Call Congress Today About Key Medical Vote

[Marianne]

Congress will vote on an amendment this week (as early as Tuesday night) that would protect cancer, AIDS and other patients who use marijuana for medical reasons from federal prosecution. Make sure your Representative votes the right way: call him or her as soon as possible, and forward this alert to everyone you know. (You can check our website to make sure Congress hasn't voted on the amendment before you call).

What to Do: Call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121. Ask to speak to your Representative. If you're not sure who represents you, the operator can tell you. You can also look up your Representative by entering your zip code at the top of the page.

What to Say: Once the operator transfers you to your Representative's office, give the person that answers the phone the following message:

"Hi, I'm a constituent. I'm calling to urge my Representative to vote for the Hinchey-Rohrabacher medical marijuana amendment to the Science-State-Justice-Commerce spending bill, which will be voted on this week. This issue is very important to me."

(Hinchey-Rohrabacher is pronounced Hinchee - Roy Bocker.)

Then forward this alert to friends, family, etc.

More Information

Responding to the growing conflict between the states and the federal government over the issue of medical marijuana, Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) and Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) will offer an amendment to the Science-State-Justice-Commerce Appropriations bill that would prohibit the U.S. Justice Department from undermining state efforts to provide terminally ill and chronic pain patients access to doctor-recommended medical marijuana. The amendment would prohibit the Justice Department from spending any money on arresting or prosecuting medical marijuana patients in states where medical marijuana is legal. 161 members of Congress voted for a similar amendment last year.

11 states have enacted effective medical marijuana laws - Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington. The U.S. Justice Department, however, continues to spend millions of dollars arresting medical marijuana patients and their caregivers - even in states where medical marijuana is legal. At a time when violent drug cartels remain at large and threats of terrorism continue to emerge, it is irresponsible for the Justice Department to jeopardize public safety by wasting scarce law enforcement resources conducting raids on hospice centers and medical marijuana patients.

The Hinchey-Rohrabacher medical marijuana amendment would not prevent the Justice Department from arresting people using, growing, or selling marijuana for recreational use. Nor would it prevent the Justice Department from arresting medical marijuana patients in the states that have not approved the drug for this use. It simply prevents the federal government from arresting cancer, AIDS and MS patients that use marijuana for medical reasons in states that have adopted medical marijuana laws.

Substantial majorities of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents support medical marijuana. A 2001 Pew Research Center poll found that 73% of Americans support medical marijuana. A 2002 Time/CNN poll found that 80% of Americans support it. The Institute of Medicine has determined that nausea, appetite loss, pain and anxiety "all can be mitigated by marijuana." Allowing cancer, AIDS, and MS patients legal access to medical marijuana is supported by the American Nurses Association, American Public Health Association, American Bar Association, the Whitman-Walker Clinic, and Kaiser Permanente, among other groups.

Please urge your U.S. Representative to support the Hinchey-Rohrabacher medical marijuana amendment to the Justice Department spending bill by calling the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121.


Newskhawk: Happykid - 420 Magazine
Source: DrugPolicy.org
Copyright: 2006 Drug Policy Alliance
Contact: 202-224-3121
Website: Drug Policy Alliance

 

[Brett2theMax]

So if this bill is passed then I should be able to recieve Medical Cannabis any where in the US if I am a card holder? Or will states not allow for Dispenciaries?

 

[Marianne]

Well it's basically saying that if the amendment passes, feds will not be able to interfere with State medical users and dispenseries. Since our constitution leaves everything but a few basic rules up to the state, and some states have voted on medical marijuana, those states shouldn't have to be harassed by feds. Those patients should be able to be safe inside their state. It would only be legal in states that said it was legal.
They shouldn't even have to pass this amendment-it's just to undo the amendment the Bush Administration passed last year that says feds have a right to persecute state liscensed patients.

 

[NoDirtWeed4Me]

Just e-mailed my congressman.

 

[Brett2theMax]

Damn. I wan't a Dispensery.

 

[Gnostic]

Good luck with those letters to your state bribe-takers, errr, I mean "Congressmen".

It's gonna take ALOT of them to make them forget about all that Big Pharma money they'll be missing out on.

As if our elected representatives care about popular opinion.

 

[Gnostic]

Well it's basically saying that if the amendment passes, feds will not be able to interfere with State medical users and dispenseries. Since our constitution leaves everything but a few basic rules up to the state, and some states have voted on medical marijuana, those states shouldn't have to be harassed by feds.

