ANOTHER STORMY MONDAY

An arctic trough raked its fingers through the Happy Valley today. The weather changed every 40 minutes or so as cold winds aloft hustled the thin lines of scudding clouds through. We had a thunderstorm at 4:30; at 5:15 we had a three minute rainbow. Karen and I watched it. Her balloon flight was cancelled again today. I thought the rainbow was kind of the universe's compensation for the delay.

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RED ALERT

In yet another brilliant display of underhanded political machinations, your favorite drug czar's minions are sneakily putting forward a bill tomorrow in the House that would re-authorize funding for failed 'drug war' programs. They want to authorize one billion of your hard earned tax dollars for those absurdly ineffective anti-drug ads alone. You remember that amendment we already defeated in committee. They tacked it on again and are sleazing the bill onto the agenda under a process known as "suspension of the rules" which limits debate to less than an hour and prohibits Representatives from offering amendments to improve the bill.

Please call your Congressman on Tuesday (9/30), and stop this corruption of the democratic process. If only 146 (out of 435) Representatives vote against the bill the House Republican leadership will be forced to bring the bill up under a more democratic process that will allow amendments to improve it. Ask your congress critter to vote against the drug war bill (HR 2086).

You can call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard for free at 1-800-839-5276.Tell the receptionist, "I'm calling to urge my Representative to vote against HR 2086 when it comes up under suspension of the rules. You can find out who your representative is here.

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WANT TO KNOW A SECRET?

SSSH. Don't tell my sister but she's becoming a newshawk. She broke two stories in my inbox today. A pilot was shot down in Colombia outside his regular campaign route as anti-drug forces try to eradicate fields of coca in mountains.

According to the article:

Operations between the ground forces and the spray planes are normally coordinated, so the low-flying crop dusters don't wander over areas rife with guerrillas. But the Colombian commanders said in interviews Wednesday that in the new offensive - now called Operation Catatumbo after previously being dubbed Operation Holocaust - standard practices seem to have been ditched as ground troops move more slowly over the steep mountainsides, which are often covered in clouds.

The second story was about an ASU professor who considers his time spent in prison an asset to his profession.

Daniel S. Murphy's credentials to teach criminology at Appalachian State University include a nearly finished doctorate, teaching awards, published articles - and five years in federal prison on a conviction of growing marijuana.

'I can address issues on both sides of the razor wire,' Murphy said. He says he began writing down his observations of prison life while still inside and that he was once sent to solitary confinement for doing so.

'We're the antithesis of a rebel-rousing protest group,' he said recently in his small office on campus. 'We're trying to do positive change through existing, legitimate channels.'

Frankly, I find his acceptance of his punishment a little disturbing but I appreciate his view and his need to make a living.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY

Thanks to Preston Peet for passing this quote on:

The prestige of government has undoubtedly been lowered considerably by the prohibition law. For nothing is more destructive of respect for the government & the law of the land than passing laws which cannot be enforced. It is an open secret that the dangerous increase of crime in this country is closely connected with this.
- - Albert Einstein ( "My First Impression of the U.S.A.", 1921)

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