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Drugs, they've never killed anyone. - Rujiel

Drug Deaths in America Are Rising Faster Than Ever: Drug overdose deaths in 2016 most likely exceeded 59,000. This is greater that the peak car crash deaths, HIV deaths, and gun deaths.
Drug related Homicides accounts for more far more Americna deaths any any war. Thousands are killed in feuds between gangs and dealers looking to expand or protect their drug trade.
People die every day form drug driving.. I know someone who who was completely totaled just last year because of a completely "non-violent drug user". 1 death and 2 others who are never going to recover fully. Statistically, it would of been better had this "non-violent offender" just decided rob a bank at gunpoint.

This Machine Kills Secrets, by Andy Greenberg

-----Unauthorized Book Review-----

Privacy on the Internet can easily be a life or death proposition: whether it was Yahoo and Jerry Yang outing a Chinese pro-democracy activist to the Chinese government, the secret police of Bahrain disappearing protesters, or the extraordinarily long incarceration and sleep-deprivation torture of Bradley Manning, the outcomes can be enormous!

When events work positively, lives are saved and movements flourish in Myanmar, Eastern Europe and elsewhere.

Andy Greenberg's monumental book, This Machine Kills Secrets, delivers mightily. Greenberg has exhaustively researched the story --- and the back story --- providing the reader with the ultimate bird's eye view of the unfolding story of WikiLeaks, Internet privacy and the corporate and governmental battles waged against them --- this is one kick ass book --- and Greenberg gets everything right!

This is no David Wise or Eamon Javers misinformation trope, this is the real deal, my Wolfen friends.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0525953205

For those who wish to stay current, the sites below may be of interest.

I-Sites:

http://www.privacysos.org/blog
http://cryptogon.com/
http://www.narconews.com/
http://www.globaleaks.org/
http://www.cryptome.org/
http://www.whistleblower.org/
http://www.exxonsecrets.org/

Figures are for the number of people jailed per 100,000 population, for 2007. There is a more up to date list (7th edition) but I couldn't find a link for it that didn't require a PDF download.

We are free for this one number alone. But don't you worry, the powers that be want to "change" that too. Reuters

About half the US population is sitting in jail as a result of drug related offenses - due the the war on drugs and 3 strikes policies there. It's also a big part of the reason why California is going bankrupt.

Why is it that the people most involved with drug trafficking never get caught?
These sites may open your eyes if you have the guts to do so.Site 1
Site 2
As to California's problems, do you think that this may have had something to do with it? Site 3

Of course, as everyone know, Australia is entirely populated by criminals, which may account for the relatively low percentage of us locked up here.

As everyone "knows" America was first made up of religious radicals and status quo malcontents and they were sent west across the Atlantic ocean by the same people who sent criminals to Botany Bay.

Google has built quite an empire on making people believe that they are the defacto standard for search. They should be commended for the quality of their applications but sadly the marketing has led people astray. I actually took a trip to my local University to do some research. A day login gave me access to thousands of Scientific papers that I would otherwise have to pay hundreds of pounds for. Doing real research takes footwork and hardwork. The web can do a lot but you have to know where to look. See http://narconews.com/Issue64/article4073.html , http://deepwebresearch.blogspot.com/ , http://society.guardian.co.uk/e-public/story/0,13927,1195901,00.html

Of course this is a good deal for drug traffickers. With a 4,000 kg normal payload capacity and cocaine selling for $23,000 per kg you'd make almost 100 million in one trip, and who's going to try stopping a jet traveling Mach 2?

Any US or european 4th gen fighter guided to interception by AWACS plane can shoot down that nacro-Suhoi with BWR missiles. It's not exactly a stealth aircraft, you know...

"I'd go for this instead of a business jet. Far more fun and you don't have to worry if the engines fail - you can always use the ejection seat."

Sure, but of course it's your 5 million dollar jet you're ejecting from and not tax-payers, not to mention the bill the US gov't might hit you with for having to clean up the jet scattered over 10 acres.

Of course this is a good deal for drug traffickers. With a 4,000 kg normal payload capacity and cocaine selling for $23,000 per kg you'd make almost 100 million in one trip, and who's going to try stopping a jet traveling Mach 2?

