great multitude of people outside of the churches (13,006 years from creation).

2011 AD—On May 21st, Judgment Day will begin and the rapture (the taking up into heaven of God’s elect people) will occur at the end of the 23-year great tribulation. On October 21st, the world will be destroyed by fire (7000 years from the flood; 13,023 years from creation).

DAY OF HEDONIST!!! END OF THE WORLD!!!

What an event... a day of "lawlessness... smoking marijuana, seducing the girl next-door, a politician having an affair...

Anything goes, or does it???

Based on the EVIDENCE I HAVE, it's fortunate the federal government doesn't pay any attention to Howard Camping, or the E Bible Fellowship and "The End of the World". If they did, Homeland Security would have already imposed "Martial Law", and required all soon to be raptured citizens to apply for a permit to leave and go to Heaven. They would be required to complete a background check, a drug test, and provide proof of birth. Rising up to Heaven without a permit is against the law. You'll need a passport!

Howard Camping's research and data is incorrect. The end of the world won't occur until the year 9020. And I, BobKat, have proof.

According to Howard's established date of Creation he lists 11,013 BC as that date.

I honestly don't know where he gets that date from. But he's wrong!

My sources establish The Creation of the Universe as being 4004 BC. That from: A "Universal History", published in 1855, which affirms the date of Creation, in the illustration of the "Temple of Time".

Howard Camping is only off by about 7,000 years!

BOBKAT Conclusion: It's not the End of the World, yet, but it is a good opportunity to remind rational people we make our own Heaven and Hell here on Earth... and currently, Hell is essentially the norm.

If I am right and we survive today, perhaps President Obama's promised "CHANGE" will actually happen. But I won't hold my breath.

STOP THE HURT...

Legalize cannabis...

THE TAKE DOWN OF PATRICIA SPOTTEDCROW - OKLAHOMA'S MOST NOTORIOUS MARIJUANA DEALER - CONCLUSION

2011-05-13T21:00:00.014-04:00

Back Ground Story: Kingfisher County, OK: Dec. 31, 2009, Patricia Spottedcrow and her mother, Delita Starr, 50, sold a dime bag of marijuana for $11 to a police informant at Starr's home in Kingfisher, OK. A home shared by Patricia, her husband, her four children and her mother, Delita. About a month later the same informant returned and bought "two dime bags", for $20. According to several news sources, it was Patricia's mother, Delita, who made the sales. At one point it is alleged that Delita Starr "asked one of the boys to run and get change."

Let me confess, there is so much to this story that has not been told. However, taking on this story is a Herculean feat I fear, as it's not just the untold story and any covert activities which make this difficult, it's what happened after; much of which is also not published. It seems apparent that not only was the rule of law not followed, but child welfare laws included. In order to "avoid breaking-up the family", according to news reports, the judicial system/powers to be, in this case chose to punish the children's mother, Patricia, rather than the grandmother, Delita; that way "the children's Grandmother would still be there for the children while growing up."

Whoa! First, since when did the state, any state give a damn about who they put away, except for CEO's on Main Street? Second, there is a husband... I think, I'm sure I read about him... but with dial-up internet I'm rather crippled when it comes to getting this information quickly. I have to rely on memory many times, and I'm sure a husband was mentioned.

Third, the "state" apparently felt Delita, the Grandmother was the "better parent". How did they do that? Especially if Delita made the sales, and asked one of the children for change? Why was the book "thrown at Patricia"??? Compassion on the part of the state? I have my doubts.

Fourth, who was this "informant"? Generally there are two types of operatives, called "NARCS" that handle drug sale violations. Undercover police, or snitches. The media is quick to point out when undercover police solve a case. So was this informant a snitch? If so, perhaps a guy she shunned in HS? A client who felt "ripped off"? Who?

The judge in this case, retired, indicated the Starr's had a "significant operation going for the sale of drugs. The evidence: none that I have heard of, and no priors, the only evidence presented, other than the judge's opinion; sale of "three dime bags", a small bag of marijuana in Patricia's pocket, and that's it.

Where are the pounds of marijuana, the hundred's of thousands of dollars, the guns??? No seized computers? No seizure of her house? No exhaustive searches of the house tearing it apart looking for more drugs and maybe a few dead bodies??? What the f***?

In "Part One" I described the history of what a "dime bag" is, how it is equivalent to 3 marijuana cigarettes, or joints. What I failed to mention was that Patricia Spottedcrow didn't have a marijuana tax stamp issued by the state of Oklahoma. See, to sell cannabis, you need to purchase a tax stamp:

That's correct... for about $15 in tax stamps Patricia and her children could have had a much different future, and we're not talking about tax stamps from the 1930's... these tax stamps are currently available in certain states. My favorite is the stamp issued in Nebraska:

For more on Marijuana Tax Stamps visit this link at NORML.ORG:

Marijuana tax stamps: This state has a marijuana tax stamp law enacted. This law mandates that those who possess marijuana are legally required to purchase and affix state-issued stamps onto his or her contraband. Failure to do so may result in a fine and/or criminal sanction. For more information, see NORML's report Marijuana Tax Stamp Laws And Penalties.

According to additional research, especially at Tulsa World News, available here: , "Oklahoma has ranked No. 1 in the nation in the number of women in prison. The state incarcerates 134 women per capita, compared to the national average of 69, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. While the number of women entering Oklahoma’s prisons each year has remained somewhat stable in recent years – 1,284 in 2009 – the number of women in the system has grown to a high for the decade as tougher sentencing laws have passed."

Two graphs from Tulsa World News say it all:

If True, Patricia is the "tip of the iceberg". As most are "non-violent offenders. Drugs, bad checks, forgeries..."

The judge imposed a severe penalty on Patricia Spottedcrow, given the "non-violent" nature of the offense, however, Oklahoma law is clear:

SALE: Less than 25 lbs - felony; Sentence: 2 years - life, Fine up to: $20,000
Source: NORML-Oklahoma

Draconian and excessive, sure. But within the rule of the law, and that's what makes this so tragic. And it's really not that different in other states. Just browse the current laws for possession, cultivation, sale of cannabis and I hope you can see how wrong laws against cannabis are in this country. I mean, maybe it's just me, but God put this plant with many virtues on this planet, and no chemical processing need take place for it to grow and bring much benefit to society.

Patricia Spottedcrow is currently in a luxury prison, The Dr. Eddie Warrior Correctional Center. Here she is carrying her prison mattress from a storage unit to her prison cell:

CREDIT: OKLAHOMA WATCH.ORG

Patricia Spottedcrow; her first day of incarceration at the Dr. Eddie Warrior Correctional Center listening intently to the Drill Sargent:

CREDIT: TULSA WORLD NEWS

I was raised believing in "right and wrong", fairness, and common-sense. I didn't always get it, to be honest, except to say I'm extremely fortunate to have had a very good family to grow up with.

All that broke down in the early 70's, around age 19, when I realized, much that I believed to be true, wasn't true, wasn't real. Some were myths. Prejudice and propaganda. Lies!

Reefer Madness is one such myth. Rationally there is no reason/justification to harass/prosecute persons involved with marijuana/cannabis. Reefer Madness is done. There is NO PROOF that this plant is the "dangerous drug" propagated by a series of movies from the 1930's.

Please voice your support for Patricia Spottedcrow at CHANGE.ORG:

circa 1936
Directed by Louis Gasnier
"Co-Directed by":
Harry Jacob Anslinger; Wikipedia-Link; And William Randolph Hearst
Produced by Dwain Esper
Written by Paul Franklin
Starring Dorothy Short
Kenneth Craig
Lillian Miles
Dave O'Brien
Thelma White
Warren McCollum
Carleton Young

JUST A MOVIE - FICTION - NOT TO BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY!!!

PLEASE - STOP THE HURT!!!

THE TAKE DOWN OF PATRICIA SPOTTEDCROW - OKLAHOMA'S MOST NOTORIOUS MARIJUANA DEALER - PART ONE

2011-05-07T12:23:00.019-04:00

Oklahoma citizens can breathe a lot easier now that the "notorious drug dealer", Patricia Spottedcrow, was arrested, found guilty, and sentenced to 12 years in prison for the sale of 3 marijuana cigarettes to a police informant.

PATRICIA SPOTTEDCROW, MUGSHOT:

Credit: Oklahoma Dept. of Corrections.

NOTE: Links to sources/credits, if not otherwise listed: please click on the photo or text that is in orange. This will bring you to the source.

Patricia Spottedcrow - her Mother Starr and two of her children::

Back Ground Story: Kingfisher County, OK; On Dec. 31, 2009, "Spottedcrow and her mother, Delita Starr, 50, sold a “dime bag” of marijuana to a police informant at Starr's home in Kingfisher. A month later the "informant returned and bought "two dime bags", for $20. According to several news sources, it was Patricia's mother, Starr, who made the sales. At one point it is alleged "Starr asked one of the boys to run and get change." In order to "avoid breaking-up the family, the judicial system/powers to be, in this case chose to punish Patricia, only with prison time; that way "the children's Grandmother, Starr, would still be there for the children growing up."

History of the term, "Dime Bag".

A "dime-bag" of marijuana, in the 1960's - 1970's was a baggie in which there was an index finger's worth of marijuana; or that's 1/4 oz equals 7 grams; cost $10.

A full ounce then cost $40, and was a baggie four fingers full of herb. The marijuana during those years came from one of several overseas sources: Mexico - Acapulco Gold; or Jamaica - Jamaican; Panama - or "Panama Red"; Columbia - or simply "Columbian"; or Thai Stick, from Thailand. Those were the common varieties available at the time for $40 an ounce. A full ounce is 28 grams.

In the 1980's, due to Reaganomics; the "War on Drugs", the dwindling availability of previously described varieties, the prices either increased, or the product became unavailable. Domestically grown cannabis took the place of foreign sources, especially cannabis from California, called sinsemillia (without seeds) sinsemillia.

"Dime bags" disappeared completely, replaced by a more potent, crystalline "bud" packaged in aluminum foil. The potency of the THC increased substantially thanks to the "War on Drugs"! The price of a gram increased to around $60 or more. The price of a "dime bag" of leafy herb and bud like that in the old days, if available, increased to around $40, a 1/4oz.

By the 1990's, the cannabis collective caught up with the demand and the more familiar domestically grown, marijuana, began to show up on the US market once again. It was not highly prized as was simply called "domestic" or "dirtweed", as many remembered the herb of the 60's and 70's. The price was no longer $10 a quarter oz. either, but rather, began at $60 a 1/4 or more, and rose to $80 to $120 a 1/4oz by the year 2000.

By the late 20th century the majority of cannabis would come from within the USA, or Canada. The "Drug War" in Mexico now as a result has little to do with most US consumers, except perhaps our friends in the southern states.

How do I know this? I worked in several colleges and public schools from 1975 to 2000. Then in late 2004 while assisting in the search for Brianna Maitland, interviewing friends and people she knew, I found it important to establish her sources for marijuana, and other drugs, that people in her area were consuming. I know where the "shit" comes from. Maybe the DEA should hire me, but I'd naturally reject their offer... as I don't believe recreational drug use is a criminal issue, rather, I believe the use of recreational drugs in this country is at most a mental health issue, if an issue at all.

On Dec. 31, 2009, the $10 worth of marijuana Patricia Spottedcrow alledgedly sold to a police informant would have amounted to less than a gram of marijuana, or in practical terms, she sold the informant a "joint". And a week later the same informant returned to purchase $20 worth of marijuana, or two joints, by today's cannabis commodity prices.

According to the following story, Patricia wasn't even the person to make the sale, her mother Starr was: http://newsok.com/how-31-of-pot-gave-mom-a-10-year-prison-sentence/article/3542585#ixzz1EXydQk1l

Marijuana transactions:
"On Dec. 31, 2009, Spottedcrow and her mother, Delita Starr, 50, sold a dime bag of marijuana to a police informant at Starr's home in Kingfisher, court records state.
Starr handled the transaction and asked her 9-year-old grandson, ”Spottedcrow's son” for some dollar bills to make change for the $11 sale. Two weeks later, the same informant returned and bought $20 of marijuana from Spottedcrow."

"The two women were arrested for drug distribution and because Spottedcrow's children were in the home, an additional charge of possession of a dangerous substance in the presence of a minor was added."

“It just seemed like easy money,” said Spottedcrow, who says she is not a drug user but has smoked marijuana. “I thought we could get some extra money."

Spottedcrow was unemployed at the time from a nursing home where she had been working. Spottedcrow had worked as a certified nursing assistant and certified medical assistant but was unemployed and did not have a stable residence at the time of her arrest, a report states. The family lost their Oklahoma City home for not paying bills.

Read more from this Tulsa World article at: http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=487&articleid=20110220_11_A1_CUTLIN556620&archive=yes

Spottedcrow's mother Starr made the original sale, but due to her mother's poor health, Patricia took the blame for the sales when the pair were arrested.

The two women were arrested for drug distribution and because Spottedcrow's children were in the home, an additional charge of possession of a dangerous substance in the presence of a minor was added.

The women were each offered plea deals of two years in prison. But because neither had prior convictions and the drug amounts were low, they gambled and entered a guilty plea before a judge with no prior sentencing agreement.

Starr received a 30-year suspended sentence with no incarceration, but five years of drug and alcohol assessments, and a fine of $8,600. Spottedcrow was sentenced to 10 years in prison for distribution and two years for possession, to run concurrently. She will be up for parole in 2014.

Former Kingfisher County Judge Susie Pritchett, who retired in December 2010, said "the women were conducting an extensive operation which included children in the business. It was a way of life for them", Pritchett said.

Considering these circumstances, "I thought it was lenient", Pritchett said. "By not putting the grandmother in prison, she is able to help take care of the children". In addition, A presentencing investigative report prepared by the Department of Corrections rated Spottedcrow's risk of re-offending as highly likely, and recommended substance abuse treatment while incarcerated.

Well, duh... who the hell takes "Reefer Madness" seriously!!!?

Patricia Spottedcrow joins the ranks of equally notorious marijuana villians such as Timothy Leary, David Bowie, Willie Nelson, and GOP Lawmaker, Robert Watson.

"Dr. Timothy Francis Leary (October 22, 1920 – May 31, 1996) was a highly influential American psychologist and writer, known in later life for advocating advanced research into the therapeutic benefits of psychedelic drugs. A hugely controversial figure during the 1960s and 1970s, he defended the use of the drug LSD for its therapeutic, emotional and spiritual benefits, and even believed it showed incredible potential in the field of psychiatry. Leary also popularized the phrase "Turn on, tune in, drop out". Both proved to be hugely influential on the 1960s counterculture. Largely due to his influence in this field, he was attacked by conservative figures in the United States, and described as "the most dangerous man in America" by President Richard Nixon."

: Music legend David Bowie was arrested in upstate New York in March 1976 on a felony pot possession charge. The Thin White Duke, 29 at the time, was nabbed along with Iggy Pop and two other codefendants at a Rochester hotel following a concert. Bowie was held in the Monroe County jail for a few hours before being released. The above Rochester Police Department mug shot was taken three days after Bowie's arrest, when the performer appeared at City Court for arraignment.

: Country music star Willie Nelson was arrested in November 2010 and charged with pot possession after six ounces of marijuana was found on his tour bus at a Border Patrol checkpoint in Texas. The 77-year-old Nelson, who claimed ownership of the pot, was booked into the Hudspeth County Sheriff’s Office lockup and released after he posted $2500 bond. If convicted of the drug charge, the singer faces up to six months in jail.

