EXPANDED/LEGALIZED GAMBLING FAILS in NH HOUSE

The NH House voted down passage of the "expanded gambling" bill today by a wide margin. It's the latest in a multi-year effort by special interest groups and certain politicians to open casinos in NH.

Gov. Lynch promised to veto it anyways if it reached his desk.

One supporter described the failure of the NH House to pass the bill said, simply, "they've condemned an airliner, that's run out of gas..."

My thought? That airliner should have planned more in advance. Apparently my elected officials, some of them, have been putting all their eggs in one basket. No surprise it's the NH Senate. They voted down the 1/4 oz bill that would have legalized cannabis.

What's ironic to me is, not only did the NH House vote in favor to legalize small amounts of cannabis, but they did so WITHOUT the influence of the highly paid lobbyists and big business interests that the gambling proponents employed.

Commonsense in politics - my hat off to the NH House!

That being said, gambling, like cannabis are a waste of time for my government to be taking up it's time with. Article 83 of the NH Constitution makes it clear that commerce and the arts are to be encouraged, and not restricted.

Personally, I have only scant interest in going to a casino near me. I do play online Texas hold'em, but I'm not playing against "a House", I'm playing pennies against other people with like interest. Casinos, my sister and her husband have one nearby... they go often. They win big sometimes, but they lose even bigger. Me... I've been to casinos, and it's addictive. Compared to at most $50 that often lasts a couple of months or more to play poker, casinos easily get that, X3, out of me in one visit. Some enjoy it, I don't.

Gambling, Cannabis, even Prostitution should be legal and regulated. Like our two closest neighbors, alcohol and tobacco.

For the state to want a cut of taxation riches by creating an instant highway to riches through "legalized slots" is ludicrous and irresponsible. That it's "illegal" at present is ridiculous.

It's sad really, that logic and common sense can't be a part of the law-making process. There seems to be a "what's in it for me" mentality in government. It's not a wonder to me that trust in the Federal government, and state governments are at an all time low? I don't fault President Obama... I saw the same thing when Jimmy Carter was President in the 70's...

If people want to gamble in a casino in NH, why not??? Why can't a town, county, or city make it's own decisions in the matter?

Who would have guessed that the 200 year old+ "DONT TREAD ON ME" motto would be so significant in the year 2010?

RECOMMENDED LINK:

Don't Tread on Me

The history of the Gadsden flag and how the rattlesnake became a symbol of American independence

SURVEY SAYS: What Does the Survey Say???

MSNBC - Today's near-headline news...

 TOPIC:  "Most in U.S. Against Legalizing Pot, Poll Shows" ***

 The poll was conducted by AP-CNBC.


Among the reasons: "fear of Reefer Madness", "fear that people will use it as an 'excuse' to avoid prosecution in crimes"; "fear of the unknown..." it suggested those "over 65 years of age were particularly concerned". And MSNBC added it's own poll... "Do You Think Marijuana Should Be Legal in the U.S.?", with quite the opposite results!

As of tonight there were 15,866 votes on the poll at MSNBC... of those votes, 13,567 are in favor of legalization! That's 85.5% that say yes!

7.6% say NO.

Hey, aren't we suppose to say "NO"???

In another example about how people want change... Change.Org has hundreds of petitions a year asking the public what's on their minds, what do they want to see changed? Of the hundreds of important and noble causes, the top-most petition for change goes to (Link to Change.org): "Legalizing  Medicinal and Recreational Use of Cannabis". Change.Org vows to follow through to the White house and other government to present the ten top-most petitions... this is the second year in a row cannabis reform has made the top ten.

Today on the steps of the State House in Concord, NH, over 100 supporters of legalized ganja sat on the steps and lit up... from inside the State House state police watched... no one was arrested that I've heard about, the statement from the state police was in the order of, "as long as they're peaceful..." well, ganja users are hardly aggressive... in fact, it must have taken a lot of motivation to get the stoners out of their crypts! The reason they are there is the Senate takes up the vote tonight to legalize possession of a 1/4 oz for adults, the bill the House voted overwhelmingly to approve. According to NHPR the bill is expected to fail, and if it does by chance pass, Gov. John Lynch is ready with his mighty pen to veto the bill"

... thank-you governor... you want a 4th term... you're not getting my vote!!!

For those of you unfamiliar with why this matters to me... a little history.

In the early 70's I was a complete loner; disillusioned with life; with education; I believe I was headed in one of two directions... towards suicide or a life as a serial killer - I hated people, I really did. I'd suffered a lot of bullying through much of my childhood and teenage years. I was an extreme example of a right-wing conservative... and I believed marijuana was an extremely dangerous drug!

Surprise... around 18 or 19 a close friend offered myself and another close friend some pot... Panama Red, drugs! I almost shouted "FIRE"... but stopped myself... and the three of us smoked it. What happened was the exact opposite of what I expected. For days after I kept waiting fearfully for the urge to shoot heroin, or to go through marijuana withdrawal. I felt extremely guilt-ridden, and confused. I used it again a week or so later, and each time I did, I felt more relaxed, and eventually more motivated... to face my fears.

My fears: people, education, and loneliness, and failure. Instead of becoming the "poster boy" for why marijuana is bad, I discovered my life turned around... and within a few short years I had more friends than I could spend time with, girlfriends, and my zest for education and knowledge did a 180 degree turn...  and I dove into it... I discovered, though life was difficult, it was a beautiful world... and i changed. I realized my years of anger and hatred were wrong, and misguided. I shudder to think of the person I may have become... a killer? I doubt it, but I really wasn't a happy guy. And I had literally no concept of my place in humanity, that I belonged - "like the trees and the stars".

