Friday, September 30, 2011

Air Accident Investigation

Bill Whittle does a preliminary investigation of the recent Reno Air Races accident that killed 11 people. It is very good if you want to know what went wrong. And why nothing in life is risk free.

Mind Your Own Business. Live Free Or Die.

Thanks Bill!

Cross Posted at Classical Values

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Screaming Very Low Power Microprocessor

I have a new article up at ECN Magazine about a microprocessor that can do 90 billion instructions per second for a power cost of about 1 watt. Pretty good huh? It gets better. The chip has 144 processors in the package and when they are all idle the chip uses only 14 microwatts.

GreenArrays (the company that makes the chip) has partnered with another company to make the processor available to hobbyists.

Cross Posted at Classical Values

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

To Tell The Truth

Them crazies at Zero Hedge are at it again. The head of UniCredit global securities Attila Szalay-Berzeviczy had this to say:

"the euro is “practically dead” and Europe faces a financial earthquake from a Greek default"... “The euro is beyond rescue”... “The only remaining question is how many days the hopeless rearguard action of European governments and the European Central Bank can keep up Greece’s spirits.”...."A Greek default will trigger an immediate “magnitude 10” earthquake across Europe."..."Holders of Greek government bonds will have to write off their entire investment, the southern European nation will stop paying salaries and pensions and automated teller machines in the country will empty “within minutes.”
The Zero Hedge guys have it pegged: Welcome to the Apocalypse...

The Zero guys have more at the link. Batten the hatches boys because we are in for a hell of a storm.

Cross Posted at Classical Values

Ray Stevens On The President



Hilarious.

H/T Patriot Action Network

Cross Posted at Classical Values

A Local Comes Out Against Marijuana Prohibition

As you may or may not know Black support for the pResident is falling off a cliff. If the Head Man doesn't do something about it soon he is a goner in 2012. So imagine my surprise when a local Black who writes an editorial column for the Rockford Register Star, Ed Wells, has come out against Marijuana Prohibition. You can find details at the link.

What other Blacks are against Drug Prohibition to varying degrees?

The NAACP

Blacks in Government

Charles Blow at the New York Times

Wilton D. Alston at Lew Rockwell

It looks to me like the Black community is begging the President to change his tune on Drug Prohibition. It will shore up his waning support among Democrats and if the discussions around here are any indication it will split the Republicans. The Republicans who stick with Prohibition will be branded racists. That should motivate college kids who are itching to recreate the anti-racism of the 60s. Not to mention that enforcement is targeted at their age group.

The President will have a perfect opportunity to change his tune following the showing of the Ken Burns movie “Prohibition” about Alcohol Prohibition airing on PBS starting on this Sunday 2 Oct. Check your local listings. And follow the news on it (I probably will be posting copiously on it - sorry about that).

It should be a very exciting election season.

H/T a friend.

Cross Posted at Classical Values

Too Big To Fail Is Now Too Big To Save

Zero Hedge tells an interesting tale.

The latest quarterly report from the Office Of the Currency Comptroller is out and as usual it presents in a crisp, clear and very much glaring format the fact that the top 4 banks in the US now account for a massively disproportionate amount of the derivative risk in the financial system. Specifically, of the $250 trillion in gross notional amount of derivative contracts outstanding (consisting of Interest Rate, FX, Equity Contracts, Commodity and CDS) among the Top 25 commercial banks (a number that swells to $333 trillion when looking at the Top 25 Bank Holding Companies), a mere 5 banks (and really 4) account for 95.9% of all derivative exposure (HSBC replaced Wells as the Top 5th bank, which at $3.9 trillion in derivative exposure is a distant place from #4 Goldman with $47.7 trillion). The top 4 banks: JPM with $78.1 trillion in exposure, Citi with $56 trillion, Bank of America with $53 trillion and Goldman with $48 trillion, account for 94.4% of total exposure. As historically has been the case, the bulk of consolidated exposure is in Interest Rate swaps ($204.6 trillion), followed by FX ($26.5TR), CDS ($15.2 trillion), and Equity and Commodity with $1.6 and $1.4 trillion, respectively. And that's your definition of Too Big To Fail right there: the biggest banks are not only getting bigger, but their risk exposure is now at a new all time high and up $5.3 trillion from Q1 as they have to risk ever more in the derivatives market to generate that incremental penny of return.
That $5.3 trillion of exposure represents about 1/3 of US GDP this year. Suppose they are doing that every quarter. That means they are exposed to 4/3 of US GDP every year. Now it is not quite as bad as all that if the expected failure is slow and orderly. Currently the expected net exposure is 10% of the total. That would be roughly $25 trillion. That still is a LOT of money.

I remember when Everett Dirksen, who died in 1969, said:

"A million here, a million there, pretty soon, you're talking real money."

Where will that kind of money come from? And if the crash is fast and disorderly? Hold on to your hats kiddies because we are in for a wild ride.

Cross Posted at Classical Values

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

The Unnecessary Is Inevitable

This is the Industry Week take on the Solyndra solar cell company's crash and burn.

What a complete -- and unnecessary -- disgrace the Obama administration's performance in the Solyndra affair has been.

Admittedly, not all the facts are out about the administration's decision to award a $535 million dollar federal loan guarantee to the recently collapsed California-based solar panel maker. And admittedly, many free-market extremist politicians and think tank hacks are only too happy to blur a critical distinction: between criminal or otherwise corrupt activities (or simple incompetence, for that matter) on the one hand, and the inherent difficulties and risks on the other hand of subsidizing new, potentially game-changing, but by definition chancy products and technologies that will struggle to attract private capital from the short-term focused American financial system.
By the way he is wailing you know that debacle has hit a nerve. But think about it. Aren't all political decisions subject to cash under the table influence?

The way we handle looking out for the long term in America is that the government supports research and then attracts companies to put up their own money to capitalize on the fruits of that research. Perfect? No. Subject to manipulation re: who gets the patents? Yes. But at least companies are putting up their own money for a roll out. Which gives them some skin in the game.

Cross Posted at Classical Values

Houston, We Have A Problem

It looks like some police in Houston love pot as much as the people they arrest for it.

Police say Hill told them he was a weed dealer and that he'd just taken delivery of his supply earlier that day.

Three other people in the apartment were allegedly holding drugs, and a thorough search of the apartment turned up a couple of shotguns, an unknown quantity of 'shrooms, around $940 cash, a little more weed, and an assortment of bongs and pipes.

What this official report does not mention specifically is the tray of pot brownies Hill says the cops seized and ate right in front of him and his fellow suspects.

All of this would emerge in Hill's conversations with his lawyers Daniel Cahill and J. Julio Vela. Cahill was disbelieving at first -- although only 19, Hill has a little bit of a precocious record in drug arrests -- but investigated his client's claims nevertheless. And now he says he has what might be a smoking gun.

Hill told Cahill that after eating the brownies and arresting him and two of his buddies, the cops got on their in-car computers and started squawking about how stoned they were.

KTRK's Ted Oberg got a hold of the transcripts:

"So HIGH...Good munchies," typed one at 2:44 a.m.
And why shouldn't they get baked on pot brownies? After all the supply is free to police. As long as they are willing to steal. If they had avoided arresting the kid for dealing pot they could have gotten away with it. Just a cost of doing business. In fact the police could probably have arranged for a regular supply free of charge had they thought the whole deal through.

The Real Purpose

Patriot Action Network is going on about the Government plan (implemented) to deliver guns to the Mexican Drug Cartels.

One commenter said:

The real purpose of "Fast and furious" program was to shut down the Texas gun shops.
To which I responded.
The real purpose of the Drug War is to attack the 2nd Amendment.
Had enough yet?

Cross Posted at Classical Values

Sailors Prayer

Sailor's Prayer

Lord, as I stand on the rolling
deck
To view the restless sea
With its wide expanse of darkened sky,
You seem so far from me.

Intrepid youth should feel no fear,
But I have a load of care
For the safety of our ship and men.
Lord, hear my earnest prayer:

That I be true to every task;
May no fault lie with me.
Whatever danger may arise,
As we sail the raging sea.