: Robert Watson, Rhode Island lawmaker who ripped pot smokers, busted for marijuana possession.

Robert Watson is your typical hypocrite! Much like anti-prostitution warrior Eliot Spitzer. Who was caught with his pants down with the now infamous "Client 9", Ashley Dupre, Call-Girl Extraordinaire:

Eliot Spitzer, ex-governor of NY with his very attractive wife:

So, what exactly did Patricia Spottedcrow do to deserve a 12 year sentence for the sale of three joints? #1, she wasn't a governor or senator. #2, this isn't America, "the Land of the Free", it's China. #3: Someone has to be the poster-child for "drugs are bad"!

To President Obama and all you other law-makers out there in the USA? Where's the friggin' SCIENCE in your decision-making and policies? Marijuana - "A Dangerous Drug"??? I really don't think so! So why the hurt cast onto millions of otherwise law-abiding citizens? It's Time to stop hurting American Citizens with your Witch-Hunts!

PATRICIA SPOTTEDCROW, The MARIJUANA WITCH of OKLAHOMA:

Drink your booze and smoke your tobacco... do whatever your esteemed status lets you do...

BUT PLEASE...

STOP THE HURT!!!

To Be Continued...

THE MORE THINGS CHANGE... THE WORSE THEY GET...

2011-04-27T20:55:00.000-04:00

Catch-up for a Wednesday night. The title of this post isn't particularly relevant to anything that follows. I thought about the title "Whispering In The Grapevines", too. Another possible title: Why Have a Personal Blog?", but I've already touched upon that question in an earlier post. So the title I chose is the title, but the subjects are numerous.

1) Hate Crimes: God I dislike people getting hurt, especially for being different. Like any of us are the same, really? Are we? Ahh, but the "same", like having similar ideals, "correct" skin-color, proper gender, acceptable religious and ethnic roots, politically correct religious beliefs, and stance on politics. To some people, differences mean hate. A lot of HATE!

In the news today, perhaps the last news I'll ever read, was an article about a mid-west homeowner who happens to be gay - quietly gay. But a nice guy and known around town. He had 7 horses, and a shoal, there was a young horse, less than a year old, and another on it's way. This man loved his horses. And all of them were murdered, burned when someone who spray-painted hateful graffiti against gays on the side of the barn, managed to set a fire in the barn, and barricade the doors so the homeowner and horse-master couldn't open them. All the horses died.

Revenge against a man who is gay. Horribly tragic and senseless.

But hardly rare for our kind. But I have to wonder why? Why can we as a species be so caring, helpful and kind, and yet others, so hateful, prejudice and narrow-minded?

I grew up under the threat of the Ku Klux Klan... and no I'm not black. I'm quite white, like a WASP. It's that being born in 1954 the Klan was very active and feared, even by whites. See, like the mafia, you didn't joke about them, you didn't ask questions, and you certainly did not take sides opposed to a power if it existed in your town. And from what I grew up knowing, the Klan was around our town.

Well, see, some might think I'm diseased or mentally impaired... when I admit I've never understood hate, prejudice, or narrow-mindedness. I do know growing up I was subject to a lot of pressure to believe those things. Early in my teens I started to believe them... say around 1967... while in High School, I began to feel "hate" towards "drug users". I felt no hate towards the assholes that bullied me, just fear. But drug users... I was straight as an arrow then and the idea that people became addicted to marijuana and it led to hard drugs that led to crime, well, it angered me.

By the time I graduated from HS, I was ready to join the DEA (The Dream Enforcement Administration) which is covered in a previous post.By age 18 I was drinking some, usually getting sick after two beers, smoking tobacco (dungweed), a virgin, and with absolutely ZERO self-awareness, nor idea what life was all about, except I hated "druggies".

I didn't particularly love nature either, secretly believed Blacks were inferior, didn't like women (something going back to age 7 when my mother "forced" me to not hang around with my sister and friends, Ann and Julie. My friends too. She was afraid I'd grow up gay.

Essentially, at age 18, changing my name to Dexter, sounded pretty accurate, looking back. Dexter as in ShowTimes hugely popular serial killer series.

But before I get to what happened to change all that, let me get to my 2nd topic:

2) I'm pretty much an isolationist these days... there were many years I wasn't, like when I lived in Boston.But over time, the things that happened to me, the things said, the whole life experience dragged me down. Through the "grapevine" I heard, I know friends of mine read my blog. They don't join or follow, probably afraid being as my blog has many controversial topics posted. I could assure them they live in a "Free Country" and it's not against the law to read my blog and follow, but it'd do no good.

See I've learned over time being different, or unique in the way one thinks, is admirable, but don't expect the free-thinking will earn points in the local group. Take my Poker topic, last post... "My Problem", according to what I heard. Cannabis prohibition, again, "My Problem".

Like I have this problem, "nobody else does", nobody they know.So it's My Problem. Another friend told me directly, god, what's the point of "ranting online"? Nobody cares, and you only look radical.

Another says: "You need to find God". Another, "For as many sites you post that support legalizing drugs, 100 times that support the War on Drugs". Another, "believe what you want, but gays, blacks, and Jews are what's wrong with the world".

I get sick of it. All the hate and narrow-mindedness.

Fact is Poker is not illegal to play, and cannabis doesn't kill people.

At age 19 I got high on cannabis for the first time, and it changed my life... opened my eyes and heart to the beauty and vastness of life... to nature, and people and animals and I felt love for the first time.

At age 50 I discovered online Poker. I found I could save hundreds of dollars that I had wasted on lottery games of chance, and even my doctors encouraged me - as at age 50 we start to have cognitive difficulties, and the challenge playing poker with people all around the world, strengthened my mind, exercised it and was a cheap way to unwind.

Millions of people have been affected in bad ways to the prohibition of cannabis, and recently to the DOJ attack on online poker sites that I am confident will be found to be innocent, and which coincidentally freed up hundreds of thousands of players loyal to these three sites, to play at new state run casinos, the most recent of which was legalized in Washington DC, not two weeks ago.

As for it being My Problem... hardly. I'm not gay, but no way do I consider what happened to that midwest horse owner to be simply HIS PROBLEM. It's OUR PROBLEM... and the whole purpose of my blog is to enlighten people to STOP THE HURT!!!

THE USA ONE UPS CHINA - US CITIZENS SUBJECT TO ONLINE POKER BLACKOUT - FBI REPORTEDLY SEIZES ... POKERSTARS.COM

2011-04-15T20:42:00.011-04:00

It's a day out of a novel by George Orwell, "Nineteen-Eighty four", only now it's 2011... the week of April 10 -16. It's a week where after a bone-chilling, devastating Winter, the temperatures are finally rising, the snow is melting...

Problem is, our elected officials, are playing a game of "Russia Roulette" with our futures... Republicans in general appear to be doing everything possible to cut programs to the poor and needy, while providing extended tax cuts to the wealthy 3% of Americans... people like Donald Trump, Warren Buffet, Charlie Sheen...

Today, whether Washington knows it or not it has cast a blind eye to an event that will forever change/harm/blemish this country. It has ignored it's citizens by todays actions.... as much, if not more, than the Chinese Gov't offends it's citizens. We really, today, are no different.

Between 2.5 million to 8 million Americans play online poker, at sites like Poker-Stars, Full-Tilt Poker, and Absolute poker and others. Today the FBI allegedly "seized" ownership of those company sites and domain names.

Millions of Americans play poker online, and today they lost it all...

It all began with:

H.R.4954 - Port Security Improvement Act of 2006

Texas Holdem Poker at the time was a world-wide phenomenon, very popular, especially in the United States. This was a direct result of an average American, early 2000's, who with a couple of dollars and a computer won himself a seat, online, to the World Series of Poker Tournament, and WON!!!

Today players from the United States are unable to play online poker. Some people have gotten FBI Warnings when connecting to the sites like PokerStars. Others get a message as follows when they're able to log on and try to play a game:

I am logged in when I receive this message. And then when I go to sign up for a game:

As you can see players from many countries are signed up and about to play. So the companies aren't "SHUT-DOWN". Instead, players in the US are being censured from playing... and why? My opinion is those republicans I mentioned earlier that included that clause that caused all this poker problem in the first place, are terrorists, as they have effectively put millions of Americans in PANIC MODE right now, and not that it will happen... but it would be nice if a Federal Judge in Boston would review the indictments handed down in NY, and file/judge whatever he/she needs to, if warranted, to put a stop, if only temporary, on the indictments.

It is not fair to put American citizens through this HELL, like this, on a Friday afternoon. Now into the weekend!

IT IS NOT ILLEGAL TO PLAY ONLINE GAMES WHICH INVOLVE MONEY... and for some players millions of taxable dollars are at stake, about to be seized.

This sounds like China that recently passed laws against a citizens right to view anything related to "Time Travel, Reincarnation, X-Files, UFO's... Chinese Government Bans Television Time Travel

But we have to do better... so ban poker to americans while the rest of the world plays, and laughs at us...

Senator John Kyl, of wherever said... "Anything I say doesn't have to be factual" - Article/Link: Sen. John Kyl Mocked for "Not Factual" Remarks And that's just fine... lets govern Americans based on fantasy and lies.

That's the problem with Washington... seems FACTS don't matter... like the budget bill... screw the have-nots, reward the haves!

TO SUMMARIZE:

The Justice Dept of the United States has infringed on the rights of US citizens to play an online game that involves money. It is obvious most other countries ARE NOT subject to censure, and that these companies and their domains have not been seized, albeit, except by the US targeting US citizens. This is no different than actions we abhor in China.

The only way what happened was made possible was because certain of our elected officials decided to insert this poker clause in an important Port security bill. What tees me off the most is the politics... underhanded and distinctly targeted towards a group of people with a specific legal interest.... people who enjoy playing online Texas Holdem, and why not??? It is a great sport, even better than betting on the horses, which is considered "more legal".

What's legal is called the US Constitution... and this final straw to clamping down on a personal individuals rights, is inexcusable. Today, the federal government played it's hand of cards... and lost, as US Citizens LOST, and the federal government works for it's citizens, not it's own special interests, nor those of certain right-wing politicians who think poker is immoral. Today, the indictment heard 'round the world was thrown. An assault on Americans no different than those heaped on Chinese or Libyan citizen's.

I urge the UN to review the indictment, and to consider, are other's around the world still enjoying online Texas holdem at PokerStars? If so, this is a violation of our Constitutional Rights and I hope the UN intercedes. A country's Constitution outweighs any laws passed that violate said Constitution.

UPDATE; APR_16:

I followed up on the comment left by "BlackLuck", and no surprise, we have a white-knight in the Republican ranks, who is dead against poker!!!

Introducing, Rep. Bob Goodlatte, Virginia, 6th district.

WIKIPEDIA LINK:

Apparently Bob, hates online poker. Why is that, I wonder? Is it simply Republican Insanity Syndrome? Or was the pot he smoked in the '70's tainted with paraquat???

Add to that Bob's powerful committee connections in Congress:

COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENTS:

***Committee on Agriculture (Vice Chair)
Subcommittee on Conservation, Energy, and Forestry
Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry
***Committee on the Judiciary
Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition, and the Internet (Chairman)
Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security

So WHO elected this guy??? If his views on poker are like his views on other personal freedoms, including cannabis, and he's on the Judiciary Committee, then Bob is exactly sort of politician that doesn't represent a "Free America", but rather, he represents the exact opposite. Corporate Special Interests!

Read what Bob "thinks" about online poker here, at Wikipedia:

Goodlatte is a staunch advocate of a federal prohibition of online gambling. In 2006, he sponsored H.R. 4777, the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act.[1] In September 2006, working with now defeated Iowa Congressman Jim Leach, Goodlatte was a major House supporter of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006. The Act was passed at midnight the day Congress adjourned before the 2006 elections. Prior to it being added to the bill, the gambling provisions had not been debated by any Congressional committee.[2] The bill was made sure to exclude online horse racing gambling. They claimed moral reasons for pushing for a ban on Internet gambling, but critics charge that it was due to campaign contributions from the horse racing industry.

"Prohibition"! What is it about federally sponsored acts of prohibition??? Poker, cannabis, prostitution... Are we not a free society? How can laws based on theological premise make their way into our society? Or laws based on hysteria and misinformation? People talk about Capital Punishment and how an innocent man could be executed, but do we consider the number of people cut off from freedom in this country everyday because some of our laws are archaic and draconian, and Washington does nothing to correct these issues.

How can President Obama, Senator Ayotte ignore the seriousness of these issues, infringements on citizen's rights?

It's simply a very sad state of affairs in this country right now. Things suck! And they might just as well outlaw baseball!!!

WAKE UP WASHINGTON!

SPECIAL REPORT: HOW NH CANNABIS/MARIJUANA LAWS VIOLATE THE NH CONSTITUTION

2011-04-10T09:56:00.005-04:00

Edited April 26, 2011

My opinion, how the current laws in the state of NH violates it's Constitution. I'm open to the possibility that some open-minded attorneys in NH, or the ACLU will consider acting on the information I am about to provide. It is information that has come together over 20+ years of research - I did not come up with all this overnight!

23 years ago I moved from MA to NH, and got a job at a public school. I worked the night shift, as a custodian. I should add, a custodian with a BA degree in English, and I did the work partly by the consequences of past events, and because I actually loved the work. I loved the work provided I was working in a place of education, ie, colleges, schools.

One of the benefits of working in a school or college was the resources available. Books, teachers, professors, students learning, books, archives, educated people.

Around about 1990 I became concerned that my interest in cannabis might get me in trouble... not just that I used it after work, but because I was considering writing a book on the subject, and already had 20 more plus years that I'd researched the topic.I began my research into cannabis prohibition around 1975; back then, extending into the 1990's, the only way to research a subject was through books, micro-fiche, and books.

The school in NH I worked at had a library complete with everything I needed to do a splurge ahead in cannabis research, specifically, prohibition. I was paranoid though, that if my topic of study was discovered, I'd be in big trouble, unlike if I was caught researching UFO's, or Zombies. It didn't seem right that researching cannabis would be a problem, but I'd been raised to understand in the US we have freedoms, profound freedoms, unlike anywhere else in the world; but with limitations, like not shouting FIRE in a crowded theater, or empty,nor walking naked down Main Street, or studying the effects of tobacco on frogs.There were things you couldn't do. So, yeah, I was paranoid.

