Remember, Republicans are the "Sanctity of Life" party.

Except when it comes to needless wars, coat hangers, poverty and the death penalty. Those only affect ragheads, women, one out of every five children and a disturbing number of people vindicated by their DNA.

These bottom-feeders have already managed to silence every one of their critics by hijacking the word "patriotic," we're gonna let them get away with this bullshit?

Notice that nobody on the "left" is complaining about Terri Schiavo's parents use of the courts. In fact I don't even know the number of times they've been heard by the courts but my guess is that it's around 12-14 times because when the shit hit the fan at the beginning of the month, it was at 9. It might even be higher, I'm just being ...uh ...conservative.

My point is that if any left-leaning individual exhausted their legal avenues the way Terri Schiavo's parents have, they'd be accused of abusing the system.

On another note entirely, I'm predicting a big swing to the left next election. Bush isn't going to get his Social Security Enron-ization past the masses, his approval ratings are at an all-time low (45%) with nothing but bad news coming up (gas, economy, Iraq), DeLay is about to be deep six'd and Bush's most egregious judicial nominations have been stopped cold.

It's a damned good thing they don't let faggots into the Boy Scouts. Bunch of perverts.

I think I've hit upon the crux of the problem -- my problem -- with retail; saving people from themselves.

Me: What is the amp rating of the fuse you need to replace?
Them: Hm. I think ...I think it's 4 amps. I lost the original.

See, if I point out that putting a fuse rated larger than the original will result in the energy not being clipped out of the circuit -- the exact reason why you have a fuse -- in case of an overload, I'll get one of two things:

(a) A tortured "I don't want to go alllllllll the way back home or;

(b) A blank stare which indicates that the customer believes I can somehow guess the correct value and will blame me when the device is destroyed.

So I just give them a hindu cow stare and let them pick the wrong fuse.

A guy comes in to my work.

Guy: My telephone ringer isn't loud enough. Do you have anything louder?
Me: Sure, right over here.
Guy: ...but my sister got your model and it wasn't loud enough for me.
Me: ...

If our model isn't loud enough, then our model isn't loud enough. It's called the Transitive Law, grandpa.

Different Guy: Wow, do you have one that does video too? How many megapixel is this? How much memory does this have? What kind of memory does it take? How much memory does it have? Where do the batteries go? Does this have the new USB "two point oh?" So this whole project would cost me about $200, eh? How long will this be on sale?

Keep in mind that every question he asked was either unimportant (who gives a shit where the batteries go?) or the answer was printed on a nice big card right in front of his big fat face.

Look, I'm sure you're a nice guy but I really don't feel like playing foil to your monlogue. Come in, ask me some intellient questions not designed to make yourself feel up to date on all the newfangled shit and get the fuck out of my store.

Last, but most assuredly not the least of my trials today is a guy who wants to take two huge-as-fuck speakers, attach a 1/8" (headphone) jack to 'em and then plug them in to his computer.

Me: I don't think that'll work.
Speaker Guy: Why not?
Me: Because your computer is expecting to drive some headphones with that, not real speakers.
Speaker Guy: But there are two holes in the card, one with a headphone symbol and one with a speaker symbol.
Me: Ok.
Speaker Guy: [obviously dying for a good argument here] But ...wouldn't the different symbol mean I can plug in a speaker?
Me: I doubt it.
Speaker Guy: ... But then why would it have a different symbol?
Me: I don't know. [thinking to myself, "there's a reason that amplifiers come in big metal boxes with big metal transformers, genius."]
Speaker Guy: So I should be able to do it this way.
Me: Ok.
Speaker Guy: [clearly miffed] Well I should be able to do it, right?!
Me: I don't think so.
Speaker Guy: Well I do!
Me: Ok.
Speaker Guy: [head nearly explodes]

Next customer. Not kidding.

Cellphone Guy: This phone doesn't get good enough reception where I live.
Me: Ok, we can take it back.
Cellphone Guy: How about one of these phones?
Me: I suspect you'd get better reception with this one.
Cellphone Guy: How could I find out if it worked better?
Me: You'd have to buy it and try it out.
Cellphone Guy: Well that's silly.
Me: ... How else do you suspect we find out? I don't know of too many stores that let you leave with stuff for a few hours.