May I be calm and know that You
Can still the wind and wave,
And be assured in perfect trust
That You have the power to save.

When the moon sheds beams from a
starlit sky,
I feel near to You again,
For the same moon shines on my loved ones, too,
And I thank You, Lord......Amen.

Monday, September 26, 2011

The Pagan Solution.

About 70% of female heroin users were sexually molested as children.

I'm all for the Pagan solution. Abuse them some more.

Faith Works Wonders

Oprah is the carlot of Babylon.

The Statue of Liberty is a fleemonic idol.

The Ford came to me in a vision and relieved his miniseries on me. And I didn't even get wet. Hallelujah. Praise the Ford.

And don't forget your umbrella.

Regulatory Capture

This is a story of street level crime by officers of various government anti-drug organizations in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

After evidence of the officers’ misconduct came to light, federal agent Brandon McFadden pled guilty to drug conspiracy and testified against other TPD officers. An excerpt from former Agent McFadden’s guilty plea reveals his involvement in the scandal:
From January 7th of — to May of 2008, I conspired with others, including Tulsa police officer, Jeff Henderson, to distribute methamphetamine in the Northern District of Oklahoma. During the time period . . . I used the position as a special agent with ATF to further the drug conspiracy and abused my position as a special agent. During this time, myself and Henderson seized drugs and money which were kept for our own personal benefit, falsified investigative reports, and failed to document events, and obstruct justice through falsely [sic] testimony under oath and persuading other individuals to do the same.
Ah. But it gets better (or worse - depending)
Larry Barnes and his daughter, Larita, have been deeply affected by the Tulsa scandal. Larry and Larita were imprisoned because several TPD officers fabricated a drug buy and coached an informant to lie about the buy. The informant later recanted his testimony and admitted that TPD officers told him to lie. As a result, Larry and Larita Barnes have been released from prison.

However, Larry and Larita were not the only individuals affected by police corruption in Tulsa. Many more were wrongfully convicted based on the lies and false testimony of TPD officers. In fact, since 2009, almost 40 people have been released from prison or had their cases dismissed.
I'm sure this was just an isolated incident. After all, America has the most moral people and the most moral police in the world. Especially in Oklahoma. The Buckle of the Bible Belt. Just a few bad apples. Besides it is probably worse elsewhere in the country. Uh. Oh.

The TEA Party Shows Its True Colors

I was on a TEA Party blog and got this in reply to one of my comments:

Go vote for Ron Paul - he's more your style. We don't want immoral people on our side.
From what I can tell the Democrats have no such compunctions.

So I replied:
Fair enough. 80% of the American people favor med-pot. 76% say drug prohibition is not working. 57% of men favor legalization (the Rs are the man's party). There are not enough "moral" people to win an election. Four more years of Obama and the Ds. Fine by me. Enjoy.
As Casey Stengel once said,"Can't anybody here play this game?".

Note: The original discussion was about Gary Johnson and abortion. Gary says the government should stay out. So does Rockford Pro Life, which I support.

Democrat Prospects For 2012 Are Terrible

Eric left a link to this article on Facebook so I thought I'd give it a shot. The article is Left Behind: How Democrats Are Losing the Political Center. Most of you know the bad news about the Democrats so I'm not going to dwell on it (read the article if you want details). What I'm going to focus on is the point they made on how the Ds might turn it around.

Political scientists have long observed that Americans are more liberal on particulars than they are in general—ideologically conservative but operationally liberal. (Surveys have shown majority support for most individual elements of the president’s jobs and budget packages.) And the Republicans could undermine their chances by nominating a presidential candidate who is simply too hard-edged conservative for moderates and Independents to stomach.

In the face of widespread skepticism and disillusion, it will be an uphill battle for Democrats to persuade key voting blocks that government can really make their lives better. But if they fail, the public will continue to equate public spending with waste, the anti-government message will continue to resonate, and Democrats will be in dire straits when heading into what is shaping up as a pivotal election.
So how do they shore up their base, bring over independents, be anti-government, and bring over a few votes from the Right?

Let us start with some stats. According to the article 57% of the electorate is either moderate or liberal. According to numbers I have seen around, anywhere from 67% to 85% of Americans say Drug Prohibition is not working. Something like 80% of Americans support medical marijuana.

All that points back to something I wrote recently.

The Democrat's 2012 Victory Plan

The Republicans can lose this thing if they don't get on the right side of this issue.

We will get a good read on things following the airing on PBS of the Ken Burns movie "Prohibition" which is about Alcohol Prohibition. It starts on Sunday 2 October and will be on for two hours each following night. Which means that we should have a pretty good read by the 10th of October. Enough time for editorials and the Democrat Media Machine to make their point and then see what changes it has wrought.

T -6 days and counting.

Cross Posted at Classical Values

With The Lay

Worm and parcel with the lay. Turn and serve the other way.

Mind your cuntlines.

Rigging

Cross Posted at Classical Values

Why I Like Johnson



H/T Libertarian Republican

Eric in the comments at Classical Values says that you should check out this interview in GQ.

Cross Posted at Classical Values

A Gringo In Mexico Gives Advice

Fred On Everything (FOE) has a most amusing post up and you should read the whole thing. The post is about the drug WAR generally and how to win it. He has lots of suggestions. I liked this one particularly. First the set up:

I see that I may have to take over drug policy for the United States. Maybe not, though. I’ll hold off if I get a call from Michelle Leonhart, who runs the Drug Enforcement Administration, asking me how she ought to do her job, and what she ought to think about Mexico, and what is wrong with Washington’s whole approach to mind candy. (I’m expecting her call any day now.) I will answer as follows:

Now, look here, milady. You need to re-think this drug thing. It’s not going well. It isn’t going to go well. The Bare Skirmish on Drugs (BSkOD) may have seemed a good idea when Reefer Madness came out, or even in the Sixties a half century ago. Now, no. Everyone with the brains of a microwave oven knows that DEA serves only to keep prices up so that the narcos in Mexico can afford classy military weaponry and gorgeous mansions.
Well he goes on a ways in the same vein and then he comes to what I think is his most brilliant suggestion.
So you see, Michelle, the DEA is like a man sitting on a raft in mid-Pacific, trying to outlaw water.

Now we come, tangentially anyway, to Mexico. It is being torn apart, toward God knows what future, because it lives next to the world’s most gluttonous market for drugs. It seems to Mexicans that Washington is forcing them to die for a BSkoD that Washington won’t fight on its own soil.

Is this unreasonable, lady? A couple of things you might do to persuade Mexico that you really want to do your part.

First, why don’t you put a youngish DEA guy, or gal, in each of about ten universities chosen at random: say, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Harvard Medical, Julliard, Haverford, Berkeley, UCLA, and Dartmouth. (I say they’re random). See, young agents could rig their apartments for sound and video. In six months you could arrest hundreds of children of senators, Fortune Five Hundred CEOs, and people high in the Executive branch. You could give them the same sentences that slum blacks get. Think of the headlines: “Senator’s Kid Gets Five Years in the General Population in Leavenworth.” Is that a concept or what?
Yes Fred. It is a concept. I like it. Why do Black kids get herded into prisons for 5 to 20 and the Upper Crust (is there something wrong with their plastic teeth?) get slaps on the wrist or a month or two in a plush private rehab? I guess it is a WHIP type concept. We cycle the poor into jail and the rich stoners can become President. All to better to beat the poor into submission. And WHIP? It is a very old story. Wealth Has Its Privileges. The best money can buy.
Another thing you could do to demonstrate your good faith: You could ask Congress to legislate that people selling drugs to children in high school be tried as adults. Since most of these dealers are themselves in high school, you could put the daughters of lawyers in women’s slam in places like the Cook County Jail. Think how many interesting things they could learn about compulsory lesbian sex.

I mean, you are sincere about wanting to punish dealers, aren’t you?
I'll bet the jailers could make a fortune selling the videos.

