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| Pot Advocates Flee To Freer Life In Canada |
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Posted by FoM on March 24, 2002 at 23:54:03 PT By Jeremy Hay, The Press Democrat Source: Press Democrat 
On Valentine's Day, Ken Hayes -- a wanted man in America -- boarded a ferry at Horseshoe Bay bound for British Columbia's Sunshine Coast. For Hayes, the heavily forested coastline beckoned as a sanctuary from U.S. drug agents, a world apart from Petaluma where he'd been a highly visible advocate for medical marijuana use. Today, he is among a small but growing group of Americans who have fled to Canada's westernmost province to escape marijuana charges in the United States, or moved there in search of a society more tolerant of the drug. Their presence highlights the dramatically different approaches to marijuana each country has taken -- and, some analysts say, could strain relations as the United States aggressively prosecutes people it views as drug dealers. A year ago, Hayes won a well-publicized victory in Sonoma County when he was acquitted of marijuana trafficking charges. He mounted a medical defense, which has been successful in North Coast counties where voters strongly supported Proposition 215, the 1996 initiative that allowed pot use with a doctor's recommendation. But local sympathy is at odds with federal law, which puts marijuana in the same category as heroin and cocaine. Immediately after his acquittal, federal drug agents began investigating Hayes and the San Francisco marijuana buyers' club he co-owned. An anonymous caller tipped Hayes to the investigation, and in January he raced to Canada with his girlfriend and 3-year-old daughter. Two days before he boarded the ferry to the Sunshine Coast, U.S. prosecutors charged him with being a "large-scale" drug trafficker, crimes that carry a possible sentence of 10 years to life. The charges are similar to those he beat in Sonoma County, but Hayes says he won't return to contest them, and will fight extradition, because federal courts bar defenses based on medical use of marijuana. Most Low-Profile Not all of his fellow refugees are under the gun, nor are they all activists. The majority are simply people who believe marijuana helps them cope with illness. "Most are very low profile, they're not active," said Richard Cowan, a former director of the National Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws. Most have landed in British Columbia, often drawn to the Sunshine Coast, where locals say a vibrant pot-growing industry was founded by a previous generation of American expatriates, people opposed to the Vietnam War. At least 60 Americans are registered members of medical pot dispensaries in the province. "I have no doubt more are coming," said Cowan, who lives in Vancouver most of the year. But the most serious attention is focused on Hayes and three other Americans who face charges in the United States and have taken shelter in the Vancouver area. One who fled in 1998 is now fighting extradition; the others crossed the border in the past 10 months. They are: Steve Tuck, a disabled Army veteran, who is wanted in Humboldt County on six felony pot charges. Steve Kubby, a former California Libertarian Party gubernatorial candidate, who is battling Placer County drug charges and is campaigning for medical marijuana rights. Renee Boje, a 32-year-old graphic artist from Santa Monica, who is fighting extradition to the United States on marijuana-related charges. All three live on the Sunshine Coast, a long strip of land north of Vancouver accessible only by ferry or seaplane. The Americans say Canada is more free, its courts more just. They miss their homes and families, and wish they could return. "Freedom sure is a lot less abstract now," said Tuck, 36. U.S. law enforcement officials aren't sympathetic. Tuck is "a commercial marijuana grower for profit," said Sgt. Wayne Hanson, who heads the Humboldt County Sheriff's Department's drug enforcement unit. Advocates like Hayes, who says he's been involved with medical marijuana for 10 years, argue that the United States is ignoring research -- and testimony by patients -- proving pot's medical value. U.S. officials say they are drug users and pushers whose illegal activities are linked to a world of hurt. "There's increasing evidence that more and more people are developing dependence on marijuana, and ... at an earlier age," said Tom Riley, a spokesman for White House drug czar John Walters. "We haven't found any strong medicinal benefits ... and there's been years of research," Riley said. Riley suggests that a trend of Americans moving north for more marijuana freedom would validate arguments against initiatives like Proposition 215. That argument, he said, is "that