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My Turn


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Anonymous wrote:

 

My Turn wrote:

 

Anonymous wrote:

 given the choice of two candidates of equal merit would you hire the one that takes OTC Prilosec or the one that is under the influence on pot? To prepare your taxes, extract a tooth, fix your car, do brain surgery, run your country? Seriously, do we agree that it is a conscious altering substance? If we don't agree on that then the discussion can't possibly progress. 


Dammit, I still didn't login and I ran out for some coffee.

T

 


of course it is a conscious altering substance.....however, so is alcohol, and i would much rather be around someone/s who have taken a couple of hits off a bong than a bunch of drunks.  those under the influence of pot generally are fun, happy, mellow, usually have no interest in driving anywhere, have not seen any of them get into a fight, and i have never had them puke or had to carry them to my car cause they high, like i've had to do for drunk people.....

so, yeah, if i am looking for someone to prepare my taxes, extract a tooth, fix my car, do brain surgery, run my country....i really wouldnt care what they do after work....it they go home and smoke some weed, who cares?  do you care or wonder if the person doing those things for you drinks alcohol???  

edited to add:  i have never heard or read of anyone who died from an accidental THC overdose, but you could probably find examples daily of accidental deaths from drugs and alcohol.......


-- Edited by My Turn on Friday 19th of June 2009 05:43:14 AM
Since you spun the question I posed into "who you'd rather hang out with" rather have perform surgery on you or trust with your business the discussion is again a moot point.  

 



wrong again.  i quite clearly stated that as far as an accountant, surgeon, mechanic, dentist, president, or any other individual i might hire or need, i really would NOT care what they did after work or on their free time.......and would hire them based on their skills without regard to their consumption or non comsumption of pot.

i have always wondered if it gets boring always thinking one is right......i know for me it does get old on the other side......where i know i am not always right.  i find it mentally stimulating to be able to defend my position or to be enlightened when someone is able to teach me something or show me another perspective....however, when someone says, i'm not going to discuss it further...not so much.....



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Psych Lit


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MyCat8it wrote:

 


I seem to remember Alaska had legalized pot for personal use long before California.

I had to look it up just to be sure.  Interesting, the paragraph and Item 1 in the Fast Facts seem to contradict each other.  Maybe someone was stoned when they wrote it.  ;)

http://www.mahalo.com/alaska-marijuana-legalization

yeah im having that same moment. the original article said this:

Providence, R.I. -- Rhode Island became the third state in the country Tuesday to allow the sale of marijuana for medical purposes. The House and Senate easily overrode Governor Carcieris veto of bills that would permit up to three dispensaries that advocates have dubbed compassion centers. In 2006, the General Assembly permanently legalized the use of medical marijuana.


im thinking that there are differing kinds of things going on depending on the state.  the list posted of other states that allow compassionate use of pot is perhaps a different thing than the sale of mj for medical purposes? one is you can get it however ya get it and one is some state sanctioned kind of thing with outlets for buying weed if im reading it right.



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My Turn wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

 given the choice of two candidates of equal merit would you hire the one that takes OTC Prilosec or the one that is under the influence on pot? To prepare your taxes, extract a tooth, fix your car, do brain surgery, run your country? Seriously, do we agree that it is a conscious altering substance? If we don't agree on that then the discussion can't possibly progress. 


Dammit, I still didn't login and I ran out for some coffee.

T

 


of course it is a conscious altering substance.....however, so is alcohol, and i would much rather be around someone/s who have taken a couple of hits off a bong than a bunch of drunks.  those under the influence of pot generally are fun, happy, mellow, usually have no interest in driving anywhere, have not seen any of them get into a fight, and i have never had them puke or had to carry them to my car cause they high, like i've had to do for drunk people.....

so, yeah, if i am looking for someone to prepare my taxes, extract a tooth, fix my car, do brain surgery, run my country....i really wouldnt care what they do after work....it they go home and smoke some weed, who cares?  do you care or wonder if the person doing those things for you drinks alcohol???  

edited to add:  i have never heard or read of anyone who died from an accidental THC overdose, but you could probably find examples daily of accidental deaths from drugs and alcohol.......


-- Edited by My Turn on Friday 19th of June 2009 05:43:14 AM
Since you spun the question I posed into "who you'd rather hang out with" rather have perform surgery on you or trust with your business the discussion is again a moot point.  Though I will say, I still don't understand how it could possibly, ever, be a wise idea to legally give a thumbs up to an entire new group of impaired people. Frankly, I couldn't care less if anyone acidentally or intentionally dies from a pot overdose, or alcohol for that matter. If it happens its a tragic sad loss, what I would argue is that I care about the innocent bystander in the path of the impaired.

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My Turn


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Wonder if they were just feeling really philanthropic in wanting to bring "medical marijuana" to NY. And just what about that million dollars in cash in the basement. Looks like pot is a gateway to prison for this former world class athelete.

T


Ex-Biking Champ Faces Drug Charges
Posted Jun 18, 2009 7:06 AM
WILTON, N.Y. (June 18) - Former mountain biking world champion Melissa "Missy" Giove was in custody Thursday on federal drug charges after authorities said they seized more than 200 pounds of marijuana from a truck she was driving in upstate New York.

U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration officials said Wednesday that the 37-year-old Giove, of Chesapeake, Va., and 30-year-old Eric Canori of Wilton were charged Tuesday with conspiring to possess and distribute more than 100 kilograms of marijuana.


now see...this is a perfect example of why, imo, marijuana should be made legal...if it were, no one would have 200/400 pounds of the stuff in their house or car, nor all that unreported, untaxed, cash income from its sale....those with LEGAL prescription pain meds do not carry around, on themselves or in their cars, 1000s of pills, nor do you hear of anyone toting around or storing that much alcohol....both LEGAL conscious altering substances.



-- Edited by My Turn on Friday 19th of June 2009 05:45:14 AM

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My Turn


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Anonymous wrote:

 given the choice of two candidates of equal merit would you hire the one that takes OTC Prilosec or the one that is under the influence on pot? To prepare your taxes, extract a tooth, fix your car, do brain surgery, run your country? Seriously, do we agree that it is a conscious altering substance? If we don't agree on that then the discussion can't possibly progress. 


Dammit, I still didn't login and I ran out for some coffee.

T

 


of course it is a conscious altering substance.....however, so is alcohol, and i would much rather be around someone/s who have taken a couple of hits off a bong than a bunch of drunks.  those under the influence of pot generally are fun, happy, mellow, usually have no interest in driving anywhere, have not seen any of them get into a fight, and i have never had them puke or had to carry them to my car cause they high, like i've had to do for drunk people.....

so, yeah, if i am looking for someone to prepare my taxes, extract a tooth, fix my car, do brain surgery, run my country....i really wouldnt care what they do after work....it they go home and smoke some weed, who cares?  do you care or wonder if the person doing those things for you drinks alcohol???  

edited to add:  i have never heard or read of anyone who died from an accidental THC overdose, but you could probably find examples daily of accidental deaths from drugs and alcohol.......


-- Edited by My Turn on Friday 19th of June 2009 05:43:14 AM

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Anonymous

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Wonder if they were just feeling really philanthropic in wanting to bring "medical marijuana" to NY. And just what about that million dollars in cash in the basement. Looks like pot is a gateway to prison for this former world class athelete.

T


Ex-Biking Champ Faces Drug Charges
Posted Jun 18, 2009 7:06 AM
WILTON, N.Y. (June 18) - Former mountain biking world champion Melissa "Missy" Giove was in custody Thursday on federal drug charges after authorities said they seized more than 200 pounds of marijuana from a truck she was driving in upstate New York.

U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration officials said Wednesday that the 37-year-old Giove, of Chesapeake, Va., and 30-year-old Eric Canori of Wilton were charged Tuesday with conspiring to possess and distribute more than 100 kilograms of marijuana.

Authorities said they seized nearly 400 pounds of pot from the truck and from Canori's home outside Saratoga Springs, 25 miles north of Albany.
Giove and Canori were in the custody of U.S. Marshals pending detention hearings Thursday afternoon in Albany.

DEA spokeswoman Erin Mulvey said authorities learned of Giove and Canori's plans last weekend when Illinois State Police pulled over a woman driving a truck and trailer loaded with about 220 pounds of marijuana. Authorities completed the delivery to the Albany area, where Mulvey said Giove picked up the vehicle and trailer.
Officials said Giove then drove north and followed Canori to his home, where some of the trailer's contents were unloaded.

