cannabisnews.com: War on Drugs Needs New Strategy





War on Drugs Needs New Strategy
Posted by CN Staff on November 29, 2006 at 06:57:02 PT
By Andrew Muchmore
Source: Red and Black
Georgia -- Just a few days ago, three Atlanta police officers shot down and killed a 92 year-old woman in her home while executing a search warrant.The frightened elderly woman lived alone in a high- crime neighborhood and had burglar bars on all her doors and windows. When the officers attempted to batter down her door, she fired on them and was killed when the officers returned fire.
What is most disturbing about this is that the officers were apparently following standard procedure, in which the homes of suspected non-violent drug offenders are routinely broken into by armed police officers or SWAT teams without knocking or identifying themselves first.There has been a strong movement towards the increased use of highly confrontational police tactics and the militarization of civilian police forces in the 25 years since the war on drugs began.The annual number of SWAT deployments has surged from 3,000 to 40,000 in that time. Tactics once reserved for only the most dangerous criminals are now used regularly in the execution of routine search warrants.Though the use of warrants was limited by the 1995 Supreme Court decision Wilson v. Arkansas, they are still permissible under an array of exigent circumstances which are arguably present in most cases.Since President Reagan announced the war on drugs in the early 80s, federal and state spending on drug enforcement and incarceration has grown to more than $75 billion per year.Roughly half of our prison cells and a similar proportion of our judicial resources are consumed by drug enforcement.The American prison population has ballooned to more than two million incarcerated citizens, making it the largest in the world in both absolute and per capita terms, and more than four times larger per capita than any Western European democracy.During this time the rate of drug arrests has increased rather than decreased, by a factor of three.The exigencies of our perpetual drug war have led to an erosion of our civil liberties and have undermined respect for the rule of law.The fear and distrust of police, which has become endemic among younger and less affluent Americans is a direct result of the diversion of police resources from the protection of the citizenry to the enforcement of morals.The police officers wounded or killed as a result of the drug war are victims just as the innocent civilians. One need not adhere to a Millian conception of liberty in which the rights of the individual may only be restricted to protect the rights of others.It is only necessary to rationally assess the costs and benefits of our current drug policy to come to the conclusion that it has been an abject failure.This may be the approach most likely to lead to re-election, but addiction treatment, education and the creation of economic opportunity are much more effective at combating drug usage than Gestapo-style tactics.How many lives and liberties are we willing to sacrifice for a solution which has only compounded the problem it sought to solve? Andrew Muchmore is a second-year law student from New Orleans. Source: Red and Black, The (U of Georgia, GA Edu)Author: Andrew MuchmorePublished: November 29, 2006Copyright: 2006 The Red and Black Publishing Co., Inc.Website: http://www.redandblack.com/Contact: http://apps.ugatoday.com/forms/letter.phpRelated Articles:Anger Spills Over in Atlanta at Killing of Womanhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread22413.shtmlAtlanta Police To Review 'No-Knock' Policyhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread22407.shtml 
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Comment #77 posted by The GCW on December 08, 2006 at 06:42:34 PT
SWATSTIKA
US GA: Edu: PUB LTE: SwatstikaPubdate: Fri, 01 Dec 2006Source: Red and Black, The (U of Georgia, GA Edu)SWATSTIKA When reading about credible drug law reform in, "War on Drugs Needs New Strategy" ( Nov. 29, 2006 ), I can't help imagine the resistance from police unions and the prison industry etc. yet society must control out of control "no knock" police raids. I'm reminded of the Nazi swastika and the resemblance makes Me associate SWAT with the newly coined term SWATSTIKA. To rationalize SWAT teams, police officials talk about preparedness for terrorist incidents. Once trained, however, SWAT teams nationally are mostly used to serve drug warrants and make drug arrests. One study shows 66 percent of their use is for executing search and arrest warrants. America must stop using SWAT military-style power for the war on drugs. SWAT has a history, using Gestapo tactics and entering private homes to conduct drug war warrants, including too many raids at wrong addresses, with too many innocent citizens killed in as little as 11 seconds. Police are to serve and protect; SWAT is primed to kill. SWATSTIKA; If the shoe fits and police doesn't like it they should change shoes. Truthfully, http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n000/a408.html?397
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Comment #76 posted by whig on December 01, 2006 at 15:56:16 PT
museman
I couldn't discuss gifting here but if we ever have a chance to break bread it would be a pleasure.I'm behind on my baking schedule, due to the holidays and general catching up. I only make one two-pound loaf or two one-pound loaves per week right now, and when I don't have time to do that I still have to feed the starter, and then I make pancakes.I made and ate some good potato pancakes last weekend.It's most important to me that everyone knows how it's done and knows why. The why is harder to explain unless people do it for themselves, so I'm really encouraging that.But in the meantime, perhaps we'll touch base via off-list e-mail.
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Comment #75 posted by museman on December 01, 2006 at 09:36:56 PT
whig
That bread is going to have to wait 'til I have that kind of space and time - unless you would like to gift me a loaf?The Kingdom is within. The answers are within. The resources are within. Everything we need to change this world into a 'heaven on earth' is within.However collectively it is only an embryonic possibility, a latent opportunity that is rarely taken, and that action is wholly dependent on will, not ingesting bread, cannabis, or any other divine providence put here to sustain us."Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that issues from the mouth of God."
