I was a teenage hophead.

I'm not conversant with enough statistical analysis and I lack a sufficiently broad familiarity with the relevant body of research to refute this study's controversial conclusions systematically. But I can address the claims of the Duke University study from my own perspective. I started smoking marijuana on a daily basis when I was thirteen. With a few notable and memorable exceptions, I didn't stop smoking it daily until until well into my twenties. During that whole period (1976-1986) I only ceased smoking dope for short periods, when marijuana became unavailable in the community, that is, during what is known as a "drought." I found that when I stopped, there was a certain increase in my cognitive capacity overall, and that my short-term memory and general attentiveness seemd to have been enhanced through abstenance. But it's noteworthy that whatever damage may have conceivably occurred to me pursuant to said chronic cannabis consumption appeared to be a temporary phenomenon. Of course it's possible that I may have diminished whatever potential existed within me to exell in certain endeavors, but I tend to doubt any such potential reduction in brain power stemmed specifically or exclusively from ingesting reefer on a long-term basis. Many other factors could account for the failure on my part to learn the Russian language to the point of being conversant. It might have been the great amount of beer, wine and hard liquor I drank that hindered my progress in Pre-college Algebra. Prescription medication abuse and the consumtion of other psychotropic substances on my part, or a combination of all of the inadvisable practices listed above could be the reason why I dropped out of more than one high school. And I'll extend my contention further, and apply it to the larger society. I've known highly successful computer programmers who smoked some of the most powerful California bud I've ever encountered in my life during their time off. Whether or not they'd been potheads in early adolescence, they weren't hindered as adults in their inordinately complicated and difficult jobs, certainly not as a result of getting high during the weekend. Alternately, I've encountered countless hundreds or thousands of persons who never puffed one single drag off a joint whose level of academic achievement never in their lives seemed to transcend the level of common mediocrity. http://www.boston.com/news/science/2012/08/27/teen-pot-use-linked-later-declines/d25ZcUiFASyet8jEZZDfDI/story.html

$UCK

It seems to me that Democrats (much like their republlican counterparts) within both the legislative and executive branches of government in Washington DC should be able to raise at least a billion dollars from their wealthy benefactors. I refer to the corporate pigs on Wall Street and nouveau riche scumbags in Silicon Valley, Mark Zukerberg, for example. Therefore, I've just removed myself from the Dem's email lists. Every day, it seemed, they were asking ME for money. If I do vote for Obama again, it will be DESPITE, not because of their interminable begging. Mainstream American politicians - they $UCK. P.S: I deactivated my Facebook account the other day, and I haven't been this happy in three years. It just so happens that it was threee years ago I signed up with Facebook.

"Dem bones, dem bones, dem DRY bones..."

Was going to post this on Sacreligious Sunday, but just couldn't hold my horses. I was exploring King James' book of Ezekiel, trying to find that bit about "dem bones, dem bones, dem DRY bones... Ezekiel collected dem DRY bones...," when I came across this, the Word of thy Father. Truly seems like a pile of Biblical dung that folks should avoid stepping in. And now, Heeeere's a mound of human waste, straight outta the Book of the Profit Ezekiel, Chapter 4: "12 And thou shalt eat it as barley cakes, and thou shalt bake it with dung that cometh out of man, in their sight. 13 And the Lord said, Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles, whither I will drive them. 14 Then said I, Ah Lord God! behold, my soul hath not been polluted: for from my youth up even till now have I not eaten of that which dieth of itself, or is torn in pieces; neither came there abominable flesh into my mouth. 15 Then he said unto me, Lo, I have given thee cow's dung for man's dung, and thou shalt prepare thy bread therewith." Well, having read this I had to stop and admire God's Heavenly Mercy at work, only making His faithful servant consume cow's, as opposed to man's execrable dung. YECCCHHH! Couldn't even make myself proceed to that comparably charming part concerning the collection of dry bones, but I'll get there yet. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-pzzfcU--4

