text:
There is no legitimate reason in the world to be waging the war on drugs and drug users -- for any drug. I use this site to park some of the longer pieces I write when I need to rant, but please visit my main site "truth: the Anti-drugwar", where I do the bulk of my work. Friend me on Facebook -- Learn the truth. Tell everyone you can. It's time to end the drug war.
Thursday, February 01, 2007
Face It: You're a "Legalizer"
There is absolutely no defensible reason to continue prohibition. If you have one, bring it on – I will convince you of the error of your ways. Or, failing at the task, consign you to the "do not resuscitate" pile. There is indeed some number of our fellow citizens who can only be described as "fanatical" people who will never be swayed from their position. The good news, though, is that they tally up to a rather small (though loud and certainly insufferable) portion of the populace. Interestingly, the "standard curve" applies, and it is likely that this minority of extremists is probably in balanced proportion to those they wish to bully – that is, the number of problem drug using people is likely quite similar to the number of vehement prohibitionists. It's just a hunch. But, if it is anywhere close to true, it is certainly something that works to our advantage. Just as drug abuse is the exception, so is utter intolerance. The American people as a whole tend toward being quite a bit more tolerant than would be required for achieving a "zero tolerance, drug-free" America. The problem we face is not convincing them that we are correct – it is getting them to pay attention in the first place. And then there's that little knee jerk: "You're just trying to make it legal to use drugs." That is ultimately their last line of defense … and their first.
Trying to change marijuana laws may be the "easiest" thing politically, but I'm sorry, there are two HUGE reasons why that one is going nowhere: 1) pot smokers are afraid to speak up for themselves and 2) passing a pot law in one state leaves the pot smokers in the other 49 screwed. Let's say the MPP was "successful" (in the true sense of the word, not in their self-aggrandizing definition of the word) in passing the recreational marijuana use law proposed in Nevada this past fall – what would that really mean? If you lived in Arizona and went to Vegas for a weekend of boozing, gambling, whoring and pot smoking, when you returned to work Monday morning, your piss test would still put you out of a job. Some "success" that would be.
The worst impact of trying the "go slowly" approach is that even full-blown wide open legal availability of marijuana will do absolutely nothing to address the entirely heinous aspects of the drug war. Innocent people will still be killed during SWAT raids on the wrong house, there will still be plenty of "drug-related" crime, plenty of accidental deaths from stuff like "heroin" that is laced with fentanyl, and (worst of all) the "let's pee for freedom" train will be charging full steam ahead training our youth to be obedient little neo-fascists.
Let's not forget too, how quickly the British and Swiss addiction experiments were (and continue to be) dubbed as "failures" (despite abundant evidence to the contrary). You see, the basic problem with the piecemeal approach is that it actually does nothing to help. It merely allows the existing system to remain largely intact while allowing the emergence of a new chorus of voices protesting things like "drug tourism" and demanding even more stupidity like increasing the use of drug testing. It's a completely dumbass idea to try to kill the beast by trimming its toenails.
"Legalizing Drugs," is thus the big scary boogeyman that serves as the foundation of the status quo. I am convinced, however, that the average citizen is quite capable of comprehending why we need to end the War on Drugs – and that by ending the war it will indeed mean that we do have to legalize the sales, possession, and use of the wide variety of available intoxicants. Does that mean we all turn into heroin addicts the day after? HELL NO!!! But the actual goal should not and indeed is not to legalize drugs – it is to end the tyrannous practices that have resulted from our society having adopted intolerance as part of its creed. In essence, we need to gather the courage to play for the fence, and make this a core issue at every level in the next general election.
We must stop splintering the far too limited resources we possess into so many misdirected attempts at eating the poo one swallow at a time. We have nothing, ask for next to nothing, and consistently lose to the trump card of "you're just trying to make drugs legal." Enough! If we want to gather the numbers we require to accomplish the task, we first need to focus our attention on the fact that the core reason to end the drug war is simply because it is completely un-American to turn in your neighbor for doing things directly to only himself. Period. We need to demand (and practice) equality for all.
We need to be bold, we need to have courage. We know we are correct, and we know we will prevail -- we just need the balls to actually swing for the fence.
Bases loaded, bottom of the ninth, two outs, down by three.
Batter up!
26 comments:
- "Radical" Russ said...
Excellent post, as always, Brian.
Here are a couple of rhetorical tricks I use in the argument.
#1) Ask the person whether drugs should be regulated. "Should we let anyone who wants drugs to get them? Should we allow drug dealers to give drugs to kids? Should we allow drug dealers to settle their disputes through violence?" In other words, explain the status quo to them as if we're debating putting prohibition into place.
After all, the prohibitionists' goal is "drug free America". Show them that America is anything but drug free, never has been, never will be. Therefore, should we regulate drugs ("legalize") or should we just throw up our hands and say, "eh, let the criminals handle it"?
#2) Use prohibitionists' derision toward drug users against them. When they make the "you just want to get high legally" charge, return the volley with, "people are already getting high... why don't we tax them?" Show them how unregulated drugs means untaxed drugs, show them the $14B/yr we'd reap under a regime of marijuana taxed and regulated like alcohol. "Tax the deadbeat stoners!"
- anti-drugwar czar said...
hi russ!
i'm always glad to see you weighing in, and as usual, you bring great stuff to the table.
those are excellent points -- and of obvious use to all of us taking the debate public. the one change i see across the board is the realization (usually unspoken) that we need to go on the offensive -- and make them defend the tyranny they seek to impose on us all. turning it all back around on them is pure poetry in motion, and the surest way to an "aha" moment among the fence sitters is found in simple questions.
there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that if the people behind the drug war "won," they would go after tobacco and alcohol full force. that, and they would pass laws to force all citizens to take pills that prevent the pleasure repsonse in the human brain.
if we may be punished for taking drugs we want to take, then we can be forced to take drugs we don't want to take. no thanks.
hell, we can already see that in action as tobacco smokers are already being taken behind the barn and they are starting to do alcohol testing on kids (no brainer observation: rates of use for inhalants, hallucinogens and the chugging of cough syrup will increase dramatically).
i do have one small problem with the "tax the deadbeat stoners" line though -- according to former czar mccaffrey, 77 percent of drug users have jobs. we need to tax them too ;^)
- Bob Merkin said...
Despair -- to Catholics, the only unforgiveable sin, because it is an insult to God, one's failure to believe He will ever make the ghastly world better.
The Land of the Free has 2,300,000 children, women and men behind bars, by raw number and percentage of population the world's largest prison and gulag, we have more prisoners than China, we have more prisoners than Russia. To sustain this incarcerocracy, we have vast numbers of police, a huge segment of the economy devoted to new prison construction and management of privatized prisons, and each state's prison guards union is typically the most powerful and influential lobby, the lobby every politician knows never to go against. The prison guard union uses its influence to generate new crimes and ever-longer sentences, to assure lifetime job security and a growth industry.
How will our labor force and economy absorb, employ and care for this suddenly unemployed army of parasites at the public teat?
More to the point -- how do we de-fang the most powerful and influential sacred-cow lobbies that have evolved since and because of the war on drugs?
Arguing the drug prohibition generates violence is no answer. More violence generates more prisoners, who generate more job security for those who profit from the incarcerocracy.
Opponents of drug prohibition believe that someday, Wise Leaders will altrustically guide America to more sensible drug and criminal justice policy, prison gates will swing open wide, and a new era of justice and humane treatment will blossom under a bright new sun.
The machine is far too evolved for achieving its own self-serving goals. Justice, humane treatment of human beings, a society far less reliant on mass incarceration -- these were never the goals, and are less our nation's goal with every year.
Will you give a job to an unemployed DEA agent? Will you give a job to an unemployed prison guard? Where is the economic and labor incentive to reform and repeal?
Until these fundamental political and economic structures of the war on drugs are clearly recognized and frontally assaulted, the war goes on. Too many people are dependent on it.
There are 4 grps, and ONLY 4 grps, that people belong to in ref to the Drug War and legalization.
A- completely agree that drugs should be legalized.
B- agree the Drug War is a failure, but, ohmygod, there hasta be something else as a choice than the "L" word.
C- these folks think the drug war isn't a matter for them and they are mildly ignorant of the issue. Haven't thought about it much.
D- these people think the legalizers should take a long walk off a short pier.
Here's the reality: most folks are members of the A, B and C grps. The D grp is a minority. When we're trying to convince America and the world about ending drug prohibition, we need to remember that we are members of the majority--the rational and progressive thinkers. The folks opposed to legalization/regulation of any kind are neanderthals and aren't worth wasting time on. We just need to swing the Bs and Cs over to our side, which won't be hard.
We just need to do it.
Good post, Bri.
Mike Smithson
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
Reading this essay I had to check to see if I was reading something I had written. I could not agree more. And I will go you one better.
All that the drug policy reform movement of America needs to do is influence a majority of 535 people in Washington, D.C. to end the entire drug war. That 535 of course os the U.S. Congress. When you think about it simply intimidating a majority of 535 congress-critters with tough on crime demagoguery is what has kept the Jim Crow drug war in place these past three-dozen years. I always say, turn about is fair prey. Why shouldn't and why can"t we confront the congress as assertively as the drug warriors have?
For this reason much of my writing has been directed at the congress or is ideas and argument that I hope people can use to engage the congress about its drug war policy. Since the fall I have been building a one person campaign around a quote by an Afghan expert to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last September.