There are very few countries that have a slightly less restrictive stance on drugs and those countries are all being coerced by other countries into adapting stricter laws

. There is a worldwide momentum to see drug abuse as health problem instead of a criminal issue, and consequently to de-criminalize the personal use of (some or all) drugs:
Mexico
Portugal
Argentina
Similar legislation has been approved in Colombia, Italy, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Spain

I see no sign of countries being 'coerced' into stricter drug laws.

In an ideal world the police would have been allowed to just go round to her and ask her to act more responsibly.

In an ideal world there wouldn't be police never mind jackbooted thugs. Or Narco News. But we don't live in one.

Falcon

Don't bother attacking any facts, just attack the person... who is anonymous.

Don't bother actually reading the link which is quoting from a Congressional Committee's Report.

Don't bother reading Cele Castillo's book Powderburns. He was a DEA agent in Central America during the 1980's who personally witnessed the CIA and Contras shipping drugs to the US from Ilopongo airport.

Don't bother reading Gary Webb's Dark Alliance.

Don't bother finding out that in 2007 a CIA torture jet crashed in Mexico with 3.7 tons of cocaine.

Keep being ignorant and clicking on links to enlarge your penis. It is obviously the only thing you know how to use.

But a much more direct link is between the violent terror group FARC and the illegal drug trade.

The paramilitaries have more to do with drugs than FARC does. Drug kingpin Pablo Escobar started the AUC paramilitary. And while Uribe gave the paramilitaries a free pass, he won't even negotiate with FARC or ELN.

But any reference to there being a moral imperative to obey drug laws sees to be missing from the Toward Freedom Website.

Narco News does better there, that is pointing out the damage the Drug War inflicts.

Falcon

http://narcosphere.narconews.com/story/2007/2/25/172012/182 - your beloved FISA has only been abused.

mega conglomerates also provide high entry independent of government.

In broadcasting yes, but that's because the FCC sales licenses only to those with megabucks. Because of these airwave licenses the FFC sold, mass media is able to keep out competitors. Don't believe me, try to start your own broadcasting radio or tv station. Dispite modern techonolgy making it possible for more stations to occupy the same frequency bands, those who already have licenses fight tooth and nail to prevent more stations from starting. Pirate radio stations are usually shutdown by the FCC as soon as another local station complains even though there is no interference. As for print media, even staid newspapers are struggling, because of the internet. At the same tyme some groups are making good use of the net, such as Meetup, Indy Media, and Narco News.

of course how can you compete with Walmart and Target?

How did they get so big? By giving people low prices. If you want to fight them then when they plan to build a new store in your area you need to attend planning and zoning board meetings and voice your opposition. Make it known to local politicians your position, afterall they can't build a new store without governemnt approval. Then campaign at the state level to have the legislature pass a bill, and have the governor sign it, requiring them to provide health benefits to thier employees.

Many libertarians here on /. even supported ms business tactics and opposed any ruling on them as it would affect the free market.

Some may but I'm one that opposes any and all anticompetitive business practices, and if anyone doesn't then they are neither Libertarian nor freemarket advocates. Afterall a market is only free when there's free competition.

Sure, you've heard of the Patriot Act, and you know about the NSA warrantless surveillance controversy. Many Americans are cynical about the human rights record of the Bush administration. But, what do you know about these directives and acts Bush signed into law in the past few months -- The John Warner Defense Appropriation Act, The Military Commissions Act, The National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directives? These acts and directives give dictatorial powers to the President of the United States, and leave open the question -- are these guys planning to leave office?

[. . .]

Good-bye Habeas

The United States Military Commissions Act of 2006, (Senate Bill 3930[1]) signed on October 17, 2006, set out to "facilitate bringing to justice terrorists and other unlawful enemy combatants through full and fair trials by military commissions." The Act creates the category of "unlawful enemy combatants," who lack the right of habeas corpus, and traditional protections from torture under the Geneva Conventions. Furthermore, the Act avoids any clear language ensuring that U.S. citizens will not be classified as unlawful enemy combatants. This Act side-steps the traditional protections associated with the judiciary branch. The determination of the status of an individual as an "unlawful enemy combatant" is made by tribunals established under the authority of the President.

