Four Words for the Democrat Party

Sorry guys, we're fucked.

Color Me Confused

Is he black? Is he white? The answer, my friends, is a big YES to both questions. 50% of his genes come from a black father, and 50% of his genes come from a white mother. So why does everyone refer to Barack Obama as "black?" And what the hell difference does it make anyway? If I had to assign a color to him, I would say he's a pleasant shade of brown. But I'm pretty darned sure that skin color has absolutely nothing to do with a person's ability to govern our nation. It's the brain that counts! Human brains are essentially all the same color, but their quality varies greatly. I'm going to judge a person's ability to govern by the things he says and does, not what he looks like. My top priorities are that he be highly intelligent, well-educated, up-to-date on world events and conditions, well-spoken, even-tempered, tactful, healthy, non-aggressive and reasonably compassionate. I don't know either of our presumptive presidential candidates personally, so it's difficult to be completely confident of my judgement. But I'm pretty sure that the skinny, young, white/black guy satisfies more of my criteria than the pudgy, old white/pink guy.

My Comments on the Reefer Comments

Forge said: "I personally don't and never have used the stuff, but I have no problem with it being legalized. The same rules that apply to alcohol should apply to drug use and we can move on with our lives. Now I don't believe it is JUST a plant. It's a plant that makes you do wacky things and effects your mind, but that is your choice."

MZ: And alcohol isn't just a liquid. It's a liquid that makes you do wacky things and affects your mind.

Bill Stankus said (in part):
"You can't talk about MJ as a weed or a window sill crop as if it existed all by itself- in fact, it is connected to all sorts of people - some are probably OK and just after making a few dollars but there are others - characters you don't want within 5 miles of where you live. I'm referring to oddball users and the distribution people. Would legalization change that? I don't know."

MZ: The "distribution people" are the ones that I wouldn't want in my neighborhood, but Bill, they'll be GONE once MJ is legalized. As for the "oddball users," I'm much more averse to drunks than to pot smokers.

Bill: "If you compare MJ to the prohibition era - there is a fact that should be known. Prior to prohibition there was an ungodly annual consumption of booze and beer. Honky tonks and saloons were everywhere and minors were not stopped at the doors. Drunken abuse of women was common and drunkards at work were a real problem."

MZ: Sorry, Bill, but except for the minors being stopped at the doors, this sounds just like America today. Have you ever attended an Al-Anon meeting?

Bill: "One more thing, saying something is human nature or laws should be changed because it is commonly done is a spurious argument. Just because the neighbors do something doesn't make it acceptable or right."

MZ: Of course! I didn't mean to imply that "laws should be changed because it is commonly done." Murder, rape, stealing and drunk driving are commonly done, and I am not suggesting that laws against those acts, WHICH ARE CLEARLY HARMFUL TO OTHERS, should be changed. And laws against those acts probably do have a deterrant affect. It is certainly clear to most citizens that those acts are intrinsically wrong. But laws against individual behavior that does not necessarily harm others will be resented and ignored. There is no more reason to attempt to ban pot than there was to attempt to ban alcohol, and there is no more chance of being successful in that attempt.

Bill: "By that logic, today we would all be tobacco users as was so common in the late 1940s and through the 1960s."

MZ: Tobacco use has declined because of gradually increasing awareness of the negative effect on health and because it is less socially acceptable, not because it was outlawed.

Bill: "Still, go ahead and legalize it and apply the same rules and regs regarding cigarette use."

MZ: Hooray! We agree!

Liquid said: I'll inhale and hold my breath waiting.....I swear....I will!

MZ: Um, maybe that's not a good idea...

Utah savage said: "... if you put the drug in the hands of the corps, there goes the narco-trafficker, off to find a new job. And couldn't we put all the crooks and liars and just plain criminals from the Bush admin, in one of those jails when we empty it of harmless pot smokers?"

MZ: YES! What a brilliant idea!

Reefer Referendum?

Today I was listening to a conservative, but amusing, local radio talk show. The subject was Ron Paul's and Barney Frank's bill to decriminalize small (under 100 grams) amounts of marijuana. The host of the program was in favor of it, as were 95% of the people who called in to express their opinions. I was amazed and DELIGHTED! I have always supported legalization of drugs, especially marijuana. It makes no sense whatever, in my opinion, to try to forbid use of drugs, any more than it did to forbid use of alcohol. A significant percentage of humans want to get high and they WILL get high, whether it's legal or not. PERIOD! END OF DISCUSSION! Regulate the use of drugs, as we do for alcohol (age limits and NO DUI), but don't make it illegal, which results only in filling the jails with great numbers of non-violent offenders.

I am hoping that the proposal to add a tax to the legal sales of MJ will spark the interest of some legislators who might otherwise be on the fence on this issue.

