Politics & Government - 10 August 2006

"premptive war is out ,but the bush bash is in"
rebellious neoconservative

2006-08-10 13:35:19 · 5 answers · asked by hawkeyes 3 in Politics

Of course I know he won't, but it would be consistent with his strategy so far in the war on terror, wouldn't it? I think it demonstrates the futility of trying to identify every country that could be a terrorist stronghold. Terrorists could be anywhere and everywhere, and the only thing you can count on is that the next place they'll strike is probably where we'd least expect it. What do you think?

2006-08-10 13:34:37 · 14 answers · asked by ConcernedCitizen 7 in Military

I'm trying to do my own research as to the Christian heritage of the US. I don't want anyone else's bias's.. pro or con. I just want the actual decisions so I can read them for myself.

2006-08-10 13:31:06 · 4 answers · asked by michael b 1 in Law & Ethics

By Smokey, 5-05-06 (marijuana myths courtesy of twotonetony)


MARIJUANA, MYTHS ABOUT MARIJUANA, AND OTHER NON-"STONER" REASONS THAT MARIJUANA SHOULD BE LEGALIZED.


First of all, this is information on marijuana from a purely factual stand point, so even if you are against marijuana PLEASE READ THIS. there are too many ignorant people against marijuana...you dont have to smoke it to be for it's legalization.

MARIJUANA MYTHS


1. Marijuana causes brain damage

The most celebrated study that claims to show brain damage is the rhesus monkey study of Dr. Robert Heath, done in the late 1970s. This study was reviewed by a distinguished panel of scientists sponsored by the Institute of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences. Their results were published under the title, Marijuana and Health in 1982. Heath's work was sharply criticized for its insufficient sample size (only four monkeys), its failure to control experimental bias, and the misidentification of normal monkey brain structure as "damaged". Actual studies of human populations of marijuana users have shown no evidence of brain damage. For example, two studies from 1977, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) showed no evidence of brain damage in heavy users of marijuana. That same year, the American Medical Association (AMA) officially came out in favor of decriminalizing marijuana. That's not the sort of thing you'd expect if the AMA thought marijuana damaged the brain.

2. Marijuana damages the reproductive system

This claim is based chiefly on the work of Dr. Gabriel Nahas, who experimented with tissue (cells) isolated in petri dishes, and the work of researchers who dosed animals with near-lethal amounts of cannabinoids (i.e., the intoxicating part of marijuana). Nahas' generalizations from his petri dishes to human beings have been rejected by the scientific community as being invalid. In the case of the animal experiments, the animals that survived their ordeal returned to normal within 30 days of the end of the experiment. Studies of actual human populations have failed to demonstrate that marijuana adversely affects the reproductive system.

3. Marijuana is a "gateway" drug -- it leads to hard drugs

This is one of the more persistent myths. A real world example of what happens when marijuana is readily available can be found in Holland. The Dutch partially legalized marijuana in the 1970s. Since then, hard drug use -- heroin and cocaine -- have DECLINED substantially. If marijuana really were a gateway drug, one would have expected use of hard drugs to have gone up, not down. This apparent "negative gateway" effect has also been observed in the United States. Studies done in the early 1970s showed a negative correlation between use of marijuana and use of alcohol. A 1993 Rand Corporation study that compared drug use in states that had decriminalized marijuana versus those that had not, found that where marijuana was more available -- the states that had decriminalized -- hard drug abuse as measured by emergency room episodes decreased. In short, what science and actual experience tell us is that marijuana tends to substitute for the much more dangerous hard drugs like alcohol, cocaine, and heroin.

4. Marijuana suppresses the immune system

Like the studies claiming to show damage to the reproductive system, this myth is based on studies where animals were given extremely high -- in many cases, near-lethal -- doses of cannabinoids. These results have never been duplicated in human beings. Interestingly, two studies done in 1978 and one done in 1988 showed that hashish and marijuana may have actually stimulated the immune system in the people studied.