Yes, I actually said that to him.

Me: Do you have any alternate ideas?
Cellphone Guy: ...no...

And the mouse introduced himself to the none-too-friendly housecats by saying, "I'm Rick James, bitch!"

And so it was. I'm tellin' y'all it's sabotage.

[Leaving the grocery store]

Some guy: [waving me over]
Me: Sorry, I have to get back to ... [Looking at table he has set up, it's D.A.R.E. propaganda.] Oh, sorry. I don't even agree with this.
Guy: [incredulous] You ...don't agree with keeping kids off drugs?!?
Me: I don't agree with telling kids marijuana is just as bad heroin. Good luck though.
Guy: Uh ...ok. You too.

This blurb from a Minnesota newspaper on the latest school shooting. It is not edited in any way.

Weise grew up in the Twin Cities, went to school in Shakopee and Chaska, and then moved to the Red Lake Reservation after his father killed himself in a police standoff and his mother was severely injured in an automobile accident.

"He was just a normal kid when he was kid," said Patrick Tahahwah, a distant relative who lives on the reservation.

But something happened that left Weise angry and alienated by the time he was 16. He apparently was especially upset about having to move to the reservation, where he was picked on and considered something of an outcast.

Holy crap, that's a real riddle! Call me nutty, but I think there might be a clue buried in that first paragraph, Ponce de Leon.

eBay somehow managed to let two people win an auction of mine with the "Buy It Now" button. This is supposed to be impossible. Both were sent "you've won" confirms and -- get this -- both paid. Since the legitimate bidder sent the payment to the wrong address, I never saw that payment. I wound up sending the item to a person who paid but didn't actually win. Meanwhile, I didn't know about the legit buyer and I didn't know about the legit buyer's payment.

But wait, it gets better.

The person who didn't actually win had outdated information in their Paypal account so when the payment confirmation email arrived, it contained the wrong shipping address. That's where I shipped it.

But wait, it gets better.

This isn't even my account. Ella was nice enough to let me use hers. She now has a nasty little negative feedback in her profile.

So as it stands, I have a lost $150 item floating around god knows where with one person who paid for it, didn't win it, realizes it's her fault the item is missing and another person who paid for it, did win it and is pretty pissed they don't have the item.

But wait, it gets better.

Because I had two people emailing me with "where is it?," I checked my records and found only the email I received showing that the non-winner was the winner. So I've been telling the actual auction winner that he's a lunatic. No, actually, I've been assuming that the two people were a husband and wife pair who didn't know what the fuck they were doing.

Now I have to convince the actual bidder to just take a refund and walk away. This ought to be a real treat.

I spent three hours at a class that I could have rightfully taught (cellphone sales) because of a miscommunication. The class was specifically for people who had poor cellphone sales. Someone didn't put the cover letter on the TPS report.

But, despite all this, my day wasn't that bad at all. The fish are happy, their water is clean as a whistle. Started my own wiki. ... That's about it, folks.

After a half-hour of writing and deleting, writing and deleting, I've decided I'm too pissed to write.

It's about "the sanctity of life and that god will judge us based upon how we treat even the smallest of his creations." That's good because I agree.

Do these bastards ever wonder how god will judge them when thousands die from our 4 bn/yr beatings and thousands die from our 4 bn/yr neglect? Does it ever occur to them that tens of thousands will die because they won't give the poor basic health care? If not, how does it escape them?

Is it irrational to conclude that either they are monumental fools or ...damned liars?

I imagine if there is a god, he's say "Stop fucking with me. This is my plan. And hey, while you're at it, stop arming Turkey, stop getting in bed with Saudi Arabia and you, DeLay, you can't hide. Bush, why don't you take one quarter of that defense budget and feed the entire planet. You remember Cana, George.

You've read my book ...haven't you, George?"

Ok, I was wrong. My open letter to my congressional representative, Congressman Tierney:

I am writing to you to express EXTREME opposition to any attempt by the federal government to inject themselves into what is fundamentally a state and personal issue.

Specifically:

* No credible doctor suggests that Mrs. Schiavo can interact. Her motor functions are involuntary. She no longer has a cerebral cortex, it's filled with spinal fluid. This is not in doubt.