"The international drug control regime, which criminalizes narcotics, does not reduce drug use, but it does produce huge profits for criminals and the armed groups and corrupt officials who protect them. Our drug policy grants huge subsidies to our enemies."
"If it were not illegal, it would be worth hardly anything. It's only its illegality that makes it so valuable." Sept. 21, 2006 testimony by Afghanistan expert New York University Professor Barnett Rubin, appearing before the United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Here is a postcard like thing I have been playing with for the quote.
Recently I have been begging folks to pay attention to the fact that drug policy reformer Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio is now the chairman of the newly created Domestic Policy subcommittee of the all powerful Government Reform Committee. The DPC will have jurisdiction over the Office of National Drug Control Policy as well as Justice. Rep. John Conyers of Michigan, another strong drug policy reformer, is now chair of the House Judiciary Committee. Finding ways to help them forward and support their efforts to the rest of congress now could move things quickly for reform.
Thank you, thank you for the argument on pot vs total reform. My personal reform efforts are obsessed around the national security issues posed by the black market. Fixing the pot laws does nothing to reduce the national security threat. Fixing the overall drug war policy to reduce the national security threat automatically fixes the pot market by extension.
This is the same as fixing the medical pot laws do nothing to fix the national recreational pot law situation but fixing the overall pot laws negates the medical pot problem.
All in all the piecemeal solution could take another generation before we see the end of the drug war. But going for the throat of the drug war in its entirety, NOW, can bring reform to the halls of congress right now when the Democrats are looking for new ways to be heroes.
- anti-drugwar czar said...
hey bob,
thanks for your thoughts.
sure, it's a tough job, but let's stop pretending that "they" are some kind of unassailable superman.
and honestly i don't think anyone has ever actually done the math to support your contentions that the prison-industrial complex is the economic juggernaut you imply.
and even if they were -- so what? the alternative sucks. do we just cry and stop in our tracks becasue of the big-bad prison lobby? bullshit! we line them up and knock them down just like we do with the rest of the clowns.
the people waging the drug war do not have the powers you assign to them -- just as the drugs don't really have the powers the prohibs claim.
there are only a few thousand people working for the dea -- and only half are agents. you want me to believe that we can't prevail against them?
sorry, i ain't buying it. and they can easily find a way to make themselves useful -- they can do counter-terror or industrial security.
as to the prison industry -- YGBSM! you really think they won't still have jobs just because we end the drug war?
do you really think they are too numerous and powerful to overcome? do you honestly believe that millions of americans, once convinced of the folly of the status quo, can't be brought to their senses because the prison industry will out argue us?
i see no super powers preventing us from prevailing and will certainly expose every bit of the involvement of the prison lobby and DEA in the problem.
there are a lot of pieces in the puzzle -- but none of them, individually or collectively, is insurmountable.
there are far fewer people "dependent" on maintaining the status quo than the number who are not. in a democracy, superior numbers is the name of the game.
indeed, making such specious claims as to the superhuman power of the opposition is hardly indicative of the level of intellect and courage we need to bring to bear to solve the problems we face.
you can do way better than that -- i've seen some of your work.
- anti-drugwar czar said...
hey mike,
that's a great breakout! for those who are unfamiliar with mike, he's been doing awesome work for a very long time for both his local reform group "ReConsider" as well as running the speakers' bureau for LEAP, so he has a good handle on public attitudes and how to effectively change them.
obviously, i agree mike -- we don't need to convert everyone, and we can absolutely ignore the 'D' group.
it would seem that the average american has more in common with those involved in bringing reform than they do with the rabidly intolerant.
- anti-drugwar czar said...
wow aahpat -- thanks!
i agree that the most improtant group to influence is indeed the 535 people sitting in congress. but doing that will require that we get drug reform to actually become an important issue for the public, who in turn will provide the political pressure we need to win. so we need to go after both with the same arguments. in essence, we need to make it "safe" for the congress members to utter the unthinkable out loud.
before the mid-terms, i wrote this post on my blog. i have long considered that the best thing either of the major political parties could do to really make an impact and really act like "leaders" would be to call upon us to act like we really believe that we are a nation "dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal."
i am convinced that whichever party adopted that position as one of their core planks would win in a landslide. here's the opportunity. so yes, let's pressure the congress (and especially the parties) to start acting like "Americans," and stop all the bullshit about denying RIGHTS to people.
they will listen if we can get enough people to demand them to live up to their oaths. the political class is the only set of people who can actually pass the laws we need passed -- obviously we need to get them to do what we want. but they won't do it until they think it is "safe" to do so. it is unbelievably pathetic that in 21st century "America" you are considered "brave" when you stand up for equality.
also, there is an exciting new book that was just released (disclaimer, i'm in the book -- but i'm in several and i'd recomend this one even if i weren't): "Lies, Damn Lies, and Drug War Statistics", which is basically a complete indictment of the ONDCP. i told the author about dennis kuncinich (hell i probably heard about it from you in the first place) and a copy of the book is on the way to him.
let's get busy.
also, the postcard idea is great!
- Bob Merkin said...
awfully nice to hear from mike smithson of LEAP. LEAP is one of the few hopeful developments of the resistance to the war on drugs in recent years.
i began my post by talking about the unforgiveable sin of Despair. On Monday I'll be 60 years old. So much of my American life has been spent watching our explosion of prisoners, and of course with such disproportionate numbers of blacks and hispanics. the war on drugs ia a more effective system for disenfranchising non-whites than the Jim Crow of my childhood ever was. AND the war on drugs is a bipartisan effort, a full partnership of Republicans and Democrats to throw blacks, hispanics and the poor into prison.
i would like to look to the future and see a lot of hope. but i have to be brutally candid and say that political america has become ferocially addicted to a permanent system of mass incarceration. Nixon, who put marijuana in the same schedule as heroin, told H.R. Haldeman that the war on drugs is all about disenfranchising and disempowering black, but of course has to be made not to obviously look that way.
blame it on the aches and pains and lumbago of a guy getting old.
i must also point out a Sea Change in the way americans perceive criminal defense. when i was growing up, we were taught that the american justice system was the best in the world because every criminal dependent, regardless of how poor he/she was, had a fair shot, with the presumption of innocence, at an acquittal by a jury.
now you only have to watch our television fiction and see that criminal defense lawyers have become the villains in the public eyes, and prosecutors are our new heroes and champions. Worse, young people look to prosecutors as their heroes and idols. (When i was a kid, it was Clarence Darrow.)
I've even seen some elections in which one candidate accuses the other: "He defended criminals!" as if that were some kind of detestable crime itself.
so sorry to sound so pessimistic. but perhaps this season reformers are not realistically assessing what we're really up against. the war on drugs works so well for so many centers of traditional political power. also reform -- i like to spell it reeform sometimes -- has nothing comparable to D.A.R.E., our shot to force our message on junior high school kids. (SSDP has a great new nick -- "The D.A.R.E. Generation.)
don't get me wrong. i want the corrupt and footshooting war on drugs to end today. but my worst fear about our chances is that our lead reform institutions wear suits and ties and run offices in Washington DC that make them indistinguishable from any other political lobby -- and reform's leaders move from reform to other lobbies as they use reform as a stepping stone to a political and lobbying career. meanwhile, as the war on drugs goes on forever, prisoners languish in prison serving outlandish 3-strikes and mandatory minimum
I'm so tired of writing about the superior policies of the Netherlands. Now I just want to expatriate and live in the Netherlands. Why dream of a rational, humane America when America clearly doesn't want to be rational and humane? Screw it -- I'd like to go somewhere that's already rational and humane.
I'll feel much better when spring comes.
- anti-drugwar czar said...
hi bob,
thanks again for making some excellent points. but don't despair -- we can do this.
i agree 100% that the so-called "leaders" in drug reform are fundamentally USELESS -- they are just a bunch of suits indistinguishable from any other lobbyist. hell, when i go to the DPA site all i see an an advertising brochure.
there is virtually nothing of actual use on their site. the news they post i can find elsewhere, the reports they publish are far too narrowly focused to be of much use, and there is no actual data to be found. where is the game plan? "reason, compassion, justice" is a slick marketing slogan, but what the hell is the plan?
worse yet, the "message" i get from their site is: "we have no clue what to do and no balls to do it -- maybe we can do harm reduction via supporting a needle exchange bill."
i came up with an apt description of such drivel back when i was working for the gov't: fluff over substance.
after waiting 30 years for someone else to get the job done, i decided to do it myself. and as i began working, i came across the great untapped pool of talent and energy brought to bear by people like you.
we don't need the brochure publishers of DPA and MPP, nor the quite useless national NORML (i still have a great measure of respect for local norml chapters, as those are the folks who actually do things). we can do this by forcing the "leaders" in DPR to get in line with the program -- or die off as the insignificant madison avenue brochure printers that they actually are.