Of course not. All they'll continue to do is extort states to follow the old drugwar agenda, by with-holding millions in federal highway or infrastructure grants and loans if they don't comply, just for starters.

Only thing these bozos understand is money, your opinion counts for little if you are'nt a CEO of some corporation that bribes err i mean influences congress with a horde of over-paid lobbyists.

The fed drug warriors and the corporatocracy they pledge allegiances to wants to protect their profits at any cost, and your "liberty and freedom" be damned. This should be obvious from the constant stream of lies we get from our beloved FDA, and how our tax dollars get confiscated to support the continuing drugwar farce, such as funding the ONDCP and other propaganda ventures, as well as more and more prisons.

If you're going to vote, and you want actual change in this country, send a message to BOTH sides of the aisle....tell the corrupted repubs AND dems we've had enough and vote independent or Libertarian. This Two Party Fraud System we have in place now only caters to the status quo.

 

[One Three]

I called my Rep about a recent amendment that would make gay marriage outlawed by the constitution, thus taking the decision away from the states. I myself am not gay, but I was so outraged that it motivated me to express my civic duty for the first time ever.

It may just be that my local Rep is awesome, but he was like "Although I am against gay marriage I agree that to ammend our constitution to outlaw it is not only unlawful, but unethical and unconstitutional. It's nice to have the younger people call, thank you."

It's always worth a call, no matter.

 

[Gnostic]

I called my Rep about a recent amendment that would make gay marriage outlawed by the constitution, thus taking the decision away from the states. I myself am not gay, but I was so outraged that it motivated me to express my civic duty for the first time ever.

It may just be that my local Rep is awesome, but he was like "Although I am against gay marriage I agree that to ammend our constitution to outlaw it is not only unlawful, but unethical and unconstitutional. It's nice to have the younger people call, thank you."

It's always worth a call, no matter.

Gay marriage is a fringe sideline Republican issue, which is'nt actually an issue in itself but rather a diversionary tactic they utilize to draw our attention away from the real issues of the day and to create for themselves a phony moral base from which they can justify their agendas with. They pander to their bases and financial supporters through the sensationalizing of fringe and inconsequential "issues" such as gay marriage, abortion, flag burning, and domestic crimes against wealthy white children, while the pressing and disturbing issues of the day are treated the same by both sides of the aisle. They want you to get all wrapped up in such things as gay marraige, which is really nobody else's business anyway besides the parties involved, in order to distract you from the ongoing mass-murder and illegal occupation in Iraq, lax borders and the disappearance of the middle class and health care, not to mention the further erosion of our constitution and the rights it upholds. Just nevermind all that....just worry about whether the two guys down the street get married or not, because somehow, inexplicably, it could affect your own marriage and lifestyle....

The propaganda and whitewash masters hard at work again.

 

[One Three]

Okay, political conspiracies aside, it's something I believe in. Diversionary or not, it's a decision being made. And just because it's not the most important decision being made at this moment does NOT mean it isn't a decision we should care about. I understand where you are coming from, but it isn't something that should be brushed off.

And, aside from that, the same could be said for the war on drugs. Which although isn't nearly as immediatly important as the war, is still a serious issue.

 

[Gnostic]

Okay, political conspiracies aside, it's something I believe in. Diversionary or not, it's a decision being made. And just because it's not the most important decision being made at this moment does NOT mean it isn't a decision we should care about. I understand where you are coming from, but it isn't something that should be brushed off.

And, aside from that, the same could be said for the war on drugs. Which although isn't nearly as immediatly important as the war, is still a serious issue.

Hey I'm sorry, I didnt mean to undermine your thread or hi-jack it to make my point. While I'm certainly not trying to be a "conspiracy" troll, I did'nt mean to take you out of context either or to say that what you are talking about here is'nt worthwhile...including writing your congresspersons.

My point only, albeit put in the wrong fashion, was only that these "issues" they bring up for consideration from time to time are merely for the most part dog and pony shows, intended to put on the show of a working "democracy" or the illusion that "We the People's" votes and opinions even count. If some legislation is amended that even seems as though it is easing off the drugwar laws, it's usually only to protect their partners in crime for some profit-driven motive or to simply give the image of some sort of popularly-mandated change while in reality the drugwar and other lucrative agendas of theirs chug right along, funded by our tax dollars. This is'nt a conspiracy either, it's reality. Your gummint is owned by the major corporate players who have a vested interest in the continuation of the drugwar in order to protect their bottom lines, in exchange for the billions passed along through lobbyists, special interests, campaign contributions, etc etc.

