Ask Your Doctor If Fukitol Is Right For You

Finally, there are some stirrings in Congress to do something about the ridiculous number of television advertisements for pharmaceuticals, not that any of it is likely to gain traction due to the influence of Big Pharma lobbyists.

In the 1980s, Nancy Reagan told Americans to “Just Say No” to recreational drugs.

Now a handful of legislators are just saying no to TV commercials for prescription drugs. The politicians are taking aim at the 60-second spots that have made viewers familiar with maladies like male urinary urgency and deficient eyelashes — not to mention side effects like four-hour erections.

Not all of the ideas being floated have merit, and one in particular is just irritating:

Representative James P. Moran, Democrat of Virginia, is sponsoring a House bill that would ban ads for prescription sexual aids like Viagra and Levitra from prime-time television, on decency grounds.

I guess Rep. Moran can't handle hearing the word "erection" on television. And that's supposed to be worse than the plethora of other drugs being peddled via television advertisements?

As noted in the New York Times article, there are only two countries allowing
direct-to-consumer drug advertisements: the United States and New Zealand.

What is worse? Restless leg syndrome or nausea, dizziness, drowsiness, trouble sleeping, constipation, unusual weakness, stomach upset and pain, headache, dry mouth, hallucinations, difficulty moving or walking, trouble breathing, twitching, confusion, fainting, leg/foot swelling, restlessness, chest pain, unusually fast/slow heartbeat, sudden irresistible urge to sleep, muscle pain, vision problems, fever, and severe muscle stiffness?



Oh, just pop a Fukitol or two. Or take a more beneficial route outside of Big Pharma.

We had the right idea back in the late 1800s.

Beware of "Bargain" Foreclosures

Meth labs in homes across the US are a big problem. And the health issues are not limited to the meth users. This story came as a bit of a surprise to me -- that toxic residue from meth labs in homes can linger for years, and have very negative consequences for new owners of the home.

Federal data on meth lab seizures suggest that there are tens of thousands of contaminated residences in the United States. The victims include low-income elderly people whose homes are surreptitiously used by relatives or in-laws to make meth, and landlords whose tenants leave them with a toxic mess.

Some states have tried to fix the problem by requiring cleanup and, at the time of sale, disclosure of the house’s history. But the high cost of cleaning — $5,000 to $100,000, depending on the size of the home, the stringency of the requirements and the degree of contamination — has left hundreds of properties vacant and quarantined, particularly in Western and Southern states afflicted with meth use.

“The meth lab home problem is only going to grow,” said Dawn Turner, who started a Web site, www.methlabhomes.com, after her son lost thousands of dollars when he bought a foreclosed home in Sweetwater, Tenn., that turned out to be contaminated.

Because cleanup costs are so high, many families have no option but to suffer or walk away.

Meth contamination can bring financial ruin to families like that of Francisca Rodriguez. The family dog began having seizures nine days after the Rodriguezes moved into their home in Grapevine, Tex., near Dallas, and their 6-year-old son developed a breathing problem similar to asthma, said Ms. Rodriguez, 35, a stay-at-home mother of three.

After learning from neighbors that the three-bedroom ranch-style home had been a known “drug house,” the family had it tested. The air ducts had meth levels more than 100 times higher than the most commonly cited limit beyond which cleanup is typically required.

The former owner had marked “no” on a disclosure form asking whether the house had ever been a meth lab, Ms. Rodriguez said. But because he is now in prison for meth possession, among other things, the Rodriguezes decided there was nothing to gain by suing him. They moved out, throwing away most of their possessions because they could not be cleaned, and are letting the house go into foreclosure.

“It makes you crazy,” Ms. Rodriguez said. “Our credit is ruined, we won’t be able to buy another house, somebody exposed my kids to meth, and my dog died.”

There was a 14% increase in the number of home-based meth labs discovered last year. This is clearly another housing crisis, and we have a mish-mash of inadequate state laws dealing with the matter, all of which are woefully inadequate.

About 20 states have passed laws requiring meth contamination cleanup, and they use widely varied standards. Virtually all the laws hold the property owner financially responsible; Colorado appears to be the only state that allots federal grant money to help innocent property owners faced with unexpected cleanup jobs.

This is not the American dream.

The Bright Side to Economic Calamity

I'm glad to see prison reform and tough sentencing guidelines for low-level offenders being tossed away in favor of more sensible -- and less costly -- solutions. I'm just not sure why it takes a devastated economy to put that into place. I suspect this is indeed a reflection of the economic realities rather than a concrete change in philosophy.

Once the economy turns around it will be interesting to see if we return from whence we came -- back to ridiculously long prison sentences for mere possession.

Cash-strapped states are increasingly turning to alternative sentencing methods and to streamlined probation and parole as a way to keep low-level offenders out of prison and in their communities.

[...]

The measures include drug courts, which allow low-level drug offenders to avoid prison time through treatment and intense, personal, weekly intervention by a judge, and at least 500 courts for people arrested for driving while intoxicated. Drivers avoid jail by attending regular alcohol-treatment classes and by submitting to random tests.

States have also begun to shorten probation and to reduce the number of people sent to prison for technical violations, such as missing appointments.

[...]

These trends are showing up almost everywhere as a direct response to governors and state legislatures looking with alarm at prison costs eating up increasing shares of their budgets. According to Adam Gelb, director of the Public Safety Performance Project for the Pew Center on the States, more than half the states and the District are trying to reduce the growth in their prison populations through alternative sentencing and through new probation and parole procedures.