My first step was to study the Constitution of the State of NH. It seemed logical to understand my rights under the Constitution. In many ways State Constitutions mirror the US Constitution. However many have interesting variables and additions. All are extremely important, but the oldest that survive with little change, those are the ones that are a strong root into a states past.As it turned out, I found exactly what I was looking for, couldn't believe my eyes, and an Article unique to New Hampshire. Article 83 of the NH Constitution:
________________________________________________________________________________________________

Established October 31, 1783 Effective June 2, 1784 As Subsequently Amended and in Force January 2007

[Art.] 83. [Encouragement of Literature, etc.; Control of Corporations, Monopolies, etc.] Knowledge and learning, generally diffused through a community, being essential to the preservation of a free government; and spreading the opportunities and advantages of education through the various parts of the country, being highly conducive to promote this end; it shall be the duty of the legislators and magistrates, in all future periods of this government, to cherish the interest of literature and the sciences, and all seminaries and public schools, to encourage private and public institutions, rewards, and immunities for the promotion of agriculture, arts, sciences, commerce, trades, manufactures, and natural history of the country; to countenance and inculcate the principles of humanity and general benevolence, public and private charity, industry and economy, honesty and punctuality, sincerity, sobriety, and all social affections, and generous sentiments, among the people: Provided, nevertheless, that no money raised by taxation shall ever be granted or applied for the use of the schools of institutions of any religious sect or denomination. Free and fair competition in the trades and industries is an inherent and essential right of t he people and should be protected against all monopolies and conspiracies which tend to hinder or destroy it. The size and functions of all corporations should be so limited and regulated as to prohibit fictitious capitalization and provision should be made for the supervision and government thereof. Therefore, all just power possessed by the state is hereby granted to the general court to enact laws to prevent the operations within the state of all persons and associations, and all trusts and corporations, foreign or domestic, and the officers thereof, who endeavor to raise the price of any article of commerce or to destroy free and fair competition in the trades and industries through combination, conspiracy, monopoly, or any other unfair means; to control and regulate the acts of all such persons, associations, corporations, trusts, and officials doing business within the state; to prevent fictitious capitalization; and to authorize civil and criminal proceedings in respect to all the wrongs herein declared against.

June 2, 1784
Amended 1877 prohibiting tax money from being applied to schools of religious denominations.
Amended 1903 permitting the general court to regulate trusts and monopolies restraining free trade.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________

The first thing I took from that was my Contitutional right to study cannabis prohibition, free from fear of reprisals:

Knowledge and learning, generally diffused through a community, being essential to the preservation of a free government; and spreading the opportunities and advantages of education through the various parts of the country, being highly conducive to promote this end; it shall be the duty of the legislators and magistrates, in all future periods of this government, to cherish the interest of literature and the sciences, and all seminaries and public schools, to encourage private and public institutions, rewards, and immunities for the promotion of agriculture, arts, sciences, commerce, trades, manufactures, and natural history of the country.

But I was stunned to learn something extra in Article 83:

Free and fair competition in the trades and industries is an inherent and essential right of t he people and should be protected against all monopolies and conspiracies which tend to hinder or destroy it. The size and functions of all corporations should be so limited and regulated as to prohibit fictitious capitalization and provision should be made for the supervision and government thereof. Therefore, all just power possessed by the state is hereby granted to the general court to enact laws to prevent the operations within the state of all persons and associations, and all trusts and corporations, foreign or domestic, and the officers thereof, who endeavor to raise the price of any article of commerce or to destroy free and fair competition in the trades and industries through combination, conspiracy, monopoly, or any other unfair means; to control and regulate the acts of all such persons, associations, corporations, trusts, and officials doing business within the state; to prevent fictitious capitalization; and to authorize civil and criminal proceedings in respect to all the wrongs herein declared against.

Specifically: "...to encourage private and public institutions, rewards, and immunities for the promotion of agriculture, arts, sciences, commerce, trades, manufactures, and natural history." plus: "...or to destroy free and fair competition in the trades and industries through combination..."

Cannabis is a plant with several naturally occurring benefits. It can be used as a "safer" recreational substance, when compared to alcohol and tobacco; it can be made into industrial strength rope; it can be used for the seeds in food production, oils, food-butters, birdseed; it can be used as biomass; it can be beneficial as a medicine.

It is a commodity, and was established firmly as such in 1937 with Congressional passage of the "Marijuana Tax Act". Such an act could not have been made if cannabis wasn't a commodity, a source of value, an agricultural commodity. At the time cannabis was also included in the US Pharmacopedia, as a medicine. Henry Ford was experimenting with hemp oil as a bio fuel, others as a form of nylon, as in nylon stockings (source: "The Emperor Wears No Clothes", by Jack Herer - see my media list for details*).

Several Commercial Giants at the time, America Oil, DuPont, the newly revitalized alcohol industry found cannabis research and use as a threat. It also happened to be the case that DuPont had strong links with the Federal Gov't, and literally owned the state of Delaware with it's industrial monopolies. Between 1937 and 1940 several vital events that formed our future occurred... cannabis was subject to what was deemed (by the Supreme Court in 1971) an unconstitutionally taxable commodity; cannabis research and it's use as a medicine was squashed, except for a brief period during WW2 when 4H Clubs were urge to grow hemp for the war, without paying the tax; and changes in the federal gov't led to lawsuits against the monopoly DuPont had in Delaware and they were "forced to split" to enable fair market competition.

Present Day:

Cannabis is an agricultural and medical commodity, with additional uses in education, and personal well-being. It is my opinion, current laws against growing cannabis, research into cannabis, and prohibition of cannabis are a violation of the NH Constitution. Current laws reflect an ignorance of the potential of cannabis to benefit society, as well as a knee-jerk complicity to federal laws, which in essence violates NH's heart and soul, which Senator Ayotte invoked in her first senate speech: "Live Free or Die".

Either a state's Constitution means something, or it doesn't. To enact laws providing often severe penalties for possession or use of the cannabis plant is a violation of Article 83, of the NH State Constitution. If it doesn't mean something, then a a state invites anarchy, since it's laws and regulations in a democracy must abide by it's Constitution Oath. NH claims today that Federal law shapes their position on cannabis; I say the NH Constitution already clearly outlines how NH should regulate cannabis. And it's not doing so!

Currently NH is the only state in NE with seriously draconian laws against cannabis use, growing, possession; not that the laws in other NE states are completely fair, but NH leads the pack in states that issue harsh penalties for cannabis. This is unacceptable when considering the state's Constitution! The Constitution provides for redress of grievances where violation of the Constitution occur. I am officially demanding such redress, and suggest the laws prohibiting cannabis in NH are Unconstitutional.

Yes, I have written to my elected officials, including a e-mail to the NH Judiciary... I have e-mail responses on record. So, NO, I'm not just spouting off... I have put many years into this subject, and have done all I can to correct a wrong in our society - what I believe to be a wrong. The next step is up to my elected officials... either put up or shut up and reform current laws prohibiting use and possession of cannabis. NH could be the model of reform... but will they act? Will they do the right thing? Will they recognize state laws are unconstitutional and correct those laws? Or will they continue to pretend that current regulations and laws are just?

LIVE FREE OR DIE!

UPDATE! News from Canada - "ONTARIO JUDGE DECLARES CRIMINALIZATION OF POT UNCONSTITUTIONAL". "Ontario is one step closer to the legalization of marijuana after the Ontario Superior Court struck down two key parts of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act that prohibit the possession and production of pot."

Now if only New Hampshire will recognize being conservative means what Senator Ayotte reminded us - NH government does not intrude with the rights of it's citizens, meddle in their personal lives, create laws that either put them in danger or, prevents them from achieving their full potential. Not an exact quote, but I'm beginning to understand Politics.

KELLY AYOTTE, NH SENATOR, "MAIDEN SPEECH" INVOKES "LIVE FREE OR DIE"

2011-04-06T20:53:00.007-04:00

Kelly Ayotte, the new Senator in Congress from NH gave her first speech today on the Senate floor. In it she spoke from the Heart and Soul of NH, invoking the State Motto in her speech - "Live Free or Die".

Kelly Ayotte:

NPR LINK: She took the opportunity to highlight the nation’s lingering fiscal problems and started by reminding her colleague’s of New Hampshire’s state motto. “We believe strongly that government cannot and should not be able to get in the way of each of us reaching our full potential – that’s what ‘live free or die means.’”

Lest you think I'm taking what she said out of context, you need to read the article. Sure, she was speaking about fiscal responsibility in Congress. But by invoking the NH Motto she said far more than I think we yet realize. She described "spending" in the federal government as an "addiction", and in the following link: from the Nashua Telegraph news, she said: “With limited resources, they (NH) make hard choices to distinguish between ‘wants’ and ‘needs.’ It’s time for the federal government to do the same”.

It sure is...

I have to tell you I didn't vote for Kelly Ayotte. I voted for Paul Hodes who had much more experience and an ability to make sound decisions in the US Senate. Kelly Ayotte was/is a former Attorney General from NH, who, by all accounts put personal success above the interests of the citizens of NH. I especially was offended when she squashed all hopes for a MA family who's daughter disappeared in Woodsville NH in 2004, first claiming Maura Murray ran away, and giving back to the family all evidence related to the case, and then doing a reversal in which AG Ayotte instructed state police to repossess all evidence, including Maura's personal computer, and refuse any access to the family, or other interested parties, any access to information and evidence the state held.

AG Ayotte refused numerous requests from Maura Murray's family, her father in particular, for cooperation and assistance in finding his daughter, whom he had always been very close to.

The state made all information pertaining to Maura Murray off limits, except to state law enforcement, claiming, "maybe there was foul-play", maybe not; but until we know for sure, all evidence is available only to local and state officials, not the family. Her father went to court twice to secure access to his missing daughter's evidence and personal computer. Both times, AG Ayotte made sure he was denied access.

Since AG Ayotte gave up her roll as AG, and became a state Senator, the case of Maura Murray was accepted as one of a select few "cold cases" the state created a special dept. to investigate. Although good news, the fact seems to remain that the state in no way ever cooperated with the family.

More...

When at a straw poll in Aug. 2010 Kelly Ayotte met with a disabled Navy Vet who needed medical marijuana for relief of symptoms and a better life, she pretty much felt he should be prosecuted instead of understanding his needs and showed zero knowledge of the benefits of cannabis; least of all that it is safer than most currently legal medications and those legal recreational drugs such as alcohol and tobacco. LINK: "Disabled Vet Gets His Answer from Kelly Ayotte" - NH Compassion.ORG

How can a person who attains the ultimate job of representing the people of this country attain such status with such ignorance? Ah, Sarah Palin and the Tea-Party?

Regardless... the thing that irks me the most is that she had the gall to invoke NH's Motto; “We believe strongly that government cannot and should not be able to get in the way of each of us reaching our full potential – that’s what ‘live free or die means.’”

For 30+ years I prospered able to use cannabis to suppress hyperactivity, anxiety, and more. I became the best i could become, earning several college degrees, finding the ability to overcome personal limitations to be socially active, and felt inspired to explore nature and conduct extensive research in many personally important areas - such as medicinal plants, electronics, computers, and helping my fellow human. Since turning 50, my access to cannabis is non-existent and I've taken to drinking a lot of alcohol, smoking a lot of tobacco, and overall, have found my quality of life plummet downwards. Ahh, but in 6 years one would think i would prosper not having cannabis available. Not so. And there's a good deal of research that explains why.

The most poignant suggestion is that prohibition of cannabis actually causes more harm, and I'm NOT FREE to prosper, to reach my full potential, to be what I feel is my best, and my best is happy and productive. The state of NH has passed some amazing bills in the House to legalize cannabis for personal use, but has been shot down every time either by the NH Senate, or Governor Lynch... and Kelly Ayotte. So much for invoking our State Motto, or for endorsing the fact that "...government should not get in the way"!

Government is bought and paid for by special interests, not the prosperity of it's citizens. If Kelly Ayotte truly believes in what she says, she will do everything she can to end the War on Drugs, and persecution of the cannabis culture.

I'll not hold my breath however, though death seems the part of the motto meant for me.

APRIL FIRST 2011 - Day Of Fools; The Day Of Rage

2011-04-01T16:13:00.002-04:00

Happy Fools Day :>

edited 11/04/04

Onion Storm hits the Northeast... no joke... another day off from work. I don't mind, except it's one more vacation day I don't have this year, and it's been one of those years with winter storms.

It's been one of those years, period.

A few posts ago I designated today "The Day of Rage" for those of us here at home in the US. That day has come. So let's see what I can Rant and Rage about - whether you agree or not, well that's why you can post COMMENTS!

We are not a country "isolated" from the rest of the world - that is more obvious and apparent everyday; from the emergence of SUPERBUGS like MRSA, Tuberculosis and much more to come, to radiation drifting here from a crippled Japan. If you're not aware of what's going on in Japan right now and for the past few weeks shame on you - must be nice living in a hole in the ground. Their disaster is our disaster, same as with Libya, which fortunately, UN Resolution 1973 actually is a victory not only for civilians in Libya, but me too, as I called for action in a previous post to help civilians (rebels, they're called) in Libya.

Well President Obama has taken quite a beating over his actions in Libya, though I'm not surprised. Sure, he seemed slow on the action necessary to intervene in Libya, but, and this is a BIG BUT, for the first time in American history we have a President who worked with the international community before jumping into an overseas conflict. France actually got the ball rolling, and President Obama and SoS Hilary Clinton worked with France, Briton and the UN to establish a legal intervention... and of course our Congress is upset!

A little background: Our Congress supported former President George Bush in his hasty decision to wipe out Iraq... while a more rational war raged in Afghanistan. Iraq was unnecessary in my opinion, and Pres. Bush didn't get a UN mandate.He was more like a kid with a hand grenade eager to throw it... and Congress was an incapable parent who couldn't stop him. As a result, liberals now cry about how we're entrenched in two major wars, and how we shouldn't help rebels in Libya.

Well, hate to say it but if our elected officials had acted appropriately then, the war in Afghanistan would be over, and Iraq wouldn't have happened. We'd then be able to assist rebels in Libya without concerns of yet another war and the cost.

Can't wait to see what Tea-Party Republicans do to balance the National Debt... all I know is it won't be pretty.

I support President Obama and his actions in Libya. Just want to make that clear.

Other Fools news that is for real...

The other day I caught a news story - CNN, a statement by American Cancer Society, strongly warning, of use of medical marijuana for cancer patients. They claimed much more research needs to be done to determine marijuana is safe to use if you have cancer. What I found shocking was that "marijuana" has been used medicinally now for decades. And they are only now waking up???

Cannabis, akamarijuana, has been used since pre-history. It only got to be known as marijuana in the 1930's. Something I've already covered in a previous post.

I would give anything to see our country become the next step in the Master Plan for the human race. An awakening. 2012.

We are the pot with the boiling broth of nearly every "race" in the world. I put race in quotes as there aren't races, except in socially; there is diversity, a birthright, that what you're born with, you inherit at birth.

I found it ironic that our current Homeland Security Advisor, Janet Napolitano emphasized that the violence caused by the Mexican Drug Cartels has not crossed our borders. But how can that be??? The US population is one of the largest consumers of "illegal drugs" like cocaine and marijuana. The whole purpose of the War on Drugs is to stop the violence those drugs cause - yet the violence isn't here??? Are they, she, suggesting "pot-heads" just sit around and smoke marijuana peacefully? I think she is!

So why the WAR?

Why were three Filipino citizens put to death recently for drug trafficking? Image and additional subject matter courtesy CNN:

The irony of this whole death sentence is that the Philippine government mostly was passive about the deaths, with government officials stating that the three, two women and one man got what they deserved. To say otherwise, they said they would appear "soft on drugs". Well, drink up and smoke your tobacco.

Meanwhile, several Chinese citizens benefited from the deaths of the three due to strict regulations the Chinese gov't has imposed on organ donors. The following story highlights that scandalous news... in that, those put to death are legal fodder for involuntary organ donation... the goal, arrest more drug traffickers, put more to death, and hopefully provide much needed organs for transplant. The following link courtesy MSNBC: Chinese Man Wakes Up - Minus His Kidney!

The preceding wasn't a joke - it's us who are the fools!!! Reality Check!!! STOP THE HURT!!!!!

