I’m Not The Only One

For those of you who have been paying attention, Pope Benedict XVI paid a visit to the U.S. The worst part was that he came to New York, screwing up traffic and causing various service disruptions to our already unreliable mass transit system. His visit attracted scores of Catholics and the local media raved about his visit as if Jesus Christ himself had come to the United States.

Honestly, I didn’t know so many Americans were still into this guy. Judging from the news footage, people seemed to crowd around him like he was some kind of rock star. (more…)

Hispanic Pundit has this widget on his blog called “HP Elsewhere” which tracks the comments he makes on other blogs.  I thought it would be fun to do the same, as I often find myself participating in various discussions on other blogs.

This latest comment is from Hispanic Pundit on a post titled “The Effect of the Iraq War on the Economy“.  I invite you to join the debate.

For those who don’t know, April 20th is actually a holiday, one of few I even bother to observe anymore.

The importance of the day comes from the number 420, which has become a part of American marijuana culture, or counterculture, to be more precise.

The number supposedly originated in the Haight-Ashbury hippie scene during the 1960s, where 420 was the San Francisco Police Department’s code for marijuana possession. Pot smokers around the world acknowledge the significance of 420 and smoke on April 20th, and 4:20 am or pm, for those who need an excuse to smoke daily.

But I’ve always used April 20th to think about the War on Drugs (WOD) and how so much tax money is being wasted persecuting pot users and dealers. It’s been over 30 years since President Nixon blamed U.S. defeat in Vietnam on drug use and declared a war on drugs, and people are still getting high. The only thing the WOD has changed in this country in 30 years is the enormous amount of money the federal government spends which increases every year and our overcrowded prisons which create the demand for even more prisons to be built.

Even the National

The WOD is a major reason why 1 out of 100 Americans are currently incarcerated. This is the highest incarceration rate in the world-higher than China, Iran, North Korea, or those other “totalitarian” countries our government frowns upon. These numbers, which came from the U.S. Department of Justice and count state prisons as well as local jails, become even more sickening when you break them down:

• 1 out of 36 Latinos
• 1 out of 15 African-Americans
• 1 out of 9 black men between the ages of 20 and 34

The same article uses DOJ figures to conclude that violent crimes have fallen 25 percent in the last 20 years but last year the inmate population in this country grew by 25,000. So why is the incarceration rate increasing while violent crimes are decreasing? Take a guess.

Drug abuse is a health problem, not a crime problem. Being hooked on cocaine is no different than being hooked on oxycontin. In fact, the pharmaceutical industry has a synthetic version of every illegal narcotic out there. There’s a watered-down version of marijuana called marinol, a watered-down version of cocaine called codeine, and a watered-down version of heroin called morphine. The difference between cocaine and codeine is Pepsi and Diet Pepsi. It’s no wonder that, according to the DEA, more Americans are abusing prescription drugs than using illegal drugs and that Prescription pain relievers are new drug users’ drug of choice, vs. marijuana or cocaine. Like I said, people are getting high anyway, and now they’ve found a safer means through prescription drug abuse.

I live in New York City, where the New York City Bar Association has identified as the marijuana arrest capital of the United States in both per capita arrest rates as well as racial disparity in enforcing marijuana laws. According to the Bar, for every white person arrested on marijuana charges, nine minorities are arrested. So much for New Yorkers being tolerant and sophisticated!

New York State seems to be the battleground of the WOD as my home state has the Rockerfeller Drug Laws, which were enacted in 1973 and require a minimum sentence of prison for the possession or sale of small amounts of drugs. The penalties apply without regard to the circumstances of the offense or the individual’s character or background. Even a first-time offender can be sentenced to prison.

So a drug addict caught holding can do jail time, even if what they really need is drug treatment, a far more effective and far less expensive alternative to incarceration. But under the Rockerfeller Drug Laws, a judge does not have the freedom to hand down such a sentence.

In a state with a billion-dollar budget deficit, you would think the Rockerfeller Drug Laws would have been repealed by now. But even today, these laws are still in effect and are the cause for the following statistics:

• There are over 15,000 drug offenders incarcerated in New York State prisons.
• In 2004, nearly 35% of the people sent to state prison were drug offenders, compared to only 11% in 1980.
• Of all drug offenders sent to NYS prisons in 2000, nearly 80% were never convicted of a violent felony.
• Over 50% of the drug offenders in NYS prisons were convicted of selling or possessing only small drug amounts.
• It cost the state over $1.7 billion to construct new prisons to house drug offenders. The annual operating expense for confining drug offenders comes to about $500 million per year.
• From 1988 to 1998, the state increased annual prison spending by $761 million. During that same time period, the state decreased annual spending on the State and City Universities of New York by approximately $615 million.

