Wrong Way on Marijuana Laws

California Medical Marijuana Numbers: Amount Of Patients With Pot Prescriptions Is Difficult To Gauge Because California Doesn't Require Registration

Sponsored by Assemblywoman Nora Campos, a San Jose Democrat, the bill would require anyone who wants to claim a legal right to use marijuana for health reasons to apply for a county-issued identification card. Marijuana patients also would have to say if they plan to grow their own pot or to purchase it from a patient collective, and name the collective.

If a person is prescribed oxycodone they aren't required to register with the county just so the cops won't bust them for taking their medicine. Other medical marijuana states should be moving towards California's interpretation of how to deal with medications, not the other way around.

Link found between Pot and Not Killing Yourself

Study: suicide rates fall when states legalize medical marijuana.

In addition:

They also note that the sale of alcohol to young males declines in states that legalize medical marijuana and note that alcohol is a known depressant...

Next we need a study on what happens when states legalize recreational marijuana.

Boycott the Wicked

For years I have been practicing and preaching the 'Buy American' ethos. Yes, it is difficult.

In this installment of What Would Jello Do, Jello advocates for a parallel plan; boycott the evil bastards and buy local.

We are essentially aiming in the same direction with the same intent. Watch, listen, join the revolution!

Continuing to Draw the Line

Capitalists possess things.

Socialists do things.

Noun.

Verb.

Rock vs. River.

End Drug Violence

BBC News - Drug cartels threaten Latin American democracy

Cartels are influencing elections by threatening politicians and even running their own candidates, OAS Secretary for Multidimensional Security Adam Blackwell said.

As the world's largest illegal drug consuming country we can stop this. End the drug war. Legalize, tax, regulate. Save the rest of the Americas from the violence.

The Power of Denial

Falling for passionate political speak leads to artistic hilarity.

Return of the Aging and Ranting Punks!

WWJD?

What Would Jake Do? He'd watch this video.

What Would Jello Do...

WalMart is Evil

WalMart is the essence of Evil.

A company that instructs managers how to help employees sign up for public assistance is evil. A not-evil company would pay employees enough to not need the public assistance intended for the truly needy.

A company that will take a loss at one store to drive local stores owned by local people out of business is evil. If you can leverage this kind of control you are too fucking big.

When someone is injured on your property and it is covered by your insurance, pay up. That is what insurance is for. Having a massive team of lawyers dedicated to not paying out a single cent even in legitimate cases is fucking evil.

Leveraging your size and influence to force other manufacturers to produce shit for zero profit is bullshit.

If you are truly offering people the best deal around, why are the Waltons on the short list of the richest people in the world? Sounds like they could cut prices a little more. Or they could share the wealth instead of being a burden on society.

Walmart is evil. I saw it destroy my hometown. I have seen it destroy communities. If you shop at WalMart, you are part of the problem. End of story.

If elected President of these United States I will bring WalMart up on treason charges for betraying the people of this country to the enrichment of the Chinese Government.

Have a nice fucking day.

Open Primary Season

While most folks focus on the circus that is the Republican nomination process, there is a match of actual interest going on.

Roseanne Barr vs. Jill Stein for Green Party Presidential candidate. Stein is currently trouncing Barr.

Here's a suggestion for any knee jerk closet racist conservatives happening across this; support Roseanne. Don't deny it, you hate Muslims. How do you think they would feel having to meet with Roseanne as heads of state? Just saying.

Who are the 99%?

As #occupy continues to go through media cycles (largely based on police violence) it becomes clear that the 99% will no longer remain silent. Who are they? The Washington Post answers the question from the other side.

Taken literally, the top 1 percent of American households had a minimum income of $516,633...

The number looks large but attainable. Then comes the real shock.

When you look at the disparity in net worth, things look even more skewed. Wealthier Americans have assets — in home equity, stocks and other investments — that generally outstrip their cash income. Average wealth of the top 1 percent was almost $14 million in 2009...

Yikes! Nobody in my circle of friends can boast that. The flip side is even scarier.

By contrast, the poorest households were experiencing declines in net worth even before the recession hit. In 2007, the bottom 20 percent of households had an average (negative!) net worth of –$13,800 in 2007, which fell further to –$27,200 in 2009. Altogether, “average wealth of the bottom 80 percent was just $62,900 in 2009 — a dropoff of $40,900 from 2007,” EPI writes. That means the wealthiest 1 percent held an average of 225 times the wealth of the average median household in 2009 — a ratio that was 125 in 1962.

Big numbers make the head spin. Visual!

Remember, that first group is NEGATIVE!

Who are the 99%? Just about everyone. Why are they speaking out? Because you don't become one of the 1% by working hard and lining up for Black Friday bargains.

More numbers and pictures at the New York Times.

UC Davis Incident

Watch the whole thing. What do you see? What reactions do you have?



Did you watch it? If not, do so now!

Then continue with this news article.

Officers in pepper spray incident placed on leave

Charles J. Kelly, a former Baltimore Police Department lieutenant who wrote the department's use of force guidelines, said pepper spray is a "compliance tool" that can be used on subjects who do not resist, and is preferable to simply lifting protesters...

After reviewing the video, Kelly said he observed at least two cases of "active resistance" from protesters. In one instance, a woman pulls her arm back from an officer. In the second instance, a protester curls into a ball. Each of those actions could have warranted more force, including baton strikes and pressure-point techniques.

"What I'm looking at is fairly standard police procedure," Kelly said.