LIBYA: U.N. SECURITY COUNCIL PASSES RESOLUTION 10 - 0 TO PROTECT CITIZENS

2011-03-19T14:47:00.000-04:00

The US, France and Briton along with Arab Councils voted to stop Gaddafi - his indiscriminate slaughter of Libyan citizens. 5 countries abstained from voting - Russia and China, but by abstaining, they allowed the resolution to pass without veto. The U.N. Security Council will use any means to intervene in harm to Libyan civilians, which includes the rebels who are civilians fighting for independence from a ruthless dictator who has ZERO legitimacy as a ruler of the country.

This in contrast to other countries like Bahrain, Yemen, Saudi Arabia who have established ruling parties, Kings or Queens.

Gaddafi is merely the overseer of Libya, a country that back in the 1970's established independence from foreign control. The type of government was established as one governed by the people, and the "leader" was Gaddafi who's been in a position of governance for nearly 40 years. He is not a king, and the people asked him to step down. He refused. Protests ensued, and violence that has claimed the lives of many hundreds of civilians.

Gaddafi instead vowed to maintain leadership against the wishes of the people, and has launched a violent retaliation against those opposed to his leadership. It should be noted that starting with France and the US, Gaddafi is no longer recognized as the leader of Libya. The international community which includes the Arab League, have asked him to step down and he has defied the order.

SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA

What this means:

The international community has vowed to use all means possible to prevent further harm to Libyan This includes military intervention.

My opinion: Hurray! I support intervention in Libya... in contrast my opinion about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are different. Iraq - No. Afghanistan; if GWB had kept focused on the initial military operations and not strayed to Iraq, all would most likely have worked out okay. But he didn't. We shouldn't let those military operations confuse us as to our intervention in Libya. The people of Libya need us, and we, the international community need to see Gaddafi ousted from power! As he has already been ousted.

BOBKAT'S VIEW OF WORLD NEWS - IT DOESN'T LOOK GOOD!

2011-03-15T20:58:00.005-04:00

Writing a blog with individual stories is fine, but reality has a way of overwhelming one. Such is world news as I see it.A few opinions to share:

LIBYA:

Colonel Gaddafi, "KING OF LIBYA", is close to crushing what many around the world are calling a civil war. Crushing "the Rebels".The "Rebels" have asked for help in their fight for independence from King Gaddafi. The only country thus far to offer any support that I can see is France. And why not - they came to our aid in 1776 against the British. With the Rebel Forces nearly crushed we have a madman as King, controlling North Africa. A King with a reputation... torture, terrorism, and deceit. Madness also. Last I knew we were buddy/buddy with Gaddafi... but President Obama has stated Gaddafi is no longer leader of Libya. "He needs to step down".

Well, he's not. He's the King, who isn't a King, crushing those seeking and fighting for liberation. We haven't lifted a finger to help.

Why?

Some cite the growing threat of other rebellions in the Middle East. Bahrain, Yemen, Saudi Arabia. Others are unsure of what just happened in Egypt and Tunisia. Both countries had dictators considered "friendly" to the US. On closer inspection, they were both tyrants and not worthy of our friendship. My opinion.

Then there's the two "wars" we are already sucked into... Afghanistan, which if Ex-Pres George Bush had stuck to his agenda would most likely be under control, but rather, he diverted the military to Iraq, a colossal mistake I assume by many.

There's war fatigue, on the part of the American public. So why assist rebels in Libya?

It's simple. Colonel Gaddafi is not the leader of Libya, he's a foreign power conquering Libya, and Libya is an Ally. What's happening in Libya is a Revolution, not a Civil War.

JAPAN:

Tragedy for which there are no words. A country as best prepared as technologically possible crushed by nature, and further destroyed by it's own high tech infrastructure/nuclear power plants. The loss of life, the damage, the people suffering - I don't think we as a world get it yet! Haiti, we could understand in that they were a poor nation, and helpless. But Japan? This is a cataclysm, the like of which we will feel for many years. I think right now the world is in shock. I think we need to come out of it!

GLOBAL WARMING AND ENVIRONMENTAL THREATS:

They're very real. The fourth largest mass extinction of life on the planet is underway NOW! It's predicted 75% of all life on our planet will be extinct within a couple hundred years or less. This compared to previous mass extinctions that took thousands of years, maybe millions. We're on an accelerated course to some of the most devastating changes in climate, and those in power seem to cling to skepticism and looking the other way. A lot is being done by others, but not anywhere close to what needs to be done.

CIVILIZED SOCIETY DOES NOT POINT THE FINGER AT THE VICTIM:

18 men, ages 14 - 28 gang rape and assault a young girl in Texas. I recall she was 14, but could have been 11. Doesn't matter. The community where it happened in in turmoil. Many on the side of the victim, many on the side of the alleged perpetrators. Those in the latter group feel a woman that young has the maturity to say "STOP". "NO".

Get real... Adults in a civilized society do not take advantage of underage girls!!! What were they doing having sex with her to begin with?

"MARIJUANA BY THE NUMBERS":

CNBC SPECIAL REPORT:

"If legal, marijuana would be a $40-billion-a-year industry in the U.S.

Though not nearly as popular as alcohol or tobacco, marijuana has become part of the nation's social fabric. Some 30 million Americans consume cannabis in the average year."

That can be looked at two different ways; 1) 30 million potential law-breakers subject to severe criminal consequences, Drug Rehap Programs; Discrimination; Alienation; FEAR; DARE; yet their risk of DEATH is near ZERO, compared to the harm (potentially and realistically) caused by tobacco or alcohol, which are legal.

OR: 30 million American taxpayers and citizens enjoying what God provided. Ganja! Free of FEAR.

It's time put our technology, our government, our people to work solving real issues, and not chasing fantasies.

CONCLUSION:

Choose your battles... wisely. On the list of potential extinctions we are up there on the list. There is a great deal that could lead to our extinction. Ignorance in particular. And look... "The Emperor Wears No Clothes".

Put together survival plans...

Gaddafi; The Libyan Revolution - 2011

2011-03-10T20:23:00.003-05:00

Generally I just take world news in stride. Libya is the exception. Gaddafi in particular.

There are many photos of the fighting going on in Libya right now and the past few weeks. There are excellent maps of the conflict areas, who holds them, pro or rebel, yet I hear often "little news is getting out".

Maybe Julian Assange could do a better job! Fact is, Gaddafi is a nutcase. He claims many things:

1) The youth are on drugs provided by Al Quida. Hallucinogens. Terrorist are at our doorstep... deluding the children, that must be "silenced", lest they enlighten "my faithful". Gaddafi madness, but not so different than other historical events that claimed "drugs were distorting the people's sight". Gaddafi's delusion sheds light on our own paranoia that "drugs are to blame". Sometimes they are. The question is, what do you think - rebels high on drugs, or are they revolutionaries who could use our help???

2) His country is as Gaddafi puts it: is a "government of the people", "no leader but the people"... the same people he's murdering, the rebels - who are the people telling him to GO!!!

3) Recent evidence strongly alleges a connection betwee Gaddafi and terrorist acts. If true, a bounty should be put on his head, ASAP.

4) It's being called a civil war... but the Libyans aren't fighting against each other, but rather, the rebels are fighting Gaddafi "loyalists", making him something of a king, or so he's pretending.

Civil War I vote we stay out of it.

Revolution: I vote we assist the rebels with everything we have, like the French did to help us win our Revolution against Great Briton.

We need to act NOW.

Libya could become the stabilizing force in the Middle East. There's no question but that Libyan rebels have done something extraordinary - they need help.

The alternative is a Libya with a "Madman as King".

"DAY OF RAGE" - A Novel Idea!

2011-03-05T23:22:00.001-05:00

OMG... the worse part about work these days is reading the news, online, then listening to it on the 2 hour commute back home. God, it's bad. Really bad.

We're looking at extinction... as a species, as well as a 75% extinction of nature.

I was born in 1954, and I'm open to reality... back then it was the Korean War.

The Middle East right now is awakening... and I'll leave it to "the experts" to provide more.

My point, a "Day of Rage", whatever it connotes, seems like a healthy idea, being non-violent I trust, seems acceptable.

I'm going to suggest, APRIL 01 as the "Day of Rage", and encourage you to leave comments here, to what bothers you about the way things are (going).

What's going on in Libya right now is a serious issue. But we had our own serious "issues", beginning in the early 1960's, and as the flowers bloom, we remember those Americans killed in Viet Nam, and those on our soil who died while protesting a blatantly, obvious, Neanderthal could do it better, "war".

May 1970 - Kent State University. I was 16 at the time. The massacre, was but the end... though I had two more years until I'd be drafted into the war. We had a federal draft back then, not like today's "Volunteer". Link to Kent Stae Massacre - WikiPedia:

"The Kent State shootings—also known as the May 4 massacre or Kent State massacre[2][3][4]—occurred at Kent State University in the city of Kent, Ohio, and involved the shooting of unarmed college students by members of the Ohio National Guard on Monday, May 4, 1970. The guardsmen fired 67 rounds over a period of 13 seconds, killing four students and wounding nine others, one of whom suffered permanent paralysis."

Lest this be seen as a call to arms, it's not. I simply think voicing our beefs might be a good thing...

I'll start:

BEEF#1: Legalize cannabis already!!!!

DEA, the... "The Dream Enforcement Administration"

2011-02-25T23:28:00.015-05:00

Last edited Mar. 05, 2011

A pause for awhile from my "Rite of Passage" series... I'm not finished with it. "

It's a long story, but the goal - to tell it.

A pause from that as we have real problems in our society that need attention and change. Most notably, DREAMS - and the Human Condition which includes our use of certain "dream-like" substances or characteristics, or activities.

To address all that, this post, a satire of sorts, but truthful, will I hope shed some light on our public Psyche, our fears, our actions.

The Dream Police, like DEA... three simple letters when arranged in that way, they can strike mortal fear into the hearts of every stoner; cannabis/marijuana user/for the uninitiated. How ironic all the comparisons in history to the "War on Drugs" today.

The origins of alcohol prohibition is a traditional starting point, but hardly the whole story:

Wikipedia Link: * In Mugler v. Kansas, 1887, Justice Harlan, wrote, "We cannot shut out of view the fact, within the knowledge of all, that the public health, the public morals, and the public safety, may be endangered by the general use of intoxicating drinks; nor the fact established by statistics accessible to every one, that the idleness, disorder, pauperism and crime existing in the country, are, in some degree... traceable to this evil." source - Wikipedia.org

The truth is, prohibition of one thing or another have deep roots in the history of humankind. It was and is akin to sacred sacrifice, or in modern day terms, conformity. Sacred because it is a prohibition in spite of God, and a sacrifice as we were legally bound to look away from something God had given us. "Conformist" as someone feels they have the right to direct our personal freedom.

Dreams will be or already are subject to the same rules of law.

The most notable prohibition is one you most likely never heard about: Self Abuse. Today commonly known as masturbation/act of masturbating. I have a official medical book that in great detail prescribes "cures" for what was - prior to the 1940's, known as a disease. Freckles was also a disease, treated with caustic soda, and other heinous concoctions... masturbation was not only considered a disease, but morally inept too. Like a woman who might actually want to enjoy sex, sex was a moral mandate under strict cultural and religious and political guidelines.

A young man caught "jerking off" (a euphemism these days for a personal "act of self pleasure") was harshly punished and subjected to ungodly acts of intervention, ie, prohibition.

A person who, in the USA today, for medical or personal reasons, desires, wants to consume cannabis, is subjected to very similar threats.

Did you know our own bodies produce natural THC? We are walking chem labs!!!

Recently the feds took the tobacco industry to task to admit they lied to US citizens. Time the feds admit they're lying too.

The dangers of marijuana (a euphemism), are simply threat of criminal prosecution, a criminal record, and other consequences, all unconstitutional, in my opinion.

The Eighth Amendment , US Constitution, spells it out:

LINK: "Legal Dictionary: The Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads:

"Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted."

"The Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1791, has three provisions. The cruel and unusual punishments clause restricts the severity of punishments that state and federal governments may impose upon persons who have been convicted of a criminal offense. The Excessive Fines Clause limits the amount that state and federal governments may fine a person for a particular crime. The Excessive Bail Clause restricts judicial discretion in setting bail for the release of persons accused of a criminal activity during the period following their arrest but preceding their trial."

That's quoted from the "Legal Dictionary". We should add one more interpretation - that the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees us freedom from fear of bodily, psychological, cultural, personal harm, in Pursuit of Our Dreams, thus the title of this post... and that those three letters, arranged as such, "strike mortal fear, and the consequences of a unjust war on stoners, considering "facts", and I provide plenty and there are many out there. One being 47% of Californians believed it should have been legalized.

When considering safety, the fact is "stoners" are much more likely to cooperate with LE, in general, than compared to drunks. That the average person, and that would be based on the 47% of Californians that voted affirmative, to decriminalize cannabis. I bet if alcohol or tobacco were put up for "legitimate voting", the percentages would be much lower.

In the face of over 70 years of misinformation, myth, and propaganda about cannabis, making it the most "dangerous drug" ever, therein lies the problem. A problem once created out of fear and ignorance could not be broken.

Cannabis users should not need to live in FEAR of three letters because they choose to use a plant given to man, by GOD, "In Whom We Trust".

State and the federal government(s) depend on, and encourage tax revenue from alcohol and tobacco sales, "Sin Taxes". They also appear to depend on revenue and subservience due to violation of certain "Sin Laws". As I list in this post. Not only does this seem to represent modern day hypocrisy, but it's likely a danger to civilians and society, likely Unconstitutional, and plain stupid, in my opinion.

Dreams... many forms of dreams. I believe it's what makes us who we are - our dreams.

I've always been a good dreamer, and I expect others out there are too. Literally, I love dreaming. Occasionally I have nightmares, but more when I was younger... I also had great dreams when younger, flying dreams especially.

Dreams, dreamed by a life on Earth, is a God given adventure, or a glimpse into Hell...

I've been researching dreams for as many years as I've researched cannabis... the one problem, cannabis tends to nullify remembering your dreams. It does. I believe we still dream, it's the memory lost. For some maybe a cure, for others a trade-off... So it becomes a choice, very personal: to dream or not to dream?

BTW, did you know, Absinthe... is legal now. Or you didn't know it was illegal, or what it is, or was?

It's been illegal for decades allegedly because it was "determined to be hallucinogenic. Turned out it was, as expected, to be a myth, and it was legalized very quickly, about three years ago. No, not much in the news about it, but an important victory for sane, science-based rights, personal freedom while we contribute our best to this society and have just laws while we do so.

Wikipedia Link Absinthe - "A Ferocious Beast":

"Spurred by the temperance movement and the winemakers' associations, absinthe was publicly associated with violent crimes and social disorder. A critic said that:* "Absinthe makes you crazy and criminal, provokes epilepsy and tuberculosis, and has killed thousands of French people. It makes a ferocious beast of man, a martyr of woman, and a degenerate of the infant, it disorganizes and ruins the family and menaces the future of the country."

Happy Dreams...

RIGHT OF PASSAGE - Part Fourteen - Magical, Mystery, Truth

2011-02-12T13:08:00.000-05:00

My condolences to Algernon, but it wasn't Mary Jane who destroyed me.

Smoking marijuana was an experiment, because of the misconceptions, misinformation, legality issues, and dealing with the black market. But it wasn't my undoing.