To date I have three college degrees, a BA in English, AA in Liberal Arts, and AA in medical assisting, the later I graduated Magna Cum Laude, with a 3.9 gpa. I only admit that since my gpa in HS was around 2.3, my first couple years in college about the same, my BA, ten years later I was already up to a 3.0. Yeah, marijuana destroyed me alright...  not!

By the way... the historical reference to marijuana in the United States is ganja, not marijuana. And as long as news media refers to ganja as pot, we might just as well refer to alcohol as booze and moon-shine, and tobacco as cancer sticks. If anything should be regulated as a Schedule One Drug by the DEA it's tobacco... but that would assume our laws are just and rational, which they're not.

Is it any wonder the "Tea Party" is so vocal these days? Is it any wonder Second Amendment activists are holding rallies in Nation Forest near the White House?

The irony is, the other day I was part of a drug-free birthday party... aside from the cigarettes. And one of the partiers mentioned the reason pot should be illegal and prohibited is it's illegal. Wow. The bad thing about pot is it's illegal. And that makes it bad. Now that's logic for Americans to live by. Too bad it didn't work during Prohibition of alcohol, or in Wall St.

And if so many people are concerned about breaking the law, why during my daily 3 hour commute are there so many speeders and aggressive drivers on the highways? Why was one of  the liquor commissioners in NH arrested for DWI the other day?

The survey says there will always be those opposed to legalized cannabis, but the majority approve of it. It is a safer alternative and in fact does have clinically proven medical benefits... much as ginseng or St. John's Wort does. The fact that cannabis is a Schedule One controlled drug and tobacco is not should be a wake-up call to most! It's like comparing the boogyman to Jeffery Dalmer - one's a myth, the other is real.

I've had my fill of "marijuana surveys"... and "government" that takes a predatory stance towards ganja with no fact to justify the harm the laws of the past 70+ years has caused. It is, time for a change.

WHY BLOG?

"Why do I blog?"

It's the newest why BobKat... over the years, I don't know how many others out there get questioned repeatedly about why I/we do what we do. Maybe it's commonplace. But, to me, when people question me, it feels personal. The true question is 'how will I make money doing that?'

I may be particularly sensitive, when being questioned, given past experiences. And so we begin...

History aside for the moment, I do it for me, and I do it with the idea that others will find my blog interesting, maybe inspiring.

It's a learning experience, a place to exercise my mind, thoughts, and although a bit on the fringe at times express myself. Others can listen. It's what I did during the 70's when I was working at the college, I wrote all around the campus, and after work at night I wrote a the college bar nearby. Legal age for alcohol was 18.

Dung is what's left of those years... that and some great, cherished memories. Quite the combo... it isn't any wonder I write... given the next 30 years that followed... the result is a mind overloaded, and writing is in my nature, and something I need to do.

I write because I can.

Since Oct. of last year I've written 70+ posts. I have 4 followers, I have 8 votes in my opinion poll (bottom of this page), and three friends that write comments occasionally.

No, profit isn't the name of this pastime... not yet anyway.

This is a good way to experiment with my writing... it's also a great way to promote those causes I believe in.

Several new posts in the works...

George, my agent, will take any further questions :-

WHAT'S WITH THE NON-CONFORMIST?

In every society there is "the norm", a euphemism for public order. People really are individuals. And to varying degrees they attain success. How that spells out is why there are so many books.

To define the kind of public order required in a society, given all the individuals involved, there had to be laws, rules, morals, and more. But we didn't survive as a species by always following the rules. In fact, many of us rarely act 100% lawfully. I commute a long distance... I can assure you 30% at best obey traffic laws, most speed... and many really speed past. It could be worse, in Boston they also cut you off. I grew to love Boston driving... but that's for another day.

During one of my custodian days, in NH, I had worked at this school maybe 5-6 years by then. It was a great job.

During the 9+ years employed there, it began where in this Elementary/junior HS, in 1988 we could smoke wherever. Within three years we were forced to smoke in the custodian's office, where the principle also hung out. We could smoke outside, and maybe in the teacher's lounges, I am fuzzy remembering that. A year or two later, the law was passed making it illegal to smoke on school grounds; or a set distance.

What I found most interesting was when we had school events in the evening... band concert, spelling bee, penny sale, basketball game... there was always something interesting going on, this was after hours, I worked 3-11PM.

We used to place Butt receptacles at the entrances during these events. When the law took effect, no more butt receptacles. Yet people continued to mill around outside and smoke. It was my job, unfortunately to kindly ask these people not to smoke. "Damn the law, I'll smoke if I want to smoke. It's a cigarette, not pot!" And the butts accumulated on the pavement. Typical non-conformist. These were the adults attending the events.

For a couple months we started putting the butt receptacles back out. To suit the guests. Then, eventually people conformed..

This wasn't my topic, though it's relevant..

Laws are one thing, but social mores and morals are another. It's an area of human behavior that does get researched, though I feel not nearly enough.

I can only contribute my own experiences as a non-conformist, and well all the other non-conformists I knew..

I intend to discuss the price/cost of non-conformity, also the benefits to society and the individual. We'll not go the extreme... We'll take a regular guy who's actually, early on, quite the conformist . Then, he's not.

We'll examine  "what went wrong"?

Our character was a member/employee of a large organization, a large group of people, most who treated him with respect.

He was a college custodian. There were some who saw that as a crime...

Enter, the Non-Conformist...