Good-bye Posse Comitatus

The John Warner Defense Appropriation Act for Fiscal Year 2007 (H.R. 5122.ENR), signed on the same day, allows the President to "...employ the armed forces, including the National Guard in Federal service, to... 1. restore public order and enforce the laws of the United States when... the President determines that,...domestic violence has occurred to such an extent that the constituted authorities of the State or possession are incapable of maintaining public order; 2. suppress, in a State, any insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combination, or conspiracy..."

Good-bye Separation of Powers

The National Security Presidential Directive (NSPD 51), and the Homeland Security Presidential Directive (HSPD-20), signed on May 9, 2007, give special powers to the President in the event of a "Catastrophic Emergency," which means "any incident, regardless of location, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the U.S. population, infrastructure, environment, economy, or government functions." In such situations, "The President shall lead the activities of the Federal Government for ensuring constitutional government."

During the Bush presidency these totalitarian laws have arisen. At the same time there has emerged a rising cynicism among the people. There is a hope for a silver lining during oppressive presidencies that at least the people get to see how bad unchecked power abuses are. I once read that when Hitler came to power, the German communists were relieved that at least the people would get the opportunity to see how bad the Nazis were, and would therefore be more likely to vote communist in the next election. But there was no next election. [. . .]

Article

It's easy to slip into a little nap and forget what's just around the corner. War with Iran, and either 'terrorist' attacks on U.S. soil, or a U.S. ecconomic collapse, (or both), which pr

Yes, Chavez likely will build jails. Check this page out for links to stories that have made it out of Venezuela: http://hrw.org/doc?t=americas&c=venezu Or this one: http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAMR5301319 97?open&of=ENG-VEN Or how about here for some more on the gloriously free democracy that Chavez has crafted: http://www.humanrightsfoundation.org/ Oh, wait for it...more: http://narcosphere.narconews.com/story/2004/6/17/1 5422/6410 Anyone who cannot see that Chavez is setting up a dictatorship, and that he will not tolerate dissent is either stupid, or willfully blind.

Look, congress will do nothing just because you wrote a letter. If they were really wanting to clean up, then they would doing such things as push to have Sibel Edmonds ungagged.

It would be nice if Sibel Edmonds were ungagged however as with many other dreams I've had I doubt it will ever happen. If people knew just how bad things were in the FBI's translation unit they'd loose all belief in the FBI. Not having read or heard about her for some months I went ahead and News Googled her and there was all of five results, and what was the first one? Narconew's Narcosphere, besides /. one of my fav websites.

I'm glad to see you New York boosters coming out of the woodwork, but I'm not the one who's interested in an East vs. West fight... my contention is that the East coast media is -- in particular I've seen many whiney complaints about google in places like the Wall Street Journal (how dare these young whipper snappers tell us that we've been doing our IPOs wrong? And what about that "don't be evil" nonsense, are they accusing us of being evil?).

It is certainly true that despite the many flaws of the New York Times (and they're not small: Miller is gone but Gordon is still there). in comparison, the West coast has yet to come up with a daily newspaper worth paying much attention to. On the other hand, the British press kicks New York's ass... even if you insist on a conservative bias, the Economist totally trashes the American news weeklies.

Why exactly it is that the West coast press is in such poor shape is an interesting question... back in the early internet era, the San Jose Mercury News was doing some interesting things with combined print and on-line journalism... but there's the strange case of Gary Webb who re-opened the issue of the CIA-cocaine connection there, and got people annoyed enough that the Merc backed down.

The current version of the San Francisco Chronicle, always a lame newspaper, is put out by the Hearst corporation, and from what I understand is screwing up and losing money -- and this is the only daily newspaper in a city full of well-educated people who are definitely readers (SF spends the most on books per capita of any city in the US), and a fair number of them are politically concerned people who care about local news quite a bit.

Once the Chronicle goes down... or maybe even if it doesn't, if Hearst continues to subsidize it... there will be interesting times in San Francisco.