5. Marijuana is much more dangerous than tobacco

Smoked marijuana contains about the same amount of carcinogens as does an equivalent amount of tobacco. It should be remembered, however, that a heavy tobacco smoker consumes much more tobacco than a heavy marijuana smoker consumes marijuana. This is because smoked tobacco, with a 90% addiction rate, is the most addictive of all drugs while marijuana is less addictive than caffeine. Two other factors are important. The first is that paraphernalia laws directed against marijuana users make it difficult to smoke safely. These laws make water pipes and bongs, which filter some of the carcinogens out of the smoke, illegal and, hence, unavailable. The second is that, if marijuana were legal, it would be more economical to have cannabis drinks like bhang (a traditional drink in the Middle East) or tea which are totally non-carcinogenic. This is in stark contrast with "smokeless" tobacco products like snuff which can cause cancer of the mouth and throat. When all ofthese facts are taken together, it can be clearly seen that the reverse is true: marijuana is much SAFER than tobacco.

6. Legal marijuana would cause carnage on the highways

Although marijuana, when used to intoxication, does impair performance in a manner similar to alcohol, actual studies of the effect of marijuana on the automobile accident rate suggest that it poses LESS of a hazard than alcohol. When a random sample of fatal accident victims was studied, it was initially found that marijuana was associated with RELATIVELY as many accidents as alcohol. In other words, the number of accident victims intoxicated on marijuana relative to the number of marijuana users in society gave a ratio similar to that for accident victims intoxicated on alcohol relative to the total number of alcohol users. However, a closer examination of the victims revealed that around 85% of the people intoxicated on marijuana WERE ALSO INTOXICATED ON ALCOHOL. For people only intoxicated on marijuana, the rate was much lower than for alcohol alone. This finding has been supported by other research using completely different methods. For example, an economic analysis of the effects of decriminalization on marijuana usage found that states that had reduced penalties for marijuana possession experienced a rise in marijuana use and a decline in alcohol use with the result that fatal highway accidents decreased. This would suggest that, far from causing "carnage", legal marijuana might actually save lives.

7. Marijuana "flattens" human brainwaves

This is an out-and-out lie perpetrated by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America. A few years ago, they ran a TV ad that purported to show, first, a normal human brainwave, and second, a flat brainwave from a 14-year-old "on marijuana". When researchers called up the TV networks to complain about this commercial, the Partnership had to pull it from the air. It seems that the Partnership faked the flat "marijuana brainwave". In reality, marijuana has the effect of slightly INCREASING alpha wave activity. Alpha waves are associated with meditative and relaxed states which are, in turn, often associated with human creativity.

8. Marijuana is more potent today than in the past

This myth is the result of bad data. The researchers who made the claim of increased potency used as their baseline the THC content of marijuana seized by police in the early 1970s. Poor storage of this marijuana in un-air conditioned evidence rooms caused it to deteriorate and decline in potency before any chemical assay was performed. Contemporaneous, independent assays of unseized "street" marijuana from the early 1970s showed a potency equivalent to that of modern "street" marijuana. Actually, the most potent form of this drug that was generally available was sold legally in the 1920s and 1930s by the pharmaceutical company Smith-Klein under the name, "American Cannabis".

9. Marijuana impairs short-term memory

This is true but misleading. Any impairment of short-term memory disappears when one is no longer under the influence of marijuana. Often, the short-term memory effect is paired with a reference to Dr. Heath's poor rhesus monkeys to imply that the condition is permanent.

10. Marijuana lingers in the body like DDT

This is also true but misleading. Cannabinoids are fat soluble as are innumerable nutrients and, yes, some poisons like DDT. For example, the essential nutrient, Vitamin A, is fat soluble but one never hears people who favor marijuana prohibition making this comparison.

11. There are over a thousand chemicals in marijuana smoke

Again, true but misleading. The 31 August 1990 issue of the magazine Science notes that of the over 800 volatile chemicals present in roasted COFFEE, only 21 have actually been tested on animals and 16 of these cause cancer in rodents. Yet, coffee remains legal and is generally considered fairly safe.

12. No one has ever died of a marijuana overdose

This is true. It was put in to see if you are paying attention. Animal tests have revealed that extremely high doses of cannabinoids are needed to have lethal effect. This has led scientists to conclude that the ratio of the amount of cannabinoids necessary to get a person intoxicated (i.e., stoned) relative to the amount necessary to kill them is 1 to 40,000. In other words, to overdose, you would have to consume 40,000 times as much marijuana as you needed to get stoned. In contrast, the ratio for alcohol varies between 1 to 4 and 1 to 10. It is easy to see how upwards of 5000 people die from alcohol overdoses every year and no one EVER dies of marijuana overdoses.