If you want to call this a conspiracy go right ahead....bury your head in the sand and go on believing that, for instance, the drugwar is'nt directly financed and ordered through the manipulations of Big Pharma on the corrupt Fedguv. Watch the neverending stream of boldface lies our grand FDA spews on us like an ocean of sewage, to cover up the medicinal qualities of smoked marijuana so that some of their corporate pals can get a patent on it. Then you have the myriad legions of jails, courts, judges, prisons (both private and public...biiiig bidness) probation agencies, lawyers, and related beaurocracies that DEPEND on the continuation of the drugwar for the very existence of their livelihoods and justification of their careers and pork barrel spending on their infrastructures and organizations. It literally goes on and on. The system must be revamped from the inside out, and We the People should not merely allow ourselves to be grateful for the chance to "write our congressmen" about this or that crumb they decide to throw at us to vote on in oreder to put on the fallacy of a representative government....we should demand that ALL drug laws be reviwed, revised and dealt with according to science and technology and common sense legislation, not the party-line agendas of a few imperialist totalitarian political hacks who want to sustain the staus quo and ride that gravy train on the backs of the freedoms and liberties of We the People.

If you would like to see how all this is related and inter-connected, as you pointed out that the drugwar is an integral part of this "New American Century" agenda of BOTH bought-off parties in DC, and not merely some crackpot conspiracy, I'll lay it out for you here;

We have entered a new phase of the American experience...and so has the rest of the civilized world as a consequence...the new American imperialist corporatism.

It permeates every facet of American life, and it's end goals are to make the rest of the world's populaces and states follow suit. Its highest priority is profit, and it is even mandated to produce such by American corporate law, under the pretense of "protecting" the American investor. Ends' justifying the means is the new value, and higher productivity and lower expenses are the rule of the day. It's aims are to make pawns of the citizens who feed it through the forced confiscation of their property through tax collection (excepting those at the very top of the economic ladder of course with the new tax cuts for the rich) and to make further pawns of the nations and populaces of the world which hold natural resources the corporatism depends on for it's very survival and hegemony, under military or economic threat, while labeling those who do not lockstep in line with these agendas "terrorists" or "rogue states". What this has created is a new Rome of America, an aggressive state bent on pre-emptive warfare and interventionism's, to serve it's own purposes of profit and corporate/political supremacy internationally, while suppressing popular sentiment at home, including in the now de-regulated and monopolized media, and the stagnation of real personal incomes and the middle class, including weakening of labor unions, outsourcing of entire industries to third world, economically-friendly despotic regimes, and the purposeful introduction of illegal immigration without limits or enforced laws in order to drive down or eliminate completely the labor costs, including all related and costly employment benefits such as health care and retirement packages, of those at the very bottom of the economic domestic food chain.

This supreme corporatism manifests in itself the greatest threat to both domestic and international security, peace and common prosperity, for it threatens these basic human rights if they are found not to be politically or economically expedient in the course of corporate America's expansion, or are found to merely get in the way of it's efficiently being carried out. Dealing with foreign regimes whose ideologies and practices do not adhere to traditional American values and ethics matters not, as long as the business arrangement is found to be mutually lucrative and the benefits of the relationship seen as conducive to further corporate enrichment, the associated parties will "lobby" congress with their massive influxes of capital to convince influential politicos and governmental beaurocracies that the relationship is in no way harmful to American foreign policy and only serves to "create" jobs and wealth, thereby somehow benefiting the country while in reality it does everything in the opposite, including the wholesale transferring of jobs to those countries whose environmental and worker's rights policies and enforcement are severely lacking, leaving thousands of Americans unemployed or looking for alternative career paths, while flooding the nation with sub-standard commercial and consumer goods, banking the proceeds in tax-haven offshore accounts, and actually serving to further enrich and support these foreign regimes in the name of globalism and the "free market". And the preceding only touches the proverbial tip of the iceberg, in regards to the realities of the consequences faced by such actions and policies by not only the American, but worldwide public at large.