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Comment #74 posted by museman on December 01, 2006 at 09:28:50 PT
Toker#58
No Toker, I wasn't referring to you, or thinking you advocate that. Your comments just sparked my opinion. The idea of 'violent revolution' has already been discussed at length here, and I think that we are all in agreement on that. Thumbs down.I realize that I'm 'preaching to the choir' here, but more that just us are reading these posts. So if I take a stance, and run with a concept - unless I make it a personal reply, there is no need to think it personal.
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Comment #73 posted by museman on December 01, 2006 at 09:20:58 PT
Hope #57
Words are often incapable of expressing the total meaning of an idea or concept. I try.Your comment reminded me of a stanza of one of my older songs, "Mr. America""So how do you feel about religion, do you believe what you can’t see?What has God done for you lately? Has the truth yet set you free?Did you purchase your absolution for this reality?Did you buy your ticket in heavens lottery?Did you read about life in a guilded book? What’s goin’ on, did you take a look?And you try to swallow, but it won’t go down, won’t go down."I used the term "half a christian" because my experience tells me that in 90% or more of the cases, 50% charity, love, faith, and hope (in the correct aspects of Spirit) would be far far more than what does exist.When I say 'my experience' I say it because obviously I haven't met EVERY christian in the world, and hold out the unlikely possibility that there some who care more about the message than the messenger.To me, Y'shuas' statement "Physician heal thyself." has revealed to me the actual systematic nature of dis-ease - cause and effect. The dis-ease we are faced with, socially, spiritually, and humanitarian, has a root cause. As long as the prevailing belief that treating the symptom has priority over isolating and treating the cause, the wound will not heal.Successful rallies of citizenry to apply various bandaids to things, like voting for democrats (just as corrupt) to treat the symptom of George Bush, and the gaining initiatives of cannabis, voted in as barely sticking band aids to cover the gaping wound, are merely drops in a bucket with more holes than a colander.I support the positive, I hail thankfully whatever ground can be gotten back from the rich thieves whose power rules and wrecks the world, but I won't pretend those bandaids are even close to enough. For example, I have a son who recently got a 'marijuana ticket' from a U.S. Ranger. The amount was negligible, and my son who should have known better, made every mistake in the book in dealing with LEO. The result was a 'ticket' for $550.00! Talk about the 'punishment fitting the crime.' The crime was committted against my son, his friend, and ultimately both our families. When will we see some justice? Absolutely never. That's not pessimism, that's reality.
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Comment #72 posted by The GCW on December 01, 2006 at 00:20:52 PT
Notice - Interesting
The Source is: Red and BlackThe Author is: Andrew MUCHMORE-4-2-0-There is reason to question if God created evil.
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Comment #71 posted by whig on November 30, 2006 at 22:22:07 PT
no disrespect intended
That should be Key lime pie. As in the Florida Keys.
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Comment #70 posted by whig on November 30, 2006 at 22:19:56 PT
Blends
First, a recipe for Romulan ale, if one were so inclined.A bit of the Romulan, in place of your hops, and there you go.Please don't add blue food coloring, that's gross, and key lime pie should be yellow, too.Volcanized Romulan with Blue Dream sativa in the pipe. Sounds epic.
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Comment #69 posted by whig on November 30, 2006 at 22:13:00 PT
My metabolism has always been weird...
Whenever my mom would give me something to make me drowsy, I'd bounce off the walls with energy. Until I'd drop, I guess. One time I was prescribed codeine and apparently wound up sleeping on the carpet outside the bedroom once the hyperactivity wore off.I seem to have a similar thing with cannabis -- indicas do seem to give me lots of energy at first.Then it's just chill.
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Comment #68 posted by whig on November 30, 2006 at 22:09:11 PT
Toker00
Indica.
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Comment #67 posted by Toker00 on November 30, 2006 at 19:50:47 PT
Sounds Space-y, whig!
I can hardly wait to get my first Volcano. It will be a needed break for my oxygen receptacles. Sativa?Toke. 
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Comment #66 posted by whig on November 30, 2006 at 17:50:09 PT
Guidance and navigation systems
check.
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Comment #65 posted by whig on November 30, 2006 at 17:48:10 PT
Toker00
My new visitor is Romulan, which is to say I have a new headspace that I am exploring with some very very nice mellow bud.I find it best to vaporize only for an initial take-off, and then the pipe provides the second-stage lift. Romulan is a good name for this.
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Comment #64 posted by Toker00 on November 30, 2006 at 17:16:39 PT
Well,
I meant to say "...what posters, and readers as well, have IN COMMON here at C-News."Toke.
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Comment #63 posted by Toker00 on November 30, 2006 at 16:41:40 PT
Whope
You are both exactly right. That view is one of the things most posters, and readers as well, have here at C-News. There are others, but those two views are the Foundation. The Perma-Hope and the Perma-Plan. We know.Toke. 
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Comment #62 posted by Hope on November 30, 2006 at 15:09:18 PT
"God has a plan."
I believe that, too, and I believe that each and every one of us is an integral part of that plan.
