Dealing a well-deserved blow to those who prefer that our justices legislate from the bench, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that state's "medical" marijuana laws do not trump the federal ban on the drug.
Writing the 6-3 decision, Justice John Paul Stevens realized the necessity in offering-up a civics lesson to those who don't know how the law works. He reminded them that Congress may change the law to allow medical use of marijuana.
The ruling allows Federal authorities to prosecute "medical" marijuana users under the Controlled Substances Act.
What I don't get is why "medical" marijuana users would choose uncontrolled delivery of a drug containing over 400 chemicals, of which, less than 10% have been studied - especially when perfectly legal and viable alternatives, with controlled delivery rates, exist.
That's right, true Medical Marijuana already exists. It's called Marinol, only it's controlled - and you don't load a bunch into a bowl and smoke away. If someone truly needs medical marijuana, they should truly talk to their doctor about the legal alternatives.
Monday, June 06, 2005
Sunday, May 15, 2005
Boycott Newsweek
Mark Whitaker, editor of Newsweek, writes "We regret that we got any part of our story wrong, and extend our sympathies to victims of the violence and to the U.S. soldiers caught in its midst."
Uh, Mark? You think you're a bit frickin late there?!
In your drive to sell another magazine your print incorrect information about the Koran flushing incident based on a "knowledgeable government source" who later stated he could not be certain he had seen an account of the incident in the military report he supposedly quoted?
Did you ass wipes not learn a thing from Rathergate? Is it so important for you to trash the military or attempt to embarass the administration that you rush to press with un-verified, or un-verifiable information? Does journalistic integrity mean nothing to you, as well?
The violence that your bogus news report caused has cost - so far - 16 people their lives and more than 100 others have been injured. And you? You're sympathetic? How sweet. I'm sure that will assuage the victims created by your journalistic endeavors.
Where do you and your magazine get off, Mark? How's about you go and spend time with each of the families who have lost a loved one because you don't care enough to verify a story? When you're done with that, you can go visit every single one of the people your piss poor reporting has got injured. And when you're done with that... if you don't have the integrity to launch yourself off a cliff - how's about if you report to the nearest Mosque and try doing what you claimed our interrogators did. Then, maybe then... you'll get your due.
Lawrence DiRita of the Pentagon got it right about the supposed credible source when he said, "People are dead because of what this son of a bitch said. How could he be credible now?" Michael Isikoff and John Barry, the authors of the original story, ought to be proud of themselves - and hanging from the same rope Newsweek's "leadership" hangs itself from... right after they give-up their supposed "credible source."
Newsweek, however, plans no disciplinary action against their staff. They claim to have attempted to be transparent about exactly what happened... and they leave it to their readers to judge them.
Transparency? Give up the name of your source, you pieces of shit, or you're going the way of Dan Rather. How's that for transparent?
I hope your readers... your former readers anyway... launch a boycott on Newsweek. I'm certainly not spending another dime on that rag.
I'm going to stick to the 50% Fact-checking Department at The Enquirer where the Bat-Boy story is more credible than Newsweek's tripe. At least the Enquirer isn't getting anyone killed in mass riots based on their stories.
Boycott Newsweek
Uh, Mark? You think you're a bit frickin late there?!
In your drive to sell another magazine your print incorrect information about the Koran flushing incident based on a "knowledgeable government source" who later stated he could not be certain he had seen an account of the incident in the military report he supposedly quoted?
Did you ass wipes not learn a thing from Rathergate? Is it so important for you to trash the military or attempt to embarass the administration that you rush to press with un-verified, or un-verifiable information? Does journalistic integrity mean nothing to you, as well?
The violence that your bogus news report caused has cost - so far - 16 people their lives and more than 100 others have been injured. And you? You're sympathetic? How sweet. I'm sure that will assuage the victims created by your journalistic endeavors.
Where do you and your magazine get off, Mark? How's about you go and spend time with each of the families who have lost a loved one because you don't care enough to verify a story? When you're done with that, you can go visit every single one of the people your piss poor reporting has got injured. And when you're done with that... if you don't have the integrity to launch yourself off a cliff - how's about if you report to the nearest Mosque and try doing what you claimed our interrogators did. Then, maybe then... you'll get your due.