Marijuana wasn't always known as that, but rather, prior to the 1930's it was called ganja. It's scientific name is cannabis, with subspecies like indica and sativa. It's origin is, as best I recall the Andes. It's use goes back thousands of years. Yet little is known about it's use, as modern archaeologists generally focus more on acceptable mind altering substances, like alcohol. Not always, but more often.

Hah, but did I say I "was destroyed"? If so I got well ahead of myself. The truth is, sadly at almost 25 my life flipped, as in a train wreak, and I was pretty much destroyed. But there is much - hundreds of years within 4 years that my life was rich and flowing, torturous and painful, exotic and fulfilling. I learned a lot in those 4 years... age 20 - 24; experienced a lot. Yes, I was Algernon, and at 25 i lost much that i gained, but I didn't die, and I didn't forget everything.

One important goal during those years was building "Personal Power". I read most of the Carlos Castaneda novels. "The Teachings of Don Juan". A way to oneself... a way to see...

Personal Power and Not Doing were two important lessons. One needed power to survive, and the ability to not do, so as to be a individual. There was much more, the ability to SEE, which is hard to explain... more than seeing auras, though that is a small part.

One might think me MAD, back then, but it was all mainstream, even if it was fringe reality.

The facts are:

I went from being bullied, shy, introverted to the person people came to for help; I had many, many friends, which I learned one night when throwing a party and over 50 people turned up at my apartment...

Initially, I quit college in 1974, but when getting my custodial job, resumed taking classes, but changed my major from electronics tech to liberal arts. Benefits paid for unlimited courses that i could take, and I did. A few years later when I applied for a BA degree, instead of the normal 60 credits to transfer, I had over 90... which shaved a full semester off getting my BA.

I was hardly introverted any longer... quite the opposite. Which when considering the mid 70's was a sexual revolution, and it seems everyone was having sex with everyone, at least for some people, I was one of those people. I was one of those people who hoped to meet and marry his soul-mate too. Who hoped for success. I worked hard, 3 - 11 M-F cleaning the Fine Arts Building, and on the side, I wrote thousands of words, and had seemingly unending encounters with so many interesting people.

In a way now many years later there is this force pushing on me to abandon those years, with shame and guilt. After-all, I smoked marijuana and ate pot brownies often. I had sex with several women, all whom I loved. I studied witchcraft, or "White Magic", and admit to a mushroom or two and a bit o' windowpane. I often walked in the woods - there being a college park adjacent to the campus, with a hundred acres of trees and park space. It was heaven.

And it was hell...

As my parents, my mother in particular was at war with my newfound world. I had little defense against my mother, although I could plead my case with my father, who understood me, to a good amount, but ultimately, he would support my mother, who, like Nurse Ratchet, in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", she saw to it that any heaven I might achieve, she would take it away... and she did. In June 1979.

Prior to that night, I discovered the world is really a pretty remarkable place. Painful in places, yes, but much pleasure to enjoy too.

I'm 56 now, and for the past 30+ years I've wanted to tell my story. I've not been able to. And today, little remains, other than one or two close friends from back then... it's almost like it really never was...

Next Time: But It Was...

RIGHT OF PASSAGE - Part Thirteen - All The Luck, Algernon!

2011-02-10T20:13:00.002-05:00

The most poignant, haunting, self descriptive book I ever read was "Flowers For Algernon", by Daniel Keyes. I think I was around 23 at the time, 1976 perhaps. I knew as I was reading it, it was a prophecy of things to come. I really didn't understand then how much of a prophecy it would become.

For a moment, let's step back to when I was around 20. I started community college in the Fall of 1972, fresh out of HS. It was expected of me to go to college, and initially my parents paid the tuition. Since I was a electronics buff, I majored in "electronic technology". I already mentioned the pain I endured passing two semesters of physics.

What I haven't mentioned is, I was going nowhere. Maybe our society is all about people going nowhere, finding themselves somewhere. By definition, that would be the professional career, the beautiful wife, the house with the white picket fence, etc.

All fine, if that's okay to you. What I'm trying to say is the person I was then was not alive. My whole life I was either the underdog among my friends, both physically and mentally, and also, beginning especially in MS, the target of every bully in the school. My life was looking around corners, avoiding certain places. I had very little extra-curricular activity, though for a year I was a member of the ski-club, and had no problems. Unless shyness, and a sense of not belonging counts?

Yes I was very much into electronics and chemistry. I was also into playing by myself in my back-yard at 16 with Matchbox cars and trucks, building roads and cities and dams. I was a loner. Some of the girls liked me, but no way did I know it. Or if I did, what to do. In HS I craved English classes, physics and chemistry, shop and mechanical drawing. In most every place there was a bully or two that made learning second to survival.

HS was a total loss... though A Mr Gunnard, a counselor, made a difference, as did a handful of other teachers, so I did survive. Surviving MS/HS was my victory! What did I learn? Nothing more at the time other than I'd survived. And surviving meant risking going to a school dance only to get punched, or a knife held at my throat. Once by a Native American blood-brother. Now this event would be vitally important... as the dichotomy was we had been friends enough at one point to cut and blend blood, yet later, he held a knife at my throat.

It should be noted, well several things should be noted:

1) My sister, a 1 and 1/2 younger than me was probably one of the most popular girls in MS/HS. And in several cases the very guys that liked to bully me, she was friends with.

Two ways this can work out. 1) leverage 2) getting a lucky break.

2) My parents donated their life at the time trying to help me. They were constantly at the school. They spoke personally to the parents of some of my worst bullies. Ironically, it fed into my dependence on them, and their's of me. This dynamic would contribute to the disaster to follow.

My sister remained and continues to be my best friend. I was the oldest, but she was the wiser, the smarter, the most popular. And in my early 20's I would become the brother she turned to... and essentially, we are like satellites, revolving and holding each other together.

I rarely se my sister, haven't for over 20 years. You might recall I eventually had little choice but to move away. My sister didn't. So we talk occassionally on the phone, have vacations when we meet. I have two brothers too. Both now live in Florida. I live in NH... Land of Lynch, since the Old Man of the Mountain crumbled. An obvious sign that Gov. Lynch was wrong for NH, yet here he is in his third term as governor.

Sorry, ahead of myself.

What I'm trying to say is I had no sense of self. At age 18 I was destined to be a serial killer, sorry to say. I had all the hallmarks... liked to play with fire, no regard for nature, a loner, a late aged bed-wetter, like Sarah Silverman!

But so I'm in college and I have very few friends. Finding a girlfriend is out of the question - my body or mind do not even consider it.I'm on kiddo-pilot, believing adults tell you what to do, and don't trust anyone.

So the mouse Algernon was given an experimental drug, designed to boost it's IQ. It was an apparent, total success! Algernon could wind through the mazes like nothing, and even started to exhibit self-awareness.

Algernon had a partner - a man with a very low IQ. He was a subject just as Algernon was. The story recount the amazing success of the experiment with both the man and Algernon. With one tragic twist; Algernon dies, and the man? He doesn't die... far worse that that fate. Haunting.

In my early 20's I first moved onto the second floor of a renovated horse-barn, at the edge of the property of the community college I attended. I was in my 3rd semester in college, having just moved out, away from home. And a lot of things happened.

I want to leave you here with this thought...

The "experimental drug" might just as well have been marijuana... since near then is when I used it a second time and my life changed.

There are continuous news articles trying to cast marijuana as the demon weed, schizophrenia, in particular, and yet nothing about how good it is as a natural medicine, a natural high, far safer than legal alternatives, alcohol and tobacco.

There was a time I couldn't go to a college dance, a bluegrass festival, a rock-concert without feeling paranoid. Until the effects of cannabis hit, around that time. The effects were gradual, and at times difficult, as cannabis had a way of bringing out one's paranoia, and the fact that it was illegal tripled that sense of fear. To my advantage was it was near the mid 70's, and pot was mainstream. 90% of the people I knew between age 21 and 27 smoked pot at least once. Rather significant considering I got a job as a custodian at the community college, at the fine arts center... a victory! The culmination of a dream, since Ray Bradbury's "Frost and Fire".

I was not only among the "scientists" at the college, but all the artists too. Almost overnight my life changed. I began to find myself, and others most importantly. I developed a hunger for knowledge, and my job provided me the benefit of free tuition - unlimited.

Because of the influence of cannabis, my life literally opened up and soon I was enjoying learning, loving Nature, hiking, girlfriends, friends, and writing... within four years I wrote my required million words, my future became clear, I felt great...

Flower's For Algernon!!!

NEXT: The Magical, Mystery, Truth...

RITE OF PASSAGE - PART 12 - FOCUS: ON BRASS TACKS

2011-01-30T13:53:00.000-05:00

I hope you'll excuse the delay in getting my next blog out. I've had a serious health issue, a cold or flu since the beginning of the year. In addition, the following is a more focused view on my experiences in the mid 1970's...

I didn't know what to expect - moving away from home, age 18. It was pretty much expected, my doing so, back then in the earl 70's. I was simply, an unlikely candidate; I'd never exhibited a streak of Independence. I'd lived, dependent upon my routine and controlled environment. My traditional and predictable environment. For all practical purposes I'm the kind of guy who would have lived at home, with the parents until at least age 30.

I wasn't raised in the type of family that encouraged independent thinking, self-sufficiency, or self-esteem for that matter. Most decisions were approved, and then reversed by my mother as if my mother decided I should do what I I'd just asked, or a plain, "no". My father was a sales manager, traveled a lot, and so my mother ruled the nest. To make things worse, I was a collector, of what she called "itsy-bitsy's". Pretty much everything from books, to Matchbox cars, baseball cards, and I loved to draw and write.

My mother would both look at me with pride suggesting I'd write the next "Gone With the Wind", someday, but at the same time it was a joke. In her words, "I wasn't a writer". Having said that, I wasn't a writer. That was my reality. I was to be a teacher or sales manager like my father. The collectibles I collected constantly vanished as my mother constantly cleaned. And as soon as my "childhood" waned, my drawing and writings vanished too. A passing phase she was sure I'd grown out of. Baby pictures were priceless, my drawing and writing, not at all important - just clutter.

Our's was a "proper, Christian family". Church on Sundays, though my Dad, when around, rarely went to church. In the early days they had the occasional beer, then later the Manhattans. My mother was as pure as an angel when it came to sex, no talk of it, no discussions. My father was a flirt. A damn good flirt. I'm always wondering how far he went on those business trips he often took. My mother never questioned him, and I never asked. But he made no mistake about the fact that sex was something good, and something to have whenever the opportunity might present itself. He used to say, "it's the one you could have had and didn't that will haunt you the most". And it's true. So while my mother nurtured "the husband" in me, the "faithful husband", my father secretly encouraged me to sow my seed... which was a joke as growing up I was not only extremely naive, but geeky, gawky, and thin. I was every bully's target... and up to a couple years after graduating HS I still didn't know how to talk to a woman.

Recall, at age 6 my mother forbade me to hang out with my sister and her friends, and "fixed me up with boys", to be friends with.That "forbadence" stayed with me for a long time, and still haunts me today. I was in a traffic accident a few years ago, a woman in a mini-van rear-ended me. A young, attractive woman was driving the other vehicle, and when I told my mother about the accident she made a snide comment that if a "man had been driving, I would have fought tooth and nail in court to get everything out of the accident I could". Guilt.

But to be fair, my real handicap wasn't women, it wasn't lack of motivation, but rather, my parents had protected me as much as they could while I grew up, and were constantly trying to protect me from the bullies that latched onto me. Without intending to, at least overtly, they made me dependent on them.

Now ironically, at age 18, having graduated HS and gone onto college, I was destined to be the "perfect sheep" in the family pasture. I literally didn't have a mind of my own. I fit in perfectly with a neurotic family in which the child never grows up, but is expected to behave in a way that feigns growth. I probably would have married the woman I couldn't touch, would have become a store manager at a dept. store, bought a modest house and like everyone else, hated it. But I'd learn to pretend, like everyone else, that everything was perfect.

Only one problem.

Marijuana!

Age 19 I was beginning my junior year of community college. I was pursuing an Associates of Science degree, in electrical technology. I'd begun college on schedule the fall after graduating high school. I had two terms of physics under my belt... and for anyone familiar with physics, you'll know why I'm proud of that. I carried a B average for two terms, but the math, the calculus was coming next.

It was, near as I recall the summer of 1973, I was not yet 18. At 18 I could legally drink alcohol at that time. It was, something to look forwards to. Getting drafted wasn't. I was in college because that is what a middle class person at my age did. I'd chosen "electrical technology", being as I was a home electronics hobbyist. I was also a chemist... chemistry sets being popular back then, I had a room in the attic where I had both an electronics lab, plus chemistry lab. God only knows what I created, with the chemistry set!? I had crystals, scums, bubbling mases the likes of Dr. Frankenstein. I accomplished nothing. The rest of the time I was in HS, and generally home by myself isolating myself in my room or the backyard, playing with matchbox toys.

I was a loner growing up. My first friends were my sister and her tow friends, Julie and Susie. But by age 6, my mother was actively breaking up the friendship - boys don't belong with girls.

She was afraid I'd grow up gay. I've told the story before. Her fears were totally unfounded and dysfunctional. The current controversy over "this princess" concept of raising girls is proof of that. Fact is, there was no reason my sister and her friends couldn't be my best friends around age six.

By age 19 I'd had 3 girlfriends. Brenda, in 8th grade, lasted a long, hot week... over the phone we talked about heady topics like breast size. But i broke up with her after a week, for totally insane reasons. Then, Diane, whom I met through a co-worker, a women whom I consider to be my GF, but there really was no connection; the physical attraction and personal experience was quite limited. We didn't "French-kiss" nor physically touch flesh to flesh for the 3 years I called her my GF. Then, a "fling" one Friday night when I visited a friend I'd met through my sister. Four of us were in the room. Myself and the two men played cards along with a woman sitting on a couch. My friend said if I wanted sex, just ask her. I did, but truly, I didn't know what sex was, and I was around 18 years old. I asked her, we bedded together, but all i remember is how erotic it was French kissing her. We didn't have intercourse, nor anything oral.

Around a year and a half after graduating HS, after losing my virginity to a stranger woman at a state park, I met my first "real" GF. Her name was Sue.

I met her at a party, and despite my shyness, struck up a conversation with her. By this time I had moved away from home. I was so scared... a male friend who was at my apartment, who knew Sue, I had asked his advice. His response: "If you don't ask her out, someone else will".

I asked her out.

Our first date, I hitch-hiked 20 miles in a storm of pouring rain to her house... to be with her. My friend came by later to bring me home. I honestly don't remember the first time we had sex, but I know it was very good. We eventually moved into an apartment together. We had sex at least 10 times a day... we were a couple for almost 3 years. My mother despised her, and it began the war - the war of morals.

I can honestly say "the war" escalated to the point that my relationship with Sue led to a quandary - a war between my mother and myself, a war between right and wrong, a war that ultimately made me believe I was cursed. I wasn't, but I was... because, I loved Sue with all my heart, and my mother despised her with hers.

The rebellion of youth began.

And I lost...

"Brass-Tacks"... moral, don't question authority.

I did, and I still do...

RITE OF PASSAGE - Part Eleven - Pursuing the Dream

2011-01-21T23:11:00.000-05:00

Dreams and Reality, quite the combination!

With few friends growing up, and "the underdog" to those I had, I was operating on level 2 self-esteem. 10 being ideal.