LEAP, on the other hand is the absolute best thing to happen in the drug law reform effort EVER! the SSDP folks provide some useful in roads to youth, who have the energy and time to commit to the cause, and bring the credibility of being able to pronounce DARE as a complete failure.
so, we have a choice. we can "hope" that DPA, MPP and NORML get their shit together and start providing some leadership and a coherent game plan -- or we can do it ourselves.
i only did all that i've done to date because it was balatantly obvious that it needed to be done -- and the "leaders" didn't do it.
that's why i decided it was time for me to be "anti-drugwar czar." hell, everybody start pounding on the national orgs with emails asking them what the hell they're waiting for. send emails to DPA and tell them i should be in charge ;^)
don't despair bob -- there are literally legions of untapped warriors and potential supporters out there going stir-crazy trying to figure out how to help and desperately wanting to change things. i'm here to help them do it.
we don't need any more useless organizations, we need to create useful and purposeful organization between and among ourselves. and we are. human networking is a powerful force -- and now we have an incredible tool (the internet) at our disposal to greatly magnify what can be accomplished.
you are absolutely not alone, and even though we have a horrendously difficult task, we will prevail. it takes awhile to really piss off an American enough to force them to act -- and there are an awful lot of people out there pissed off about what has happened to "America."
if we can gather ourselves into the formidable political force we actually are, align with other disenfranchised Americans and pull together in mutual interest and regard, we can and will cause the changes in the political landscape that must be done.
if we try our best, we have a chance. if we succumb to despair, we will absolutely lose. i say we take the chance.
"[President Nixon] emphasized that you have to face the fact that the whole problem is really the blacks. The key is to devise a system that recognizes this while not appearing to." H.R. Haldeman's diaries.
The drug war was and still is that system.
I too have despaired of seeing an end to the drug war in my lifetime. I watched, on that day's evening news, the press conference of Nixon signing the bill creating the DEA. He was flanked by ex-CIA people all recruited into the DEA so that they could finally have a venue to do domestic operations.
Domestic operations such as this?
Agents Win Suit Vs. Pa. Attorney General
17 Feb 2003
Source: Associated Press (Wire)
"PHILADELPHIA - A federal jury awarded $1.5 million to two narcotics agents who claimed the Pennsylvania attorney general retaliated against them because they uncovered a drug-trafficking ring they said diverted profits to a CIA -backed Dominican presidential candidate.
John McLaughlin and Charles Micewski sued over their transfer from the Philadelphia office of the state Bureau of Narcotics Investigation in 1996. "
But today I see more potential than I have in years. In part thanks to LEAP. In big part because of the current political profile in congress. John Conyers is on the advisory board of the Drug Policy Alliance. Conyers is now the chairman of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee. Dennis Kucinich has attended drug reform organization conventions and has a strong anti drug war stance. Kucinich is now chairman of the newly created Domestic Policy Subcommittee of the House Government Reform Committee. Kucinich now has over-sight over the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.
Both are men are in strong positions to help make change happen quickly. We need to identify ways to help them move a reform agenda forward. The iron is hot.
I have worked hard to write on my blog about the crime and violence problems in Philadelphia and here in Allentown, PA. I tell the politicians that they should be going to Conyers for advice on what cities can do about the collateral damage in their towns caused by the failed drug war. At least until Conyers can move some legislation to help and change things. With Kucinich chairing his committee I will start advising them to talk to him as well. It is a positive recommendation to politicians for the crime they can do nothing about today.
We could all be pressuring our local politicians to address these crime and violence problems created by the drug war.
- Bob Merkin said...
Everybody -- even teenagers -- is vulnerable to hopelessness and despair, so perhaps an antidote to that, a booster shot, is to make sure we regularly celebrate -- with noisy, loud, 60s-style reform celebrations like the Ann Arbor Hash Bash -- as a built-in part of our reform activities. One thing we know: The dismal Puritans who are killing America with this war on drugs are not big fun party gals and guys. (Except former Czar Bennett, who tosses millions of his family's money down casino slot machines -- whoopie!)
I neglected to mention ReconsiDer. My bad, my very, very bad. Not just kissing your tuchas here. ReconsiDer has regularly astonished me with its clear, effective activities. They could be forgiven a political misstep or two -- but they've never made a misstep!
I'm from the next-door state, and as I look west over the border to New York's ReconsiDer -- pal, you got no idea how envious I am.
So a deep and important question is: How did some citizens of New York State (most, seemingly, NOT from the predictable New York City) come up with such a remarkably thoughtful, courageous, EFFECTIVE reform organization? And why haven't most other states evolved their own similar reform organization? To date, the only thing I know that's approached Reconsider's stunning achievements is the professional (legal and medical) community of King County (i.e. Seattle), Washington, which appears, quietly, to have locally nullified the most footshooting and prison-happy components of the War On Drugs. (It was a ReconsiDer dude who first brought this amazing situation to my attention.)
I've been working and praying for Souder to vanish for years. Maybe this is better; it will certainly be more entertaining: He's still in Congress, but his power and influence have been imasculated, and now he must defer and make nice-nice to Dennis Kucinich if he wants to spout his psycho fundy crap into the taxpayers' microphone.
It's like John Wayne having to ask Jane Fonda for the car keys every time he wants to make a patriotic speech.
Here are the whacko theories of a serious moon bat.
The frustrating effects that Bob enumerates so well are the successful result of three dozen years of mass mind control of an entire nation. America has been indoctrinated to intolerance using fear to ingrain that intolerance. Two generations in and it is now reflexive in some of the American psyche. This is why overcoming drug warrior mentality has been so hard using even the best reasoning and arguments that the reform movement has been able to come up with. Understanding this is the first step to deprogramming it.
Fear. First and foremost the drug war originating fear of minorities and dissidents/nonconformists. Countering and neutralizing the Voting Rights Act and the 26st Amendment was, I believe, the original Jim Crow motivation for the drug war of Richard Nixon and the Dixie-crat minded majority in the congress at the time.
Fear of crime.
Fear of addiction.
Fear of not being accepted in the herd.
These are the intellectually blinding fears that keep Americans from seriously considering reform arguments.
Before we can convince anyone with our well reasoned arguments we need to get past this wall of fear. The only way that I have found to do this is to trump their fear with a greater, better reasoned and more imminent fear. This is why I worked up that post card concept. And why I work with the terrorism funding argument. It is a superior fear. Convincing people that the drug prohibition actually causes and fosters more crime is another trump. SEE: alQaida's success strategy -silent jihad-
The arguments are there to trump even the fear in politicians of being labeled 'soft-on-crime'. We just have to find ways to get the arguments out there.
The oldest of the prohib arguments is the 'for the children' bullshit.
Two points.
1. Leaving drug sales in the black market hands of addict dealers, gangsters and other social predators who thrive in the black market of the drug war cannot be safer for children than putting drug sales in the regulated and licensed hands of responsible professionals in the community.
2. Ample evidence now tells us that bin Laden has been flooding the west with heroin not just as a source of capital but as an asymmetric weapon directed at western children to destabilize western culture. SEE: alQaida's success strategy -silent jihad- Not only does the drug war, as Dr. Rubin told congress "grant huge subsidies to our enemies" it also makes the children of America and the free world into ignorant cannon fodder in the war on terror.
These are real fears that can and should trump the racist fears of the drug warriors and open some minds that today are welded shut.
- SteveHeath said...
Hmmmm....This is a pretty rowdy bunch in this thread. Wonder if I should use my Real Name?
Hell, why not? It's gotten me this far, though with occasional help from my multicultural pal Manemez J. Lovitto
(say it out loud for Increased Humor Quotient).
The light bulb went on for me in just the past couple months with regard to the question, "Which drugs do you want to legalize?!?" - a query that is usually asked with exactly that vocal punctuation.
Answer - Given that any in-demand drug made illegal will be produced and sold on the streets of our commmunities, aggressively marketed to teenagers and 100% controlled by operators who wage violence against police and civilians - Which drugs should be ILLEGAL?
I'm listening.
Get the questioner to tell YOU which drugs should be illegal. Listen to HIM. Much more effective than any lecture from me or you.
This of course presupposes a sincere inquirer. If the person responds with something like, "I want currently illicit drugs GONE", then we must respectfully tip our hats and move on to discussion with those who have a grasp on reality.
LEAP does well by leading off nearly all presentations with a simple, "Do you believe drugs are going to go away?"
If they say yes, pat them on the head and move on, because no discussion will help.
But if they are part of 95% of folks who say, "No, they're not going away", then respectfully follow up and ask, "Which drugs should then be ILLEGAL, given the parameters set above."
Three cents to your nearest Holy Man
Or Woman. This is 2007 for crying out loud
- anti-drugwar czar said...
hey steve (yo, is that you manny?)
obviously i have nothing to argue with in what you say.
what i can add though, is that despite the popular wisdom among many reformers that "america isn't ready for it," there is a great deal of evidence to suggest that much of our own folklore on the anti-prohibition side is erroneous.
we cannot allow ourselves to continue to be paralyzed by these fears.
Excellent stuff -- the hard part, of course, is getting an opportunity to talk to the UNconverted rather than agreeing with each other. This is what is so good about LEAP's tactics: LEAP speakers seek out Rotary clubs, chambers of commerce, and all other organizations where you would expect to find prohibitionists. Then they show these (generally conservative) audiences how THEIR money is being flushed down the drain and THEIR communities are being destroyed.
This is why I'm working for Mike Smithson as one of LEAP's numerous speakers' bureau coordinators. Each of us has some LEAP speakers assigned to him/her, and we just e-mail civic groups and clubs offering our speakers. There's always some poor guy in the club who is supposed to come up with a program every week, and he's usually quite happy to hear from us.