Welcome to Camp 17

Was thinking it over the other night - how many people I've met have done serious jail time, or been imprisoned here in the USA? So I made a list that numbers in the scores of individuals who've been gaoled ("jailed," spelled for the benefit of my Brit friends) and at least 25 who were imprisoned at some point during the period 1976-2012. Incidentally, at least six of those friends/acquaintances who went to prison are now deceased. Only one of those 25 inmates was a convicted murderer and I believe he's still living. The vast majority of these folks were jailed/incarcerated for non-violent "offences." I also realised that many of these people are only known to me because I grew up in lower middle class or impoverished circumstances, depending on the era. Of course, I'm white, so I cannot even imagine how long that list might have been were I non-white; the fact that I've known a lot of alcoholics and addicts is also a significant factor. Me? Haven't been arrested since 1988, and that was for the grievous transgression of hitch-hiking in notoriously Republican-reactionary Waukesha County Wisconsin. Despite my occasional rants, I'm really pretty well-behaved, and extremely cautious. Here in the rather goddamn uptight Upper Midwest, Wisconsin state pigs are just that, pigs. I know of several formerly young men arrested for thumbing a ride during the '70's and '80s in Waukesha County. Yet, in Illinois during the three or four adventures I had in the 1980's, the Illinois State Patrol simply told me to get off the highway, either verbally or using symbolic language. Go figure! The only way I can conceive of to turn this penal industry on it's head would be for its "natural victims" to exercise the greatest level of discretion humanly possible. Most people should simply not drink alcohol, to start. Practice an unusually self-conscious, perhaps even "excessive" level of risk aversion in ones everyday affairs. Study the laws, including the US Constitution at least at the most basic level, with special emphasis on the Bill of Rights. In fact, there is simply no excuse for literate people not to have read the Constitution in its entirety. Even though in practice, Law Entrapment agencies usually violate its relevant provisions. Be ones own lawyer, so to speak, to the greatest extent possible. Sensibly assert ones civil liberties. Develop ones negotiating and "diplomatic" skills to a point where they appear to be as highly refined as can be, but use them only in circumstances where it seems there is a good chance of talking ones way out of trouble with the law. Otherwise, remain (Hopefully sober!) and above all, silent when intercepted, detained, or arrested. I can't emphasize sufficiently how often people should simply reserve the right to remain SILENT in that cop car. Let ones lawyer do the talking instead, at the proper time. If incarcerated, don't blab to likely jail-house snitches. There are so many strategies intelligent people can wisely implement, if they keep their wits about them. So often they don't, even when there is minimal prospect of the pigs "bringing out the rubber hoses!" There's no guarantee of success even if all these procedures are assiduously adhered to, not even a promise of mitigating damage done. But I can't even begin to count the incidences I am aware of when people facilitated their own imprisonment by ignorance, carelessness or recklessness. As you can easily guess, many of the anonymous individuals I referenced are/were were very, very close to me personally. Others are of either casual acquaintance or extremely remote at this time. Generally speaking, there is a completely understandable reticence on the part of most of the "audience" to get involved with this particular discussion, especially considering the unusual way I broached the subject, not to mention the horrific impact of America's largely indiscriminate penalization process. Importantly, I burned the list last night; I actually felt slightly evil compiling it in the first place; a kind of private intrusion into the affairs of others, even though ultimately, I kept it absolutely secret. But there was simply no way to retain my estimate without committing it to writing. Doubtless I have known at least twice as many jailed and imprisoned folks during my 49 years - but I have lost track of many more, and was unwilling to reference CCAP or other such pernicious databases. In all seriousness, I passionately hope I'll see nobody I thought of, nor anyone on this thread, if/when I'm detained in the new Gulag. But who knows what the future holds in store! http://​www.usconstitution.net/http://www.archives.gov/​exhibits/charters/​bill_of_rights_transcript.h​tml

Has Paul Ryan got something to hide?

It's bad enough that he wants to essentially gut Medicare by turning it into a block grant. His intentions for Medicaid and Social Security appear to be even worse. Now Paul Ryan has informed the American Public that he will only release two years of his tax returns, same as his running mate Mitt Romney. That reminds me of something Republicans and other "national security" aficionados said in 2001, after the vast majority of Congress members voted to pass the PATRIOT Act, most of them not having read the entire bill. They told people who are concerned about the fate of the Bill of Rights that "if we weren't doing anything wrong, we have nothing to worry about." They steadfastly maintained that the intelligence community had a desperate need to "sneak and peek" search our houses, without a warrant and while we were away from home. They said the FBI must tap your phone and read your email, also without a warrant demonstrating probable cause. They said it was all right for spies to access your library records - surely you have nothing to hide? According to the modern McCarthyites, Republican & Democrat, "Sunlight is the best disinfectant." Well, I admit that's all water under the bridge. Nonetheless, now's the time those two Republican candidates for high office shed some badly-needed light on their own activities. Come clean, Paul Ryan & Mitt Romney!

Just a stupid primary

I have a terrible confession to make... I voted today. Yes, I tried to tell myself (quite accurately) that it's mostly become a pathetic, meaningless ritual, and I shouldn't bother, especially since it was just a stupid primary. The only meaningful (but BORING) "choice" available was to vote for one of the two "Progressives" on the "Democratic" ticket who stand a chance of winning. Indeed, BORING a...nd pretty much a waste of time, since those two Dem candidates for US House of Representatives are really pretty similar in their outlook. On the other hand, I would have cast a ballot for one of the Republican US Senate candidates running today, if by so doing I could have hurt one or all of the others. But that didn't seem like a possibility - there's precious little difference between Mark Neumann, Tommy Thompson , Jeff Fitzgerald or Eric Hovde; "A Pox on ALL their Houses!" Afterward, I was given one of those little staickers - "I Voted Today." Still, it was my obligation, in some sense to vote. Having met Fannie Lou Hamer long ago in my youth, I realize how important it is to exercise that right, for which many "brave souls" sacrificed their very lives. Still, I feel rather foolish, and definitely in the minority; Wisconsin Public Radio reported this morning that the expected turnout in the Repub Senate race was going to be a WHOPPING 20% of eligible voters.