Over time there has been a large amount of conspiracy "theory" regarding the prohbition of drugs resulting in the CIA direclty benefiting from the huge profit margins. There has been evidence and drug trafficing on several different contintents that has been directly linked to the CIA. I know that there have been several movies that have been made regarding this exact topic some based on fact others based on annocdotal evidence. There has also been a large amount of evidence supporting the CIA traffic drugs through LA at the expense of community housing projects etc. There is more information about the links here : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_America and http://www.narconews.com/ and http://www.fromthewilderness.com/ There are numerous links from American banks and the laundering of drug money. Especially through branches like banamex and Citi group. As long as drugs are illegal there will always be a government link to the incomes either directly via importing and dealing with the producers or simply by selling off goods that have been bought using 'dirty money' as long as those links remain there is no interest in the government in changing the drug policies even though many of the illegal drugs have no long term health benefits as is claimed in many government booklets/information pages. In fact many illegal drugs are being approved by the FDA for use in specialised treatment. One example of that is the use of MDMA to treat Post Traumatic stress disorder. As many people know different types of amphetamine have long been used for the treatment of common disorders like ADHD.

Opera's been everything I need a browser to be since I was forced back to it in search of an e-mail program, oddly enough-- Thunderbird destroyed a friend's entire e-mail storage (about four months after I installed it for her) and Apple Mail apparently froze but 'sent' some important e-mails of mine without saving a copy anywhere.