And here we come to the crux of the matter. A war with Mexico.
OK. More and more I see suggestions that the US send troops to Mexico to Right Wrongs and make Mexico into Iowa. The Pentagon is sneaking psychopaths of the CIA and “retired” military men into the country, apparently wanting to showcase its systemic incapacity to win any war against anybody at all. Here is a chance for you to do something useful. DEA agents are not idiots, but colonels are.

You might try to drill into the Pentagonal mind—I would suggest a cold chisel and a sledge hammer—that Mexico differs in a fundamental way from the military’s other comic efforts at martial enterprise: The narcos have a million gringo hostages. Or maybe five hundred thousand. Nobody is sure exactly how many Americans live in Mexico. They—we—are very soft targets. We live in a sort of sprawl across Mexico, concentrated in places well known, grouping in known bars, unarmed and utterly defenseless.

A minor contact I have with the bad guys says that, now, attacking Americans carries a death sentence from people who would carry it out with a blow torch over a period of days. “Oh no. Don’t fuck with the gringos,” says this guy. Like most Mexicans, the narcos figure the US is looking for a pretext to invade. They are happy with the current semi-partnership with Washington and don’t want interference.
I'm not going to tell you how it ends. You are going to have to click the link and find out for yourself.

H/T Classical Values commenter Frank via e-mail

Cross Posted at Classical Values

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Another TEA Party Address

There is a new TEA Party address to go to on the www. Grassfire Nation. I wonder if it is a response to Hippies 4 Palin. We might be able to get a clue by looking at their mission statement.

An organizing center for activists for traditional and conservative values, organized by issue.
I guess the answer is NO.

Veterans Need Our Help

First a little background on the source, Stars and Stripes newspaper.

Stars and Stripes is a news source that operates from inside the United States Department of Defense but is editorially separate from it. The First Amendment protection which Stars and Stripes enjoys is safeguarded by Congress to whom an independent ombudsman, who serves the readers' interests, regularly reports.
So what you are about to read comes from a semi-official source.

Former platoon sergeant says marijuana was 'the only thing' that controlled his PTSD
Jamey Raines tried marijuana once or twice in high school, but he said he had no interest in it after he joined the Army in 2000. He served in heavy combat in Iraq from 2003 to 2004 and rose through the ranks from private to platoon sergeant. Along the way he drank and smoked cigarettes like many infantrymen do, but he said he was “100 percent against” using any drug in any form.

Five years out of the military as of next month, however, Raines has changed his mind.

Using marijuana, he said, was the only way he could control his intense anger and anxiety as a result of post-traumatic stress disorder. The drug was a crutch, but a necessary one, he said, and it enabled him to go to college, earn his degree and land a decent job.

It succeeded, he said, where the fistfuls of prescription medications that Army doctors doled out failed him.

“The only way that I got through all that was that I smoked pot every day,” said Raines, 29, now living in Ohio. He thought of it as “the lesser of two evils [that] made it easier to go out in public, to talk to people, and easier to let things go when people say stupid [stuff].”
I assume the the brackets "[]" are to make the paper family friendly. So fill in the blanks.

This is not the first time military people have come out in favor of keeping pot legal. I'm not talking about individuals. I'm talking about an official US Military Commission. The following is taken from: The Military Surgeon Volume 73 - July-December 1933. The commission studied pot smoking by US Military personnel in the Panama Canal Zone.
B. Common effects of mariajuana described by users:

1. Mild intoxication. (Smokers use different terms to describe their sensations, the most common being "brushed up," "high," "happy," "peppy," "rosy," "dopy," "satisfied.")

2. Increased appetite.

3. Induction of sleep an hour or two after smoking.

4. Only five, or 15 per cent, stated they missed mariajuana when deprived of it.

5. Twenty-four, or 71 per cent, stated they preferred tobacco to mariajuana.

6. These soldiers stated that mariajuana was cheap and easy to procure in Panama and that they used it for "a pleasant pastime," usually during hours off duty when they had nothing else to do to amuse themselves. They stated that practically all recruits tried mariajuana and those who like it usually continued its use. Their average estimate of the number of habitual mariajuana smokers in their respective organizations was approximately 10 per cent.
We now know that the incidence of PTSD in the general population is about 10%. It can go as high as 20% to 25% among combat veterans. So the habitual use or "missing it" numbers fits well with what we know today.

So what was the final conclusion of the report?
RECOMMENDATIONS

1.The present military regulations prohibiting the introduction, sale, possession, or use of mariajuana on military reservations should continue in force, as they are believed to restrict the use of mariajuana among soldiers.

2. With the evidence obtained and considered by the committee no recommendations for further legislative action to prevent the sale or use of mariajuana in the Canal Zone, Panama, are deemed advisable under existing conditions.
Of course at the time the report was written marijuana was legal for any desired use in the US. It wasn't outlawed until 1937.

Our veterans need our help and yet so many of my "I'm on your side" friends say "not now" it might ruin our election chances. What about the chances of those suffering veterans my friends? What about them?

If you are into petitioning the White House here is the place to go: Allow United States Disabled Military Veterans access to medical marijuana to treat their PTSD

A little Panama music for the enjoyment of fans.



Cross Posted at Classical Values

The Winning Goal

If winning is our only goal then we will lose. Our goal must be to change the game. We have had too many years of winning without change.

We have had too many years of the nanny state: The Ds want to be protected from Economic failure and the Rs want to be protected from Moral failure (generally). When in fact the state can do neither and can at best be neutral and at worst promote failure.

When the state protects out economics too much our economic muscles grow weak. When it protects our morals too much our moral muscles grow weak.

Beaten For A Bulge

Who did the police beat? A Man With Downs Syndrome.

"The family is very upset and really shocked, to be honest," attorney Philip Gold said Wednesday. "They can't believe that this could have happened, let alone to their their son who is an innocent, sweet individual with Down syndrome."

Gilberto Powell, 22, was stopped by officers in the area of Southwest 111th Place and Southwest 138th Street around 9:30 p.m. Saturday, according to a Miami-Dade Police report.

The report said officers spotted a bulge in Powell's waist band and when they tried to pat him down, he tried to flee. Police say Powell broke free as officers tried to place him in handcuffs, hitting his forehead on the ground.

Powell hit one of the officers in the chest and continued to struggle until one of the officers "struck [Powell] in the left side of his face with an open hand in an attempt to subdue him," the report said.

After Powell was finally handcuffed and questioned, the officers realized he was "mentally challenged, was not capable of understanding our commands, and that the bulge in his waistband was a colostomy bag," the report said.
What ever happened to the concept of Peace Officer?

It happened to Kelly Thomas too, in Fullerton, Calif. Only he didn't survive. Don't click on the link if gruesome photos make you sick to your stomach. Because the one they have there will make you wonder what kind of animals could do that to a human. It was videoed too. And his last words were a cry for help. "Dad. Dad....."

We have a war going on against Americans in this country. Everyone is under suspicion for contraband. And some folks around here wonder why that war makes me crazy. It makes me crazy because police have an attitude because of that war. And it is not a good attitude.

Look around for the Kelly Thomas video and see if you can stand hearing him call out to his dad for help. I have sons. And it breaks my heart. Unfortunately my heart is not made of stone. Probably a personal defect. Why should I care about a stranger?

Love ye therefore the stranger: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt. Deuteronomy 10:19

If Christians celebrated Passover in the Hebrew way (some do) we might see a lot less of this sort of thing. Because we Jews read this verse every year at Passover. And we make it personal - "Because of what God did for me..." Not my ancestors. Me. Personally. He lifted my burdens and made me free.

Time to get back to the old time religion. If it was good enough for Jesus.....

Update: From the The Passover Hagadah
We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt, and the L-rd, our G-d, took us out from there with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm. If the Holy One, blessed be He, had not taken our fathers out of Egypt, then we, our children and our children's children would have remained enslaved to Pharaoh in Egypt. Even if all of us were wise, all of us understanding, all of us knowing the Torah, we would still be obligated to discuss the exodus from Egypt; and everyone who discusses the exodus from Egypt at length is praiseworthy.
Further:
In every generation a person is obligated to regard himself as if he had come out of Egypt, as it is said: "You shall tell your child on that day, it is because of this that the L-rd did for me when I left Egypt."

