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Last One Speaks
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Musings of a complicated woman with simple tastes

Saturday, April 02, 2005
A little help for a new friend

Nephalim is going through some tough times this week, his wife left him, so I'll be posting drug war news over there tonight. Having lost at love as many times as I have, I know what he's going through. Seems the least I can do when he went to all the trouble of setting up that fabulous website.

My ride is on its way so check for me there in about an hour or so.
 

Libby 7:17 PM Permalink
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Time flies

Today is my one year anniversary at the Detroit News. I never would have predicted that I would have lasted so long. Heck, when I started there I had read their blog exactly twice and I've never set foot in the city. The funny thing is, I feel a real connection to readers and the real estate. I've come to think of them as my blog family and find myself following everything from their weather to the local politics.

And having survived my brief stint with Fox News, I find myself proud to be associated with the paper itself. For a mainstream news source, it's more truly "fair and balanced" than most.
 

Libby 7:07 PM Permalink
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If it's not one thing...

I'm so spectacularly unco that I managed to trip and rip my foot open on the overturned plastic storage bin I was sitting on this morning. Of course I was at the family homestead, alone with miles of white carpeting in every direction. There's going some shampooing going on over there I'll tell you. The interesting thing was I didn't rip my sock to do it and it's an ugly little injury. Go figure.

Meanwhile, it turns out that Grady was just joshing me about the car. It was on the lift yesterday and of course needs to have all the brake lines replaced after all those New England winters. I probably should have washed it more - or ever. I still don't know quite where the garage is but it wasn't done today in any event so I guess I'll just wait until it's fixed now.

It's cold here tonight. I'm home for only a couple of hours but I arrived in the daylight to find I have azaleas ready to bloom and my latest lilies, which appear to be some kind of Dutch variety, are growing apace. The trout lilies are about gone past but the bluets are multiplying with the rain and the entire yard, front and back, is ablaze with violets. Not to mention the neighbors all have gorgeous cherry trees in different shades of pink. On the down side my window box fell off in the wind but there's still a silver lining in it. I needed to change the soil anyway.
  

Libby 6:53 PM Permalink
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Friday, April 01, 2005
Black market profits lure GIs into ruin

We currently have 1,400 Americans in Colombia under the auspices of the war on "narco-terror." Five of them were caught switching sides this week. They are currently being held, "somewhere in America" after trying to smuggle out 32 lbs. of cocaine aboard a US military aircraft. A small amount by cartel standards but one can be certain the profits even on this amount of the drug far surpass their military pay.

The US has spent 3 billion of your tax dollars here so far but have failed to stem to flow of cocaine into our country. This is one reason why, while drug czar John Walters waves around statistics about stepped up eradication efforts and how many hectares of coca leaf they have destroyed, the price of cocaine on the street continues to drop.

As long as prohibition continues, the black market profits will make it worth any risk to get the drug into the country. You can be certain the five guys they caught aren't the only ones taking the chance. It's like trying to stop a flood armed with a sieve.

[Hat tip to Ben Harris]
 

Libby 2:29 PM Permalink
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More sense on hemp

Hemp laws are being challenged in Fiji. Rup Singh, of Banaras, Lautoka, told a Senate ad hoc committee in Ba on Wednesday that the laws dealing with marijuana were draconian and unjust and rightfully pointed out hemp is the best source of raw material ever known to mankind."
"There are 40 varieties of cannabis and only two of these are illicit while the other 38 are not, one of which is industrial hemp," he said. "The Government is losing out on thousands of untaxed dollars every day from [fibre crop] marijuana sales and it should seriously look into the hemp industry."
Advice our own legislators would do well to take. The prohibition on agricultural hemp, is the most ridiculous aspect of this war on some drugs. In decades past the government encouraged it's cultivation - Hemp for Victory - as part of its war effort. Now they declare war on the same plant that could save the planet from deforestation for one thing, just because it looks like a drug? Boggles the mind.
  

