Pollywogs!

Pollywogs!
A thought without words




Weight Watchers…

August 19th, 2008

…I decided to do it. One of the things I liked most about our early year diet revision was knowing exactly how much I was eating, and how much I ought to be eating. I liked the control that knowledge brought. Which is why I decided to commit to Weight Watchers for three months.

Tonight, I have 0.5 points left. I had a slice of toast with peanut butter, tea with 2 tablespoons of liquid creamer, and a package of yogurt for breakfast, which was 9 points. Lunch was a fiber bar and a banana at 4 points, and dinner was salad and soup with a glass of fruit juice at 16 points (salad dressing and croutons are pretty point heavy items!). For ’snacks’ I had a second cup of tea with creamer when I got home and two beers while shooting bitches in the evening. 35.5 points total out of 36, and I actually feel quite full. This is going very well!

The website isn’t bad, but sometimes is a bit slow, they gotta take some of my fucking fee and upgrade their servers…

Etsy is a place to buy and sell handmade goods. It is actually really, really cool. Really cool.

HitMeLater is basically email from yourself to yourself in the future.  Ever think “I need to deal with this tomorrow”?  Send it to 24@hitmelater.com and they’ll mail it back to you exactly 24 hours later.  Pretty good idea!

I wear a double-layered tinfoil hat, but in some ways I am incredibly risky and throw caution to the wind, taunting the people tasked with illegally monitoring me with my disregard of the knowledge that they can (and probably do) monitor and observe every packet in and out of our LAN.  These tools can help if you decide (unlike me) to be a little more cautious and careful in your jaunts through cyberspace.

Let me answer this question: computer gaming is the only reason anyone sane would choose Microsoft over Linux.

So after her success I was back to the question that perpetually plagues me: Why would anyone choose Windows over Linux?

  • There’s far less risk for viruses and malware.
  • It’s free.
  • Applications are free.
  • It’s far more flexible.
  • It has multiple routes for support.
  • It is improving at a far faster rate than Windows.
  • Bugs and security holes are patched much quicker.

I realize the pat answers will appear:

  • No games.
  • No Linux version of application X.

I want to be a juror.  I’m pretty sure I’d get screened out, but man the fucking havoc I could wreck:

The jury sent a note to the trial judge with the following query: Since the Constitution needed to be amended in 1919 to authorize federal criminal prosecutions for manufacturing and smuggling alcohol, a juror wanted to know from the judge where “is the constitutional grant of authority to ban mere possession of cocaine today?”

That’s a fair question.

Did you know you have the power to question law as a juror?  I bet you didn’t, because the government does not want you to realize that a jury is one of the last bastions of our power against tyranny.  A judge will likely try to have you removed if you are the lone dissenter, but if you can convince your fellow jurors into at least a deadlock, you’re golden.  Which is the entire idea of a trial by jury:

Like so many of America’s early leaders, John Adams was a strong proponent of jury nullification.  Here’s Adams: “It is not only the juror’s right, but his duty, to find the verdict according to his own best understanding, judgment, and conscience, though in direct opposition to the direction of the court.”

UPDATE: 5 online ‘health’ calculators, I actually used the BMI one (which says I’m overweight) and the body fat one (which lied to me and said I’m only 12.5% body fat, but apparently it’s easy to get wrong).

Society…

July 24th, 2008

This is a post by Kell.  It wasn’t intended to be a post, as it is simply a comment in the last post I created, but after digesting it for a while, I think it can stand on its own.

I need a break…this world is berserk!  Stark raving mad.  It’s all about mass breeding, mass production, mass consumption, mass waste…mo money, mo money……………and all for what?  To reach what, what is the goal?  Who is it for?  And why?

Is it a means to an end?  Something that you are not interested in but that you do because it will help you to achieve something else?

And do those “ends” justify the means???   In order to achieve an “important” aim, it is acceptable to do something bad?