The Holy One, blessed be He, redeemed not only our fathers from Egypt, but He redeemed also us with them, as it is said: "It was us that He brought out from there, so that He might bring us to give us the land that He swore to our fathers."

Thus it is our duty to thank, to laud, to praise, to glorify, to exalt, to adore, to bless, to elevate and to honor the One who did all these miracles for our fathers and for us. He took us from slavery to freedom, from sorrow to joy, and from mourning to festivity, and from deep darkness to great light and from bondage to redemption. Let us therefore recite before Him Halleluyah, Praise G-d!
Just reading that has made my tears flow like rain. Because He saw my burden and lifted it. And thus I am obligated to lift the burdens of others.

“If I am not for myself, then who will be for me? And if I am only for myself, then what am I? And if not now, when?” - Rabbi Hillel

As I have said often, "I'm not much of a Jew." But when He speaks to me I listen. And crazy as this sounds (we live in a Modern Age after all), He has spoken. This will not stand. You hear that all you mofo supporters of this abomination? The Wrath of the Maker is headed your way. For you have been unkind to the stranger. And mistreated the afflicted.

And just to get all ecumenical. (in case there are some Christians still reading):
And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Matthew 25:40
H/T The Agitator

Cross Posted at Classical Values

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Veteran's PTSD Treatment Currently Inadequate

The New York Times reports.

Drugs widely prescribed to treat severe post-traumatic stress symptoms for veterans are no more effective than placebos and come with serious side effects, including weight gain and fatigue, researchers reported on Tuesday.

The surprising finding, from the largest study of its kind in veterans, challenges current treatment standards so directly that it could alter practice soon, some experts said.

Ten percent to 20 percent of those who see heavy combat develop lasting symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, and about a fifth of those who get treatment receive a prescription for a so-called antipsychotic medication, according to government numbers.

The new study, published in The Journal of the American Medical Association, focused on one medication, Risperdal. But experts said that its results most likely extend to the entire class, including drugs like Seroquel, Geodon and Abilify.

“I think it’s a very important study” given how frequently the drugs have been prescribed, said Dr. Charles Hoge, a senior scientist at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, who was not involved in the study but wrote an editorial accompanying it. He added, “It definitely calls into question the use of antipsychotics in general for PTSD.”
Links at the article.

Maybe this explains the recent FDA approval of a study of the effectiveness of marijuana for the treatment of PTSD. Of course the DEA hasn't given its stamp of approval to the study so it is only a paper study so far. Despite the fact that information like this has been around for over 5 years: PTSD and the Endocannabinoid System.

I look forward to my statist social conservative friends screaming bloody murder to our government because our vets are not getting the best treatment known to man (so far) for the condition. Say. Who am I kidding? What am I smoking? Fighting dopers is way more important than treating our veterans. Or other victims of PTSD. Like abused children. Letting abused children suffer is OK as long as it keeps one doper from getting his dope. After all it is for the children. So I'm told. Like every day lately by a certain friend of mine.

So what religion is in the trenches fighting this injustice? The Damn Jews. Reform Jews had a year of outreach on the subject of medical marijuana.
"...members cited Jewish tradition as well as contemporary medicine. "According to our tradition," read the resolution, "a physician is obligated to heal the sick." The resolution cited Maimonides as the Talmudic authority. Less authoritative for the association was the state of research on medical marijuana."
And the Orthodox? They are selling the stuff. Like Einstein I'm not much of a Jew. And like him I am very proud to be a part of the Jewish tradition.

Heck even the Ron Paul site likes the Jews on this one. What you are about to read next will probably stir a LOT of cognitive dissonance. It did for me. BTW it is spelled Mitzvah buddy. You should have had a Jew give your article a once over.
Both Orthodox and Reform Jews believe Marijuana is a Mitvah. A Mitvah holds all the weight of the commandments. A Jew is Obliged to Disobey the Law to fulfill a Mitvah as a mandate of the faith.

Marijuana must be rescheduled to schedule 3 per Federal Law, yet the Republican leadership through the Attorney General , Secretary of State, and President and Party Platform have continued to pursue a draconian policy straight out of the inquisition.

Marijuana is NOT a 3rd Rail Issue. The Party Leadership have however been brainwashed and pursue that perfiduous programming with great zeal completely ignoring and distorting Federal Law. While Frankly Torturing and Murdering Sick People
And that Federal rescheduling he talks about? That would be the proper response to the DEA Judge Young Decision.

I'm still wondering about all that Judeo-Christianity I have heard so much about. From what I see there is a lot of Judeo and not much Christianity. Perhaps the Anointed One will come back and fix what He started.

H/T Drug Policy Forum of Texas

Cross Posted at Classical Values

The Protection Racket

If winning elections is our goal then we will lose. Our goal must be to change the game. We have had too many years of winning without change.

We have had too many years of the nanny state: The Ds want to be protected from Economic failure and the Rs want to be protected from Moral failure (generally). When in fact the state can do neither and can at best be neutral and at worst promote failure.

When the state protects out economics too much our economic muscles grow weak. When it protects our morals too much our moral muscles grow weak. Reliance on the state promotes weakness.

Sen. Lieberman prays with Sarah Palin



The Book Of Esther

From Chapter 4:
11 "The servants of the king and the people of the provinces all know that any man or woman who comes to the king in the inner court without being summoned is sentenced to death by the law, unless the king extends his royal scepter to him, granting him life. And the king has not called for me for thirty days now."

12 They told Mordechai Esther's message.

13 Mordechai sent back word to Esther: "Don't imagine that you alone among the Jews will escape to the king's palace, and that this will save your life.

14 "Even if you are silent now, the Jews will get relief and rescue some other way, and you and your father's house will be lost. And who knows? Maybe it was for just such an occasion that you were made queen!"

15 Esther sent back word to Mordechai:

16 "Go and gather all the Jews in Shushan, fast for me: do not eat or drink for three days and nights. My girls and I will also fast. Then I'll go to the king -- against the law -- and if I am killed, I will be the only one killed."

H/T Jews For Sarah

Cross Posted at Classical Values

Progressives On The March

Forbes Magazine has an interview with Progressive Insurance chairman Peter Lewis.

Our marijuana laws are outdated, ineffective and stupid. I’m not alone in thinking this: Half of Americans believe we should stop punishing people for using marijuana. And not coincidentally, more than half of Americans have used marijuana themselves. I am one of those Americans, and I know firsthand that marijuana can be helpful and that it certainly isn’t cause for locking anyone up.
He goes on to say:
I’ve been conducting a great deal of research on public opinion on marijuana. Change in this area is inevitable, much like the movement toward equal rights for gays and lesbians. An ever shrinking fraction of the country resists changing marijuana laws, largely for moral reasons. But change is coming. It’s just a question of when and how we get there.
According to some of my commenters such moralists don't exist. Some one is living in the wrong universe. It might even be me. But I doubt it.

H/T Drug Policy Forum of Texas

Cross Posted at Classical Values

The Most Destructive, Dysfunctional & Immoral Domestic Policy Since Slavery & Jim Crow

Retired Police Detective Howard Wooldridge says:

Modern Prohibition/The War on Drugs is the most destructive, dysfunctional & immoral domestic policy since slavery & Jim Crow.

He ought to know. Now you know.

Cross Posted at Classical Values

Friday, September 23, 2011

Zero Hedge View Of Market Conditions


From So... What About Those Next 20 Days?

Cross Posted at Classical Values

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Hebrew Etymology

Commenter Randy suggested I do some etymological research. So I did. And found something very interesting.

