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INTRODUCTION:

Welcome to BobKat's Lair ®™

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A lair is a home; A castle; A burrow; A haven; a place where one should feel safe. To ensure our safety especially in one's lair, we have laws. And some laws cause more harm than good!

This is a good place. There's lots to see and do. It's apolitical while providing non-partisan news about politics, which we can't escape.

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My goal is here... to present topics which highlight the plight of people. Why, 2000 years after Caesar Augustus, are we still a people being hurt? With all our advancements in technology, medicine, communications, why are we a people still being hurt? Human nature hasn't changed much, but that doesn't mean it isn't time now for that to happen, and it is undoubtedly happening - hard to see however. This blog is part of that change and a witness to it.

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My blog is dedicated to my family, friends, mentors, and all others whom I am grateful to, and love(d).

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November 14, 2012

THE END OF REEFER MADNESS - 2012

Edited Nov. 18, 2012

You'd think the sky was falling, as in "Chicken Little", the way people are talking about CO and WA legalizing cannabis/marijuana. Now LINK: Latin American countries including Mexico, are calling for a review of world policies on "drugs". Mostly cannabis. This is because cannabis is the centerpiece in the War On Drugs. In Mexico for example, and this is important to understand, out-going Pres. Calderon is questioning why over 50,000 Mexican citizens have died in a war backed by the American government, to defeat international drug trade, of which Mexico ranks high on the list of exporters?

Again, cannabis is the the highest priory in the federal war on drugs, with cocaine ranked second, along with other drugs like meth and heroin that are not of especial importance unless discovered during during the interdiction of a cannabis bust. The War began in earnest in 1971 with then US President Richard Nixon declared the famous "War on Drugs" slogan. It had been brewing for a log while, all during the 1960's and back through to the late 1800's.

I had a friend who had his house raided in 1964 and they found one marijuna cigarette - he spent a year in jail. But it wasn't really until the 1970's that things took off... WIKIPEDIA LINK: Controlled Substances Act:  "President Richard Nixon announced that the Attorney General, John N. Mitchell, was preparing a comprehensive new measure to more effectively meet the narcotic and dangerous drug problems at the federal level by combining all existing federal laws into a single new statute. The CSA did not merely combine existing federal drug laws but changed the nature of federal drug law and policy, expanded the scope of federal drug laws and expanded federal police power enormously."

 The "Perfect Storm" occurred during the 1960's, far too detailed to give any real singular examples. This "storm" caused irreparable damage to America as a whole, creative, open-minded people in particular. It was the age of the Hippies, who adopted much from the Beatnik generation, who in turn adopted from the Expatriot generation that came about during alcohol Prohibition. All of these social genre had their beginnings prior to the perfect storm brewing in the 1960-70's. It should be remembered, drugs like cocaine, opium, heroin had been unlawful without a prescription since 1904. Drugs like LSD, peyote, mescaline, amphetamines had been legal until the 1960's.  President Kennedy is said to have done LSD with Marilyn Monroe...

In a general sense, where we are today began after 1850... after the Civil War and the End of Slavery. In school we're taught the basics of this time in American history. Dig deeper and you'll find a lot of controversy, anger and rebellious thinking and actions. All of this grows during the late 1800's into the 1900's, is stoked by alcohol prohibition which actually had it's beginning in the 1830's, was nearly successful prior to the Civil War, but didn't become manifest again until 1919.

WIKIPEDIA LINK:
The Eighteenth Amendment (Amendment XVIII) of the United States Constitution established prohibition of alcoholic beverages in the United States. The separate Volstead Act set down methods of enforcing the Eighteenth Amendment, and defined which "intoxicating liquors" were prohibited, and which were excluded from prohibition (e.g., for medical and religious purposes). The Amendment was the first to set a time delay before it would take effect following ratification, and the first to set a time limit for its ratification by the states. Its ratification was certified on January 16, 1919, with the law taking effect on January 17, 1920.
Demand for liquor continued, and the law resulted in the criminalization of producers, suppliers, transporters and consumers. The police, courts and prisons were overwhelmed with new cases; organized crime increased in power, and corruption extended among law enforcement officials. The amendment was repealed in 1933 by ratification of the Twenty-first Amendment, the only instance in United States history of repeal of a constitutional amendment.