Does any of this even make sense?  I can’t tell anymore…I am lost among the means…

Sometimes (a lot of the time actually) I wish I could just let go:

Society by Jerry Hannan (as performed by Eddie Vedder)

It’s a mystery to me
we have a greed
with which we have agreed

You think you have to want
more than you need
until you have it all you won’t be free

society, you’re a crazy breed
I hope you’re not lonely without me

When you want more than you have
you think you need
and when you think more than you want
your thoughts begin to bleed

I think I need to find a bigger place
‘cos when you have more than you think
you need more space

society, you’re a crazy breed
I hope you’re not lonely without me
society, crazy indeed
I hope you’re not lonely without me

there’s those thinking more or less, less is more
but if less is more, then how you keeping score?
Means for every point you make, your level drops
kinda like its starting from the top
you can’t do that…

society, you’re a crazy breed
I hope you’re not lonely without me
society, crazy indeed
I hope you’re not lonely without me

society, have mercy on me
I hope you’re not angry if I disagree
society, crazy indeed
I hope you’re not lonely without me

Amotivational syndrome…

July 12th, 2008

I promise to update with the final Pearl Jam installment soon.  Kelley somehow snagged tickets for the Eddie Vedder solo tour, a stop on the northern point of Manhattan:

…so hopefully I get NYC written before I get yet more stuff to write about…I’m drowning in my own sloth…

Here a couple random links from my ‘toblog’ pile (thanks Firefox 3 for making that organizational challenge that much easier!)…

As I mention time and time again, the government pushing propaganda upon the public is unlawful.  My desire to smash the state grows with every passing day:

In a “trip report” he filed with his Pentagon handlers, CNN’s Gen. Shepperd explicitly acknowledged both the blatantly propagandistic purpose of the trip, as well as the extremely limited and controlled scope of information to which he had access in a single-day trip (7434). Shepperd stated:

“Did we drink the ‘Government Kool-Aid?’ — of course, and that was the purpose of the trip.” In his Pentagon report, Shepperd added the obvious: that “a one day visit does not an expert make,” that “the government was obviously going to put its best foot forward to get out its message,” and that “former military visitors are more likely to agree with government views than a more appropriately skeptical press.”

Justice for Tracy Ingle:

Tracy Ingle was asleep in his house when armed police using a no-knock warrant burst in. Unsure about what was happening, he reached for a non-functioning pistol, but began to drop it as soon as he realized who they were. The gesture was too late — officers shot him 5 times.

Mercifully, he survived, but despite not finding any drugs in his house, Tracy is being charged with two felony counts of Aggravated Assault, drug paraphernalia and running a drug premises. He is in very poor physical shape and obviously not doing well psychologically, due to the incident. Many people in his town and even family find it easier to believe the police would not make such a big mistake. Of course Tracy’s neighbor — who saw the whole thing — believes him, but the police have intimidated him to near silence. Everyone who speaks to his neighbor privately hears his story, but after the police “questioned” him for 4 hours and “advised” him not to get involved, he has refused to testify or go on the record.

How the hell is a no-knock warrant granted?  And once they shoot the guy five times, he is charged with aggravated assault?  They found a roach in his ashtray and they charge him with drug paraphernalia?

WHAT.

THE.

FUCK.

I know if ANYONE busted down my front door with no warning in the middle of the night, I would do everything in my power TO KILL THEM, as should any private citizen.  The entire reason we formed this new country was to get away from tyranny and oppression.  This police state bullshit has got to stop.  These affronts to freedom and liberty need to be challenged in the Supreme Court, where WE DECIDE ONCE AND FOR ALL IF THE CONSTITUTION IS SIMPLY A SCRAP OF PAPER FOR THE FASCISTS TO WIPE THEIR ASSES WITH or if we still believe in the ideals upon which this country was founded.  And no, they are not Christian ideals you stupid fucks:

“The United States of America have exhibited, perhaps, the first example of governments erected on the simple principles of nature; and if men are now sufficiently enlightened to disabuse themselves of artifice, imposture, hypocrisy, and superstition, they will consider this event as an era in their history…It will never be pretended that any persons employed in that service had interviews with the gods, or were in any degree under the influence of Heaven, more than those at work upon ships or houses, or laboring in merchandise or agriculture; it will forever be acknowledged that these governments were contrived merely by the use of reason and the senses.” - John Adams