"Gimme that Old Time Religion!"

"Gimme that Old Time Religion..." From The King James Bible, Isaiah 3; 16: "Moreover the Lord saith, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet: 17 Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the head of the daughters of Zion, AND THE LORD WILL DISCOVER THEIR SECRET PARTS." (my emphasis added to that especially naughty clause) Continuing now with some more apparent Biblical smut from Isaiah Three: "18 In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their round tires like the moon,..." (The inevitable question pops up: "Round tires like the moon?" Is that Bible-babble for, ahem... "Sexy behind?" Anyway, the references to "discovering their secret parts" and "round tires" were conveniently removed, edited, CENSORED right out of my copy of the "New International Version of the Holy Bible." That is, the good, juicy, salacious, FUN parts were EXPUNGED from the goddamn "White Bread Bible," as I like to label it. "Translator = Traitor," as a fine old Italian saying has it.

"I Am A sinner"

Here's something quaint and amusing - if it weren't so sad - which a poor deluded child of probably 10 years age wrote on the inside cover of the aforementioned King James Bible, which I got at a church bake sale. His name has been changed to protect the innocent: "My name is Mitchell Bolton Jr. I Am A sinner, and I believe that God sent His son Jesus Christ The Lord To Die on The cross To Pay for My sins. I Believe That on the Day Jesus Returns, I will be lifted up into Heaven To Join Him & our Heavenly father, AMEN! in Jesus' name." Well, pretty good compositional skills for a young man of his apparent age (I'm judging mostly from the kind of handwriting, very good but revealing) but I have only one Question for young Mitch: "Who was the caterer at Jesus's Bar-Mitzvah?" And always remember, young man: "He that sups with the devil must have a long spoon." And this, from Electrolux 13-13: "Thou shalt not step on a Sidewalk Crack, lest thou shouldst break thy Mother's back."

The Count

Very much in keeping with America's current "Vampire Fixation." I got news for you: Paul Ryan is really "Count Chocula." Anyway, if a majority, or even a plurality of senior citizens vote for Willard Romney and Paul Ryan, we are a confirmed nation of masochists. Hmmm... "we" elected Herbert Hoover, Harry S. Truman, Lyndon Johnson, Dick Nixon, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and other monstrosities in the 20th Century. Even worse was to follow in the 21st. Yep, that confirms it. Masochists... or just plain sociopaths? Imbeciles? All of the above? I'm moving to a CIVILIZED country like... Transylvania! http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/live-video-mitt-romney-announces-vp-pick-123251121.html

SHAME

What on earth could anyone have against Sikh Americans? They seem rather innocuous, as far as religious practice goes. And there are relatively few of them. Ah, yes, white supremists hate anyone who wears a turban. Another terrible day for Amerika, and especially for my home state. I actually felt ashamed watching the news yesterday. Even though it's my habit to consciously try to avoid feeling guilty for things I didn't do. Nonetheless, for a shameful deed, I apologize.

August 4, 2012

I note Barry Obama's birthday, and let him know that I will only vote for him if between now and the first week of November something totally dramatic takes place, something that allows me to discern the indisputable fact that he is in multiple ways better than Willard Mitt Romney. And I don't mean the fact, already known to me that Obama gives rousing speeches, or that he is intelligent and cultu red. I don't mean the fact per se that Barry O is better on reproductive rights than his corporate-raider Repub opponent, he of the $250 million offshore fortune. I don't refer, as a decisive factor, to the probability that Willard would surely appoint someone even worse than Obama would, were the ailing 79-year-old Ruth Bader-Ginsburg to step down from the Supreme Court. Oh, wait, the latter just MIGHT, if I really thought about it LONG and HARD, force me to reluctantly support Pres Obie, all the intense grievances I justifiably hold against him notwithstanding. But for the time being, at this point, I'm leaning heavily toward voting for a third party candidate. Convince me I'm wrong, if you have the stomach, the patience, tenacity and the supernatural ability. Tell me I should go on electing "Democrats" who betray their base every day, in almost every way. Do YOU still hold fast to that stubborn, yet utterly unreasoning hope for "Change We Can Believe in." Despite all we've witnessed since Jan 20, 2009? Hrrrrrmph!