Giove was later arrested at nearby Saratoga Lake, authorities said. A search of Canori's home turned up more than 150 pounds of pot and more than $1 million in cash stashed in a closet and the basement, the DEA said.

It couldn't be immediately determined Thursday morning if Giove and Canori had lawyers.

Giove, nicknamed "The Missile" for her aggressive riding style, was the downhill world champion in 1994 and won World Cup season titles in '97 and '98, then captured national titles from 1999-2001. One of the sport's first mainstream female stars, she retired from downhill racing in 2003.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
2009-06-18 07:57:20


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MyCat8it wrote:

boxdog1031 wrote:

 


Carson Cooper, or Anderson. The white haired guy with the steel blue eyes.? Interviewed M Etheridge a coule of days ago and while she said that it was a lifesaver during chemo and treatment (though I know more than a few souls who are making it without it)


Okay, I was going to let the Carson Cooper thing go, but I'm replying to the rest of your post anyway.

Carson Cooper is one of the radio hosts on WUSF, the local NPR station.  Maybe he interviewed Melissa, but I doubt it.  I don't know who Carson Anderson is.  LOL...Google rocks!  It was Anderson Cooper. 

http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2009/06/15/video-melissa-etheridge-on-medical-marijuana/





he then asked her straight up, now that she is out of treatment and has a thumbs up on being cancer free does she still use the prescriptions and smoke. Her answer? Oh absolutely, I have this terrible case of acid reflux if I eat pizza and it makes it feel so much better...I swear to freaking christ thats what she said. SHe doesn't like the thought of taking a Prilosec otc. ? boo hoo.

 



See...I agree with her.  I would much rather smoke the pot than pop the pill.  At least I know what I'm smoking.  What's in that purple pill?  Just because it's legal, doesn't mean it's better for me.  I'm not a fan of taking pills.  I'm less of a fan of the government telling me what is safe simply because the pharmaceutical companies have good lobbyists.  Experience has shown that pills get approved by the govt and are later proven not so safe.  Pot has been around for centuries.




 



He asked her pointedly if her rx was prescribed for the cancer, she said yes. It wasn't intended for any ache or pain that came along until the day she dies. She's cancer free three years now. BUT, being a successful artist in a highly liberal state she has eternal access to "pot". Aside from it being natural, given the choice of two candidates of equal merit would you hire the one that takes OTC Prilosec or the one that is under the influence on pot? To prepare your taxes, extract a tooth, fix your car, do brain surgery, run your country? Seriously, do we agree that it is a conscious altering substance? If we don't agree on that then the discussion can't possibly progress.

Dammit, I still didn't login and I ran out for some coffee.

T



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MyCat8it


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boxdog1031 wrote:

 


Carson Cooper, or Anderson. The white haired guy with the steel blue eyes.? Interviewed M Etheridge a coule of days ago and while she said that it was a lifesaver during chemo and treatment (though I know more than a few souls who are making it without it)


Okay, I was going to let the Carson Cooper thing go, but I'm replying to the rest of your post anyway.

Carson Cooper is one of the radio hosts on WUSF, the local NPR station.  Maybe he interviewed Melissa, but I doubt it.  I don't know who Carson Anderson is.  LOL...Google rocks!  It was Anderson Cooper. 

http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2009/06/15/video-melissa-etheridge-on-medical-marijuana/





he then asked her straight up, now that she is out of treatment and has a thumbs up on being cancer free does she still use the prescriptions and smoke. Her answer? Oh absolutely, I have this terrible case of acid reflux if I eat pizza and it makes it feel so much better...I swear to freaking christ thats what she said. SHe doesn't like the thought of taking a Prilosec otc. ? boo hoo.

 



See...I agree with her.  I would much rather smoke the pot than pop the pill.  At least I know what I'm smoking.  What's in that purple pill?  Just because it's legal, doesn't mean it's better for me.  I'm not a fan of taking pills.  I'm less of a fan of the government telling me what is safe simply because the pharmaceutical companies have good lobbyists.  Experience has shown that pills get approved by the govt and are later proven not so safe.  Pot has been around for centuries.




 



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MyCat8it


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Psych Lit wrote:

 

Nightowlhoot3 wrote:

 

RI Assembly Overrides Veto on Marijuana Centers
Posted by CN Staff on June 16, 2009 at 20:05:03 PT
By Donita Naylor & Cynthia Needham, Staff Writers
Source: Providence Journal

medical Providence, R.I. -- Rhode Island became the third state in the country Tuesday to allow the sale of marijuana for medical purposes. The House and Senate easily overrode Governor Carcieris veto of bills that would permit up to three dispensaries that advocates have dubbed compassion centers. In 2006, the General Assembly permanently legalized the use of medical marijuana.

 

this is a real surprise. Ri is a very conservative working class state with a supposedly mobbed up history. this would be the last state id have thought would legalize pot for any reason. im blown away. the article says this is number 3. which state is 2? i knew cali was but wasnt aware that there was another.

 



I seem to remember Alaska had legalized pot for personal use long before California.

I had to look it up just to be sure.  Interesting, the paragraph and Item 1 in the Fast Facts seem to contradict each other.  Maybe someone was stoned when they wrote it.  ;)

http://www.mahalo.com/alaska-marijuana-legalization

Alaska Marijuana Legalization

  • Legalize-marijuana
    Alaska is the only state in the United States where marijuana possession is legal. Possession of under one ounce of marijuana in one's home is legal; and possession of fewer than 25 plants is protected under Alaska's right to privacy.NORML: Alaska1

  • Fast Facts

    1. Possession of up to four ounces was made legal in 1975 by Alaska Supreme CourtStop the Drug War: Feature: Marijuana Remains Legal in Alaska (May 13, 2005)2
    2. Medical marijuana was made legal in Alaska on March 4, 1999NORML: Alaska1
    3. Patients requiring protection under the act must enroll in the state patient registry and possess a valid medical marijuana card.NORML: Alaska1
    4. Value of 2005 harvest estimated: $76.7-205 million
    5. Price per ounce, 2005: $310NORML: Alaska1

 



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Psych Lit wrote:

 


this is a real surprise. Ri is a very conservative working class state with a supposedly mobbed up history. this would be the last state id have thought would legalize pot for any reason. im blown away. the article says this is number 3. which state is 2? i knew cali was but wasnt aware that there was another.

 

 


here's the list of states i found...


 

1. Alaska1998
2. California
3. Colorado
4. Hawaii
5. Maine
6. Michigan 
7. Montana       
8. Nevada
9. New Mexico
10. Oregon
11. Rhode Island 
12. Vermont
13. Washington


-- Edited by My Turn on Thursday 18th of June 2009 06:08:46 AM

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boxdog1031


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Psych Lit wrote:

Nightowlhoot3 wrote:

 

RI Assembly Overrides Veto on Marijuana Centers
Posted by CN Staff on June 16, 2009 at 20:05:03 PT
By Donita Naylor & Cynthia Needham, Staff Writers
Source: Providence Journal

medical Providence, R.I. -- Rhode Island became the third state in the country Tuesday to allow the sale of marijuana for medical purposes. The House and Senate easily overrode Governor Carcieris veto of bills that would permit up to three dispensaries that advocates have dubbed compassion centers. In 2006, the General Assembly permanently legalized the use of medical marijuana.

 

this is a real surprise. Ri is a very conservative working class state with a supposedly mobbed up history. this would be the last state id have thought would legalize pot for any reason. im blown away. the article says this is number 3. which state is 2? i knew cali was but wasnt aware that there was another.
Carson Cooper, or Anderson. The white haired guy with the steel blue eyes.? Interviewed M Etheridge a coule of days ago and while she said that it was a lifesaver during chemo and treatment (though I know more than a few souls who are making it without it) he then asked her straight up, now that she is out of treatment and has a thumbs up on being cancer free does she still use the prescriptions and smoke. Her answer? Oh absolutely, I have this terrible case of acid reflux if I eat pizza and it makes it feel so much better...I swear to freaking christ thats what she said. SHe doesn't like the thought of taking a Prilosec otc. ? boo hoo.

 



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Psych Lit


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Nightowlhoot3 wrote:

RI Assembly Overrides Veto on Marijuana Centers
Posted by CN Staff on June 16, 2009 at 20:05:03 PT
By Donita Naylor & Cynthia Needham, Staff Writers
Source: Providence Journal

medical Providence, R.I. -- Rhode Island became the third state in the country Tuesday to allow the sale of marijuana for medical purposes. The House and Senate easily overrode Governor Carcieris veto of bills that would permit up to three dispensaries that advocates have dubbed compassion centers. In 2006, the General Assembly permanently legalized the use of medical marijuana.