This link just makes me angry.  Smash the state, fuck the system…it must be nice to be able to loan your own campaign tens of millions of dollars…

Speaking of fucking the system, anything we can do to reduce the power and influence of big business (and I use this term in the most profound sense, those gigantic multinational corporations who actively seek to get a stranglehold around the world in every manner which they can, those who have grown to the size where domination is a very real and achievable goal) has a big thumbs up in my book.  That includes both growing your own food and buying more locally, from smaller and independent sources:

But industrial agriculture has simply responded that if we’re feeding more people more cheaply using less land, how terrible can our food system be?

Now that argument no longer holds true. With the price of oil at more than $120 a barrel (up from less than $30 for most of the last 50 years), small and midsize nonpolluting farms, the ones growing the healthiest and best-tasting food, are gaining a competitive advantage. They aren’t as reliant on oil, because they use fewer large machines and less pesticide and fertilizer.

The high cost of oil alone will not be enough to reform American agriculture, however. As long as agricultural companies exploit the poor and extract labor from them at slave wages, and as long as they aren’t required to pay the price for the pollution they so brazenly produce, their system will stay afloat. If financially pinched Americans opt for the cheapest (and the least healthful) foods rather than cook their own, the food industry will continue to reach for the lowest common denominator.

But it is possible to nudge the revolution along — for instance, by changing how we measure the value of food. If we stop calculating the cost per quantity and begin considering the cost per nutrient value, the demand for higher-quality food would rise.

Heh heh heh he said revolution, heh heh heh…

I’m having a major case of deja vu here, I may have posted this before, or I may have just thought “I have got to do this some day”, or it may just be the blood-red rage pulsing through my head, the desire to tear it all down, to burn Washington, to have a violent revolution, to fight for liberty, truth and justice…and I’m just talking about someone wanting to see your receipt!

Here’s a scenario that is familiar to anyone who has ever set foot in Wal-Mart, CVS, Rite-Aid, or any of a dozen other major retailers. After you have made a purchase, collected your bags, or packed everything into a shopping cart, you head for the exit. Just as you approach freedom an alarm sounds (usually a sequence of ugly, electronic grunts) and a robotic voice (always female) announces: “Please return to the checkout.” Other customers immediately look in your direction, and an employee begins to approach you. What’s your next move?

If you possess an ounce of personal pride or perhaps two ounces of fortitude, then the 100 percent correct move is to proceed immediately out the door. Why? There are many reasons, chief among them being that rational adults should not instantly obey mechanical voices (unless that voice instructs us to exit a burning aircraft). Also, if you haven’t stolen anything and therefore do not require interrogation, there is absolutely nothing that should compel you to linger post-transaction. It’s depressing enough simply being there in the first place. Another good reason to make a quick exit is that you aren’t being paid to assist some giant retailer with its security measures. You aren’t part of the team, and you didn’t clock in. The clearest reason for leaving the store, however, is that there exists absolutely no legal obligation to remain there, and the store has no right to detain you.

Please peruse the entire site, the writing style is excellent.  I am almost sure I’ve posted this before.

Oh, to have balls that large.  One day, I’m doing it, I swear to the flying spaghetti monster.  I’m going to hear them ask that I stop.  I’m going to look at them in the eye and squeeze my nutsack.  I will say ‘why don’t you go call the police”, turn, and walk away.

FUCK THE SYSTEM FUCK THE SYSTEM…whether it is a receipt, illegal propaganda, illegal police checkpoints…we’re talking about fundamental offenses to REAL ideals this country was founded upon.

Tired…

April 30th, 2008

Odd that the normal human condition in the United States seems to be satiated AND fundamentally dissatisfied.  Or is it just me?

I never knew how nice the Picasa Web Albums are.  Flickr, you better kick your shit up a notch!  Oh, and that canyon looks totally awesome too.