if we legalize medical marijuana, we'll become a haven for people who want to smoke, grow and trade drugs." In the United States, he said, "our goal is to drive down drug use." Without fail, the American refugees say the U.S. war on drugs is killing people who depend on marijuana to ease their pain and defying the will of voters who have approved medical marijuana laws in eight states. Hayes calls the U.S. charges part of a vendetta. Aboard the ferry, he and his girlfriend, Cheryl Sequeira, were hoping for support and advice from compatriots on the Sunshine Coast. Two days before, seven Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers had rapped on the door of the home they rent in Vancouver. They seized Sequeira's laptop computer and 183 young pot plants Hayes was growing in a basement room. Each of them was charged with growing pot with the intent to sell. Hayes and Sequeira believed the DEA orchestrated their arrests; they feared Canada wasn't as safe as they'd been told. "On the ferry that night, I just knew it was hopeless," she said. Social Acceptance But in British Columbia, they have found a political and social climate for marijuana undoubtedly different from anywhere in the United States. "We have been told by many of them (Americans) when we do arrest them, that they're here because the sentencing is less severe and the social acceptance is higher," said Royal Canadian Mounted Police Staff Sgt. Chuck Doucette, spokesman for the drug enforcement section. He agreed, unhappily, that, "yes, that is the case." Except for a small government-approved medical marijuana program, it's as illegal to grow, sell or smoke pot in Canada as it is in the United States. But Vancouver, Canada's third-largest city, is home to the country's largest pot club, the British Columbia Compassion Society. The club, with 1,600 members, operates openly a block away from a neighborhood police storefront, selling a few hundred grams of pot daily, and mailing packages of pot to customers throughout Canada. At the Sunshine Coast Compassion Club in Gibsons, 15 of the 40 members are American, said Lisa Kirkman, who started the club in October. She said the Americans, all of them over age 45, hail from Florida, North Carolina and Hawaii, as well as California. Illusion of safety In November, Vancouver Police Inspector Kash Heed, the city's top drug officer, told a Canadian Senate committee that "small-scale possession ( of pot ) is virtually unenforced by the police department, and the government no longer effectively prosecutes the use of cannabis." "In practical terms," Heed said, "we have ... de facto legalization based on the wide margin of discretion afforded the police." Nonetheless, as Hayes and Sequeira have found, British Columbia isn't exactly a marijuana-safety zone. "There's an illusion of safety in Canada that isn't exactly brought to bear," said Philippe Lucas, founder of the Vancouver Island Compassion Society, who currently faces charges for trafficking and possession. But, he said, "I'm certainly unlikely to face jail time." Which is why Americans like Hayes -- facing both U.S. and Canadian charges -- say dealing with British Columbia's courts is by the far the lesser evil. But they fear that they're not out of the reach of the United States. "I'm very happy here," Boje said, "but sometimes I wake up having nightmares of being taken away from my husband and baby." She fled to Canada in 1998, as federal prosecutors prepared to charge her with marijuana cultivation, intent to distribute, and conspiracy. Her charges carry a sentence of 10 years to life. The United States has been trying to extradite her since 1999. Hayes and Sequeira were eager to meet Boje -- she inspires them. They were to have dinner with her at Kubby's Sunshine Coast home. Kubby has smoked pot for 26 years to help suppress adrenal cancer. His wife, Michele, says she uses it for irritable bowel syndrome. The couple, with two young daughters, headed north in May from Placer County, following a two-year legal battle stemming from a 1999 raid at their Olympic Valley home. The raid netted 256 pot plants and led to 19 pot felony charges against the Kubbys. "We changed the law," said Steve Kubby, referring to Proposition 215. "It was just a shock that we could be arrested and charged and overnight labeled as criminals." Kubby -- still embroiled in legal battles with Placer County and the state -- is "technically a fugitive," a spokesman for Attorney General Bill Lockyer said. The Kubbys contacted Hayes and Sequeira the night of their arrest. "We said, 'You need to come over here, you need to be with some good American friends who can help you through this,'" Michele Kubby said. On the same day Hayes and Sequeira were arrested in Vancouver, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents raided a ranch Hayes rented in Petaluma, and seven other Bay Area locations, including his medical pot club in San Francisco. Three of his associates were arrested, and agents seized 8,300 pot plants and $58,500 in cash. In an affidavit filed Feb. 8 in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, DEA Special Agent Jon Pickette described the club, the Harm Reduction Center, as a front through whose back door Hayes dealt hundreds of pounds of marijuana and through whose bank accounts he laundered hundreds of thousands of dollars. Six hours after Hayes and Sequeira were arrested in Vancouver, a judge ordered them freed without bail. In San Francisco, two of his co-defendants, Ed Rosenthal and James Halloran, were released on $500,000 bail. A third, Richard Watts, the club's manager, remains in jail. All four have been indicted on charges including conspiracy to cultivate more than 1,000 marijuana plants. The charges carry prison terms ranging from five years to life. 'A Just Country' For Hayes, the difference in treatment confirmed the decision to flee. "I felt confident after getting released by the Canadian authorities that we had done the right thing," he said. "Canada is a just country." In recent weeks, he has been contacted by at least two other California men wondering whether they, too, should head north to avoid potential criminal charges. For Sequeira, their easy release in Vancouver was little comfort. That they could be arrested in Canada was proof they weren't beyond the reach of U.S. authorities. Neither DEA nor RCMP officials will comment specifically on Hayes' and Sequeira's arrests ( she isn't named in the U.S. indictments ), but Greg Underwood, group supervisor in the DEA's San Francisco district office, said, "I'm sure if he was arrested up there in Canada that we would have worked very closely with them; we have a very close relationship with their agencies." "Ken kept telling me we'd be safe here," Sequeira said, "that we were in Canada and they couldn't touch us." "When that RCMP cop came through the door and said the DEA wanted my computer, I just wanted to quit, to go home," she said. "What does it matter that we're here?" For weeks now, Hayes and Sequeira have had that question answered by Americans who, in one way or another, share their circumstances. "We're free here," Kubby said during an interview at his home in Sechelt, a town of about 7,500 that is the largest on the Sunshine Coast. "It's a very cannabis-friendly area; the authorities are very friendly and understanding," Kubby said. Physician's Approval Later, at Howl at the Moon, a Mexican restaurant in Gibsons, a crowd of nine American expatriates gathered, along with some Canadian friends. Boje cradled her baby. Between the tables, the Kubbys' daughters played with Hayes' and Sequeira's daughter. The adults -- all of whom are quick to produce cards stating they have a physican's approval to use pot for medical reasons -- ate nachos and drank margaritas. Periodically, they headed for the restaurant's deck to openly toke on a marijuana pipe or a joint. Asked later about the uninhibited pot smoking, RCMP Staff Sgt. Ed Hill, who oversees law enforcement in the Gibsons area, said: "If they've got a card that says they can go to the ballgame and smoke dope just like you and I can have a beer, I don't know there's much I can do about it." If he'd been there, Hill said, "I'd have been checking and certainly investigating the validity of the cards and the ramifications of the use of American cards in Canada." It's the kind of place, the Americans say, where they can try to carry on with their lives. All the Americans raise money for those among them who have legal defense funds. From their home, the Kubbys co-anchor Pot-TV, a thrice-weekly marijuana news show on the Internet. On the night Hayes, Sequeira and Boje came for dinner, the Kubbys interviewed them for an upcoming show. Steve Kubby stood with his arms around Hayes and Sequeira; a large title on the screen read: "Ken Hayes: Free in B.C.!" A month later, Hayes and Sequeira appeared in Vancouver's Adult Criminal Court, trailed by a photographer from the Canadian Broadcasting Corp., which plans a show Tuesday about Americans fleeing pot charges. New Court Date Set A judge set another court date in April. Their attorney, John Conroy, who also represents Boje, has told them he expects they'll get off lightly on the Canadian charges, perhaps with a full discharge. The TV crew returned with Hayes and Sequeira to their Kitsilano home. The large living room, pungent with incense, was furnished with seating pillows, decorated with Buddha statuettes and family photographs. The CBC reporter asked Hayes if it's "been worth it." Hayes cried, dropped his head into his hands: "From where I sit