* An ad litem was appointed by the courts on behalf of Terri Schiavo. That person's sole interest is Terri Schiavo's, not the husband, not the family, not the legislature. The ad litem has found that Mr. Schiavo spent four years providing exceptional care for Mrs. Schiavo and only after the situation became hopeless did he request that Terri's wishes be honored.

* That same report described Mr. Schiavo as a "nursing home nightmare" due to his insistence on exceptional care for his wife. It notes that in fourteen years, thanks to her husband's dilligence, Mrs. Schiavo has never so much as had a bed sore.

* That same report notes that the use of the money awareded to Mr. Schiavo for the care of his wife was both meticulously documented and not even in his control. There is no doubt that she has been given exceptional medical care.

The bottom line here is Terri's wishes.

If her wishes are to stay alive, then I suggest that we do so as long as it is reasonable to do so or indefinitely if her providers can afford it. If her wish is to die, then that is her business. No Democrat or Republican has any business whatsoever injecting themselves to further their own ends.

Frankly, Tom DeLay's attempt to find something, ANYTHING to associate himself with other than ethics lapses is beyond what even I thought politicians were capable of. And this is the party of less intrusive government?

I will not only not support any candidate that supports this measure, I will withhold my support for any candidate that does not open their mouth to fight it. I know how to mobilize opposition and I will not hesitate to do so.

Sincerely,
Jason A. Desjardins

I'm really fucking pissed off. They don't want to legalize marijuana, ok. Maybe there are some sincere doubts mixed with all the political wrangling. Someone wants to overhaul Social Security and there are differences of opinion on how to go about doing it; expected. But this is about one thing and one thing only and that's Terri's wishes.

Every time that I think the Republicans have reached a new low, they prove me wrong. And half the country supports him.

I used to say I love the country but hate the leaders. I'm beginning to hate the country, too.

"Congress's overreaching flies in the face of our entire system of checks and balances, trashes the partial sovereignty of the states, and flouts the protections our laws afford state adjudication from drive-by attacks by those disaffected with the results," says Laurence Tribe, a Harvard University law professor.

Another three resumes sent out tonight. One to a position I am a dead ringer for, another to a position I'm overqualified for, a third to a telemarketing spot. I'd take a telemarketing job if I believed in the cause. All the places they described are places I support.

In fact I sent a resume and cover letter to every opening for the last 24 hours appears at least interesting, if not lucrative.

This is probably the last thing I'm going to say about the whole Schiavo case, but I thought it would be wise to cut through all the media and political bullshit and find out the facts of the case.

All of these quotes are taken directly from the ad litem's report. These are 100% unedited.

• If the Guardian Ad Litem’s recommendations are neither feasible nor valuable – to and on behalf of Theresa Schiavo, then they fail in their purpose. For them to be feasible and valuable, they must be capable of being done in a manner that affords relative and intrinsic worth for Theresa; not for her husband; not for her parents and siblings; not for the Governor or the Legislature.

• The cause of the cardiac arrest was adduced to a dramatically reduced potassium level in Theresa’s body. Sodium and potassium maintain a vital, chemical balance in the human body that helps define the electrolyte levels. The cause of the imbalance was not clearly identified, but may be linked, in theory, to her drinking 10-15 glasses of iced tea each day. While no formal proof emerged, the medical records note that the combination of aggressive weight loss, diet control and excessive hydration raised questions about Theresa suffering from Bulimia, an eating disorder, more common among women than men, in which purging through vomiting, laxatives and other methods of diet control becomes obsessive.

• On 18 June 1990, Michael was formally appointed by the court to serve as Theresa’s legal guardian, because she was adjudicated to be incompetent by law. Michael’s appointment was undisputed by the parties.

• Theresa’s husband, Michael Schiavo and her mother, Mary Schindler, were virtual partners in their care of and dedication to Theresa. There is no question but that complete trust, mutual caring, explicit love and a common goal of caring for and rehabilitating Theresa, were the shared intentions of Michael Shiavo and the Schindlers.

• In late Autumn of 1990, following months of therapy and testing, formal diagnoses of persistent vegetative state with no evidence of improvement, Michael took Theresa to California, where she received an experimental thalamic stimulator implant in her brain.