There are people who are working to end Prohibition.  Responsible use?  Abuse being a medical condition rather than a criminal act?  Jesus save us!!!  The ACLU themselves are getting into the act!  (full disclosure: I recently became a card carrying ACLU member).

Speaking of those devil worshipers at the ACLU, here is an action page where you can remind your representatives that you personally find torture of another human being reprehensible.  You do find the concept of torture to be stomach turning, don’t you?  What, you just told the inquisition that I turned your sister into a newt???

Plundering the coffers.  What did President Eisenhower say about the Military Industrial Complex?  Seemed important at the time, ahh shucks I’m sure it’s nothing important!  Hell, he was only the Allied Supreme Commander during World War II, what does he know anyway…Oh look, American Idle is on!

Speaking of things you don’t need to know about, did you know that propaganda is illegal?  Not that legality or fear of accountability has EVER prevented the government from doing anything (hey look, Big Brother is on!)…

JOHN STAUBER: …What happened here was a psy-ops campaign, an incredible government propaganda campaign whereby Donald Rumsfeld and Torie Clark, the head of public relations for the Pentagon, designed a program to recruit 75, at least 75 former military officers, as your report said, most of them now lobbyists or consultants to military contractors, and insert them, beginning in 2002, before the attack on Iraq was even launched, into the major networks to manage the messages, to be surrogates.

And that’s the words that are actually used, “message multipliers” for the secretary of defense and for the Pentagon. This program continues right up to now.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And is the essence of this that what they did was — what the Pentagon did was illegal?

JOHN STAUBER: Yes, what they did was illegal. Now, the Pentagon might contest that, but we’ve had various laws on the books in our country going back to the 1920s. It is illegal for the U.S. government to propagandize citizens in this way.

But you won’t hear anything about THIS on the nightly news!  Oh look, The Insider is on!

There was once this awesome kid who taped his teacher preaching in a public school classroom.  The Man fucked the kid over, but he persevered and recently wrote an excellent article on just what a shitty job school does ‘educating’ kids these days (and implies the more important WHY):

What is most distressing is not that some public school teachers preach their religion, or that some authors put politics ahead of education. It is that it is so rare for anyone to call them on it. This text is widely used. Yet to my knowledge, no one has challenged these incorrect and misleading statements.

As Americans, we should stand up for our common values. We should champion education and settle for nothing less than the best. Our teachers should do the same and should not misuse their positions to promote their personal agendas.

Thank YOU Matthew!

The real cost is hidden:

Under longstanding trade agreements, fuel for international freight carried by sea and air is not taxed. Now, many economists, environmental advocates and politicians say it is time to make shippers and shoppers pay for the pollution, through taxes or other measures.

“We’re shifting goods around the world in a way that looks really bizarre,” said Paul Watkiss, an Oxford University economist who wrote a recent European Union report on food imports.

He noted that Britain, for example, imports — and exports — 15,000 tons of waffles a year, and similarly exchanges 20 tons of bottled water with Australia. More important, Mr. Watkiss said, “we are not paying the environmental cost of all that travel.”

Isn’t that “amusing”.

Here, I’ll send you 15,000 tons of waffles…

Oh look, now I need 15,000 tons of waffles, please send me some…

That noise you just heard?  That was my head exploding…

You know what a good job our government has been doing lately?  I mean that sarcastically, not the good job they’ve been doing fucking us over, they’ve literally been slamming that shithole a perfect 10 the past eight years…

Well, they’ve done a ‘good job brownie’ on the 9/11 report:

This isn’t just a matter of academic and historical interest about the 9/11 attacks, although it is that. One of two things almost certainly happened here, each of which is of great importance. Either Mukasey is lying about the 9/11 attacks in order to manipulate Americans into believing that FISA’s warrant requirements are what prevented discovery of the 9/11 attacks and caused 3,000 American deaths — a completely disgusting act by the Attorney General which obviously cannot be ignored. Or, Mukasey has just revealed the most damning fact yet about the Bush’s administration’s ability and failure to have prevented the attacks — facts that, until now, were apparently concealed from the 9/11 Commission and the public.