Fortunately, Opera got a version (8.5) that actually worked on Mac at about the same time, and Firefox just isn't as good yet. And now ad-free Opera is officially free.

~~~
"The only thing that could make the Bush regime worse would be competence."
write me via my web design contact page.

please read and support independent, noncommercial news:

• The Narco News Bulletin, reporting on the drug war and democracy from Latin America.
• The NewStandard, original hard news on what matters for real people, daily.

Date: Mon, 21 Nov 2005 19:43:38 -0500
To: Rebates1
Subject: Re: NetGear Promo Center Email (Thread:318575)
From: Benjamin Melançon

I don't remember what any of the stuff was, I just know Tiger.com said it was a rebate and everything seemed to match up when I mailed it in, and I feel ripped off. I won't be taking any more rebate offers, though it has worked before. You can pass that on to Tiger and Netgear both.

benjamin melançon
human being
Natick, Massachusetts, USA 01760

Founding Member
People Who Give a Damn
http://pwgd.org/

Webworker, beMWeb web site design & digital photography
http://bemweb.com/

Interim Co-ordinator
The Fund for Authentic Journalism http://authenticjournalism.org/
Supporting the work of the Narco News Bulletin, http://narconews.com/
And its companion projects, the School of Authentic Journalism and the NarcoSphere, http://narcosphere.narconews.com/

Volunteer, Elected Board Member & Secretary
Amazing Things Arts Center
Saxonville, Framingham MA
http://www.amazingthings.org/

Investigative Reporter & Photojournalist, Freelance
news@bostontruth.com

Unpaid Promoter, The NewStandard
http://newstandardnews.net/

Ungraduated Student, formerly of UMass-Amherst

Town Meeting member, Precinct 4, Natick

oh right, and the 4/5ths time job
Compensation Consultant
Lawrence Associates

On Sat, 19 Nov 2005 16:39:16 -0500, Rebates1 wrote:

Dear Benjamin Melançon: Tracking number: 167874006

Thank you for your rebate inquiry. We have received your submission, but unfortunately, the UPC barcode that was included is not valid for this promotion. Please make sure that the product you purchased was the WG311 54 Mbps Wireless PCI Adapter and that the UPC for the correct product
was submitted.

If you still have the UPC for the correct product, please send it to the following address:

Rebate Special Services
PO Box 028516
Miami FL 33102-8516

We appreciate your participation in this promotion. If there is anything else we can do to assist you, please contact us at netgear.rebateinfo@netgear.com. We are always happy to help. You can also track the status of your rebate, using the Tracking number above, at www.netgearrebates.com.

Allan
Promotions Customer Service

Date: Mon, 21 Nov 2005 19:43:38 -0500
To: Rebates1
Subject: Re: NetGear Promo Center Email (Thread:318575)
From: Benjamin Melançon

I don't remember what any of the stuff was, I just know Tiger.com said it was a rebate and everything seemed to match up when I mailed it in, and I feel ripped off. I won't be taking any more rebate offers, though it has worked before. You can pass that on to Tiger and Netgear both.

benjamin melançon
human being
Natick, Massachusetts, USA 01760

Founding Member
People Who Give a Damn
http://pwgd.org/

Webworker, beMWeb web site design & digital photography
http://bemweb.com/

Interim Co-ordinator
The Fund for Authentic Journalism http://authenticjournalism.org/
Supporting the work of the Narco News Bulletin, http://narconews.com/
And its companion projects, the School of Authentic Journalism and the NarcoSphere, http://narcosphere.narconews.com/

Volunteer, Elected Board Member & Secretary
Amazing Things Arts Center
Saxonville, Framingham MA
http://www.amazingthings.org/

Investigative Reporter & Photojournalist, Freelance
news@bostontruth.com

Unpaid Promoter, The NewStandard
http://newstandardnews.net/

Ungraduated Student, formerly of UMass-Amherst

Town Meeting member, Precinct 4, Natick

oh right, and the 4/5ths time job
Compensation Consultant
Lawrence Associates

On Sat, 19 Nov 2005 16:39:16 -0500, Rebates1 wrote:

Dear Benjamin Melançon: Tracking number: 167874006

Thank you for your rebate inquiry. We have received your submission, but unfortunately, the UPC barcode that was included is not valid for this promotion. Please make sure that the product you purchased was the WG311 54 Mbps Wireless PCI Adapter and that the UPC for the correct product
was submitted.

If you still have the UPC for the correct product, please send it to the following address:

Rebate Special Services
PO Box 028516
Miami FL 33102-8516

We appreciate your participation in this promotion. If there is anything else we can do to assist you, please contact us at netgear.rebateinfo@netgear.com. We are always happy to help. You can also track the status of your rebate, using the Tracking number above, at www.netgearrebates.com.

Allan
Promotions Customer Service

There are other alternatives besides the mainstream ones you mentioned.

Narco News has been exposing corruption in the Drug War, and other related topics. No advertising, no corporate ties, just journalism.

Anyone who wants to really understand how the drug trade works needs to check it out. It is a very left-wing site, but the information it provides is invaluable whatever your political affiliation.

Narco News is also responsible for a huge first ammendment victory for online media.

There are other alternatives besides the mainstream ones you mentioned.

Narco News has been exposing corruption in the Drug War, and other related topics. No advertising, no corporate ties, just journalism.

Anyone who wants to really understand how the drug trade works needs to check it out. It is a very left-wing site, but the information it provides is invaluable whatever your political affiliation.