Surprisingly, this is happening even in Texas, although our current track record hardly qualified as progressive.

But what is striking, experts say, is how some states with reputations for being tough on crime are most rapidly embracing these policies, which might have once been dismissed as the product of liberal think tanks and soft-on-crime leniency.

Texas is a case in point. From 1978 to 2004, the inmate population rose 573 percent and the state's population increased 67 percent. With hard sentencing laws and some conservative judges, Texas built a "lock 'em up" reputation. The state has more than 155,00 inmates and leads the nation in putting prisoners to death.

But two years ago, Texas officials were faced with an alarming projection: By 2012, the state would need 17,000 more beds, which would mean building eight prisons at a cost of nearly $1 billion.

State Rep. Jerry Madden, a self-described conservative Republican, had just taken over as chairman of the Texas House committee on corrections. "I started asking questions," he said in a phone interview. To avoid building more beds for more prisoners, Madden said, "You either got to slow 'em going in, or speed 'em going out. And Texas is not a state that says, 'Speed 'em up going out.' "

[...]

The changes, implemented in the 2007 legislative session, included more funding for drug and DWI courts. New rules shortened the average probation time from 10 years to five. With about 445,000 people on probation, the system had become "the Number One feeder to the prison system," said Ana Yáñez-Correa, executive director of the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, a progressive group.

The state also ordered the parole board to raise its parole rate to an earlier number of 31 percent; the proportion of eligible inmates granted parole had slipped to 26 percent.

With those changes in place, prison population growth slowed to a trickle. From January 2007 until December 2008, Texas added 529 inmates to its total, a tenth of what was projected.

It's enough to make me hope the economy doesn't improve. Because tough times seem to be the only time we come to our senses. And that's rather pathetic.

Forrest Gump on Toot

Via Ronnie Walker on Facebook, crazy mother fucker.

Have you ever been on a real shrimp boat?

How I Spent My 49th Birthday

A number of people have asked for more details on my desire to spend almost my entire birthday in a federal court room.

For the past four years or so, we have had a neighbor behind us, but one lot over, who has been an extreme nuisance. I knew there was a woman living there when we moved here 11 years ago but a guy showed up on the scene about 4-5 years ago and was living there. That was the start of a downward spiral which, we are hoping, ended yesterday for good.

After he moved in, their property appearance began to deteriorate. Because I can't really see their property except for a garage door from my back patio, I really didn't know what was going on until I walked around the block a few years ago. It was as if their house was a giant magnet for any metal objects drifting through the city: old cars, old bicycles, scrap metal, etc. It was really more than the eye could behold in a quick glance.

I was never brave enough to walk over there and take decent pictures from the street, but I did find a poor quality "street scene" using maps from a well-known technology behemoth, and I managed to improve the picture quality slightly to give you a very rough idea. Trust me when I say it's far worse if you could have seen it live, and these photos could be 3 years old.

Notice the car hauler. Very convenient for bringing in more non-functional vehicles to the front yard! Assuming that wasn't also a non-functioning piece of junk itself!

It was always a work in progress. The guy built a treehouse in the front yard and tried to create various sculptures around the mail box. It is no exaggeration whatsoever to describe it as a junkyard.

Then the music began to creep in. As most of you know, I have no issues with music. Hell, I live for it! Always have. But when it comes to another person's choices in music being played outside at a loud volume for hours at a time, that tends to take a toll on my patience.

It started with a radio and a few CDs while he was working in the yard -- i.e. rearranging junk or adding to the junk. On rare occasions I'd hear country music; most of the time it was rock or rap, and Eminem comes to mind.

Then JF (I'm using his initials instead of referring to him as the "guy") acquired a set of drums and it was obvious he'd never had a lesson a day in his life. Instead of practicing IN the house as most normal people would do, he set this up outside and/or in the garage depending on the weather. As if that wasn't irritating enough, the amplifier came along so that more of the neighborhood could hear his free concerts. Little did I know at the time, this was likely his very thought!

By this time I was rather certain he had to be doing drugs. First, he didn't appear to have any visible means of support as in employment. He was home most of the time, and when he was home he was playing. Soon, a friend or two started showing up and there were other instruments in the mix. The "band" was in development! And the noise was hideous. While junk was being sucked in, talent seemed to be on the run.

No hour of the day or night was off-limits. The drums could be heard in pre-dawn darkness and it might extend off and on throughout the day and into the evening. There was also a perceptible ebb and flow of energy and enthusiasm and I was finally able to pinpoint when the methamphetamine was kicking in. I didn't have visible proof of drug use, but after years of hearing a neighbor it's not hard to arrive at that conclusion.

We had lived here over 10 years without having any contact with any of our neighbors. And I'm fine with that. I live a private life and this being Texas, I never felt compelled to go around the neighborhood saying "Hi, we're you're Queer neighbors." That was particularly true in the first few years when it was technically illegal in this state for my partner and I to make love.

Then last August something very odd happened. I was sitting here at my desk, probably doing what I'm doing right now, when txrad came in to announce with some excitement, "Come here! There are goats on our patio!"

He was not hallucinating. We finally met our next-door neighbors when they came over to retrieve the goats and needless to say, the conversation turned to JF who lived directly behind these neighbors. All of my suspicions were confirmed and a whole lot more.