I grew up in a family that was somewhat on the left side of the political centre, and it is generally assumed that anti-prohibitionists come from the left. The more I know about prohibition, however, the more certain I am that it is the fiscal and "constitutional" conservatives (though not the religious "conservatives") who are the real, natural anti-prohibitionists. William F. Buckley Jr. recognized this in 1996, when his National Review published a cover story recommending a complete end to the drug war. The drug warriors have somehow managed to retain conservative support by hiding the reality of what they are doing.
I think a true conservative will repudiate the drug war as soon as he sees how much money it wastes, and how many fundamental freedoms it abrogates. Leftists, in contrast, are liable to get sidetracked into the "medical marijuana" trap, or into fussing around about which drugs are "worse" than others (and so should stay illegal). This is backwards: The "worse" a drug is, the more we need to control it -- which means legalization.
- anti-drugwar czar said...
hi steve,
thanks for weighing in. i agree, LEAP is the "best thing going" in drug law reform at the moment, and they are spot on with calling for a complete end to the war. [they are also one of my best "customers."]
the message they bring to civic leaders is the same message that everyone else in DPR needs to be bringing to all the other various constituencies out there too -- those groups being, by far, the largest blocks of available voters.
we need to focus on making it clear to everyone we can that the drug war is an absolute abomination.
i've made the message as pithy as i can -- drugwar: we have no right, there is no reason.
and those involved in DPR need to learn that first.
- jackl2400 said...
I share Bob's pessimism, and tend to agree that Americans are so pig-headed and it's so hard to change laws that we can have the A, B and C groups on our side and the WoD will go on because of inertia and its racist hidden agendas.
I don't expect to see the laws change in my lifetime, but I fight on and resist. And with all respect to Brian, while I'm frusrated with the various reform orgs and their inconsistencies and narrow agendas, I tend to think this is good too...harder for the gov't to fight hundreds of pesky assbites than one org, whether NORML or DPA that they can infiltrate, target or otherwise disrupt as they did in the days of the Vietnam protests (and could be doing now under the Patriot Act, for all I know. But I am at peace with the "let 100s of flowers bloom" side because we are all working to dismantle prohibition one way or the other.
The other thing I'd add is that I heartily agree with Bob M. on the other thing: let's party like it's 1999 and not let the bastards harsh our buzz. We're winning with hearts and minds, boots on the ground. The biggest grinches -- the Greatest Generation with no pleasureable experiences around pot and the biggest prohibs -- are dying out and being replaced by D.A.R.E. kids who are rightfully rejecting propagandistic pap.
Personally, sometimes I get burnt out on blogging and preaching to the choir and even the nutjobs that you all debate on sites like Political Crossfire and or the triangulating nanny state democrats on Kos. But I never get tired of my daily puffdown or the many music festivals we go to.
That's what I say and believe. The personal is political. Puff and party with your friends as much as possible while otherwise leading a productive and exemplary life. Be stealthy and be safe. If you're old and white and circumspect you have not to much to fear (this is why some ppl don't take the WoD seriously, it doesn't affect them or anyone they know unless they're careless or extremely unlucky. Don't be so caught up in a difficult political struggle to recognize that if you want to have fun, there's a law stopping you maybe but as a careful consumer you can easily circumnavigate that crap and just do it.
But above all, resist. Don't let them change what you do. Refuse jobs that piss test if you can, just say no and maybe the HR departments will get the message.
Keep the faith. Love you all.
- anti-drugwar czar said...
hi jackl2400,
nice post! i certainly agree that we all still need to party our asses off as we see fit.
however, all of the folks who are currently "fat dumb and happy" because they think they can "safely" avoid detection are in for a rude awakening.
one day we will find ourselves being drug tested routinely (and using "non-invasive" techniques instead of urine testing). some states are already allowing police to use sweat and/or saliva testing during *routine* traffic stops. hell if we keep letting the zealots get away with this shit, we'll probably end up having to pass a drug test to buy food.
when that day arrives, it will be too late for the fat dumb and happy people to wake up. we need them to wake up now -- and if they won't do the work themselves, they should be paying people like me to do it for them.
so, i say we need to raise hell like it's 1968 first -- then all of us can party as we please. the writing is already on the wall. tell them to read it.
Inspiring stuff folks, it is good to see American minds at work on issues of real freedom. Unfortunately, our entire legal system, not just the War on Some Drugs, is unAmerican. Executive orders, rampant federal power, and of course the jack-booted thugs have all the trimmings of a despot with his court. I want to believe that America can be the one I studied again. I want the bullshit that they taught me in civics class to be real. So when I ask this remember, I am the choir:
How do we force this despot (and his successors) to return to the tiny amount of power they were entrusted with?
Hell, Bill Clinton smoked pot and I forgave him his extra-marital affairs and voted for him anyway. Stupidly thinking that since he had smoked he would legalize drugs right away once in power. (Don't tell me he could not have--if Nixon can pull a law out of his ass so could have Slick Willie.)
I will take the advice above to party and live and keep hope. And I leave with this last thought:
Since all the drug "laws" come from Nixon's edict (or derive their power from it) instead of trying to get drugs legalized, can't we just point out that they already are legal?
Resistance is not futile--it just seems that way when you are dead.
- anti-drugwar czar said...
hi anonymous,
you are correct: resistance is not futile -- it is essential.
unraveling all the damage caused by the drug war will certainly take time -- and the effort of a great number of people.
step one is "awakening" ourselves and those around us. but we can't turn it all into an anti-government screed because it isn't really our form of government itself that is the problem. the problem is the individual people who, upon gaining access to power over us, have succumbed to its enchantments. rather than clapping and cheering when an elected leader proposes denying rights to small groups among us, we need to tar and feather those who propose such un-American nonsense.
the problems we face (and it isn't just the drug war bullshit) are rooted in ignorance and fear. lack of awarenesss makes it easy to cause fear -- and fear is what drives tyranny. we all need to become "teachers" and train our fellow citizens to protect their liberty. we need Americans to be brave -- then we can be free.
beyond all the data and facts there is one blindingly obvious reason why we need to stop the war on drugs: we don't have any right to punish people for doing things to themselves.
it isn't about "drugs" -- it's about inalienable rights. and surely, the right to touch yourself as you see fit is the most fundamental and absolutely inalienable right.
i can't believe it is necessary to teach people to "own" themselves -- but apparently it is.
so pay attention people: if you don't own yourself, then you're opening the door for someone else to come along and claim that power.
Great discussion folks. But just one question... Where is the news media?
Taking a look at Mr. Smithson's "4 groups" (above) suggests that better availability of information could move people from the B and C group up to the A group. There's probably little hope for the D-group.
Yet, from the representation of drug issues in the media, one might think that a vast majority of people were in the D-group.
A couple of months ago in a small Texas community, police killed a 17 year old in a classic drug bust gone bad: early morning no knock raid, subject of warrant not there, little or no drugs found, and a pseudo investigation found no "wrong doing" on the part of the police.
The tragedy received little press coverage that week, and is now sadly forgotten.
I think I'll be emailing a few news directors around here. Is there a more organized effort to get the media to start reporting the facts instead of echoing the propaganda?
- anti-drugwar czar said...
hi bob,
thanks for weighing in. there is indeed a concerted effort to get the media to their jobs:
and i recommend visiting pete guither's blog http://www.drugwarrant.com and associated forum http://www.drugwarrant.net/forum
- Michael said...
Thanks for your nice post!
- anti-drugwar czar said...
Doing what I can Michael -- thank you for letting me know it's worth it.
I always have to wonder when I read lines like "Why shouldn't and why can"t we confront the congress as assertively as the drug warriors have?" The simple answer? They're there and we're not!
This is why I'd like to see a "MilMan MarchII" on Washington again. That's a trip I'd find the funds for!!
You have to admit, it worked before. No reason to suspect it wouldn't work again. Just imagine!


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The Oakland City Council on Tuesday night heard a lot of support for forming a police commission, but there also was a lot of disagreement about who should serve on such a commission.
Dozens of residents lined up to offer emotional testimony about the need for change in the Oakland Police Department.
"Until we get a citizen police commission that has oversight to bring about justice, there will be no quietness, as long as we have a command staff that covers up corruption," said the Rev. Ben McBride.
City Councilman Dan Kalb agreed something needs to be done.
"There's been serious misconduct recently and in the past," Kalb said. "We know we are still under federal review; its been 13 years. We have work to do."
The proposed seven-member commission would review and change police policy, weigh in on officer discipline and have the power to fire the chief. Members of the community would be appointed to the commission.
The proposal gives three of those appointments to the mayor. But many in the community say community groups should decide who sits on the commission, not politicians.
The council was considering an amendment at Tuesday night's meeting that will take away that appointment power from the mayor.
Activists say they hope the council will remove politics from the process and let citizens who are affected by bad policing sit on police commission.
If the charter amendment passes, it goes on the November ballot, where voters will decide whether the city establishes a police commission.

subset: commoncrawl


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Come dance the night away in support of Hackney and Tower Hamlets Friends of the Earth! We're raising money to support our campaigning in the local area - we're currently working on campaigns around bees, fracking and air quality. Tickets are £10, and there's a 75p booking fee; we hope that's OK :). If you can make it, please buy a ticket here: https://billetto.co.uk/en/events/fundraising-ceilidh-for-hackney-and-tower-hamlets-friends-of-the-earth
The event will be held:
Date and time: Sat 19 Sept 2015, 19:00-22:30
at the St Mattias Centre, 101 Dalston Lane, London E8 1NH
Follow the event on Facebook for further announcements by joining here https://www.facebook.com/events/853001844778393/
We look forward to seeing you for a dance!


