HUMPTY DUMPTY WISHES ALL A HAPPY NEW YEAR - 2014!!!

Edited Jan. 02, 2014; 6 PM

It helps that I had the foresight to take the last two workdays of 2013 off. I try not to be superstitious about the #13 being in the year. Historically it will be looked back upon as extraordinary, both very good and very bad.

To end the year, my thoughts have been about a fairy tale... HUMPTY DUMPTY.

Many may not remember reading about Humpty Dumpty in Lewis Carroll's, "Through The Looking Glass", or maybe Mother Goose.

Humpty Dumpty is of course an egg:

Online Pictures of Humpty Dumpty

Who fell off a wall, and all the King's horses and all the King's men, couldn't put Humpty together again.

Reminds me...

The earliest appearance of the rhyme occurs in the late eighteenth century England and the tune is from 1870, in James William Elliott's, National Nursery Rhymes and Nursery Songs.

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.

All the king's horses and all the king's men

Couldn't put Humpty together again.

There were many variances since. 

Lewis Carroll for example: 

WikiPedia Link: "Humpty appears in Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass (1872), where he discusses semantics and pragmatics with Alice."

    "I don't know what you mean by 'glory,' " Alice said.

    Humpty Dumpty smiled contemptuously. "Of course you don't—till I tell you. I meant 'there's a nice knock-down argument for you!' "

    "But 'glory' doesn't mean 'a nice knock-down argument'," Alice objected.

    "When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less."

    "The question is," said Alice, "whether you can make words mean so many different things."

    "The question is," said Humpty Dumpty, "which is to be master—that's all."

Or this variance:

In 1842 James Orchard Halliwell published a collected version as;

Humpty Dumpty lay in a beck.

With all his sinews around his neck;

Forty Doctors and forty wrights

Couldn't put Humpty Dumpty to rights!

My own interprtation?

Fried eggs aside...

"Your Brain On Drugs" (Marijuana)!

Isn't it time we give peace a chance?

Laws and prohibition against marijuana were flawed, deeply, from the beginning. Millions of people have suffered because of the laws, few have benefited except for momentary gain. Millions of people would benefit if cannabis/marijuana were legalized beginning with de-scheduling at a federal level. Marijuana prohibition is a Humpty Dumpty, and there's no way short of declaring marijuana a dirty nuke/an instrument of terrorism than to admit, the War is over... none of the Naked King's soldiers can put Humpty (marijuana prohibition) back together ever again. The fairy tale is over. 

Congratulations - You Can Grow Machine Guns!

What Put Colorado Over The Top!

Bob Dylan/President Obama Awards Dylan Metal of Freedom

Committed Suicide Because no One Offered to Help

Life Is But A Dream!

Oh My... A Dream...

Famous President/Famous Poster
Note: cannabis leaves under portrait

A Flower

This Is Being Human, except for the cookie...

***

An Iconic Poster Enabling The War On Drugs!

Non-Violent Drug Offenders Make up the Majority Of Our Prison Population

Life Is Getting High, One Way Or Another...

***

Or Becoming Deceased...

ALL DECEASED DUE TO "HONOR KILLING!"

***

?!

***

And when did we start to accept that friends and sex could mix?

One might ask...

What's become of civilization?

If you consider it, seriously, was 1950's Suburbia the end all/be all for civilization? Was that the ideal?

Although we now, some or many of us, enjoy a broader openness, and more humanistic life freedom and choices - like Gay marriage, legal marijuana, and affirmation of our Constitutional rights...

There is much that has gone the other way, towards totalitarian rule, infringement of our personal freedoms especially on the internet.

I personally still don't believe we have even a basic grasp on what civilization means as a society. We have problems communicating, understanding others, getting respect.

We advertise alcohol as the way to truth... as I watch many popular movies this is so very much advertised as such to the viewer... I just read an article about that very subject concerning James Bond, AKA British Agent 007: "... medically speaking he's a drunk..."

We advertise Faith in Government as the Spirit of the People; Patriotism, while true patriotism, which can be a small national unity type of act goes unnoticed, and large acts, that obviously violate our Constitutional rights are enacted as law without redress. The real problem is education so that we can adequately understand what all the changes are about.

But we still face the fact that zero tolerance means zero mindset, as in the case of this John Wayne themed cloth toy monkey with a replica John Wayne gun, seized from a lady by the TSA at an airport:

TSA SEIZES DANGEROUS WEAPON AT AIRPORT SECURITY!
LINK TO NBC NEWS ARTICLE HERE

I have a similar toy replica of a gun...

Plastic Toy Gun Replica

Realistic Replica Slide and Removable Magazine

The TSA would consider this a weapon; a student in school these days would be expelled possessing one of these toys. When we consider playthings a threat, we ought to look twice at ourselves. Toy guns are not a real threat anymore than marijuana is a machine gun!

  Reference to the fact that the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 was modeled after a similar tax when it was proven to be effective against the purchase of an automatic weapon. To this day the Federal Government believes that there is a distinct similarity between the cannabis plant and Tommy guns.