now, as hard as it is, cannabis is medicine and those sick and dying people need it -- and I'd do it all over again, I don't know what Cheryl thinks, but I would." Later, long after the TV crew has gone, Sequeira, who originally opposed Proposition 215, said: "I don't want to be here, but I'm not giving in. After how apathetic I was, I just can't concede to them." At the drug czar's office, spokesman Tom Riley said people like Hayes and Boje and Tuck, though they themselves may not be responsible for crimes beyond growing and selling pot, work against a sordid backdrop. "A lot of the most outrageously violent, egregiously brutal acts we associate with drug trafficking, are from people smuggling marijuana into the U.S.," he said. Staying To Fight In Oakland, Ed Rosenthal, 57, the author of more than a dozen books on marijuana and now a co-defendant in the case against Hayes, says he's not going anywhere. "The reason I'm staying to fight it," he said, "is that I'm not guilty." About those, like his friend Ken Hayes, who have fled, he said: "I'd hate to argue with somebody that they should give up their freedom. They did what they thought was right. "I just have a different way of doing things." In his living room, Hayes recalled his Sonoma County trial. "I agree with him. He's right," Hayes said. "But he didn't go to my court dates for two years, I'm telling you that took a lot out of me. "Why should I go back? I'm free here." Source: Press Democrat, The (CA) Related Articles & Web Sites: DEA Raids Medical Marijuana Club Nothing Easy About Life In Exile Nations' Drug Policies on Collision Course Asylum in Canada Could Be Sought in Pot Case Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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| Comment #14 posted by FoM on March 27, 2002 at 21:22:51 PT |
| Canada has a reputation as a safe haven for all kinds of refugees. In the 60's, thousands of those refugees were U.S. draft dodgers fleeing forced service in Vietnam.
Now there's another group of Americans seeking sanctuary here, though they're dodging a different kind of war: the war on drugs. Watch the Story: http://www.cbc.ca/disclosure/media/020326_drugs.ram Details: http://www.cbc.ca/disclosure/archives/020326.html#drugs [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #13 posted by qqqq on March 27, 2002 at 05:12:37 PT |
| ...Manifest destiny!...Who's up there in Canada anyway?..why they're just a bunch of squatters from England and France who pretended that they were a country!..think about it!..ya got your South America,,,your Central America,,your North America,,,but somehow Canada and Mexico dont wanna be called "americas"......why?..well it's obviously because they are terrorists...no one knows how many Al-Quieda are hiding out in the mountains of Canada.....It's time we found out just how many Canadians have applied for student visas in the US,and we should seize all Canadian assets....now,,on to the Mexican threat...... [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #12 posted by lookinside on March 27, 2002 at 04:24:10 PT:
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| As I mentioned earlier, I'd rather stand and fight. If the choice is a cell in a cushy federal prison or dropping everything and fleeing to Canada, I guess the choice is fairly easy. With the DEA setting offices up in Vancouver, that may not be far enough. I'm not sure the U.S. wouldn't overthrow the Canadian Government(manifest destiny) if the Canadians get too far off the Anti's path(Anti-Christ?). [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #11 posted by qqqq on March 27, 2002 at 04:07:15 PT |
| ..yes,,,,many Americans are now being loaded onto the trains...yes..the train to Canada,,where you will be with your family,,your children are waiting there for you.....your husband already is working there,,..... ..a potleaf and number is tattooed onto your hand,,you become somewhat concerned when you notice dumpsters full of bongs......... ..too stupid to be funny,,,but at least I didnt chicken out and not post it.... [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #10 posted by qqqq on March 27, 2002 at 03:17:49 PT |