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My Evening Pamper and Sleep Routine*12:00
For me, there's nothing better than getting all comfy and taking the chance to relax in the evening. With this in mind, I thought I'd take this opportunity to share with you how my evenings shape up and how I try to get my best nights sleep. My downtime can vary depending on whether I'm at uni or at home, but more recently, as I've been working full time during the summer, my relaxing evening starts as soon as I get home from work.
|Maisie Gingham Cami + Short (Boohoo)
Once I'm all comfy and my skin clean from make-up , I'll often set up base either on my bed or on the sofa in front of the TV. If I opt for the former, I often set up my laptop onto youtube and catch up on my subscriptions or catch up on my amazon prime series - more often than not Prison Break or Casual.
Recently I've also rediscovered an old but guilty pleasure - candy crush. I'll more often than not be playing on my iPad while bloggers such as BroganTateXO or Alice Thorpe chatter on in the background. If I'm in the mood for a pamper evening, I'll slather on a face mask ( I'm currently loving the L'Oreal Clay Charcoal Mask, paint my nails and sit with a hair mask in whilst I chill. Usually by the time I've caught up with my youtube, washed off my face and showered to rinse out my hair mask, I'm finally ready for bed.
Now in order to get a good nights sleep, we've all heard it - stick to a schedule, stay clear of electrical devices, avoid naps… blah blah blah. In reality, I often watch my iPad in bed, I'm an advocate of naps and my sleeping schedule is almost always mucked up leaving no hope for my body clock. I do, however, believe that a relaxing bedtime ritual and routine, as well as a calm environment to sleep, free from mess, noise and disruption is a must. For me, I certainly notice a difference in my sleep when I've closed all of my blackout blinds, as I'm very sensitive to light, and my room is tidy. Speaking of light, I swear by my Lumie Light Alarm Clock which I have set up to fade like a sunset before I go bed, which is especially great as it means I don't have to go from stark 'big light' light to darkness, whilst also allowing me to run my final checks of social media/ youtube.
Fundamentally, an excellent nights sleep comes from your bed, mattress and pillows. It's really important that your mattress is comfortable and supportive for you and companies such as Leesa emphasise the importance of a good mattress for a good nights kip. I personally had visited multiple furniture shops with mum testing the various firmnesses of the mattresses in order to make my final verdict. I'd been meaning to trade my old mattress in for a new one, anything older than 9 or 10 years is past its life expectant, so when my mum finally found one online that was medium firm, turnable and memory foam topped, I couldn't wait to finally give it a try - I was not disappointed!
So there we have it, my evening routine and some added tips for a good nights sleep. Fundamentally we all need to put our electronic devices down, take some serious downtime an hour or so before we go to bed at a similar time each day, but the realities aren't always so simple.
What's your evening routine?


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Pic from the internet.
Presidential Elections
According to the Dr. Ron Paul supporters, the Truth will get out sooner or later about the spending records of Santorum, Romney and Gingrich in the next few days, to finally clean the field once and for all for Dr. Ron Paul to easily win the upcoming Presidential Elections in the USA.
Dr. Paul writes:
Pic from the internet.
Presidential Elections
According to the Dr. Ron Paul supporters, the Truth will get out sooner or later about the spending records of Santorum, Romney and Gingrich in the next few days, to finally clean the field once and for all for Dr. Ron Paul to easily win the upcoming Presidential Elections in the USA.
Dr. Paul writes:
Dear AXJ,
The question everyone asks in the campaign for the Republican nomination for President is "Who is the genuine conservative?"
Obviously, it isn't Mitt Romney nor Newt Gingrich.
And just take a peek at Rick Santorum's Big Government voting record, rather than his current rhetoric, it's clear he is also a counterfeit conservative.
When you compare it to my record on opposing Big Government, deficit spending, and reckless growth in federal programs, I think you will conclude that I am "the real thing."
Just like the other "flavor of the week" establishment candidates, Rick Santorum's campaign will come crashing down once voters learn of his Big Government record.
In fact, my campaign just put together a TV ad called "Betrayal" highlighting Rick Santorum's long record of being part of the Big Government, big spending status quo in Washington. Won't you take a minute to watch it.
And, if you possibly can, I hope you'll agree to make a generous contribution to help me run this ad in New Hampshire, South Carolina and the other key early states.
As you'll see from my ad, Rick Santorum is anything but a conservative. Just consider his record, which includes:
*** Padding his own wallet as a corporate lobbyist at the expense of taxpayers;
*** Voting to RAISE the debt ceiling five times;
*** Voting to DOUBLE the federal Department of Education;
*** Voting with liberals like Ted Kennedy on multiple occasions in support of Big Labor's radical agenda;
*** Urging more federal involvement in housing with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac;
*** Voting to create a brand new, unfunded entitlement, Medicare Part D, the largest expansion of entitlement spending since President Lyndon Johnson - creating $16 TRILLION in unfunded liabilities;
*** Endorsing liberal Big Government RINOs like Arlen Specter over conservatives. Of course, Specter later became a Democrat and worked hand-in-glove with President Obama to pass his radical agenda;
*** Voting for Sarbanes-Oxley, which imposed dramatic new job-killing accounting regulations on businesses;
*** Supporting raising taxes on oil companies, which directly costs Americans more money out of their pockets at the gas pump;
*** Voting for gun control;
*** Voting to give Social Security benefits to illegal aliens, while voting against an additional 1,000 border patrol agents;
*** Voting to give $25 million in foreign aid to North Korea;
*** Voting to send hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to Planned Parenthood - the nation's largest provider of abortion - and hand out hundreds of billions of dollars in foreign aid to enemies of Israel.
But unlike many of my other establishment opponents, Rick Santorum isn't even trying to sweep his Big Government record under the rug.
He's proud of it!
Rick Santorum said constitutional conservatives have a "crazy" idea that government should "keep our taxes down, and keep our regulations low."
Not only that, but he endorsed Mitt Romney just four years ago!
How can the "alternative to Romney" also be a Romney supporter?
The truth is, Rick Santorum has no national campaign and no funding to compete against Mitt Romney, let alone Barack Obama.
And as I've laid out, there's no way his Big Government record can stand up to an ounce of scrutiny.
On the other hand, my campaign has seized the momentum in New Hampshire and elsewhere after my strong finish in Iowa.
That's because I've been warning about the dangers of Big Government, out-of-control spending, and runaway inflation for years.
In fact, I'm the only candidate to predict the current economic mess we're in right now.
In 2003, I predicted the housing crisis and pushed to get the government out of the mortgage business.
In 2008, I fought TARP and the Fed when they laid waste to our economy, while others in this race applauded their disastrous Big Government intervention.
And unlike my opponents, I am absolutely ready to enact real spending cuts, right now.
In fact, my Plan to Restore America cuts $1 trillion in federal spending during the first year of my presidency by eliminating five federal departments that I can actually name - Education, Energy, Commerce, Housing and Urban Development, and Interior.
As President, I'll balance the budget by year three without cutting one penny from our veterans, our senior citizens, or our national defense.
That's what sets me apart - my plan, my record of being right while others were wrong, and my unmatched and unwavering record of fighting for fiscal responsibility and constitutional principles.
In a nutshell, it's my conservatism that's winning the day.
And today, I'm asking for your support.
These are troubling times for our country - times that call for conservative leadership.
A counterfeit like Rick Santorum won't cut it.
As I run for President, I want to make sure our Republican Party keeps its strong commitment to limited constitutional government and free market solutions.
The only way to do that is to nominate someone in 2012 who predicted the economic crisis long before it happened. Someone who has conviction and has fought against Big Government in Washington his entire career.
And if you are so moved, I'd appreciate it if you would consider contributing to my presidential campaign, as well. I don't have big corporations or special interests behind my campaign.
But I do have hundreds of thousands of individuals who care about getting our economy moving in the right direction again.
Whatever you can do, $500, $250, $100, or even $50, will help.
Together, you and I can Restore America Now.
For Liberty,
Ron Paul
P.S. Considering the trouble our nation is facing, we simply can't afford to nominate a counterfeit conservative.
As my new TV ad shows, Rick Santorum is just another counterfeit conservative with a long record of being part of the Big Government, big spending status quo in Washington.
The truth is, I'm the only candidate left in the race with the fundraising, organization and track record to defeat both Mitt Romney and Barack Obama.
So please, support my campaign and help get my message out to as many voters as quickly as possible.


text:
Market For Cornerbacks Quickly Drying UpMarch 13th, 2012
With the prospect of the Bucs starting the season down and/or out their four starters in the secondary from last year — not that last year's starters reminded people of the Raiders secondary of the early 1980s — on paper what the Bucs could be looking at minus Ronde Barber, Cody Grimm, Aqib Talib and Sean Jones (who is not expected to return), well, Joe has seen chickenwire hold back water better.
Many Bucs fans were hoping Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik would land Cortland Finnegan, but he went to St. Louis.
Then there was the possibility of getting Carlos Rogers, who decided to stay with San Francisco.
Earlier this evening, BSPN reported Dallass, Kansas City and San Francisco were fighting over Brandon Carr. The Bucs were not mentioned.