We learned that JF had married the woman who lived rather quietly in the house before he came on the scene, and that he was considerably younger than her. This is particularly funny because I really hadn't seen JF up close and when I would walk or drive by his house I avoided eye contact if he happened to be in the yard. Because of his behavior, I was under the assumption he was in his early 20s. It wasn't until yesterday that I learned he was 49 years old.

It was also confirmed by our neighbor that he was a psychopath, a criminal, and a drug user. He was also an informant for the sheriff's department in our fair and liberal oasis in central Texas, which is why they wouldn't lay a finger on him. In fact, they had done all they could to clear his criminal records.

Between August and the end of 2008, armed with much more information on JF and his history, I began paying closer attention to his activities which were getting increasingly distressing to me, not that the prior four years hadn't taken a toll on my psyche. To this day when I hear any kind of noise outside while sitting at my desk, I find it jarring. Even as I'm typing this, I hear an occasional thump-thump-thump from street construction going on nearby, and it gives me the heebie-jeebies. My mind always leaps to the conclusion that JF is baaack.

Deep in my heart I had -- dare I use this word as an atheist -- prayed (in some sense) that he and his wife would lose the house. It was inconceivable to me they would move out voluntarily, and I could not understand how they had the money to even pay the annual property taxes. In fact, for most of these years I wasn't even aware there was a wife over there. I just assumed it was JF having one long continuous drug-fueled party.

Around the time of the presidential election we found a letter in our mailbox which was addressed to our goat-owning neighbors. I walked it over there and had another very long chat with the neighbor concerning politics, Obama, and yes, JF. There were more developments. JF had been picked up on a weapons charge and if convicted, would serve time in a federal prison.

I asked about the goats, as I hadn't heard them in awhile, and I was told some heartbreaking news. Thanks to a hole in the fence separating JF's yard from the goats, JF's pit bulls came through and killed the goats. I was sickened.

Shortly thereafter, my prayers/dreams, whatever you want to call it, came true. The wife, having gotten several loans against her house to pay JF's legal fees and suddenly was facing a foreclosure. By January the house was vacant, the yard had been cleaned up, and I wrongly assumed I'd never have to be within earshot of JF again. Alas, this is the problem with assumptions.

On April 15, after more than four months of neighborly silence, I received a private Facebook message from our neighbor next door concerning JF. She started by saying "I have some disturbing news regarding JF."

My heart was already thumping. She explained that due to his lack of "official" criminal activity recently, thanks largely to our efficient sheriff's department, JF would probably not face more than 30-37 months on the federal weapons charge -- a considerably lighter sentence than he would otherwise receive.

She went on to say that JF's wife had moved back into our neighborhood and was renting a house one block over from us. Alarm bells were now going off in my head.

The sentencing hearing was schedule for April 22 at 9:00 AM. Great! My birthday. And she asked me if txrad and I would please go to the hearing with them. She had previously told me about the experience when she and her partner testified at the trial and it was not fun. But I mulled this over and decided I'd go. It was an agonizing and stressful week but by Tuesday evening I was actually rather excited, although at least 75% of my excitement was due to the fact that all this would soon be over!

At 8:06 AM, txrad and I were in the car heading to the downtown court house for the 9 AM sentencing hearing. We arrived shortly before 9 and met up with our neighbors. Many of our neighbors were unwilling to attend out of fear. One couple from our neighborhood was at the court house yesterday morning but were unable to stay throughout the afternoon until the actual sentencing took place. Thankfully, a number of them who did not attend were willing to write a letter to the judge explaining their experiences.

After sitting through two hours of a sentencing involving a young woman from Mexico with a heroin conviction, we learned there were about 6 or 7 more cases ahead of us before we'd get to the JF sentencing. The agony would be prolonged.

txrad and I came home, had lunch, and I did a bit of office work before we headed back downtown just before 2 PM. It was well after 3 PM when the JF sentencing hearing began. And oh my, it was worth the wait!

JF and his lawyer spoke first to the judge and although I had been given a preview of what they were going to say in his defense, to hear it coming from JF and his attorney just made my blood start to boil.

JF was made out to be an asset to the community, a guy who has aided law enforcement "for free" for years, and helped rid our streets of drugs and bad guys. When the issue of the junkyard came up, his claim was that he filled his yard with old bicycles, go-karts, and other trash to attract teenagers and thus be in a position to help them with their lives because, as he put it, he really cares about the kids. (This would be a recurring theme in his own personal statements to the judge.)

At this point I was mentally arranging letters of the alphabet in my head: B.U.L.L.S.H.I.T.

One of my neighbors had already asked me if I was going to make a statement to the judge and I told her I didn't think I would. Suddenly I was having a change of heart.

Then JF's wife went to make her statement. This is where things really bordered on the surreal. As tears welled up in her eyes, she explained to the judge how ridiculous these charges were, reiterating what an asset he was to the community and then turning to point at us nasty neighbors, adding that she could not understand why these neighbors are trying to tear him down. I am paraphrasing because I was not taking notes, but this is a very close approximation of what she said.

And then she went on with her tirade and said he was such an asset that he had managed to rid a nearby street of Satan worshippers, then she had to stop due to excessive crying. It was at precisely this point where I had a revelation. JF, who had already struck me as being very Charles Manson-esque, had such a grip on this woman that she had become as deranged and delusional as he was. I could not help but wonder if the judge was thinking the same.