Narco News is also responsible for a huge first ammendment victory for online media.

Basically, if correspondents say they don't have press freedom, they don't

But when have reporters ever looked deeper than a quote which they liked and which served their bias?

See: An Open Letter to Reporters Without Borders which includes the comment: "Given that Reporters Without Borders receives 44 percent of its income from the European Commission, you are in no position to criticize any government for using speech".

Given this, and other comments in this thread, I would apply a healthy dose of skepticism...

Some people try to do this anyway.

...but its wide spread use did make it much more difficult to set one up, at least in Venezuela in the Spring of 2002.

Political-economy primer (mostly) for "my fellow Americans": The dominent mass media, both in the USA and in Venezuela, is owned by a relatively few large corporations and rich families. These owners & influential corporate stockholders are members of a tiny class of extremely wealthy people with all kinds of other financial interests spread across the world. These altruistic folks are sometimes referred to as the bourgeoisie. In the bourgeois press itself, of course, even to identify the existence of this class is widely considered subversive or conspiratorial, but recognition of this ruling class and its vast power is really mostly a matter of institutional analysis. Strangely enough, the media owners select editors who will pursue journalistic policies that will reinforce the power and wealth of the capital-owning class. As a result, the point of view of most of the corporate media is remarkably uniform, even without some secret cabal meeting in a smoke-filled room, plotting to dominate the world (though I don't doubt that some of that also takes place). However advocacy journalism (more honestly called propaganda 'in Soviet Russia') is much more effective if you can convince people that that you are honest & objective (or 'fair & balanced(R)' as Faux News describes itself). Your credibility can be further enhanced if you can convince the sheeple that your point of view is the exact opposite of what it actually is, hence the myth of a "liberal" media.

So when a Venezuelan populist former officer named Hugo Chavez won elections in 1998 & 2000 & promised to improve the lot of the poor majority (which might mean diverting power and resources away from the extremely rich bourgeoisie) the bourgeois press promptly labeled him "authoritarian" (and the "liberal" Washington Post characterized Venezuela as a "Disguised Dictatorship"). The five commercial Venezuelan TV chains transformed themselves into basically a network of 24 hour infomercials targeted against the "democratically" elected government. Eventually the time came for members of the bourgeoisie & armed forces to overthrow the government (with the direct financial & military support of the Bush regime). The Venezuelan TV stations ran free ads every 10 minutes urging people to demonstrate against the government. On April 11th 50-150,000 complied and marched towards the government Miraflores Place to "remove Chavez from office." Shots were fired, killing between 10 & 30 people. Despite the fact that it later turned out that the vast majority of these victims were actually government supporters, the Western bourgeois press (the corporate AP, CNN & NY Times, as well as the supposedly independent government owned BBC & NPR) immediately reported that the shots were from the Chavez government (without sourcing these claims) and that Chavez had "resigned" from office in the subsequent wave of righteous indignation. In actuality a military junta had captured Chavez at gunpoint & anointed Pedro Carmona, the leader of the Venezuelan Chamber of Commerce, as president. Carmona promptly disbanded the country's legislature and Supreme Court, suspended the constitution and initiated a country-wide roundup of Chavez supporters. The 13th U.S. ambassador met with Carmona at Miraflores and referred to him as "president." The bulk of the bourgeois press adopted the tone that, while the coup was troubling, it was the inevitable result of Chavez' authoritarian shennanigans and probably a step forward for democracy. In the meantime, the Venezuelan oligarch-controlled TV networks and newspapers essentially blacked out all news about the coup and ongoing political developments, instead running non-stop Hollywood movie reruns and sporting events. Members of the National Assembly and government ministers tried to communicate with the country,

They aren't happy either.

It's not the first time that's happened...

No, I can't find any hard evidence that a majority in Venezuela wants to overthrow Chavez. The polls coming out of there all seem to be sourced from the same two polling companies, both run by his opponents, one of whom has stated publicly that Chavez should be killed. So getting the straight facts on the situation is not quite as easy as it looks.

Try here

Check out Narco News. It has articles that are about the whole region.

Hey beavis. It's like funny and stuff when countries have wierd power problems and stuff after american corporate interests try and cripple their economies by instituting a lock-out, calling it a strike, and trying to overthrow their democratically elected president.

Don't those stoopid assmunches know that they are supposed to have the business candidate swept into office by keeping the ethnic minorities out of the polls?

Citibank hushes you!

Boy are you clueless. Go back to the 1930's and get a job with William Randolph Hearst, he's got some tabloid articles for you to write.