So, as Michael Lombardi of the NFL Network suggested tonight, the cornerback-poor Bucs are likely left with Detroit's Eric Wright for a solid starter if Dominik is still going to roll the free agency dice tonight.
Right now the pickings are slim at cornerback. Lombardi likened the rush of certain position players to a run on a position that goes on during the draft.
Joe hopes Dominik is leaving no rocks unturned in coming up with a corner. Soon.


text:
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Available March 15, 2019 - May 13, 2019. Rates starting at $260 per night based on double occupancy.
The Broadmoor is looking for exceptional people who are ready to go above and beyond every day, for every guest. Join us at our on-site career events to explore opportunities to join the world's longest running Forbes Five-Star, Five-Diamond resort.
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Please take this video down before someone else is stupid enough to follow your advice. The salt from the dishwasher will still be inside electrolytic capacitors, inside sockets and who knows where else. No matter how much rinsing and drying you do afterwards, you are causing serious longterm damage to the board. It will work today, but inside things have started to degrade and it will most likely fail sooner than it should.Bryce.
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text: Tom is a Principal and Higher Education leader in our Washington, DC office. His drive for innovation and excellence has resulted in award-winning projects that include instructional facilities, student centers, law schools, libraries, and professional schools. He is recognized for his ability to guide the design process from start to finish. Tom recently led the forum "Partners in Assessment: Measuring Spaces for Student Engagement" at the Society of College and University Planner's MidAtlantic Conference.


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WGBH Openvault
Vietnam War Report; U.S. Senate Candidate
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- Vietnam War Report
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- U.S. Senate Candidate
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- Chicago: "Vietnam War Report; U.S. Senate Candidate," 09/06/1966, WGBH Media Library & Archives, accessed May 20, 2019, http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/A_420576E768454D429A43B995C22DF9C0.
- MLA: "Vietnam War Report; U.S. Senate Candidate." 09/06/1966. WGBH Media Library & Archives. Web. May 20, 2019. <http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/A_420576E768454D429A43B995C22DF9C0>.
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text:
These are Free for a limited time only, so disclaimer mate, they were free when I found them but double check before you order that they still are.
How about a little freezer cooking, I love the idea of Freezer Cooking because I hate to cook...then I realise that I have to spend ages in the kitchen to fill the freezer, but I am determined to give it a try
Even More Make and Freeze Recipes
For all of you who are out in the workforce some healthy ideas to make and take to work Healthy Snacks for Work
Some snacks and sweets maybe? Have to say the fact that it is called The Happy Husband series almost made me leave it off, seriously isn't this 2014, the idea of the little woman just cooking to please her man...oh please! I cook and I want Julian to like it but I just think titles like has me imagining Pankhurst and her friends rolling in their graves, but the recipes seem good so we can overlook it. Snack & Sweet Recipes (Happy Husband Series)
Let's get cooking, good looking!F
Free cookbooks, you guys interested in more or not? Also please remember I don't set the price and they are subject to change but they were all free when I found them.
Thanks for reading,
Mel xo


text:
Okay, okay. In truth, he's not ALL that bad. He has learned "No Way" and especially loves using it at bed time. Dear Randy had an hour long show down with him the other night, it was a special treat.
Believe it or not, he's our first one to really challenge us quite this way. Yes, each of our three boys has gone (and continues to go) through periods that they want to test us a little more than normal. This little guy though - he's fiesty.
|"No Way Bed"
1) First off we have to recognize what is behind the tantrum. Tantrums come when there is a struggle for power. Two year olds are just learning that they have power. They can do things on their own now that they couldn't do just a few days or weeks ago. Life is exciting and they want to experience the power of being in control.
Unfortunately, quite often older children and adults experience the same feelings. Be honest, you have those days too (that's why we even have power struggles with our kids - we want control). Have you had a tantrum this week? Not a full out kicking and screaming tantrum - maybe one just inside your head. What injustice have you experienced that made you so mad you had to drink some coffee, or take a walk, or write a congressman?
2) Next we've got to legitimize the need for power. We all have this basic need for power. It makes us feel good to know we have control over a situation. When I can pay my bills on time, I feel in control, powerful. When my children behave in a certain way, I am pleased - because they have given me the power of influence over their lives.
Our children feel the same way. They need opportunities to express and explore their power in the world. Having power over their situations in life helps to feed a child's self-esteem.
3) We have to stop mid-tantrum and think about whether this is an important struggle. I mean when my 4 year old throws himself down in on the floor in the middle of the store, because he wants to hold the left side of the cart and not the right. (Yep, happened this week). I have to stop myself from reacting out of my need for power. I have to remember that he is frustrated, his need for power is being thwarted. Is it really important for safety reasons that he be on the right side of the shopping cart? Maybe. If it is not, however - I need to give up control.
Sometimes this means we have to apologize to our kids. Talk about giving up power! Yes, we actually need to humble ourselves and repent in front of them! Believe it or not this is not only healthy for our kids, it is a healthy experience for us. It is also VERY hard - remember, we believe we need to be in control.
I'm not talking about giving in to your child's every desire. Children MUST also learn things like patience, self-control, delayed gratification, and humility. My children don't get everything they want by throwing fits. In fact, sometimes I sit back and let them throw fits - even in the store. It really doesn't bother me if my child is having a full blown tantrum in the middle of Wal-mart. If he wants a candy bar and that's not on my shopping list, we're probably not going to get one. (Those are rarely on my list).
4) Seeking opportunities to give our children power is important. We really struggled with this for a while with our 5 year old. He was showing us through his actions that he wanted to express his power. Things like chasing the cat, arguing with his brothers, and so forth. They seem like minor infractions, but are definite expressions of this need.
So how do I find these opportunities? Some ideas include things like: Go on a walk and let your child be the leader, ask your child what they would like for lunch, let your child help with menu planning, give him a chance to rearrange his bedroom. Letting him cut apples with a KNIFE (yes, even our 2 year old can do this with some help). These things don't sound like big, mighty, powerful acts - they do, however allow your child new chances to be in control of the world around him.
5) During a fit, look for alternatives. Manasseh is throwing a fit because he can't have cookie for snack. I know that we don't have cookies... or they aren't healthy... or he's allergic to something in them. As the parent I get to make the final decision about what he is allowed to eat. He is 5 and does not fully understand all of my reasoning. I can sit down and try to rationally explain things to him - he might understand sometimes. The reality is, in the middle of a tantrum, no one really can think objectively. Just think back to your last tantrum - what did you have to do to cool off?
I might let him know that a cookie is not an option today, but the next time we go to the store we can look at cookies that are up to my standards. I could give him a few options for his snack (thus giving him power to choose). I can ask him to come up with some ideas for next week's snacks so we can plan for things he likes better. In looking for alternatives we empower our children.
Sometimes there are no alternatives. We must help our children learn to accept disappointment and understand that they will not always have power to make all of their own decisions. Even as adults, we must answer to other people who have power over us.
6) Use consequences that leave the weight on the child's decision, not consequences that burden the parent. This is hard sometimes. We often allow ourselves to be stressed by our children's decisions. Instead of getting frustrated that my children are wrestling at nap time, I can let them carry that stress. See, I can grumble and growl and make threats and let my blood boil because I am frustrated by their actions. It really means that I'm letting them threaten my sense of control.
If we give them control of the situation, and define consequences ahead of time, then let them make their own choices - we don't need to be stressed. The children may choose poorly, we may need to give a consequence - but we have given up our control of the situation. Children can learn so much be connecting consequences with their choices.
How does this play out? If you tell Sally and Joe that it is bed time, here are your expectations, these are the consequences for not following them. Sally and Joe might decide not to meet your standards. If they don't, you simply follow through with the consequences. Sally and Joe learn that you really mean it and are ultimately in control of the house - but still have given them power to choose their actions at bed time. You are able to focus on other things. This works better with older children (my two year old doesn't yet understand consequences).
7) Emotion coaching is helpful! Helping children understand why they feel how they feel at different times is extremely helpful in combating power struggles. Once we begin to really grasp how our emotions effect our actions we can take control over our behaviors! it's true - emotion coaching leads to self-control (read: power over self). A great resource for learning about emotion coaching is Mary Sheedy Kurchinka's book, Kid's, Parents, and Power Struggles.
8) It is not healthy for children to have all the power all the time. It seems like it would be easier to just let our kids make all of the decisions. Then we have no reason for power struggles. However, our children must learn that there will always be people they need to answer to. There will be a boss, a love, a government, etc. As I stated before, children need to learn things like patience, delayed gratification, humility, and self control. These make a healthier, happier child. Children with boundaries know they are loved.
9) Remember, you are the parent and you have the final say. Even when you give your child options - you control the options. As the parent, you control the situations in which your child expresses power. It is easy to get stressed about our children's behaviors. They are learning and growing, just like we are. Take a deep breath. Remember that you are the boss, even when Sam throws a tantrum. You can help him through this.
Take a deep breath. Your kids are going to grow to be healthy, loving adults. You can make it through those tough times and come out better on the other side!
How do you help your child through tantrums? What do you do to soothe yourself when you're having that mental tantrum about something that seems unjust to you? Do you have other tips to share?


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Memorial Weekend Wild Pig Gig
Sounds like a blast doesn't it! Well this Wild Pig Gig is a benefit for the Hanson Post 54 American Legion and Troop 29 Boy Scouts of America! Wanna know more about the Wild Pig Gig keep reading.