Next up to speak before the judge were our two neighbors who brought up a variety of excellent points involving the amount of filth and trash in the yard, the number of dumpsters required to haul it off and the resulting rodent problems. And the issue of the pygmy goats.

My heart was pounding in my chest as I approached the judge. My thoughts had blurred into a nebulous train wreck and I was so nervous I wasn't sure if I could squeeze a word out of my mouth. I could feel the eyes of JF and his wife burning into my back as I told the judge my name. I explained that I had worked from my home for 4 of the past 5 years and therefore had spent a lot of time observing and hearing all the activity from JF's property. I mentioned the "music" and that no hours were safe from the onslaught, and that on occasion it was so loud it would rattle my windows and reverberate through my house. Between the music and other "disturbances" it was driving me crazy.

I very truthfully informed the judge that there were many times when I was so frustrated I simply wanted to put my house on the market and move, but that any open house put on by the realtor would have come with an unwanted band. I concluded by saying if JF ever returns to our neighborhood, I feel I would have no choice but to move away. I said "thank you" and returned to my uncomfortable wooden court room bench, catching the swollen red eyes of JF's wife in the process.

JF and lawyer again approached the judge for their rebuttal. Now that I had mentioned the music issue JF felt compelled to explain that it was his intention to create a Christian rock band -- again, to help set all the corrupted teenagers who might pass by on a path to righteousness. Good grief, I was so embarrassed. Of course that was their intention. It was at that point I remembered JF and his bandmates screaming the word "faggot" into a microphone. Pardon my error.

The judge was now ready to render a good and fair ass-whuppin' sentence to our fine upstanding asset to the community. He took his sweet time about it, bringing up a multitude of prior convictions....driving with license suspended, violation of a protective order, theft, evading arrest, escaping from custody, driving with license suspended, unauthorized use of a vehicle, criminal trespass, assault/family violence, driving with license suspended, theft, driving with license suspended, (see any kind of trends here?) trespass of a habitation, possession of meth with intent to distribute. But hey, he was doing it for the sake of "the kids."

JF, turns out, has been in jail about 50 times, but NEVER, as strange as it seems given his history, been sentenced and sent to a federal facility until yesterday.

The judge, in an amazing understatement, said to JF, "You obviously have a disrespect for the law." And if I recall correctly he added something along the lines of, "...and a sense you are above the law."

After giving JF a verbal reaming, in a polite judge sorta way, he then proceeded to sentence JF, not to the "advisory sentencing guideline" for criminal possession of a firearm in the 33-37 month range, but to 60 months! Five years in a house he will not be allowed to trash.

As the prosecutor told me, it's rare for a judge to deviate upward from the established sentencing guidelines, and without a doubt she feels our presence and desire to speak out as neighbors helped cement the deal which puts this man out of our midst for five years, and on probation for three more, during which time he cannot touch drugs or alcohol without being returned to prison.

But remember, he's "tender-hearted," per his wife's testimony. My favorite mug shot is the 3rd row down, 5th photo over. No doubt he had just wrapped up a Jesus Loves You seminar with some area youngsters before being apprehended.

If you think this is frightening, be thankful you didn't have to hear him speak in his defense. At least he's gone; I feel safer in that regard. I find it disturbing that his wife, who clearly drinks from the same well of contaminants, is a block over from us. We'll all have to watch our backs.

All that aside, this was the best and most uniquely memorable birthday I have ever experienced. My neighbors and I were a part of justice being served.

What a Birthday!

txrad and I were in the car at 8:06 heading downtown on my birthday for a federal sentencing hearing involving an ex-neighbor. After spending two hours in the court room hearing an unexpectedly lengthy heroin case involving a young woman from Mexico, we were told the case in which we have an interest will not come before the judge until probably mid-afternoon. We came home to regenerate and have some lunch before heading back downtown.

Having witnessed what I have seen this morning involving this woman and her heroin conviction, I can safely say our country is terribly fucked up when it comes to drugs, drug laws, the penalties, and ESPECIALLY the costs associated with these convictions.

This is one person, one case, in one medium-sized American city, in one day. I cannot imagine what the lawyers and investigators must have made in the 2-3 years of investigations, wire-tapping, etc., related to this case. Multiply this by tens of thousands and it becomes an incomprehensibly astounding waste.

I can think of better ways to spend a birthday, but very few which could be so eye-opening, educational, and informative.

We definitely need to overhaul some things in this country. That's for damn sure.

Top Five Countries

These five places make me glad I'm not in Obama's shoes right now.

Mexico

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton arrives in Mexico on Wednesday for what will be the first in a parade of visits by top administration officials, including President Obama himself next month, to try to head off a major foreign policy crisis close to home. They will find a country mired in a deepening slump, miffed by signs of protectionism in its largest trading partner, and torn apart by a drug war for which many in Mexico blame customers in the United States.

Pakistan

Now, as the Obama administration completes its review of strategy toward the region this week, his sudden ascent has raised an urgent question: Can Mr. Sharif, 59, a populist politician close to Islamic parties, be a reliable partner? Or will he use his popular support to blunt the military’s already fitful campaign against the insurgency of the Taliban and Al Qaeda?

Czech Republic

Transatlantic tension over the handling of the global economic crisis intensified Wednesday when the prime minister of the Czech Republic, which holds the European Union presidency, described the President Obama’s stimulus measures as the “way to hell.”

