Rick Raw: Marijuana Conundrum–Proven Medical Benefits, Yet Still Schedule 1 Drug?

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

Okay, relax and burn one. Let’s have a rational discussion about marijuana (excuse me while I imagine I’m inhaling). Let’s talk about marijuana’s proven medical benefits; its euphoric high; and its magical effect of increasing appetite–all positive effects of smoking pot. Why then is marijuana still a Schedule 1 drug, lumped in with cocaine, heroin, and meth-amphetamine?

Because our government wags are idiots and afraid that if everyone smoked pot, Americans would be less grumpy, suffer less pain from various maladies of old age, and generally be better off than the millions of chronic alcoholics.

Reagan’s "War on Drugs" still reverberates with conservatives on the Hill. The old farts still see recreational use of drugs as an evil scourge on our society. Yet, they gulp down tons of whiskey at the Beltway watering holes. Yeah, across the board hypocrisy runs deep with the swine on the Hill.

Over 30 million Americans regularly smoke marijuana. Some states have reduced the charges for a small amount of pot to a minor misdemeamor. And in California, legal marijuana shops are tolerated, although state legislators are pushing for more enforcement of the rules. They want to shut down the pot shops.

The truth is, in certain areas of California, anyone can get a prescription for legally grown medical marijuana as a pain reliever, sleep aid, and a wonder drug for terminally ill cancer patients that make their last days more comfortable.

For cancer patients the use of a vaporizer is the most efficient way of taking the drug. Marijuana is heated until it gives off a vapor and fills a plastic bag. It’s less irritating to the throat and a much more effective delivery system.

Today’s carefully cultivated marijuana is not your grandfather’s pot. It’s much stronger than back in the hippie era of sex, drugs, and rock’n’roll. Today, the THC (the pyschedelic drug in marijuana) is up around 20%. However, as one big time grower said, "it’s impossible to OD on pot, I know because I tried to get to that point."

NORML (National Organization to Repeal Marijuana Laws) has worked for years to lobby lawmakers about the benefits of marijuana both for medical uses and recreational use. Still, the DEA stands firm that marijuana is a "dangerous" drug. Nonsense!

Progress to legalization is slow, but more and more people are getting involved to change the mainstream’s perception of this benign drug. Conservative opposition to legalization is steadfast in their claim that marijuana is a so called "gateway drug," leading to so called hard drugs.

To really change the status of marijuana and all illegal drugs for that matter is complete legalization, which, like the end of prohibition, would take it out of the hands of the Mexican and Columbian cartels and other criminal enterprises. Taxing pot and other drugs would wipe out the national debt pronto.

Over the years, marijuana has proven to be less harmful than drinking alcohol, which, in large amounts at once or moderate amounts over time, can kill you. No one has ever died from smoking pot. But, I realize that my viewpoint is not shared by the mainstream. Still, legalization is the only way to control illicit drugs.

Indeed, marijuana should never be listed as a Schedule 1 drug. But, the zealous anti-drug lobby still rides the white horse of all drugs are bad. By now, I naively thought pot would be legal. But our self-righteous hypocritical lawmakers are out there preaching the gospel according to Reagan’s war on drugs, which, in the end, was an abysmal failure.

So why do people take drugs and drink? They like to get high and relax after a stressful day.

People will drink and use drugs, including marijuana, no matter what lawmakers say. Prohibition taught us that you can’t legislate vices. People are going to indulge no matter who tells them they can’t.

The DEA will never stop the flood of drugs into America, so make it legal and reap the tax benefits. Sure, the DEA makes large seizures and shows off the haul, but it’s only a fraction of what’s flowing into the country.

Yes, I smoke cigars and drink wine. Recently, the tax on tobacco went sky high. But I still get my cigars and begrudgingly pay the damn tax and nobody is going to tell me not to do it. Well, the tax does support health care for children, which is a good thing.

No, I don’t smoke pot anymore because it effects my short term memory, which is already slowed down by old age. But I just remember being high on pot, and I get a cheap thrill and hungry for pizza. Just the thought of smoking a joint is enough to get me high.

So pot smokers unite. Join groups like NORML and pressure our lawmakers to get off their high horse and legalize marijuana. Somewhere this second, someone is lighting up a joint or a bong and saying "fuck you," DEA.

