The Federal Government Is Addicted

The Federal Government recently suggested changing the scheduling of marijuana from the ridiculous listing of Schedule 1, Dangerous and having no medical value, to Schedule 3 right up there with Oxycodone and Hydrocodone.  Interestingly both these drugs are replacements for Morphine and Heroin and are just as addictive and dangerous.  When used improperly they can kill you. Marijuana on the other hand can only kill you if a 500lb bale fell on you and although addictive in the mental sense, it does  not seem to be in itself physically addictive. The human endocannabinoid system in your body produces the same cannabinoids as those in marijuana and a boost in them seems to be good for one.

So why Schedule 3?  Why not treat it as we treat alcohol.  It has medical value and is very dangerous yet we do not schedule it or caffeine or tobacco.  I think that they have used it so long as an excuse to harass people and fill the prisons they are reluctant to give it up. Let us look at the history of this prohibition and see how we got here.

The first marijuana drug raid was in 1914 at a club of Southeast Asian immigrants in San Francisco.  They traditionally used the hash form of marijuana.  In 1933 the prohibition of alcohol ended.  This left around 2000 Officers of the Treasury Department who worked under Harry J. Anslinger, out of a job. He started scouting around for something to keep his men employed and settled on marijuana. It was being demonized on the local level so if he could get a national law prohibiting marijuana, he could keep his guys employed. He got that law in 1937. He became the first Drug Czar and eventually got an international law in getting the United Nations to criminalize marijuana. The Marijuana Tax Stamp Law was created off the bones of a law designed to get machine guns off the streets.  Lots of guys coming back from WWI brought them home.  One needed a permit to possess the gun but to get the permit you had to show them the gun.  Well, if you possess the gun before you got the permit, you had already broken the law.  They did not make many permits. The 1937 Tax Stamp Act was the same.  One had to show the marijuana to get the stamp.  They did not make many of them either.  This law was declared unconstitutional in 1969 and replaced by the 1970 Controlled Substances Act which Scheduled drugs supposedly according to their usage and danger.

This 1970 law placed marijuana at a ridiculous Schedule1, Dangerous and having no medical value, temporarily while awaiting the results of the Shafer Commission report, ‘Drugs in America’.  That report came out in 1972 and reported that marijuana should be decriminalized and that drugs were a medical problem and not a criminal one.  Then President Nixon felt betrayed and declared the War on Drugs. One must ask, why did he do that?  Well, we found out in 1994 when a journalist by the name of Dan Baum interviewed Nixon Aide John Erlichman for an article in Harper’s magazine titled, ‘Legalize It All’.  Erlichman interrupted Mr. Baum and said, “You want to know what this was all about?  The Nixon Campaign in 1968 and the Nixon Whitehouse after that had two enemies, The anti-war left, and black people. You understand what I’m saying?  We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the against the war or black but, by getting the public to associate the Hippies with marijuana and the Blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders.  Raid their homes. Break up their meetings and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were we lying about the drugs? Of course, we did!”  Here is where the African Americans and heroin propaganda started.

So, there you have it.  Nothing more than a scam to harass Nixon’s political enemies and we are still doing it on the Federal level.  Instead of finally treating marijuana as it should be, like we treat caffeine or tobacco or alcohol, we get this halfway measure with the Federal Government hanging on to prohibition as an addict holds on to his drugs.  America is addicted to marijuana prohibition. Millions of our fellow citizens have had their lives turned upside down by this scam over the last 87 years and it is time for it to end! Let us hope America’s withdrawal from marijuana prohibition addiction is not as bad as a real addict withdrawing from heroin and ends with a rational plan for dealing with the legalizing of marijuana as it should have been in 1972.  It has been a long time coming.  Let us not mess it up!

Integrity Destroyed

In an article in the Sunday September 11, 2022 Lansing State Journal titled, ‘Chief Justice defends legitimacy of Court’, Chief Justice John Roberts asserted the legitimacy of the Supreme Court in interpreting and ruling in accordance with the Constitution. His need to do so comes after the disastrous ruling nullifying a woman’s right to decide what happens when she gets pregnant and upending 50 years of what these Judges said was previously settled law. The rights of every woman of child bearing age in America, gone in an instant, and with it the trust of the people. This is a ruling that will threaten the very existence of the Court. The American people deserve better of their Judges.