[...]

...Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek argued that the Obama administration’s fiscal package and financial bailout “will undermine the stability of the global financial market.”

Mr. Topolanek’s comments, only a day after he offered his government’s resignation following a no confidence vote, took European officials by surprise.

Whew! Feeling sick yet? We're not done!

Israel

Israel’s prime minister-designate, Benjamin Netanyahu, said Wednesday that the coalition he is forming would be a “partner for peace,” offering a pledge that seemed designed to reshape his reputation as a foe of the peace process with the Palestinians.

The promise brought a muted response from some Palestinians.

[...]

On Wednesday, Tzipi Livni, the foreign minister and leader of the centrist Kadima party, called the prospective coalition a government “conceived in sin,” according to The Associated Press.

United States

The Obama administration said Tuesday that it would move hundreds of federal agents to the country’s southern border to prevent a spillover of drug-related violence from Mexico, and that it would focus more efforts on stopping weapons and money from flowing south.

And...

Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner on Wednesday pressed the case for expanding the government’s ability to take over and restructure ailing institutions that threaten to the broader financial system.

There's five already and I haven't even mentioned Iraq, Afghanistan, China or Russia. Holy shit.

The Upside to Being a Meth Addict

With my job, housecleaning has taken a backseat with the exception of the kitchen which I can still manage.

Earlier today, txrad told me when he was doing meth back in the 80s, he cleaned the utility room and it was spotless. I suggested maybe he should start doing meth again. We have two bathrooms, two bedrooms, an office and a living room which need attention.

What prompted this conversation was hearing our neighbor banging things around. He's constantly, day after day, outside rearranging his Sanford & Son junkyard, piling shit up one day, then moving it the next.

A Day Of Mourning For Hippies

Boom Boom, Out Go The Lights.

Alton Kelley, whose psychedelic concert posters for artists like the Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix, and Big Brother and the Holding Company helped define the visual style of the 1960s counterculture, died on Sunday at his home in Petaluma, Calif. He was 67.

I am having my own wake tonight. This is devastating to me. I loved his shit.

Drug Convictions in Black and White

Hey Barack and Hillary, I'm not sure which of you will capture the nomination. It honestly doesn't much matter to me at this point. But it would be refreshing to see either one, or preferably both, of you address this problem:

The Drug War (aka the War Against Black Men).

While drug usage among whites and blacks is relatively even, black men are almost 12 times more likely than white men to be convicted and sent to prison.

Two new reports, issued Monday by the Sentencing Project in Washington and by Human Rights Watch in New York, both say the racial disparities reflect, in large part, an overwhelming focus of law enforcement on drug use in low-income urban areas, with arrests and incarceration the main weapon.

But they note that the murderous crack-related urban violence of the 1980s, which spawned the war on drugs, has largely subsided, reducing the rationale for a strategy that has sowed mistrust in the justice system among many blacks.

Drug-related arrests continue to climb year after year, and according to the FBI, based on the most recent data available, marijuana arrests account for 40% of the total. This needs to be a political issue, but unfortunately both Obama and Clinton seem to be afflicted with Bushitis when it comes to a solution.

Both Democratic presidential candidates, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, have strongly condemned the racial disparities in arrests and incarceration during their campaigns, although neither has said how they would end them.

Call me. I have more than a few ideas. In the grand scheme of things, with all our problems which include Iraq, oil prices, the housing crisis, poverty, and disappearing jobs, the injustice inherent in the drug war is relatively easy to solve.

“The race question is so entangled in the way the drug war was conceived,” said Jamie Fellner, a senior counsel at Human Rights Watch and the author of its report.

“If the drug issue is still seen as primarily a problem of the black inner city, then we’ll continue to see this enormously disparate impact,” Ms. Fellner said.

Her report cites federal data from 2003, the most recent available on this aspect, indicating that blacks constituted 53.5 percent of all who entered prison for a drug conviction.

Appalling. No wonder I like to fire one up for presidential debates and primary election returns.


Crossposted at Big Brass Blog

When No-Knock Search Warrants Go Awry

We have serious problems in the US right now which should rightly give us cause for alarm and anxiety. The worry that a SWAT team could theoretically and legally enter your home and blow you to smithereens ought not be one of our worries, but it is.

Last Thursday's issue of the weekly Arkansas Times had an article about Tracy Ingle of North Little Rock who had, shall we say, a rather nasty encounter.

No matter what Ingle or those he gave a temporary home to may have done, however, it's hard to imagine he deserved what he got Jan. 7. That night, the North Little Rock SWAT team stormed Ingle's house on a high-risk, “no-knock” search warrant. By the time all was said and done, Ingle had been shot five times — including one bullet that pulverized his femur and left his leg dangling from his body, connected only by a bloody mess of meat, skin and tendon.

According to an evidence list left at Ingle's house after the shooting, no suspected drugs or drug residue were recovered from the residence — only a digital scale, a notebook and a few plastic baggies, all of which Ingle's family members have identified as part of the junk they had collectively stored at the house.

This is why the "war on drugs" is a bad idea. And the no-knock warrant needs to go the way of Nixon: dead and fucking buried.