Hey wait, that isn’t just the 9/11 report, this sounds like some SERIOUS SHIT going down!  But you won’t hear anything about THIS on the nightly news.  Oh look, Survivor is on!

(I may have previously posted this, I apologize, but you aren’t in the streets protesting yet)

God hates fags.  Err…god hates shrimp?  Hmm…god hates atheists!!!

Did you hear about the state legislator who last week blasted a Lutheran minister during a committee hearing for spewing dangerous religious superstitions, and then attempted to order the minister out of the witness chair on the grounds that his Christian beliefs are “destroying what this state was built upon”?

Of course you didn’t, because it didn’t happen and would never happen. Not to a Christian, not to a Jew, not to a Muslim or to anyone who subscribes to any faith.

Such an attack would rightly be considered scandalously out of bounds in contemporary society.

But you probably also didn’t hear about what actually did happen…

I mean, fuck, who DOESN’T hate atheists?  They’re worse than them thar ahy-rab muz-lims.

Speaking of why I’m such an intolerant jerk when it comes to ‘god’, I present to you the REAL Pledge of Allegiance:

I pledge allegiance to my flag and the republic for which it stands, one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

‘Hey wait you atheist fuck, that isn’t the pledge!  Why do you hate our troops?  Jesus loves you!  Die you commie scumbag!’

“In God We Trust” printed on government issue money?  My contempt runneth over and splashes out across the globe.  Sex and religion, both best enjoyed privately behind closed doors…

Finally, Lee Iacocca is a pretty cool dude:

‘Am I the only guy in this country who’s fed up with what’s happening? Where the hell is our outrage?

We should be screaming bloody murder. We’ve got a gang of clueless bozos steering our ship of state right over a cliff, we’ve got corporate gangsters stealing us blind, and we can’t even clean up after a hurricane much less build a hybrid car.

But instead of getting mad, everyone sits around and nods their heads when the politicians say, ‘Stay the course’. Stay the course? You’ve got to be kidding. This is America , not the damned ‘Titanic’. I’ll give you a sound bite: ‘Throw all the bums out!’

Heck yea, Lee!  Damn straight!  I’m all riled up now!  Let’s march on Washington!  We will not be drowned out, heckled, mocked.  We will be heard!

but can I get back to you in a bit?  The Real World just came on.  Err, and I have Dancing With the Stars and The Batchelor after.  You know, tonight isn’t so hot for me.  How about I get back to you later this week?  I’ll try to make some time between The Hills reruns and The Biggest Loser.  I’ll call, we’ll touch base then, I promise!

A roundup! part 2…

April 3rd, 2008

So I’m looking at a list of twenty four items I wanted to post to the blog.  I think that it a slightly higher number than I had yesterday when I posted my earlier roundup.  What I’m trying to say is, I hope you like roundups cause that is all you’re getting for a while!

So I was reminded recently that Hillary Clinton is fucking Barak Obama.  I knew this, hell, it is painfully obvious to everyone…how can Hillary not realize we all know?   I find it very disturbing that getting fucked herself by Bill Clinton all of those long, hard years has mentally broken her so severely that she is now a pathological liar.  On the bright side, if fucking Bill Clinton made Hillary presidential material, that then in turn probably ‘rubs off’ on Barak as well, so now we have Monica, Hillary AND Barak as valid candidates…anointed by the presidential love juice, if you will…

John McCain, that sick fuck that he is, loves watching ever minute of this savage fucking.  He probably tapes it and then plays it back in slow motion, examining every intense second, repeating the best parts over and over and over…and the end result is that the more Hillary fucks Barak, the harder it is going to be for Barak to compete with McCain.   McCain will know all of his moves by heart, and the second Barak gets in position to ass-fuck McCain, McCain will have already seen it a dozen times and will be ready for the successful cock-block…

The worst injustice in this three-way cage fuck is that McCain is free to swing a kick to the kidneys whenever he likes: Obama and Clinton are helplessly locked on to each other until the sweet release that only a climax can provide.  When Barak finally wriggles free of Hillary’s death embrace, panting deeply above the spent wreckage of her body…the crowd will begin chanting, “Two men enter, one man leave”…

Speaking of Obama, he recently said he’d love to have Gore in his Cabinet:

 ’At a town-hall meeting, Obama was asked if he would tap the former vice president for his Cabinet to handle global warming.