Lawrence DiRita of the Pentagon got it right about the supposed credible source when he said, "People are dead because of what this son of a bitch said. How could he be credible now?" Michael Isikoff and John Barry, the authors of the original story, ought to be proud of themselves - and hanging from the same rope Newsweek's "leadership" hangs itself from... right after they give-up their supposed "credible source."
Newsweek, however, plans no disciplinary action against their staff. They claim to have attempted to be transparent about exactly what happened... and they leave it to their readers to judge them.
Transparency? Give up the name of your source, you pieces of shit, or you're going the way of Dan Rather. How's that for transparent?
I hope your readers... your former readers anyway... launch a boycott on Newsweek. I'm certainly not spending another dime on that rag.
I'm going to stick to the 50% Fact-checking Department at The Enquirer where the Bat-Boy story is more credible than Newsweek's tripe. At least the Enquirer isn't getting anyone killed in mass riots based on their stories.
Boycott Newsweek
Thursday, May 12, 2005
Learn to Dissect a Living Dog!
Wanna learn how to dissect a living dog?!
I know you do...
You can learn how at Gunnison Valley High School, in Gunnison, Utah. No kidding.
Substitute biology "teacher," Doug Bjerregaard thinks it's a "good experience if (students) could see the digestive system in the living animal."
Kirk Anderson, the school's principal, agrees. He explains the dog was going to be euthanized anyway. So, like... duh.... it's cool, then.
Despite the student/parent/community uproar, Bjerregaard is standing by his decision and Principal Anderson supports the lesson and will allow it to continue because "the students are learning."
You think?!
Those students would be learning if we did the same thing with a human! And hey, why not?! We already cut loose with Terri Schiavo! What's one more?!
What in the HELL are these people thinking?!
Give them a piece of your mind...
Gunnison Valley High School
(435) 528-7256
Doug Bjerregaard, apparently, also the Mayor of Mayfield Town, Utah
(435) 528-3255 .... until I confirm with WKMG, try not bugging the Mayor, but my call is in it to John at WKMG - and I'm waiting...
Kirk Anderson
kirk.anderson@ssanpete.k12.ut.us
and the phone number at Gunnison Valley HS
... send them my regards.
I know you do...
You can learn how at Gunnison Valley High School, in Gunnison, Utah. No kidding.
Substitute biology "teacher," Doug Bjerregaard thinks it's a "good experience if (students) could see the digestive system in the living animal."
Kirk Anderson, the school's principal, agrees. He explains the dog was going to be euthanized anyway. So, like... duh.... it's cool, then.
Despite the student/parent/community uproar, Bjerregaard is standing by his decision and Principal Anderson supports the lesson and will allow it to continue because "the students are learning."
You think?!
Those students would be learning if we did the same thing with a human! And hey, why not?! We already cut loose with Terri Schiavo! What's one more?!
What in the HELL are these people thinking?!
Give them a piece of your mind...
Gunnison Valley High School
(435) 528-7256
Doug Bjerregaard, apparently, also the Mayor of Mayfield Town, Utah
(435) 528-3255 .... until I confirm with WKMG, try not bugging the Mayor, but my call is in it to John at WKMG - and I'm waiting...
Kirk Anderson
kirk.anderson@ssanpete.k12.ut.us
and the phone number at Gunnison Valley HS
... send them my regards.
Wednesday, May 04, 2005
PFC England
As trainees in Basic Training, each and every one of us are drilled beyond the point of indoctrination that each and every one of us have the General Military Authority and the Duty to refuse to carry-out illegal orders.
That Authority is rooted, at least partially, in our Duty to preserve the Dignity and Integrity of our fellow man... comrade, enemy, or otherwise.
So, what the hell does that mean?
It means we each have they duty and authority to refuse to carry out illegal orders and none of us are left confused about it. I don't know how to break it down any further... it's that plain and simple.
Unless, of course, you find yourself in the midst of Abu Ghraib and your Defense Lawyers feel like pinning your hopes to a Barrel of Monkeys defense.