Conceived during the Nixon administration, the no-knock warrant — and the use of militarized Special Weapons and Tactics teams to execute them — came of age during the drug wars of the 1980s. The rationale behind no-knocks and using SWAT to serve them was simple: As the criminals became more savvy and well-armed, serving drug warrants demanded the element of surprise, and a more well-armed show of force.

The no-knock warrant is a recipe for disaster, particular in a state such as Arkansas, for an interesting reason.

Arkansas is one of many states that has enshrined some version of the Defense of Premises Doctrine in its laws. It is, simply put, the right to defend your home without fear of prosecution, up to and including killing an intruder who has made forcible entry.

It's an idea that is dangerously at odds with the concept of no-knock search warrants, says Radley Balko, senior editor of Reason magazine. A former fellow at the Cato Institute, a Washington, D.C., libertarian think tank, Balko did some of the early research into the use of no-knock warrants and militarized police units. Over and over again, Balko said, he sees cases where a SWAT team breaches a house, the homeowner exercises his right to defend his home, and either an officer or the homeowner is killed or injured. The only difference is that when it's a cop who gets shot, the private citizen nearly always winds up in jail.

This entire article is gut-wrenching and fills me with anger. And yet, Ingle doesn't hold a grudge against the two police officers who shot him, according to the article. If that's true, it's pretty amazing considering how pissed off I am after reading the article.


Crossposted at Big Brass Blog

US Prison Fanaticism

As if we needed another reminder of things needin' fixin' in this country, the NY Times ran a lengthy piece on one of my many issues today. The USA may not lead the way in the world on very much these days but we can certainly blow the rest of the world out of the game when it comes to the lock 'em up mentality.

The article begins with a sobering statistic: Our nation accounts for almost a quarter of the world's prisoners despite having only 5% of the world's population.

...the United States leads the world in producing prisoners, a reflection of a relatively recent and now entirely distinctive American approach to crime and punishment. Americans are locked up for crimes — from writing bad checks to using drugs — that would rarely produce prison sentences in other countries. And in particular they are kept incarcerated far longer than prisoners in other nations.

Criminologists and legal scholars in other industrialized nations say they are mystified and appalled by the number and length of American prison sentences.

China, not exactly a bastion of human rights and progressive ideology, is a distant second to the US. And this is not simply because we have an extraordinarily higher crime rate than the rest of the world. We do have a high murder rate, helped along by easy access to firearms. But the biggest problem with our exploding prison growth is the propensity to lock up non-violent criminals for much longer periods of time than the rest of the world, and... (drum roll please)... drugs.

Efforts to combat illegal drugs play a major role in explaining long prison sentences in the United States as well. In 1980, there were about 40,000 people in American jails and prisons for drug crimes. These days, there are almost 500,000.

Those figures have drawn contempt from European critics. “The U.S. pursues the war on drugs with an ignorant fanaticism,” said Ms. Stern of King’s College.

One could argue the same motivation is in play with the war in Iraq. But yes, Ms. Stern is correct. And notice the blatant disparity between those in state prisons vs. those in federal prisons:

Another appalling fact that contributes to our numero uno prison status is the conviction of young teens who have been tried as adults -- often being sentenced to life.

In December [2006], the United Nations took up a resolution calling for the abolition of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for children and young teenagers. The vote was 185 to 1, with the United States the lone dissenter.

Indeed, the United States stands alone in the world in convicting young adolescents as adults and sentencing them to live out their lives in prison. According to a new report, there are 73 Americans serving such sentences for crimes they committed at 13 or 14.

Why this absurd situation isn't at least in the top 7 or 8 issues in the presidential primaries is baffling to me. But I must applaud the New York Times for keeping it front-page material. In fact, today's article is one in a series.

Grow Your Own

Nothing pisses me off quite as much as a serious problem with an easy solution which no one, least of all politicians, will take seriously thanks to government propaganda and irrational public opinion.

This particular problem involves at least 124 incidents of lead poisoning in Leipzig, Germany after it was determined the victims all had one thing in common: they smoked marijuana. This marijuana had lead added -- presumably to increase the weight and therefore increase the profits of the sellers. Clever.

Unfortunately, marijuana is illegal and there is no regulation (aside from simply being illegal) and testing of the product for contaminants prior to sale, and of course it's illegal to avoid the pitfalls altogether by simply growing it yourself.

The patients are recovering and taking medicines called chelating agents to help remove the lead from their bodies. But it could take years to clear it completely, particularly from bones. And some were quite disillusioned to learn that poison was added to what they thought was a pure, all-natural product, said their doctor, Prof. Michael Stumvoll of University Hospital in Leipzig, who commented, “How naïve!”

Naïve?? Did he say that because they were buying from an unknown source or that it's naïve to believe that marijuana is a pure, all-natural product?

Whatever. The solution is to legalize the growing of marijuana for personal consumption (or even as an ornamental shrub or privacy hedge, if we so desire). We would then know where the product came from, that it had not been tampered with, it would cut out the black market dealers charging exorbitant prices for a product which, in a legal framework, should cost no more than a bundle of parsley.

People who do smoke marijuana, or bake with it, should be able to grow their own, or get it from someone they know and trust who grows it, rather than playing Russian roulette with a supplier who cares more about making a few extra hundred dollars per pound than whether the customers are poisoned.

Oh, you don't approve of marijuana? Hey, that's OK. Don't use it. There are people out there who choose to avoid onions and garlic because of the aphrodisiac properties. Abstain from it. That just leaves more for me, and frankly, I have no problem with feeling horny.