 

this is a real surprise. Ri is a very conservative working class state with a supposedly mobbed up history. this would be the last state id have thought would legalize pot for any reason. im blown away. the article says this is number 3. which state is 2? i knew cali was but wasnt aware that there was another.


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Nightowlhoot3


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RI Assembly Overrides Veto on Marijuana Centers
Posted by CN Staff on June 16, 2009 at 20:05:03 PT
By Donita Naylor & Cynthia Needham, Staff Writers 
Source: Providence Journal 

medical Providence, R.I. -- Rhode Island became the third state in the country Tuesday to allow the sale of marijuana for medical purposes. The House and Senate easily overrode Governor Carcieris veto of bills that would permit up to three dispensaries that advocates have dubbed compassion centers. In 2006, the General Assembly permanently legalized the use of medical marijuana.



Doctors could prescribe it for critically ill patients. But there was no legal way to buy the drug, leaving patients or their caregivers to grow it, or buy it on the street. For the more than 600 Rhode Islanders who rely on medical marijuana to help relieve the unimaginable suffering that some diseases cause, or to relieve their nausea enough to take food, this will provide not only relief and safety, but also dignity, said Rep. Thomas C. Slater, who sponsored the bill in the House and is himself battling advanced cancer.

Sick people should not be forced to associate with drug dealers and the dark underbelly of society to get the help they need. Im glad were finally recognizing their right to access marijuana safely, legally and without needless shame or fear, said Slater, a Providence Democrat.

In late May, the House approved Slaters bill by a 63-to-5 vote. An identical bill sponsored by Sen. Rhoda E. Perry passed the Senate on June 9 by a vote of 31 to 2. Although both votes indicated a veto-proof majority, Governor Carcieri vetoed them on June 12, saying the increased availability, along with a complacent attitude, will no doubt result in increased usage, and will negatively impact the children of Rhode Island. He also said the dispensaries would complicate the jobs of law enforcement officers and create a perception that Rhode Island is complacent against illegal drugs.

We still have our same concerns, Carcieri spokeswoman Amy Kempe said after Tuesdays overrides. The administration believes there are a lot of issues that should be looked at legislatively before we proceed.

She cited concerns for the safety of patients who will use compassion centers. Theyre easy targets, walking out with medicinal marijuana two blocks later theyre being mugged.

California has compassion centers where patients with a prescription can buy marijuana legally, but those dispensaries were not created by legislation and are not regulated. Earlier this year, New Mexico became the only state to license nonprofit producers of medical marijuana.

At least one national marijuana advocacy group hailed Rhode Islands veto override as historic. Now that the Obama administration has announced a policy change, said Aaron Houston, director of government relations for the Marijuana Policy Project, state legislators seem to feel safer adopting a sensible, regulated system of medical marijuana distribution that avoids the mistakes of California, where dispensaries sprang up with no rules. This is a historic step forward.

States now considering creation of state-licensed dispensaries include Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina and Pennsylvania, and a ballot initiative is being circulated in Arizona, according to the Marijuana Policy Project. This November, Maine voters will consider a ballot initiative to add dispensaries to the states medical marijuana law.

After Tuesdays vote the first override of the year Slater assured his colleagues the forthcoming centers will be monitored. I know many of you had hesitation over this bill, but I can assure you we will have consistent oversight so nothing goes wrong.

w00t.gif   w00t.gif

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Nightowlhoot3


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Anonymous wrote:

!!!  Sheriff "I never met a brown person I didn't want to detain" Joe is being investigated for abuse of civil rights!!!    DanceOwl

Thanks for posting this. I'm embarrassed to say that I have found him at times to be comical and, was not informed enough to realize he has made such comments. It's universal that our penal system tilts towards abuse of blacks but, when it is allowed to go blatantly back by remarks like this is ridiculous. I feel ya ;)Gator.


Oh. My bad. no

I put the "never met..." thing in quotes in the way I would "lefty." or some other nickname.

To my knowledge, he never actually SAID that.

My apology -- wasn't my intention to be misleading.

 



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Anonymous wrote:

!!!  Sheriff "I never met a brown person I didn't want to detain" Joe is being investigated for abuse of civil rights!!!    DanceOwl

Thanks for posting this. I'm embarrassed to say that I have found him at times to be comical and, was not informed enough to realize he has made such comments. It's universal that our penal system tilts towards abuse of blacks but, when it is allowed to go blatantly back by remarks like this is ridiculous. I feel ya ;)Gator.


Not to steal the "tilt" from the wrongly imprisoned felons(sic) but I believe "brown", especially in this case, refers largely to Mexicans and other latinos. Like, Bush 1, "see there's my grandkids, the little brown ones". (Jebs)

 



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!!!  Sheriff "I never met a brown person I didn't want to detain" Joe is being investigated for abuse of civil rights!!!    DanceOwl

Thanks for posting this. I'm embarrassed to say that I have found him at times to be comical and, was not informed enough to realize he has made such comments. It's universal that our penal system tilts towards abuse of blacks but, when it is allowed to go blatantly back by remarks like this is ridiculous. I feel ya ;)Gator.

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Nightowlhoot3 wrote:

 


UPDATE: NOW, he's going after THEM! Justice Department, Department of Homeland Security, both. Stay tuned. Since we're talkin' about Sheriff Joe, we're sure to get lots of press on this soon ...

 

good grief whats he up to now?



 



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Psych Lit wrote:

Nightowlhoot3 wrote:

 

Just as civil rights activists are arriving in DC to deliver petitions asking for that to happen, the letter arrived here for FROM the Justice department telling him it was going to !!!  Sheriff "I never met a brown person I didn't want to detain" Joe is being investigated for abuse of civil rights!!!    Dance

I am BEYONDTHRILLED!!!

THANK YOU bow congressional committee members who asked the Justice Department to do this!

THANK YOU wtg HOMELAND SECURITY Department for YOUR involvement TOO!

 

Ariz. sheriff's department target of federal probe
By EDUARDO MONTES
its about time and i hope it gets results.  i wonder tho how much local opposition there will be with the spillover from mexican gangs?
UPDATE: NOW, he's going after THEM! Justice Department, Department of Homeland Security, both. Stay tuned. Since we're talkin' about Sheriff Joe, we're sure to get lots of press on this soon ...

 



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Nightowlhoot3 wrote:

Score one for states rights... sorta. At least it's a step in the right direction.

Score an even BIGGER one from patients suffering in this country for no damn good reason except politics, and a boisterous liquor lobby.

Attorney general signals shift in marijuana policy

there is a report coming very soon having to do with the decriminalization of all drugs in portugal. apparently the followup report shows that all of the terrible things people considered didnt happen. at least thats the word before the reports release.

Drug Decriminalization in Portugal

POLICY FORUM
Friday, April 3, 2009
12:00 PM (Luncheon to Follow)

Featuring Glenn Greenwald, Attorney and Best-selling Author; with comments by Peter Reuter, Department of Criminology, University of Maryland; moderated by Tim Lynch, Director, Project on Criminal Justice, Cato Institute.

The Cato Institute
1000 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20001

Come back to this page to watch the event live.

In 2001, Portugal began a remarkable policy experiment, decriminalizing all drugs, including cocaine and heroin. Some predicted disastrous resultsthat drug addiction rates would soar and the country would become a haven for "drug tourists." Now that several years have passed, policy experts can study the results. In a new paper for the Cato Institute, attorney and author Glenn Greenwald closely examines the Portugal experiment and concludes that the doomsayers were wrong. There is now a widespread consensus in Portugal that decriminalization has been a success. The debate in Portugal has shifted rather dramatically to minor adjustments in the existing arrangement. There is no real debate about whether drugs should once again be criminalized. Join us for a discussion about Glenn Greenwald's field research in Portugal and what lessons his findings may hold for drug policies in other countries.

Cato events, unless otherwise noted, are free of charge. To register for this event, please fill out the form below and click submit or email events@cato.org, fax (202) 371-0841, or call (202) 789-5229 by noon, Thursday, April 2, 2009. Please arrive early. Seating is limited and not guaranteed. News media inquiries only (no registrations), please call (202) 789-5200.

If you can't make it to the Cato Institute, watch this forum live online.

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http://cato.org/event.php?eventid=5887


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Score one for states rights... sorta. At least it's a step in the right direction.