Drop the Rock is a campaign to get the State Legislature to repeal the Rockerfeller Drug Laws and:

• Restore sentencing discretion to trial judges in all drug cases.
• Make sentencing reform retroactive so that current inmates can petition the courts for review of their sentences.
• Expand the funding available for alternatives to incarceration, including drug treatment, job training and education programs so that judges have an appropriate place to send the offenders they decide should not be imprisoned.
• Significantly reduce sentence lengths for drug offenses.

We try to accomplish this goal through letter writing campaigns, urging our local State legislators to add themselves as co-sponsors to the current Rockerfeller Drug Law repeal bill which is currently in the State Assembly, and by annually lobbying the politicians in the State Capitol.

I can’t think of a bigger waste of federal tax dollars than the WOD, especially when our national deficit is in the trillions of dollars and the economy is in the crapper. The worst part is that drug use isn’t even mentioned in the U.S. Constitution. Doesn’t that make the WOD unconstitutional?

I know this post is a day late. I started Sunday morning but couldn’t finish because I had been invited to a 420 party around noon. While most of the crowd is busy “celebrating”, I try to talk to people about libertarianism, and especially about getting involved in Drop the Rock. The trouble with pot smokers is that they throw great parties, but when it comes to activism or even exercising their rights as citizens there’s much to be desired.

For further interesting reading regarding the immoral and fiscally responsible War on Drugs, check out:

Drugs Are Bad Enough Without A Phony Terrorism Link

Why Barack Obama Has My Vote

Copy/Paste

Healthcare and Life Expectancy

Happy 420.

P.S. If you’re still in a 420 mood, why not try some Kottonmouth Kookies?

…in Italy, that is.

And did I say Obama? I meant Walter Veltroni, who fancies himself as the “Italian Obama”.

According to articles in Spiked and the New York Times, last Sunday and Monday Italians re-elected Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi over the challenger Veltroni. Veltroni modeled his campaign after Sen. Barack Obama’s, promoting himself as an agent of change and adopting his campaign slogan, “Si, puo fare!” He even copied Obama’s campaign logo.

Veltroni, who was chosen to represent Italy’s Democratic Party in the PM race is also a friend of Barack Obama and even wrote the introduction for the Italian version of the Senator’s book, “The Audacity of Hope”. Like Obama, Veltroni enjoyed mass appeal among Italian youth, was also endorsed by George Clooney and was depicted as the youthful candidate in the race by Italian media. Veltroni is 52 while his opponent is 72.

But bear in mind, this was Italy, not the United States, and just to show you how different the two nations are, Spiked offered an analysis as to how Veltroni lost the general election.

The election result is revealing for a number of reasons. First because it shows that Italian voters are so disillusioned by more than a decade of anti-corruption witch-hunting that they are willing to return to office the man who was described as the most corrupt of them all: Berlusconi. Yet the fact is that many Italians find Berlusconi’s roguish charm and rule-bending attractive, especially following the taxation policies of the previous administration led by the centre-left.

Spiegel Online, a German newspaper added the following:

There are currently 24 convicted Italian criminals who hold seats in the Italian or European parliaments. Their crimes include tax evasion, perjury, corruption, violating explosives laws and incitement to murder.

Veltroni differed from Obama in the fact the he was not a fresh face in national politics the way Obama is. Like Hillary Clinton, Veltroni is seen by many Italians as part of the unpopular Democratic administration which reigned over Italy a few years before. So while it’s interesting to hear the results of a national election with a candidate modeling himself after Barack Obama, it’s important to remember that Veltroni is very different from the Senator, and that this is a very different country from our own.

And Italian politicians are not as scared as the US is to offends. Berlusconi, who is also a billionaire, has offered the following statements over the last few years, quotes that would spell career suicide for any politician:

• Stated that Western civilization is superior to Islam
• Stated that right-wing women are sexier than left-wing women
• Compared a German politician to a Nazi death camp guard
• Proposed mental health tests on federal prosecutors who tried to convict him on corruption charges
• Praised a mafia figure as a “hero” for refusing to talk to the police
• Has publicly advocated tax evasion by the wealthy and large corporations

With all the press coverage over “bittergate,” the calls for Hillary to concede defeat and all the other minute, superficial aspects of the Presidential Race, I thought it would be nice to take a break and examine another national election.