Stacked on top of PFC England's Barrel of Monkeys defense is the mercy-appeal... er, uh - claim that she was oxygen-deprived at birth.
Oxygen deprived...
Lucky for Lynndie, she's not up for Capital Punishment - or who knows, she could be facing the Schiavo sentence: death by starvation and dehydration.
Still, regardlesss of what the presumably competent defense team pulls out of their keister, PFC England knew what her Rights and Duties were... and she blew them off to join in with the others.
She wants leniency?
Talk to me after she personally apologizes to each of her victims and their families... then I'll consider an appeal for mercy.
She's lucky I'm not on the jury.
* I speak for myself and in no way represent an official position of any part of the United States Military.
That Authority is rooted, at least partially, in our Duty to preserve the Dignity and Integrity of our fellow man... comrade, enemy, or otherwise.
So, what the hell does that mean?
It means we each have they duty and authority to refuse to carry out illegal orders and none of us are left confused about it. I don't know how to break it down any further... it's that plain and simple.
Unless, of course, you find yourself in the midst of Abu Ghraib and your Defense Lawyers feel like pinning your hopes to a Barrel of Monkeys defense.
Stacked on top of PFC England's Barrel of Monkeys defense is the mercy-appeal... er, uh - claim that she was oxygen-deprived at birth.
Oxygen deprived...
Lucky for Lynndie, she's not up for Capital Punishment - or who knows, she could be facing the Schiavo sentence: death by starvation and dehydration.
Still, regardlesss of what the presumably competent defense team pulls out of their keister, PFC England knew what her Rights and Duties were... and she blew them off to join in with the others.
She wants leniency?
Talk to me after she personally apologizes to each of her victims and their families... then I'll consider an appeal for mercy.
She's lucky I'm not on the jury.
* I speak for myself and in no way represent an official position of any part of the United States Military.
Sunday, May 01, 2005
Hillary's Selective Memory on DPRK Nukes
Along comes Hillary - slinging her selective memory regarding the DPRK's nuclear abilities...
She blames President Bush for North Korea's ability to hit the Northwestern United States with an Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM). "They couldn't do that when George Bush became President, and now they can," she says.
Nevermind the fact that North Korea developed the ability to produce nuclear weapons in 1999, when her husband was defiling the Oval Office.
Guess what?
Clinton GAVE Kim Jong-Il nuclear technology in exchange for the promise that he wouldn't make weapons. This, despite a House Advisory Group's warning that if Kim Jong-Il broke his promise, he would have the capacity to produce nearly 500 Kilograms of plutonium each year. That's enough for 100 nuclear bombs per year.
The Clinton-Gore fiasco went against nine previous U.S. administrations in 1994 and made North Korea not only the largest recipient of U.S. Foreign Aid in the Asia-Pacific, but they stipulated that aid would primarily fund the construction of nuclear reactors worth up to $6 Billion.
Oh, and that advisory group that Clinton-Gore ignored (no doubt in favor of a publicity poll) - that advisory group warned that North Korea would soon be able to hit the U.S. with ICBMs due to Clinton's facilitation of North Korea's nuclear programs.
How much dee-ploh-muh-see would Hillary and friends like to see before we go and deal with Kim Jong-Il on more certain terms? Another 12 years, perhaps? 17 more failed UN Security Council Resolutions?
Or, should we pretend that a "man" who is content to let his countrymen subsist on worms, grass and tree bark so his military can stay strong is stable enough to handle nuclear weaponry?
She blames President Bush for North Korea's ability to hit the Northwestern United States with an Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM). "They couldn't do that when George Bush became President, and now they can," she says.
Nevermind the fact that North Korea developed the ability to produce nuclear weapons in 1999, when her husband was defiling the Oval Office.
Guess what?
Clinton GAVE Kim Jong-Il nuclear technology in exchange for the promise that he wouldn't make weapons. This, despite a House Advisory Group's warning that if Kim Jong-Il broke his promise, he would have the capacity to produce nearly 500 Kilograms of plutonium each year. That's enough for 100 nuclear bombs per year.