You know why pot is really illegal? It's because HEMP threatens the profits of the industrialists. You can make any grade of paper with it. It's the toughest natural fibre aside from spider silk. You can run a car on hemp oil. People could be growing gas in their backyards. Can't have that! Dubya's family has been heavily into oil for decades. Step up the War on Drugs! No conflict of interest here, move along.

In 1937, when marijuana was banned, the American Medical Association OPPOSED it. They had been prescribing it safely for over a hundred years.

Every scientific study of marijuana has concluded that it is substantially less harmful than cigarettes or alcohol. Very recently, a senate committee here in Canada which studied it in depth, recommended unanimously to the government that pot is far less dangerous than smoking and drinking, and should be regulated accordingly.

Perhaps, gram for gram, there are more carcinogens in marijuana than tobacco. So what? People smoke far less pot than cigarettes, because pot is not chemically addictive. I've been smoking pot regularly for about 8 years. You know how much I smoke now? A small pipe bowl when I get home from work, and maybe a shared joint when my roommate gets home. Now compare that to a smoker who measures their habit in packs per day, and is only getting worse.

"There is why pot is illegial [...] I can tell by your wording that you are a pothead"

I can tell by your wording that you make the average pothead look pretty bright.

If a bunch of people are out to get the U.S., then why are they doing it? . . . are we doing something wrong?

The short version is that with WW2 the US swapped places with the UK. The US provoked Japan into attacking it, as 80% of Americans didn't want to enter the war, because it saw that Japan was quickly building its own empire. Industrialization had been going strong in the US for a century, and the capitalists needed markets in which to sell products. The US came out of the war with a built-up industrial base, and an excuse to build military bases throughout the globe. Europe was decimated, leaving America the world's only superpower.

Since that time, we've worked to expand our economic sphere, as empires are wont to do, throughout Asia and South America. Through the CIA, the US has sponsored and/or outright led several military coups: Chile, Indonesia, Guatemala, Panama, and many more. The latest -- failed! -- attempt was Venezuela this past April.

Why would the US do this? Do Americans hate other people? Of course not. That assumes that Americans make choices which affect the US's foreign policy. I certainly wasn't asked about whether or not I wanted to overthrow the overwhelmingly democratically-elected president of Venezuela. But Venezuela controls a lot of oil, and capital needs oil (resources). So capital made that choice for me. Can you think of another country that controls a lot of oil? Hint: it starts with "I" and ends in "raq."

The fairy tale that terrorists hate all of our freedoms is so amazingly idiotic, I'm shocked that anyone buys into it. Yes, that's a sad statement on our citizens. Do you really think bin Laden is sitting in a cave somewhere thinking, "Stupid Americans! Why can't I have my MTV?! I'm so jealous." No, he's pissed because the US has military bases in what he believes to be the holy land of all Muslim people (over a billion world-wide). Whether or not we stop supporting Israel (his other beef), I think we at the very least should pull out of Saudi Arabia just to appease one sixth of the world's population. That's just common sense if not common courtesy.

It's easy to get cynical or give up when you look upon the world stage and see what the US does to other countries and peoples (1.5 million dead in Iraq due to economic sanctions). I just hope that by talking with others we can wake up enough people to take back control of the country. How? I wish I knew, but I'm convinced it's not going to happen through the ballot box.

You can go read any number of political essays and books yourself, but I think you'd be hard pressed to argue that our touted two-party system is not really a one-party system: the capital party. No, I'm not socialist or communist, though those systems haven't really been tried in the real world. I've been reading more about anarchy* and know that, once we stop hating each other for silly reasons, it's the way to go. The only question is can we get there?

Me? I'm actually hopeful.

* If you think Anarchy means mob rule or no order, you don't understand anarchy. Neither did I. Start skimming the FAQ, but the basic tenant is that you are a sovereign individual and should not be giving up your power to anyone.

P.S. For a good history of the US, I highly recommend A People's History of the United States: 1492 to Preset by Howard Zinn. I'm only up to the Civil War (and the other Civil War), but it's very good so far.

Read this ONE.

The application of a second "Agent Orange" over the Colombian Amazon, has caused tremendous alarm among international environmentalists and inhabitants of the region. But residents of Southern Colombia and the Ecuadorian border region of Sucumbios are now expecting a new and even greater threat to their health and their ecosystem - the release of a biological control that environmental activists are referring to as "Agent Green".

Fusarium Oxysporum is a fungus native to temperate and tropical zones. In its natural state it is well-known as a plant pathogen that affects the roots and vacular systems of a variety of cultivated plants, causing disintegration of cells leading to withering, rot and death. Doctor David C. Sands, a plant pathologist at the University of Montana and one of the chief researchers on Fusarium Oxysporyum (FO) calls it "an Attila the Hun disease," noting that there are strains of fusarium for virtually every cultivated plant and many wild ones. Some species of fusarium have also been known to cause illness in humans, especially those with depressed immunity from cancer or HIV-AIDS.