| ..OK,,,if your are youngster,,and you are concerned enough about oppression in the states,,,that you would feel more comfortable relocating in Canada,,,,then Go For It!...Canada is quite nice...People are friendly....Good luck to you as you try to get a good job!..the friendly American who fled the states to find peace in Canada....... But..If you are an old guy,,and you are not real wealthy,,and you think that moving to Canada will make it so you and your offspring will have a nicer,,more free exsistance,,,,,well,,consider this;..I have a hard time imagining Canada being some sort of private offshore Switzerland that out-freedoms the US,,and becomes a place that ridicules DEA anti-speak,,and sell buds that bear the Seagram label......nope...I dont think so...Imagine if Canada actually decided to outrightly defy the US,,well then,,of course they would be labeled as Al-Quieda,,and Operation Northern Justice would be launched to free the innocent Canadian people from the misguided factions that have taken over their government.... ...nope...if you wanna fight for freedom,,,,you need to start at home!...if you are scared shitless by the unstoppable monster of the US Megalon-Mothra,,then hi-tail it to the north and hide in the woods ...either way,,I'll be right there with you... [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #9 posted by RavingDave on March 27, 2002 at 00:06:00 PT |
| ...or so the saying goes. I've been saying since 9/12 that it wouldn't come as a surprise to me to find out that the whole 9/11 crisis was orchestrated, at least on some level, by a power-hungry, fascist elite. It sure was timed very suspiciously, much as the Daddy brought on the Gulf War at a time when his greatest notoriety was being called the "flag-burning" president. Although that "war" did succeed in increasing his popularity at home for a limited time, it apparently wasn't enough to get him reelected. Now, at a time when the shrub was looking mighty peaked in the face of intensifying scrutiny over his blatant disregard of the mandate of the people, what should conveniently come to pass? National crisis, of course. War! Terror! We must all come together, wave the flag, and burn the heretics and unbelievers. For months now, I have been drawing the same parallels between the Bush administration and the Third Reich. Sometimes I even scare myself with the comparison. Incidentally, I was reading just the other day about the company in Florida which manufactures the ID chip which is implanted under the skin. They have had to spend considerable time convincing the Bible-thumpers that their product isn't the Mark of the Beast. I, myself, am not so sure anymore. I, too, am a software professional. I can easily support myself and my family in climes less antagonistic to my safety and personal well-being. I doubt this country would truly miss me, but the song might change if several thousand of my most-intelligent cohorts left and took their tax money with them. I love what this country represents, but I detest what it has become. How soon we forget the fact that this country was founded on the idea that men could be free to choose and to do as they wished. Nary 225 years later, what do we have but the same oppression that we fought to escape. Only now, there's no uncharted frontier, no unsettled wilderness into which we can set out to seek our fortunes. Nope, I'm afraid it's all mapped, charted, and, of course, owned. It's getting might expensive, too, and the price just keeps going up (in more ways than one). I'm afraid I agree with Kap - get out while the gettin's good. I value my freedom too much to stand and fight the good fight. The most I can hope for is to vote with my feet and hope that there's someplace out there where people have more sense. I, for one, am quite fond of Europe, especially Holland. Oh, how I miss my bicycle. Why the hell I ever came back here, I'll never understand... [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #8 posted by SoberStoner on March 25, 2002 at 23:41:54 PT:
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| Kap, i feel ya man. I'm in the tech industry as well (and eve in the DC area) and i would be willing to bet that 90% of my fellow employees either smoke currently or have smoked before. And I also know that when i start to look for my next job in a year or two, I'll be looking very heavily at the Vancouver area. I just hope that our Glorious Leaders (whoever that may be, and i doubt its duh-bya) hasnt blown the friggen planet to bits with their 'nuclear response strategy'. I love America...I hate our government. The people that live in this country have forgotten why our country was founded to being with. I havent. In fact, I"m starting to realize more and more each day what those REAL patriots felt back in the 1770's. Everytime I hear someone saying that we need to bomb those 'terrorists' I want to scream, i want to argue, but most of all, i want to cry. I want to cry for all the people that our government has hurt, killed, or detained. We're one nation under God, but we have the audacity to break all of the VERY simple rules that God wants us to live by. I cant watch the mainstream news anymore. It's getting harder and harder to check this website as well, because for every positive story, I see another story about how crazy our current administration is and I cant help but think how they're leading us down