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Comment #61 posted by whig on November 30, 2006 at 15:06:09 PT
Toker00
God has a plan.
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Comment #60 posted by Hope on November 30, 2006 at 15:06:04 PT
"...get enough people on the same page"
That's the plan. That's what we've always been trying to do. It's working. Ever so slowly, but surely, it's working.It's been horribly slow. It's been ridiculously slow. But more people have wakened from their stupor of believing in the War on Drugs...and ESPECIALLY cannabis, than we saw ten years ago.Trying to end this wrong headedness that is hurting so many more people than it helps...and the wrongheadedness is killing people...people who never touched a drug...and it's wrong to kill the people that have touched a drug...trying to end all this has certainly not been an instant gratification project.One in thirty two Americans is in prison, on probation, or on parole. That says something's mighty wrong in the land of the free. Might wrong...but we are making progress...although it's hard to see when you see that they are still killing and imprisoning people over drugs. When a cartel member kills and terrorize people over the drug business...it's not surprising...but when the so called "good guys" are killing and terrorizing people over the drug business then something is mighty wrong and has to be remedied and slow as it is...I think we're quickening just that remedy. It's sort of loose and soft right now...but it will quicken...it will solidify. The remedy is getting stronger every day.Quicken. Quicken. Quicken.:0)
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Comment #59 posted by whig on November 30, 2006 at 15:04:33 PT
museman
Have you found the Kingdom of Heaven? It is within.Have some bread, and rejoice.
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Comment #58 posted by Toker00 on November 30, 2006 at 14:35:19 PT
Museman
I hope you don't think I was implying violent revolution, or just handing the reigns over to the next least/more corrupt Rulers. I just don't have any plans laid out in my mind of how to do what you and all of us know needs to be done. Presidents HAVE been Impeached, but I understand your pessimism about it ever happening with full investigation, or prosecution w/punishment, or that it would ever even make a difference in how we are "Controlled", not "Governed". I mess up sometimes, and begin believing , though temporarily, that we CAN make a difference using this Democratic System I have heard so much about. We will never change anything until we can get enough people on the same page, committing to the same plan. Sure, I suppose we could draw up a plan, overnight, that WE believe would work for the salvation of Humanity, but how do we IMPLEMENT IT? I have no doubt the direction that Mankind is headed, right now, is straight into Extinction. Do you believe a Divine Intervention will occur to correct our path, or do you believe we are Responsible for our own survival? Because we need something to materialize real soon. Will it take the Complete Destruction of our "Civilization" to bring out the Survivalist in Man?Toke. 
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Comment #57 posted by Hope on November 30, 2006 at 13:36:56 PT
Museman
I found your "Half a Christian" thought very intriguing.Christianity is walking in the way of being forgiven by God,as a gift of love, for all our shortcomings and sins. That made me think about the story where a master forgives his servant...i.e., God forgives us...and then goes out and causes another man to be beaten and imprisoned because of a debt he owed the forgiven servant. When the master heard that his forgiven servant had persecuted another and indeed, not forgiven another....he called back his servant...and said something to the effect of "You wicked servant...I forgave you your indebtedness but you didn't forgive him who was indebted to you. I will do to you what you did to him."I'd say that was the kind of work we see prevalent in those "Half Christians". They accept forgiveness for themselves...but they don't accept the very important other half...forgiving.That suggests to me they might be in a world of trouble and disappointment when they try to cash that half a ticket in at the entrance to eternity.
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Comment #56 posted by museman on November 30, 2006 at 13:18:47 PT
and...
"You will know the tree by it's fruit."
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Comment #55 posted by museman on November 30, 2006 at 13:03:37 PT
good and evil
In my experienced and studied opinion, they are a total invention of man. Convenient labels for a couple of unknown boxes in which we can throw all number of items and ideas."We strive to be good." "We fight against evil." A host of justifications can spring up from there, take root and grow.The concepts of 'good and evil' have served the power elite well for eons. It is the foundation for their "Rule of Law" currently being thrown at the world.It is an error of significant import.There is no 'good' nor 'evil.' Simply that which is, and that which has been corrupted.