Talk about missing the point!  This is closing the barn door after the horse is already gone!  The Court lost all integrity when it seated the four religious idealogues, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Comey-Barrett and Alito. All are Catholic educated idealogues who lied in their Congressional Confirmation hearings asserting that Roe v Wade was settled law and should stand.  All four are guilty of lying in a Congressional Confirmation Hearing which is perjury.  It’s a felony to lie to a Congressional hearing, which is lying to the American people. The Roe decision is the proof of their lies.

The very first things done by these four Judges, and I use the term Judges lightly, were to take away the right of a Woman to decide what happens when she gets pregnant, weaken the ability of the EPA to regulate emissions from coal fired power plants, ruled the Government should fund private schools and allowed for demonstrations of faith by teachers in public schools!  All dreams of the Republican base.  The Roe ruling was based on the writings of a 17^th century prosecutor who believed witches should be burned at the stake!

Never mind the loss of integrity, the picture of a court that is so obviously politically partisan is a problem too. The Roe decision is one that would be laughed out of a freshman law class!  It’s just another nail in the coffin of the Courts integrity.

During the next session this Court could have a ruling that would enable State legislators to nullify an election if they did not like who won!  This would be the end of our Democracy as you would not elect your representative, the Legislature of your State would.  Talk about a radical Court, it’ something those on the right have been accusing the previous Courts of for years.

What can be done about it? The ideal thing would be for Roberts to persuade the four to step down and resign, but that is highly unlikely.  President Biden could ‘pack’ the Court to neutralize their influence, but He is reluctant to do so.  There is not a whole lot that can be done.

Until these corrupt Judges resign, are impeached or are somehow removed, the Supreme Court’s continued existence will be as a corrupt and partisan Court, a sad and dangerous situation that needs to be rectified as quickly as possible.

The Anti Freedom Party

Working diligently to take away your rights!

The ruling by the Supreme Court that the decision, Roe v Wade, whether Abortion should be legal, a decision that has stood for fifty years and has been reaffirmed twice, was wrongly decided. What happens when a woman gets pregnant should be a decision for the States. This has immediately plunged half of our citizens into legal jeopardy based on their reproductive rights, deciding what to do if a woman is pregnant.  The right to be free to decide what happens should a woman be pregnant has been taken away from them.  

The basis for Reproductive rights, the right to privacy in our personal lives, is now rendered moot by this decision. Justice Thomas has written in his decision that any ‘Right’ based on it is now on the chopping block. He specifically mentioned gay marriage. They are talking about contraception too. Interestingly, his own marriage is based on the right to make your own personal decisions and given the racists in the Republican Party, his own marriage could be in jeopardy. Where does it end? We are supposed to be the freest country in the world yet half of our citizens just had the right to decide what happens should they get pregnant taken away from them and given to the individual states. That is not personal freedom.

No one, ‘likes’ abortion. It is simply a medical issue between a doctor and his patient. Where is the State interest in butting in? There is none. Look at the laws in the various states. Some have had abortion bans on the books for decades hoping and waiting for this decision.  Laws that ban abortion in 26 of the states take effect immediately.  Many have no exception for rape or incest, forcing a rape victim to bear the child of her rapist, with no exception concerning the age of the victim.  This will force a raped 12-year-old to bear a child, a child bearing a child!  These laws are monstrous! Many have no exception for the health of the mother.  Some would force a woman to continue to carry a dead fetus, endangering her life and for what?  To sacrifice her life to satisfy the demands of a group of religious fanatics?  

This is simply a religious tenet being pushed on the rest of us by 4 Catholic ideologues, who had a bias about reproductive rights so strong they felt they had to lie in their confirmation hearings, to be appointed. Think about that.  The Supreme Court in the land has on it four Justices that lied to be appointed.  Justice Thomas is part of that crew, even, as I said, talking about Gay Marriage, and contraception being next on the chopping block.

I’m reminded of Martin Niemoller of Germany who said,

“First, they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out – because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out – because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews – and I did not speak out – because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me – and there was no one left to speak for m

Besides disrupting the lives of millions of our citizens, and 50 years of settled law, they have destroyed the credibility of the Supreme Court. All I have to do is load the court with liars who will do what I tell them to do and I can take away your rights. I will never support any party that has the goal of taking away the rights of my fellow citizens!