Why? I seriously don't know, but as I was saying, it comes back to education.

HIPPIE NEW YEAR!!!

A TIME TO REMINISCE... A NEW YEAR COMING - ABOUT MISSING PERSONS AND A VAMPIRE; HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Updated/edited Dec 28, 2013, 10:20AM

I have a lot of time to think, imagine things, reminisce and think about those whose lives were interrupted or ended. I am a "commuter", someone who drives to work where it takes over 3 and 1/2 hours a day, M - F to get there. I have a lot of time to think.

I think about Brianna Maitland and I still hurt that nothing much on the surface came to light after weeks that turned into years, in search of and talking to people, comparing ideas and notes, to find her. The same can be said about Maura Murray who vanished shortly prior to Brianna on Feb. 09, 2004. Again nothing solid, and it goes without saying, law enforcement authorities, state government officials all but stymied the fact these women disappeared by refusing to cooperate in many cases with the families.

It should be noted that I as much as the next person understands families can be involved in missing person's cases. The question is are these those "such cases"? My opinion is no, they are not. I lost track of how long I lived weekends with the Maitlands late 2004 and 2005. I grew to respect both Brianna's Mother and Father. I met her brother, a little older than Brianna. Decent guy. It's possible each of us was wondering the same same thing... were you involved?

With the Murray's situation it was a slam dunk! Nothing implicated the family.

With Brianna it was more difficult. I'm not sure if I told you about how I got involved... long story, short, saw the news article describing a teen that vanished under mysterious circumstances. Photo's provided courtesy a group of three out of state skiers vacationing in the area, who saw Brianna's car backed into the old abandoned farmhouse and thought it was so odd they stopped and took some pictures. We have given them the title - "The World Travelers". Without those pictures critical sceneage would have been lost or never found.

I read where the police suspected she staged the accident, ran away because she owed a lot of money to drug dealers. On the seat of her car police find her contact lenses, two uncashed paychecks and medicine she needs. The police consider her of "questionable character due to drug use".

That riled me! Then I read her car keys were missing. Presumed lost at the sight of her accident. As a guy with 20+ years experience with a metal detector I called the family. "Are you a voyeur", her father asked me?  I was so scared calling I couldn't laugh. "No", I answered, "I not a voyeur, I just called to help."

So suspicion were there from the get go. After a few weekends with the Maitlands any suspicions I had were checked off as this is a family truly in grief. Scared and horrified at the possibilities! Even the police took personal evidence from the Maitland family to be tested in their lab. The family is as much victimized by this as their daughter and sister is.

***

 I'm thinking about Abigail Hernandez also, who disappeared walking home from school the afternoon of October 9, 2013. 15 years old. I was asked (can't say who) if I thought there might be a connection, with Brianna or Maura Murray? Other than some unknown person never considered before, the idea of moving from VT., 100 miles away to Conway NH was remote. I rather doubted it. Her mother received a letter from her according to the FBI a moth later. You can read about it here (ABC News Link):

STORY HERE -LINK TO ABC NEWS 

I'm as baffled as the rest of you. I originally thought a school-mate was involved, but that appears not even a possibility at this time. Yes, I wonder why a community isn't advised and assisting, but then if they were it's doubtful we'd know it.

***

There was, Connie McCallister - a 16 yo Wisconsin resident. That is until 9 years later she turned up asking for help to get her out of Mexico. She'd apparently gone off with her older boyfriend on a joyride that took her hundreds of miles from home.

Connie McCallister

LINK; PEOPLE.COM: "For nine years, family and friends of a Wisconsin teen who vanished in 2004 worried about her fate, and whether they would ever hear from or see her again. In September, they learned that Connie McCallister, now 26, is alive and living in Mexico – and after speaking with a missionary who contacted the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, McCallister is seeking help to finally come home." 

It's the comments section to her sudden return that floor me. One person hoped she was put in jail for many years for the suffering she put her family through. I have to wonder, what was her family like? 

***

And finally, I fell upon a stake, well not really, but sort of when I happened upon this CrimeLibrary.com story about "The Making of a Vampire". "Richard Trenton Chase, a serial killer who had a thing for blood. He also had a fear of disintegrating."

The reason his story struck me was the oh so 70's tilt towards "drugs caused him to behave as he did". Particularly marijuana the story implied as he'd been "arrested" a few times for it. The story meanders through psychotropic meds for psychosis, to LSD, to a blatant admission he should have been institutionalized. But no one took responsibility for that reason. Although he'd been diagnosed several times by the professionals he was free to kill. It's a story I should be revisited, given our modern day understanding of drugs and society.

You can read the story here at Crime Library: 

Richard Trenton Chase

BY Katherine Ramsland: 

http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/weird/chase/index_1.html

"Born May 23, 1950, he liked to set fires as a child and to torment animals. He had a sister, four years younger, and his father was a strict disciplinarian who bickered constantly with his wife. By the time Richard was ten, he was killing cats. As a teenager, he drank and smoked dope, getting into trouble several times but showing no shame over it."