 By 1933 the Great Depression had wrought havoc within the American society. People were broke, the US Government was broke. The efforts of millions who had tried since the 1830's to "prohibit" alcohol - who believed it was a danger to society found their cause ended, forever.

Mexico was broke, and Mexican citizens flocked by the hundreds of thousands into the US looking for a better life. By 1937 America was at a breaking point. The Great Depression was in theory over, alcohol was again legal and the violence of prohibition and the gangs became history. However, not a history that many learned from. In fact the anger persisted, towards Black people, toward the unconventional, with the tilting of power, from the people to corporations. Not that corporations hadn't already controlled the masses, it simply got government involvement and dedication.

In response to the surge in Mexican immigrants southern states urged the White-House to do something! Similar to today, there wasn't a lot they could do. But strange as it sounds, the 18th amendment gave Washington new tools to work with, in increased powers, as in the first of it's kind ability of the federal government to demand a tax on the purchase of a machine gun, and thereby control the purchase, able to decline the tax/prohibiting the purchase.

Reefer Madness was born of the idea that the one thing that distinguished Mexicans from Americans was their use of what they called marijuana. In America at the time doctors regularly used cannabis as a medicine, it being listed in the medical bible of the time, the US Pharmacopedia until 1940. Americans smoked it too, especially jazz musicians and artists. They called it ganja - that was the English name used to describe the plant.

The Marihuana Tax Act (that's the official federal spelling for cannabis) was born of the idea that to stem the tide of Mexican immigrants during a time when there did not exist our current immigration laws, that arresting Mexicans with untaxed marijuana, they could be deported. The act affected far more than just Mexicans however.

The new tax act worked like this. Grow your hemp, which was assumed to be the industrial variety of cannabis, contact a federal tax agent and based on the quantity of your yield, pay for your tax stamp. Hemp, by the way was a primarily an industrial commodity, and big in medicine, but mostly used to make rope and fabrics. There were no synthetic ropes, and synthetic fabrics weren't common then either. Hemp or cotton.

But the tax went way beyond hemp. It included cannabis used by doctors and the ganja used by regular Americans. It began the war on regular people. Again, if you had ganja, it was still hemp, or what they called marihuana, so present your yield, pay the tax. The only trouble with that is you would be busted for possessing the cannabis without the stamp. Yes, you could not purchase the stamp before you grew and harvested the cannabis.

It became known as "Reefer Madness" based on widespread Yellow Journalism and what today is considered to be the hugely humorous and insane parodies of marijuana users and Black jazz musicians. Only it's not really funny because the propaganda worked!

The tax was overturned in the 1960's as Unconstitutional. However new laws were to be enacted to counter use of substances deemed a threat to public health, and public morality, and which some took to extremes, like President Richard M. Nixon when against the recommendations of his own drug policy Blue-Ribbon advisory commision,  headed by Raymond. P. Shafer, Gov'n of PA, he mandated that cannabis be secured as a Schedule One (narcotic) drug, of the Controlled Substances Act

But we went full circle. In essence resurrecting the turmoil of the Civil War, the agony of post Civil War Reconstruction, encouraging prejudice and discrimination, prohibiting a substance and justifying the predictable violence associated with prohibition of a God given substance.

And now with the legalization of cannabis in WA and CO, a profound turning point in American politics has been reached, even breached.

So yeah, the sky is falling, and it's about time.

I think to me the following article makes it clearest: "New Marijuana Laws Will Be a Public Health Experiment, Experts Say". It's like scientists are salivating waiting to research legal users of cannabis. Like, I'm sorry, but don't we have a National Institute of Health that has made it very clear, cannabis has "no value in medicine". They advise the drug czar, who manages drug policy for We the People. What I hear is that the public health problem that required and still does in many other states and around the world, is an invention, because it's coming out that the "scientifically proven dangers to society" established in the 1930's, has in fact, never really been studied, and becomes a researchers dream.