Score an even BIGGER one from patients suffering in this country for no damn good reason except politics, and a boisterous liquor lobby.

Attorney general signals shift in marijuana policy

By DEVLIN BARRETT
,
AP
 
WASHINGTON -Attorney General Eric Holder signaled a change on medical marijuana policy Wednesday, saying federal agents will target marijuana distributors only when they violate both federal and state law.

That would be a departure from the policy of the Bush administration, which targeted medical marijuana dispensaries in California even if they complied with that state's law.
 
"The policy is to go after those people who violate both federal and state law," Holder said in a question-and-answer session with reporters at the Justice Department.
 
Medical marijuana advocates in California welcomed the news, but said they still worried about the pending cases of those already in court on drug charges.
 
California law permits the sale of marijuana for medical purposes, though it still is against federal law.
 
Holder did not spell out exactly who no longer would face the prospect of raids by the Drug Enforcement Administration. But he was quick to add that law enforcement officers will target anyone who tries to "use medical marijuana laws as a shield" for other illegal activity.
 
"Given the limited resources that we have, our focus will be on people, organizations that are growing, cultivating substantial amounts of marijuana and doing so in a way that's inconsistent with federal and state law," the attorney general said.
 
Advocates and government officials had been waiting since President Barack Obama was sworn into office for a clear signal on what the new president's drug policy would be toward medical marijuana. As a candidate, he repeatedly promised a change in policy in situations in which state laws allow the use of medical marijuana.
 
Yet shortly after Obama took office, DEA agents raided four dispensaries in Los Angeles, prompting confusion about the government's plans.
 
Thirteen states have laws permitting medicinal use of marijuana. California is unique among them for the presence of dispensaries, which are businesses that sell marijuana and even advertise their services. Legal under California law, such dispensaries are still illegal under federal law.
 
Kris Hermes, a spokesman for national medical marijuana advocacy group Americans for Safe Access, said he welcomed Holder's perspective.
 
"It signals a new direction and a more reasonable and sensible direction on medical marijuana policy," he said.
 
Still, Hermes said his Oakland-based organization was concerned about the fate of more than two dozen California medical marijuana cases currently pending in federal court.
 
"There remains a big question as to what the federal government's position is on those cases," Hermes said.
 
He pointed specifically to the case of Charles Lynch, who was federally convicted for running a medical marijuana dispensary collective in San Luis Obispo County last year.
 
Hermes said Lynch could face decades in prison when he is sentenced Monday even though his clinic had been compliant with state law.
 
According to the government's sentencing recommendation for Lynch, which says the five-year mandatory minimum prison term is an appropriate one, Lynch had violated California state law because his "operation was rife with activities having more to do with business and casual drug distribution than anything medical."
 
U.S. attorney's office spokesman Thom Mrozek declined to comment on what would happen to the outstanding marijuana cases in the Los Angeles area.
 
The 13 states that permit medical use of marijuana are Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.
Associated Press writer Thomas Watkins in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

-----------------

w00t.gifw00t.gif


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Psych Lit wrote:

a nice recession story. one can only hope that those in management and on the board of directors also took cuts in their pay and benefits. i tend to be leary about volunteering to give back any benefits or salary. especially when those at the top are making 100 times what the lowest paid folks are paid. and then there are the bonuses. do hospitals pay their execs bonuses? 

Boston hospital staff shows big heart

Tom Barlow
Mar 13th 2009 at 1:30PM
Text SizeAAA

Filed under: Recession

heartThe CEO of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston was facing the same dire task as many other business heads; reducing staffing costs in response to recession setbacks. According to Kevin Cullen in the Boston Globe, CEO Paul Levy took a quite different approach to the problem, however. He gathered together the hospital's staff of administrators, techs, nurses, aides, therapists, clerks, sanitation workers and all in the auditorium and made a bold proposal.

Rather than lay off the lowest paid staff, those who kept the floors clean, the towels stocked, the patients transported and the residents fed, he asked the gathered crowd if the higher-paid employees would be willing to give up some of their salary and benefits so that these people could keep their jobs.


 

The response was immediate, enthusiastic applause. Afterward, Cullen received emails reinforcing the willingness of the staff to sacrifice so that their co-workers could avoid losing their jobs. Some even make concrete suggestions about how this could be accomplished, offering to forgo bonuses, or work one less day a week, or pass on planned raises, or give up vacation or sick days.

How refreshing to see a group of people who recognize that their well being is enhanced, rather than threatened, by acts of generosity, and that hard times are times when we should pull together rather than apart. If you're looking for hospital with a heart, Beth Israel sounds like your kind of place.



Small hospital and alot of larger corporate owned exec bonuses are rare anymore, and certainly not on the level that people assume they are. The salaries too are not at all what you might expect. Any RN with a sufficient amount of o.t. can easily surpass a long line of administrative and some executive level base salaries. All while hitting a clock.  No going back at midnight when a 500 gallon hot water heater explodes. What lost Americans don't understand when it comes to hospitals and their budgets is that an American nurse is the most "entitlement" driven worker in the country. The fastest way to pay down over and under projecting for budgets is to cut overtime, completely, reduce or eliminate shift "bonuses", around here up to 3/400 dollars PER shift for "same day call". And then cut out employee theft. There's probably nurses out there that haven't bought scotch tape, bandages, pens or toilet paper in twenty years. It's not the CEO and the rest of administration, it's nursing. Nice story, the sad part is that the mentality is what needs to be changed, the first to go can't possibly be the people who take the trash out or distribute the food and supplies. Nor should it be from the top. It's the nursing staff that chokes the industry.



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a nice recession story. one can only hope that those in management and on the board of directors also took cuts in their pay and benefits. i tend to be leary about volunteering to give back any benefits or salary. especially when those at the top are making 100 times what the lowest paid folks are paid. and then there are the bonuses. do hospitals pay their execs bonuses? 

Boston hospital staff shows big heart

Tom Barlow
Mar 13th 2009 at 1:30PM
Text SizeAAA

Filed under: Recession

heartThe CEO of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston was facing the same dire task as many other business heads; reducing staffing costs in response to recession setbacks. According to Kevin Cullen in the Boston Globe, CEO Paul Levy took a quite different approach to the problem, however. He gathered together the hospital's staff of administrators, techs, nurses, aides, therapists, clerks, sanitation workers and all in the auditorium and made a bold proposal.

Rather than lay off the lowest paid staff, those who kept the floors clean, the towels stocked, the patients transported and the residents fed, he asked the gathered crowd if the higher-paid employees would be willing to give up some of their salary and benefits so that these people could keep their jobs.


 

The response was immediate, enthusiastic applause. Afterward, Cullen received emails reinforcing the willingness of the staff to sacrifice so that their co-workers could avoid losing their jobs. Some even make concrete suggestions about how this could be accomplished, offering to forgo bonuses, or work one less day a week, or pass on planned raises, or give up vacation or sick days.

How refreshing to see a group of people who recognize that their well being is enhanced, rather than threatened, by acts of generosity, and that hard times are times when we should pull together rather than apart. If you're looking for hospital with a heart, Beth Israel sounds like your kind of place.



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Nightowlhoot3 wrote:

With all the sensationalistic things happening in the last election, some things sort of had a back page publicity placement.

In case you missed it, the voters Washington state passed a "death with dignity" proposition, joining Oregon as now the second state in this country to vote for the cessation of suffering of the terminally ill. 

That makes two states in this country who now are as humane with its people as they are with their cats and dogs.