Reproductive Rights On The Chopping Block

The bible says God breathed into Adam and he came to life. It says a baby is not a person till it takes its first breath.

So, evangelical leaders, began moving against abortion access, but not for 6 years after the decision, Roe v Wade. Jerry Falwell, in the midst of the Republican plan to get the ‘Moral Majority’ fired up to vote Republican used it to get religious people to support Republicans.

That’s it. They could care less about reproductive rights and the damage they do to people who are demonized by them in the name of religion. All they care about is your vote.

You all are being scammed. Ask yourself, What programs are the Republicans, now that they have your vote, proposing that will improve the lives of their supporters? Nothing, just follow up with forcing others to follow what you believe.

Next up, gay marriage, Interracial marriage, anything that satisfies their rush to make America live by their religious rules!

Interestingly, the right to marry someone not in your race, is supported by the right to privacy in your personal decisions. Thomas’ marriage is also on the chopping block. Considering that a large number of Republican supporters are blatantly racist, it would not be a huge jump for them to go after interracial marriage.

Prejudice of the Poor

I can only hope, as I think of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country, that these men and women, would want every citizen to have the rights and the ‘American Dream’ we all strive for.  Their sacrifices are what bring us to this.  We, at this moment, have the ability to end abject poverty and provide healthcare for all.  To uplift the lives of all our citizens and honor the sacrifices made by those who gave all.

 We could easily provide healthcare and end abject poverty among our citizens and our wealthy citizens would still be wealthy. It would be cheaper than the 126 poverty programs we now pay for and the money spent trying to stop these benefits. Benefits that most modern countries already provide for their citizens. Everybody would be getting a grand a month, with a Universal Basic Income, we all would. What’s not to like about that?

I just do not understand this prejudice against the poor. They are treated as if they choose to be trapped in poverty. Were it not for the money I get for VA Disability I would be on the edge of poverty as many Veterans are. Maybe it’s the last prejudice we need to get rid of. Wonder where our Christian Citizens are on ending poverty?  Will they walk the walk or just talk? The deficit has dropped by a trillion since Biden took office and unemployment is down, so there is that to work with.

In 1968, the leading economist in America, John Kenneth Galbraith, and 1200 Economist’s signed a letter calling for a Universal Basic Income.  Nixon supported a similar idea at the time.  The spending of the middle class and poor was supposed to be the engine that would create demand and drive the economy.  One can easily see when this idea was abandoned by the Republican Party by comparing the buying power of an average family of four before Reagan took office and after.  Currently the buying power of the middle class and poor ls so bad both parents in our average family must work and sometimes Dad or Mom might have a second job.  Childcare needed for Mom to work is expensive.  Prior to Reagan, a man working forty hours a week could afford a nice house, car and vacation with the family and Mom didn’t have to work. Tax cuts for the Wealthy forced a rise in taxes at the local level to make up for money no longer coming to cities and counties from the Federal Government.  This has eaten away at the buying power of the poor and middle class.

The evidence of the loss of the buying power of the poor and middle class that would create demand is right on your television almost every time they take a commercial break.  Remember before the stimulus, the commercials offering to, ‘Boost”, your credit score?  The guy riding a cow? Now why, with my credit score so low I shouldn’t buy anything anyway, would credit companies think I should have a better credit score?

The answer is simple, to create demand. These commercials were all over the TV before the pandemic and stimulus.  After the stimulus was passed and people had more money to spend, more ‘buying power’, those commercials disappeared.  Now that the stimulus money is spent and demand is going back down, the commercials are back.  A clear admission that the real engine of the economy is the spending power of the poor and middle class.

I do think that our best course is to invest in all our citizens. If one looks back at Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms speech, we have completed 3 of the 4, Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Religion, Freedom from Fear, and the last which always seems to be forgotten, Freedom from Want. A Universal Basic Income coupled with healthcare would accomplish the Fourth.  Restoring the buying power of the poor and middle class with a UBI is investing in our citizens.  What better way to spend our lives and money than improving the lives of all our citizens rather than just those who were lucky enough to win the ‘Where you were born at’, lottery!

This is what many of us were fighting for, and we have the wealth and means to accomplish it.  Let us honor their sacrifices and hand all our citizens an even shot at the American Dream by ending poverty in America once and for all.

