As You See It: Oct. 29, 2009

Hey Mark, wouldn't that be Prosecuting medical marijuana users? Just curious...

Mark Roth: We're also losing the war on gangs, so let's just surrender to them.

Keenan Dalton: If you want your photo or animal judged fairly, take them to the county fair.

Jerry Rappaport: Right on, right on! Yeah, let's have a dialogue on race and other issues, while Congress passes laws making politically incorrect opinons or statements hate crimes.

Jane Crowley: Keep beating on the pinata named Bush to distract from the economic train wreck being steered by the current administration and Congress. Remember - the economy was doing OK until the Dems took control of Congress in 2006, then used their created mess as Obama's main campaign plank.

Re: Congress needs to act on Afganistan.. Hey Jane M. The guy in the White House is probably the one you voted for, so don't blame Bush for our current Presidents Weakness"s. When are you folks on the left going to stop crying like babies and own up to your blunder of putting this guy in the White House? Have you ever heard the term S -- t or get off the pot? Your guy apparently doesn't. Next time vote for someone with more experience.

Where's Harry Reid, Pelosi, Kerry, Obama and Cindy shouting we have lost the war in Afghanistan while demanding an immediate pull-out/cut-and-run? The listed Democrat politicians all voted No for the successful Bush Iraqi surge! According to those listed Democrat Politicians, we lost the war in Iraq! Reading the mainstream media news, we have lost the war in Afghanistan! Come on Obama, what are you going to do? I realize all good Democrat leaders (sic) will always wait to see what the polls suggest and then he'll consider the potential ramifications of waiting until the after the November election so as not to imopeed or imapir his Democrat fellow politicians chances in this upcomming election before he makes his decision. Democrats have too many differing special interest groups to consider before making any decision. Yes, a real leader indeed! What a puke!

Re: Congrees needs to act on Afganistan. Hey Jane M. Bush is not the President anymore. The guy you probably voted for is. You helped put this weak kneed guy in the White House and it is he who can't make a decision. Stop crying like babies, you got what you wanted so live with it and stop blaming Bush for everything. Have you heard the statment, S -- t or get off the pot? Apparently your guy in the White House hasn't. Why don't you write him and complain ? Oh, that might get your name on a Hate List. Matbe your should think twice about that.

Go Jerry! Woot Woot!

Mary Howe wrote "Tyler's parents. They thanked the community for our willingness to help. They also requested that we, in consideration for the family and for Tyler's memory, treat one another respectfully during this meeting. What good hearts, that even in the midst of their incredible grief, Tyler's parents were concerned we don't let the violence affect our humanity. These words set the stage for the meeting. Emotions were raw, but only once did Lt. Escalante need to remind us of the family's request."
What an amazing family

"Political correctness stifles honest dialogue"

HOW POLITICALLY CORRECT IS THIS...

Mr. Gore, Your Solution to Global Warming Is Wrong

The effort to cut carbon emissions is generally cast as a moral imperative necessary to avert the human consequences of warming. In reality, however, it does very little at very high cost. It is also politically complicated, because it requires every nation on earth to agree to reduction targets and then reach them. Even if this were somehow achievable, the plan's meager effects on global temperatures are simply not worth all the pain: If we spent $800 billion over the next ninety years solely on the Gore solution of mitigating carbon emissions, we would rein in temperature increases by just 0.3 degrees by the end of this century. That was the finding reached recently by some of the world's top climate economists at a gathering called the Copenhagen Consensus, where the ramifications of this response to climate change were calculated.

when we count up all the expected benefits from this ever-so-slight reduction in temperature, they are significantly less than the costs. In fact, it turns out that — at best — each dollar spent on the Gore solution would achieve just ninety cents' worth of good. And this assumes that every cent of the $800 billion is maximized. If we factor in more realistic expectations — allowing, say, for some of the money to be used in less efficient ways, as is the case with the EU's new climate policies — every dollar of the hypothetical $800 billion spent on the Gore solution to global warming could achieve as little as four cents of good.

Worse than that, it means there's much less money available to respond to the big problems facing developing countries today.

There is another way to respond to climate change. Instead of putting arbitrary, expensive caps on carbon emissions, we can and should immediately spend more money on researching and developing alternative energy. This means renewable sources of energy like wind, solar, geothermal, and wave. These are all promising but in their current forms are incredibly inefficient compared with fossil fuels. It also means developing second-generation biofuel from biomass. It also means investing in energy efficiency, fission and fusion, and carbon capture and storage. Unless we make a much bigger investment in these areas right now, fossil fuels are going to maintain their stranglehold on all the economies of the world.

Read more: http://www.esquire.com/features/new-solutions...

Read more: http://www.esquire.com/features/new-solutions...

In society today adults have to make millions of important decisions, a lot of which can have a drastic effect on their lives, even death. We are responsible for our choices, and we suffer and prosper from our choices, it’s what makes each individual who they ultimately become. This is called freedom of choice, ownership of ones self. We are legally allowed to make these choices everyday, including many that can be instantly fatal such as riding recreational dirt bikes for the thrill of it, even though it could cost us our lives, its our choice to make.