This article, for example, begins with a sane lead-in... "The Catch-22 of Legalization..." with interesting, pratical complications, the states of CO and WA will encounter now that cannabis is legal. Some of this I go into myself in a bit, but two parts of the story don't add up. "Increased violence in states that have legalized it" and it gets worst. The increased violence ironically isn't often due to users getting violent, or turning to crime to support their habit... it's criminals looking to invade homes, threaten people and steal the pot, or the feds busting legal growers and medical marijuana distribution centers and people angry about it.

The article by Fox Business provides a lot of fodder but lands square inside the right-wing, moralistic take on all of this. In fact, we can expect a lot of sharp moralistic journalist to be writing articles feigning objectivity, but with a hook or two in the coming future. Obviously after 75 years of effective anti-cannabis probaganda there are going to be the pains of reintroduction of cannabis into American society. Falsely promoting a catastrophe as a result of common sense rationality in ending a failed war 75 years old is ludicrous. It's time to become a responsible, tolerant society. One truly open to differences, freedom of expression, speech, skin color as well as "drug of choice", whether that be cannabis, alcohol, tobacco, or coffee.

Speaking of which, some genuinely interesting news like this: "Pot-Beer". As the closest relative to cannabis is hops, afterall, and hops is a main ingredient in many beers, only logical cannabis can be used to make beer.

Some legalization considerations:

In or around 1933 money in the US became federalized. Prior to that most money, paper that is, was issued by independent banks, as in National Currency, guaranteed by the city of issue. Coinage was issued and regulated by the federal government, and had been so ever since the 1880's. Prior to that money was simply a metal's actual worth in personal value with copper, silver and gold worth so much in return. Paper money was first issued to fund the Civil War, but wasn't well liked. It's worth was face-value and only as good as the business or government backing it.

We've gone a long way from the way it was then. Now the value of money is a mathematical equation, with several parties determining it's worth, like what a dollar is worth in trade.

Since the fed regulates or insures most banks across the country, it regulates how money can be transacted. And because cannabis is a Schedule One drug, federal regulations dictate how any money raised in the sale of cannabis can be transacted by a federal bank - meaning it can't be transacted except by local banks, who eventually have to deal with the  federal banks. So all the federal government needs to do is maintain the current status of cannabis prohibition, as it relates to legal trade and taxation is do nothing.

It amounts to the fed potentially, as we haven't heard their response yet to the legalization, treating states like Colorado and Washington as hostile, rogue states, much as it does the country of Iran, by issuing sanctions, to cripple development of things like nuclear weapons, or, distribution and sale of cannabis. One can easily see (not really) how cannabis and nuclear weapons might be of equal concern, and a danger to the world.

The fed really has one basic choice in the matter... it must change the Scheduled Status of cannabis which is long overdue, because it could never change federal banking regulations as easily. If it fels it can continue to treat cannabis as it has done, then it should do the same in the name of Public Safety based on the dismal harm alcohol and tobacco cause, and they cause direct use deaths, where cannabis has never ben recorded to have caused one death - that fact is listed at the CDC.
 
And as Governor Jerry Brown was recently quoted as telling the federal government to back off: "The federal gov't needs to realize states are quite capable - as capable of governing it's citizens as the federal gov't".

It's a Brave New World, one I have confidence most of us will be able to adapt to. Cannabis is an agricultural science, just like wine making and brewing the perfect beer are sciences. Maintaining the peace is a science too, and at least now there is the groundwork for a future where people are not criminals simply for going against the so-called moral fabric of society. There's a lot more humanitarian work to do, but we're making progress. If people were truly hurt as in dead, then marijuana would make sense. But people don't die using cannabis. They simply buck the system.

2012 - The Year Reefer Madness Came to An End! Didn't think I'd live to see it. Many people didn't.

October 31, 2012

MY THOUGHTS WITH 6 DAYS LEFT 'TILL THE ELECTION

Hurricane Sandy gave us pause to think... I'll give her that, plus I had an unexpected day off...

