Other - Politics & Government - August 2006

OUR COUNTRY OWES YOU A GREAT DEAL OF GRATITUDE FOR WHAT YOU DID TODAY.
Bless you, Bless you, Bless you!
Hope we never have to owe you a favor and we soon have terrorism end instead, but if we do, I pray we can return the favor as eloquently as you did today!

2006-08-10 14:06:02 · 18 answers · asked by Anonymous

My concerns are that working "class" has little representation in our government. Please only intelligent answers...other then that go play in the sand box.

2006-08-10 14:04:02 · 11 answers · asked by pelister56 4

Saddam used chemical weapons to wipe out the kurds because they were helping Iran while Iran was at war with Iraq. If they were in the USA, we would have convicted them of treason or declared them the enemy. That is like one of our states helping Iraq right now.

Or

Us or Israel killing 100,000s of civilians with airplane bombs?

Both are bad but which is worse.

2006-08-10 13:57:25 · 11 answers · asked by Radiation 2

I love this. Democrats can't believe this. The NSA program worked. I mean god forbid that a terroist plot be disrupted.
The record shows that the Democrats have no ground on national security and actually want the terrorists to have rights like at Club Gitmo.
The Kooks (Keepers of Odd Knowledge Society) are already making the theories about England. I love it.
Anyone think the Democrats are incredibly weak on national security?
I know the looneys will say wait till November...I've waited through 2000,2002,2004 and again 2006 shortly.

http://www.gopbloggers.org/mt/archives/003435.html

2006-08-10 13:53:37 · 11 answers · asked by John 3

Unites States is being blamed for the world's problems. The United States is like a mother who constantly butts into her children's lives. The mother finds herself not welcomed into her children's homes because she interferes in their business insted of taking care of her own. Wouldn't the United States be liked better if she left the children alone to solve their own problems. These nations have been around longer then the United States. If they haven't figured out how to solve their problems and business by now, they shouldn't run home to mommy (the United States) to help. Most children resent their parent for interfering even when invited.. After all these (adult) nations were doing fine without our help before we came along. Could it be greed and power that motivates the United States to become the disciplinary for the masses? Would terrorism still exist if we were bold enough to hide our head in the sand again and become isolated? Then we wouldn't be blamed for world problems.

2006-08-10 13:40:24 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous

I AM FRENCHWOMAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2006-08-10 13:39:46 · 14 answers · asked by Anonymous

Was it Sam Giancana(Chicago Mafia) ?
Was it Carlos Marcello(New Orleans Mafia)?
Was it Cubans?
Was it the CIA?
Was it LBJ?

Who the hell knows? It could've been ALL OF THE ABOVE!

I believe the CIA had the Mafia hire Cubans to shoot Kennedy. Then, the Government covered it up to prevent World War 3.

It would've been fighting Cuba and Vietnam all at the same time if we found out the truth.

What does it matter now? I think the CIA should release the files and tell us the truth about Lee Harvey Oswald and who was really behind Kennnedy's murder.

It's too late for jutice, but it's not too late for the truth.

2006-08-10 13:38:47 · 23 answers · asked by Anonymous

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

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

2006-08-10 13:24:03 · 15 answers · asked by Anonymous

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

2006-08-10 13:16:52 · 18 answers · asked by Anonymous

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

2006-08-10 12:57:55 · 25 answers · asked by Anonymous

:)

2006-08-10 12:55:27 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=MEY20060801&articleId=2877

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article14069.htm
and dont tell me that isreal has the right to defend itself and lebanonese not ???????????????????!!!!!!!!!!

2006-08-10 12:53:23 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous

if the democrates were in office we wouldn't be in this mess
the gas prices wouldn't be sky high... and tourisim falling apart
no one has the money to go to tennesee or any other nice place
with the alaska pipe line shutting down expect to pay between $4or $5 in the near future

2006-08-10 12:50:10 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous

Have you ever felt you've been wrong done or treated unfairly by the government or any government bodies ie, dss,housing,

2006-08-10 12:35:52 · 4 answers · asked by amber1234 3

2006-08-10 12:30:32 · 6 answers · asked by lost&confused 5

Some people out there ALWAYS Blame America. I have a NEWSFLASH for you. THEY HATE US, THEY WANT US DEAD. Thats it. It doesn't make ANY difference who's in the White House, Who we are allies with, or what we do.
You say we need to find out why they hate us.
1: Freedom of Religion: In there eyes there is only 1 religion
2: We are not Goverened by the Koran: They believe all should be.
3: We have laws: There only law is the Koran
4: People here are Free to express themselves: They Kill someone over a Cartoon.
5: Woman have rights here: They don't want woman having rights.
6: Israel is our Ally: They want Death to Israel;
7: We have the Bible: They have the Koran
Unless your willing to change every thing listed above to there side and I do mean Everything. There is no need for negoiating. And even if you did change all these things listed. They would simply find something else Until you wouldn't change. Then they'd cut your head off to.

2006-08-10 12:27:04 · 12 answers · asked by Anonymous

2006-08-10 12:24:19 · 13 answers · asked by richardlilleyman 1

2006-08-10 12:13:56 · 29 answers · asked by realdolby 5

What is your take on the color coded terror alert system. Does anyone take it seriously. The cable news station seem to getting a kick out of sayign Code Red. Me personally, I fidn the system confusing and pay little attention to it.

2006-08-10 12:13:32 · 5 answers · asked by Sam2795 1

2006-08-10 12:13:23 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous

If I was a passenger on one of those planes that forced me to give up those things, someone would be reimbursing me. If someone wants it bad enough and is smart enough they are going to blow up that plane regardless of the "security" measures? These measures are asinine at best, and at worst political scare tactics; what happened to not living in fear? There comes a time when you have to say enough is enough and while safety is important, I am not going to give those who wish me harm the control, because lets face it--that is exactly what we have done. It has gone past the point of reasonable safety measures to the absurd. No wonder the airlines are going bankrupt--people are just tired of the hassle--I say we should start a class action law suit to stop honest Citizens from this type of harassment and communistic like rules.

2006-08-10 12:12:39 · 13 answers · asked by Rocky 2

2006-08-10 12:05:07 · 11 answers · asked by emtgve 2

Anyone got anything to say about todays attempted terror attacks? Cause I want to say it looks like we are in the midst of a holy war.

2006-08-10 11:58:37 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous

2006-08-10 11:55:39 · 7 answers · asked by last spiritual man 1

Can he actually make a point without making a racist/demagogical or insulting comment towards someone who isn't a white american conservative little brat like him?

What's up with the bow-tie!

2006-08-10 11:54:47 · 4 answers · asked by estebandiatao 1

Are you grateful that the Bush administration has pushed so hard on the war on terror? Because you should be warming up to the idea by now.....

2006-08-10 11:53:42 · 19 answers · asked by loubean 5

He has 2 children that live with their mother who obtained custody of them just over a year ago. Up till that point he had had them in his custody for over 6 years and even though court ordered she never paid child support. Could this possibly be why he has received a summons?

2006-08-10 11:50:45 · 3 answers · asked by Toni L 1