In 1936, Sara Benetowa, later Known as Sula Benet, an etymologist from the Institute of Anthropological Sciences, in Warsaw wrote a treatise, "Tracing One Word Through Different Languages." This was a study on the word Cannabis, based on a study of the oldest Hebrew texts. Although the word cannabis was thought to be of Scythian origin, Benet's research showed it had an earlier root in the Semitic Languages such as Hebrew. Benet demonstrated that the ancient Hebrew word for Cannabis is Kaneh -Bosem. She also did another study called Early Diffusion and Folk Uses of Hemp. There is a reprint of this in Cannabis and Culture. On page 44, she states, "The sacred character of hemp in biblical times is evident from Exodus 30:23, where Moses was instructed by God to anoint the meeting tent and all of its furnishings with specially prepared oil, containing hemp." On page 41 Sula Benet writes, : In the course of time, the two words kaneh and bosem were fused into one , kanabos or kannabus know to us from the Mishna. According to the Webster's New World Hebrew Dictionary, page 607 the Hebrew for hemp is kanabos.

Sara Benetowa discovered that the Kaneh-Bosm or Cannabis is mentioned 5 times in the Old Testament. The first occurrence appears in the Holy Anointing Oil as Calamus, (Exodus 30:23). Sara argued that the translation of Calamus was a mistranslation which occurred in the oldest Bible the “Septuagint” and the mistranslation was copied in later versions.

But what is the effect to the baptism?

You may argue that the Anointing with the cannabis based oil has no redeeming value. I would like to point out that all Orthodox Churches practice the Chrism anointing. What started me into The Fire Baptism and the Lost Sacraments is that not one Church uses the Holy Anointing Oil as described in Exodus 30:23 even with the Calamus translation.

The Bible is very clear that this was the only oil to be used.
A Sarah Benetowa article can also be found at the site. Read the whole thing.

The irony is of course hilarious. Those most identifiably against cannabis tend to be on Christian Right these days.

Update: There has been some controversy in the comments. Here is a video discourse on the latest etymological research on the subject:



Continued here.

Also for your amusement my recent article on the religious revival of the 60s: The 60s Actually Did Work Until Crony Religionism Killed It

And a video from the Christian perspective:



Roger Christie - THC Ministry - Holy Anointing Oil Recipe - video

The Hawai`i Cannabis Ministry

You can help Roger Christie by donating to him directly through the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Please send funds to Roger at the address below - [see the link above for details]

Hey maybe it is time to get back to the Old Time Religion. If it was good enough for Jesus it is good enough for me.



“Are you unwilling to be anointed with the Oil of God? Wherefore we are called Christians on this account, because we are anointed with the oil of God.” Theophilus of Antioch (181AD)

From Is it Christ or is it Anti-Christ???
The Holy Anointing Oil of God is described in Exodus 30:23. Take thou also unto thee three principal spices, of liquid Myrrh five hundred shekels, and of sweet Cinnamon half so much, even two hundred and fifty shekels, and of sweet Calamus (Kaneh Bosem in Hebrew) two hundred and fifty shekels, and of Cassia five hundred shekels after the shekel of the sanctuary, and of oil olive an hin. And thou shalt make it an oil of Holy ointment compound after the art of apothecary: it shall be a Holy anointing oil. Exodus 30:22-25
And:
But as “Christ” means “the anointed” What does “Anti-Christ” mean? “Anti” in Greek means “Opposed to” or “Instead of”. The Anti-Christ would then mean “Opposed to the anointed” or “Instead of the anointed”.

For false Christ's or (false anointed ones) and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect. Matthew 24:24

Today the Roman Catholic Churches, use Pure Olive Oil, sprinkled with powered Balsam, and blessed by a Bishop at lent. Here we find the “instead of anointing”.

The Coptic Orthodox use a Myron oil which consists of over 30 spices. The Myron Oil is based on a tradition that Saint Mark took with him the spices used at Jesus burial to Alexandria. Whether or not this is true is unknown, but here again we have the “Instead of Oil”

There are other Churches that boil down various other configurations of the Holy Oil. Some include wine, salt, and other ingredients, boiled with oil, as the “instead of Holy Oil”.

Most protestant Churches offer no anointing at all. Here we find the “opposed to anointing”.

It appears, that in the Christian World, so preoccupied with calling themselves, Christians or “The Anointed Ones”, we have no place for the “Holy Anointing Oil of God”, as described in the Exodus 30:23

Could it be that the Churches have been deceived, regarding the anointing? If this is so, surely this would have been prophesied.

Further update: In the comments some one said I ought to get over attacking Christians. I said I thought that was a good idea and I would look for some dirt on the Jews in relation to the material at hand.

Here is something I found. I'll look for more. Orthodox Jews run a medical marijuana collective in Berkeley, California and also sell a religiously inspired cannabis cream. Here is the url of the collective: Doc Green's

Not exactly about Jews: Jesus 'healed using cannabis'
Jesus w as almost certainly a cannabis user and an early proponent of the medicinal properties of the drug, according to a study of scriptural texts published this month. The study suggests that Jesus and his disciples used the drug to carry out miraculous healings.

The anointing oil used by Jesus and his disciples contained an ingredient called kaneh-bosem which has since been identified as cannabis extract, according to an article by Chris Bennett in the drugs magazine, High Times, entitled Was Jesus a Stoner? The incense used by Jesus in ceremonies also contained a cannabis extract, suggests Mr Bennett, who quotes scholars to back his claims.

"There can be little doubt about a role for cannabis in Judaic religion," Carl Ruck, professor of classical mythology at Boston University said.

Referring to the existence of cannabis in anointing oils used in ceremonies, he added: "Obviously the easy availability and long-established tradition of cannabis in early Judaism _ would inevitably have included it in the [Christian] mixtures."

Mr Bennett suggests those anointed with the oils used by Jesus were "literally drenched in this potent mixture _ Although most modern people choose to smoke or eat pot, when its active ingredients are transferred into an oil-based carrier, it can also be absorbed through the skin".

Quoting the New Testament, Mr Bennett argues that Jesus anointed his disciples with the oil and encouraged them to do the same with other followers. This could have been responsible for healing eye and skin diseases referred to in the Gospels.

"If cannabis was one of the main ingredients of the ancient anointing oil _ and receiving this oil is what made Jesus the Christ and his followers Christians, then persecuting those who use cannabis could be considered anti-Christ," Mr Bennett concludes.

More etymology by Chris Bennett (mentioned in several of the above videos). I'm still looking for dirt on the Jews.



Part 2 of the Chris Bennett interview

My Hebrew name is Moshe משה (English Moses) often Maish, which would be a nickname. My English name is Michael.

I'm still looking for dirt on the Jews. And all I came up with is the Orthodox guys again.
It’s not an uncommon sight in the East Bay — home of the country’s first cannabis trade school, Oaksterdam University — but an hour later Green is doing something a bit more out of character for the Bay Area: He’s wrapping tefillin and davening mincha, the afternoon prayers.

In Northern California, even the religious Jews light up.

Green, 32, is a founding member of Doc Green’s, a medical marijuana collective established by Orthodox Jews, who, like the late kabbalistic rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, believe that cannabis was one of the ingredients in the holy anointing oil described in the Torah.
I used to wrap tefillin and daven mincha when I was a kid. I may still have the tefillin from my youth around somewhere. I'll have to ask the first mate if she put them somewhere.

Anyway I'm tired of looking for dirt on the Jews. It is hard to find. If anyone has a link I'll add it.

I did find this from Above Top Secret.
Aloha. I just bought a book on the advice of a dear friend. In my opinion, it will help to open the big door of cannabis prohibition, once and for all.

The book is Webster's New World Hebrew Dictionary by Hayim Baltsan published in 1992. The ISBN number is 0-671-88991-5. It cost me $18.00 plus tax.

On page 650 there is the definition of 'marijuana'. It says 'kanabos'. The Hebrew word for it is there for all to see.

It's the SAME WORD that appears for the definition of 'hemp' in the Ben-Yehuda Hebrew-English Dictionary on page 140. This book cost me $7.00 plus tax.

Together, these dictionaries help to prove that cannabis - kanebosm - kanabos - is the missing ingredient in the holy anointing oil of Moses and the Christening oil of Jesus.

Cross Posted at Classical Values

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Corruption In El Paso?

Yesterday I wrote a semi-amusing piece about the Drug Cartels "petitioning Congress" to keep the Drug War going. It featured my favorite Police Detective, Howard Wooldridge. All in good fun to make a serious point.