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Comment #54 posted by museman on November 30, 2006 at 12:41:25 PT
treason and tyranny
"It is time for the American People to Arrest the United States Government for Treason and Tyranny!"I'll glady second that motion! Do I hear a third?But it's a long list, and I'm not sure where to draw the lines of responsibility, and culpability. It's easy to look at the power-criminals and yell 'impeach, impeach' (never gonna happen by the way), but the over-all responsibility is well embedded in the population from the city, to the county, to the state, and the nation. And then there is the 'average' american, working class, buying in to the class struggle to achieve that new worthless home built for a quarter-mill, buying gas so they can get to 'work' to pay for the power consumed, and their entertainment. The average citizen is who -for whatever justification- day in, and day out provides the very system that is wrecking life, and wreaking havoc worldwide, with it's resource and power. There wouldn't be any responsibility there would there?So lets replace the government? How did the Romans do it? Like America does; power and might, lies and subterfuge, assasination, empowering various puppet goverments worldwide, which conveniently also provides fuel and fodder for war, after war, after war.What've we got to replace it with? Newer younger lawyers, fresh out of law school? Looks to me like the same, old same old, no matter what...as long as people are willing to give their power and responsibility to someone other than themselves, without even thinking about the consequences.America was supposed to be 'the Great Experiment.' If it were a 'scientific experiment' the imperical evidence says it is an abject and total failure, much like it's pet legal discrimination called the 'War on Drugs'.As long as we are collectively content to be entertained by the mainstream, directed, and led by fad, fashion, and the dictates of the power-elite, then collectively we haven't a pot to piss in when it comes to viable options that don't include the same orders of control and values that are currently in place.Violent revolution only paves the way for new thugs, new emporers, and is in itself a failure to adequately address the issues. Armed and violent Revolution is an act of desperation, and merely transfers power from one group to another.The only revolution that will succeed is when the people say no to this ancient, stupid, erroneous, and destructive system of values which places life itself very low on it's measure scale, if at all. The heart of the people determines
the heart of a nation. If half of the 'christians' in this country were at least half a 'christian' in their daily lives, -by Y'shuas own definition, not the twists and turns of selective interpretation preached from the pulpits- then we would have something to work with in terms of 'replacing the government.'Politics and beaurocracy are nitpicking, shallow thinking, concerned more with appearance and 'style', and 'maintaining that particular 'status quo' that they consume incredible amounts of time and energy before anything constructive ever gets done. Declare war on somebody however, whether it is another nation, or your own people, and the guns, thugs, mercenaries, and young soldier cannon fodder, are instantly and consistently available.Yes change must come, but as the Main Man (that I know of) said;"Seek ye first the Kingdom (of Heaven), then all things will be added to you."
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Comment #53 posted by Hope on November 30, 2006 at 12:19:17 PT
There is no "necessity" 
to implement "evil".It's existence isn't so much a "necessity" as it is a "reality".To purposely implement evil is only necessary if you want to further evil.Why do evil and bad behaviors exist? Why do the concepts of right and wrong exist? I don't know. But I do know that we are better off to choose against evil and there is no way that it should be considered necessary to use, by supposedly good people...or implement evil to further a goal...unless that goal is, ultimately evil in itself.Besides the guy that was calling the use of CIs a "necessary evil", I would bet, doesn't really consider their use "evil" at all...just a "necessity" to his personal purposes.
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Comment #52 posted by whig on November 30, 2006 at 11:43:23 PT
Misfortune
What is often called "necessary evil" is not evil at all -- it is simple misfortune. The example I gave before of having to kill ants or let them overrun my apartment.Ants are not people.Are you a humanist?
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Comment #51 posted by whig on November 30, 2006 at 11:40:36 PT
Necessary evil
We all have to fall and hurt ourselves, we make mistakes and hurt others. That's necessary evil. We do not choose necessary evil. It is what happens when we try to avoid it anyhow.
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Comment #50 posted by whig on November 30, 2006 at 11:28:32 PT
Telarus
I do not stand in solidarity with the "necessary evil" of selling sacrament in church.Designate a space that is not church. Make that space your market.I go to the market and buy my greens. There is nothing wrong with it. I do not want to supplicate myself for donations, nor should you have to. If you have good vegetables in your garden, take them to your market and offer them. I bless you in this.But what you take into church, your place of worship and repose, you take for the church as a sacrifice to God.
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Comment #49 posted by Hope on November 30, 2006 at 11:09:56 PT
It's not "necessary"
to implement evil to achieve good any more than it is "necessary" to implement a wrong to achieve a right.
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Comment #48 posted by Hope on November 30, 2006 at 11:07:07 PT
The point I'm trying to make isn't so much 
about evil or good. It's that the maker of the afore mentioned
statement...stated that there is a "necessary" evil involved in the use of informants. We didn't used to nurture "CRIs" or have paid conspirators...that's entrapment. We had witnesses. A manufactured "witness" is indeed "evil" but it damn sure isn't "necessary", especially to achieve "good", if that is indeed what is being achieved. What good did filling an old woman full of lead in the sanctity of her home achieve? If any good comes of this...I don't see it sprouting out of a "necessary" evil...but that any good that comes in response to this "evil" is in fact a move to diminish that evil.
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Comment #47 posted by Hope on November 30, 2006 at 10:55:30 PT
Right or wrong? Good or evil?
A person doesn't have to believe in God to know the difference.Knowing the difference between right and wrong and good and evil is of paramount importance in everyone's life, every single day. It's not just a religious or faith based principle. It's life. It's part of every human's everyday life whether he believes in God or not.Perhaps evil is necessary to show the contrast to good...as darkness is to light...but to participate in an "evil" in order to bring about a good...that's completely wrong.That's like hurting people so we can help them. Locking them up so we can get them out. That's sick.