the path to Armageddon. We imprison people, kill people, and 'convert' them to our religion, and then we wonder why they hate the U$A. But what bothers me most of all...the sheeple think everything is fine and dandy. I wish i could move now, but it's just not possible. I want to help change the face of the world, and i think the best way for me to do that is to become a medical provider in Canada, so I can help spread the love and the harmony and peace that cannabis provides. I've read up on it a little bit, and while it may be difficult, most things that are REALLY worth doing dont come easy. If i can help just one person ease their pain, then I will do whatever it takes to do that. For all of you in Canada already, I wish you all the best of luck, and maybe one day soon we can all get together and have a REAL celebration for what freedom really means. It saddens me that I am going to be leaving my country for the same reason it was founded. I never thought I would want to live outside of the United States, but every day, i feel more and more unwelcome here. O Canada...dum dee dumm dee dee......or however it goes... SS [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #7 posted by FoM on March 25, 2002 at 11:36:34 PT |
| Yanks Seek B.C. Refuge
Harsh U.S. drug laws drive Americans over the border to Sechelt
Source: The Province The sleepy Sunshine Coast is becoming a refuge for American citizens fleeing marijuana-related charges in the United States. Steve Tuck, a disabled veteran from California who takes pot for medicinal purposes, moved to Sechelt last summer with his wife and son after being charged with trafficking -- an accusation he denies. He believes there's probably 100 other Americans "and more coming" who are similarly fleeing what they consider to be harsher drug laws in the U.S. and the prospect that they would land in jail if they stayed put. Tuck was honorably discharged from the U.S. Army in 1987 after suffering a spine injury which continues to plague him. "We're a community here where we take care of each other, we help each other out," said Tuck, 36, who says he's donated 40,000 marijuana seeds to the Canadian government's medicinal marijuana program. "It's like a support system. It's not for any other reasons than that. And also it's affordable." A perception that the Sunshine Coast was a haven for American draft dodgers during the Vietnam War and therefore has a more laid back attitude has attracted some. And some Americans moved to the Sunshine Coast after contacting Renee Boje, a native of Santa Monica, Calif., who has been living in Gibsons and fighting extradition on drug charges for several years. She's awaiting a justice minister's appeal of a B.C. Supreme Court court ruling ordering her out of the country. "It was really good for me to come here and get away from it all after what I'd been though in America," Boje, 32, said yesterday. "It's peaceful here, it's beautiful. There's trees everywhere and a really supportive community here." The Sunshine Coast Compassion Club, started up by local resident Lisa Kirkland in October, estimates 15 of its 40 members are American citizens. Steve Kubby, who played a key role in a winning California referendum supporting pot for medicinal purposes, says he packed his bags and travelled to Sechelt even after the main charges against him were dismissed. "We felt that my life was very much at risk by these rogue law-enforcement people," he said. "At least here in Canada, there's a federal recognition that patients who happen to require medical cannabis to stay alive have real protection and human rights afforded to them by the federal government of Canada. And that's why I'm here." Kubby has adrenal cancer and uses marijuana to control the pain. Sechelt Mayor Bruce Milne said he spoke to a staff sergeant in the local RCMP detachment, who was unaware of the influx of Americans. Gibsons Mayor Barry Janyk said it was also "news to me" that so many Americans were moving in but added the town has been looking into the Compassion Club and its legality. "I don't even know the status of it in the town of Gibsons right now. But if it's simply a front for people that are seeking some sort of sanctuary in the country, I'd have concerns about it. That would be the same for any organization using a false front to find safe haven in this country. That's not the way you do things." RCMP could not be reached. An expert on marijuana policies in Canada and the United States says the two countries are on a collision course. "It will be a sticking point between the two countries," said Eric Sterling, president of the Criminal Justice Policy Foundation, in Maryland. Although marijuana is illegal in both countries, enforcement is a lower priority in Canada and criminal penalties less severe.
