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

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

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.

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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

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".

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.