Just don't try to regulate or outlaw a plant which plenty of others enjoy. That strikes me as a tad hypocritical in a country where almost 50% of our citizens are using at least one prescription drug. And in a country where prescription drug deaths rose 68% over five years.

Poisoning from prescription drugs has risen to become the second-largest cause of unintentional deaths in the United States, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Hell, even the DEA recognizes there's a problem. (Bold emphasis mine)

Nearly 7 million Americans are abusing prescription drugs*—more than the number who are abusing cocaine, heroin, hallucinogens, Ecstasy, and inhalants, combined. That 7 million was just 3.8 million in 2000, an 80 percent increase in just 6 years.

* Prescription drugs refers to abuseable pharmaceuticals controlled under federal law enforced by the DEA.

Prescription pain relievers are new drug users’ drug of choice, vs. marijuana or cocaine.

Yes, and I'd like to point out that marijuana is the only "drug" here which does not require being "manufactured" in some capacity aside from simply growing, putting out blossoms which are then dried. Contrast that with cocaine for instance.

This is why I have a real issue with marijuana being lumped in with cocaine and other drugs.


Crossposted at Big Brass Blog

A Cheap Alternative To The Drug Store

Concerned about the high cost of drugs and other prescription meds? At the rate things are going, pretty soon all you'll need to do is just drink your tap water. Aside from possibly relieving a headache, maybe if I drink enough water I'll get a 4-hour boner.

A vast array of pharmaceuticals — including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones — have been found in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans, an Associated Press investigation shows.

To be sure, the concentrations of these pharmaceuticals are tiny, measured in quantities of parts per billion or trillion, far below the levels of a medical dose. Also, utilities insist their water is safe.

But the presence of so many prescription drugs — and over-the-counter medicines like acetaminophen and ibuprofen — in so much of our drinking water is heightening worries among scientists of long-term consequences to human health.

Oh, have I mentioned lately that our world is fucked up?

Marketing Targeted (Very) Badly

I don't like junk mail, solicitations for money, catalogs full of crap I wouldn't dream of owning, and department store flyers with perfume samples. Accckkkk!

Quite a bit of that stuff comes to kona ranch and immediately goes into the trash.

And given the fact that I am about 6 months in default on a number of credit cards saddled with ex-business debt, you can imagine I get lots of lively letters in the mail from salivating collection agencies every week.

It's a rare day when I find something in the mail to excite me enough to blog about it. Lo and behold, today is the day.

Now, I'll admit, I wasn't exactly excited at the prospect of opening this envelope from the County Sheriff. Christ, that makes the anxiety of a root canal pale in comparison.

But here we go:

Dear konagod:

I am writing to you because I believe you are a law-abiding citizen who has worked hard for what you have. I also believe you are tired of people who turn to crime as an easy way to make a living with little responsibility to society.

Right off the bat, we have a problem. Up until just a few years ago, I would have been guilty in the great state of Texas of a felony for being caught in bed with my partner while rubbing our winky-dinks together. So whether I'm a law-abiding citizen is up for debate.

Next paragraph, please:

Almost every day you and I see or hear of the violence and criminal activities of crooks, thieves, rapists, drug pushers, and murderers.

[...]

The Sheriffs of Texas want to see tougher laws for criminals, more meaningful prison sentences, [yadda yadda yadda...], but we need your help.

Drug pushers: "If you don't buy this fucking pot right now I'm gonna blow your fuckin' brains out."

Where are those pushers? (And why can't I find one?) And what if they really don't need to push... at all. What if I am perfectly willing to buy some pot in a very cordial business exchange? Hey, good for the economy! Potmeister gets $500 for an ounce of premium weed. He or she goes out and buys goods and services, thus stimulating the economy. konagod gets some good weed, stays home de-stimulating the economy, laughing his ass off at bad tv, and writing an occasionally stupid blog post. It's all the same in the end. Whether I'm spending the $500, or the "dope pusher" is spending it, the end result is the same. The economy gets stimulated and that's a damn good thing. And if the issue is the pot seller evading taxes, then legalize it! City dwellers will still buy it, the pot sellers can pay taxes to fund the local Sheriff's department in their pursuit of real crime, and those of us living on a little piece of land can grow our own if we so desire, in much the same way I grow my own collard greens, basil and cilantro, thus circumventing a for-profit visit to my local supermarket. But I digress.

I really don't mean to make light of this. I know there are serious problems in this country with manufactured drugs (legal and illegal). But we know where the Sheriffs of Texas are probably going to focus their attention. And why on earth would my unemployed pot-loving ass send money to help the sheriffs in their quest to round up the very guy or gal who might be my next source of entertainment?

And I simply love how they lump business people in a supply and demand situation (is anything more American than that?)with all kinds of other lowly contemptible thugs.

In another paragraph they attempt to appeal to my passions by focusing on their need for funding to improve child safety, stopping family violence, and sexual assaults against both women and children. Oh, and drugs. And the arrest and prosecution of drug traffickers.

Again, I'll say there are indeed some very nasty drugs out there. But only a fool would refuse to believe the vast majority of people involved in this clean-up would be marijuana users and sellers. And my dear friends, the last time I checked, marijuana was a plant that grows from a seed, not cooked up in a meth kitchen with diet aids, paint thinner, and freon, among a list of many unhealthy substances.

