Obama's inexplicable and unreasonable policy reversal on medical marijuana (MMJ) betrays him as a cold-hearted political con-man who views the Presidency as a pulpit from which to lecture the populace about the law, i.e. "federal law trumps state law" in the name of using government force to protect the profit interests of the pharmaceutical industry and criminal justice system. While this is true, it is a rigid, academic oversimplication that ignores context, as well as the 10th Amendment, which grants states rights that the federal government cannot violate. The supremecy of federal law over state law was established in the 1848 Supreme Court decision of Marbury vs. Madison in which the court ruled S. Carolina didn't have the right to secede from the Union. It is beyond me how anyone--much less a so-called legal expert--could equate medical marijuana use with seceding from the Union; thus the parallel is irrevelent because the contexts have nothing in common. First, to give the go ahead to MMJ and then reverse policy two years later is sinister, deceptive, and politically dysfunctional. Obama should be focusing on the debt, the never-ending wars, and the stagnating and possibly collapsing economy. Juveniles are kept in isolation cells for three days longer than the law states they may kept in these facilities. What is Obama doing about that? What is he doing about mountain-top removal? What has he done to punish the investment banks and their treasonous ruining of the economy for the indefinite future?
Obama's policy reversal on MMJ also shows that like every President since Carter, he sees the Federal government as serving no purpose other than to beat down the people and keep the rich insulated from worldwide financial turbulence. His presidency has been about giving billions more to business owners while unemployment remains stagnant, keeping the wars going, and then sticking it to the people after having done nothing to help them find work or keep their homes for the last three years (Yeah, I know, it's the Republicans, blah, blah, blah). Our credit has been downgraded for the first time in the country's history.
Obama's policy reversal on MMJ is based on the allegation that the MMJ industry has been hijacked by for-profit organizations. Well, no kidding. This is America, and our economy is driven by profit. MMJ operations are expensive and owners invest as much as half a million dollars to start dispensaries and keep them in operation. Meanwhile, our military has been hijacked by for-profit organizations, as has our criminal justice system, and our health care system, but Obama coddles these profiteers, whose agendas have led to a trillion dollar deficit, rising health care and education costs, and economic stagnation. Finally, Obama's 180 on MMJ shows he has no interest in making policy based on reason or empirical evidence. To say, for example, the accident rates in MMJ states is significantly higher than in non-MMJ states, or that opitate use has soared in those states, or high school students are flunking out--e.g. MMJ states live in a "pot haze"--might make for reasonable grounds to revisit MMJ policy. But none of these things has happened and that's exactly why MMJ threatens the status quo: it works perfectly well, and has shown that legalization is the next best move. The states that have the worst opiate and prescription drug addiction--Kentucky, West Virginia, Florida, etc. are ones that remain in a prohibitionist dark age. But Obama wants to keep things the same. One has to wonder where "Obamacon"--who is half African-American--would be if that had been the mentality of the country's leaders since 1848.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Friday, September 9, 2011
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Linky Dinks
Hoft Criticizes Obama's Call For 9/11 Community Service As "Socialist"
The common trope (from the right, of course) is that the Democrats have gone as far to the left as the GOP has gone to the right. Simple scientific examination shows that this is, as expected, utter bullshit. Dems vote moderate to conservative most of the time and have voted more conservative over the last couple of decades while the GOP has rocketed to the far right extreme.
"...the amount of money each survives with on a weekly basis, around $300, is probably what Paul Ryan spends on a bottle of wine every night."
Vaccinate your children. Not doing so is stupid.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Linky Dinks
Class Warfare according to the Daily Show... note the $700 billion figure that keeps popping up.
Fukushima is still a disaster.
We're so pathetic in this country we can't even properly dispose of poor people that die. How about we ask GE to foot the bill since they paid NO TAXES AT ALL last year?
SURPRISE!!! Anti-gay Republican politician caught paying a young man for sex! This is SO unusual!
Fukushima is still a disaster.
We're so pathetic in this country we can't even properly dispose of poor people that die. How about we ask GE to foot the bill since they paid NO TAXES AT ALL last year?
SURPRISE!!! Anti-gay Republican politician caught paying a young man for sex! This is SO unusual!
Modus Operandi Podcast episodes 70 & 71
Because you should be able to figure this out (and because I'm tired of the extra work) I'm only going to post download links going forward. Links to the parts of each episode can be found on our Facebook page.