The Clinton-Gore fiasco went against nine previous U.S. administrations in 1994 and made North Korea not only the largest recipient of U.S. Foreign Aid in the Asia-Pacific, but they stipulated that aid would primarily fund the construction of nuclear reactors worth up to $6 Billion.
Oh, and that advisory group that Clinton-Gore ignored (no doubt in favor of a publicity poll) - that advisory group warned that North Korea would soon be able to hit the U.S. with ICBMs due to Clinton's facilitation of North Korea's nuclear programs.
How much dee-ploh-muh-see would Hillary and friends like to see before we go and deal with Kim Jong-Il on more certain terms? Another 12 years, perhaps? 17 more failed UN Security Council Resolutions?
Or, should we pretend that a "man" who is content to let his countrymen subsist on worms, grass and tree bark so his military can stay strong is stable enough to handle nuclear weaponry?
Monday, April 18, 2005
Crimeless Victim
It appears this will be my new home... for now.
AOL has decided the yank my long-standing journal from their space due to a violation they refuse to identify. They, actually Mark Gurmmond who claims to be the "highest" level of customer satis... no... dissatisfaction, identified the specific "violating" entry and the existence of a "pro-bulimia" link in that entry, but would not expand on the "violation."
In review, the only link to any bulimia site in that entry is a webmd-aol link supported by AOL which provides medical information regarding the disease. It is NOT a "pro-bulimia" link. If it were, then it could accurately be stated that AOL hosts a "pro-bulimia" site.
Until AOL gets their collective IQ of 6 together and tanks my interim AOL Journal, you can check the AOL Customer Service Chronicles at http://journals.aol.com/armandt/sense1 ... but not for long, I'm sure.
AOL has decided the yank my long-standing journal from their space due to a violation they refuse to identify. They, actually Mark Gurmmond who claims to be the "highest" level of customer satis... no... dissatisfaction, identified the specific "violating" entry and the existence of a "pro-bulimia" link in that entry, but would not expand on the "violation."
In review, the only link to any bulimia site in that entry is a webmd-aol link supported by AOL which provides medical information regarding the disease. It is NOT a "pro-bulimia" link. If it were, then it could accurately be stated that AOL hosts a "pro-bulimia" site.
Until AOL gets their collective IQ of 6 together and tanks my interim AOL Journal, you can check the AOL Customer Service Chronicles at http://journals.aol.com/armandt/sense1 ... but not for long, I'm sure.
Sunday, April 17, 2005
Victimless Crime
Does anyone contend, anymore, that there is such a thing as a victimless crime?
I know of a few people who still try and sell prostitution, and gambling as "victimless" ... and it simply makes no sense!
I know of a few people who still try and sell prostitution, and gambling as "victimless" ... and it simply makes no sense!
Saturday, January 08, 2005
GWOT
"But I want to make it clear to the American people that while we can defeat terrorists, it will be a long time before we defeat terrorism. America will remain a target because we are uniquely present in the world, because we act to advance peace and democracy, because we have taken a tougher stand against terrorism, and because we are the most open society on earth."
- The President
Do GWOT critics really believe that if we don't take the war to the terrorists, that they (the critics) will be sitting on their front porch 10 years from now - enjoying the same freedom to criticize the government of a country they, themselves, don't have the cajones to stand and defend?
Tuesday, September 07, 2004
Useless Trivia Tuesday - v. IV
Did you know... while a lot of those "one vote matters" stories are bunk, several of them are still apparently true?!
One of the most prolific claims - that we speak English, not German, by the difference of a single vote - is bunk. In the late 1930's, Nazi propagandists were spreading the lie that America had almost become a German-speaking country. In all of their efficiency, it took the Congressional Research Service until 1982 to resolve the story, however. What really happened was - in 1794 German settlers in Virginia petitioned the U.S. Congress to translate certain Federal statutes into German (as well as English). That petition had been referred to a committee, which voted the idea down - by a one vote margin. (German translation on Federal documents hardly makes a national language).
Andrew Johnson was not "saved" from impeachment by one vote in 1868. "Impeachment," as we recently learned, means only that someone has been charged with the crime. Johnson was charged (impeached), but the vote to convict him did fall one vote shy of the necessary two-thirds majority.