Three "w00ts" to the voters in Washington! 

w00t.gifw00t.gifw00t.gif



-- Edited by Nightowlhoot3 at 09:44, 2009-03-12


im of mixed emotion on this. on the one hand i think it is a wonderful thing to allow people, fully aware of the odds, to choose when to end their unbearable suffering. on the other hand i think that it opens a door that once opened may come back with a bite. medical care is costly and when, as a society, weve become accustomed to the idea of allowing assisted suicide or perhaps a more active role in someones demise the borders of those ideas might easily spread. what does it mean to vote for the cessation of suffering for the terminally ill? does it mean to pull the plug, deny food or water? administer a hot shot? we are all terminally ill in the philosophical sense of the word and suffering is one of the challenges of being fully human under any circumstance.

im thinking of the 84 year old harley riding woman whos time was short. she was fully alive tho suffering from an incurable illness.

recently my friends mom was terminally ill from the same illness as the woman above and she was in great pain. as is the norm now, she was given pain meds that really didnt do much to ease the pain and once the pain has reached a certain level, she no longer cared about living. i wondered about how that came to be. there are pain management centers why not find better meds? her doctors and nurses administered increasing doses of morphine and they know that once the dose reaches a certain level that it essentially kills the person. this is apparently done in hospitals evey day.

in the end its not the cancer that kills, but the morphine.  at least thats my understanding of it. i wondered at the time why she wasnt offered better pain management. maybe she might have lived abother  months or a year maybe even 2. and from an ethical perspective i wondered if somehow her choices were limited because someone somewhere had made the decision to move her in the direction of the morphine knowing that once on it, its a short ride into eternity.

so it opens other doors as well. someone who has a debilitating disease that wishes to end life before it becomes unbearable. i saw this a lot with aids patients before the ****tail.  or someone who has some mental illness that makes life unbearable. do we offer this option to that person? as someone who thinks a lot about ethical issues im wishing that there was more of a drawing of lines in these states. a real explication of what is allowed and what is not and of who is in charge of making the decision and whether, as in my friends mothers case, that decision may have been spurred by the care provided which creates the desire to end ones life. done right we might see people with "terminal illness" receive the best possible care so as to avoid any potential looking back. done wrong its the proverbial slippery slope.    

 



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With all the sensationalistic things happening in the last election, some things sort of had a back page publicity placement.

In case you missed it, the voters Washington state passed a "death with dignity" proposition, joining Oregon as now the second state in this country to vote for the cessation of suffering of the terminally ill. 

That makes two states in this country who now are as humane with its people as they are with their cats and dogs.

Three "w00ts" to the voters in Washington! 

w00t.gifw00t.gifw00t.gif 



-- Edited by Nightowlhoot3 at 09:44, 2009-03-12

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Psych Lit wrote:

Nightowlhoot3 wrote:

 


-- Edited by Psych Lit at 12:24, 2009-03-11
Crying and blowing nose animated emoticon

 

 


aww you thought that a sad story?
Naw, not "sad" --  "touching." smile

 



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Nightowlhoot3 wrote:

 


-- Edited by Psych Lit at 12:24, 2009-03-11
Crying and blowing nose animated emoticon

 

 


aww you thought that a sad story? i loved it. there is a prime example of someone who is truly living right up until her last day and surrounded by such love. really. we will all someday die some of us sooner than others and yet so many people with years in front of them dont have the chutzpah of this 84 year old life loving woman. i  loved the idea of her riding that harley past the neighbors. what a life lesson.

 



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i loved this story and its a craigslist good citizen thing too

84-Year-Old Gets Birthday Harley Ride

By TAMARA LUSH
,
AP
posted: 1 DAY 15 HOURS AGO
comments: 264
filed under: National News
hp-print-icon1aolPrintshare-iconShare
Text SizeAAA
BUCKHEAD RIDGE, Fla. (March 7) - What do you get an 84-year-old lady for her birthday? That's what Carol Brown was thinking a few weeks ago. Her mother, June Pearce, was turning 84. The idea of buying and giving more stuff just didn't appeal to Brown.
"When you're 84, what is there?" she thought.
Skip over this content
A Gift Like No Other

For the last couple weeks, Carol Brown, left, had been trying to think of a special gift for her mother's 84th birthday. And then it hit her: a motorcycle ride like June Pearce, right, once experienced in the 1930s. Here the two stand behind the blue bike Pearce rode in Okeechobee, Fla., Friday.
(Note: Please disable your pop-up blocker)
Pearce lives in a slow-paced retirement area near Lake Okeechobee in rural Florida. She's been married to the same man, Fred, for 64 years. Pearce is a wife and a mother. She's had a few strokes, which have robbed her mind of short-term memories. Lung cancer has claimed much of her strength.
But one memory has stuck with her: riding on the back of a boy's motorcycle in the 1930s.
"I wasn't scared at all," Pearce remembers.
It was exciting, possibly one of the most thrilling moments of her life. Pearce remembered sliding off the bike and the pain of scraping her leg, but loving it just the same. She told this story so many times that Brown can recite it by heart.
"It was during the depression," Brown said. "Not a lot of excitement happened then."
Brown thought of that story as she racked her brain, wondering what to do about the birthday. Then she had an idea.
"Come Give Granny A Ride On Your Hog," she typed into an ad on Craigslist.
In the Internet posting, Brown asked if anyone would be willing to ride out and give Pearce a ride for her 84th birthday. She got one response, from a man named Ron Borowski. He said he'd ride his Harley-Davidson Low Rider electric blue, with dark blue flames and a chrome kickstand shaped like a skeleton's foot from his house in Palm Beach County to June and Fred Pearce's home, some 65 miles away.
"My mom passed away from cancer, so the ad touched me," said Borowski, 45. "I just figured it would be an adventure."
Brown wasn't sure how her mom would react if a strange person showed up in the driveway with a Harley. So Brown told her mom the day before, and June Pearce spent the day calling everyone she knew to tell them about it. Brown's two grown daughters also showed up to celebrate. After all, it might be June Pearce's last birthday, since a doctor told her in September there was nothing more they could do for her cancer.
On Friday, Pearce spent most of the afternoon walking up and down the driveway, waiting for Borowski. Just about 5 feet tall, Pearce's white hair matched her white cardigan, which was embroidered with butterflies. She wore pink glasses, which matched her pink frosted nails.
Just before 4 p.m., Borowski thundered into the driveway, followed by a buddy riding a big, silver Honda.
"I'm your chauffeur today," Borowski said, grinning and taking off his helmet. He was wearing jeans, a T-shirt and a leather vest.
Pearce's eyes widened. She made her way slowly toward the bike and touched the seat. Everyone made small talk for a while and Fred Pearce showed a sepia-tinged photo of the family's upstate New York home he and his wife built with their hands many decades ago.
Then Borowski asked June Pearce if she wanted to take a ride. Pearce shook her head how on earth would she ever get on the bike? "No way," she said firmly.
Pearce is a feisty woman, prone to swearing and stubbornness. Brown, Borowski and the granddaughters looked at each other. Had Borowski driven all this way for nothing? Maybe, thought Brown, her mother was just embarrassed that she wasn't able to straddle the bike on her own.
Borowski, Brown and the granddaughters said they'd help her on. Pearce ran her hands on the black leather and, with a bit more coaxing, sat on the bike near the tank. She allowed her leg to be swung over the seat and then Borowski gently lifted her onto the back.
"I wish I was a lot younger," Pearce said, adjusting her helmet. Borowski climbed on.
"Hold on tight," he said, and started the motor. The bike was so loud the grass near the driveway vibrated. Brown felt her heart thumping loudly out of excitement and a bit of fear that Pearce would fall off.
Pearce's husband watched from a few feet away. "I've got all of my fingers crossed for her," he said. There were tears in his eyes; for the last three years, he's been caring for her through her chemotherapy and radiation.
"I've been lucky to keep her alive," he said softly. "I hope this gives her another six months."
June Pearce wrapped her arms around Borowski's chest and he took off, slowly. They went around the block twice, past the retirees watering their lawns, past the pastel colored mobile homes and Pearce wore a tiny smile as they rumbled into the driveway.
"What we're giving today is a memory," said Brown. "She's not going to get rid of it in a garage sale, break it or throw it away. Memories are the best gifts, I think."