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Comment #46 posted by Telarus on November 30, 2006 at 10:47:43 PT:
re: Whig
whig>> ++I'm not objecting to sale. I'm not objecting to church. I'm objecting to sales in a church. Something about moneychangers in temples.++Whig, while I find myself agreeing with you, I'm also reminded of a quote about money, "Money serves as a method to move goods through time and space." At a basic abstract level, that's all money does. Now...in this reality we live in, money has been twisted to many nefarious ends, and the moneychangers in the temple story highlights one warning we've received through western tradition. I would love to run someplace like the Temple420 and give sacrament to any and all who asked for it, but again, forces exist in this reality that we have to deal with when they come into play.....how many people per week am I looking at here? Do I have to pay rent on my space? How much is it costing me to run my garden? Is what happened here going to happen to me?To balance this spiritual activity with the temptation of making profit seems very difficult to me. But I can't judge CraigX yet, as I have only just learned of his activities, and arrest. I applaud his stance as a public proponent of cannabis as sacrament, and willingness to use the current technology (youtube, etc) to spread the message. While I don't agree 100% with his theology, and while you may not either, nor with the specific methods he has used, we _don't have to_, and we can _STILL_ stand in solidarity with him.Let me caveat this: Standing in solidarity does not mean we have to blindly accept everything we learn of CraigX as "truth" just because we share an idea, and a sacrament. But one should not also immediately shun a possible friend/fellow until you have attempted to address your differences directly. If after this, you find that you cannot associate with said person or the position expressed, as no attempts at discussion of the issue will change either party's mind, then that seems a decision worthy of respect.Namste,-Telarus, KSCP.S. Re: the mentions of "evil" on the thread - Evil (and good) exists solely as an abstract value judgment (A "gloss") in the human mind. This does not lessen the importance of recognizing "evil", but once you realize this it does take constant re-examination of what you consider "evil", and why you consider certain things "evil" to put the concept to positive uses that help you and your community. Many people have been convinced that certain acts "are" or "are not" evil, but without questioning the assertion, or those in authority who make that assertion, their blind acceptance has led to many tragedies.I don't usually work within a "good/evil" abstract framework when I meditate about the world. I, instead, choose to work with the "creative/destructive" and "humorous/serious" dualities, and then if events make me feel like making an ethical judgment, I base it on that. If I apply a "good/evil" label I try to always add "good for whom? evil for whom?" and try to weigh the differences. Thus, I can still take a moral stand against an action I consider negative, but I usually have much more to back it up in conversation than people who immediately jump to a "good/evil" judgment and then stop thinking about it.
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Comment #45 posted by FoM on November 30, 2006 at 09:20:28 PT
Toker00
You made me think of the words in the song When God Made Me.Did He give me the gift of visionNot knowing what I might see?http://www.freedomtoexhale.com/pwlyrics.htm
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Comment #44 posted by Toker00 on November 30, 2006 at 09:14:48 PT
Hope.
To me, it goes back to Day One. We were given a chance, or choice, to walk with God and put ALL our Trust in Him. That is what He wanted. But NNNNOOOOOOOO! In order to KNOW God, we had to know EVERTHING, including EVIL. So, by Biting The Apple, we embarked on the Physical Answer to: "What the Hell is Evil?" Our decision, not His. WE TOOK THE BITE. But, he KNEW we would want to KNOW everything, just by wanting to KNOW Him, Who IS everything. Ok. I just can't explain it like I FEEL it. Sorry.Toke.
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Comment #43 posted by FoM on November 30, 2006 at 09:09:24 PT
Hope
I agree with you. Evil should be shunned. It serves no good purpose.
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Comment #42 posted by FoM on November 30, 2006 at 09:08:24 PT
Hope
What worries me about drugs that work on the mind is what happens if everyone buys into it and will it cause us to change how we really are? Can we be manipulated then? I am afraid of drugs like Prozac. I took Prozac years ago for about 6 months and it made me feel really weird.
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Comment #41 posted by Hope on November 30, 2006 at 09:06:39 PT
Evil
Well, we're supposed to be able to discern evil...but I don't see the point in embracing it and allowing it to grow. My sense of discernment tells me that is not the way to go. Evil is to be avoided...not embraced as "necessary". 
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Comment #40 posted by Hope on November 30, 2006 at 09:03:10 PT
Mayan Comment 30
Federal government launches marketing campaign for psychiatric industry: http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_1480.shtmlDrug Pushers extraordinaire is what they are!Poisoning and stigmatizing for profit is what they are doing...and they are getting away with it.My gosh! Our government is helping these particular drug pushers. Helping and promoting them. Why?
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Comment #39 posted by FoM on November 30, 2006 at 08:48:23 PT
A Question
How could we have a free will if there wasn't anything as evil? 
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Comment #38 posted by OverwhelmSam on November 30, 2006 at 08:45:33 PT
All Powerful God made the Devil
Evidently, God feels evil is necessary. However, I believe God wants humans to stay away from evil.
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Comment #37 posted by Hope on November 30, 2006 at 08:05:48 PT
oooohhh
What kind of freak thinks "evil" is ever necessary? 
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Comment #36 posted by Hope on November 30, 2006 at 08:04:09 PT
Toker
"It is time for the American People to Arrest the United States Government for Treason and Tyranny!"And I think purposely employing "evil" as a "necessary" part of their works, should definitely be a part of the arresting charge.There is no right thing that requires "necessary evil" to be a part of it.
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Comment #35 posted by Hope on November 30, 2006 at 08:00:03 PT
"Informants are a necessary evil..."
Necessary evil? There is a "necessary" evil? If you are doing something that involves a "necessary" evil...then what you are doing is wrong. Didn't anyone ever tell them that?I wonder if God knows that there is an "evil" that is necessary?