So frankly though, this election is becoming a seriously worse decision than I had to make in 2004, between Bush and Kerry. Bush fooled me in 2000, and I was aghast that he actually got reelected in 2004. I admit, until a few weeks before the election I was for Kerry... but I realized there were problems. So I voted for Nader.

I voted strongly in favor of Barack Obama in 2008. Strongly believed for the first time in years we would get a truly American President. Wow, am I sitting here quite disappointed. However... I am aghast, again, as it's Halloween Night (**) for one, at the US Senate, Boehner especially, although I suppose, hope, he is only doing his job. After all, he's in the Senate, not the House... and it's the House from what I recall that represents "The People", you and I. From what I've taken away from "politics" for the past four years is a Senate dedicated to doing anything, however distasteful to defeat the White House, and a struggling House of Representatives.

I am quite up to date on issues and results, read lots of news. There have been good and great things that have happened in the past four years. There have been tragedies, disappointment, and outright shocking things having happened.

But the election, for President. Wow, to consider my choices?

RE: Obama
1) Big disappoint in many ways from what I expected from him. Half way decent President, better than most I've known... but disappointed. I think as a businessman he got the job done well. I approve his decisions with Libya, think whether the HC Law works out or not it had to happen, was tried before and failed, and he made it happen. I feel, in general he is making sound, knowledgeable decisions. I feel he cares about us. He's not telling secrets, and he does seem to have hidden agendas, but he seems more upfront than many Presidents I've known.

2) I am seriously disappointed with his say one thing and do another when it comes to California and legal marijuana. On the one hand he is reputed to have told the Justice Dept, the CIA, and other Gov't Enforcers to Stand Down... let the states that choose to legalize cannabis do their thing. That would be the persona of the side of the President, Barry Obama , who grew up in Hawaii (I have posted about Barry Obama in a fairly recent post). Yeah, Barry in his late teens was a marijuana guru, by accounts... see my previous post for the book recently released revealing the life of young Barry Obama. Quite disappointed with how he looks the other way while the DEA ransacks CA dispensaries and gets them shut down.

3) I am a believer in the Constitution of the United States. But let's talk 1ST and 2ND Amendments... in the "Bill of Rights" (Wikipedia Link). It'd odd, we talk about our constitutional rights, but much about what we don't know is that it's a second document (set of) that were signed protecting "The People's Right"... called the "Bill of Rights" (Wikipedia Link) composed originally with 10 Amendments.

The first was called: The "First Amendment to the US Constitution" (Wikipedia Link). "The amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering with the right to peaceably assemble or prohibiting the petitioning for a governmental redress of grievances". SOURCE: Wikipedia

This is important to me simply because expressing myself, not harming others, living the best respectable life I can, I don't need government regulations breathing down my back, using my taxes, to interfere with peoples rights, freedoms and our liberty to be who we are. Again, not hurting anyone, not even ourselves - like smoking pot. SERIOUS CRIME - near zero harm to society unless it's prohibited, as it is. Then everything changes... and bogeymen come out of the closets!

On that front it seems a war is brewing... Then there's the...

"Second Amendment of the US Constitution"" (Wikipedia Link) - "The Right to Bear Arms".

Quite frankly, I believe we do have a right to protect ourselves, and a firearm is very effective in that respect.   Society is not entirely civilized... in fact we don't appear to be any more superior than the Romans were, 2000 years ago. It's true the majority of gun-owners are responsible people. Sure, always a story in the news where a gun was used in a crime, but there are many equally effective tools available other than a gun.

The news is that Obama/SoS Clinton are signing a deal to put gun-ownership for Americans into the hands and jurisdiction of the United Nations. This is serious stuff. It effectively, they hope, that it will nullify the 2nd Amendment. And with that goes the First, and all our other rights.

The NRA strongly opposes President Obama. That's enough to pause and consider. And honestly, I can't see myself voting Obama.

MITT ROMNEY AS A CHOICE:... That's an easy answer... NRA endorsed, but other than that the guy is really naive and possessed. No vote for Romney.

Which means I'm in a bind.

So, to recap... Obama has been disappointing, and may even have a crippling agenda... he has not let states manage cannabis without federal interference, and he is generally vocal about federal law trumping states laws.