I see signs these days, newspaper articles and school billboards announcing "Understanding Bullying".

Ironic. Since age 5 I was bullied. I can still remember, age 6 maybe, crossing the road to "see" my neighborhood, stranger, to me. His name was mike T. And we got into a fight, and he rubbed my face in the dirt. I lost. Have no idea why, or why?

Then, getting older, i had neighborhood friends, very good friends, but when in a group, I was the underdog ( which puts it quite well).

Those days were a dream. Age 4 - 8... constant exploring... walking miles, anywhere, alone. Parks woods, and later, age 13, hunting with childhood friends, never killing deer, but we did get some ducks. Hunted age 13 -16, then things changed. Again.

Hunting ended. Focusing on graduating HS took priority. Women were not in my life, or at that age girls... sex was not even something I really knew existed. Naive.

Age 16 through 19 remain vague... mostly working, at a dept store and planning my exodus from parents and home.

Come age 20 I believe things started to assemble itself.

Two years of community college was a "no go". I was majoring in electronic technology ( before home computers were even dreamed about). My parents were paying my tuition, and by the third term i wanted out - about age 19.

On a dreary, rainy night I said "good-bye, I love you", to my parents, in bed, and they were very nonchalant about it. As I was driving to my new apartment, I considered that a good sign. I was off to new beginnings, I had ideas and most important dreams. But I knew it might be impossible. I'd grown up the under-dog, the excluded, the bullied for 8 years, unless you add the original bully incident with Mike T., age 6.

But that dreary, rainy night was perfect. I arrived at my new home, a room on the second floor of a rebuilt horse-barn, at the edge of the college campus. There were two large apartments downstairs, and 5 rooms upstairs, bathroom, and kitchen. We all used cannabis, plus other substances... we had fun together, and I made friends.

I switched my major to Liberal Arts, dropping the technology, and wanted to write. I sold my car, a 1969 Ford Mustang, I bought a bike.

Said it before, a sci-fi book I got as a present at age 8, "R is for Rocket", by Ray Bradbury, was key to my future... a short-story within it called "Frost and Fire", set my goal.

In the story, the humans live on the planet Mercury, survivors of a manned expedition of the planet. They somehow made emergency landings, saving the ships, but ultimately they had to abandon the ships, survive a near death run to some caves and from there, those that survived multiplied. Two primary problems.

Ultimately the caves the survivors lived in were too small to support the growing population. They divided... exiled to caves lower down the mountains, where the protection from the Sun's radiation was more acute. After an undisclosed time, though hinted as 100, 200 years, the two societies were enemies, though they rarely met. The environment of Mercury gave them half an hour at best, morning and night to wander outside, and enjoy a sudden plume of flowers and plants.

One other vital effect of living on Mercury. In that 100 - 200 year span, those in the lower caves were born, grew up, became adults, parents, and grandparents all within 7 days. Those in the upper valley, lived ten days.

The hero of the story is named Sim. And around age 8, second day after birth, he hears rumor that there are "scientists" still living and searching for an answer, to end the suffering. Mostly they are laughed at, and said to be a myth.

Sim by day 3 is already planning and trying to find where the "scientists" are. And he gets a break... he finds them. Deeper in the caves his aging slows some, so he spends time taking in decades of history in hours... and discovers that two space-ships are intact, and located some mile away, very close, from the upper caves.

Sim lives in the lower caves. Nearly half an hour from the upper caves. Only one way he can move there, and that is challenge a resident to a duel... a fight to the death, winner takes refuge.

Along the way he meets his soul-mate, nice touch. Wins the duel in the blazing hot afternoon sun, and he and his lover move into their new cave and gain 3 extra days of life. Time to plan.

I did pretty much the same. The story became my guide in my early 20's... I had little time... by age 24 I needed a life-plan.

I had a lot to do ahead... but on that rainy, dreary night I moved out on my own... I was ready to build my life.

Next Time Brass Tacks...

RITE OF PASSAGE - PART TEN - The Awakening

2011-01-15T11:15:00.003-05:00

The Awakening...

Edited Jan. 18, 2011

This is a story that must be told. I really have no choice. Well I do, and I choose to share it.

Over the years, friends and co-workers have said - "you ought to write a book".

And yeah, I know.I should.

That was my original goal, in fact, in my early twenties. To write, become an author. Between 1974 and 1979 I wrote well over one million words, the number ascribed to what makes a hobbyist in writing different from a true writer. One million words...

I wrote in 6X9inch notebooks. I was always writing. One of the benefits from my job at the time, custodian at the Fine Arts Center was that I knew what work had to be done, so I made time in-between to go down to my office, and sit at my desk and write. Heck, my co-worker on the 3 to 11 shift worked on "projects" in our workshop at the time. Things like rubber band guns, birdhouses, doll-houses, and the like... that would be Oats, my work-partner, half Italian/half Apache Indian. He was quite the co-worker, as you'll discover.

In a previous post, a reader commented that I became who I became in large part due to the books I'd read. In general that would be true. But there's much more to the story.

In the entirety of my Blog I may repeat myself from time to time. Expect it. My blog is my story, it's me... so I'll repeat things, until I get it right. The best thing about being able to blog is being able to be a presence on the WWW. This is an age 50's fantasy, as when I was in my early 20's and this story was unfolding, there was no WWW (World Wide Web), nor even a hint such a day might come when such a thing - a medium of WW communication would exist. There was very little to any internet then, no e-mail, not even telephone answering machine, though all that changed quickly. Too quickly, really, for the average person to realize. Fact is, society was simply social back then, and there was little in the way of extensions, except for the opinion pages in news-papers.

My point - until approximately 1990, there was no WWW!!! We were strictly a social society. In 1975 when "my awakening" occurred, there weren't dating magazines, much in the way of support groups, and knowledge was dispensed in a limited number of ways - books, newspapers, magazines, word-of mouth, schools and colleges.

As a voracious reader since age 8, and experiences both very good and bad, I had a hunger for knowledge. My parents were the type that pushed, me, to become what they thought I should become. No blame there, they simply were the type to push. I got it, my sister got it. We both had our own ideas!

At age 16, as described in my last post, I smoked marijuana; yes, a common theme in my blog, and for good reason, the best reason, in that, it helped shape my life. And not in a bad way. Though some might initially be skeptical about that.

When you grow up struggling in school, with a C average as your norm, social issues that make you a target of bullies, limited self-awareness, and very little regard for life, nature and the environment, to suddenly "awaken" to all of that and more, to me, it's a miracle.

Well, I get ahead of myself. At age 16 I was pretty naive and mostly doing what was expected of me, or pretending.

So during a family vacation, in Sarasota, Florida, 1970, my sister and I enjoyed 10 day vacation days, with parties on the beach at night around a campfire. Groups of young people came from everywhere, and we drank beer, listened to music, smoked pot, and i'm sure aroused suspicion among the adult community. But we behaved, and the drinking age was 18 at the time, though I was only 16. Thing is - I didn't get stoned, just drunk, and every night we returned to the motel and simply went to sleep.

My point? "I didn't get stoned". I used pot, marijuana, "a drug", and nothing happened. Many people would agree the first time they may have tried it, nothing happened. That's the difference between and herb and a drug. Yet William Bennett, the 1980's Drug Czar, made the popular yet incorrect statement - "use it once and you're doomed..."

Yeah. "Doomed".

It was two years later when I used it again. In the meantime I remained a strict opponent to "drugs". While trying hard as I could to hold my liquor, which was impossible. Two beers and I was drunk. The 3rd and I got sick. Meanwhile, my friends counted the beers they drank at the keg-parties we had... the usual bravado was 20 - 35 beers... and then while I stayed where we camped, they went off driving, to pick up girls which they found walking, for sex. This was routine in the late 60's... and if one reads current police logs today, one would find that DUI is still one of the most common offenses police are involved in.

My failure to be able to hold my beer was a real setback, socially. I was shy as it was, and not being able to hang out with my friends, drive around drinking and picking up girls was quite a blow. Of course, looking back now, it was a Godsend. That wasn't me. I was the shy guy.

Today, most right-wing conservatives would look upon me and say this is exactly the person we are trying to save. Me. My friends today, would by now, todays standards, would have been arrested for DWI, many times over. Would have quite the rap-sheet (They don't). But me, DARE we say, at age 18 or 19, I discovered marijuana was much more that the Devil's Weed... Recall earlier I said I had very little awareness of myself, nature or others. All that changed.

Fortunately, there was no DARE at the time to intervene. There was considerable attention to illicit drug use, no doubt about that, but then, and until "my awakening" I would have been the perfect narc, except, I was straight as an arrow; I almost turned in my own sister when I discovered she used "drugs"...

I didn't. So, sometime around age 18/19 I found myself with two close friends, on an average summer night, with the one friend having a "dime-bag" of Panama Red, marijuana. I almost screamed out loud like he had a gun on me; but fortunately I thought twice. By then i was able to "question authority"... I'd had enough exposure to the real world to take an objective look at life. What i saw was a plant in a baggie... and I realized, here was a risk for experience in the real world that is being offered. And if there is a God, and I mean that, then here is an opportunity I have to make a decision on.

I chose to use it... my second time, and this time was different. This time the effects changed my life. I became aware of myself. I experienced the world in a way that suddenly i saw I wasn't an isolated, bullied, shy kid, but rather, everything I'd ever experienced, read, imagined fell into place. I saw myself as an "agent", not "a victim". I saw myself as an individual in society, and that I had choices to make on how to best become a part of my society. Beginning with, I wasn't a child anymore... I was an adult.

Next Time - "Follow Your Dreams..."

RITE OF PASSAGE - PART NINE Sex, Drugs, Rock and Roll

2011-01-13T22:18:00.000-05:00

"Sex, Drugs, Rock and Roll"!

That's the ideal/attitude/memories that seems to paraphrase and summarize the 1970's. Even in my own mind I kind of see it that way; but the phrase itself, wasn't coined until 1979, in music by Ian Dury, a frontman for the UK band, "the Blockheads" - Wikilink:. And fact is, WE didn't live it that way.

In 1975 "we" were pretty straight. At age 18 you were legal to drink alcohol. You were eligible for the draft. You became an adult. There was no "Dirty Dancing", Gangs of any importance, conspiracy to commit fornication, or shirk society. We all knew "drugs" were bad. We all idealized the white house, the beautiful wife, the perfect job, and the picket fence. In NY State anyways most kids in HS had shot-guns in their trucks if they drove to school... there generally wasn't a student parking policy. But in NY and PA most students who were hunters got the day off. That's the way it was. We did think a lot about Sex, and Rock and Roll, but "drugs"? We had alcohol... We thought all the time about alcohol... had we thought about marijuana I believe many of us would be better off today.

Yeah, controversial. But it's the truth. Drugs were a fringe element. Getting drunk was the man thing to do. And smoke tobacco. Seriously, had cannabis been legal, I doubt we would have considered it all that much.

Until 1972 I lived in a country with a military draft. You signed up for the draft, by law, age 18, and at that time, 1972, there was a "draft lottery". On Jan. 01 of the New Year the numbers were drawn for every day of the year. My number was below 20... which meant I was drafted when I turned 18. Headed for Viet Nam.

In those days, the draft wasn't at all popular, especially since if you were "well connected" you could find ways to avoid Viet Nam. And one could always join the Coast Guard, or the Navy or Air Force. But if your mind wasn't on the military, and mine wasn't, what could one do back then?

The idea of the "conscientious objector" was a new one, and most often failed. One went to Canada often, to avoid the draft. Some cut off fingers or toes, some won insanity cases, and some even were bold enough to claim they were gay. But of the latter, few darned claim that.

My father told me sometime in the mid 70's ", he hadn't thought so at the time, but in hindsight he wouldn't have held it against me to have gone to Canada. "The War was wrong," he said.

It was the Beatles truly... who had the most influence on me in the early to mid 1960's. There was a lot of talk then, among my elders, of drugs, and the Beatles with their rock n' roll and long hair, they hated that.

I had an older 2nd cousin who was talked about a lot - John, how he was, "hooked on marijuana" and, had "attempted to jump out a window".

'Really', I wondered? At the time it was very real to me, the idea he had. But I learned later that he'd never tried to jump out a window. He had done acid, LSD, and was found out. "Marijuana and LSD", the parent's worst nightmare! All parent knew what it meant!

Your child would go insane.

I certainly vowed I would never "get hooked on drugs".

What I didn't know then, but do now, is it's a fallacy, born of political and corporate greed and fear.

I grew up on science-fiction, so I was already swimming in my imaginative universe by age 8. At age 6, 1960, I was outside most of the time, or we did have TV, though I forget what I watched that early on... other than cartoons. By age 10 it was "Dennis the Menace", Lassie", "My Three Son's" and "I Love Lucy"... "Combat", "Man from Uncle", and "The Fugitive", "Star-Trek"...

The Civil Rights Movement.

The influence of the Beat Generation and then Hippies... The Summer of Love "The Summer Of Love", The Yellow Submarine by the Beatles. "Pink Floyd", "Led Zeppelin", "David Bowie", Uriah Heap, Black Sabbath, Genesis.... .

In 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. I was home alone, sick from school that morning, watching TV in my parents bedroom. I was almost 10. It was an event that would be forever remembered.

The draft ended Aug. 31, 1974. I was, as far as I felt, I was "a free man". The "draft" was dark angel cloaking the country. Promising freedom, and an end to tyranny.

By 1974 things were a changing. I was 20.

In 1970, however, a documentary on Woodstock was released as a movie. Woodstock, The Movie. I was 16. That summer my family visited my father's sister and my cousins in NY City... well, Long Island. I was second oldest to my 1st cousin Wini, and on par with a cousin Kathy, with my own sister and several cousins more. They were going to the movie... my mother absolutely forbid it, so I didn't go. That would be a mistake as it only made me curious, and me being "curious", well, like I said, things started changing in 1974/75.

In 1970 my family took my sister and I on a vacation to western Florida. I smoked marijuana for the first time at age 16 around a campfire on the Sarasota Beach. Nothing happened! I didn't get stoned. I wasn't drugged. I was only a bit drunk from beer.

I didn't even go for a swim, or kiss a girl, or cause trouble. Went back to the hotel and went to sleep.

To Be Continued... Next: The Awakening...

RITE OF PASSAGE - PART EIGHT - Mother's Bitter Pill

2010-12-31T11:50:00.003-05:00

Edited Jan. 02, 2011, 8:30PM

It's during your late teens/early 20's that you find the key, or you don't. I found it. It exists!

If my life is for no other reason, it would be my legacy and involvements in a new world order during the `970's. The '60's and 70's earned their place in history, and I'm certain historians will try to delve into people like myself during those years.

What we know of ourselves is not always obvious or understandable. It's obvious there are many different facets to our reality, who we are.

Sociologically We are:

1) Who we see ourselves as.
2) Who we see ourselves as reflected in others.
3) How we feel others perceive us.
4) How others do perceive us.
4) It's the empirical whole of all the above and that makes us who we are.

When I first moved out I faced my life... literally. I I realized I was "on my own". I had decisions to make. A life...

Sink or swim?

Mother's Bitter Pill is that for years after I moved out my mother hovered over me... today what we call "helicopter parents". Every decision I made was wrong. Every single one!

What hurts really bad still today is the fact that I made my decisions with considerable thought. My decisions made sense to me.