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Monday, August 8, 2011
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Monday, August 1, 2011
Our Relentless Commitment to Professionalism
In keeping with the spirit of our increasingly dysfunctional society, Alan and I are happy to report that two new podcasts are now available for your listening pleasure. Actually, I must say it is quite amazing that we have now done 69 podcasts, for the most part one a week, despite my excursions with mysterious women in Vancouver and spontaneous roadtrips out west (which is now where I live). In this era of fluff and appearance over substance, our lack of professionalism is exactly what gives us credibility. Thanks for listening!!!
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Toothpaste for Dinner
Harry Potter and Cultural Malaise
Apparently the last of the countless Harry Potter films is soon to be released, meaning maybe I will finally get a break from a sad cultural trend that has turned the art of fiction into more pop culture mindless fluff. I will tell unabashedly up-front that I haven't read the books or seen the films and will criticize them anyway. Here is my reason: the real measure of fiction--as well as art and music--is not the subjective reaction of the mediocre majority, but the zeitgeist out of which they come and to which they contribute. These are dreary times we live in. People are obviously uninspired, feel hopeless and helpless, and are incapable of organizing and intervening in their own lives and communities to make things better. And what does Harry Potter afford? The chance to turn reading fiction into a day-after-Thanksgiving stampede to get the latest book? To watch Daniel Radcliff turn into another overpaid alcoholic actor? These are boring times we live in, hardly magical or adventureous. Go ahead and criticize me for criticizing books and films I haven't read or seen. It may make you feel better but it will not improve your life, just like going along with the mindless herd behind this ridiculous craze of idol worship. I don't plan to anytime soon either--like between now and when I die. I want to re-read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, the poetry of Whitman, Keats, and Plath, the proverbs of Blake. I want to re-read John Ashbery's Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror. For people who really like to read, and appreciate literature as an art form rather zealously obsessing on one series of books like a religious fanatic, that is the kind of material they read. Literature is supposed to challenge people intellectually and emotionally, not just entertain and serve as a mindless, momentary escape from the malaise in which we know we live. Having caved in and joined the world of Facebook and been as understanding of my fellow humans and their frailty as I can, I know there are people out there who agree with me, I know I'm not alone in my convictions . . . but I am alone in my lack of complacency and disdain for conformity.
The Audacity of Obama
While I was getting the latest on our do-nothing worthless federal government about the "dead end debt ceiling" talks, a CNN poll showed that Obama's approval rating had dropped to an all-time low of 45%. The main reason: a drop in liberal support. Again and again, Obama panders to conservative interest, alienates his liberal base, does nothing to improve the economy while banks make record profits, and somehow remains convinced that he can gain the support of conservatives who would rather see the national and world economies collapse than meet him halfway on any political conflict. In addition to continuing the incredibly expensive, unfunded, forlorn wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, he is spending a million dollars a day to bomb Libya--without Congressional approval, using his cryptic, wraped, legal mind into rationalizing we are not in a conflict with Libya, only at war with them. Had Obama ended the wars immediately on entering office and spent money subsidizing business at every level to put people back to work, he would have nothing to worry about. Instead, he remains convinced that as long as he stays in good favor with Wall Street, the money will be there for him to win re-election. Like so many Americans, the sad truth about Obama is that he only cares about himself and his money.
Friday, July 22, 2011
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
News Item: Obama to Double Down on Pot Enforcement
NPR did a story today on the Obama administration's new push to enforce Federal cannabis laws. One official was quoted saying pot is "addictive" which is patently untrue in the physical sense. Marijuana is less physically addictive than chocolate. Anyway, the gist is they're going to go after Federal pot offenses including medical dispensaries because they have to fight the war on drugs. All I can say is, "What the FUCK?!?"
Let me quote the President himself for you:
“When it comes to medical marijuana, my attitude is if it is an issue of doctors prescribing marijuana, I think that should be appropriate. Whether I want to use a whole lot of political capital on (this) issue; the likelihood of that being real high on my priority list is not likely.” - President Obama 2011
“The war on drugs has been an utter failure. (W)e need to rethink and decriminalize our (nation’s) marijuana laws.” -Barack Obama, January 2004
"When I was a kid I inhaled frequently. That was the point."
- Barack Obama quote on Marijuana
I agree with that guy, except on being willing to fight to change the law. We're spending a fortune jailing people that have only bought and sold pot. Never threatened anyone, shot anyone, stabbed anyone, ordered the assassination of anyone, sent an army into senseless wars, approved the use of torture, no REAL crimes (other than possibly tax evasion which is kind of unfair when you can do time for having the business for which you are avoiding taxes...) were committed. So many women are in prison as accessories to the felonies that their husbands/boyfriends committed but got off on by ratting on associates. These laws are part of what is destroying this country, so why would Obama want to increase the resources in enforcement?