This is what the government won't tell to us Americans. They are too stubborn to take back a law that has been in place for 69 years (Marijuana Tax Act of 1937).





Along with making marijuana illegal, the government spends billions of dollars each year fighting the drug war to keep marijuana and other drugs out of this country. Now i would like you to think of one person in this country that is unable to obtain marijuana or any other drug. If marijuana was legal, it would be create a market in the USA and there would be no reason for drug smuggling. Because marijuana would then be contained in the USA and smuggling would no longer be a problem, the government could much more easily control the use of the substance. Since everyone would now be buying their marijuana from stores in the USA, there would be a tax on this creating billions more in revenue for the government to add on to the billions no longer being spent on the war against marijuana.

A very high % of prisoners are non-violent drug offenders. With marijuana legalized, we wouldnt have to worry about drug dealers as much, which means less people going to prison, which in turn means more tax money to spend on something more important, like the HUGE deficit we have managed to create.


Marijuana might be a harmful substance, but so are many other substances that are legal, many of which are much more harmful. Marijuana is actually EASIER to obtain because it is illegal and is costing us billions of dollars to make it easier, why would we want to do that?




I hope you feel more informed after this. PLEASE REPOST THIS, whether you are for or against its legalization, people need to know the facts, not just that marijuana gets you high and screws up your life (which for the most part is not true). Also, tell everyone you know about these facts. Marijuana should be legal and the government will not do anything about it unless we stand up and voice the TRUTH

2006-08-10 13:30:32 · 6 answers · asked by robhowell27 2 in Other - Politics & Government

I have to give to them boyz... nice timing!!!

Well Hello!!!

Ermmmm... more then 1000+ innocent people died in Lebanon and more dieing - FACT!

In the news (UK) ... I just saw a top copper giving a news conference and the phrase that stuck in my mind was, (and I paraphrase) "the devices that they would have built could have caused a lot of damage".

So they are virtually shutting down air travel from the UK, and passing on that logistical nightmare around the world in disrupted schedules, all because of devices that didn't yet exist?
I'm awaiting the appearance of Britain's law enforcement TV superstar, Sir Ian Blair, to tell us what a fine job he is doing and how we should be very, very scared, with baited breath.

NOTE: would have built? and could have?

more scare mongering?

No sheep wishes to venture very far from the flock.

But havn't we had enough of this bullcrap?

9/11, 7/7 and now this? for what?... to justify more Wars and more blood shed?

2006-08-10 13:30:26 · 20 answers · asked by BT 1 in Military

2006-08-10 13:28:06 · 9 answers · asked by goldie_23665 1 in Government

I have pending drug charges 1 yr ago this month and to date nothing has been resolved, except for the courts stating 2x's "DNR" and then im given another court date. What is statue of these type of charges?

2006-08-10 13:27:31 · 8 answers · asked by IceWho 1 in Law & Ethics

I AM FRENCHGIRL AND PROUT TO BE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2006-08-10 13:24:03 · 15 answers · asked by Anonymous in Other - Politics & Government

Did your plane blowing up buddys run you off cause you are scared to come out and defend them today cause they got busted.

2006-08-10 13:23:47 · 27 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics

Isnt it a wast of time? I mean I might be wrong but each state has a certain amount of electoral votes. Thats what accutualy counts, isnt it. I learned in school that our votes dont count. Did they teach me wrong or did I miss understand them. I know my teacher said that our votes dont really count so whats the point?

2006-08-10 13:22:21 · 8 answers · asked by robhowell27 2 in Other - Politics & Government

no matter which party leads the congress, no matter what party the newly elected president in 08 is a member of, and no matter how long this conservative supreme court might last ( without a vacancy). HOW MANY YEARS WILL OUR SOLDIERS CONTINUE TO FIGHT IN IRAQ? in order to simplify, i only ask for your best guess (in years), round your answer off to the nearest number of years, if you would please.

2006-08-10 13:21:33 · 13 answers · asked by emptiedfull 3 in Politics

By conventional I mean cannons and guns, not bombs.

2006-08-10 13:20:29 · 10 answers · asked by Black Sabbath 6 in Military

Am I right? Who's with me out there?

High fives! High fives!