The Death of Privacy in America

A draft of a Supreme Court Ruling on abortion, that was printed in the New York Times, has the political world up in arms. The draft asserts that, Roe v Wade, the case that affirmed the right of a woman to decide for herself what happens if she gets pregnant, is knocked down based on the writings of an English Lawyer from the 1600s who believed witches should be put to death. The claim is that Roe was initially decided incorrectly, and that there is no support in the Constitution for the right of privacy.  Additionally, Roe should be knocked down because abortion is not specifically mentioned in the Constitution.  Hate to say it but the reasoning is so inept any freshman law student could easily rebut it! The right to privacy is well established under law and many rights we take for granted are not specifically named.  Sad to watch the Justices twist themselves into knots in order to  to take away this right!

The leaked draft ruling written by Judge Alito, ending a Woman’s right to decide what happens when she gets pregnant, will also create a threat to individual privacy.   If a woman has no right to privacy in her most intimate of decisions, then nobody in America does! The right to decide, now, rests with the woman as a right to privacy established by the court 50 years ago. It is settled precedent!

The last 3 Judges appointed to the Supreme Court by President Trump, Justice Barret, Justice Kavanaugh, and Justice Gorsuch, all testified to Congress that the right to an abortion was settled precedent under law, when questioned during their confirmation hearings. This means that they lied in their hearings. Three of the Judges sitting on the Highest Court in the land, thought it was ok to commit perjury in their hearings.  That it was ok to commit a felony during their hearing.  Let me say that again, 3 Supreme Court Judges sitting on the highest court in the land thought it was ok to commit perjury in their hearings! This means they lied to the American People. That is a problem. That is a huge problem!

If a woman has no right to privacy in her most intimate decisions, then you don’t either. This assault on individual freedom will not stop here. Any right couched in the right to privacy, like Gay Marriage, or even interracial marriage are under threat.  It allows the Government to intrude on any private decision you might choose to make that the Government does not like! This decision will take away the right to privacy in our individual lives because it will kill the legal right to individual privacy in our private decisions.

Should Roe v Wade fall it will result in the Court taking away a right. Something that has never happened.  We have always worked to expand rights not take them away.  It is a sad day in America the land of the Free, when half of our Legislators are working to take away rights instead of working to expand them!

Saving the American Dream

• Restoring Financial hope and the American Dream

We currently have the largest wealth gap since right before the crash of 1929. This inequity in wealth is a weight on our economy and unless dealt with will cause much economic harm for our country and for our individual citizens. It already is stifling growth in individuals and local governments.

The original idea, back in 1968, was that the spending of the poor and middle class would drive the economy. They even called for a Universal Basic Income in 1968 and the Republican President Nixon, supported the idea. From the war till 1980, a man working 40 hours a week could support a family of 4 with a decent house, car and vacation, a nice life, the ‘American Dream. What happened to the buying power of the poor and middle class that was supposed to be the engine that would drive the economy so all would benefit?

Reagan was elected in 1980 and began a dance with the uber wealthy the Republican Party is still doing. Donate enough to elect your candidate, He then passes legislation to cut your taxes, you donate enough to get him elected and he passes legislation that cuts his donor’s taxes and repeat. This, along with the idea of ‘supply side’ economics, or as it has been called, ‘voo-doo economics’, has killed the buying power of the poor and middle class so terribly that now, a family of 4 struggles to survive.

Since 1980, to have that ‘American Dream’ people gradually have had to increase income. Mom got a job, and now it’s not uncommon for both parents to be working and one might have a second job, and they are struggling to get by. On top of that, cutting taxes on the uber wealthy ends up with lost Federal Revenue being replaced with local taxes. That is where the money went that those individual citizens need to survive.

You have 2 Drivers Licensing Clerk positions. One is paid for by local taxes and the other is paid for by money sent to the States for citizen services by the Federal Gov. Well because of the revenue lost to tax cuts the Federal Government does not have as much money to send to states and cities. If you want to keep both clerks you will now have to raise local taxes to do so. What can be done to fix this staggering wealth gap hurting our economy and people? Simply put, a Universal Basic Income and switching to ‘trickle up economics’ instead of ‘trickle down”.

I think we should really consider the idea of a phased in Universal Basic Income as talked about in 1968. Then, the idea was, as I said, supported by President Nixon, and would restore the buying power lost to those big tax cuts for the wealthy over the last 40 years. At the time, John Kenneth Galbraith, the leading economist in the nation, and 1200 economists signed a letter calling for a Universal Basic Income. We could do it if we wanted to. It would also end abject poverty in America for good and we could end those 126 or so poverty programs we pay for now.