The problem I see with this tragic story is Richard was mentally ill; doctors knew it, family and friends knew it. It was the job of doctors to monitor him. Which makes me wonder if we all shouldn't be monitored, 24/7?

The NSA thinks so. Sending an e-mail to family, friend or gov't official was deemed to be not protected by privacy laws. Snail mail is. You can look it up - I'm simply remembering things I learned in 2013. While one federal judge calls the NSA spying into human communications, called it "Orwellian" in scope, another federal judge just ruled that it's perfectly legal to collect communications people make via technology. 

Technology it appears have opened our personal lives to extreme exposure. 

So as my heart shrinks, my body becomes more exposed, my mind more scrutinized, I can only say, if you look at federal governance for the past 43 years, you'd see a very weird array of policy, much of it directed at personal liberty, with the exception, Roe vs Wade and abortion. But that's hardly a ruling to celebrate. Roe vs Wade was about personal freedom and a basic human right. That's it. 

No, the issues to consider, in my opinion are, what have our government done to pass constitutionally sound laws and regulations?  

And it's blinding... 2013 was... Gay marriage reform; legal marijuana, in one country, - Uraguay, and two states, CO and WA, also one city, Portland, ME. That's progress!

Now if only we could ween politicians/lawmakers away from their focus on drugs, and more into harm reduction, 2014 might very well prove to be a bunker-buster year for humanity.

I'm hoping. The alternative is that our hearts begin to dry up and we all die.

***

Oh, and the modern day prophet that proclaimed the world would end died recently. You can read about him here: Harold Camping - NPR

Have a safe, very good New Year! No Hurt!!!

THE DOCTOR IS HERE, BUT IT'S NOT A PRETTY PICTURE TO SHARE

When I speak of "The Doctor", I would normally be referring to the popular decades long Dr. Who series from the BBC.

But in this case, the "doctor" is Dr. X...

Dr. X works for the federal government. He advises the DEA. He has subjected "subjects" to tests including putting a monkey into an environment where the air they breathe is marijuana smoke only. The envi lacks oxygen, the subject dies. Who the hell knows what the federal government has done to prove the following:

Screen Capture from ONDCP/White House - "Petition the White House", where citizens could petition President Obama and the government for reform. This particular petition netted many thousands of signatures, yet was brushed off when passed on to the ONDCP.  Many thousands of people petitioned the WH for a sane approach/ reversal of laws against and an answer to exactly why marijuana use is considered dangerous to public health? 

The response from the Office of Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) was essentially: Federal law prohibits consumption, distribution and possession of Schedule One controlled substances. Period!. 

Here is the full WH response: 

The purpose of this post isn't simply to disclose how set against legalization of marijuana is to the federal government, but rather, to suggest a disconnect between "We The People" and the government that is elected to ensure public safety. And they're not doing that. 

Not only does the federal government have a patent filed for medical uses of marijuana, but they have yet, in 75+ years provided proof that marijuana is the dangerous substance they claim it is. 

"Marijuana is a Drug".

Who says?

We said.

Is coffee and the caffeine in it a drug?

No.

Is tobacco and the nicotine within it considered a drug?

No.

Is alcohol, present in all liquors and beers considered a drug?

No.

Then why is marijuana considered a drug?

Because we say so and we don't have to provide proof.  

A danger to society/public health!???

The reason for this post is the recent raids by the DEA in Colorado... 

"DEA Raids Legal Medical Marijuana Dispensaries In Washington, 'Humiliating' Shop Owners", Huffington Post

Or here if you prefer NBC:

DEA, IRS raid Denver area pot businesses

It motivates me to ask, what IS the federal government doing to promote and protect the public? You've got heavily armed police raiding establishments that by state law are legal. They are seizing produce. They are offering no explanation. They don't have to. Not these days. Our government is autonomous. Not dribble like "For the People, By the People."

The raids will continue... all paid for by US tax-payers. With over 60% of Americans in support of legalization of marijuana why are we footing the bill for these raids on legal businesses? 

Legalize it, Tax it if you must, but 

Please, Stop the Hurt...

Happy Gobbler Day... looking forwards to the day HempFest is a national holiday also! 

Staten Island NY has an odd problem... they're over-run by wild turkeys...

Flock of wild turkeys take over Staten Island

THE DARK FOREST - HOW DO I SEE?

You don't!

The Dark forest is where you cross over, not as in physical death, but rather, a real live transformation. We do it all the time, but sometimes we get stuck.

We look for a miracle... a light.

The question is... is it really an escape or freedom from darkness? You've been looking so long. You've worked hard. What you thought was your life vanished and here you are now in the Dark Forest. Is there a way out? Is there a way I can see ahead?

How are you to know when to exit the Dark forest?

 

You won't know, it'll just be a feeling. Walking through the Dark Forest is like walking through the Dark Forest. It's dark. It's spooky. It's unnerving.But you'll get through it. You'll find your way.

Happy Halloween! 

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