Is it just me, or does the mainstream news media say “Hispanic” when referring to politicians and other white-collar people but say “Latino” when describing gangs or inmates or other blue-collar people?

Problem is, it’s not just gringos who do this. I got these photos off two websites, one from a Hispanic organization and one from a Latino organization. Can you guess which organization had the picture of Cuban-American talk show host Cristina Saralegui and which site has the picture of Puerto Rican-born reggaeton singer Tego Calderon?

Can any Hispanics or Latinos (whichever one you happen to be) shed some light on this subject? Es demasiado confusing! I think the light-skinned members of our group prefer Hispanic and the dark-skinned members prefer Latino. How can two terms be so interchangeable so distinct at the same time? Or are they? Gringos are invited to opine with your own comments on this subject as well. Is this like the Latino equivalent of the “better taste, less filling” argument?

Personally, I like Latino and distrust any term that is created by the U.S. government, contains the word “panic” and is grossly Eurocentric.

For more background on this subject, please read my previous post.

Despite having recently graduated, I’m still having trouble finding steady employment. Ironically, I went to college so I wouldn’t be in this situation. Now, I’m not blaming President Bush, but I must say that every year since 2000, it has been harder and harder to find a job. More jobs than ever before do credit checks and drug tests and personality tests. Even when you do get a paycheck, the U.S. dollar buys less than it did before, and prices have been adjusted to reflect that. Factor in the increase in the price of petroleum and the increased cost of doing business is also passed on to the consumer.

Maybe it’s because I’ve gotten older and companies are less willing to hire me every year for retail work and administrative support, which I have relied upon for a source of income while working on my college degree.

I was a journalist (freelance reporter, part-time staff reporter, part-time editor, photographer, etc.) for several years for small newspapers because without an undergraduate degree, I would not be hired by larger publications on a full-time basis, if at all.

Now as a graduate, I’ve sent out my resume, clips and cover letter seeking the kind of employment I was denied so many years only to find the job market for journalists (and all other industries) is even tighter than ever. It certainly doesn’t help to live in the #1 media market, New York City, and it’s even more of a disadvantage for native New Yorkers, most of whom don’t have driver’s licenses or cars and therefore cannot seek employment in smaller media markets.

Most of the journalism jobs I’ve found were located in other cities, which is probably where I’ll go once I acquire a car.  In the meantime I decided to rely on my writing skills and experience to earn money, which is why I’m now advertising various writing services.  More services will be added soon.

I’m currently living on my tax refund and my George Bush big fat tax bribe, but even that won’t last long.  If you know someone who needs an experienced, professional writer/reporter/editor, I’m here.

Despite her fancy private school education and degrees from Stanford and Oxford Chelsea Clinton was still dumb enough to reply “It’s none of your business” to a question from a student asking whether Hillary’s credibility had been hurt by the Monica Lewinsky scandal, since the former first lady originally stated the allegations of a sexual relationship between her husband and the chubby against him were fabricated by a “vast right-wing conspiracy.”

Guess what, Chelsea? Your dad’s affair is every American’s business, because he had sex with a White House Intern (someone who was enlisted by the government to work as a White House official) in the Oval Office (the office of the U.S. President, paid for by tax dollars) and often fooled around with her while he was supposed to be working (his paycheck and benefits paid for by Americans). If any other civil servant had been using his agency’s office to have sex with a colleague while both parties were on the clock, it would rightfully be he public’s business to hold that government worker accountable for these unprofessional acts.

It is because he chose to have sex with a White House intern in the Oval Office while on the clock that allowed Republicans in Congress to try to impeach him. Had Bill Clinton had an affair with a truck stop waitress in a Motel 6 during one of his vacation weeks or any other time he was not expected to be working, it would not be a public issue.

So screw you, Chelsea! Nyah, nyah, nyah! It is everyone’s business. Besides, if Hillary can bust Barack’s balls over his relationship with Rev. Jeremiah Wright (someone who Obama never asked for political guidance and whose involvement in the campaign was of a purely spiritual capacity), anyone should be able to do the same to Hillary over the Monica Lewinsky scandal. No one forced Hillary to blame the GOP for creating rumors about her husband.

Chelsea is also an idiot because now, everywhere she goes, someone will ask her about Monica Lewinsky just to push her buttons. And if she’s trying to act as a spokesperson for her mother’s campaign, the focus of the event will go from talking about the campaign to telling off some smart ass heckler in the crowd.