Libby 12:59 PM Permalink
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Hemp sense

Canadian Agriculture Minister Steve Peters tells lawmakers industrial hemp could be a viable option for tobacco farmers who are struggling to survive in today's dwindling smokers' market. A good point and one that could be made here in the US as our own tobacco farmers are facing decreasing government support for their crops.

NDP MPP Peter Kormos takes it a step further and suggests allowing the farmers to also grow medical marijuana.
"The demand has never been greater here," Kormos said. "Why are we letting
biker gangs grow it in grow operations with illegal hydro hookups when we
could be letting former tobacco farmers earn a living doing it."
Makes sense to me.
 

Libby 12:39 PM Permalink
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US bucks world consensus on harm reduction
Drug Policy Alliance reports on the 16th International Conference on the Reduction of Drug Related Harm noting "the U.S. is far behind the rest of the world in its harm reduction approach to drug use and abuse." Even in Iran where per capita heroin addiction is the highest in the world, the theocrats recognized the benefits of harm reduction and "issued a fatwah [legal ruling] authorizing needle exchange and methadone maintenance programs." Only the prohibition profiteers in the US still refuse to recognize this sensible approach to drug addiction.

Think about that the next time you hear John Walters tell you how he wants to "win" the war on some drugs.
 

Libby 12:26 PM Permalink
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Thursday, March 31, 2005
Unexpected developments

I'm home for the night and it's really weird that there's no car here. Now it's not like I even drive it much when it is here but the empty carport has this glaring absence quality to it. I had to get a ride home. That always makes me feel like an errant teenager. Meanwhile, I have no real idea where my car is or who took it since I wasn't here when it was towed. Leo took it over to Tim's place and I talked to Grady over there today who figures it might be two weeks before I can get it back. It's kind of like island time here. Guess I'm going to go over and locate the garage in the next couple of days, maybe have a look around. They tell me it's not too far from here.

Meanwhile, I was thrilled to find through the referral log that LOS is on the North State blogroll. (You may have noticed I posted the logo on the sidebar.) I don't know from barbecue but I've always loved Andy Griffith and I really wanted to join this group. I applied months ago and never heard back so I assumed I was just too left for the excellent but right leaning lineup and I hadn't checked in a long time. Thanks to Trojan Horseshoes for the honor.
 

Libby 11:03 PM Permalink
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The cost of tough meth laws

As is true throughout the country, Tennessee has seen a boom in meth labs and its consequent harmful effects including a rise in burn victims from explosions while processing the drug. Deputy drug czar, Joseph Keefe attended a drug conference in Nashville on the subject recently and praised local authorities "for approaching the drug problem with tougher criminal laws, public education and addiction treatment."

Putting aside the fact that the ONDCP's idea of public education and treatment is a joke, the tougher criminal laws is exactly why the country is now endangered by these labs for the "new" meth. As noted here before, 30 years ago meth was a popular drug on college campuses and yet we had no explosions or toxic waste entering the ecosphere. Why? Because the precusor elements of its manufacture were legally obtainable ingredients and thus pure and safe. When they toughened the laws on the precusors, the meth makers were forced to improvise with less reliable ingredients and hence you now have labs that are the equivalent of Molotov cocktails, exuding toxic fumes and just waiting to explode.

That people are willing to expose their children to these dangers underlines the hold this drug has on its users. Clearly tougher laws didn't diminish the demand or there wouldn't be thousands of these labs hidden in every corner of the US. The only sensible method for eliminating this dangerous practice is to legalize the stuff and let them have it for free. At least then the health effects, (which are significant even outside of the burn victims) could be monitored and perhaps forestalled. As doctors at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center note, most meth patients don't have health insurance. Thus you the taxpayer, pay at both sides of this problem. First for the enhanced costs of enforcement of failed laws and then for the health consequences of an unregulated market. Think about it.
 