My father used to ask me, I think I said already, "why am I rebelling?"

I wasn't.

But to them, I was... and to my mother it was unspeakably and totally unacceptable, "my behavior".

So there, I've said it. But there's more.

I let my hair grow long, then; I worked full-time as a custodian at a college. I lived at the edge of the campus in an apartment. I rode a bike everywhere. I had a dream job, working at the college's Fine Arts Center. I had a bundle of keys I proudly wore from my belt. My position made me an employee, and a student. Tuition was part of the benefits, and I took a lot of free classes.

My father used to joke that "I'd beat the system". Ironically I was never sure how to take that. As sarcasm, since no one could, or as recognition -'job well done"!

As in the story by Ray Bradbury, "R Is For Rocket", and the short-story within, "Frost and Fire", I'd found my way to the "scientists"... I could make my life anything I wanted it to be.

And for four full years I did just that... to describe it is essentially what this topic is about... my Rite of Passage. Heaven and Hell...

Simply put, I was a disgrace to my mother. The phone calls every other day were meant to remind me of that 'fact'. With questions like "when am I going to get a real job?" When am I going to stop fucking whores and get married?" "When am I going to start caring about others?"

A total disconnect... The conversions were mostly one way and upsetting.

The farthest thing from my mind was being a disgrace to the family... but that is what I was! A total 180 degree opposite from the reality I was living.

At age 24 the shit hit the fan... the night before I was to move to Arizona. I didn't really want to move, but even my father said this town "is too small for you and your mother". At the time, the "go west young man" was on everyones mind anyways. Trouble is I gave up a lot when I moved. A huge "lot".

The night before I was to leave I called home... my mother wanted to know who I would be staying with? On the surface not a odd question, but her motive behind the question went far deeper... and I wouldn't answer her. I took the 5th. But eventually she got me to admit I was going to live with a friend that was a woman. A platonic friend.

Mother's Bitter Pill... she cursed me and damned me to hell for my choice to live in sin with a woman.

When people talk about PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder), they generally don't consider my experience that night to fall into place. But after 5 years of living the good life, to hear her say that devastated me... it shrunk me back to "child". I stayed in AZ one month... and as if what my parents said would happen had happened, which it didn't, I got on a bus, left my cat, moved back home and it took a year for me to move out again. I was never the same after that night.

RITE OF PASSAGE - PART SEVEN Dichotomy

2010-12-30T00:36:00.001-05:00

"DICHOTOMY" - Either/Or...

Black or White...

Good or Bad...

Right or Wrong...

Republican or Democrat...

Left or Right...

Moral or Immoral...

Conformist, Non-Conformist...

Insider/Outsider...

Man/Woman...

Purist/Non-Purist...

Of God/Not of God...

Need I go on...? Need I stop?

Let's face it... "You're either one of us or you're not!"

It's called "Dichotomy"...

Blessed or damned...

Accepted, Not accepted...

Either part of the solution, or part of the problem?

***

My topic, "Rite of Passage" begins with Sex and Suicide... not a savory combination of actions... but give me a chance here, because I'm about to introduce you to the best part.

For some reason beyond my understanding, our society is stuck on dichotomy... two choices in life. That's what it means.

Example... on the back of all US Money is the phrase - "In God We Trust". This was added around 1949. It doesn't mean we accept the God of all nations, despite our commitment to "Freedom of Religion". No question, it refers to the God, Christ, Jesus... none other. Sure, we "tolerate and do what we can to accept other religious beliefs, but fact is, the USA is or became a Christian Country.

We're not exactly Catholic... we don't like the "no condom" rite of sex... nor do we seem to abide by rules, like marriage vows, or loyalty to country. There's a good measure of radical to being an American. Something you'd think other countries would respect about Americans - our Wild West Rebellious side... but they don't. All PR... (Public Relations). It's like all Americans are either good or bad, for or against, open or closed.

The reality couldn't be further from the PR.

One only needs to go back to the 1960's and 70's to see that Americans are free... to a point... a point poised at your eyeball...

The great thing about Americans are that we are individualized. We have in many ways learned to cooperate. Which means I can communicate with with most Americans - being a spiritualist I can connect with a Christian, or Hindu, Buddhist or Muslim... to that extent "we are free".

Where we're not free is the PR about us, or US. Since the late 1800's we became a two party political system... prior to that, "party" meant "cause"... and since news traveled slowly, multiple parties in politics was a way for all sides to lobby for their form of government. Of course, all that changed... and now, today, you're either Republican or Democrat or Other...

Others don't really count, just so you know.

We are however a "Democracy". On paper.

I say on paper as a lot of political effort goes into maintaining the two-party system of government.

The problem with that is reality is gray and colors... not black and white.

Sure, two parties, right and wrong, good or bad, for or against is easy to comprehend.

At age 20 I ran full, blunt force into the dichotomy.... I grew up believing I was free... I found myself at 20 years old in 1976. There was no dichotomy then... not that we recognized.

It wasn't anarchy, but rather, our believe to "question reality". "Question Authority".

From 1974 to 1981 i held a public job... and I can tell you with a 100% certainty that 80% of the public used marijuana, at least once. 80% of the public were criminals, and today, they pretend they never touched the stuff. Yet 50% will get drunk, or smoke tobacco, and that's okay. 60% will favor big business over the average American worker, and that's okay. 70% will turn a blind eye to the fact that "Made in USA" means it was manufactured in a foreign country, but the label "Made in America" is fictionally applied - being as an American company produced the goods.

In 1975, I didn't know it then, but success meant choosing box A or Box B. Call me stupid as I found Box C... and that wasn't the plan. Fact is, most people my age during the 1970's should be rounded up are charged with nonconformity... as well as those during the 1960's...

Fact is... dichotomy didn't settle well with us, or US. One way to solve the current hangover from the Great recession, that was actually and still is a Depression, is to round up all "others" and execute us. Most of us used illicit drugs. most of us questioned authority. Most of us were dissidents. Rebels. Non-conformists.

Put me out of my misery when I say, quite forthright, that cannabis is far better than your friggin alcohol!!!That not for a second do I believe my government has just-cause to ban one while taxing and legitimizing the other.

The world is not black and white... it's not a dichotomy!!!

Just so you know... American Citizens are Not Free... and in New Hampshire that means it's better to be Dead!

Live Free or Die... how far did we sell ourselves to exactly what we tried to avoid.... ?

Obama, King of England/USA... what promises have you delivered??? Seems to me... politics as usual... what's worst, you laugh at people that would prefer cannabis to alcohol.

Oh yeah, cannabis is dangerous alright... when compared to legal alternatives like alcohol and tobacco which aren't even comparable the risk factor is cannabis 1, to tobacco75 to alcohol the rest. And with ALL YOUR SCIENCE you promised to bring to Washington... you've brought nothing.

2012 doesn't even matter anymore... you don't matter. What matters is you laugh in the face of science and human rights.

Rite of Passage... "Welcome to the Real World - where Myth is Master to Reality".

Good New Year to All...

RITE OF PASSAGE - PART SIX - Let's Talk About Suicide

2010-12-26T20:05:00.004-05:00

Who hasn't been "touched" by a suicide? We read about it all the time. We're all on suicide watch - watching out for signs and symptoms in others. But what about us?

Maybe you think now is not the time for a blog about suicide. Then again, when would be a good time?

Now's a perfect time.

In 1980 I got a job as a manager at the local ski-resort. We're talking a good sized resort. On the day they were accepting applications I like hundreds of others submitted our apps. I figured a job as life operator, grounds crew would fit in and be something different. Prior to that I'd been a maintenance guy at a college, and then I'd gone free-style, doing handi-man work.

I got the attention of the resort owner... he wanted to see me right away. He asked me to be the custodial manager... I could hire two workers. Wow. I was 26, and it was 1980... that was a great offer. I accepted.

There were some negotiations before I took the job, health insurance, etc... I hired two women, and we got to work. We made a great team. The hours were 11 - 7AM. It was a seasonal job, but I felt good about it, and what's better, I was a good manager - my two employees liked me and we worked very well together.

Christmas 1980. My employee informs me her husband is missing. A few days later he is found - he hung himself from a door knob at a motel. My employee needs some time off. I tell this to the resort owner. "Absolutely not", he says. I give her plenty already. I give her a seasons ski pass, etc...

Alrighty then...

I'm pissed!!! I try again to explain her husband is DEAD! He doesn't care.

That night i give the woman the bad news... time off declined. I also tell them I'll be throwing in my keys in the morning... that I don't believe it's fair what the owner decided, and that he also reneged on our agreed upon benefits package - I said I was sorry I had to leave, couldn't work for someone like that. I said I wouldn't blame you for quitting either - but neither one could afford to quit.

That morning I threw my keys on the owners desk and said "I quit". He said, "you can't". He really did. I told him he was an asshole! Very insensitive bastard! I said, "I can, and I do."

Soon after I moved to Boston, MA. Started a new life for myself... though "manager" wasn't an option - that bridge was burned.

So you may be thinking that's it...

Hardly.

Suicide it one of those topics we don't like to discuss. My father realized I had it in me from an early age - made me promise I wouldn't kill myself. I haven't. Many times because I promised him I wouldn't and even though now he's dead, I still feel the promise holds. Tempting though it may be at times.

There's nothing to be ashamed about or hide when it comes to suicide. There's a good chance that no matter what you share with others won't prevent you from killing yourself if you so decide. It's your life!

I'm haunted by the suicides of several friends. And friends where they tried but failed.

Community college - mid 1970's to 1979.

I used to love sitting in the college cafeteria... I'd get stuff to eat and never knew what new friends I might meet. It was during the time I was an employee.

One day i'm sitting at a table across from another person - I'm eating alone and we're making small talk. The person is a very attractive woman. And it turns out the wife of a guy i grew up with. Small talk turns more serious when she starts talking about how awkward it is in the body she's in. Being human she explains is uncomfortable. A few weeks later she kills herself. Dead.

Another time I'm in the cafeteria and this woman walks up to me and she stops, looks at me and tells me what beautiful blue eyes I have. Her name is Germaine. She has a European look about her. Short hair, leather vest, French. We become friends. During a conversation with her I ask what she is studying? "Nursing", she answers. But there's a catch. She reveals the reason she's in the nursing program is that when she kills herself she wants to make sure she does it right. Six months later she does it right - in the restroom of the General Hospital, with a 38 cal. revolver.

I have three other friends that killed themselves, and two that failed and are still alive and actually happy.

I alone seem to understand the torment these experiences have ingrained in my soul. At least that's how I feel. Alone.

It hurts still. And so much more that I could say.

Come 2011.... you can rest assured that my voice won't be a single voice. See, there's an advantage to having these experiences, and thinking about it yourself... see I think what we are witnessing as a society is a phenomena where people crack because there really isn't anywhere for them to turn, for help.

Myself... expect some serious blogging about the state of affairs in our society. In every case, suicide was not the answer. Murdering others was not the answer!

The answer is so simple...

See you in 2011.

To Be Continued...

RITE OF PASSAGE - PART FIVE - It Is Christmas

2010-12-25T11:34:00.003-05:00

HAPPY CHRISTMAS!

I wish it were so... honest. Fact is Christmas is a difficult time for many people. Quite possibly the expectations... but it's really an individual experience, and not one I can sum up for everyone.

I will step out on a limb here and suggest this isn't your average Christmas. I will suggest, many people are coming face to face with both joy and stark reality.

I know of several people who are facing the latter. Despite all the optimistic predictions for the American Middle Class, nothing realistic has happened to improve our current situation. Many people are unemployed, many are either young and entering the work-force for the first time, many are older, like myself, with the stark reality that our future is in doubt. Most predictions don't foresee a recovery until 2020... that's way past the time-frame for people my age to find the final career to complete their end of life ambitions.

Musical Chairs - Where were you when the SHTF???

I was 7 years at my current job actively pursuing a new job... it all fell through.Meaning, I'm lucky to have the job I do have. How do i feel? Not good!!!

The BOOMERS have hit a brick wall...

Rite of Passage... things during the 1970's were pretty well established. Sure, we had Water-Gate, we had congressional hearings on the Viet Nam War and the scandal it represented. We had gas shortages, we had confusion with regards to illegal drug use, courtesy of the 1960's Hippies... We had Elvis Presley shlocking up to Pres. Nixon asking to be an undercover DEA informant... we had President Nixon, ultimately impeached, disregarding his own intelligence continuing the prohibition of cannabis... WHY! The principal of it. "Fuck the hippies..." was pretty much his attitude.

Then we had President Jimmy Carter... he was in my opinion the best President in years, ever, legalized home brewed beer and wine, and because he felt it was the inalienable right of people to use whatever plant they wished to use, legalized cannabis too. And that should have been the end of the long, disgraceful ban on cannabis, but it wasn't. He was over-ruled on the cannabis.

Then came President Reagan, and his first lady, Nancy Regan... and the "War on Drugs"... "Just Say No..."

The "NO" wasn't directed towards those drugs most dangerous to society - alcohol and tobacco... it was coined in the believe that cannabis was the gateway drug to hard drugs. This despite evidence at the time contradicting such a claim.

What started as Peace and love and acceptance of individual freedom in the 1960's and 1970's, became zero tolerance during the 1980's... became a game of I'm "politically correct, you're not".

It fostered the exact opposite of what began in the 1960's... it fostered intolerance! It enabled fanatics and a strong right wing presence in everyday affairs.

It enabled politics over science, political right over common good. It became the "New World Order", establishing the ideal of a social dichotomy. You're either right or wrong. There is no middle...

John Lennon "had to die"... and for that I am still very sad. He had to die because he represented "Truth, Justice, Liberty for All". He represented a dream... a new life where people aren't discriminated against because they are different, because they don't want to stay on the "merry-go-round" of conformity to the New World Order.

This Christmas... good tidings, but not for all humankind.

Wall-Street has their BIG bonuses back. The Auto Industry is flying high to catch-up. The average person?

SCREWED!!! To put it in perspective. Not very Christmasy, I admit. But it's the truth.

Most people I know we are struggling... and that it won't end anytime soon. That's reality. Doesn't matter that "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" has been repealed... that's simply politics that never should have happened to begin with...

You can call me a "Grinch"... but the fact is, for most, this was not a Happy Christmas, nor will it be for many years to come.

I thought things were bad during the 1970's... little did I realize then what BAD was then, is nothing compared to what BAD is now .

Despite that - I do wish all my friends, family and on-line friends the best of times... a Happy New Year!

RITE OF PASSAGE - PART FOUR - SHOCKING REVELATIONS

2010-12-22T20:51:00.001-05:00

My "Rite of Passage". No ceremony. At age 19 I packed up was remained mine and on a warm rainy night I said good-bye to my parents and moved into my own apartment, and on what I thought was a new road, my road in life. I couldn't have been more mistaken.The "excitement" was just beginning. The adventure, discoveries, knowledge I was about to experience were far beyond anything I could have dreamed or imagined.It was the mid-1970's... the hippies were gone, and no name ever was invented to describe their benefactors - Me and My Generation.

We were different, and as it turned out - hippies didn't just disappear into a legend born of the 60's, they evolved. After all, "WE", grew up and became aware during our teenage years of the hippie movement. Free love, equality, peace, self-awareness, freedom, and oddly enough, patriotism, as in we lived through the Viet Nam war... seeing the tragedy, hearing the shouts of those opposed. WE expected to join the war as it was the kind of war that seemed without end. We were all affected, either through personal tragedy or fear.