• Theresa was transferred to the Mediplex Rehabilitation Center in Brandon, where she received 24 hour skilled care, physical, occupational, speech and recreational therapies.

• Despite aggressive therapies, physician and other clinical assessments consistently revealed no functional abilities, only reflexive, rather than cognitive movements, random eye opening, no communication system and little change cognitively or functionally. On 19 July 1991 Theresa was transferred to the Sable Palms skilled care facility. Periodic neurological exams, regular and aggressive physical, occupational and speech therapy continued through 1994.

• Michael Schiavo, on Theresa’s and his own behalf, initiated a medical malpractice lawsuit against the obstetrician who had been overseeing Theresa’s fertility therapy. In 1993, the malpractice action concluded in Theresa and Michael’s favor, resulting in a two element award: More than $750,000 in economic damages for Theresa, and a loss of consortium award (non economic damages) of $300,000 to Michael. The court established a trust fund for Theresa’s financial award, with SouthTrust Bank as the Guardian and an independent trustee. This fund was meticulously managed and accounted for and Michael Schiavo had no control over its use. There is no evidence in the record of the trust administration documents of any mismanagement of Theresa’s estate, and the records on this matter are excellently maintained.

• After the malpractice case judgment, evidence of disaffection between the Schindlers and Michael Schiavo openly emerged for the first time. The Schindlers petitioned the court to remove Michael as Guardian. They made allegations that he was not caring for Theresa, and that his behavior was disruptive to Theresa’s treatment and condition. Proceedings concluded that there was no basis for the removal of Michael as Guardian Further, it was determined that he had been very aggressive and attentive in his care of Theresa. His demanding concern for her well being and meticulous care by the nursing home earned him the characterization by the administrator as “a nursing home administrator’s nightmare”. It is notable that through more than thirteen years after Theresa’s collapse, she has never had a bedsore.

----[%end%]----

One simple question: Is this the behavior of a guy who choked his wife almost to death, or is this the behavior of a guy who had a very sincere dedication to helping his wife get better?

They're trying to paint this guy as money-hungry or possibly even Terri's attacker and the cause for her coma. The parents because they're holding on to whatever hope they have, irrational as it may be, and politicians because for them Terri's suffering is a tool.

Kind of sick. Stop fucking with nature. Let her die.

I decided to whip up a simple poll.

Take the poll:
Would You Want Them To Pull The Plug?

See the results:
Would You Want Them To Pull The Plug?

Regarding Terri Schaivo, Tom DeLay said, "If you did this to an animal, you would go to prison for a year and be fined $5,000."

Really. That's amazing! First, my dog doesn't tell me shit. Maybe Tom's dog tells him stuff, which puts him in very rare company. Son of Sam comes to mind. But I digress...

I didn't know that if my dog told me that he didn't want to live in a brain-dead state, and it came to pass that the dog was in a brain-dead state, then I could be fined 5,000 for putting it to sleep. That's weird because a friend of mine just told me she had to put down her cat due to an infection and ...gee willikers, I don't recall her saying anything about a fine or jail time.

So you see it's apples and oranges and even when you can line up the facts, his argument doesn't actually work.

One Congresswoman said that the subpoena was legitimate because Terri had information that was relevant to the situation. I wonder what information that is? I also wonder how a brain-dead woman is going to ...you know, add to the debate. The woman doesn't have a cerebral cortex any more. So her presence isn't really necessary is it?

What the Christ is wrong with these people? Can't they let others make their own choices about their own lives? What is this Faustian preoccupation with slapping their moral compass on everything in sight?

"The sanctity of life overshadows the sanctity of marriage," DeLay, told reporters Friday. "I don't know what transpired between Terri and her husband."

That's unfortunate, DeLay, given how you're all too happy to force yourself -- illegally -- on the situation. Take a science class, asshole.

Do they think nobody knew right from wrong before 4 BC? Civilization is pretty old, shitheads. It's time you got on the bus.

Congress has decided to take a VERY activist stance in this whole Schiavo right-to-die case. They've actually issued a subpoena for both Terry and her husband to appear. Why? Republican congressmen have specifically stated that they issued the subpoena not to gather evidence or hear testimony but to circumvent the courts in order to keep her alive.