Here are my guesses:
1. Local police departments need an excuse to pull (mostly dark skinned) people over and search their cars.
2. The Feds apparently need something to do since there's no crime on Wall Street, in our banks, in our Defense procurement, in lobbying, or in the illegal sale of firearms.
3. The DEA, rather than admitting they've been spewing bullshit propaganda about pot for almost 80 years will do anything to keep lying about the effects of recreational drug use, especially marijuana.
4. Big oil does not want hemp to be a common crop because the oil from the seeds and the fibers from the stalks can replace many petroleum products.
4. Big Pharma does not want a powerful and effective pain killer and mood enhancer that people can easily grow in their back yards to be legal.
I don't remember voting for George W. Bush III. Damned shame that's what I got.
Let me quote the President himself for you:
“When it comes to medical marijuana, my attitude is if it is an issue of doctors prescribing marijuana, I think that should be appropriate. Whether I want to use a whole lot of political capital on (this) issue; the likelihood of that being real high on my priority list is not likely.” - President Obama 2011
“The war on drugs has been an utter failure. (W)e need to rethink and decriminalize our (nation’s) marijuana laws.” -Barack Obama, January 2004
"When I was a kid I inhaled frequently. That was the point."
- Barack Obama quote on Marijuana
I agree with that guy, except on being willing to fight to change the law. We're spending a fortune jailing people that have only bought and sold pot. Never threatened anyone, shot anyone, stabbed anyone, ordered the assassination of anyone, sent an army into senseless wars, approved the use of torture, no REAL crimes (other than possibly tax evasion which is kind of unfair when you can do time for having the business for which you are avoiding taxes...) were committed. So many women are in prison as accessories to the felonies that their husbands/boyfriends committed but got off on by ratting on associates. These laws are part of what is destroying this country, so why would Obama want to increase the resources in enforcement?
Here are my guesses:
1. Local police departments need an excuse to pull (mostly dark skinned) people over and search their cars.
2. The Feds apparently need something to do since there's no crime on Wall Street, in our banks, in our Defense procurement, in lobbying, or in the illegal sale of firearms.
3. The DEA, rather than admitting they've been spewing bullshit propaganda about pot for almost 80 years will do anything to keep lying about the effects of recreational drug use, especially marijuana.
4. Big oil does not want hemp to be a common crop because the oil from the seeds and the fibers from the stalks can replace many petroleum products.
4. Big Pharma does not want a powerful and effective pain killer and mood enhancer that people can easily grow in their back yards to be legal.
I don't remember voting for George W. Bush III. Damned shame that's what I got.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Friday, July 8, 2011
Friday, July 1, 2011
Delay
For reasons beyond the control of the producer there was no podcast recorded this week. The co-host Dr. David Overbey vanished after calling in to set up the recording session. The producer and other co-host was left with a couple of ruined hours in his evening.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Modus Operandi Podcast episode 64
A live* telephonic** connection between Colorado, Kentucky, and THE WORLD.***
*while it was being recorded
**Dave was talking through a telephone
**Dave was talking through a telephone
***if you define the world as the dozen or so people that listen to this podcast
Friday, June 24, 2011
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Modus Operandi Podcast episode 63
The first show since Dave has moved to Colorado featuring a long and rambling sports section and the usual insightful and delightful examination of the world and stuff.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
"More Dead Thugs"
BOORTZ: You know what? I, for one, am tired of putting up with this crap. And you want to know why I moved out of Atlanta and only spend a couple of weeks a year in this town? That's one of the reasons. Carjackings, violence, people getting shot. It's ridiculous. This city harbors an urban culture of violence. And I want you to look around. You drive into the city. The railroad overpass is on the downtown connector covered with graffiti. And that-- That is just an advertisement for everybody coming into this town that we really don't give a damn about those who would screw up our quality of life around here. We really just don't care. We don't care enough to paint over graffiti on the overpasses that come into our city, advertising welcome to Atlanta, here's some of our finest graffiti, from some of our finest urban thugs and their little gang signs. And pick up the paper tomorrow morning. Read about all the carjackings. Read about the innocent people shot for the pure de-hell of it.So what exactly does it take to convict someone of incitement to murder in this country? If this doesn't qualify as a broadcaster telling his audience to kill people, what the fuck does?
