They aren't afraid of four musicians from LA - they are afraid of YOU!

Rolling Stone report says RATM was to play a "secret" concert near the RNC but was shut down by the police.

Video courtesy of the fine folks @ Above the Fold

This is a cross-post of a Daily Kos posting edited for this posting.

As I get busier with my job, my time to do this stuff will dwindle and I am searching for the most effective use of my time and effort in sticking with this vastly under-appreciated important issue.

I will experiment with different times and formats until I find one that "does the trick" - generate more reading of cannabis-related issues.

Today I have some news, some tunes, some cannabis reform discourse: also have some questions, some answers, some serious discussion and some frivolity for you.

And Hope™ - I think we're going to the White House! Which is awesome - we're gonna have some news for the new bosses.

NOTICE: You do NOT have to be a "pot smoker" to join in here.
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Cannabis reform is not about "pot smoking" since, obviously, we can already do that. It's entirely about righting an outrageous wrong and making much smarter decisions about "pot". This is why it is truly a Democratic issue

Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.

Voltaire

Christopher Hitchens, alcoholic, war propagandist and Responsible Serious Douchbag, recently elected to have himself waterboarded. (Yes... I do know he is a gifted and prolific writer who should otherwise be afforded a certain level of respect, but he has blown it bigtime with this comic stunt.)

Initially all for torture, he has,since his self-inflicted traumatic experience, decided perhaps it is "torture". Doubtlessly you have heard about this by now, so I won't dwell on it more than the following excerpts for context.

The Responsible Serious Adults are forever rolling their eyes when this subject is broached, but screw them! This issue remains considerably bigger and more important that the run-of-the-mill RSA ever cares to consider, knowing everything like they do, ya know.

Well, another measure of how big cannabis relegalization is, why the Democratic Party MUST be the ones to fix this ridiculous situation (once they are done fully supporting the continuation it that is) is this "little" situation wherein Barney Frank has filed a bill to add some very limited and specific changes to medical marijuana laws and the Bush Administration felt the need to crash his press conference and alienate pretty much everybody with his bizarre reefer mad screed.

All on the flip. (RSA's click here so you don't have to hear all this terrible talk.)

This appears to be another ray of sunshine in a Dark Age: Gitmo judge: No 'coercive' questioning evidence.

This is regarding the trial of Salim Hamdan, alleged to be a driver for Osama bin Laden.

[From the Recommended List @ Daily Kos]

I found this here and it references a report here.

It is purporting to discuss an article from the "Family Security Matters" "think tank", which is apparently associated with Dick Cheney. The sounds of the article are classic Dick.

This is another article in a series that has suggested itself to me.

It began with Pot is not like tobacco - Please make a not ot it. Thanks. This installment focuses on how cannabis and smoking cannabis is superior to alcohol.

I suppose a number of otherwise "liberal people" will find a number of excuses for this outrage just because "mar-ju-wanna" is involved.

Video shows cop choking marijuana suspect

The incident began with a traffic stop.

Officer Cosby said he smelled burning marijuana, ordered Anders out of the car and told him to spit out something he had in his mouth.

Cosby then put one, then both hands around Anders' neck and squeezed in attempt to keep he from swallowing drugs in a technique called "vascular restraint."

So he choked him JUST for having cannabis nearby.

Video on the flip.

A Brief Compendium of Dirty Fucking Hippy© Values

This is just a short look at my values and what issues I find important.

This election season finds America bitterly divided, and I don't just mean rightwingers versus the Left.

I mean that even the Democratic party, as much as MOST of it wants "unity" in the quest for electoral dominance in November and beyond, has some rather deep rifts.

[Crossposted from GreenState Project & Smirking Chimp]

Tom Harkin is a Democratic Senator from Iowa.

He's a pretty good guy with a pretty good Democratic voting history, although he did not vote for or against the recent FISA issue. His voting record indicates he really should have voted with the Dems on that, but he abstained or was not there. Otherwise he's usually a solid, consistent Democratic Senator.

But as Democratic as his voting record is, he has a glaring drug problem: he carries water for the GOP by regurgitating their propaganda for them in a letter to a constituent.

More after the jump.

Crossposted from Greenstate Project

The ACLU has decided that cannabis laws are not fair and has decided to join in the effort to fix them.

I'll try to keep it short and sweet on the flip.

Crossposted from GreenState Project

I am off the fence: the decision is made.

It's not Ron Paul.

Brief discussion after the flip.

I have been very, very concerned about the Taser, at least in the past.

It is a "non-lethal device" that shoots little dart connected to electrodes. It was specifically designed to use on people: people who aren't doing what somebody else - most usually the police - tells them to do.

The Taser electrically causes cooperation with the commands of the person wielding it.

I have decided I should have one.

What costs more: Global Natural Disasters or America's War on Drugs?

Well...go on... take a guess.

You know the answer but it seems so absurd. It's hard to say it.

That's because it is a study in absurdity.

Ever engage in that useless fantasy of "what if I won the lottery"? or "What would you do with a million dollars"?

I usually make the wisecrack about putting most of it in safe investments but using some of it to buy a couple congress critters and some judges so I could help people.

$40 billion is, to most people, a lot of money - it's an unfathomable amount to me: I have never even made $50,000 in a year and I live pretty simply now (compared to the average consumer Americans I see).

However, $40 billion isn't very much to the US Government, largely because it is tax money - an endless stream of money they just get without actually working for it. For them it's merely numbers on papers.

And they waste it in rather amazing and cruel ways.