In other words, Republicans tried to subvert the court system by compelling Terry to appear before them. If you remove her feeding tube, then she'll miss her subpoena, and causing someone to miss their subpoena is illegal.

And here is the language the media uses: "Brain-Damaged Florida Woman Invited To Testify Before Congress."

Invited. Invited. I didn't know a subpoena was a choice.

Next time I hear "conservatives are for less government" I'm going to say three things. "Terry Schiavo, gay marriage and medical cannabis." Bull Fucking Shit.

Doctors say she is in a persistent vegitative state and will not recover. Her parents say that she is capable of interaction. Oh really? They why don't they fucking ask her?

Maybe because her cortex is filled with cerebral fluid. In other words, she can't think because she doesn't have a brain with necessary hardware. That's like expecting a car with no pistons to do a few laps if you just wait long enough.

If she's not capable of answering a yes/no question, then I think it's simple fucking common sense to conclude the is not capable of interaction. What is interaction if not an exchange of information?

You realize that neither side of this whole mess gives a rat's ass about Terry Schiavo.

There seems to be a common theme to everything that becomes partisan. Liberals seem to trust the human to make decisions for themselves. Conservatives think that citizens are too stupid. But when it comes to dissemination of information, the foundation of a sound decision, it reverses. Conservatives are against things like teaching kids the truth about drugs (read; cannabis isn't in the same category as heroin, sorry) while liberals fight for access to information, health warnings on products, etc.

In other words, republicans think you're stupid and want to make sure it stays that way.

Kind of sounds like my ex, the mother of my daughter. She does everything she can to prevent me from seeing my daughter and then complains about how I'm not there as a dad. Isn't it the religious right that mocks gays for being promiscuous while denying them the right to marry?

It's actually gotten to the point where I can't wait to get home and surf for a new job. It isn't that mine is particularly bad, the people are particularly mean or the customers suck. I'm just not getting anywhere and ...not for nuthin', this job isn't exactly interesting.

It's also becoming easier. I can generally bang out a halfway decent cover letter in about 20 minutes. The more I do, the easier it gets.

The Roman Catholic church is complaining about the Da Vinci Code. Nevermind that it was released in 2003. They were 400 years late on getting Galileo right, so why am I surprised?

Anyway, the Vatican feels that the Da Vinci Code is "anti-catholic" by virtue of claiming that Jesus sired a bloodline with Mary Magdeline. Quoth Cardinal Bertone, "Anti-Catholicism is the last acceptable prejudice."

That's ...certainly myopic, isn't it, Bert? I mean ...Catholics getting pissed about predjudice? Are you pining for the 50's or something? Leave It To Beaver rerun week got your knickers in a knot?

Not so much on being on the catcher, are we?

Maybe you've heard of this group called "gays." They comprise perhaps 10% of the entire planet. Then you have women, they count for about half the world. Once you've had a few seconds to reflect on these two groups, prejudice and your historical involvement, Bert, I hope you understand why I don't have a heck of a lot of sympathy for you.

But wait, here is a nice quote from the Bible. You've heard of it, I trust. You claim to teach it, so perhaps the wisdom contained will find some fertile ground.

Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword. (Matthew 26:52)

May cause Internal Bleeding, Drowsiness, Loss of Appetite, Random Bowel Movements...

I send out 25 resumes, nothing.

I return $170 that someone dropped, then in the next 72 hour period I send out four resumes and I get three replies. Two of them actively interested, one brush-off but hey, they replied.

Maybe this karma thing isn't bullshit...

Long story short, the position is for a startup Providence newspaper. I don't know how public the project is, so I'll leave it at that. The paper will be concentrating on public issues like potholes, public school drop-out rates, etc. Exactly my sort of thing. Public interest stories combined with a bit of an investigative streak and real, honest-to-god funding.

Had an impromptu 30 minute (ish) interview over the phone today. He focused almost immediately with an inability of the Providence media to tackle certain issues which dovetails nicely with my thoughts on mainstream media. Then he started talking about plugging books, namely Zinn's latest. Of course I'm reading it.

It would require that I travel to the office in Providence once a week, which I can handle. Twenty hours per week.

I think I stand a better-than-even chance of getting this.

UPDATE: Four resumes sent out tonight and ONE ACTUAL CONTACT-US-FOR-AN-INTERVIEW REPLY!!!!

WOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!11

I found $170 on the floor today at work. Suspecting it belonged to someone who had left my store only ten seconds earlier, I tracked them down in the parking lot, returned it.

I work at Radio Shack. Finding $170 will literally make the devil/angel pair appear on your shoulder and fuck with you, pitchfork, halo and everything.

Sending out resumes tonight. I've sent out maybe 25 over a span of a week recently. Not a single reply. Not one. So right now I'm wondering if it's better to send out resumes with either very short cover letters or none at all. I can probably send 15 resumes with generic cover letters in the same time it would take to send out one resume with a solid cover letter. Hm.

Maybe I'll take best-of-both-worlds approach. Do the top 1-3 with good cover letters, spam the rest.

[Addendum: Two resumes sent out last week, two more so far tonight.]

In 1974, the Washington Post reported that the U.S. government commissioned a study by the U. of Virginia on the effects of THC, the active ingredient of cannabis (aka marijuana). Much to their chagrin, the scientists found that marijuana's psychoactive component, THC, "slowed the growth of lung cancers, breast cancers and a virus-induced leukemia in laboratory mice, and prolonged their lives by as much as 36 percent."

The situation gets even more absurd. Specifically, subsequent studies have confirmed this and other studies by the government on cannabis have resulted in even more stunning results. Hit the link if you want to learn more.

How did I not know about this? Well, it's kind of simple, really. The people that I rely on to provide me with the facts -- traditional news media, tv, newspaper, internet -- haven't told me. In fact the only places I can find this information online are from news sites that are dedicated to the legalization of marijuana or sites you've never heard of. If I search Google with:

   [pot cures cancer mice "washington post"]

...the first five sites Google gives me are:

   lewrockwell.com
   thcseeds.com
   tokeup.com
   davidicke.net
   alternet.org

Hell, surfwax.com and a personal AOL website come up before any mainstream news sites. I stopped looking on page 6.

I mention this not necessarily to rant about how medical marijuana research is being systematically repressed, but because when I tell people that I don't watch TV in part because the news lies to us, I'm looked at like I'm a conspiracy nut. Isn't omission of the facts a lie? If not, what is it?

Is it absurd to think that research indicating that cannabis might cure certain types of cancer and boost lifespans by 37% is more important than, say, information on the Michael Jackson court case? Or the pope waving out a window?

If I suggest that giving Michael Jackson daily priority over a potential cancer cure from a medicine that simply cannot be overdosed on is irresponsible, am I being hysterical?

Every time I learn of some new media-lapse-induced societal reality disconnect, the Carrol/Matrix warning about learning precisely how far the rabbit hole goes pops into my head.

"This is it, right? I've learned how bad it is, right? It doesn't get any worse, right?"

I've only been able to free my mind, to "empty my cup" as it were, by avoiding television almost completely for about ten years now. After all, you don't ask for seconds when your plate is full, so why should you dig deeper when respectable media outlets tell you that something is true (or doesn't tell you at all)?

Well how do you know mainstream media is trustworty? Because they told you they are? Or because the people you know feel they're trustworthy? Oh, I ...think I get it. And why do they think the mainstream media is trustworthy?

Right. Because you think it is.

I don't think that our culture has a foundation of sand. I believe it's floating on thin fucking air.

The bad news | You may have heard that an Italian journalist was released by her al Queda captives only to be shot by U.S. troops enroute to the airport mere minutes after allowed to go. The Italian soldier who had just secured her release responded to the gunfire by covering the journalist with his own body, getting himself killed in the process.

On LittleGreenFootballs.com, a lovely right-wing blog, the cretins are suggesting that since the reporter writes for a socialist newspaper frequently critical of the United States, the whole event was staged. Oh, and she speaks Arabic. That nails it right there, doesn't it?

Here is one of the more astute comments left by the supportive rabble:

     "It is disgusting how the media don't interview each of the 115 people killed last week from terror, but let one pathetic journalist take a bullet and the frenzy begins."

Yes, it truly is a travesty that the media doesn't interview the dead. It reeks of bias. But don't dispair, little O'Reillyian, Fox News just reported that our chocolate ration has gone up again!