This new corporatism, or "New World Order" as Bush Senior was partial to calling it, threatens the 99% of the worldwide populace which is not privy to it's benefits simply because it does not owe or give it's allegiance to any one nation, ideology or code of ethics. It is now global in sphere, and it's sole purpose for being is the furtherance of the goal of ever-higher profit margins. The welfare state-like security most western nations have enjoyed for the last 60 years, in stark contrast to the failure of the socialist experiment in Russia's corrupted and inept Soviet Union, is now itself at risk of being eaten alive from within by the corporatism of it's own making. The Soviet Union fell rather due to the inflexibility of it's central planning and the disenfranchisement of private citizens and investment creating no incentive to compete or progress other than to make the party apparatchiks feel pandered to. The new worldwide corporatism taking power in the global economics spheres is structured very similarly, albeit more able to adapt to and sustain periods of market depression. It practices the same repression of individual thought or action, it suppresses popularly distributed and independent media and information, and it's sole over-riding agenda is self preservation at any cost, including even to it's own subjects toiling under them (since they are seen as expendable and mere "collateral resources" which can be replaced easily as long as employment opportunities are kept low and cost of living increases mandate people to subjugate themselves in order to survive), and even to the national security of their mother nations.

This has bred a worldwide and long foreseen rebellion against this global, authoritarian and invasive new face of power, in the forms of "insurgencies" and other political violence, by those who see their religions, sovereignties, and even races threatened catastrophically and permanently by this calculating and relentless corporatism promoted and supported chiefly by the United States. They see a new era of imperialist colonialism, attempting again to rob their own land's resources in exchange for bribed regimes and military dominance, attempting to make their religions and cultures impertinent, attempting to take away even their right to self-determination and rule.

These same practices and principles, all the while, have been also thrust upon the American people as well, and worse, by the very corporate concerns which the country and it's citizenry gave rise to. They see their employment opportunities dwindling by the day, their labor unions decimated and made inconsequential, are continued to be forced to live without the promise of health care availability regardless of ability to pay when the vast majority of the rest of the world's major powers provide it, even to the extreme detriment of the ability of American industry to compete (though this doesn't concern the globalists one bit, and actually falls in line with their strategic economic planning) and they see no enforcements of immigration law and nothing but hot air coming from a supposed conservative administration which in reality wishes to greet this low-paid and un-represented labor force with open arms. They see traditionally steady, solid employment with retirements and health care disappearing at break-neck rates, and they even see their own regime wishing to "privatize" their own self-funded social security which is yet another attack upon the reforms introduced under the New Deal introduced by Roosevelt in response to the massive sufferings caused by the Great Depression, brought about by the same concerns and market forces which are attempting to colonize the entire planet for themselves today. The welfare of the indigenous peoples who survive under this corporate regime are of no concern to the elites who control it...they are merely seen as a never-ending source of revenue with which to pursue their globalist ambitions, and a (hopefully eventually) cheap labor pool from which to select those who are willing to work for less and less pay for the privilege of base survival, while being terrorized domestically by the constant stream of rhetoric about a "war on terrorism" and other distractions meant to further the profit base and keep the populace at home well-intimidated and obedient....creating a police state for those dissidents who oppose the order. This can be evidenced in the on going "drug war" being waged by the American corporatocracy against it's own citizenry...a war against a large portion of the regime's own constituency. It is perpetrated despite the fact it is blatantly un-constitutional, it's "enemy" is it's own population, and it utilizes military tactics and equipment against it's domestic population to fight it, in direct contravention to laws regarding military deployment against the citizenry itself for any reason such as Posse Comatatus.

All the stops are pulled and it is now an age of free reign for the corporations and the government it buys, a second coming of the Gilded Age of robber barons, however on a much more intricately planned and planet-encompassing scale. The dwindling resources of a trapped and deluded middle class show the extent to which these agendas are successfully employed without the worry of popular internal rebellion, as the complacency and sloth of the working classes can be counted on, for the immediate future anyway, through information suppression and propaganda, control of the population through fear and militarized tactics, the mass-scale building of more and bigger public and private prisons with which to lock away those who do dare to resist the further erosion of liberties and freedom (making America, per-capita, the single largest incarcerator of it's own citizenry among any other industrialized nation) and, as the 18th century historian Alexander Tyler wrote in his "The Decline and Fall of the Athenian Republic;

"The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been 200 years. These nations have progressed through this sequence; from bondage to spiritual faith, from spiritual faith to great courage, from courage to liberty, from liberty to abundance, from abundance to complacency, from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependence, and finally from dependence back into bondage."

