US Open Government Initiative Enters Phase Three

circletimessquare writes "The Obama administration opened a discussion forum in January of this year which has become an electronic suggestion box. It is now entering stage three, following brainstorm and discussion phases: the draft phase, in which the top subject matter is codified into suggestions for the government. 'Ultimately, the visitors advanced more than 3,900 ideas, which in turn spawned 11,000 comments that received 210,000 thumb votes. The result? Three of the top 10 most popular ideas called for legalizing marijuana, and two featured conspiracy theories about Mr. Obama's true place of birth.'"

Comments

Re:Really??

[Anonymous Coward]

Says who?

Typical Marijuana Side Effects:

        * Enhanced cancer risk
        * Decrease in testosterone levels and lower sperm counts for men
        * Increase in testosterone levels for women and increased risk of infertility
        * Diminished or extinguished sexual pleasure
        * Psychological dependence requiring more of the drug to get the same effect
        * Sleepiness
        * Difficulty keeping track of time, impaired or reduced short-term memory
        * Reduced ability to perform tasks requiring concentration and coordination,
            such as driving a car
        * Increased heart rate
        * Potential cardiac dangers for those with preexisting heart disease
        * Bloodshot eyes
        * Dry mouth and throat
        * Decreased social inhibitions
        * Paranoia, hallucinations
        * Impaired or reduced short-term memory
        * Impaired or reduced comprehension
        * Altered motivation and cognition, making the acquisition of new information difficult
        * Paranoia
        * Psychological dependence
        * Impairments in learning and memory, perception, and judgment - difficulty
            speaking, listening effectively, thinking, retaining knowledge, problem solving,
            and forming concepts
        * Intense anxiety or panic attacks

reference:
http://www.marijuana-addiction.info/side-effects.htm

btw: I have a friend that used to smoke pot every single day. He is now in a psychiatric hospital with a severe psychosis and paranoia.
If you want to fsck up your brain, do it alone. Don't mislead other people.

Re:Really??

[im_thatoneguy]

[...]when you legalize it you would also allow for new industries to thrive[...]

You're really stretching the plural on that one. I was unaware that making bongs was considered a potential new growth industry.

obama's true place of birth

[circletimessquare]

vulcan

obama is not our first african american president

he's our first vulcan american president

the emotionless measured speech cadences, the prominent ears, the mind meld level charisma

c'mon, look at the dude!:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/president_obama/

this dude's an alien. not an illegal alien, a space alien

so you can bet all the comments that want ufo records unsealed as referred to in the article aren't going to get their request met

all drug use is self-destructive

[circletimessquare]

but a little self-destruction is good for you: wipe away the memories after a hard week's work, unwind with friends in pointless banter... social drug use of reliatvely weak drugs liek alcohol or marijuana is a social lubricant that serves to promote a mentally relaxed and balanced and healthy and happy society

but apparently you subscribe to the grim puritan model of hard work all day followed by penance

i didn't know life was a penal colony. or rather, why some sadists/ masochists like you think it should be

Re:Health Care/Social Plan To Fix Everything...

[Anonymous Coward]

YOU REALLY ARE A CUNT, AREN'T YOU... lorem ipsum lower case to stop the filtwer rant from yelling at me more than i expect

Re:and this is different and worse than the foundi

[ShieldW0lf]

I didn't say it was different. I said that it wasn't created by some saint for a higher purpose, but rather negotiated by a bunch of people who were already on the top of the heap and felt that it would help them stay there. It was created in the manner that it was created for the enrichment of a few people and the maintenance of their dynasty, and it worked.

It's not an effective democracy because it wasn't created by people who believed in democracy. It was created to be an ineffective democracy and sold to a bunch of rubes who didn't know better.

you're wrong, here's why Re:Legalize it?

[damn_registrars]

Sorry, but you're wrong. He is not a "government expert" as some have tried to claim.

As you have shown, he works at UCLA. In case you didn't notice, the UCLA is not a government facility. It is a state school.

You pointed to the government-funded research that he has done; though that statement is accurate, it does not make him a government employee or a "government expert". He has obtained federal money to support his research, as many, many, many other scientists in this country have also done. The National Institutes of Health provide funding for many research projects, including the one that I am on. However our NIH funding does not in any way make myself or my boss "government experts".

For those not familiar with the mechanisms at work here, let me point out that at most, if not all, large research institutions (universities and the like), federal research dollars are paid to the institution on behalf of the grant awarded. Essentially the institution receives X dollars for professor Y on a given time frame. The institution then pays professor Y directly for his research costs based on those X dollars, after taking out money for expenses that professor Y is obligated to pay the institution for.

In other words, even though a researcher has grant money from the NIH, they are seldom paid directly by them, and at no point does that situation automatically make them a "government expert".

Therefore, unless he has been specifically appointed to a position within the government; the claim of him being a "government expert" is patently false.