So with all due respect to the Sheriff of my County, I will not contribute $25 to your cause. And I'm a little concerned about why you are needing to raise money via a direct mail campaign. And I'm very concerned about why you'd think I'd rather throw my money at you so you could further suppress my right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Maybe, just maybe, if you dropped all the wasted resources you pour in the direction of marijuana control, you might actually be able to make a dent in the other heinous crimes without even asking the tax-paying public for more financial support. Just a fucking thought from a worthless and stupid pothead who loves to be equated with scum of the earth murderers and rapists. And as far as crooks are concerned, you might well have a look within.

I wonder if Willie Nelson got one of these solicitations, and if he finds it as humorous as I do.

As California Goes, So Goes the Nation

I meant to tie this story in with my economic post below, but this one might deserve it's own post. California is in some deep economic caca.

Faced with billions of dollars in deficits, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced a stark state budget on Thursday, including 10 percent cuts in most departments, early release for thousands of inmates and the closing of dozens of state parks.

The governor also declared a fiscal state of emergency, sending the Legislature into a special session for 45 days to find a way to make up the current deficit of $3.3 billion.

As you might expect, the housing turmoil is playing a big role in this crisis. And if a $3.3 billion deficit sounds dire, get ready for a bumpier ride.

The worst fiscal news may yet come. State projections show that the deficit will increase to $14.5 billion by summer 2009.

Few departments are spared in the governor’s budget. Forty-five parks would be completely or partly closed, including those with redwoods, waterfronts and historical sites. Officials expect layoffs in some agencies. Among those losing their jobs are lifeguards on state beaches.

Education, which generally counts for 40 percent of the budget, would lose $4 billion. The state’s well-regarded university system would receive $109 million less than last year.

Perhaps the most controversial plan would reduce the crowded prisons by 22,000, a move that would involve early release and relaxed parole requirements to take effect as soon as this summer.

State prison officials said those releases, which would require approval by the Legislature, would not include anyone convicted of serious, violent or sex crimes or anyone who had been violent in prison.

Echoing the concerns of many lawmakers, Speaker Fabian Núñez of the Assembly said releasing prisoners could “put the public at risk.”

Reducing crowded prisons is a smart move, even if the state wasn't bogged down in a financial mess. And it's doubtful that it puts the public at risk if these inmates were not convicted of serious or violent crimes. Just take a wild guess at why the bulk of those non-violent inmates are serving time. I'm guessing a chunk of them are serving time for marijuana-related convictions and they never should have been sent to prison in the first place.

By the year 2000, there were 458,131 drug offenders incarcerated in America's prisons and jails – approximately the size of the entire US prison and jail population of 1980. This means that nearly one in four (23.7%) prisoners in America is incarcerated for a non-violent drug offense. Contrary to the public perception that the incarceration of violent offenders has driven America's prison growth the major group responsible for the overcrowding of California's prisons is non-violent drug offenders.

It's clear this problem is not limited to California. This is a national disgrace.

Full Toke: Hash

How you doin?

I'm doin' fine.

How you doin?

I'm flyin' thank you ver y m u ch.

Why you doin?

I'm flyin; thnk you ver y m uch.

Did you take my drugs?

I did.

Did you take my drugs?

I did.

Well, then listen to what the fuck I said.

Which was what?

That you should put on some Cramps and maybe, just maybe, masterbate.

I don't know if I want to say what I want to say. It's so expendiatorial.


I'm gonna be tuggin' at my dick because of this chick:

A Plumbing Issue

For those of you who indulge in herbage (Phydeaux), I'm sure you can relate to this story.

Our pipes are clogged. So I found a Stanley screwdriver (wow, what a multitasker!) and proceeded to shove it into my pipe to dislodge all the resin. A bubble appeared in the bowl but we can't get any suckage because the pipe is still too clogged.

I licked the screwdriver and now I have this feeling of chewing gum stuck to my teeth.

And I'm starting to not care.

I got out the other pipe and did the same maneuver.

Etymology: French manœuvre, from Old French maneuvre work done by hand, from Medieval Latin manuopera, from manu operare to perform manual labor.

And the same result. We now have two pipes with two black bubbles.

Meanwhile, I'm licking this shit off my teeth slowly but surely.

Thank God we aren't working tomorrow. It's sure to be a fun day, unlike anything since I baked marijuana brownies way back in the 80s.

I have a feeling a new pipe will be on tomorrow's shopping list.

I can transfer the bubble and all will be well.

Put On Your Radioheadsets

Time is warped tonight.

I have rediscovered Radiohead for free.

It's too bad they are trying to fuck with everything creative that I'm trying to do.

I keep selecting photos to upload and I get different photos when I upload them.

The evil fuckers have invaded my PC!!

Never mind. I figured it out. It wasn't them evil fuckers. It was simply incompetence.
Update: AHEM! Your host here would be advise to stay away from Photobucket while intoxicated. I had it open, but I was on page 2 or 3 of my album, and each time I selected the Thom Yorke photo, all I kept seeing appear on my Photobucket page was a scene from the yard or whatever. It was bumping the last picture from page one onto the the page I was on.



I'm gonna go there again.

Random Thoughts

Is Office Space officist?

That scene where they are beating the printer with the baseball bat out in the field is unnerving.

I prefer more subtle methods of subterfuge.

Why can't round pegs just fall into round holes, and everyone be happy?