The political system in America, particularly what I like to call the Two Party Fraud System, serves to propagate and maintain this bondage and control, while on the outside appearing to actually offer the People and electorate any real choice in leadership and direction. They pander to their bases and financial supporters through the sensationalizing of fringe and inconsequential "issues" such as gay marriage, abortion, flag burning, and domestic crimes against wealthy white children, while the pressing and disturbing issues of the day are treated the same by both sides of the aisle. This is evidenced as well in the recent votes in both House and Senate on the refusal to place any concrete timetable for an Iraqi pullout. Dems and Repubs both vote along the same party lines, regardless of the letter after their names. Unwavering and unconditional financial and military support for Israel is one example of this collusion. The American public is fooled into believing their votes actually count, and that their votes go towards politicians and beaurocrats who make any difference in the political process. The real issues, like health care and the Iraqi occupation, are treated and considered the same across the board by them all, and no real change or progress is initiated unless and until the ruling class deems it necessary to do so...all in contrast to and despite popular opinion. This subjugation of democracy is paramount and of vital importance towards maintaining the corporate status quo and control of the economies and nations it wishes to have submit to it, it is important for the protection of corporate interests from outside antagonists or competitors, including domestic ones, in violation of any standard norms of the ideals behind a democratic republic or any constitutional considerations. Modern corporatism is now also the standard-bearer of national ethics and business practice, and since it's motto seems to be "ends justify the means" we have been left with a rash of corporate scandals (lobbyist corruption, Enron, etc) of the likes and magnitudes not seen since, again, the Gilded Age. History repeating itself, or corporatism rearing it's ugly heads once again within the halls of power and jurisprudence, attempting again to buy the country, it's land and resources, and it's elected officials, in order to dictate it's own brand of foreign and domestic policy, namely, whatever benefits the elites and power broker's bottom lines.

This is not any more evident than in the case of American Middle East policy. The United States has taken the high road down the same imperialist path of Britain in the last 100 years or so, including all of the same interventions, militarily, economically and politically. Iraq is nothing more than an attempt at colonization of a resource-rich state. Its new government is nothing short of a puppet regime, made up mostly of wealthy and well-connected former expatriates, most of whom have never touched the ground in Iraq in years. Chalabi, DC's former sweetheart and first pick to run Iraq's new regime, is a perfect example of the corruption and self-interests of the corporate take-over of Iraq. The known corruption already surrounding Chalabi was known exquisitely well before the Iraqi invasion and occupation, yet he remained and, incredibly, still remains a key figure in the new government. His purported ties to the New American Century project, and various American officials also within, including Wolfowitz and Perle, show an underlying agenda that has nothing much to do with the Iraqi nation and it's sovereignty itself and rather more concerned with the interests of his political masters in Washington and Houston. It should be no surprise then that he was also one of the loudest expatriate voices before the invasion concerning Saddam's purported WMD programs, puffing up the threat and claiming intimate knowledge when none actually existed, and now proven false. His "warnings" to the Pentagon were merely rehearsed war rhetoric, and he served as a credible if very little-known figure to the American public, who were also primed by a constant barrage of state propaganda designed to lead the nation to war no matter what. All this, despite the fact he was wanted in Jordan for nothing short of bank fraud. This clearly shows DC had no intentions of "spreading freedom and democracy" in Iraq and every intention of placing their own loyal oil company puppets in charge in order to secure the resources of that country and maintain oil hegemony (which can also be shown in the way Chalabi was made oil minister even after the allegations of corruption and his outing with the CIA). This can also be seen in the way most Sunni's were disenfranchised by the coalition government, including the disbandment of the Iraqi military forces without alternative employment or participation of political affairs. Anyone having been seen as former beneficiaries of Saddam's regime were ousted and left to fend for themselves in a scenario of over 50% unemployment, little to no electrical generation or sanitary systems left intact, and widespread disillusionment with the new occupiers. The initial US invasion forces had a top, ordered priority to secure the oil fields first, above all else, as weapons depots were looted by an already-growing "insurgency" and the makings of a civil war were everywhere. To justify the continued occupation, an "enemy" needed to be created, and one was through the "insurgency", which was conveniently branded as based in terror and associated with the likes of al-Quaeda, though in reality the "insurgency" really was and continues to be the Iraqi citizenry themselves, hoping to win their sovereignty and independence back, along with their resources and self-determination. These agendas are not seen as friendly to the oil cabals and are therefore propagandized as "evil" and worthy only of extermination at any cost, even including the killing and maiming of outright civilians, as long as the "enemy" is attacked ruthlessly, sold to the American public as "protecting our freedoms" when no such threat to America's security or "freedom" ever existed. To top it off, we were sold a bill of goods which basically claimed the Iraqi war would pay for itself (through, of course, the looted resources of the Iraqi people) though this has naturally never materialized itself either as American oil companies continue to price gouge at the pumps, even using a domestic natural disaster as one excuse for such, though these price gougings went into effect well before Hurricane Katrina hit, and even though the related damage to refining operations in the region were repaired quickly and never actually contributed to any feasible oil shortage crisis...leading congress itself to haul the top CEO's of such corporations to testify, though, incredibly, the GOP controlled House refused to place them under any oaths for their testimonies, freeing them to propagandize and lie to their heart's content to the American people. Hence, we are told over and over that the actions and foreign/domestic policies of the oil cabals and the government they have bought are all for our eventual and ultimate own good, while the reality is that the only thing that ever really changes in the day to day lives of common Americans are ever-higher gas prices and costs of living as their real wages stagnate or go down. The American public has been repeatedly sold a large bill of goods by their Dear Leaders, and have apparently fallen for it time and again too thanks too the non-stop official war propaganda coming out of DC, and the false patriotism it inspires among the ill-informed, as our media and information outlets are de-regulated and monopolized, with the blessings of an FCC head whose daddy just happens to be one of the biggest players in the Iraqi occupation and it's phony rhetoric for going to war, including participating in and playing a key role in many other past repressions, corruptions and un-truths, such as Iran/Contra all the way back to the purposeful suppression of atrocity reports by American forces in Vietnam ...Colin Powell and Son.