-- Edited by Psych Lit at 12:24, 2009-03-11
                                            Crying and blowing nose animated emoticon

 



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i loved this story and its a craigslist good citizen thing too

84-Year-Old Gets Birthday Harley Ride

By TAMARA LUSH
,
AP
posted: 1 DAY 15 HOURS AGO
comments: 264
filed under: National News
hp-print-icon1aolPrintshare-iconShare
Text SizeAAA
BUCKHEAD RIDGE, Fla. (March 7) - What do you get an 84-year-old lady for her birthday? That's what Carol Brown was thinking a few weeks ago. Her mother, June Pearce, was turning 84. The idea of buying and giving more stuff just didn't appeal to Brown.
"When you're 84, what is there?" she thought.
Skip over this content
A Gift Like No Other

For the last couple weeks, Carol Brown, left, had been trying to think of a special gift for her mother's 84th birthday. And then it hit her: a motorcycle ride like June Pearce, right, once experienced in the 1930s. Here the two stand behind the blue bike Pearce rode in Okeechobee, Fla., Friday.
(Note: Please disable your pop-up blocker)
Pearce lives in a slow-paced retirement area near Lake Okeechobee in rural Florida. She's been married to the same man, Fred, for 64 years. Pearce is a wife and a mother. She's had a few strokes, which have robbed her mind of short-term memories. Lung cancer has claimed much of her strength.
But one memory has stuck with her: riding on the back of a boy's motorcycle in the 1930s.
"I wasn't scared at all," Pearce remembers.
It was exciting, possibly one of the most thrilling moments of her life. Pearce remembered sliding off the bike and the pain of scraping her leg, but loving it just the same. She told this story so many times that Brown can recite it by heart.
"It was during the depression," Brown said. "Not a lot of excitement happened then."
Brown thought of that story as she racked her brain, wondering what to do about the birthday. Then she had an idea.
"Come Give Granny A Ride On Your Hog," she typed into an ad on Craigslist.
In the Internet posting, Brown asked if anyone would be willing to ride out and give Pearce a ride for her 84th birthday. She got one response, from a man named Ron Borowski. He said he'd ride his Harley-Davidson Low Rider electric blue, with dark blue flames and a chrome kickstand shaped like a skeleton's foot from his house in Palm Beach County to June and Fred Pearce's home, some 65 miles away.
"My mom passed away from cancer, so the ad touched me," said Borowski, 45. "I just figured it would be an adventure."
Brown wasn't sure how her mom would react if a strange person showed up in the driveway with a Harley. So Brown told her mom the day before, and June Pearce spent the day calling everyone she knew to tell them about it. Brown's two grown daughters also showed up to celebrate. After all, it might be June Pearce's last birthday, since a doctor told her in September there was nothing more they could do for her cancer.
On Friday, Pearce spent most of the afternoon walking up and down the driveway, waiting for Borowski. Just about 5 feet tall, Pearce's white hair matched her white cardigan, which was embroidered with butterflies. She wore pink glasses, which matched her pink frosted nails.
Just before 4 p.m., Borowski thundered into the driveway, followed by a buddy riding a big, silver Honda.
"I'm your chauffeur today," Borowski said, grinning and taking off his helmet. He was wearing jeans, a T-shirt and a leather vest.
Pearce's eyes widened. She made her way slowly toward the bike and touched the seat. Everyone made small talk for a while and Fred Pearce showed a sepia-tinged photo of the family's upstate New York home he and his wife built with their hands many decades ago.
Then Borowski asked June Pearce if she wanted to take a ride. Pearce shook her head how on earth would she ever get on the bike? "No way," she said firmly.
Pearce is a feisty woman, prone to swearing and stubbornness. Brown, Borowski and the granddaughters looked at each other. Had Borowski driven all this way for nothing? Maybe, thought Brown, her mother was just embarrassed that she wasn't able to straddle the bike on her own.
Borowski, Brown and the granddaughters said they'd help her on. Pearce ran her hands on the black leather and, with a bit more coaxing, sat on the bike near the tank. She allowed her leg to be swung over the seat and then Borowski gently lifted her onto the back.
"I wish I was a lot younger," Pearce said, adjusting her helmet. Borowski climbed on.
"Hold on tight," he said, and started the motor. The bike was so loud the grass near the driveway vibrated. Brown felt her heart thumping loudly out of excitement and a bit of fear that Pearce would fall off.
Pearce's husband watched from a few feet away. "I've got all of my fingers crossed for her," he said. There were tears in his eyes; for the last three years, he's been caring for her through her chemotherapy and radiation.
"I've been lucky to keep her alive," he said softly. "I hope this gives her another six months."
June Pearce wrapped her arms around Borowski's chest and he took off, slowly. They went around the block twice, past the retirees watering their lawns, past the pastel colored mobile homes and Pearce wore a tiny smile as they rumbled into the driveway.
"What we're giving today is a memory," said Brown. "She's not going to get rid of it in a garage sale, break it or throw it away. Memories are the best gifts, I think."


-- Edited by Psych Lit at 12:24, 2009-03-11

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Nightowlhoot3 wrote:

 

Just as civil rights activists are arriving in DC to deliver petitions asking for that to happen, the letter arrived here for FROM the Justice department telling him it was going to !!!  Sheriff "I never met a brown person I didn't want to detain" Joe is being investigated for abuse of civil rights!!!    Dance

I am BEYONDTHRILLED!!!

THANK YOU bow congressional committee members who asked the Justice Department to do this!

THANK YOU wtg HOMELAND SECURITY Department for YOUR involvement TOO!

 

Ariz. sheriff's department target of federal probe
By EDUARDO MONTES
its about time and i hope it gets results.  i wonder tho how much local opposition there will be with the spillover from mexican gangs?


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Just as civil rights activists are arriving in DC to deliver petitions asking for that to happen, the letter arrived here for FROM the Justice department telling him it was going to !!!  Sheriff "I never met a brown person I didn't want to detain" Joe is being investigated for abuse of civil rights!!!    Dance

I am BEYONDTHRILLED!!!

THANK YOU bow congressional committee members who asked the Justice Department to do this!

THANK YOU wtg  HOMELAND SECURITY Department for YOUR involvement TOO!

 

Ariz. sheriff's department target of federal probe
By EDUARDO MONTES
,
AP
PHOENIX -Federal authorities told a high-profile Arizona sheriff Tuesday that they will investigate his department over allegations of discrimination and unconstitutional searches and seizures.

The U.S. Justice Department said in a letter to Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio that investigators will focus on alleged patterns of police discrimination based on national origin.

The letter offers no specific allegations. But Arpaio said he believes the investigation was spurred by his department's often controversial efforts to combat illegal immigration in Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix.

Arpaio's department is the largest participant in a federal program that allows local police departments to enforce federal immigration laws.

The department has aggressively pursued investigations under Arizona's employer sanctions law and a state anti-smuggling law.

The smuggling law was designed to help local police fight smugglers, but an interpretation by Maricopa County's top prosecutor opened the door for Arpaio's deputies to arrest people who pay smugglers and accuse them of being co-conspirators.

Arpaio has also launched crime sweeps in areas around Phoenix with high concentrations of Hispanics. Most recently, Arpaio began to separate illegal immigrants from other inmates in Tent City, a section of the county jail where all inmates are housed in tents.

Those tactics have attracted national attention and have led some critics, including immigration activists, to accuse Arpaio's department of racial profiling.
The sheriff said he will cooperate with the Justice Department. "If they want to come down, let them come," he said. "We'll open our books. We have nothing to hide."

---------------------------

It's PHATT TUESDAY HERE, BAYBEE!!
(and a good day for civil rights in America!)
 

dancerPom Pomsw00t.gifParty Emoticonhappy dancingDancing BananaDancing Bannana

w00t.gifw00t.gif



-- Edited by Nightowlhoot3 at 23:31, 2009-03-10

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Psych Lit wrote:

 

Nightowlhoot3 wrote:

 

Nightowlhoot3 wrote:

I was going to post this under "a cool thing" but decided instead, to just start a thread where we can post things that make us feel good, either through laughter, or inspiration, or whatever, can live.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Made me feel good to read this, today. Nice to see efforts like this in places one might least expect it, trying to stem homphobia.

Harvey Milk sculpture proposed for Utah Capitol

By 365gay Newscenter Staff
02.27.2009 3:19pm EST

(Salt Lake City, Utah) A Salt Lake City area man has a unique proposal to counter what he sees as growing homophobia among Utah politicians - a statue to Harvey Milk at the Utah Capitol.

Roger Carrier says the statue, honoring the openly gay San Francisco politician who was assassinated, would serve as a constant reminder of the effects of bigotry to Utah lawmakers.

 

When I heard Senator Buttars comments, I was disgusted and appalled, Carrier told KTVX-televison.

In recent comments to a documentary filmmaker, Buttars compared gay activists to radical Muslims and said they are probably the greatest threat to America going down. He also said gay people lack morals.

The remarks drew outrage not only from gays and liberals but also from both sides of the aisle in the Legislature. Senate President Michael Waddoups removed Buttars from a judiciary committee that Buttars chaired and Democrats have called for greater sanctions.

Carrier, who is straight, said he never thought he would hear a public official speak that way, adding that the remarks have hurt Utahs reputation nationally.

Carrier thinks that a Milk memorial would speak volumes about our state.

I am doing this out of a sense of justice for the gay community and not just for the gay community, its for everybody, he told KTVX.

A retired teacher, Carrier said he believes same-sex marriage or civil unions are inevitable in the state.