The good news | Bet you never knew taxedermy cold be so goddamn cool...

"It’s the core of the Commander-in-Chief function. [Congress] cannot prevent the President from ordering torture."

     - White House counsel

Revamped my resume. Removed an old reference, added a much better one. Fixed up Bloglines.com to carry all the job categories I'm suited for.

Sent in one resume. The cover letter took a while. I think I'm going to set aside an hour a night to just job search and apply. Got another one, I just have to think about how I'm going to approach it since it states I'll need to travel.

Four Canadian mounties were shot and killed when they entered an illegal marijuana grow operation.

The killings focused attention on Canada's booming illegal marijuana trade, which in the West Coast province of British Columbia alone is worth an estimated C$5 billion a year. Police say the trade is dominated by organized crime. The federal government says casual pot users should not end up with a criminal record and last November unveiled draft legislation to decriminalize the possession of small amounts – an idea that angered US law enforcement officials.

WHY??? Why should this anger law enforcement? If it wasn't illegal, the officers would still be alive!

Let's put this another way. Just for argument sake, let's say we made hot chocolate illegal. Then four cops get killed while busting a mob-owned hot chocolate-making operation. Is the solution to:

(a) End hot chocolate prohibition.
(b) Pass out harsher punishments for drinking and making hot chocolate.

Let's suppose you pick answer (b). What happens then? First, the price of hot chocolate is going to go up. Why?

Previously, some mob-controlled chocolate smuggler would have been willing to charge you $25 for a cup, now he wants $60 because you chose (b), and now the minimum sentence is 10 years, not 3.

Now a normal smuggling operation involves 1,000 packets. The shipment that used to be worth $25,000 is now worth $60,000. As a cocoa kingpin, you need to start hiring people a little more ruthless and a little less willing to roll over on you. No two-bit thug wants to get caught with 60k of Brazilian Powpow, so you hire people both inclined to kill to protect the investment and protect both your asses. Maybe pay off a few cops to keep an ear on the inside, maybe you keep a judge on the books. Don't forget the wiseguys to knock off any competition and Chinese gangs are beginning to enter the business. You don't discourage them with love letters.

At some point in reading all this did you ask yourself, "why the fuck did we make hot chocolate illegal in the first place?"

Good.

Far and away the most frequent objection I hear to marijuana is that it leads to harder drugs. I have to answers.

First, it isn't true. Cocaine use skyrocketed in the 80's while marijuana use plummeted and vice versa in the 90's. It simply attracts different people. Marijuana attracts carpenters. Coke attracts assholes.

Second, maybe if you didn't make your average grocery store manager consort with drug dealers, who knows, maybe hard drug use would go down?

Just a thought.

It's consumed in less quantities than tobacco, it doesn't seem to cause lung cancer (even then, there are plenty of ways to ingest it other than smoking), it has been found to retard certain types of cancer and it's impossible to overdose on. Impossible. Nobody has ever died of a cannabis overdose.

Can't say that about alcohol, can you? About a half-million people die in the U.S. each year from these two drugs. Where's the prohibition? Bought and paid for, that's where.

When I hear that four cops got killed, I think it's tragic. I think it's tragic for them and tragic for their families. But I blame the people who created the problem in the first place. I bet 90% of them have a well-stocked liquor cabinet.

Make something illegal and you will invariably introduced organized crime and thus violence into the picture. Period.

Recently, a U.N. conference convened for a progress check on a 10 year-old conference on human rights. The Bush administration demanded that they adopt language explicitly preventing a woman's right to her own body being declared a basic human right. The Bushies also stated they would not support the conference if their language was not added.

Of course this caused a shitstorm and the U.S. backed off.

"The United States recognizes the ... principle that abortion policies are a matter of national sovereignty."

Translation: We didn't succeed in telling the rest of the world (through the U.N.) to deny women their right to their own body and choice to reproduce, so we'll back off and paint this as a sovereignty issue so when you do declare this is a human right, we can claim the U.N. has no right to tell us what to do.

If the U.N. had agreed to the new wording, then the Bush camp would have pointed to the document and demand that every country -- er, I mean countries they don't like -- pay heed.

And when did national sovereignty ever give Bush pause? Hello? Cuba?

What a transparent fucking joke of an administration.