By trying to force people into not consuming a natural plant we are effectively causing more harm than if we were to let each adult make their own choices and except the consequences for those choices. The harm prohibition has brought to not just our own country, but the vast majority of the world is on a remarkably large scale, and threatens our national security. By choosing to prohibit this substance, we have chosen to ignore it and to let it be controlled by the black market. This in turn has enriched criminal enterprises to the point they have the financial power to compete with their own governments on a military bases as seen in Mexico. This is a national security threat. Marijuana is less harmful than alcohol, and the majority of citizens know this, this in turn creates disrespect for law enforcement thereby furthering the deterioration of our community as a whole. It is inhumane to lock a person in a cage and take away their belongings they worked for when they did nothing to harm any other individual or society as a whole. Current marijuana laws are a civil rights nightmare waiting to happen, and only makes marijuana readily available to anyone of any age. The laws are obviously bad, expensive and unyielding in accomplishments. We spend billions each year to try and stop marijuana consumption, and yet the DEA admits they would be surprised if they are even getting 1% of the drugs being transported. That’s a bad investment, and the majorities do not agree with it, and there is no justification for making marijuana illegal in the first place.

Prohibition is bad for our kids as they have complete access to it as long as its being controlled by the black market, what we need is control and regulation to minimize the exposure of drugs to young children. As long as it is illegal or decriminalized there will be a black market selling it at a marked up value because of risk, and all the harm will continue.

By legalizing marijuana we are effectively controlling its distribution, and can much better regulate its use by age limits.

Simply put, it’s a real no brainer and it will eventually happen, so if it’s not working now, and has the potential to be better why would we stay put?

Let’s not continue to turn regular tax paying citizens into tax burdens for the rest of us,
there comes a time when you have to realize a bad investment is a bad investment.

Please help us do the right thing, listen to the people of California who have bravely stood up for a positive change in our society, drugs may not bee good for us, but prohibition has proven far worse.

Cathy wrote:

In society today adults have to make millions of important decisions, a lot of which can have a drastic effect on their lives, even death. We are responsible for our choices, and we suffer and prosper from our choices, it’s what makes each individual who they ultimately become. This is called freedom of choice, ownership of ones self. We are legally allowed to make these choices everyday, including many that can be instantly fatal such as riding recreational dirt bikes for the thrill of it, even though it could cost us our lives, its our choice to make.
By trying to force people into not consuming a natural plant we are effectively causing more harm than if we were to let each adult make their own choices and except the consequences for those choices. The harm prohibition has brought to not just our own country, but the vast majority of the world is on a remarkably large scale, and threatens our national security. By choosing to prohibit this substance, we have chosen to ignore it and to let it be controlled by the black market. This in turn has enriched criminal enterprises to the point they have the financial power to compete with their own governments on a military bases as seen in Mexico. This is a national security threat. Marijuana is less harmful than alcohol, and the majority of citizens know this, this in turn creates disrespect for law enforcement thereby furthering the deterioration of our community as a whole. It is inhumane to lock a person in a cage and take away their belongings they worked for when they did nothing to harm any other individual or society as a whole. Current marijuana laws are a civil rights nightmare waiting to happen, and only makes marijuana readily available to anyone of any age. The laws are obviously bad, expensive and unyielding in accomplishments. We spend billions each year to try and stop marijuana consumption, and yet the DEA admits they would be surprised if they are even getting 1% of the drugs being transported. That’s a bad investment, and the majorities do not agree with it, and there is no justification for making marijuana illegal in the first place.
Prohibition is bad for our kids as they have complete access to it as long as its being controlled by the black market, what we need is control and regulation to minimize the exposure of drugs to young children. As long as it is illegal or decriminalized there will be a black market selling it at a marked up value because of risk, and all the harm will continue.
By legalizing marijuana we are effectively controlling its distribution, and can much better regulate its use by age limits.
Simply put, it’s a real no brainer and it will eventually happen, so if it’s not working now, and has the potential to be better why would we stay put?
Let’s not continue to turn regular tax paying citizens into tax burdens for the rest of us,
there comes a time when you have to realize a bad investment is a bad investment.
Please help us do the right thing, listen to the people of California who have bravely stood up for a positive change in our society, drugs may not bee good for us, but prohibition has proven far worse.

I guess it's true about smoking pot turning a person into a motor mouth, Cathy...or Valerie Corral, or whatever your real name is. Anyway, just keep toking, and voting for hacks like Sam Farr who makes it easier to get mush-brained on weed.

Weed screed wrote:

<quoted text>
I guess it's true about smoking pot turning a person into a motor mouth, Cathy...or Valerie Corral, or whatever your real name is. Anyway, just keep toking, and voting for hacks like Sam Farr who makes it easier to get mush-brained on weed.

Why do you care about someone else getting mush-brained on weed?

dON hEICHEL - sOQUEL wrote:

"Political correctness stifles honest dialogue"
HOW POLITICALLY CORRECT IS THIS...
Mr. Gore, Your Solution to Global Warming Is Wrong
The effort to cut carbon emissions is generally cast as a moral imperative necessary to avert the human consequences of warming. blah blah blah

Don, once again you post some ridiculously long post that has nothing to do with anything anyone else is talking about, or maybe it does, I can't read through the boredom. Let me ask you, do you actually think you are doing the world good by trying to convince a few hundred people on a forum that your views are correct?

It's a letter comment forum, not Don Heichal's pulpit. Give it up already.

Copperhead wrote:

Re: Congress needs to act on Afganistan.. Hey Jane M. The guy in the White House is probably the one you voted for, so don't blame Bush for our current Presidents Weakness"s. When are you folks on the left going to stop crying like babies and own up to your blunder of putting this guy in the White House? Have you ever heard the term S -- t or get off the pot? Your guy apparently doesn't. Next time vote for someone with more experience.

Next time vote for someone with more experience.
And what did the GOP offer but Sarah Palin( tons of great experience there), and a hero with one foot in the grave.Ya gotta bring something more than that to the dogfight if you want to win.The Dem's maybe didn't have much but they did take the election,no?!Who else ya got?