“I would,” Obama said. “Not only will I, but I will make a commitment that Al Gore will be at the table and play a central part in us figuring out how we solve this problem. He’s somebody I talk to on a regular basis. I’m already consulting with him in terms of these issues, but climate change is real. It is something we have to deal with now, not 10 years from now, not 20 years from now.”‘

This is exactly the kind of thing America needs, an Administration stacked with the best and the brightest, filled with people who love and care about the future of this country.  I like Gore a hell of a lot more now that he’s escaped his handlers in Washington, and I think he will be an essential part of leading the future of this country to where it ought to be.

Speaking of pathalogical liars:

‘”They see speculation in the market, I see decline in global inventories. I don’t think this is a big surprise, that we’ve had a jump in price when there has been a decrease in crude inventories.”— Energy Secretary Sam Bodman, Bloomberg News, Mar. 5, 2008

“It should be obvious to you all that the [gasoline] demand is outstripping supply, which causes prices to go up.” — President George W. Bush, Associated Press, Mar. 5, 2008

One wonders if verifiable facts ever get in the way of this administration’s statements on issues that are critical to the average American’s wellbeing. After all, last time I checked, when politicians are elected to public office, or appointed, as is Energy Secretary Samuel W. Bodman, they must take an oath to the American people before assuming their new positions. How can they forget a sacred oath so quickly? Were they daydreaming when they took it, so it never meant anything to begin with? Maybe it’s just another promise you have to make to get into office: When you’re securely incumbent you can ignore even solemn oaths you took.’

I wonder the same thing.  This article from Business Week is excellent and well worth your time to read (heh, I’m not saying all of these links aren’t worth your time, I’m just saying this one is in the top percentile)…

I found this interesting, more people consider energy to be a higher priority than cancer:

“Some 37 percent of respondents to the poll, conducted by the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority in Virginia, said they would rank spending to raise energy efficiency and develop alternative fuel technology a top priority for future investment. That compares with 30 percent who ranked more cash for medical breakthroughs as most important”

I’m afraid I’d have to agree myself.  Until we have effectively free energy, the world is going to be a miserable place.   I wonder if those folks know we could have bought the country energy independence with a fraction of the money we’ve so far spent in our “war” in Iraq?  Would they then begin clamouring for impeachment and jail?

There is no one correct path to the next energy revolution, however.   In this time of transition, any number of stop-gaps can be quickly brought online to combat the immediate and dire threat of global warming and pollution.   This new nuclear technology looks especially promising:

“And this is where it gets interesting: thorium has a very different fuel cycle to uranium. The most significant benefit of thorium’s journey comes from the fact that it is a lighter element than uranium. While it’s fertile, it doesn’t produce as many heavy and as many highly radioactive by-products. The absence of U-238 in the process also means that no plutonium is bred in the reactor.

As a result, the waste produced from burning thorium in a reactor is dramatically less radioactive than conventional nuclear waste…. it would stay radioactive for only 500 years - after which it would be as manageable as coal ash….

…But wait, there’s more: thorium has another remarkable property. Add plutonium to the mix - or any other radioactive actinide - and the thorium fuel process will actually incinerate these elements. That’s right: it will chew up old nuclear waste as part of the power-generation process. It could not only generate power, but also act as a waste disposal plant for some of humanity’s most heinous toxic waste.”

Referring back to the wasteful and damaging “war” in Iraq (I prefer to call it an illegal occupation), the war on drugs has been just as pointless, wasteful and damaging.

 ”US Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) will introduce legislation in Congress to strip the federal government of its authority to arrest responsible cannabis consumers. Representative Frank made the announcement last week on the nationally syndicated television show, “Real Time With Bill Maher.”