2006-08-10 13:17:34 · 13 answers · asked by Sherry L 2 in Law Enforcement & Police

2006-08-10 13:17:11 · 2 answers · asked by Anonymous in Law & Ethics

2006-08-10 13:16:52 · 18 answers · asked by Anonymous in Other - Politics & Government

Kindness

2006-08-10 13:11:34 · 16 answers · asked by 43 5 in Politics

Lebanese, besides the Christians, are wack. They attack Israel yet there are still people that think its justified to use terrorism, just because they are Jews. Civilians fight the wars there and Israel wants peace. They will never get it because of anti-semetic Islamics. To me, and Im not Jewish, it seems like they are oppressed all the time because people dont like their religion or race (or stereotype). Get over it. Everyone belongs to a stereotype, it doesnt mean we should kill them all. If this was happeneing to the US with Mexico, we would all think differently. Israel has a right to the land, esepecially after the Holocaust. Lets give our land back as well while we are at it. There IS NO excuse for terrorists killing innocents, to what? prove a point? BS.

Its funny when they say Israel just plopped on Palestinians land.... lets take a look at the NATIVE AMERICANS. Genocide.

Whoever is the most intelligent will get the points, racism, of course is just ignorance.

2006-08-10 13:10:36 · 18 answers · asked by TheEnlightened 1 in Politics

2006-08-10 13:10:12 · 17 answers · asked by Sherry L 2 in Military

when all he really did was errode freedome, and advance socialism while feminizing and weaking our national defense.

2006-08-10 13:07:08 · 15 answers · asked by W E J 4 in Politics

Every nation has its time in the spotlight
Persia,Macedonia ,Rome, Mongolia,France, Germany
So it's naive to think the U.S. will be on top forever.

2006-08-10 13:06:21 · 24 answers · asked by hawkeyes 3 in Politics

OH NOES I CANT CARRY MY SHAMPOO AND TOOTHPASTE ANY MORE!!!! I'LL HAVE TO GO TO ASK THE VALET FOR EXTRAS IN THE HOTEL :( :( :( /cry. If you can afford a plane ticket, you can afford a travel size shampoo. Medicine is the only viable arguement i can think of, and that covers very few people who are willing or able to travel by plane. Stop acting like the sky is falling.

2006-08-10 13:05:22 · 12 answers · asked by Black Sabbath 6 in Politics

They tell anyone who disagrees with genocidal policies to leave the country, thus defying the first amendment... and they themselves dont scoot to Iraq

2006-08-10 13:04:01 · 12 answers · asked by Anonymous in Civic Participation

How can we clean it up and make it serve the common man better while keeping the basic structure but giving the people a system that they can be involved in and part of, keep our elected officials but yet set up a citizens voting system to allow the peoples involvement on major issues's maybe even have it to were the people can vote on whether to allow pay raises or not for elected officials, or setting up a commision to watch these guys closer for corruption and to protect the citizens interest. It could be setup so that you could email your vote in or have post cards go out, I believe it would generate more interest, allowing people to get involved therefore raiseing voter interest and involvement.

2006-08-10 13:00:24 · 19 answers · asked by Anonymous in Government

Don't care how...can't call you terrorists when we make and use the atom bomb on a regular basis...only hypocrites...

2006-08-10 13:00:10 · 14 answers · asked by Anonymous in Other - Politics & Government

I just wanna know because I've already heard many strange and sometimes interesting things about the country... want to know what is your opinion.. comment if you know anything about it :-P

2006-08-10 12:58:37 · 13 answers · asked by myfl_a 3 in Politics

2006-08-10 12:57:55 · 25 answers · asked by Anonymous in Other - Politics & Government

For self defense.

2006-08-10 12:57:24 · 19 answers · asked by pizzadude2006 1 in Law Enforcement & Police

:)

2006-08-10 12:55:27 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Other - Politics & Government

I mean, he disbanded the CIA unit that was hunting him and publicly stated that he "didn't care" where bin laden was, WTF is up with that??

2006-08-10 12:53:40 · 24 answers · asked by keepitsafe2think 2 in Politics

The government has played on Americans fears that their way of life is being taken away by terrorists. When in reality giving up freedoms has nothing to do with the government keeping Americans safe. That is governments job regardless of what is going on in the world. It has its roots in controlling the American population and keeping americans under the governments thumb.

2006-08-10 12:53:34 · 14 answers · asked by ? 2 in Government