I am posting an article on this subject I found on the Internet:

Barney Frank and Ron Paul offer bill decriminalizing marijuana use
Published on July 30th, 2008
Posted by Eideard in Politics, crime

The U.S. should stop arresting responsible marijuana users, Rep. Barney Frank said today, announcing a proposal to end federal penalties for Americans carrying fewer than 100 grams, almost a quarter-pound, of the substance.
Current laws targeting marijuana users place undue burdens on law enforcement resources, punish ill Americans whose doctors have prescribed the substance and unfairly affect African-Americans, said Frank, flanked by legislators and representatives from advocacy groups.
“The vast amount of human activity ought to be none of the government’s business,” Frank said during a Capitol Hill news conference. “I don’t think it is the government’s business to tell you how to spend your leisure time…”
Allen St. Pierre, spokesman for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, likened Frank’s proposal — co-sponsored by Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas — to current laws dealing with alcohol consumption. Alcohol use is permitted, and the government focuses its law enforcement efforts on those who abuse alcohol or drive under its influence, he said.
“We do not arrest and jail responsible alcohol drinkers,” he said.

And here is some background on Ron Paul's long-standing support for reform:

"On the issue of drugs, we have spent nearly five hundred billion dollars on the War on Drugs, since the 1970s. Total failure. Some day, we have to admit it. Today, we have the federal government going into states that have legal medical marijuana, arresting people--undermining state laws--arresting people who use marijuana when they're dying with cancer and AIDS, and it's done with, as a compassionate conservative. And it doesn't work. " Source: 2007 GOP Values Voter Presidential Debate Sep 17, 2007

"For the first 140 years of our history, we had essentially no federal war on drugs, and far fewer problems with drug addiction and related crimes as a consequence. In the past 30 years, even with the hundreds of millions of dollars spent on the drug war, little good has come of it. We have vacillated from efforts to stop the drugs at the source to severely punishing the users, yet nothing has improved.
The drug war encourages violence. Government violence against nonviolent users is notorious and has led to the unnecessary prison overpopulation. Innocent taxpayers are forced to pay for all this so-called justice. Our drug eradication project (using spraying) around the world, from Colombia to Afghanistan, breeds resentment because normal crops and good land can be severely damaged. Local populations perceive that the efforts and the profiteering remain somehow beneficial to our own agenda in these various countries. "
Source: House speech, in Foreign Policy of Freedom, p.159-160 Oct 25, 2001

I wish I could summon up even a tiny bit of optimism about the possibility of this bill being passed, but alas, I cannot.

Sigh. It's just plant, people. A plant that makes you feel good. What's bad?

Oh, sure! But can they play football?

(Is it just me, or is their a similarity between these two pictures?)

I watched the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics and I was awestruck. The performances were creative, perfectly choreographed and flawlessly executed. Can you imagine that many of us Americans putting in so much intensive practice and cooperating so selflessly with one another, while getting no individual attention at all?

I had an unpleasant flashback to America's contribution to the arts, back at the 2004 Super Bowl...





No wonder they're kicking our asses in industry and commerce! My advice to the Western world: LEARN TO SPEAK CHINESE! You're going to need it.

Ants in My Pants and Everywhere Else!

Our kitchen has been invaded with ants! This has been going on for about two weeks and my patience and empathy (oh, the poor little things are just trying to survive, like everyone else) have been exhausted. At first, it was just some scouts, looking around the kitchen counter for any stray tidbits.

I tried to deter them with some kind of repellent traps, and made a valiant attempt to keep the "stray tidbits" to a minimum. Yeah...right. They seemed to be attracted to the repellent traps and neither hubby nor I are real good about wiping up every single crumb that may hit the sink or counter. Gradually, the scouts called in the main troops and we have been confronted with long lines of the little buggers, leading from the kitchen window to the counter, the stove and the pantry.

Yesterday, the line led to a plastic pint container of honey in the pantry. They managed to wedge themselves between the lid and the rim, in a solid mass of nasty, squirmy, little brown creatures. I showed them no mercy! I grabbed the container and held it under the faucet until I had dislodged and drowned every one of them. Then I took a sponge and obliterated the entire army of them. And...for the first time, I agreed to let hubby bring out the RAID can. We had a few glorious hours of antlessness, but this morning they were back, though not in full invasion mode. Once again, I attacked them with the sponge, but apparently some of them had developed a new survival strategy, namely...taking up residence on the enemy. I was not immediately aware of my uninvited guests. After cleaning the kitchen I left the house to go the gym. As I stood talking to my trainer, Sally, I felt a tickle on my belly. I scratched it and felt another, and another! With Sally looking at me incredulously, I lifted my shirt and saw several goddamned ants crawling on me.

Sally laughed and offered to spray me with Raid, but I declined, opting instead to go home, shower, and develop a new strategy.

So far, I have considered and rejected the following ideas:

1. Burn the house down.
2. Saturate the entire house and grounds with insecticide.
3. Learn to love the little devils.

I would welcome any suggestions from my dear friends in the Blogosphere.