The on-going and never-ending conflicts between the Palestinians and Israelis is another grand issue in this corporatocracy we call a democratic republic. On close examination, there really is no justification for the continued and unconditional US support for Israel, even in the face of the fact Israel is and has been the target of more UN resolutions, and the violations of such, than any other nation on earth. A nation which possesses a very large and well-known "WMD" stockpile, while still to this day refusing to acknowledge even it's existence, much less agreeing to international inspections of such. Yet, as can be conveniently seen, Israel and the United States are the loudest demanders of inspections and non-proliferation among any other nation other than themselves, especially those who do not play along with their hegemonistic ambitions such as Iran. The threat of a new Sino-Russian cooperation, along with Iran and Saudi Arabia's perceived threats of abandoning the non-gold standard US dollar as the major oil trading currency in favor of the better-financed and backed Euro, also plays a major role in DC's decisions at attempts to further colonize the region and demonize any state which allies itself with such alternative trading policies, in particular those that possess the resources for which this country consumes at insane levels while our domestic vehicle makers continue to push more large SUV's and resist any change to domestic fuel consumption standards. In other words, it's all about profits, and the environment, sound foreign policies, and our own world image be damned. To make matters worse, if possible, American business philosophy has for years been almost solely pre-occupied with short-term profits, as opposed to, say, the Japanese and other Asian nations who look to the long term and calculate the associated consequences of long-term investment and planning. Case in point; upon the purchasing of a traditional American landmark, the Rockefeller center in New York, the Japanese interest that purchased it, upon asked why, when all other American interests ran away from the prospect due to the calculation that no profits would be realized from the possession of the tower for well over 50 years after the date of the transaction, simply replied, "then we will se a profit in 50 years". This sort of long-range planning and careful examination of consequences does not apply to American business philosophy, where again, the ends justify the means and short-term large profits are the norm and desire. The point being, this "business philosophy" can be evidenced in no better place that today's Iraq, where the US military invasion and subsequent occupation were so poorly planned for the long term that it has become a literal quagmire now, if not teetering on the brink of a civil war, while electricity and water and other basic services are still not near at their pre-war levels under Saddam, though the seaports and oil wells were immediately repaired, retro-fitted and made fully operational so that large amounts of looted Iraqi oil may flow freely from them as the tankers sail in and out on a daily basis while the common Iraqi is made to endure hardships and deprivations ordinary Americans would outright revolt over. Yet we are told that "staying the course" is our only option, across both political aisles, and we are asked to remain patient, while Iraqi civilians are slaughtered en-masse in a re-run of the Vietnam My-Lai episodes and the Iraqi people themselves are now demonized and reviled as "insurgents" if they don't happen to think the game being played there, at their expense, is beneficial to their country and countrymen. On a side note, the Nazi general Stroop, in his now infamous report back to Berlin regarding the Nazi assault on the resistance fighters in the Warsaw Ghetto, also labeled those Jews and others desperately fighting the brutal Nazi occupation as "insurgents" and "criminals". This is not to make any correlations between America and the former German Nazi regime, it is to show that the same propaganda tactics are used and displayed in both scenarios, and to the benefit of the occupying state, for reasons of justifying an illegal occupation and violent subjugation of the indigenous peoples, and most glaringly, to justify any atrocities or unnecessary killings or evictions of said peoples in the name of "fighting terrorism" or "criminal elements" within that occupied society. The DC/UK/oil cabal corporatocracy can be shown then to operate well within it's own conjured double standards, where terrorism, economic or military, perpetrated by THEM is only "spreading democracy" and "fighting terrorism and rogue states", when the same basic terrorism perpetrated by those who oppose the imperialist aims of the corporatocracy for the sake of independence and sovereignty is called "evil" and worthy of nothing short of violent, unquestioning military dominance within a doctrine of self-justified and self-serving pre-emptive warfare and interventionism.

