***

By Demetri Sevastopulo in Washington and Steve Negus, Iraq Correspondent

Published: October 19 2006

American and Iraqi efforts to improve security in Baghdad have failed to reduce bloodshed in the increasingly violent Iraqi capital, the senior US military spokesman in Iraq acknowledged on Thursday.

In an uncharacteristically gloomy admission, Major General William Caldwell said the recent surge in violence was “disheartening”. He said US and Iraqi forces would have to “refocus” security measures. The review was demanded by General George Casey, who commands the 140,000 US troops in Iraq.

Peace & love

Gloovins

"Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he knew the law violated the Constitution, as did others. That didn't stop them from voting for it. What is the significance of this new law?

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush signed a law on Tuesday allowing tough CIA interrogation and military trials for terrorism suspects, triggering bitter election-year denunciations from Democrats. http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061017/pl_nm/security_bush_dc_5

[House of Representatives Roll Call:] Final Vote Results for Roll Call 491 -- HR 6166 -- Military Commissions Act http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2006/roll491.xml

Cool! Thanks again.

A clean win.

Yes, a clean win is what we need.

Yes

Yes on Amendment 44!!!

Yes on Question 7!!!

Voters of Colorado/Nevada, history is in your hands. Push that button. Go for it. Just do it.

Bake the bread.

Serve the bread.

Eat the bread.

We got to have a clean win to regain confidence.

Looking For a Leader Lyrics

***

Yeah we've got our election

But corruption has a chance

We got to have a clean win

To regain confidence

AMERICA is beautiful

But she has an ugly side

We're lookin' for a leader

A piece of paper is something substantial as well. I can see it. I can hold it. It is my vote and I bet all those volunteers do a pretty dang good job of counting them after the polls close.

That's just what I think.

You get checked off a list as having voted.

Then they count em and people would listen to the poll reports on radio and television.

For some reason, most of my life that I've been aware of voting, I've always dreaded having to use a voting machine and now, apparently, I will have to.

Olbermann addresses the Military Commissions Act in a special comment.

That would be me.

http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3631

Cannabis use goes down whenever and wherever cannabis laws are relaxed! We must call the liars on this every time.

Marijuana Consumption Drops in U.K. Despite Liberalized Laws: http://www.jointogether.org/news/headlines/inthenews/2006/marijuana-consumption-drops.html

Measure P will pass easily and the sky won't fall. The prohibitionists will be proved wrong once again. Don't they ever get tired of being wrong? I couldn't stand being wrong ALL of the time. I would probably learn to be right once in a while!

When it passes, they should dedicate Measure P to Johnny Pee!!!

FoM, Blackwell is up to his old tricks again...

ACTION ALERT: Blackwell purged Ohio Voter Rolls Oct 1st - Vote Early: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/10/18/85915/109

It's time for the pre-election "BOOGA-BOOGA" to begin...

Dirty bomb threats target NFL stadiums: http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Dirty_bomb_threats_target_NFL_stadiums_1018.html

With the Republicans and their "war on terror" poised to collapse, just who would benefit?

THE WAY OUT IS THE WAY IN...

The PROMIS of 9/11 and Beyond: http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_1322.shtml

Access Hollywood Covers Charlie Sheen (short video): http://youtube.com/watch?v=KOi7pTW5Sn0

Well-Timed Scandal Implication Pushing 9/11 Able-Danger Whistle Blower Weldon Out of House: http://www.jonesreport.com/articles/181006_weldon.html

WTC Collapse Conference - UC Berkeley - 11/11/2006: http://911blogger.com/node/3853

October 18, 2006

THE HAGUE - A Dutch appeals court on Tuesday handed down a landmark ruling allowing an MS patient to grow cannabis for his personal use to alleviate the symptoms of his illness.

I have no pity for those who have placed their entire existence on the sole purpose of prosecuting or exterminating users of cannabis.

By ending cannabis prohibition, or even taking away the police enforcement powers with respect to the lower socioeconomic classes, we remove their necessity, they have to find new jobs. The police love prohibition for the most part, except when they get killed. At least marijuana users tend to be peaceful and don't threaten the police person's safety very much. Easy targets and a good way to keep yourself employed.

Of Citizens and Voters

Who "will" take down this immoral place

That "smirks" before Eternity.