Libby 11:55 AM Permalink
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Day of disasters

So yesterday was a really bad day. The bad stuff started first thing in the morning. The recycle guys never come before 2:00pm so at 9:30am I'm just putting on my jacket to take it out to the street and see them driving by leaving me with a bin full of recycling. Then I'm getting ready to go get my driver's license changed over and I'm on the internet looking up the rules on the documents when I get attacked by the java byte trojan. My virus program duly informs me but I spazzed out and clicked on the wrong button and closed the screen so I had to run the whole system test to get the virus and by then it was embedded, and I had to go through a lot of steps to fix it.

So of course it's getting late by the time I get to the DMV but fortunately it's a local office and not crowded. I'm at the desk with the paperwork within 15 minutes and got to witness an Oriental girl get her learner's permit. She barely spoke English but her husband is fluent. Apparently she had failed the written test 5 times before this and she was just glowing with joy.

The DMV officer was really nice when she tells me that in the enormous folder of paper I have spread across her desk, I'm missing one key piece which I know is sitting on my desk at home. So I'm sitting there at like 3:30 on a really good hair day and I even put on lipstick thinking I would be having my picture taken. In fact on the way over I was thinking this would be the first time I ever had a shot at a good driver's license photo. Still all was not lost. I had time to run home and come back. But God apparently just doesn't want me to have a good photo on my license. As I'm driving out of the DMV, my brake suddenly went all the way to the floor and barely stopped the car. They pumped up but kept fading and I was glad they held the few miles back to my house.

But now what? I had to be at the family homestead later that day and I barely have a clue about cars. So I call the nearest place under car repair, it's within walking distance of my house and ask if they'll fix it. I figure I have enough brakes to get that far. The guy doesn't actually fix cars but he gives me a little phone consult and the name of the local mechanic. He thinks I could get there if I put some brake fluid in the car. So I duly get out my manual and figure out how to check the brake fluid and it's indeed low so I trudge over to the nearby convenience store and get some. Getting it to pour in without spilling took a couple of tries but I get it done and drive up and down the driveway pumping up the brakes as instructed. It's not working. Pumps up great and then goes to the floor again. I'm thinking it just needs more pumping up when I realize I'm backing into a cloud of brake fluid and upon inspection I discover the fluid is energetically dripping behind one of the tires. The good news is I've been needing to find a mechanic and I believe I inadvertently hooked up with the right local guy.

Of course when I arrived here last night with a still unused laptop, I couldn't hook into the house wifi without the WEP key that no one remembered. Fortunately, after my failed attempt to set up my own wifi at home, I at least knew what it was and today I got online without tech support and they towed my car to the garage without my having to be there. Hope this is the start of a better trend.
  

Libby 12:55 AM Permalink
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Wednesday, March 30, 2005
Yeah success!!!

Yesterday was probably the worst day I've had in decades. I'll have all the gory details later on that but my luck has apparently finally turned again. I'm at least posting to the blog using the new laptop. I figured out the WEP key to get on the family's wifi without having to call the ISP and I managed to switch from the unsecured default network with the crappy signal that I automatically connected to this morning, (who knows where that came from, it wasn't there last night), to the secured one inside the house. Of course it took hours to do what a technogeek could have done in minutes but I did it by myself and feeling pretty buff about it.

Anyway, I'm liking the laptop now that I'm finally using it. It's something of an adjustment to get used to the reduced screen and keyboard again but so far it appears to have the speed and functionality I wanted.

I'll be posting more often once I get a little better set up.
  

Libby 12:13 PM Permalink
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Tuesday, March 29, 2005
Action alert - NYT promotes propaganda

The NYT posts a really snarky editorial on medical marijuana. While they pay lip service to the positive aspects, they give much more weight to the flawed studies that wrongly suggest it has no medicinal benefit. Let's not let them get away this prohibition pushing propaganda unremarked.

Send a letter to the editor and set him straight. Letters should be under 200 words and focus on only one or two points. For help in framing your points, see medical marijuana pro and con and this article on how science is skewed to fuel prohibition. For help in composing your LTE, see also the Media Awareness Project's excellent activism center.