Yet, WE continued to believe in the principles that created our country, and although we mis-trusted politicians, we believed that truth would be the victor, and it almost was, when Jimmy Carter was elected President. But our hopes, our work at equality, our dreams were destroyed by the 1980's... the introduction of disco - of the real "ME" generation.

WE were second generation hippies, for all practical purposes. We continued to carry the torch. We felt we learned a lot from generation one. What we hadn't learned, or didn't see coming was the tenacity of the moral majority to see to it that change did not happen. Ah, the moral majority, a myth perhaps. "They'd" prefer to be called the status quo, the "way it is". That if you don't conform, or you don't accept the "rules of engagement in conservative society", you are not one with society.

Many of us held out as long as we could... pushing for truth, justice and liberty for all". We couldn't take credit for ending the Viet Nam War, that was generation one's accomplishment. But we could take free love, the establishment, inner exploration of who we were, and other controversial subjects like nuclear power and the rights of women and minorities to new levels.

And where was I in the midst of all this? Ironically, this shy, conservative, lonely kid who'd been either the underdog or the victim of bullies for years found himself in the forefront of the WE generation.

Based on a book I'd received at age 8, "R is for Rocket" by Ray Bradbury, and many other books after that, I realized after moving out on my own that what i really wanted to do was "get inside". One and 1/2 years of college was not working out... and I knew it. It was an extension of HS and I hated HS. I quit college and decided that what I wanted was to work on "the inside", in a support capacity, at the heart of the educational community. And how could I accomplish that? By getting a job as a custodian at the college. I vowed to apply, and visit the college everyday if need be to get the job. But I didn't have to. I got the job within the month of moving out. Not only did I get the job, but the job was set at the Fine Arts Center. 3PM to 11PM M-F.

If there was a chance of buying into the idea that there is a God, it would have been then that the fact would have been obvious to me. The job was a dream come true, which for many they might find that difficult to comprehend as I cleaned toilets, mopped floors, and essentially was responsible for washing the old building top down.

It was a humble job, with good pay and excellent benefits. I thought my family would be proud of me. I at least thought they would respect the fact that I was working, and not just working, but a full-time employee of a community college.

No such luck!!! Almost immediately my mother made it clear that I was a disgrace to the family, that I going nowhere, that I was someone no one could like.

Amazingly, I took it in stride... sure, it hurt, bad, but I wasn't living home anymore. It was my life. And it's what I wanted.

In the next post I will describe why... but I'll conclude now with the following:

What happened, what my life became, what I aspired towards:

IT wasn't All About Sex!

IT wasn't about any one thing, nor was "my motivation" a deal with the Devil, as some have suggested.

IT wasn't about "being a disgrace to my mother"!

IT wasn't about a "lack of motivation".

IT wasn't about "Drugs".

IT wasn't about "Rebellion".

IT was about being free and living my life and becoming someone. IT was about letting go of the past and moving on. IT was to find happiness and my true love. IT was about finding and embracing me. IT was about helping others!

To be continued...

Happy Christmas!!!

RITE OF PASSAGE - Part Three - NO CEREMONY

2010-12-19T21:09:00.000-05:00

SEX!!!

Most of what I remember revolved around sex. It came on for me around age 15... but I didn't begin to "feel" it until around 16. By 18 I was entering my fevered stage... what is commonly called blue balls. It's no joke. It's real.

Meantime, I'm at that age where I've lived with my parents in what we call "home" for 18 years. I graduated High School. In 1972 I could legally drink alcohol and that's what I did. I had a job, was to start college in the fall, even had a girlfriend. And a car. Ideas, hidden dreams, germinating mind-plants sown by thousands of books, and running free as a child exploring everything and everywhere.

I'd survived! I was an adult. Now what???

At age 18 I can honestly say there was absolutely nothing concrete within my grasp - there were only memories of having done most of what was expected of me. I didn't question the "Grand Scheme" of things. I would go to college, get a professional job, get married, buy a house, have kids, be successful. Simple.

So why did I feel nothing?

The reality was I didn't fit... I had no future; I was at a nexus, the past an image of learning, struggling, being bullied. I hadn't even gone to graduation. The whole idea of the event made me anxious... I felt little connection to anyone in my graduating class, and the rehearsal was something from a horror show, the black guy on stage describing how marijuana led him to heroin, and in a stand-off with police he'd swallowed a dozen hypodermic needles used to inject the drug. Then they had Elmo (real name), our school custodian come on-stage, I think simply to thank him for his years of work, and my classmates booed him off the stage - a freakin' janitor, afterall.

Boo, hiss, asshole...

Too much to take... it seemed wrong, the whole show.

I did my college, 1 and 1/2 years of it... worked my job, did what I could to party on the weekends. But it was a no go...

College didn't inspire me. My girlfriend, when I saw her it was at her parents house, always on her couch, fully clothed, making out with closed lips, able to feel her breasts beneath her multiple sweaters... And that was it.Conditions at home worsened as my mother tried harder to impose rules and regulations. Despite their rule that if it was legal I could do it, I had to hide my beer in my room. I liked one beer after work nights. Legal to buy it, had to sneak it in the house, shut myself in my room at night to drink it.

Around age 19 my friends and I, 4 of us, went camping in a state park... we all shared renting a cabin. It was a popular park, lots of people camping. The idea for my friend Bill, and I was to lose our virginity. My other two friends already had. They found it easy to pick-up women in the park. Bill and I not so easy. And it had looked liked we'd failed once again as we walked back to our cabin around 9PM.

A small dog suddenly ran up the into the road, followed by her owner, a reasonably attractive women wearing a halter top. Another woman followed. My friend and i started talking to them... to the one in the halter top I could only think to ask, "I have Oreo cookies at the cabin, would you like some?" She smiled and said "yes"... my friend went off with the other woman. I took my friend to our cabin... remember the strong scent of whiskey on her breath, how her full breast fell out from under the halter top as she laid in my cot. And afterwards... she walked home on her own, because although I'd worn a condom, HS had filled me with gross fears of VD and I was outside washing myself in lots of cold water and soap.

Afterwards I returned home to the same old, to my girlfriend who laid under me on her couch like a cold, closed clam... and in my mind the seeds of discontent were growing...

To be continued...

RITE OF PASSAGE - PART TWO - "Why Are You Rebelling"

2010-12-16T21:09:00.001-05:00

On the heels of a previous post, I've had a chance to reflect and write about why we are here, now?

A fellow blogger, commented to a previous post that one's religion or faith would influence their response to my post. While I believe that is true, I do think it goes much deeper, would even suggest that like physics, there are laws to the origin, current status and the destiny of humankind. Fortunately us humans like to break laws, or find them unjust or ineffective, or worst, more harmful that any crime the law is meant to correct.

An example, and back to Rite of Passage, books banned over time. Naturally this became a issue after the printing press was created. The history of publishing companies would be interesting, something I already know a lot about.

Around age 20, living on my own and working full-time as a custodian at the local college, the Fine Arts Center, in fact, I was profoundly confused; about sex. My upbringing strongly sheltered and directed my thoughts on the subject. One benefit from working at a community college was after hour access to professors, in a friendly manner, and the fact we worked for the same company - I belonged.

I made two great friends during the 3 years I worked at the job. Both were English professors, bot uniquely opposite each other. In this installment let's look at prof. Doug. A tall, lean guy with gray hair; He'd been teaching many years... He knew his books. When I broke down and asked him about sex, he replied, "I remember Henry Miller wrote an excellent book on the subject - "The 'Land of Fuck' or something like that". Couldn't be the title of the book, no way. But something in the book?

I found my answer in his trilogy, "The Rosy Crucifixion", "Sexus, Plexus, Nexus". (See my media list).

What I also found was that if this had been prior to 1962, my reading these books would have been a criminal act. Much like cannabis (marijuana) has been for the past 70+ years. These books, many that today we consider to be the finest literature, were banned, against the law. They were published mostly in France, some in Britain, and sold in paper bags on street corners in the US. People went to jail for having or producing these books. That really struck a key, given my fondness for cannabis at the time.

I found my answer to sex, and it was so simple, but it did take time. It all came down to women are people too. One could have sex as friends, consensual and intimate. Women it turned out liked sex too. Of course at my age then, men needed it more than women... it's complicated.

When I finally did find my sexual self, I found listening to a woman, really listening, was key. And then, I would simply ask, "would you like to have sex?" The answer wasn't always yes. And the most desired not interested. Or so i had thought. A story for another day.

I found intimacy was simply a a level of behavior that "macho man" didn't grasp at all. I also discovered, Human beings relate in mysterious ways. Once I gained confidence in myself, I found women asking me out. Between 21 and 24 I was loving life... with a few exceptions.

Most notably, family. My father often asked me "why was I rebelling?" To which I never had an answer since I didn't feel that I was rebelling. Yet I knew, what he was asking was, "why are you not conforming to what we expect you to do?" The odd thing was, my father encouraged my newfound self, my mother, can't say that she did. In fact, I made her very unhappy, and she made no bones about it. My phone rang daily for several years, then slowed down a bit. The family dinners i went to on Sundays became more hostile. I made the mistake only once bringing my girlfriend with me to the family Sunday dinner, and my mother embarrassed me... afterall, in the 1970's the woman I was with was considered a "slut". My father was proud. My mother was disgraced. To further offend her, was my job as a custodian at the college. To me a dream come true. To my mother, shame and a sense of utter failure as a parent.

To say that my feelings and sense of wellbeing was torn, is an understatement. My father encouraged me, my mother was the saddest person on the planet.

Another advantage of working at the college was free counseling with a registered therapist. I took advantage of the benefit. It provided incentive to research the human condition. I always was a voracious reader... but now I found reading to be necessary for survival.

To Be Continued...

RITE OF PASSAGE - PART ONE - INTRODUCTION

2010-12-11T11:34:00.003-05:00

It's taken me awhile to get used to blogging, and to find a way back to the person I was when I loved to write. I'm not there yet, completely, and never will be... I'm 56 now, not 18. A lot has changed and a lot remains the same.

This topic is dedicated toward young adults age 18 - 25 in America. It is directed towards all adults... Parents, Generations X Y and Z... and especially those adults who are in a position to "influence and direct" the minds of young adults as they go through that critical transformation from child to adult.

I was 18 years of age in 1972. The era of the hippie was over. The Viet Nam War ended August 31, 1972 - that is as far as the draft is concerned. The war actually extended into a few more years after that. But to me, the long war had ended. A very unpopular war. A war that influenced me pretty much from 1964 to 1972.

And then came the victims... I was just entering the work-force... and "In The News" were Viet Nam Vets entering the work force. Somehow the fact that the war was so controvercial and unpopular spilled over to onto Viet Nam Veterans. I think it is historically tragic and something not to be forgotten, that the veteran at that time was in many ways considered a co-conspirator, a government puppet who voluntarily involved himself and herself in an "unjust war", a war that was "wrong".

These veterans ages 18 - 25 found themselves returning home to an atmosphere of hostility, changes, radicalism, and hostile feelings towards the government they served. It created the momentum for what came to be when I turned 18 in Sept. of 1972. It needs to be clarified these veterans I refer to were returning all though the latter 1960's... their influence on me were at the time a laser inscribed feeling of doubt, about our government. And fact was, I didn't question authority nor our government my whole life as a child and teenager. I was a conformist all the way. But by age 18, my feelings and concerns began to undergo change.

I graduated HS at age 18 right on schedule. The following fall 1972 I found myself in the local community college pursuing a Associates Degree in Electrical Technology (an Associate of Science degree). I loved electronics - still do, and at the time since I had to chose a major, electronics was it. Problem was - I was bad at math, but to sidestep that issue I began my courses with those not involving math, or at least, not dedicated to math. They included physics, of which I completed two semester of it, basic low voltage electrical design and basics. I really don't remember much from that time except physics. It was way out there, but fortunately a security guard who worked at the same dept store I worked at, who was in my physics class , well, we worked together, and I remember spending hours on the phone at night with him working together to solve our assignments.

The key to all of this, what I've just written, is to understand this was me, prior to my Rite of Passage. At the time I was ultra-conservative, conformist and I didn't question much. I truly believed the world had order, logical order, especially our own country. I went from HS to College because i had to. It was expected I would. I didn't however join our church after three years of Confirmation Courses. I grew up in a Protestant, Zion Covenant Church - going most Sundays to Church. My mother controlled that aspect of my life. My father wasn't into organized religion - he rarely went to church with my mother, and us children. That fact set up an interesting dichotomy within our family. Why did my sister and I have to go to church when my father didn't?

Choice!!!

Freedom of...

By age 18 I was ready to move out on my own, but I didn't. I worked at a chain dept store... part-time. I went to college during the day. I lived home. I knew it felt good that public school was over. It took at least a year for that to be realized. But between age 18 through 20 or 21, my future was pretty much undefined.

It should be noted I was a voracious reader growing up... and quite inquisitive. I had microscopes, chemistry sets, electronic design and radio kits, and books - lots of books, mostly sci-fi... and mysteries...

I felt unconfortable in my chosen college curriculum of electrical tech - as much as I liked sciences, it didn't feel like me. But I had no way of knowing why. So until the Fall of 1974 I lived home, went to college and worked part-time. Had a girlfriend with hardly any intimacy, nor do I remember ever doing anything with her - we met through her cousin I worked with. I think that was during 1972, and lasted until 1974.

A side piece: I had this 1968 Ford Mustang at the time, something that in the annuls of history on Earth represents a major victory and a most unique opportunity. The 1968 Mustang at the time was one of the best motor cars out there, albeit, it was the runt of the litter. For a "runt", it was quite the car!

I bought the Mustang in 1971 with a bank loan. It had a 3-spd standard transmission, and torque the likes we can't begin to imagine today. The Mustang's 289ci-V8 engine was one of the smallest, high performance engines out there. Loved that car. I did have frequent problems with the car, meaning the FORD slogan at the time fit in well with my enjoyment: FORD - "Fix or repair daily".

I used to take that Mustang off-road, down class 5 roads... into the snow... as it was unlikely with snow tires that one would get stuck... and although simply rear-wheel drive, the combination of horse-power and torque available from that 289-V8 engine could easily provide the power to dig out of the worst conditions.

More on this car in the next post.

At age 18 it should be remembered I could legally go to a bar or store and buy alcohol. Which I did; however, one problem - I couldn't drink much. Over two beers max I'd get sick. I couldn't tolerate alcohol well, unlike my friends who could easily drink 1 -2 six packs each, whenever.They often drove the roads in NY state drunk with beer, looking for girls looking to get picked up. They found them... me... I would often try to compete with my friends and remain on location throwing up! We liked our weekend camping.

Between age 18 and 21 I was pretty much a lemur... I had friends but had no place to "fit in". I went to college, and otherwise was a loner working in a room in my attic on electronics or chemistry. My isolation deepened when i found I couldn't compete with my friends. When I found myself questioning why was I in college getting this degree? I really didn't want to be in college. I wanted time.

The following comes with a warning: Within Christian theology is the story of Adam and Eve. In the story a woman, Eve, is influenced by a snake to eat of the one fruit that God has forbade them to eat. Eating of such fruit, describing the experience may be offensive to some... so please do not continue beyond this point if you feel uncomfortable with graphic depictions of actual events.

NEXT: Rite of Passage: Why Are You Rebelling?...