I give Roger Carrier and this story 
three "w00t"s   w00t.gifw00t.gifw00t.gif



wow thats pretty remarkable. and in utah? where all that anti prop 8 money came from?  i think thats a 10 hoot proposal!


Yeah, I thought it was cool.

Ya know, last year, California's legislature passed a bill making a state-wide Harvey Milk day. Arnold vetoed it, but I think they'll put it before him again this year, if they haven't already. Would be interesting to chart this along side of the Prop 8 thing, AND viewership of the film "Milk" all at the same time.

The Harvey Milk Day thing caught my eye because (again) I'm in Arizona, and we had a governor here, who really humiliated us by choosing as his first act as governor, rescending the MLK civil rights day. It was downright embarrassing. He was eventually recalled, although not technically for that. Anyway, the parallel didn't escape me, and the recognition that although he may not have been the same sort of really singularly focused civil rights leader (it was SORT of Rev. ML King's JOB as well as calling, and Harvey Milk had another kind of job which didn't allow him such specific dedication to one cause) of the emergence of a new, evolved, and recognized civil rights struggle in this country. Recognized -- "officially" -- by legislators.

Of course, the MLK Day is a federal holiday, and one of a very very select few to honor a specific person, whereas the California holiday would be only statewide, but still

Trivia: Reagan, that "Mr. Wonderful" president <eyeroll>  really wanted to veto the MLK Holiday, but just couldn't, in light of the overwhelming support in both the house and Senate. McCain opposed the holiday too -- both as a federal holiday (was one of the few legislators who voted against it, and openly in agreement with Ev Mecham when he rescended the holiday in Arizona) but then changed his mind. Perhaps John Mc will have a similar change of hear in re: his very vocal support of prop 107 here in Arizona, the anti-gay marriage bill.

Yeah, right. smile

 The good news is we in AZ finally DID get our MLK Holiday, (and before Utah) but it wasn't without a lot of tenacity. Mecham was replaced by Fife "I-know-a-good-plumber-named-Joe" Symmington who also opposed the holiday... it's not been easy here, but then it never is.

I know there are lots of people who just flat out wouldn't live in Arizona because of its politics. I take a different stance, I guess. I like the challenge. Territory where one can make a difference is hugely appealing to me, and I've seen some pretty astounding political changes here in Arizona during my adulthood, not the least of which is a continual shift in voter registration from republican to democratic.

 




 



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A big "w00t" to the owners of "Where Everybody Knows Your Name" for the change in their Sparklit directory listing, moving it out of the "lesbian" section, and into the general GLBT section, and changing their description to:

Where Everybody Knows Your Name
A lesbian-owned place where all people are welcome to chat, socialize, discuss topics.
Views: 22,407

 

I really like the "lesbian-owned" part.  smile Whole thing to me seems incredibly well worded, accurate, and to the point. 

w00t.gifw00t.gif 

 



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Nightowlhoot3 wrote:

 

Nightowlhoot3 wrote:

I was going to post this under "a cool thing" but decided instead, to just start a thread where we can post things that make us feel good, either through laughter, or inspiration, or whatever, can live.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Made me feel good to read this, today. Nice to see efforts like this in places one might least expect it, trying to stem homphobia.

Harvey Milk sculpture proposed for Utah Capitol

By 365gay Newscenter Staff
02.27.2009 3:19pm EST

(Salt Lake City, Utah) A Salt Lake City area man has a unique proposal to counter what he sees as growing homophobia among Utah politicians - a statue to Harvey Milk at the Utah Capitol.

Roger Carrier says the statue, honoring the openly gay San Francisco politician who was assassinated, would serve as a constant reminder of the effects of bigotry to Utah lawmakers.

 

When I heard Senator Buttars comments, I was disgusted and appalled, Carrier told KTVX-televison.

In recent comments to a documentary filmmaker, Buttars compared gay activists to radical Muslims and said they are probably the greatest threat to America going down. He also said gay people lack morals.

The remarks drew outrage not only from gays and liberals but also from both sides of the aisle in the Legislature. Senate President Michael Waddoups removed Buttars from a judiciary committee that Buttars chaired and Democrats have called for greater sanctions.

Carrier, who is straight, said he never thought he would hear a public official speak that way, adding that the remarks have hurt Utahs reputation nationally.

Carrier thinks that a Milk memorial would speak volumes about our state.

I am doing this out of a sense of justice for the gay community and not just for the gay community, its for everybody, he told KTVX.

A retired teacher, Carrier said he believes same-sex marriage or civil unions are inevitable in the state.




I give Roger Carrier and this story 
three "w00t"s   w00t.gifw00t.gifw00t.gif



wow thats pretty remarkable. and in utah? where all that anti prop 8 money came from?  i think thats a 10 hoot proposal!



 

 



 



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Nightowlhoot3 wrote:

I was going to post this under "a cool thing" but decided instead, to just start a thread where we can post things that make us feel good, either through laughter, or inspiration, or whatever, can live. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Made me feel good to read this, today. Nice to see efforts like this in places one might least expect it, trying to stem homphobia. 

Harvey Milk sculpture proposed for Utah Capitol

By 365gay Newscenter Staff
02.27.2009 3:19pm EST

(Salt Lake City, Utah) A Salt Lake City area man has a unique proposal to counter what he sees as growing homophobia among Utah politicians - a statue to Harvey Milk at the Utah Capitol.

Roger Carrier says the statue, honoring the openly gay San Francisco politician who was assassinated, would serve as a constant reminder of the effects of bigotry to Utah lawmakers.

 

When I heard Senator Buttars comments, I was disgusted and appalled, Carrier told KTVX-televison.

In recent comments to a documentary filmmaker, Buttars compared gay activists to radical Muslims and said they are probably the greatest threat to America going down. He also said gay people lack morals.

The remarks drew outrage not only from gays and liberals but also from both sides of the aisle in the Legislature. Senate President Michael Waddoups removed Buttars from a judiciary committee that Buttars chaired and Democrats have called for greater sanctions.

Carrier, who is straight, said he never thought he would hear a public official speak that way, adding that the remarks have hurt Utahs reputation nationally.

Carrier thinks that a Milk memorial would speak volumes about our state.

I am doing this out of a sense of justice for the gay community and not just for the gay community, its for everybody, he told KTVX.

A retired teacher, Carrier said he believes same-sex marriage or civil unions are inevitable in the state.




     I give Roger Carrier and this story 
               three "w00t"s   w00t.gifw00t.gifw00t.gif







 



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56-year-old first woman to swim Atlantic

American Figge never saw any sharks after starting quest on Jan. 12

APTRANS.gif
updated 9:07 p.m. MT, Sat., Feb. 7, 2009

(Courtesy of MSNBC)

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Jennifer Figge pressed her toes into the Caribbean sand, exhilarated and exhausted as she touched land this week for the first time in almost a month.

Reaching a beach in Trinidad, she became the first woman on record to swim across the Atlantic Ocean a dream shed had since the early 1960s, when a stormy trans-Atlantic flight got her thinking she could don a life vest and swim the rest of the way if needed.

The 56-year-old left the Cape Verde Islands off Africas western coast on Jan. 12, battling waves of up to 30 feet and strong winds.

David Higdon, a friend of Figge who kept in touch with her via satellite phone, said she had originally planned to swim to the Bahamas, but inclement weather forced her to veer 1,000 miles off course to Trinidad, where she arrived on Thursday.

Figge plans to continue her odyssey, swimming from Trinidad to the British Virgin Islands, where she expects to arrive in late February. The crew wont compute the total distance Figge swam until after she completes the journey, Higdon said.

Then its home to Aspen, Colo. where she trained for months in an outdoor pool amid snowy blizzards to reunite with her Alaskan Malamute.

My dog doesnt know where I am, she told The Associated Press on Saturday by phone. Its time for me to get back home to Hank.

The dog swirled in her thoughts, as did family and friends, as Figge stroked through the chilly Atlantic waters escorted by a sailboat. She saw a pod of pilot whales, several turtles, dozens of dolphins but no sharks.

I was never scared, Figge said. Looking back, I wouldnt have it any other way. I can always swim in a pool.

Her journey comes a decade after French swimmer Benoit Lecomte made the first known solo trans-Atlantic swim, covering nearly 4,000 miles from Massachusetts to France in 73 days. No woman on record has made the crossing.

Figge woke most days around 7 a.m., eating pasta and baked potatoes while she and the crew assessed the weather. Her longest stint in the water was about eight hours, and her shortest was 21 minutes. Crew members would throw bottles of energy drinks as she swam; if the seas were too rough, divers would deliver them in person. At night she ate meat, fish and peanut butter, replenishing the estimated 8,000 calories she burned a day.