Complete Article: http://www.canada.com/vancouver/story.asp?id=FD62D468-A362-493E-BFAE-92D080707CA1 [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #6 posted by lookinside on March 25, 2002 at 09:44:07 PT:
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| What frightens me is that there is no one who can stop them, except us. Our government is playing both sides of the street. The other side: the SANE side, legalization, seems to be a path that becomes more remote every day. The shrub is pushing for war everywhere. We watched, and thoroughly enjoyed the Academy Awards last night. And then one of those ads(use drugs, help terrorists) came up. It ruined the show. Robert Redford's speech veered toward criticism of our current regime. I'd love to hear what he says in private conversations. I think many in the entertainment industry are aware of what is coming. I hope they speak out more directly. [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #5 posted by kaptinemo on March 25, 2002 at 09:19:15 PT:
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| I've ragged on about this before, but believe that it is more relevent now than when I first brought it up years ago. We are now in roughly the same position as the Jews were in just after Adolph Hitler was elected to power. And like many of the Jews back then, we stand genteely incredulous at the unbelievably crass attempts to categorize us as 'terrorists'. Many of us honestly cannot believe that we are being targeted on every level, now. (In a very ominous move, the NDIC is now tracking groups and individuals working towards drug law reform, and monitoring websites engaged in that work. You can bet that some poor low-level functionary has been tasked with reading these words.) In an event eerily familiar to historians of fascist movements and governments, like the Reichstag Fire, I suspect that certain forces within the US government have engineered events to bring about such mass hysteria in the population that they could ramrod their PATRIOT legislation through Congress with not a single committee hearing. Since the awful day of 9/11/01, the brazenness of Uncle has grown considerably worse. The use of taxpayer dollars to mould public opinion in an attempt to equate pot-puffing little Johnnie and Suzy with Osama's murderers is just the latest gross example of the power grab underway. All that was missing was a Nazi-esque hook-nosed charicature of a European Jew and the "Horst Wessel Leidt" playing in the background. Of course, the advertising wonks who dreamed this up know better than to be so overt; they've couched their approach in much more muted terms...but the approach is the same: alienate a specific group from society and destroy it. So, the question becomes "How long will you stay?" How long before you realize the steamroller heading towards you will not stop? How long before you understand that the driver of it couldn't care less about your concerns about rights and dignity and all the other matters most truly patiotic Americans believe in. He could care less that those rights paid for in blood by our servicemen and women are being quietly, ever so softly, slowly and gently being stripped from you? How long before you realize the courts, just as in Nazi Germany, serve the hallowed State...not you? The 'smart Jews' of Nazi Germany saw the poorly spelled, ignorant, bloody-minded ravings written on the wall and split. The ones who weren't smart enough to believe that the system had finally switched over to the killing machine it had become wound up as lampshades. When they come to you with a demand that you accept a national ID Card, or a datachip under your skin like your cat or dog, or a piss-test to rent an car, it may be already too late. By then, most of the escape hatches will be dogged shut. So, I repeat; how long will you stay? I once thought that the Beast could be stopped; I mentioned many times before that the only way to derail drug law reform in the US would be the imposition of martial law. Well, it's here in everything but name; all that's missing now are checkpoints on highways and "Your papers, please, Citizen!" You can bet there are some antis just itching for those days so bad they need Preparation H by the case. These idiots have no idea of the precipice they are hurtling towards...and dragging us all along with them. In their righteous zeal, they think themselves untouched by the awful mechanics of despotism. They think they can 'dance with the Devil' and not get singed. Fools! We are so close the The Pit I can smell the sulphur. But the antis have been smelling it so long that think it's a normal component of the atmosphere. They really can't understand our worries about where the country may be heading. And they couldn't be bothered. [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #4 posted by lookinside on March 25, 2002 at 08:24:31 PT:
