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

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

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!

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"

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...