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Christmas coffee break

I'm feeling a little more in control of the moving thing. I have a mover booked for some indeterminate day next week. The guy tells me it's their choice. I look at him like he's from Mars, you know. I mean, they're charging me what and I don't get the choice? Then again, when you call with only a week's notice you kind of have to take what you get. I smiled sweetly and said okay.

I went out and bought some boxes. They aren't cheap either I'll tell you. So far I haven't managed to fill any of them but this I'm taking as a good sign. I'm still in the midst of passing stuff on. I suppose it would be quicker if I could bring myself to throw perfectly good things away but I feel compelled to find good homes for everything.

I mean I really like the stuff or I wouldn't have kept it but it has to have heavy sentimental value before I'm willing to pay more to move it than it would cost to replace. Thus I've had a weeklong free stuff fest on my front porch. I'm happy to report it's going well. I've been forced to take very little all the way to the dumpster so far.

So, I'm feeling mellow enough to catch up on my 'daily' reading and find we have to say goodbye to Alan Heymann at D'Alliance. It appears he's found politics and took a government job. We'll miss you Alan.

Thanks to D'Alliance for posting the text of Tom Angell's encounter with our favorite drug czar. Tom was kind enough to email us about the event as well. He tells us the press conference was well attended and several other pointed questions were asked including some concerning HEA provisions, needle exchange programs and one from a WebMD/Reuters Health reporter about the DEA's persecution of pain management doctors. Angell is a rising star in the SSDP and an irrepressible activist. We all owe this young man a debt of thanks for what he does.

While most everyone is on hiatus, Scott at Grits for Breakfast is blogging on and the whole week is a must read. Just start at the top and start scrolling through his breaking news on red light cameras in Austin, his astute comments on Bush's proposed federal judicial appointments and impending privacy concerns for US citizens, to his update on the legal woes of wretched prosecutor Terry McEachern of Tulia fame.

Jim of Vice Squad is in London. Somehow, he discovers it's a sin to give cigarettes to a monk in Thailand.

Loretta Nall is posting through the holiday as well. I'm sorry to learn her USMJ site has been hacked but happy to see she has a new show up at Pot-TV. She's also acquired a toll free number for Pot TV News viewers to call. If you would like to do a Christmas Shout Out on the next news, call 1-866-304-1196 and leave a 30 second message. She'll play it on the air.

Pete at Drug WarRant is taking a well-deserved break to spend Christmas with his family but he said something really nice about us in this post. Thanks Pete.

And finally, a woefully belated welcome to the blogosphere to David Borden of DRC Net. His new blog, Prohibition and the Media, offers a daily critique of drug reporting by mainstream news outlets. We like it already.

Meanwhile, I'm back to packing....