The Palestinian people have been similarly demonized and dispossessed. The Zionist media constantly portrays the entire society as one bent on senseless political violence, and paints the average Palestinian freedom fighter as some kind of evil, brainwashed, over-indoctrinated religious zealot who revels in killing children and women with bombs and surprise attacks without remorse. They are shown to be politically splintered and teetering themselves now on the verge of internal fracturing of unity and even civil war. What is never touched on or seriously analyzed are the facts that the Palestinian people were forced into such a scenario through the historical and repeated confiscation of their own lands to make way for another race of people they previously had no part in victimizing, yet were made to pay for it anyway in '48 with their lands, autonomy and blood. They're continued fight against this treachery is labeled as "terrorism" and "factional". It can be seen historically that whenever a western colonizing power occupies or otherwise severely intervenes in the political process of foreign nations for selfish ends, such as the widespread and unabated British colonization's of Africa which left many suddenly independent nations after the eventual British pull-outs in tatters economically and politically, to the point of civil wars, internal strife, poverty, and, yes, the eventual creation "terrorism" bases in the subsequent power vacuums. It left entire populations stranded without protections, opened the doors wide to corruptions and violent, repressive new regimes to take hold, and made mockeries of the internal human rights condition within. British South Africa was a perfect example of the total subjugation of an indigenous population repressed by an occupying overlord, even in the face of worldwide condemnation (Apartheid). It is little wonder that American Vice President Cheney was on the record in those days as being against Nelson Mandela's freedom from political imprisonment.
In summary, the new American global corporatocracy that is well entrenched in power now can clearly be seen as the biggest threat to global security the world has ever faced. It's repression and crimes against it's own people and constitution are merely the catalyst for it's final ambitions for global control and hegemony. It's actions and agendas affect the entire world's populations, it infects the international business transactions of every major bank and financial institution and uses it's muscle to persuade or outright force sovereign independent interests to submit to it's interests, economically and if necessary militarily. The age of the feared "military-industrial complex" Eisenhower warned us about is now here in all of it's might and glory, and it cares not what popular opinion, internal and international, or even voting results, have to express. The profit margin is king and lord, and is the driving, even sole force for every action taken by it. It preys on the basic human traits for corruption and self-interest, thereby propagating and even creating on it's own a fiery brand of false patriotism, convincing the very people it rapes economically everyday that it's agendas are truly concerned with the welfare of "We the People". The question today is not whether it exists or has taken full control of our government, policies and even daily lives. The question now should be, how can it be regulated, how can it be checked and balanced, how can it be directed by those whose true place is to do so...We the People...instead of an elite corporate cabal and their hordes of paid-off minions doing their biddings. The world at large, truly, all of the people inhabiting this planet, and our future generations, depend on our rising up to challenge their power and manipulations. If we don't do it now, we will only have ourselves to thank later when we find ourselves, the American people, colonized and subjugated and labeled "insurgents" as well, in the face of the new world corporate system better known as Friendly Fascism, or the new corporate world dictatorship.

That, in a nutshell, is what we are faced with.

If you want to call all I have written now a "conspiracy", go right ahead. Just be aware of those responses you get from your Dear Leasers in the Fedguv on these issues and the drugwar, as the extort states one by one to tow the party line anyway and you are left with yet the same old song and dance in the end anyway....a viscious, cruel, unconstitutional war on the American People, nevermind Iraq....destroying families, lives, futures and dreams, and criminalizing/de-moralizing a whole class of citizens, costs us hundreds of billions and subjugates our freedoms with fear, namely the drugwar, and it's interwoven and numerous other globalist agendas which I touched on earlier. It's time to stop writing and start acting.....and stop re-electing these same drug-warrior schmucks into office, and alienate/isolate/protest against the corporations and money-pits that support them.