As they say at MAP, "It's not what others do it's what YOU do."
 

Libby 10:26 AM Permalink
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Monday, March 28, 2005
Monday bird blogging

Some exciting sightings this weekend. The cardinal and the red-headed woodpecker have been continuing their debate all week long. Hard to tell who's winning but the little wrens seem to attend all the lectures. New on the list today is the heron of some kind that flew overhead yesterday. It was hard to tell from just the silhouette what kind it was. I don't think it was great blue though. It didn't look quite big enough. More than likely it was night heron of some kind.

Meanwhile, I have one bluebird that keeps coming back and I saw a yellow warbler for the first time just this morning. Nice song from that one.
 

Libby 1:45 PM Permalink
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Sunday, March 27, 2005
Homeland torture and the war on some drugs

For a limited time, you can view this BBC Documentary on inmate abuse in the United States prisons. It's a 50 minute video (no download is necessary) and well worth the time if you care about human rights. It contains very graphic scenes of torture and abuse but keep in mind when you watch this footage that at the present moment, we have close to 2.2 million people, many of them non-violent drug offenders, who are also living under these conditions.

Your tax dollars are being criminally wasted on this cruelty. It's time we released the non-violent victims of bad drug policy and revamped the system for those who truly belong in prison. Even violent criminals deserve better from society than to be treated in a way behind bars that would be cause for arrest on the outside.

To watch the video, click here.

Update: The link appears to be dead now. Hope you got a chance to see the video.
 

Libby 9:53 PM Permalink
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If prohibitionist press releases were honest

Speaking of Ashcroft, according to the buzz, SCOTUS is expected to release their decision on Angel Raich's medical marijuana case against him in the next few days. The prohibition vultures are already circling the press. Prohibition profiteer, the Drug Free America Foundation put a press release on the wire offering immediate comment, the very moment the decision is made public. Allow me to translate it for you. Edits will all be mine.

Drug Free America Foundation is the leading opponent of what we call medical-fraud "medical acceptance will expose us as frauds" marijuana.
With over 20 years experience in the drug policy prohibition profiteering field, Fay maintains: "There is no You must ignore all evidence proving there is a valid medical use for raw (smoked) marijuana. Proponents relentlessly fight to prove we cynically exploit the terminally ill to perpetrate a hoax based on prohibitionist fiction. Their goal is back-door legalization of a dangerous, addictive substance plant which can be grown for free and we can't control, that has been employed medicinally to good effect for over 5,000 years ."

Founded in 1995, Drug Free America Foundation is dedicated to has made a fortune in donations and grants by fighting drug use, drug addiction and drug trafficking and to promoting effective predictably deficient and cruel drug policies, preventing education and are dedicated to the prevention of profit loss. It is equally committed to exposing the preventing the exposure of our distortions and misrepresentations of valid scientific evidence presented by legalizers and we fear their deceptive tactics irritating insistence on facts over our propaganda, including medical exposing our fraud on medical marijuana.

Original via © 2005 U.S. Newswire 202-347-2770
 

Libby 5:12 PM Permalink
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Rites of spring

Happy day to those of you who celebrate Easter. I forgot today was the holiday so rather than try to get the wireless set up I decided to tidy up the place a bit, starting with some odd stuff I've been meaning to post about.

There's this funny item on John Ashcroft. It seems on foreign airlines, the flight movies are often edited during dubbing to remove curse words. Someone with an obviously refined sense of humor decided to replace the word a**hole with the name Ashcroft, in other words the gangster says, "Take this you f-ing Ashcroft!!!" You have to love it. Ashcroft didn't return calls when queried on whether he thought his name made an acceptable curse. Personally I think it's the perfect choice.

On another note, for those who love these silly things, here's a little quiz from the BBC to test your knowledge about the origins of Easter.
 

Libby 2:40 PM Permalink
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