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Comment #34 posted by Toker00 on November 30, 2006 at 03:32:54 PT
#30 Mayan
There needs to be some kind of MAJOR campaign AGAINST these psyco-pharma-phreaks. Not just them, but against the entire Legal Drug Trade. It's nothing more than Mind/Body Control for Profit, through Pharma-poison! It's no longer Normal to be Normal! Anyone who questions authority will be deemed Mentally Ill! The Truth is, our Government is Mentally Ill!!!It is time for the American People to Arrest the United States Government for Treason and Tyranny! I'm serious! We need to be raising all kinds of Hell over this! These bastards are openly threatening to make us ALL take their poisons! It's time to CRUSH THE MACHINE! It's time to DEFEAT the FASCIST TYRANTS! Stand the F*CK UP, PEOPLE! God is crying in His hands! He knows we are capable of Love! Why do we allow these SELF EVIDENT Evil people to continue to Rule us by WAR!?! We Demand Rule By Love, Not By War!END CORPORATE CONTROL OF HUMANITY! WAGE PEACE ON WAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!END CANNABIS PROHIBITION NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Comment #33 posted by whig on November 29, 2006 at 21:10:24 PT
Second charge: Perjury
Either they perjured to the judge and told him/her that their informant was reliable when they had knowledge he was not -- or they are lying to federal officials investigating.
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Comment #32 posted by whig on November 29, 2006 at 21:07:15 PT
No.
The untrustworthiness of the informant does not exculpate police who claim simultaneously to have relied upon his testimony to justify their warrant and home invasion.
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Comment #31 posted by FoM on November 29, 2006 at 20:28:36 PT
Related Article from a Snipped Source
Informant in Shooting of Elderly Woman has String of Drug Arrests***The Atlanta Journal-ConstitutionNovember 30, 2006The confidential informant who says police told him to lie about his role in a drug bust that led police to kill an elderly Atlanta woman is a petty criminal with a series of drug arrests in the past few years.The informant, Alexis Antonio White, 24, has said he was told to cover the police and lie about activities at the home of Kathryn Johnston, who was killed in an exchange of gunfire with three officers who burst into her northwest Atlanta home Nov. 21. 
 
 
White, whose identity was confirmed by law enforcement officials, is now in protective custody as federal, state and Fulton County officials try to sort out what happened in the raid.White's background and honesty are likely to be taken into consideration as law enforcement agencies, led by the FBI, reach a conclusion about whether to believe the police officers or a suspected drug dealer-turned-informant.Informants are a necessary evil in developing drug cases but they are frequently untrustworthy, said Steve Sadow, an Atlanta defense attorney who is an expert on Georgia law. He has no connection to the case."How do you prove he's right or wrong?" Sadow asked. "How do you prove the informant is now lying?"He said it is important to find out if the informant was being paid by police or was working for them trying to stay out of prison.Snipped:http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/atlanta/2006/11/29/1130metinformant.html
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Comment #30 posted by mayan on November 29, 2006 at 18:19:25 PT
Misc.
Pro-Peace Symbol Forces Win Battle in Colorado Town: 
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/29/us/29wreath.html?_r=3&th&emc=th&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=sloginFederal government launches marketing campaign for psychiatric industry:
http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_1480.shtml
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Comment #29 posted by FoM on November 29, 2006 at 17:46:06 PT
Update On Story
Source: Only One Officer Was Shot*** November 29, 2006ATLANTA -- Channel 2 Action News has learned major new details today in the controversial police shooting that left an elderly woman dead.A source close to the officers involved now tells Channel 2 only one of the officers was hit directly with a bullet – the two others were hit with shrapnel. The source also says all the officers involved are in the process of getting lawyers.Complete Article: http://www.wsbtv.com/news/10424057/detail.html
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Comment #28 posted by John Tyler on November 29, 2006 at 17:35:12 PT
another thought
Have you noticed that all of George W’s life he has had his daddy and/or his daddy’s friends to bail him out when he messed up? He got bailed out of college problems, drunk driving problems, National Guard problems, oil business problems, and baseball ownership problems. Now as president he has really messed up. So what does he do, he calls in daddy and some of daddy’s friends to fix things again. For our sake I hope they can fix this.
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Comment #27 posted by John Tyler on November 29, 2006 at 17:25:29 PT
no change yet
There was an article in the “Washington Post” about this shooting. The cops involved wanted one of their informants to lie and say that he bought “druuuuuugggs” from this lady’s apt. He refused to play their game. I think the city administration and the police “higher ups” will sacrifice these cops in the name of politics, but the overall oppressive intimidating tactics will remain the same. It will just be new faces breaking down the door.
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Comment #26 posted by whig on November 29, 2006 at 16:39:25 PT
The GCW
Can't just use the term without a referent.Let me try an approach, -- SWAT means (officially) "Special Weapons and Tactics" -- do those weapons include some kind of STICK?
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Comment #25 posted by The GCW on November 29, 2006 at 16:36:35 PT
SWAT -SWATSTIKA
Today another term for SWAT, may beSWATSTIKA.I urge the use of the term SWATSTIKA, to help quicken change;Cops cringe at the use of SWATSTIKA.Nazi / SwastikaUS cops / SWATSTIKAIf the shoe doesn't fit...But if the shoe fits and they don't like it perhaps they can change shoes.