At some point the people of this country accepted this behavior from the police. Now that people carry a pocket video camera with them at all times the behavior looks different. I read the above news story and compared it to what I saw in the video.

UC Davis Police Chief Annette Spicuzza has said the decision to use pepper spray was made at the scene.

"The students had encircled the officers," she said Saturday. "They needed to exit. They were looking to leave but were unable to get out."

Is that what you saw? What are your reactions now?

Constitutional Law

I have a radical idea.

The ACLU and the NRA should become a single entity. Join forces/resources. Fight the good fight together.

Honestly. I like them both.

The Occupation is Over; Long Live #Occupy!

The three most news worthy #occupy camps in three days all with mayors talking about health and safety issues. Just coincidence. Move along.

We should all be glad for this. The 1% has shown their hand. They say the word and the politicians leap. Spread the word and laugh.

Laugh because #occupy is far from gone. #ows got right back in the park. #occupyportland is still holding daily GA's. A contingent from #occupyoakland marched five miles to support Berkley. A movement that had settled into a simmer came roaring back into national news.

Are you enjoying this as much as I am?

Oakland Police Department Lies

The lies of the Oakland Police Department disturb me.

From the Guardian...

(I)nterim police chief, Howard Jordan, was similarly defensive when he spoke to reporters, denying that his men had used rubber bullets or flash-bang grenades, as some protesters alleged and adding: "It's unfortunate it happened. I wish that it didn't happen. Our goal, obviously, isn't to cause injury to anyone."

How can someone lie in the face of such condemning evidence? It certainly looks like a flash-bang grenade was tossed right in the middle of those protestors trying to help out a fallen protestor; a Marine who survived two tours in Iraq only to return to the United States and get his skull fractured for peaceful unarmed protest.



While on the topic of the Occupy Movement...

Several people have complained recently about protestors destroying parks. We could debate that point. I choose not to. Assume their occupation destroys the parks they inhabit. Better a few trampled parks than one trampled United States Constitution (First Amendment). Anyone else have good responses to these types?

Libyarated

BBC News - Libya's new rulers declare country liberated. Crowds cheered as one leader that wasn't elected announced the death of another leader that wasn't elected.

I am as misinformed about the meaning of 'Liberated' as I was about the phrase 'Mission Accomplished'.

Obama Pulls Out

US pulls out way too late. Says, "Don't worry, baby. I'm sure everything will be fine."

BBC: All US troops to leave Iraq in 2011.

So when Obama promised an immediate withdrawal from Iraq, he meant that he would get around to it when election season started up again? Lame!

Occupy Wall Street Lunatic 'Fringe of the Fringe'

The Forbes 'Occupy Wall Street' Gaining Respect...From Wall Street? article by Kenneth Rapoza is poor journalism.

The left wing lunatic 'fringe of the fringe' is gaining respect from the very source of the movement's disdain: Wall Street itself.

A 'news' article calling a movement of thousands in New York and hundreds of thousands if not millions showing solidarity as the movement turns into Occupy Everywhere can not be called lunatic 'fringe of the fringe'. This seems like a deliberate attempt at belittling the very movement the article purports to report support for.

Whether it fizzles out or gets busted up through divide and conquer strategies remains to be seen, but the movement, which got its start in the editorial offices of Adbusters, a non-influential magazine based in Vancouver, continues to spread around the world.

Send Mr. Rapoza back to school! First and foremost, this would make a fine example of a run-on sentence in any grammar book. The poor use of commas further complicates comprehension. The opening line, "Whether it fizzles out or gets busted up..." assumes unknowable foreknowledge. It again belittles the protests and assures the reader that this too shall pass into obscurity before any results are achieved. Calling Adbusters a non-influential magazine flies in the face of all evidence. The Occupy Wall Street idea started there and has spread around the globe over the past month. While the magazine may have played almost no role in organizing the event, their influence is evident.

Did Forbes and Mr. Rapoza deliberately publish propaganda? Are they shitty journalists? Do we have to choose?

Keeping things in check

Abolish the minimum wage. Institute a maximum wage of no more than 10x what the lowest paid workers make. Watch the lowest paid workers earn more than they ever thought possible.

Customer Service

One way to view the Occupy Wall Street/Occupy America demonstrations...

This is a customer service call. The citizens subscribe to a service called American Democracy. They are unsatisfied with that service. So they are calling out the service providers. They aren't clear on what the service provider needs to do, just what the failings of that service are and that they better do something because the service sucks.

Dear Service Provider,
Make It Right!

The Occupation Continues

What's it all about?

Anti-Wall Street Protests Spread From New York to San Francisco - Businessweek

“They’re just a bunch of wacko leftists trying to get on TV,” said Onel Delorb, 33, an unemployed office worker from the Bronx. “It’s my fault that I’m not doing anything for work. It’s not government’s fault.”

He said the demonstrators undermined their credibility by carrying iPhones and iPads made by Apple Inc., which is valued at $350 billion.

A valid point. Or it is a further indicator of how giant corporations fleece the population by over-charging for their goods. Having watched a lot of the live feed, I could also argue the protesters made wise investments in tools that have allowed them to become their own media outlet and spread the word. No major media outlet filmed policeman Anthony Bologna pepper-spraying innocent protesters. The protesters did it for themselves and spread it around the world in an instant. They aren't trying to get on TV because they don't need the TV.

Using the products of corporations against them. Definitely revolutionary*.

* In the sense that many revolutions are initially armed by the forces they come up against.