 

[One Three]

You'll have to forgive me, but its 1:33AM and I have a terrible headache so there is no possible way I can read all that tonight. I mean, wow. However, I will tomorrow morning before work.

The REAL reason I wanted to post tonight, rather than once I've read more than 15% of your post is to let you know that I wasn't calling your claims inaccurate at all. Common usage of the term conspiracy-theory has equated it with crackpot-theory, when they really aren't the same.

I just meant "theories that point out that there is secret and malicious intent within our government". Sorry that I wasn't more clear in that respect.

 

[BluntKilla]

In June 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that medical marijuana users can be prosecuted by the federal government.
its about time this is happening, too many conflicts between state/county law and federal law

 

[Gnostic]

You'll have to forgive me, but its 1:33AM and I have a terrible headache so there is no possible way I can read all that tonight. I mean, wow. However, I will tomorrow morning before work.

The REAL reason I wanted to post tonight, rather than once I've read more than 15% of your post is to let you know that I wasn't calling your claims inaccurate at all. Common usage of the term conspiracy-theory has equated it with crackpot-theory, when they really aren't the same.

I just meant "theories that point out that there is secret and malicious intent within our government". Sorry that I wasn't more clear in that respect.

Absolutely no apologies needed....it is I who owes it. I hi-jacked your thread, bottom line, and that was'nt my intention, though excuses are excuses. So it is I who shall apologize to you.

And sorry too for my long-winded rant. Just wanted to explain how I view these occasional carrots they dangle in front of us from time to time on these issues, as if any REAL progressive change ever occurs through them....not to sound like a defeatist, I just view every action and proposed/real legislation this fedguv comes up with next with an extremely suspicious and critical eye. I feel it's my duty to do so as an interested citizen actually.

But hi-jacking threads is'nt the way to get my point across.

And I'd be flattered if you read the post.

Anyway, thanks again

 

[Gnostic]

In June 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that medical marijuana users can be prosecuted by the federal government.
its about time this is happening, too many conflicts between state/county law and federal law

Hmmm....either I'm not interpreting your post correctly, or you are a big proponent of complete centralized fedguv control over the states, usurping state and state's voters rights for the privilege of bigger and bigger, and more repressionist/totalitarianist gummint.

That's a scary thought, considering this fed-guv and congress are the most corrupt since the Gilded Age. And also since it's the feds who are behind the entire drugwar and it's related crimes against We the People, not individual states and the popular demands of their voters.

I really just hope I mis-interpreted you.

 

[BluntKilla]

^????
i was stating a fact
"In June 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that medical marijuana users can be prosecuted by the federal government."
- that is y there is so much conflict with legal marijuana users in cali. getting arrested....
then, i said "its about time this is happening, too many conflicts between state/county law and federal law" - neaning its about time congress is voting to protect these people who are following the state law and still getting arested by the feds.... its not right.
r u following me?
just read it again, maybe it will make more sense, maybe i should have elaborated more

 

[markscastle]

Just say "GROW'' !!!!

 

[Pinch]

They shouldn't even have to pass this amendment-it's just to undo the amendment the Bush Administration passed last year that says feds have a right to persecute state liscensed patients.

-HappyKid

It was not an amendment it was the Supreme Court ruling in Raich vs Ashcroft, Homeland Securiuty et al. The Court ruled that feds could arrest medical cannabis users, growers and the like. The Court also said the legitimacy of medical marijuana should be decided by the FDA or by legislation.. not the Supreme Court.

 

[Pinch]

One Hour Old News: A leading conservative organization, Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW), has come out in support of an amendment to stop the Drug Enforcement Administration from attacking medical marijuana patients in states where medical use of marijuana is legal. The Hinchey-Rohrabacher amendment to the Science-State-Justice-Commerce appropriations bill, sponsored by Reps. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) and Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), could receive a floor vote as early as today.


This is good.

 

[Akornpatch]

Well we lost. 163 to 259

I'm very disappointed in your performance and that you didn't get off your butts and tell your representatives how you felt. So now our tax dollars will still be spent on harassment of patients and total disregard for state's rights.

For those of you with the balls to contact your representatives...THANK YOU!

Piss me off.