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Comment #24 posted by whig on November 29, 2006 at 16:34:48 PT
Telarus
Something about moneychangers in temples.
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Comment #23 posted by whig on November 29, 2006 at 16:31:19 PT
Clarifying
I'm not objecting to sale. I'm not objecting to church.I'm objecting to sales in a church.
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Comment #22 posted by whig on November 29, 2006 at 16:30:24 PT
Temple 420
Did he actually just say, "for sale. OF COURSE we do that!"And he claims this is a church.That's not cool, not right, not my faith.
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Comment #21 posted by FoM on November 29, 2006 at 14:52:03 PT
telarus 
Thank you for the video. I hadn't heard anything about this at all. I recognize him from Weeds.
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Comment #20 posted by telarus on November 29, 2006 at 14:42:56 PT:
Temple 420 Arrest video
Has this hit here yet?On November 8, 2006 Rev. CraigX who had been selling cannabis as sacrament to members of his Temple was raided by LAPD. The Temple needs your support. If you share our faith, please join the Temple at Temple420.org...God bless!http://youtube.com/watch?v=Mw8W4wJcGOg
Video PSA Temple420 Arrest
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Comment #19 posted by FoM on November 29, 2006 at 13:32:02 PT
A Request
This is a paid subscription news site. If anyone sees the article please post the link and then I will get it posted. Thanks in advance.***US Marijuana Laws Clamping the Lid on Pot Researchhttp://www.nature.com/news/2006/061127/full/nm1206-1335b.html
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Comment #18 posted by FoM on November 29, 2006 at 13:27:35 PT
Celaya
I couldn't agree with you more. The money incentive would be gone. If they can't make money on the drug war and justify it, it would simply fade away. Not with a bang but with a whimper.PS: Maybe they could afford to check our Ports for safety then. 
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Comment #17 posted by Celaya on November 29, 2006 at 13:18:25 PT
FoM
Right! And that's why the *%*&$&s hang on to marijuana prohibition with a death grip!
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Comment #16 posted by FoM on November 29, 2006 at 12:49:48 PT
Celaya
Good job! If the laws on marijuana changed all the Swat Teams would get very small and dealing with drug issues in general wouldn't be a high priority. It would slowly fade away.
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Comment #15 posted by Celaya on November 29, 2006 at 12:39:39 PT
My Comment Posted At Article's Comment Section
This was a very good article. What I'd like to do is encourage you, and everyone, to take an even larger view of the truth.The "war on drugs" is primarily a war on marijuana consumers. 800,000 innocent Americans are arrested EVERY YEAR for consuming the least harmful recreational drug - far less harmful than alcohol. These arrests give them a permanent "criminal" record which will marginalize them and their family for LIFE.The idea that the WOD is primarily about marijuana prohibition is reinforced when you take a close look at drug testing. This industry is primarily focused on marijuana consumers as well. These coercive, intrusive procedures measure marijuana metabolites, that is, trace elements that stay in the body for up to a month. No other drug does this. Consumers of other drugs can party Friday night and test clean on Monday morning.You say our current drug policy "has been an abject failure." This is the conventional wisdom of the progressive community. But I would say otherwise.Looking at marijuana prohibition in terms of the REAL goals of those in charge of the persecution, we see it has actually been a resounding success.What are these real goals? WHY does America persist in this seemingly counter-productive fraud?Because police and politicians build their careers and empires on it. Because industries like alcohol and pharmaceuticals don't want the competition. Because other interests like the drug treatment/testing industry and the prison industries depend on it for their life's blood. And because government uses marijuana prohibition as a means of controlling minorities and the poor. There NEVER was a good reason for marijuana prohibition. See:http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/History/whiteb1.htmWhen most Americans understand the REAL reasons for marijuana prohibition, this monstrous persecution will end, and we will once again live in the land of the free. 
War On Drugs Needs New Strategy
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Comment #14 posted by whig on November 29, 2006 at 11:47:24 PT
Peace
http://shakespearessister.blogspot.com/2006/11/peace-out-back-in.html
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Comment #13 posted by FoM on November 29, 2006 at 11:31:18 PT
Oops President Bush Was Stood Up
Bush, Maliki in Amman for Talks, Dinner ShelvedNovember 29, 2006AMMAN (Reuters) - President Bush arrived in Jordan on Wednesday for crisis talks with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki but a dinner involving the two leaders was canceled at the last moment.http://tinyurl.com/u3w43
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Comment #12 posted by goneposthole on November 29, 2006 at 11:07:17 PT
Senator-elect Webb
He's just the first in line of those who want to give George a punch in the mouth.the line gets longer by the minute.
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Comment #11 posted by whig on November 29, 2006 at 10:39:19 PT
How's your boy?
Sounds like something off the plantation to me.
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Comment #10 posted by FoM on November 29, 2006 at 09:44:26 PT
Toker00
Yes Webb is a Vietnam Veteran. My husband did two tours in Nam and once you have hunted people for a living everything seems different and they know that war is hell and it must stop he told me. My husband won't hunt for sport or food because of having to hunt people back then. He is so turned off by guns and shooting and war. I really am glad that he is too.