Romney - simply boring and scary both.

Seems my options are limited... Only 2???

No, there are other candidates, though Ron Paul is out although I could write him in. There's a strong female candidate representing the green Party in CA, but she's not national - another write in vote.

Gary Johnson, the Libertarian candidate and ex-Governor of New Mexico (Democratic Hub Link) is an excellent choice. He brings a Jeffersonian, as in Thomas Jefferson, Third President of the United States (Wikipedia Link) approach back to Washington, namely a small government. A balance of state and federal powers.

But, with Hurricane Sandy stirring up the dust, blinding us, this close to an election...  and the race reported to be so close, how do I vote?

Easy. By how I believe.


October 24, 2012

THE LIFE STAGES - THREE OR SEVEN? YOU DECIDE... PART ONE

Frankly, I can only speak for myself here. The following posts address a long standing philosophy us humans established, to find cause and effect of being alive and conscious... Three Stages of Life (and I don't mean Birth/Life/Death) or Seven Life Stages? I'm here to discuss them both.

Comments are encouraged and welcome.

Regardless of how many stages you believe there are in life the underlying principles remain the same  The difference are in your core your beliefs... for example, religious persons are probably more inclined, I feel, to believe in the Three Stages theory. Others, just as passionate and devoted in their beliefs might find the Seven Stages more palatable.

PART ONE:

THE THREE STAGES OF LIFE:

Traditionally, if you want to believe it - they are:  Childhood, Adulthood, Old Age.

Stage 1: As a baby/child/teenager you're Stage 1;  you have no control over your existence. You may be raised in the Church of Anything and be forced to believe in the cause... but regardless, you have no control over much of your environment or destiny.  You're helpless and at the mercy of your parents and the system of education you find yourself in. You are this until age 18 or 21... the change-over isn't well defined - dying for your country doesn't count towards consumption of alcohol, most everything else though... until you take the initiative and actually move away from home.

Stage 2: Still a child as an adult in the beginning - leaving home, going off to college or war, there's no escaping the inescapable hold of family. Still, you now have some control over your own destiny. If remaining back home you'd be expected to find a job, marry, buy a home, have children, entertain family and in-laws. Your extended family might still in control of your life, though they give you some independence as time passes. If you move away, expect much the same, only from a distance, which from my experience didn't help a lot. Yeah, eventually you get older (actually fairly quickly), gain more autonomy and your family superiors die off, leaving you alone with your wife, if you have one, children too - if you have children,  who also often move away, and you're alone, most likely. Dreams, you finally find yourself asking, what are dreams?

Stage 3: Elderly... old age... over 60... you can now retire and reap your rewards in Social Security and that pension you've worked for for over 30 years... You can exercise dominion over those younger than you... you move to Florida, buy a condo, and the light will quickly follow you to your grave.

That is what's considered by many to be the ideal map for people.  Very simple. Just one easily defined road. Three simple stages in life. And the fact, some people are more "successful" and wealthy than others. Way it is. Work hard, roll the dice...

For My Next Post... 

THE SEVEN STAGES OF LIFE:

1) Infant/Newborn, 2) Child, 3) Teenager, 4) Young Adult, 5) Adult, 6) Middle Aged, 7) Senior Citizen. Yes, this can be further extended, and it should be... for example a kindergarten aged child, into 1st and 2nd grades... distinct from a preschooler, another category, and a person aged 7 - 10, a separate cat., prior to : preteen, puberty, followed by teenager. followed by 16 to 18 year old's, then 18 to 21 years old's,  21 to 25... 25 to 30... 30 - 40,; 40 - 50; 50 - 60; and life after 60, where I have not gotten to yet. That's something like 20 Life Stages... all unique in there own way.

That in my next post...

October 06, 2012

THE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES 2012 - # 1; AND AN UNPRECEDENTED CHICAGO DRUG BUST!!!

But First! In memory of Rufus the Rooster, who died Tues., Oct. 02, the victim of a coyote attack, along with one of his hens...