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| Relocation is a tough call. We are seriously considering it. Our roots run deep here in California. I'd rather stand and fight. The DEA may make things so difficult in the near future, that staying becomes impossible. A good barometer of conditions here will be Ed Rosenthal's case. If he wins, the DEA will be discredited. We need to keep a very close eye on that. I think Ed will fight this to the bitter end. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #3 posted by goneposthole on March 25, 2002 at 06:57:35 PT |
| I urge Noelle Bush to defect. [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #2 posted by el_toonces on March 25, 2002 at 06:26:22 PT:
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| .....but not many people think about that, kapt. I really did not even think in such terms until I started paying more attention to the way non-profit companies keep the books, noticed that their books tend to reflect human capital (in-kind service donations, etc.) whereas in the busniess world, where I used to live, human capital counts for squat on a balance sheet. This is short-sighted accounting, a la Enron, as you point out. It's no irony Deadheads played such an important role in developing the net.......... El [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #1 posted by kaptinemo on March 25, 2002 at 05:48:17 PT:
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| IMHO, that's what we are starting to see. And if Provinces like BC and Ontario and Quebec play their cards right, Canada could well become the host to not just Silicon Valley North...but Silicon Nation. The US Federal government, in typical narrow-minded fashion, is becoming ever more intrusive upon the rights of cannabis users...while the rest of the world is quietly dismantling their American-designed, locally-run DrugWar for something more sensible. That is, the rest of the Developed World. At the risk of seeming self-promoting, many readers here will remember that I had predicted that Thirld-World countries heavily addicted to US aid would fall in line with Uncle's increasingly maniacal DrugWar schemes, and ratchet up their own penalties for use...as The Phillapines have with E. But I doubt that there are many people clamboring to emigrate. I can't speak for other industries, so I will address my questions to those most familiar with mine chosen field. So, what's a bright code writer or tech to do, when your favorite anodyne for what ails you can land you in jail alongside murderers and rapists and child molestors? In a word: move. And take your talents with you. Talents that have built the economies of whole geographic regions. Talents that maintain major industries. And talents which, when missing, will cause those industries dependent on the continued presence of the people possessing those talents to crash and burn. Stop and think about it, friends: if you are an IT worker, what would happen in your community if you left? What would happen to your job? What would happen to your company? Congress, in a fit of xenophobia, has sent many H-1B visa workers packing for home. That means less competition for more jobs. The cachet of IT workers has just risen enormously in a very quiet way. In the DC area where I work, many companies are now pushing for their people to get security clearences...because the US Guv'mint wants the people working on their contracts to be squeaky clean. And, as you can guess, that particular job requirement is going to cause massive problems...as many, many IT workers smoke. (And yes, I have already been approached for such a process...and flatly turned them down. As did everyone else in our group. This does not bode well for Uncle's paranoiac wish-list.) Push is coming to shove in Americas' work force...and the wrong people are being pushed. Push too hard, and they leave. And the American economy suffers. I've said it before; I would happily learn to sing "O, Canada!" if it meant being left alone. [ Post Comment ] |
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