Well this morning Eric sent me a link to this story. Whistle-blowers allege corruption, cartel ties.

Two former law enforcement officers allege that they cannot get anyone to investigate allegations that the Mexican drug cartels have corrupted U.S. law officers and politicians in the El Paso border region.

Greg Gonzales, a retired Doña Ana County sheriff's deputy, and Wesley Dutton, a rancher and former New Mexico state livestock investigator, said that instead of arrests and prosecutions of suspects, their whistle-blowing activities have resulted only in threats and retaliation against themselves.

"I lost my job for a security company at the federal courthouse in Las Cruces because I would not keep my mouth shut, and someone threatened me by holding a knife to my throat," Gonzales said.

Dutton, a rancher in Southern New Mexico, said an election official stopped by his ranch to ask him what was it going to take for him to retract his allegations concerning the official.

Both men were confidential sources for the FBI in El Paso and assisted with investigations over an 18-month period.

Gonzales and Dutton allege that the FBI dropped them after "big names" on the U.S. side of the border began to surface in the drug investigations.
I just knew that with the cartels running a war in Mexico and probably actually running most of Mexico that they had to be running at least a few cities in America. It appears that the cartels are not only running a city - they own the FBI. Well here is something former CIA director William Colby was trying to tell us in 1995.

"The Latin American drug cartels have stretched their tentacles much deeper into our lives than most people believe. It's possible they are calling the shots at all levels of government."

Well William [RIP] it looks like the evidence for your statement is becoming public knowledge. Very few secrets of this magnitude can be kept forever. Especially if some of the folks expected to keep the secrets have moral objections.

Cross Posted at Classical Values

The Smoke Pot Diet

Smoke Pot. Lose weight? It sounds unbelievable. In fact the researchers who did the study found it unbelievable too.

Marijuana smokers are less likely to be obese than nonsmokers, according to a recent study.

The study found that roughly a third of those who smoke at least three times a week are less likely to be obese than those who do not smoke at all, according to a Sept. 8 Time magazine article.

Researchers analyzed two national studies consisting of 52,000 people and found that 22 percent of those who did not smoke marijuana were obese, compared to 14 percent of marijuana smokers who were obese.

Even when adjustments were made for sex and age, the numbers still showed that obesity is lower in those who smoke weed than in those who do not, according to the article.

Yann Le Strat, a co-author of the study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, said in an email that the study's results were unexpected.

Before the study, it was believed smoking weed increased appetites and may be linked to weight gain, Le Strat said.

"Cannabis is known to give ‘munchies,' and we hypothesized that cannabis use would be associated with an increased weight, an increased rate of obesity. We were surprised because what we found is that cannabis use is actually associated with a decreased weight, a decreased rate of obesity," he said.

People who use cannabis at least three times a week are spending less time overeating or drinking alcohol, according to the article.
So should you take up post smoking to reduce your weight? Of course not. For one thing the stuff is illegal. And for another it doesn't seem to work for everyone. OTOH if you live in a med pot state and can get over the usual hurdles it might be worth a try for you if nothing else works. And you may actually find yourself laughing at Cheech and Chong movies.

Just another condition pot may help with. That Marijuana is some medicine.

H/T Drug Policy Forum of Texas

Cross Posted at Classical Values

Orphaned Land



They sing some English about 2 minutes in.

Intercourse and Conception had this to say about the band.
Orphaned Land is an Israeli band whose performances feature Middle Eastern Metal with a bit of religious iconography thrown in.
Israeli metal?

Well Gene Simmons of KISS led the way. Sort of.

Cross Posted at Classical Values

COPs Take A LEAP

Eric in The high cost of illegal American appetites, left several links to an organization called LEAP. There is another anti-prohibition police organization called COPs that deserves your support.

Retired Detective Howard Wooldrige of COPs was going around Capitol Hill last week with the following message:

I visited all 435 House offices this week. Taking up all day Tuesday and Thursday, I announced myself thusly: “Hi. I represent the Mexican Drug Cartel Association (said slowly and a bit louder, when others were in the reception area of an office). Has your office taken a position on 2306, the repeal of marijuana prohibition? (9 of 10 times the response was I don’t know) I continued, “Here is a fact sheet (far bottom) to give to your judiciary LA {legislative assistant}. We hope your office will stand with us, the Cartels, in opposing the legalization of marijuana. Pot is much, much too dangerous to legalize.” A solid 250 visitors and fellow lobbyists heard my pitch, half the time their chats stopped, when they heard “I represent the MX Drug Cartels.”

Two staffers asked if I were serious. I responded, ‘my clients have killed 40,000 people in Mexico and legalization would hurt their business. They and I are serious.’ Both visibly recoiled and fell silent. NOTE: I did not take pleasure in making them uncomfortable. But I wanted staffers to accept me being a lobbyist for the cartels.
He is having some fun.

Here is the leaflet:
The Mexican Drug Cartel Association

urges you to vote NO on HR 2306 – Do NOT repeal Marijuana Prohibition


Why? - Marijuana Prohibition generates high-paying and exciting jobs for 900,000 American teens who would otherwise be unemployed.

Why? – MJ Prohibition provides jobs for 10,000 well-paid state prison guards and even more local jail personnel.

Why? – MJ Prohibition generates employment for tens of thousands of Mexicans who might otherwise come to the USA for looking for job.

Why? – We, the Cartels, earn 10 billion from marijuana sales, helping the Mexican economy.


For more information contact the representative for the Cartel Association: Howard J. Wooldridge @ 817-975-1110
Do what you can to support Howard. Pass out links if you comment. Put the link in a blog post if you blog. And it would be really good to send COPs some money if you can.

Cross Posted at Classical Values

Taking Out Insurance

Lloyd's of London is pulling cash from European banks.

First it was US money markets; then it was various European industrial concerns (which somehow double down as banks); then it was China; now the bank runs shift to insurance institutions when, as Bloomberg reports, Lloyd's of London has decided to pull peripheral Euro bank deposits. What next: complete collapse of European interbank market as bank runs become a daily thing at both the retail and institutional level? Well, we already anticipated that. But it is something totally different to see it happen in practice.

From Bloomberg: "Lloyd’s of London, concerned European governments may be unable to support lenders in a worsening debt crisis, has pulled deposits in some peripheral economies as the European Central Bank provided dollars to one euro-area institution. "“There are a lot of banks who, because of the uncertainty around Europe, the market has stopped using to place deposits with,” Luke Savage, finance director of the world’s oldest insurance market, said today in a phone interview. “If you’re worried the government itself might be at risk, then you’re certainly worried the banks could be taken down with them.” Lloyd’s, which holds about a third of its 2.5 billion pounds ($3.9 billion) of central assets in cash, has stopped depositing money with some banks in Europe’s peripheral economies, Savage said, declining to name the countries or institutions. “We have a very conservatively positioned balance sheet,” Savage said. Lloyd’s also holds about a third of its assets in mainly U.S. and U.K. government bonds and a third in corporate bonds, he said." As usual, the biggest threat for European banks are not short sellers, not even naked CDS traders: it is precisely this - a deposit run, which saps the liquidity lifeblood out of any bank, hence making its collapse a matter of time.
"Europe" is coming apart at the seams.

Cross Posted at Classical Values

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

I Blame

Everyone is looking for some one to blame these days. Presidents are very useful in this regard. Some blame Bush II, Some blame Obama I. I blame Nixon. I blame him for ramping up the Drug War that has cost the Federal Government at minimum $1 trillion so far. With no end in sight. If you figure the total direct cost at $70 billion a year for 30 of the past 40 years (a good rough estimate I think - which sorta inflation adjusts the numbers) the total cost is around $2 trillion, Federal, State, and local. If you include insurance losses due to thefts to support a hard drug habit at a conservative $50 billion a year, that is another $1.5 trillion. And what about the cost of the Drug War in the source countries? Hard to quantify. But in lives alone it is at least 40,000 a year. Even twenty years of that is a staggering 800,000 lives. To keep plants and plant extracts out of the hands of those who want them. And that is just the source countries. Add in a minimum of 5,000 a year in the US for 20 years and that is another 100,000. And that does not even count my brother who was killed in a Drug War crossfire in 1974.