I was a sailor, I was lost at sea I was under the waves Before love rescued me I was a fighter, I could turn on a thread Now I stand accused of the things Ive said

Love comes to town Im gonna jump that train When love comes to town Im gonna catch that flame Maybe I was wrong to ever let you down But I did what I did before love came to town

I used to make love under a red sunset I was making promises I was soon to forget She was pale as the lace of her wedding gown But I left her standing before love came to town

I ran into a juke joint when I heard a guitar scream The notes were turning blue, I was dazing in a dream As the music played I saw my life turn around That was the day before love came to town

When love comes to town Im gonna jump that train When love comes to town Im gonna catch that flame Maybe I was wrong to ever let you down But I did what I did before love came to town

I was there when they crucified my lord I held the scabbard when the soldier drew his sword I threw the dice when they pierced his side But Ive seen love conquer the great divide

I am not worrying about the children, It is my ass that can be brought before some comfortable magistrate.

Yes on Colorado 44, Yes on Nevada Q7, and Yes and Yes.

This problem:

According to the new BJS report, “Drug Use and Dependence, State and Federal Prisoners, 2004,” 12.7 percent of state inmates and 12.4 percent of federal inmates incarcerated for drug violations are serving time for marijuana offenses

Santa Barbara Mayor Marty Blum ... What is the problem we’re trying to solve [with this measure]?” Blum said.

If people aren't jailed for cannabis now, then what's the big deal about simply bringing the law into line with reality?

Of course, as I'm sure Mayor Marty Blum well knows, people are being jailed for no other reason than marijuana, and they are being jailed for pot in the U.S. in large and ever-increasing numbers.

Your freedom and safety are then left up to the whim and caprice of any and every cop. Say the cop doesn't like you because of your race, your religion, the way your features look, the way you dress, the bumpersticker you have on your car, or any one of a hundred other reasons, real or imagined. All any cop has to do is say that he/she smelled a "strong odor of marijuana in the vicinity of the car" and that's a pull over, a search, maybe a bust.

Discretionary laws like this are a big part of the Driving While Black phenomena. A cop can't pull you over for being black in the wrong part of town, but he can claim "probable cause" and pull you over for to search for pot any old time he wants.

Bear in mind that most police officers have only a high school education, and that most departments screen out overly educated individuals because police beat work is so repetitive and boring that smart people tend to burn out on it. And that many people apply to the police academy because they love power, love wearing a uniform, and worship authority.

How many of you want a poorly educated, power-crazy thug in a uniform to have unlimited discretion to pull you over? Me neither. That's why laws that restrict that ability are so important. Short of full legalization, these half-steps towards decriminalizing it are the best we can do.

Why is it that everytime a LEO talks about the dangers of legalizing the posession of cannabis, they always say that its usage will increase. Okay, so what if it increases? What negative social consequences does this increased usage breed? They never mention ANYTHING. They equate the very usage of cannabis as something negative.

http://www.hightimes.com/ht/legal/content.php?bid=1421&aid=22

ELECTION 2006 - Sowing the Seeds of Pot Reform 2006-09-15    >> legal category      >> legal article

By Paul Armentano

While drug law reformers should not view the initiative process as the primary mechanism for enacting substantive legislative reform (that duty still belongs to state legislatures and Congress), there’s little doubt that voter initiatives have been a highly successful way for activists to amend and overturn some of America’s more egregious marijuana policies.

....

http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2006/10/18/news/local/znews02.txt

Initiative 2 would make marijuana lowest priority By TRISTAN SCOTT of the Missoulian

A ballot initiative that aims to make marijuana crimes the single lowest priority for Missoula County authorities - pegged below even jaywalking on the hierarchy of enforcement - has met heavy opposition from adversaries who argue the drug would become more available to young people.

But proponents of the measure, dubbed Initiative 2, have accrued an authoritative advocate who recently showed his support in Missoula.

Norm Stamper's credentials are impressive. A 34-year veteran police officer with a Ph.D. in behavioral psychology, Stamper served as chief of the Seattle Police Department from 1994 until 2000,

...

Stamper is also plenty familiar with the nuts and bolts of Missoula's Initiative 2 because Washington voters passed a similar measure affecting Seattle's police department several years ago - Initiative 75.

In Missoula, like Seattle, the measure strives to place increased emphasis on crimes that threaten people's lives and property and on other, more pressing drug issues. A clause in the measure leans on local law enforcement to make “citations, arrests, property seizures and prosecutions for adult marijuana offenses Missoula County's lowest law enforcement priority.”