A third agreement breached by this joint policy of the U.S. and Colombia is the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity, signed by 157 nations during the historic meeting in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992. Article 3 of this convention confirms "the obligation to ensure that activities carried out within the jurisdiction of a state or under its control do not threaten the ecological balance within other states." Article 8 binds member parties to "Promote the protection of ecosystems and natural habitats without introducing exotic species that could threaten ecosystems, habitats or species." Article 14c states that "Each member nation will promote the notification and exchange of information regarding activities in its jurisdiction which could foreseeably have adverse effects on the biodiversity of another state, and will notify immediately in case of the emergence in its jurisdiction or control of imminent dangers for biodiversity under the jurisdiction of other states."

That is to say, both Colombia and the U.S. are engaged in chemical and biological warfare in violation of international law and their own
constitutions.

According to the July 6 New York Times report ("Fungus Considered as a Tool to Kill Coca in Colombia"), lawyers at the White House and the State Department spent years debating whether or not the use of Fusarium Oxysporyum violated international conventions on biological warfare. They came to the conclusion that international law would not be violated if Colombia made its own decision to test or use the fungus. One U.S. intelligence official who maintains a stance against the fungus is quoted by the New York Times as saying, "I dont support using a product on a bunch of Colombian peasants that you wouldnt use against a bunch of rednecks growing marijuana in Kentucky. And there is definitely less than unanimous support for this in Colombia."

What makes you think that the War on Drugs is nothing more than a silly game?

Because it is.

Yes, the War on Drugs is expensive, but that's because drugs are so addictive that people can't seem to stop taking them.

That certainly is the definition of an "addict," isn't it? How strange it is that these addicts are arrested for possession and go to jail where they can continue using drugs and then be released where they can continue using drugs. What's more, I, as a taxpayer, had to pay for their little prison sojurn and the salaries of those who had to bust and babysit them. I would much rather see my money go toward busting a violent predator rather than some drug user, wouldn't you?

It takes a firm commitment on the part of the US for us to make any progress, and indeed progress has been made over the last few years, with the rates of drug use amongst high schoolers dropping each year.

Are you so sure? The rate of ecstacy usage has been skyrocketing among teens, and the rates have alcohol consumption have also been going up. Oh, wait, alcohol is an "good" drug. The evidence that the Drug War is a complete failure could not be stronger.

Suggesting that this is is a waste of time is tantamount to saying that these children should be taking drugs!

This is the "For the children!" argument. It's getting pretty old. No, I don't think children should be using drugs, including tobacco and alcohol. But tobacco and alcohol are legal for adults. Why can't other drugs be legal for adults as well? The War on Drugs really is the War on Some Drugs. It is legal to sell morphine in the United States... if your government papers are in order.

If we let up in any way, the rampant use of drugs will be seen to be accepted, and children, always willing to try new things, will invariably become addicted to the filthy wares peddled by the drugmongers outside schools and playgrounds.

It's a good thing that their parents are there to guide and educate them about the dangers of drugs. Why is it that right-wingers bleat and cry for "freedom" and then want big nanny government to take care of them when the subject of drugs is raised?

And if you think this would never happen in your lovely suberb, think again. Already the latest drug to hit our youth, ecstacy, is striking hardest in white, middle class areas where drug addiction and the downwards spiral was previously unknown.

This despite the billions upon billions of dollars wasted in the War on Some Drugs. Education works. Incarceration and persecution fails. The only effect of the War on Some Drugs has been to erode our 4th amendment rights and waste our hard-earned tax dollars.

The only danger is sending out the wrong message. Drugs kill, and anyone advocating their use is little better than a killer.

It is the job of parents, not the government, to send messages to children. And let me counter your idiotic "drugs kill" message with these:

Automobiles kill, and anyone advocating their use is little better than a killer. Airplanes kill, and anyone advocating their use is little better than a killer.

See, for example, http://www.ecst.csuchico.edu/~droopy/drughist.html (sample quote:)

Anslinger [the head of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics] testified to Congress in 1937, warning, "Marijuana is the most violence-causing drug known to Mankind,"

However, some countries in South America are apparently no longer prepared to go along with this facade. In fact the president of Uruguay, Jorge Batlle has recently come out in favor of widespread legalisation. See:

http://www.narconews.com/heroyear2000.html

http://www.terra.com.uy/canales/actualidad/5/5086. html

.sigs: just say no!
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