End the sonofabitch. Before some one else loses a brother.


Cross Posted at Classical Values

The 60s Actually Did Work Until Crony Religionism Killed It

Walter Russel Mead has a post up about The War Against The Young: Warning From Italy and Japan. I left a comment in reply to something we see all too often posted on the 'net.

We know the 1960s didn’t work.

The 60s worked for me. Four kids.

1. Artist
2. Russian Language graduate
3. EE 4th year
4. Chem E. 3rd year

There was a religious revival going on in the 60s that was nipped in the bud by Christian Moralists who didn’t want to see their religion in decline.

Ah. Well. If we can get the moralists off our backs we might actually get back to a place of great faith. Which would be good for all religions.

It would be much better if everyone was talking to the Head Office vice having to listen to ministers preach.

And why did I have 4 children? Well the Head Office told me to. There are many different routes to open your heart to the Maker. People truly interested in religion would not shut off any of them. There is in fact not one way. Only one Maker.

That “No one comes to the Maker except by me” shit has got to go. Because it is a lie. And a religion based on a lie will not prosper.

The 60s in fact was an attempt to corner the market on religion by passing laws (sounds like crony capitalism doesn’t it). It will not last. Or prosper long term. And the end of the long term is at hand. Forty years later.

H/T Instapundit

Cross Posted at Classical Values

Monday, September 19, 2011

The Yockey Puck

My favorite Lesbian Conservative Cynthia Yockey is at it again. (you might like to review my recent post about Cynthia: The Keys To The Next Election) She explains why gay equality will come from the Right. But first she lays into the pretensions of a vast swath of social conservatism.

I will point out to the Right that the unwillingness of lesbians and gays on the Left to dialog too often comes from the bitter experience of being rejected by their own families for being gay. Betrayals of that magnitude do not foster trust. And it is very difficult from the Left to distinguish among all the different ideologies on the Right. This is especially so since social conservatism is antithetical to liberty, religious freedom and fiscal conservatism — as well as gay equality — because it is really animated by the desire of religions to be the sole possessors of the one ring the coercive powers of government.

What is bizarre about lesbians and gays not understanding the Right is that no other group in the United States embodies the values of fiscal conservatives more than the lesbian and gay community. This is because we know we cannot rely on the government, our own families or our religion for support or protection. So lesbians and gays in large numbers must be entrepreneurs, self-reliant and resourceful. We also must set up and fund our own non-profits and charities. In contrast, one of the big objections social conservatives have to gay equality that is antithetical to fiscal conservatism is that their churches will no longer be able to get rivers of cash from the government for their evangelical enterprises, such as adoption agencies, which ought not to be receiving any government money, unless they agree to treat gays equally.
Ah rivers of cash from the government to the churches. Bush's "compassionate conservatism" put that whole endeavor on rocket fuel (I'm tired of steroids).

How about those rivers of money?
The Faith-Based Initiative is a federal program that seeks to vastly expand opportunities for religious organizations and faith-based institutions to receive federal social service grants. Under this initiative, for the first time, houses of worship and other pervasively sectarian institutions are eligible for billions of taxpayer dollars.

President Bush originated the Faith-Based Initiative in January 2001 with the creation of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. The Administration has advanced its initiative through a series of Executive Orders, complemented by the creation of separate federal agency faith-based offices and the adoption of new grant making and contracting rules by these agencies.
I guess we have gone from the faith of our fathers to "crony religionism". Churches sanctified by government money and government sanctified by the fealty of the churches to government money. Faith says: government is good - it gives us money. Government says: Faith is good. It bows to us. It is a very old story. Of course when the State religion changes there are often religious wars. Supposedly that story was supposed to be ended by the First Amendment.

Once we get religion out of politics there will be a lot of changes made in this country. Or maybe it will go the other way around when the fall of Drug Prohibition discredits the churches that supported it. Especially when you consider all the people who have died because government denies that Marijuana IS Medicine. I don't see how those churches can claim to be healers of the sick when in cahoots with a government that denies the sick medicine. It is probably that "compassionate conservatism" I have heard so much about.

And what will be the #1 driver of the End of Drug Prohibition? About 75% of Americans say the Drug War is not working and Government at all levels is broke. Sounds like an opportunity for the first Party that raises the question.

Cross Posted at Classical Values

Marijuana IS Medicine

I recently posted some videos about marijuana as medicine. I got some criticism saying that the usefulness of marijuana for so many conditions was unbelievable. I will do some more posting including some articles that I haven't yet cross posted here. But I thought it might be worthwhile to do a links mostly post to familiarize people unaware of the vast literature currently available on the subject. First some educational links that explain why cannabis is useful in the treatment of so many conditions.

Cannabinoids "The current understanding recognizes the role that endocannabinoids play in almost every major life function in the human body."

Endocannabinoid system

Anandamide

Cannabinoid receptor

There is enough material there to keep you busy for a few hours. Or a few years. Depending.

Cannabis, Diabetes, and Multiple Sclerosis

The War On Cancer Patients

Conditions treatable by cannabis with links to the medical literature.

Marijuana for Chronic Pain

DEA Judge Rules On Medical Marijuana. The Judge says, "Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man."

PTSD and the Endocannabinoid System

Marijuana Reduces Some Cancer Risks says the The National Institute of Health (NIH)

Marijuana may protect against lung cancer and cure brain tumors. "In 1976 Gerald Ford forbade the US Government's sponsorship of any public research on marijuana and its effect on cancer."

Marijuana Stops Lung Cancer

Marijuana and colon cancer

That ought to keep you busy for a few more hours.

Update: NIH - Cannabinoids and Cancer

NIH - Cannabinoids and Heart Disease

I particularly liked this one: CB(2) cannabinoid receptor activation is cardioprotective in a mouse model of ischemia/reperfusion. Translation: if you are predisposed to heart disease regular cannabis use may improve your odds of living.

Patients Out Of Time

Patients Out of Time is pleased to be a contributer to Len Richmond's important new film, "What if Cannabis Cured Cancer", which features video of Raphael Mechoulam, PhD and Robert Melamede, PhD from our 2004 National Clinical Conference on Cannabis Therapeutics. Patients Out Of Time - cancer
Nice video on the endocannabinoid system here FDA To Study Cannabis For PTSD. Here is the video:



Cross Posted at Classical Values

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Cannabis For Life Extension



I knew the narrator Peter Coyote back in the day.

Patients Out Of Time - medicalcannabis.com
Patients Out of Time is pleased to be a contributer to Len Richmond's important new film, "What If Cannabis Cured Cancer", which features video of Raphael Mechoulam, PhD and Robert Melamede, PhD from our 2004 National Clinical Conference on Cannabis Therapeutics. Patients Out Of Time - cancer
Here are some text resources:

NIH - Cannabinoids and Cancer

NIH - Cannabinoids and Heart Disease

Also see Marijuana IS Medicine for more links.

That should give you some resources for further research.

Cross Posted at Classical Values

A Chance



Thirty seconds of political truth. And it may just sell some autos.

H/T Libertarian Republican.

Cross Posted at Classical Values

Saturday, September 17, 2011

For Sale?



From Jesus Saves. Moses invests. Aleister Crowley changes the world.
Led Zeppelin is Satanic to the core. In the song "Houses of the Holy," Robert Plant (lead singer) speaks of Satan's daughter and making her garden grow (a sexual reference). The album cover displays naked women crawling towards the top of the temple. It's sickening in the name of decency. Anyone who denies the occult inspiration of Led Zeppelin's music is woefully deceived.
I have studied Crowley myself to excellent effect. I must add that Crowley designed his work to enhance any inherent tendencies you may have. If you lean to the Dark Side he will help you to the Black. If you want the light he will help you Shine like a Thousand Suns. "Every man and woman is a star."