This town is starting to look like a garbage heap. And we got too damn many urban thugs, yo, ruining the quality of life for everybody. And I'll tell you what it's gonna take. You people, you are - you need to have a gun. You need to have training. You need to know how to use that gun. You need to get a permit to carry that gun. And you do in fact need to carry that gun and we need to see some dead thugs littering the landscape in Atlanta. We need to see the next guy that tries to carjack you shot dead right where he stands. We need more dead thugs in this city. And let their -- let their mommas -- let their mommas say, "He was a good boy. He just fell in with the good crowd." And then lock her ass up.
And racist? How dare you even think it? He's a Republican, they get away with condoning murder and prejudice...
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Modus Operandi Podcast episode 62
[Sorry for the incredibly late upload. I have no good excuse. -A]
Recorded a few days before Dave's move to Colorado as Alan drops by to yell at Dave some more about how lame his packing/cleaning is. Once again recorded on the video camera so the sound is kind of awful.
Monday, June 13, 2011
Shhhhh!!! Quiet.
The MOpod has been quiet of late as Dave finds a place to live that has cell phone access. We will return shortly.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Modus Operandi Podcast episode 61
Alan interrupts Dave's already tardy and haphazard packing with a podcast. The sound is from the video camera again (sorry, it's the easiest portable recorder we have) and we're in an empty apartment with wood floors and plaster walls and ceiling so in addition to crappy fidelity it's got killer reverb. Here are two still photographs taken with the video camera after the show:
Though video was shot during this episode there's not a chance in hell it'll ever be dealt with.
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Editor's Note 5/14/2011
Hey Everybody!
You may have noticed a dirth of activity here of late. I'm going to blame Dave because he's not here to contradict me. Dave has been trying to finish a "scholarly" article for some kind of "scholarly" journal (I'm betting it's actually just a letter to Penthouse that keeps getting rejected because it is physically impossible) as well as moving back to Colorado. He also said something about a novel he was writing. Anywho, that's meant the linking and writing has been left to me and, to tell you the truth, I haven't hit a topic that has fired me up more than enough to note a link to an article.
So anyway, we're taking at least a week off so that I can rethink the way this show is put together and to let Dave get himself situated in the Centennial State (yes, I looked that up on Wikipedia). We would very much enjoy your input on new show formats. Hopefully we'll have a weekly discussion via Skype or telephone but that will probably be much shorter than our weekly get together.
In that case I'm thinking about each of us producing, at our leisure during the week, audio rants about a couple of subjects and then mixing those into the show with us discussing them after each one. This will allow us to still give you a full podcast but reduce the amount of time we're on the phone.
Another option would be to begin at the same time every week and do the show as a Netcast live with a chat room and stuff. The biggest problem with that would be me figuring out how technically to do it, the second big problem would be the two of us always being able to do the show on the same night. Maybe we can make that a monthly occurrence or something.
As always we thank you for listening to our show and reading this blog. Please get in touch with us via the comments for this topic, e-mail, or by screaming loudly while running in circles. These are not equally effective (that last one probably won't actually allow you to get in touch with us) but hopefully they are all equally fun. Please do at least one of the three. You get extra points if you do all three.
Cheers,
Alan [editor]
You may have noticed a dirth of activity here of late. I'm going to blame Dave because he's not here to contradict me. Dave has been trying to finish a "scholarly" article for some kind of "scholarly" journal (I'm betting it's actually just a letter to Penthouse that keeps getting rejected because it is physically impossible) as well as moving back to Colorado. He also said something about a novel he was writing. Anywho, that's meant the linking and writing has been left to me and, to tell you the truth, I haven't hit a topic that has fired me up more than enough to note a link to an article.
So anyway, we're taking at least a week off so that I can rethink the way this show is put together and to let Dave get himself situated in the Centennial State (yes, I looked that up on Wikipedia). We would very much enjoy your input on new show formats. Hopefully we'll have a weekly discussion via Skype or telephone but that will probably be much shorter than our weekly get together.
In that case I'm thinking about each of us producing, at our leisure during the week, audio rants about a couple of subjects and then mixing those into the show with us discussing them after each one. This will allow us to still give you a full podcast but reduce the amount of time we're on the phone.
Another option would be to begin at the same time every week and do the show as a Netcast live with a chat room and stuff. The biggest problem with that would be me figuring out how technically to do it, the second big problem would be the two of us always being able to do the show on the same night. Maybe we can make that a monthly occurrence or something.
As always we thank you for listening to our show and reading this blog. Please get in touch with us via the comments for this topic, e-mail, or by screaming loudly while running in circles. These are not equally effective (that last one probably won't actually allow you to get in touch with us) but hopefully they are all equally fun. Please do at least one of the three. You get extra points if you do all three.
Cheers,
Alan [editor]
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Monday, April 18, 2011
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)