What: Wild Pig Gig
Wild Hog BBQ served with beans, coleslaw, cobbler, and tea
When: This Friday, Saturday and Sunday May 25th - 27th
11 AM to 3 PM each day
Where: 617 SW 7th Ave.
Cost: $10 per plate
$8 in advance
For more information please call Bill at 676-8102 or Charles at 373-7630


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Hey peeps! Today I have the pleasure of hosting the Winter of Zombie Blog Tour for 2014. BIG YAYYYY!!!
GUESS who I have??? Meh! I will tell you! ERIC FRIKKING SHELMAN. There's an A. in there somewhere. Let's try again, he's partial to that A, Eric A. Shelman!! WOO HOO!! Look, here's a picture…feel free to swoon at his awesomeness!
The seventh installment in his much-loved "Dead Hunger" series is "Reign of Isis" and we have a juicy excerpt for your reading pleasure. Then, just go buy it. If you haven't read the series yet…get going! What are you waiting for? I am on book three and cannot stop! Here's the excerpt then I will put some easy links for you to buy and stalk Eric! Well…you cannot actually BUY Eric, but you can buy his books, and that's kinda the same thing!
Excerpt from "Dead Hunger 7:Reign of isis" by Eric A. Shelman
Mexico-Texas Border
June, 2011
The tanker truck looked like any other. Bright, gleaming chrome, polished as brightly as any mirror, so that occupants of trailing cars could marvel at their own fisheye reflection as they rolled down the highway.
While it was meant to appear to be identical to any other tanker truck on the roadways, this one was different.
Inside, a narrow center walkway allowed handlers to access two rows of cages on either side. Each cage was narrow and tall, running from floor to ceiling. There were twenty-four cages in all, each with an upward-sliding hatch to gain entry. The tank side of the cages were covered with thick padding to prevent their captives from banging on the stainless steel walls and drawing outsider attention.
At the lowest possible point, a flat floor had been welded to the stainless steel floor so that the occupants of the cages did not constantly slide toward the center of the truck. The interior was cooled by a narrow cavity that encompassed the entire outer shell of the truck where cooling fluids ran, fed through hoses leading from the Freightliner's engine compartment.
In fact, the interior of the tank could get as cool as 50 degrees, and there was no valve to control it. Angus did not mind, though. The occupants were rarely encased in the truck for more than two hundred miles once they crossed into the United States.
The exterior of the cab and the tank itself were emblazoned with the Pemex logo, Mexico's state gasoline company. A dummy corporation, AmeriMex, had been created to certify the frequent trips across both borders by way of a joint partnership of both countries, and Angus had made sure the forged paperwork would verify and pass any inspection.
There had been some failures early on, but they were dry runs. He was now in his fourteenth year of trafficking young women, and he had never even had a close call.
The road leading to the U.S. border was more congested than usual. It was a Sunday, and that could make a difference, for people did like to venture into Laredo to buy food and gifts for family in Mexico.
The current haul was a full load. Each narrow cage held one girl. Angus had long ago developed a relationship with the Fuentes Cartel, with a heavy focus on human trafficking. They made their way through several small towns and villages, snatching girls from their homes and holding them in captivity until Angus' next run.
Among his current haul were seven pregnant girls, ranging in age from seventeen to twenty-three. They were a two-for-one deal for Angus, and he always demanded a minimum of five pregnant girls per transaction. The farther along the better. Angus did not like to hold his stock for long before moving them, but it was more profitable to wait until the children were born so that they could be sold off separately.
Angus slowed, now just five cars from the border crossing. As he sat there staring at the guards, with whom he was familiar, a car blew through the border gate coming into Mexico, angling directly toward Angus' tanker.
He saw the driver through the glare of the glass; he looked insane. His hands were not on the steering wheel, rather it appeared he was attacking the woman in his passenger seat.
Angus saw all of this just seconds before the green hatchback careened hard left and smashed into the concrete barrier just a foot to the left of his combo's wheels, flipping over and spinning on its roof.
Traffic was still stopped in front of Angus, so he watched in amazement as the driver of the vehicle crawled out of the wrecked car and staggered around to the passenger side, reaching in and dragging the woman out. He walked strangely; no coordination. Angus could not see his pupils from his location, but had seen enough people on PCP to know that was likely what was going on.
The man lifted the woman and bit into her face. He tore at her hair as though he wanted to rip it clean away, and he chewed on her face even as she screamed at the top of her lungs and beat at him with her flailing arms and hands.
Four border patrol agents charged toward them with their guns drawn, but the man paid them no attention. He threw the woman down on the concrete, her head slamming hard against the pavement, knocking her into blissful unconsciousness. The insane man fell on top of her, ripping the front of her Sunday dress open and sinking his face into her abdomen, even as his fingers clawed at whatever exposed skin they could sink into.
The border agents reached him and pointed their guns downward, but none of them fired, for the woman was beneath him. One tried to pull him off, but when the man lifted his face, the woman's entrails hung bloody and dripping from his teeth.
His eyes were mad. Angus watched, fascinated. The traffic in front of him moved, but he was reluctant to drive away. It was mesmerizing, watching this woman being eaten by another human.
My mother should have died the same way. She got off easy, he thought. Jane, too.
One of the border agents was looking straight at him and waving him on, ordering him to go. He did not, temporarily forgetting about his highly-illegal cargo in the face of this strangely fascinating display of cannibalism.
As the man stood up and moved toward the border agents surrounding him on four sides, two of them shot him. The explosions rang out as the rounds blew out his chest and right ribcage.
The man spun to his right as the first shot found its mark, and the chest shot sent him flying backward, slamming into the rear bumper of the overturned Toyota he had been driving.
Angus could not leave. The man got up, a huge hole in his chest, a chunk out of his side. The four then started firing with reckless abandon, and the man's body danced as it still moved toward them.
Finally one of the officers blew out his knees and he fell to the ground, still growling and looking absolutely mad. Instead of dying, the man clawed at the pavement until he had again reached the dead woman's body. He sank his teeth in and once more began to feed.
The men unloaded their weapons then. The woman was clearly dead and they were obviously freaked out. The rounds struck him in the head, neck, back, buttocks and legs.
He finally lay still atop the dead woman. Angus let out the breath he'd been unaware he was holding and realized he had an erection.
He reached up to the sun visor and pulled down a pack of Winstons. He lit one and accelerated to the border gate. All the vehicles in front of him had already gone through.
He passed without incident, as usual. It was perhaps even easier that day because of the horrific attack that had just occurred. The agents were more interested in looking into the strange, rabid man who had just killed a woman by eating her alive.
The next 200 miles were far from uneventful. In several places, stopped cars blocked the roadway, and people staggered around, many of them approaching his rig, staring up at him as though he were of great interest to them.
Whatever was going on, it wasn't just in Mexico. At his first opportunity, Angus turned off the road to take smaller side roads. Every cop car he'd seen had its lights and siren on and were headed toward something very important, so it did not seem he would need to worry about taking his tanker down a road where such vehicles were prohibited.
He knew all the best, least-used shortcuts anyway.
Rock Springs was mostly an industrial town, but he owned an isolated ranch on the southwest side. There were four gravel roads one had to navigate to reach it, and none featured signage. This was where he lived; he had long ago constructed a barn that would accommodate up to eighty girls at a time. Among these women he created trustees, of a sort.
They were not actually trustees because Angus trusted no women; but they were as close as he would get. The small nursery, designed to accommodate up to eight babies, was contained in a 10' x 10' cell. The two adult beds in here were more comfortable than the meager mattresses on which his other captives rested. There had to be some reward for the infants caretakers other than being allowed to live.
Perception was everything.
Angus slowed at the gate and pressed the remote control. The large gates swung inward, and he drove into the yard and pulled the tanker alongside the barn. It was time to unload and have a shower and dinner.
From beneath the trailer, he withdrew a four-foot long steel bar with a star socket on the end. He inserted this into a hole on the rear of the tanker truck. From a compartment at the rear of the tank, he removed a two-foot long rod with a center slot. This piece fit on top of the other, creating a T-handle with which he could loosen the bolts holding the tank hatch closed.
Removing a ladder from a narrow but deep slot in the back, he leaned it against the rear of the trailer so that he could reach the rest of the bolts.
When he had removed all them, Angus repositioned the ladder and pulled open the rear cap, which he swung out to the left, like a massive, pivoting wall mirror. A strange, reddish mist kissed the air as soon as he cracked the hatch.
Angus stepped back and stared. Could it have been some sort of contamination? He sniffed at the air, but did not smell anything. His relationship with the Fuentes Cartel told him never to take chances. To rush could mean to die.
Angus returned to the cab of his truck and unlatched the driver's seat of the Freightliner cab, flipping it forward. Behind the seat was a 12" x 12" hinged box. He removed it, pushed the seat back into position and placed the box on the seat.
He opened it and withdrew a gas mask and a small tank of oxygen. He kept them because he had seen the cartels in action before, and they had been known to use gas to exact their carnage. He wouldn't be falling victim to that.
He adjusted the straps. In a situation where the toxicity level was unknown and the particulate size in question, only this type of device would do. He cracked the oxygen cylinder and quickly pulled the mask over his face. He returned to the truck, pulled out the sliding steps and climbed up.