“It’s time for the politicians to catch up with the public on this [issue],” Frank told host Bill Maher, who sits on NORML’s Advisory Board. “The notion that you lock people up for smoking marijuana is pretty silly.”

Frank’s pending bill seeks to eliminate all federal penalties prohibiting the personal use and possession of up to 100 grams (3 1/2 ounces) of marijuana. Under this measure, adults who consume cannabis would no longer face arrest, prison, or even the threat of a civil fine. The bill also eliminates all penalties prohibiting the not-for-profit transfers of up to one ounce of pot.”

Another article on this issue:

‘”It’s time for the politicians in this one to catch up to the public,” Frank told Bill Maher on the comic’s late-night talk show. “The notion that you lock people up for smoking marijuana is pretty silly.”

Silly and costly. According to the Committee for Sensible Marijuana Policy (CSMP), the group behind the referendum effort, last year 7,500 Massachusetts residents were saddled with criminal records for possession of marijuana.

But they aren’t the only ones who pay for it. Harvard economist Dr. Jeffrey Miron has calculated that taxpayers spend $29.5 million a year just to arrest and process offenders caught with an ounce or less of pot.

Frank told Maher he plans to name his legislation the “Make Room for Serious Criminals” bill.’

Amen.  I’d suggest they start with a complete and comprehesive investigation of the White House…

With regards to the terrible ills marijuana imposes on society:

 ”The study did not confirm the hypothesis that those who abstained from marijuana and tobacco functioned better overall, the authors said.

In fact, those who used only marijuana were “more socially driven … significantly more likely to practice sports and they have a better relationship with their peers” than abstainers, it said.

“Moreover, even though they are more likely to skip class, they have the same level of good grades; and although they have a worse relationship with their parents, they are not more likely to be depressed” than abstainers, it added.

It did not explain the reasons behind the apparent effect.”

That is odd, no?  Don’t tell the DEA!!!

“In the study, about half of the tobacco and marijuana group had used the latter drug 10 times or more in the previous month. That compared to 56 percent in the marijuana-only group who had used the drug only once or twice in the same time period.

“These findings agree with previous research indicating that (tobacco) smokers were significantly more likely to be heavy cannabis users than nonsmokers,” the study concluded.

In addition, those who use only marijuana were less likely to have started using that drug before the age of 15 compared to tobacco users, and the tobacco-marijuana group was more likely to have abused alcohol, the study said.”

So people with addictive personalities or who are drawn towards behavior they know to be self destructive are not as well adjusted?  I’m afraid, from both personal experience and thanks to something I’m inclined to call “common sense”, I have to agree.  Your attitude towards life and nicotine use, which apparently closely tracks ‘good attitude’, are much more harmful than marijuana.

Referring back once again to the most monumental and colossal mistake the United States has made in her long history (other than electing the Bush Administration twice):

“There are more than two ways to proceed with respect to Iraq. Instead of withdrawing no matter the consequences - and instead of staying forever - we can withdraw in a careful and responsible way….

Last week, ten challengers running for Congress presented such a plan. It was well researched, drew on the expertise of groups like the Iraq Study Group that preceded it, was endorsed by policy experts and military generals, and presented a comprehensive solution not only to withdraw responsibly from Iraq, but to prevent “future Iraqs” from every taking place…

With 66% of the country against the war, America has already decided it wants to leave Iraq. The question is not if, but how. People are ready to hear reasoned, responsible ideas for withdrawing from Iraq - ideas that concentrate not narrowly on military strategy but understand the political, diplomatic, humanitarian, and economic sides of this enormously complex issue. By running on such an idea, this growing list of candidates is showing us the way forward.

If we can elect them, they will have a mandate to show those in Congress that there is political will out there in America to end the war. They will have a mandate to stand up and not back down when tough votes come to the floor. They will have proved beyond a shadow of a doubt what they were elected to do - and they will do it.

The momentum is there. Candidates are signing on. The conversation is changing.”

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