I can tell you a handful of stories about where one vote counted, but you'll get bored - so I'll close with this:
Below, I've listed the Presidential election year and the percentage of voters who turned out (voted for President) for these elections according to the FEC:
In 2000, only 51.3% of the Voting Age Population (VAP) turned out to vote. 67.5% of those Registered (REG) turned out.
In 1996, only 49.1% VAP turned out with 74.4% REG showing.
In 1992, only 55.1% VAP.
In 1988, only 50.1% VAP.
And, in non-Presidential election years, we haven't had over 40% VAP turn-out since 1970!
__________
It's not "one vote," but YOUR VOTE that matters.
This November, I don't care "how" you vote, but "that" you vote!
If you choose to not vote, it's a sad commentary on your life when considering the number of people who have fought and died for your wasted privilege.
Get off your butts, register if you haven't already, and vote!!
National Voter Registration Form
State Voter Registration Deadlines
Where you can register to vote
One of the most prolific claims - that we speak English, not German, by the difference of a single vote - is bunk. In the late 1930's, Nazi propagandists were spreading the lie that America had almost become a German-speaking country. In all of their efficiency, it took the Congressional Research Service until 1982 to resolve the story, however. What really happened was - in 1794 German settlers in Virginia petitioned the U.S. Congress to translate certain Federal statutes into German (as well as English). That petition had been referred to a committee, which voted the idea down - by a one vote margin. (German translation on Federal documents hardly makes a national language).
Andrew Johnson was not "saved" from impeachment by one vote in 1868. "Impeachment," as we recently learned, means only that someone has been charged with the crime. Johnson was charged (impeached), but the vote to convict him did fall one vote shy of the necessary two-thirds majority.
I can tell you a handful of stories about where one vote counted, but you'll get bored - so I'll close with this:
Below, I've listed the Presidential election year and the percentage of voters who turned out (voted for President) for these elections according to the FEC:
In 2000, only 51.3% of the Voting Age Population (VAP) turned out to vote. 67.5% of those Registered (REG) turned out.
In 1996, only 49.1% VAP turned out with 74.4% REG showing.
In 1992, only 55.1% VAP.
In 1988, only 50.1% VAP.
And, in non-Presidential election years, we haven't had over 40% VAP turn-out since 1970!
__________
It's not "one vote," but YOUR VOTE that matters.
This November, I don't care "how" you vote, but "that" you vote!
If you choose to not vote, it's a sad commentary on your life when considering the number of people who have fought and died for your wasted privilege.
Get off your butts, register if you haven't already, and vote!!
National Voter Registration Form
State Voter Registration Deadlines
Where you can register to vote
Monday, September 06, 2004
Election Polls
AOL has an interesting poll-related Election graphic showing how each state would 'go' this November. The poll and graphic are reset the first of each month so that past trends do not affect current sentiments (and maybe poll-stuffing). See AOL Elections 2004: Straw Poll.
Poll-stuffing? Yeah.. don't hold me to that. I just made the word up (as far as I know). I do suspect, however, that every single state wouldn't truly go for Bush - or even be leaning that way as the graphic suggests. Even given a post-convention "bounce," I doubt that Washington D.C. would be the only corner of the Electoral College granting their 3 votes to Kerry.
I'm more inclined to believe (as I have predicted before) that Kerry will win 12 states with the decision not being close enough the challenger to legitimately contest the decision in every court in the land.
What's your prediction? How many states & electoral votes are going to which candidate?
Poll-stuffing? Yeah.. don't hold me to that. I just made the word up (as far as I know). I do suspect, however, that every single state wouldn't truly go for Bush - or even be leaning that way as the graphic suggests. Even given a post-convention "bounce," I doubt that Washington D.C. would be the only corner of the Electoral College granting their 3 votes to Kerry.
I'm more inclined to believe (as I have predicted before) that Kerry will win 12 states with the decision not being close enough the challenger to legitimately contest the decision in every court in the land.
What's your prediction? How many states & electoral votes are going to which candidate?
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