No trace of Rufus has been found... though we searched. The incident took place, it is assumed, mid-morning when Rufus and his flock of hens were across the road in the woods. It wasn't until late afternoon we realized that Rufus was missing. At that time a search was carried out. The feathers of a white hen were discovered across the road, along a path in the woods, a couple piles of feathers from the hen were seen along two parts of the path. The search ended at a stream, where the trail of mayhem disappeared. No sign of Rufus was ever found.

It should be noted that Rufus was a BIG rooster, with sharp spurs (note: right foot) and bountiful tail-feathers:


Obviously a rooster, even a BIG rooster like this, can only do so much against a great predator like a coyote. But Rufus was if nothing else, the exception... I rest assured Rufus put up a good fight and gouged out the coyote's eyes before meeting his end! He died protecting his hens... a valiant hero in the annals of rooster lore. He'll be missed.

Rufus and his flock of hens:


Predators can strike at any time. Living among chickens and roosters has taught me a lot, like they have an extraordinary sense of awareness and effective methods of communication. They make lots of vocal sounds... and to be caught by surprise by a predator is unusual, with roosters around, as they are quite astute at sensing danger.

Not so for the average American it would seem.

First up, the first official Presidential debates between President Obama and Mitt Romney. Sorry, I can't post any links as all links are restricted by Federal Law. But I can post my thoughts, and it just so happened a national surveyor called and wanted to ask me a few questions with regards to my opinion.

"Hi, Acme Survey, we'd like to ask you a few questions about your response to the 1st presidential Debates?"

Me: "Sure".

Acme: "Who do you think won the debate?"

Me: "No one"

Acme: "Why do you say that?"

Me: "It wasn't a debate, it was a staged event."

Acme: "Explain?"

Me: "Since Obama took office the major agenda has been the war in Afghanistan,  Iran, Congressional mayhem and in-fighting; the economy, enforcing the War on Drugs - while renaming it as the federal public safety drug enforcement regulation. None of the questions asked were really focused on the real issues."

Acme: "So you watched the debate?"

Me: "No. I read about it online".

Acme: "Thank-you. Next question, "what question, if any, would you like to have seen posed to the the two Presidential candidates?"

Me: "Which one of you is going to decriminalise cannabis?"

Acme: "What's cannabis?"

Me: "Pot, commonly called marijuana which is a term prejudicial to the people of Mexico."

Acme: "Final question: do you plan on voting for Mitt Romney, President Obama, or not vote?"

Me: "I plan on voting for the third presidential candidate, Gary Johnson; Libertarian party."

Acme: "Who?"

Me: "Gary Johnson".

Acme: "That does not compute. Good day."

***

And finally - In The News... Chicago police discover a huge crop of marijuana growing on the city's south side... described as the size of two "two football fields". It was apparently near to Chicago's police helicopter dispatch center, and police helicopters routinely passed over-head over the "drug production enterprise." They can't explain the "drug operation" going on all summer under their noses. 

I can't explain it either - but given the deadly effects of marijuana exposure one would have thought many people in southern Chicago would have developed symptoms, like fevers, hallucinations, psychotic episodes, hilarity, insanity, or worse.

Again, I can't post any photo's of the publicly available photo's of the crime scene due to federal copyright regulations, though I think I can post this link for the whole story: FOX NEWS: Police-in-Chicago-Uncover-Nearly-1000-Pot-Plants-in-City.

I find it ludicrous to begin with that the article titled: "Police in Chicago became farmers for a day Wednesday as they began to chop down a  marijuana farm as big as two football fields found in the city."

Somehow I don't think that makes the Chicago police farmers. I'd select a term more akin to an invading army of crusaders for the moral right.

According to Chicago Superintendent Garry McCarthy, whose team of law enforcement officers erradicated the field of horror - putting their own lives in danger! He said, "those involved with narcotics, whether it is marijuana, heroin or cocaine, purchase firearms with their profits and have shown they're willing to use them to protect their business... That's where the violence comes in, the competition for the markets."

Yeah, 1920's Prohibition, ad naseum...

Waste of my taxes! Legalize already - Stop the Hurt!!!