In the darkness of the tank's interior, pairs of reddish dots floated in the air, running from front to rear. Strange growls and shrieks were coming from all around him.
Angus' hand went for the light switch.
When the bright light bathed the interior of the transport, Angus nearly staggered backward so far he barely escaped toppling out the back. He steadied himself.
The occupants of almost every cage had thrown themselves forward into the heavy wire, clearly unconcerned with their own well-being. They smashed the front of their cages relentlessly, tearing and clawing at the wire as though believing they could work their way through it. Angus stood back and stared in amazement and horror.
What the hell happened here?
The frenzy was happening further back, though. He looked into the cage just in front of him along the right wall. This cage contained a pregnant girl that his coded paperwork listed as seventeen years old.
There was a distinct lack of aggression on her part. Her face was still, but as she turned her eyes toward him, they blazed a piercing red. She sat inside her small cage, her knees drawn up to her chest in order to allow her to position herself that way in such a small space.
Her hair, which Angus had remembered to be long and wavy, now appeared straight, as though flattened with a hot iron.
Something lay by her feet.
He knelt down and she snarled, causing him to move away slightly. He squinted at the thing on the floor and realized it was a severed hand – or to be more precise, now mostly the bones of a hand. Skin and meat still clung to it, but not very much.
"What the hell did you do?" he asked her, his eyes moving to the cage beside hers.
The moment he did so, the woman in the next cage slammed the steel bars, snarling and biting the air as she pressed her face against the cage's interior. While the bars on the sides of the adjoining cages were far enough apart that it was possible for small hands to reach into another cage, the front was made of a thick steel mesh, preventing any reaching or clawing into the narrow aisle.
The whores had badly scratched Angus in the past, so he had learned his lesson. It would not happen again.
The snarling girl-thing's eyes were pinpoints; black dots beneath a wispy reddish mist. Her skin was a roadmap of blue-black veins. Angus noticed that several front upper and lower teeth that had been intact at the trip's outset were now missing. Blood stained her face, but he was not certain how it had gotten that way.
The caged thing attempted to claw at the mesh with both hands, but now only her right one remained. The left hand was lying, mostly eaten, at the bottom of the first cage, leaving only a tattered stump at the end of her left wrist, nerve endings and shriveled tendons dangling.
Angus' eyes dropped again to the devoured hand on the floor of the next cage, and to the very calm woman-thing staring at him from within, her red eyes penetrating his as though wishing to command him in some way.
He looked again at the shrieking thing's stump, from which no blood at all leaked. Angus' eyes fell to the thing's feet. The pan at the bottom of her cage was half-full of a dark, thick liquid. He had installed the pans to contain urine and feces in case the women could not hold it for the duration of their transport.
It was not bloody urine, for there was far too much of it. It could only be her blood. No other options remained.
Any ordinary person would be dead.
Angus staggered back from the cage again at the realization. His eyes remained fixed on her. Even as she snarled and clawed, her flat eyes had never wavered from his. The look fixed there was as emotionless as that of a reptile.
If the expressionless eyes held any sign of emotion, it was of hunger. Insatiable hunger.
Maybe she is dead, thought Angus. If she was, her body was not, for it still moved as if she would never tire.
Angus stepped back from her and stared down the rows of cages. What growled and clawed within many of them were not what the Mexican handlers had put there. This entire load had been one of the best he had seen; very attractive girls and young women who would have fetched him top dollar. Looking around the interior, Angus had no idea what had happened.
"Goddamnit!" shouted Angus. "What the hell is going on! My whole damned load is fucked!"
"Get us out of here, please," said a woman's voice.
Reluctant, but without a choice, Angus turned sideways and side-stepped down to the front end of the tanker, the frenzied creatures slamming the cages each time he passed in front of them.
Acting afraid was a sure way to lose respect, especially in front of a woman. No woman could or ever would scare him. Even a diseased one.
He was wearing a gas mask. Untouchable.
He reached the prisoner who had spoken. She sat, her legs drawn up with her head as low as she could manage. She stared downward so that Angus could not see her eyes.
"Why are you on the floor?" asked Angus. "Stand up."
"I can't," she said. "The one beside me sprayed me, and I got a headache."
"Sprayed you with what?"
"The red mist from her eyes," said the girl. "Please," she whispered. "Let me out of here." She looked up finally, and Angus saw her eyes were a deep red, almost with their own illumination.
She finally stood, but pressed herself into the side of her cage opposite the next cage over.
"What happened in here?" asked Angus, relieved she spoke English. He spoke broken Spanish – enough to communicate with his cartel connections. Many of them spoke decent English, so he never had the need to learn. He was often surprised at how much English the girls they got him knew. Likely because many of them came from border towns and villages, and it helped to have some English skills.
"I could not see," she said. "I am pregnant. Please, let me out of here, away from these … these things!"
"Why are your eyes red?" he asked.
"Are they?" she said. "I do not know. I felt dizzy a few hours ago after I was sprayed by her, but I do not know why. Please, I hear things within my head. I must leave this place."
Beside her, another of the straight-haired creatures stood, clearly not normal, but not as ravaged as the woman in the second cage near the hatch. She appeared almost identical in condition to the woman he had found in the first cage.
"What did you hear?" asked Angus, his voice muffled through his mask.
"They complained of pains in their heads, some of them," she said. "Terrible pains."
"Down here!" shouted another woman from the rear of the tanker.
"Por favor!" shouted another voice. "Afuera, por favor! Afuera! Afuera!"
"She wants out," said the woman in the cage before Angus. "Please, before we all get … changed. Hurry."
Angus shook his head. "You sure you're not sick? Like I said, your eyes are red."
"I was dizzy before, but I'm okay. Please, senor, I am pregnant. Something could be wrong with my baby. I'm bigger than when I was put here."
Angus looked at her belly. Indeed, she did appear larger. She hardly showed when she was put in the cage, for he inspected each piece of merchandise. Now her swollen stomach appeared at least twice the size.
He removed a key from his pocket and said, "In a few moments. I have to deal with these others before I can get you girls out of here."
He walked to the rear to inspect the other two women who apparently had not changed like most of the others. These three were the only ones remaining out of his entire haul that could speak. Of these prisoners, two of them were pregnant.
Good. At least he would still have the income from the babies. The rest was a total loss. He would demand his money back from the Fuentes Cartel men who had captured them. Clearly, there had been an epidemic spreading through the villages where they snatched the girls.
The cartel had fucked him with faulty merchandise, and they had likely known what they were selling him in advance. Something this contagious could not just spring up out of nowhere.
* * * * *
The stench of frozen rotted meat is in the air! Welcome to the Winter of Zombie Blog Tour 2014, with 10 of the best zombie authors spreading the disease in the month of November.
Stop by the event page on Facebook so you don't miss an interview, guest post or teaser… and pick up some great swag as well! Giveaways galore from most of the authors as well as interaction with them! #WinterZombie2014
AND so you don't miss any of the posts in November, here's the complete list, updated daily:
Eric A. Shelman's website:http://www.ericshelman.com/
Amazon link for "Reign of Isis" http://www.amazon.com/Dead-Hunger-VII-Reign-Isis-ebook/dp/B00LOZN1UG/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1417231442&sr=8-3&keywords=eric+a+shelman
Check him out on youtube! https://www.youtube.com/user/ericandlindashelman


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The Bible says in John 14:6, that there is one way to God, through Jesus. It doesn't matter what we have done or who we are Jesus accepts us where we are. However, He loves us so much that He will not let us stay the same. His desire is to change us into the person He intended us to be, which enables us to live a satisfied and fulfilled life. We all need God's forgiveness and He gives it when we accept Jesus and what He did for us on the cross. If you would like to accept Christ, pray this prayer:
"Jesus, I know that I am a sinner. I need your forgiveness for the things I've done wrong. I believe that you are the Son of God and that you died for me. I know that you rose from the dead and have complete victory over death. Please come live in my heart and take my life. Please pour your Holy Spirit into me, cleanse me and make me whole. With all that I am, I choose to follow you and turn away from selfish pursuits. Thank you for what you've done for me."
I am the way the truth the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6) (1 John 1:9)
If you have made a decision today to accept Jesus Christ in to your life, as your Lord and Savior, please take a moment to fill out the form below. This isn't a commitment, and we are not signing you up as a member of our church. We just want to be able to contact you so that we can find out how we can serve you and your family.


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Councillor to the President, Kellyanne Conway, promoted Ivanka Trump's line of clothing and accessories during an appearance on "Fox & Friends" early Thursday, imploring viewers to "go buy Ivanka's stuff." #BuyIvanka
"Go buy Ivanka's stuff!" Kellyanne Conway tells "Fox & Friends" viewers from the White House briefing room. pic.twitter.com/noIhnVgcAk
— Andrew Kirell (@AndrewKirell) February 9, 2017
Stand with Ivanka Trump!
We will never shop at #Nordstrom#BuyIvanka pic.twitter.com/IvK1mEPEi6
— Texas Lone Star (@SouthLoneStar) February 9, 2017
"I'm going to give it a free commercial here, go buy it today," Conway said.
She made her comments on Fox News's morning show after the president on Wednesday lashed out at Nordstrom for dropping his daughter's clothing line.
"My daughter Ivanka has been treated so unfairly by @Nordstrom. She is a great person — always pushing me to do the right thing! Terrible!" he tweeted.