Figge wore a red cap and wet suit, with her only good-luck charm underneath: an old, red shirt to guard against chafing, signed by friends, relatives and her father, who recently died.

The other cherished possession she kept onboard was a picture of Gertrude Ederle, an American who became the first woman to swim across the English Channel.

We have a few things in common, Figge said. She wore a red hat and she was of German descent. We both talk to the sea, and neither one of us wanted to get out.

Figge arrived on Trinidads Chacachacare Island, an abandoned leper colony, at 5:20 p.m. She plans to leave Trinidad on Monday night.

(End of AP article)



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this one tickled me today.  from the ny times

On the Road, for Reasons Practical and Spiritual

By LARRY ROHTER
Published: February 24, 2009

The day after his first American concert in more than 15 years, Leonard Cohen sat in a Manhattan hotel suite warily submitting to an interviewers questions, including one about the music in his laptops iTunes. In response, he played a klezmer-style Hebrew hymn, then followed it by singing along with one of George Joness weepy country morality tales.

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leo190.jpg
Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times

Leonard Cohen will embark on a two-month North American tour in April.

Ive had choices since the day that I was born,/There were voices that told me right from wrong, Mr. Cohen crooned in his stern baritone. If I had listened, no, I wouldnt be here today,/Living and dying with the choices Ive made.

Religious devotion weighs heavily in both music and life for Mr. Cohen, and it takes many forms. After a five-year stint in a Zen Buddhist monastery and various legal distractions, he is back on the road: an undertaking that seems to combine his quest for spiritual fulfillment with an effort to regain his financial footing, lost when his former business manager made off with his money while Mr. Cohen was living as a monk on a mountaintop above Los Angeles.

It was a long, ongoing problem of a disastrous and relentless indifference to my financial situation, Mr. Cohen said on Friday of the resulting legal proceedings, which awarded him $9.5 million money he has yet to collect. I didnt even know where the bank was.

So on April 2, for reasons both practical and aesthetic, Mr. Cohen will embark on a two-month North American tour, including a performance at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on April 17 and an appearance at Radio City Music Hall on May 16. In addition, songs from the concert he played last Thursday at the Beacon Theater will begin streaming online on Thursday on the National Public Radio Web site (npr.org/music or nprmusic.org).

Mr. Cohens world tour, which actually began in May 2008 in his native Canada, is scheduled to continue through the end of this year, a feat of endurance for a man his age. At 74, Mr. Cohen is nine years Mick Jaggers senior and two years older than John McCain. But he is remarkably limber, skipping on and off the stage during his three-hour show and repeatedly dropping to his knees to sing.

Roscoe Beck, Mr. Cohens musical director, says that even on the longest flights Mr. Cohen sits cross-legged and straight-backed in his seat, in a monks posture. Asked whether he also does yoga to build strength and agility for his stage shows, Mr. Cohen, his demeanor courtly but reserved, smiled and replied, That is my yoga.

In fact, Mr. Cohen appears to see performance and prayer as aspects of the same larger divine enterprise. That may not be surprising, coming from an artist whose best-known songs mingle sacred concerns with the secular and the sexual and sound like collaborations between Jacques Brel and Thomas Merton, as the novelist Pico Iyer put it.

Theres a similarity in the quality of the daily life on the road and in the monastery, Mr. Cohen said. Theres just a sense of purpose in which a lot of extraneous material is naturally and necessarily discarded, and what is left is a rigorous and severe routine in which the capacity to focus becomes much easier.

Mr. Cohen said he stopped touring in 1993 partly because he was drinking too much red wine between shows. But even with his money problems, he had to be persuaded to go out on the road again, said Rob Hallett, the promoter of the tour, in which Mr. Cohen performs with a nine-piece band.

For three years, every time Id go to Los Angeles, Id try to convince him to do it, Mr. Hallett said. But he didnt think anyone cared.

After 99 concerts in places as far-flung as Bucharest and Auckland, Mr. Cohen now knows that is not true. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008, but unlike many other pop music figures who emerged in the 1960s he never overexposed himself, and he has maintained an air of mystery around his person and his songs.

In the years he was away, the work was still there to be found, and people caught up with him, said Hal Willner, the music producer responsible for Came So Far for Beauty, a Cohen concert tribute that toured the world in 2004 and 2005. The records always kept surfacing, being talked about as influences on the young kids coming up, like Kurt Cobain and Jeff Buckley, and those who listened found themselves being drawn into the songs, in a Venus flytrap sort of way.

Thanks to that new generation of artists and listeners, more recent songs like Hallelujah have now become as widely known as Suzanne and other compositions from Mr. Cohens early years. Hallelujah has been recorded almost 200 times, with two different versions reaching the Top 10 in Britain late in 2008, and was even sung by a contestant on American Idol last year, which gave it another boost.

Because so many of Mr. Cohens songs have been recorded by others, many of his new admirers associate his work mainly with the artists who have popularized them, like Rufus Wainwright and Mr. Buckley. But Mr. Cohen dismissed the idea of reclaiming possession of his songs as one of the motives for going back on tour.

My sense of ownership with these things is very weak, he responded. Its not the result of spiritual discipline; its always been that way. My sense of proprietorship has been so weak that actually I didnt pay attention and I lost the copyrights on a lot of the songs.

About the meaning of those songs, Mr. Cohen is diffident and elusive. Many are, he acknowledges, muffled prayers, but beyond that he is not eager to reveal much.

Its difficult to do the commentary on the prayer, he said. Im not a Talmudist, Im more the little Jew who wrote the Bible, a reference to a line in The Future, a song he released in 1992. I feel it doesnt serve the enterprise to really examine it from outside the moment.

Mr. Cohen said he hoped to make a new record when the tour ends, and offered to play one of his newer compositions. Tentatively called Amen, it features a Farfisa-style keyboard, a trumpetlike solo played by Mr. Cohen on his synthesizer and lyrics like this: Tell me again when the filth of the butcher is washed in the blood of the lamb.

Jennifer Warnes, the singer whose 1986 recording of Famous Blue Raincoat helped revive interest in Mr. Cohen at a time when he was out of critical favor, said: He has investigated a lot of deities and read all the sacred books, trying to understand in some way who wrote them as much as the subject matter itself. Its for his own healing that he reaches for those places. If he has one great love, it is his search for God.

Mr. Cohen is an observant Jew who keeps the Sabbath even while on tour and performed for Israeli troops during the 1973 Arab-Israeli war. So how does he square that faith with his continued practice of Zen?

Allen Ginsberg asked me the same question many years ago, he said. Well, for one thing, in the tradition of Zen that Ive practiced, there is no prayerful worship and there is no affirmation of a deity. So theologically there is no challenge to any Jewish belief.

Zen has also helped him to learn to stop whining, Mr. Cohen said, and to worry less about the choices he has made. All these things have their own destiny; one has ones own destiny. The older I get, the surer I am that Im not running the show

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Nightowlhoot3 wrote:

I was going to post this under "a cool thing" but decided instead, to just start a thread where we can post things that make us feel good, either through laughter, or inspiration, or whatever, can live.

Here's my first contribution:


what a great picture..i just wanna pinch those apple cheeks! lol
good for her!




 



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I was going to post this under "a cool thing" but decided instead, to just start a thread where we can post things that make us feel good, either through laughter, or inspiration, or whatever, can live.

Here's my first contribution: 





72-year old Outruns Teen Mugger



February13


jeanhirst_1294851c.jpg


Three teens posed as good Samaritans as they carried 72-year old Jean Hirst's bags to her car in Derbyshire, England. Unfortunately, helping wasnt exactly on the their minds. As one snatched her purse and began running, little did the teen know that Ms. Hirst was a former All England Schools championship sprinter with running in her blood.


As Ms. Hirst put it:


"Suddenly I felt 18 again. The adrenaline just kicked in and I seemed to turn back the years. She had a head start but I covered 70 yards in about 15 seconds and was within two strides of her when she looked over her shoulder and saw me.


She probably thought I was an easy target but she shouldnt have judged a book by its cover. The look on her face was one of sheer amazement and she just threw my bag aside."


The only consequence to her unplanned dash?


"I did pay for it a little the next day. I was covered in aches and pains and my daughter turned to me and said it was because I didn't warm up properly"

------------------------

And doncha just LOVE her smile??

                                                      w00t!!! w00t.gif







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