The Book Of The Law

Magick In Theory and Practice [pdf]

Magick in Theory and Practice - from Amazon

May I especially recommend the Banishing Ritual on page 291 of the pdf. I used it to great effect to banish some evil spirits which had been vexing me for a long time. Of course if you understand the work you can design your own rituals. Something I used to do with a group called Panthea in Chicago. Funny enough the leader of the group, Christa Heiden Landon, was ordained as a Unitarian Universalist Minister. I used to drive her around the Chicago area when she needed to give a sermon at a Unitarian Church as part of her training for the ministry.



Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law

Love is the law, love under will


Cross Posted at Classical Values

We Know Nothing

Democrats in the House are having trouble getting ∅ to articulate a plan that he promised them in June would be ready by September.

The lawmakers — encouraged by Obama's mention of mortgage relief in his address to Congress last week — were quickly deflated just days later when their efforts to learn the details of the White House plan proved unsuccessful.

"The administration has been AWOL on this issue," charged Rep. Dennis Cardoza (D-Calif.), "and the American people are suffering because of the mismanagement."

"In my entire political career, I've never seen anything this irresponsible," he added.
Me either. But to expect a socialist to come up with a plan to fix the problems caused by socialism is expecting a bit much. Especially with the House being currently majority Republican.

Both Parties Have Blood On Their Hands


How an Economy Grows and Why It Crashes

schiffradio.com


H/T Reason Magazine which has some nice text that expands on the video.

Update: Frank left a link in the comments at Classical Values to Schiff's Testimony to Congress.


Cross Posted at Classical Values

Friday, September 16, 2011

A Bigger Fan

Zero Hedge is discussing the latest news in the ongoing financial meltdown. Which prompted a couple of comments (among many others).

how does this compare to the Lehman shit fest of '08?
And the reply:
Were gonna need a bigger fan.
I have nothing to add.

Cross Posted at Classical Values

Arsenic And Oz

It appears that Dr. Oz has gotten a few facts about apple juice wrong (or at least incomplete).

Arsenic in apple juice! Fed to babies! And it probably came from China! Television's Dr. Mehmet Oz is under fire from the FDA and others for sounding what they say is a false alarm about the dangers of apple juice.

Oz, one of TV's most popular medical experts, said on his Fox show Wednesday that testing by a New Jersey lab had found what he suggested were troubling levels of arsenic in many brands of juice.

The Food and Drug Administration said its own tests show no such thing, even on one of the same juice batches Oz cited.

"There is no evidence of any public health risk from drinking these juices. And FDA has been testing them for years," the agency said in a statement.

The flap escalated Thursday, when Oz's former medical school classmate Dr. Richard Besser lambasted him on ABC's "Good Morning America" show for what Besser called an "extremely irresponsible" report that was akin to "yelling 'Fire!' in a movie theater."

Besser was acting head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention before joining ABC news as health and medical editor several years ago.

Arsenic is naturally present in water, air, food and soil in two forms -- organic and inorganic. According to the FDA, organic arsenic passes through the body quickly and is essentially harmless. Inorganic arsenic -- the type found in pesticides -- can be toxic and may pose a cancer risk if consumed at high levels or over a long period.

"The Dr. Oz Show" did not break down the type when it tested several dozen juice samples for total arsenic. As a result, the FDA said the results are misleading.
Fear sells a lot better than good news. And what kind of levels were found by Oz? Tens of parts per billion. What did the FDA find? Two to six parts per billion.

What are the current US legal limits for arsenic in water?
Arsenic levels in public drinking water are regulated in the United States by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). As of January 2006, the maximum contaminant level for inorganic arsenic permitted in US drinking water is 10 μg/L (micrograms per liter), or 10 ppb (parts per billion)
Even if Dr. Oz is correct you would have to be drinking almost nothing but apple juice for your whole life before this became a concern.

What foods are high in arsenic? Seafoods other than fish (I'm going to have to cut back on lobster - fortunately I don't care for it much and besides I can't afford it) and fish are the biggies. So what should you eat? Vegetables, beef, chicken, and dairy products. Got another half gallon of ice cream dear? I need to lower my arsenic intake.

And no mention of chocolate. Eat a pound with every meal. If you are not diabetic. And if you are diabetic? Smoke pot.

Cross Posted at Classical Values

Gored



H/T Jack Cashill

Brain Study - Childhood Sexual Abuse Linked To Drug Use

The physiological link between sexual abuse and drug use has tentatively been found.

It has long been widely accepted that early childhood sexual abuse can predispose an individual to later substance abuse. But how?

Now, a new study combining brain imaging with information gathered from a questionnaire assessing symptoms of subjective distress and discomfort provides evidence of a neuroanatomical mechanism by which early childhood trauma could lead to drug abuse or other behavioral problems.

In the study, published in the January
[2002] issue of Psychoneuroendocrinology, Carl Anderson, PhD., and colleagues at McLean Hospital, in Belmont, Mass., found that repeated sexual abuse in childhood may be correlated with changes in blood flow and function in a key region of the cerebellum, known as the cerebellar vermis.

At the same time, they found that those changes were significantly related to scores on a questionnaire used to rate symptoms of irritability in the limbic system of the brain, known to be involved in regulation of emotions, attention, and judgment.
This study was published in January 2002, so the information has been available for about ten years. Funny that it is not common knowledge by now.

The study was small (24 people total - 8 abused kids and 16 controls) so the findings are not definitive. But they correlate well with the findings of Dr. Lonnie Shavelson detailed in his book Heroin. And what did Dr. Shavelson find?

About 70% of female heroin users were sexually abused as children.

Is it possible to get the government to stop further abusing abused kids? Or is a modicum of morality and human kindness too much to ask from our government? Heck is it too much to ask from the people supporting Drug Prohibition? In my experience so far the answer is YES. It is too much to ask from them.

Say. Isn't America supposed to be a Christian Country? Yes it is. In the same way the Inquisition was a Christian operation. Or the way Martin Luther hated Jews. Ya gotta love Christian Morality. And them Christians are so proud of it. Isn't it time for another Reformation or something? Could we please avoid the Jew hatred this time? How about ending all hatred? You know "Love thy neighbor as thyself." Pardon me but isn't that a Jewish concept? Yes it is.

OTOH some Christians get it.

H/T Drug Policy Forum Of Texas

Cross Posted at Classical Values

Romney Gets Carter Endorsement

Jimmy Carter has a few kind words for Mitt Romney.

On former Massachusetts Gov. Romney, the former Democratic president said he would like to see Romney win the Republican presidential nomination.

"I'm not taking a position, but I would be very pleased to see him win the Republican nomination," Carter said on an interview on MSNBC set to air Thursday night.

Carter also said he appreciated that Rep. Bachmann (R-Minn.) worked on Carter's presidential campaign in 1976.
I think this will really help Mitt in the general election. If he gets that far.

Cross Posted at Classical Values

Hemp Oil Cures Cancer



But according to our Congress marijuana has NO valid medical uses. We do have the smartest Congress money can buy.

kurogroves.com

Run From The Cure - video. For those of you with a heart condition look about 5 minutes into the video.

Also see my post The War On Cancer Patients.

Cross Posted at Classical Values

It Has Started

In my recent post Looking For A Counter Strategy I discussed how the Democrats might use the Drug War to improve their chances in 2012.

Well it has started. There is a MoveOn petition designed to get the Ds to send a message to the President and Congress. Face the Drug War's Failure.

Here is the first section of the petition.

To be delivered to: The United States House of Representatives, The United States Senate and President Barack Obama
Within the last year, the Global Commission on Drug Policy, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, the US Conference of Mayors and both the National Black and Latino Police Associations along with the NAACP and many other international organizations and individuals have called for an end to the current mechanism of drug war.

Currently, there is not one high echelon proponent of drug war willing to discuss this subject in any open, public venue. Therefore, let us quench our thirst for justice and open this dialogue not just on the editorial pages or the occasional broadcast of two-studio banter, but rather we must have an open, national debate on the subject of drug war.
The Republicans are in no way ready for this.

The debate of course will be opened on Oct 2nd when Ken Burn's Prohibition - the movie comes to a PBS Station near you.