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Comment #9 posted by Toker00 on November 29, 2006 at 09:18:06 PT
FoM
A Vietnam vet, too. He understands full well what his Son is being put through, and as in both wars, over LIES! Second Generation Victims of the Neo-Cons. Tragic.Toke.
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Comment #8 posted by FoM on November 29, 2006 at 08:29:25 PT
Webb, Bush Have Terse Exchange
http://www.nbc4.com/politics/10420686/detail.html
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Comment #7 posted by FoM on November 29, 2006 at 08:21:43 PT
Toker00
I was surprised that that confrontation happened and was reported on the news. Bush just doesn't seem to care about anything that he doesn't want to care about. That is a scary thought to me.We will take a picture of the tree over the weekend and I'll post it on Marihemp then. The weather is getting ready to change from springtime weather to much colder temperatures and I will be happy to see the ground freeze up and get rid of some of the mud. My Rott after running in the yard has dingle berries hanging off his coat these days! LOL!
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Comment #6 posted by Toker00 on November 29, 2006 at 08:07:23 PT
Oh, to see someone Punch George, FoM!
It would be terrible, but I would not regret one iota seeing someone deck him. Forgive me Father, for I have Sinnnnnnnned.You guys are gonna love that tree. You know we gotta see it!Toke.
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Comment #5 posted by Toker00 on November 29, 2006 at 08:03:22 PT
nuevo mexican
The more this happens, the madder we should get. You are absolutely right about it not being a War on Drugs. The list you gave is quite accurate. It's Racism, Sexism, Genocide, Ecocide, and all the other isms, ians, ams, ans, ons covered in the cloak of DRUGS! War on Drugs my Ass. It's a War on Humanity, a War on Nature and Creation! Control disguised as Law! Any actions or activities not approved by the Elite can be easily put down, world wide, if it's done in the name of the War on Drugs, or the War on Terror. Sorry we had to Nuke Iran, we found fields of High Potency Marry Wanna, and had no choice but to irradiate, uh, I mean eradicate it. End the War on BlacksHispanicsPoorwhitesNonconformistsNatureGodandCreation. END THE WAR ON DRUGS!Toke. 
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Comment #4 posted by FoM on November 29, 2006 at 07:50:35 PT
Just Something from the TV News
President Bush was talking to Webb the newly elected Senator from Virginia and Webb has a son in Iraq and Bush asked him how his son was doing in Iraq and Webb said something like he wishes he was home. Bush said he didn't ask him that and Webb got so upset he wanted to punch him.I think I got this right.
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Comment #3 posted by FoM on November 29, 2006 at 07:45:45 PT
Toker00
I hope you are enjoying making the wreaths. We ordered a 6 foot fiber optic Christmas Tree and I checked UPS tracking and it will be here today. Tonight we will put it up. I love fiber optics. 
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Comment #2 posted by Toker00 on November 29, 2006 at 07:42:24 PT
Uh-oh. Lawyer caught Thinking.
I agree with what he says except that treatment should be voluntary, and not FORCED, except in cases of endangerment of another person, or society. Keep Thinking, Andrew. Keep Thinking Muchmore. Much, much More. But, ACT while you are thinking.I've had enough time at work to draw out the other two Peace Wreaths. Hopefully I can find enough break time at work to cut them out, route them, sand them and paint them, today. I'll string them tomorrow, and possibly photo-op them this weekend. Wage Peace on war. END CANNABIS PROHIBITION NOW!
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Comment #1 posted by nuevo mexican on November 29, 2006 at 07:31:45 PT
It is a War on Cannabis, and Grandmothers.....
not drugs! 'Drugs' are more widely available since the advent of the drug war than ever, and that has always been the goal, so many 'drugs' out there, everyone MUST be guilty!Death due to Drug War or War on Blacks, or both?Let's continue to expose the racist underpinnings of the War on Drugs, which could be re-labeled as the 'War on Black People', the War on People of Color, the War on the Counter-culture, the War on Nature, the War on Women, and so on, if anyone that reads (lurks) C-News doesn't get this, Jim Carey thinks you're a 'loooooser', and I would have to agree!Outrage in US at police shooting of black groom
	
The World Today - Monday, 27 November , 2006 
Reporter: Mark Simkin
ELEANOR HALL: In the United States, leaders of New York's black community are demanding answers and warning there could be violent protests because of the police shooting of a 23-year-old who was gunned down on his wedding day.Sean Bell was killed as he left his buck's night. Two of his friends were also shot. And at a rally in New York today, angry protestors accused the police of racism, as Washington Correspondent Mark Simkin reports.YOUNG MAN: I can't feel my leg, no! I can't feel my leg!MARK SIMKIN: A young black man lies face-down on the footpath, his hands cuffed behind his back, surrounded by police officers. He's been shot several times. Nearby is the body of his friend, riddled with bullets.(Sound of the young man screaming)It all began on the weekend, in the early hours of the morning. A group of men left a strip club after celebrating a buck's night. They didn't realise the police were conducting an undercover investigation at the club.http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2006/s1798356.htm
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