The End of Medical Marijuana as a Political Issue. Not!
"I think you can take it as proven that any 'representative' who is still flogging Prohibition at this late stage of the game is either a Drug Lord or some sort of a servant to them." -- Rocky Frisco
From lrtdiscuss:
"Anyone in a free society where the laws are unjust has an obligation to break the law." -- Henry David Thoreau
From smith2004:
"All power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority: still more when you superadd the tendency or the certainty of corruption by authority." -- Lord Acton
# John Walters - Statement by the White House Drug Czar about the U.S. Supreme Court's Decision Regarding So-Called Medical Marijuana - since when does a free country have a czar for anything?
Director Walters said, "Today's decision marks the end of medical marijuana as a political issue. Our Nation has the highest standards and most sophisticated institutions in the world for determining the safety and effectiveness of medication. Our national medical system relies on proven scientific research, not popular opinion. To date, science and research have not determined that smoking a crude plant is safe or effective. We have a responsibility as a civilized society to ensure that the medicine Americans receive from their doctors is effective, safe, and free from the pro-drug politics that are being promoted in America under the guise of medicine.I sent the following via ONDCP's Contact Page (and no, I don't expect anything I could say to him to change his mind one wit, but I needed to say it):
John Walters,
In your statement on the Supreme Court's decision in GONZALES v. RAICH ( http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/news/press05/060605.html ), you said, "Today's decision marks the end of medical marijuana as a political issue." Nonsense. The imprisonment of peaceful people, who ingest vegetables to change their consciousness or improve their health, without hurting anyone, will never cease to be a political issue. Neither will the existence of fascists like you who think it's their business to interfere violently in people's private lives.
Until cannabis is available where it belongs, in bulk in health food stores, and the cornucopia of pharmaceutical products, including all currently Schedule I controlled substances, are available over the counter for whomever wishes to purchase them for whatever peaceful purpose, until every liberty-hating goon like you has been hanged from the nearest lamppost, the war on some drugs, the war on the Bill of Rights, your war on my freedom, will continue to be a hot political issue.
Fuck you and the horse you rode in on.
Liberty!
-Bill St. Clair
# David Codrea at Guns Magazine - Weapons of Choice - it seems that whatever weapon the latest criminal used becomes the "weapon of choice" for a whole class of people supposedly like him, if we're to believe the Brady Bunch. The reality of course is that a criminal will use whatever is at hand as a weapon, and so will a law-abiding person looking to defend himself or his family or property. The tools aren't the problem. The criminals are. But you knew that. [codrea]
# Tom Knapp - The radical writ - why government, even the smallest imagineable government, doesn't work, and can't ever work. [smith2004]
If the state had to pass the same test for "feasibility" as anarchism, Bell would find it a failure as well. In case nobody's noticed, the state hasn't eliminated violations of rights -- or proven equitable in remedying them. It hasn't eliminated crime, it hasn't eliminated poverty, it hasn't eliminated inequality, it hasn't eliminated war, it hasn't eliminated violence, it hasn't eliminated any social problem, and in many cases it has exacerbated or even embodied those problems. So to object to anarchism on the basis that it can't wave some sort of magic black flag and make all the bad things go away does not constitute a reasonable argument in favor of the state. It's not like anarchists are asking people to give up something that's been successful in favor of something that hasn't been tested. The whole point of anarchism is that the state hasn't succeeded in addressing human problems and that it has often been the cause, or at least a cause, of those problems.
# CNN - Apple confirms chip shift to Intel - all new Macintosh machines will ship with Intel architecture microprocessors by the end of 2007. Bottom line: all your existing Macintosh applications will break, unless Apple once again, as they did when they switched from the 68000 to the Power PC, provides an emulator for the old architecture. The article says that current software will have to be "rewritten". Probably not. "Recompiled" certainly, but if Apple does this correctly, that will be all most developers will have to do. [picks]
# Apple - Apple to Use Intel Microprocessors Beginning in 2006 - a confirming press release from Apple itself. Lots more stories at Google News.
"Our goal is to provide our customers with the best personal computers in the world, and looking ahead Intel has the strongest processor roadmap by far," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "It's been ten years since our transition to the PowerPC, and we think Intel's technology will help us create the best personal computers for the next ten years."
"We are thrilled to have the world's most innovative personal computer company as a customer," said Paul Otellini, president and CEO of Intel. "Apple helped found the PC industry and throughout the years has been known for fresh ideas and new approaches. We look forward to providing advanced chip technologies, and to collaborating on new initiatives, to help Apple continue to deliver innovative products for years to come."
"We plan to create future versions of Microsoft Office for the Mac that support both PowerPC and Intel processors," said Roz Ho, general manager of Microsoft's Macintosh Business Unit. "We have a strong relationship with Apple and will work closely with them to continue our long tradition of making great applications for a great platform."
# Kurt Vonnegut at In These Times - I Love You, Madame Librarian - commentary on what's left of America, and what isn't.
My last words? "Life is no way to treat an animal, not even a mouse."
Napalm came from Harvard. Veritas!
Our president is a Christian? So was Adolf Hitler.