I just think that after 40 years of trickle-down economics maybe we could try tickle up and see how that works. Like Will Rodgers said, “Give the money to a poor man and the rich man will have it in 24 hours, but at least the poor man will have gotten some use out of it.” It’s time those of us on the lower end of the economic pyramid start “Getting some use of it!”

Military Still Demonizing Cannabis Users

The Military is trying to comply with the 1970 Controlled Substances Act and keep the Soldiers away from cannabis. Sadly, and with terrible consequences for many of the Soldiers, they are doing again what they did decades ago.

When I got to Germany in 1970, everybody was smoking hash and going to the concerts with the Germans our age and they encouraged us to engage with them. If you were caught by the first Sgt in the barracks smokin’, he’d be like, ” I see you guys are gonna help paint the barracks this Saturday.” And we’d be like, “Ok.”

In 1970 the new Controlled Substances Act placed cannabis as Schedule 1, Dangerous and having no medical value. This placement was temporary, till the Shafer Commission released its 1972 report, ‘Drugs in America’, which said marijuana should be decriminalized and that drugs were a medical and not a criminal one.

Nixon felt betrayed because he wanted to use the war on drugs as a tool to harass his political enemies. He ignored the commission and declared the War on Drugs anyway.

Now in Germany, in 1972, the cops suddenly busted everybody at all the bases there. I swear, 10 days later I was in the barracks looking for some smoke and found the guys in one guy’s room snorting heroin. They created their own problem with their prohibition. Many good men had their careers and lives ruined by Nixon’s scam!

Ending the Federal Prohibition of Cannabis is long overdue. Sadly many more lives and careers will be ruined before it finally ends!

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A Danger to America And Her Allies!

The Republican party on the State and Federal level are in the process of destroying our Democracy.  They are passing laws to restrict voting, to take the responsibility for declaring the results away from local officials and passing a bill that would allow the legislature to void the announced results and name whoever they want! 

This is a direct assault on our democracy.  If Republicans are successful in overturning a valid election it is the end of democracy in America and our grand desire for a multicultural democracy is dead!

You will vote but crooked politicians are working to be able to nullify your vote and change the results of the election in their favor and they are attempting this in States where Republicans are in control of the State legislatures.   This action is simply a power grab.  Republicans recognize that the country is moving away from racism and toward multiculturalism and have climbed on to the anti-democratic forces that have taken over the Party.

How in the hell did they go from patriotism and love of country to trying to destroy the very thing they claim to worship?  Supporting white supremacists and other groups on the fringe of reality has brought the Party to a low that they may never be able to recover from.  The party supported a rebellion and attacked the Capitol to change the results of a valid election!  Can’t get much lower than that!  Every one of the Republicans who supported the rebellion should be censored and thrown out of Congress and if appropriate, should be charged.

We cannot allow this kind of disinformation and disloyalty to continue. The facts must be examined and justice must be swift and just but it has to happen to save our Democracy.  If we do not we will have lost everything we have strived for these almost 300 years and democracy will be lost to the world.  This would be a tragedy whose consequences will follow us as long as America exists!

A Cancer We Must Defeat!

Excrement!

Feces and urine smeared in the Halls of Congress!

Does this not anger you?  Then this should anger you even more, for the Republican members of this and the last Congress supported the actions of Jan 6, 2021.

Used to be the Party that was out of power was known as the Loyal Opposition.  Legislators willing to negotiate for the good of the Nation.  Like. –” Well Bill I guess we could easily get your bridge passed if we work together.”

No longer is this true.

The Republican Party, since Nixon has dropped all pretensions of being a legitimate party that can efficiently and to the good of the citizens run the Federal Government.  One has only to look at the disastrous ending of every Republican Administration since Nixon! 

Now seeing a future as an perennial minority Party they are willing to go so far as to incite an insurrection to overturn a legitimate election to maintain power.

Those Republican Legislators who incited and supported this rebellion have all broken their oath to protect and defend the Constitution and should be dealt with accordingly!

Somehow, just as I am trying to rid my body of cancer we must also rid our country of this malady! A disease so evil it has many on the right rooting for the cancer!