Rick Raw: Defeating IED Menace in Afghanistan Top Pentagon Priority

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

Since the invasion of Afghanistan in early 2002 after the 9/11 attack, Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) have become the enemy’s most effective weapon to kill American and Coalition soldiers. The Pentagon has poured billions of dollars into research to counteract these deadly weapons. But still, in November, 2009, IEDs have killed more American troops than any other weapon.

The Taliban and al Qaeda have received vast numbers of artillery shells and shape charges to easily assemble these menacing devices and plant them near roads or convoy routes. The IED itself consists of an adapted landmine or artillery shells rigged up to a crude detonator.

The bombs are placed under the road or beside the road and can be detonated by wire, radio, or cell phone. Even garage door openers have been used to detonate these makeshift bombs.
Recently, the enemy has upped the ante by using shaped charges that, when ignited, form a superheated stream of liquid copper that penetrates the thickest of armor. These shaped charges can penetrate tanks, armored personnel carriers, and easily blow up supply trucks.

Presently there is no countermeasure for these advanced IEDs except using special tanks that fire a long cord of C4 explosive into a forward position to clear any mines or IEDs. However, the enemy defeats this method by planting the IEDs on the side of the roads in animal carcases or buried in the sand.

Common sense dictates that an effective countermeasure would be not to travel the roads in vehicles, but to use helicopters and other aircraft to transport troops and supplies. However, the military still insists on convoying supplies along dangerous roads and paths. Humvees have no chance, so don’t use them. Going on patrols in Humvess is playing Russian roulette and the troops know it. "Will today be my day that the bullet in is the chamber," they think.

The Pentagon wags have been frustrated by the enemy’s ability to adapt to changing situations and to defeat any American countermeasures against IEDs. Recently, the American special forces have effectively interrupted the supply chain of IED components and artillery shells coming into Afghanistan. It’s been harder for the enemy to get resupplied.

More significantly, American intelligence officers working with special forces have been able to get the cooperation of various tribal councils to find caches of IED components and to arrest enemy operatives bringing in these supplies. In other words cutting the head off the snake.

Still, every day IEDs kill American and Coalition soldiers. These battle casualties cause the brass to work harder to defeat them. They can send a Predator unmanned aircraft to find and kill high ranking Taliban and al Qaeda operatives. But, IEDs are still a deadly weapon that has confounded the most brilliant military weapon’s masters.

When Army officers know that taking vehicles down roads and pathways in Afghanistan will result in IED deaths, they should think of an alternative way of patrolling for contact with the enemy. Here’s a thought: Keep our soldiers off those roads and save lives.

In Vietnam soldiers jumped on HUEY helicopters and flew into hot zones to kill the enemy. That was an effective way to avoid IEDs and landmines. I say if IEDs are killing our soldiers, let’s stop traveling the IED infested roads. By now though, with all the high tech talent working on this problem, we should have developed an effective countermeasure. I’m tired of seeing those flag draped caskets coming home, victims of IEDs

Rick Raw: Talk To Your Genes–Dr. Deepak Chopra Says

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

In a CNN article, Dr. Deepak Chopra says you should talk to your genes (not "jeans" silly) to switch them on to benefit every cell in your body. Right! Chopra is, like Dr. Phil, a media commentator and health preacher to the stars.

The diet-lifestyle guru says that research by Dr. Dean Omish and his colleagues has shown that adopting positive measures, including exercise, meditation, and diet creates beneficial changes in five hundred genes. Yeah, a shot of Jack Daniels wakes up my genes.

Dr. Chopra believes that the best thing we can do for our own health care is to eat and live a healthy lifestyle. Okay, fair enough. But this gene thing is in the realm of medical tomfoolery. We’re supposed to sit in meditation talking to our genes? Hello, genes, are you there? If so, wake up and smell the coffee and make me as rich and cool as Dr. Chopra.

"This single finding could revolutionize our health, because what it means is that every bite of food you eat, every step on the treadmill, every moment of deep relaxation is talking to your genes," he says.

In other words, by this mind meld of abstract conversation with our genes, we can awaken a higher energy within our consciousness. Basically, Dr. Chopra believes in one’s spiritual well being is connected to one’s physical well being.

Indeed, the good doctor has touched on a medication technique similar to Zen Buddhism. But Dr. Chopra frames his message in a more pragmatic way of reaching altered states of consciousness, without psychedelic drugs or attending the Burning Man Festival. .

By talking to one’s genes, Dr. Chopra is saying, in effect, that one is balancing one’s "chi," a term used by acupuncturists referring to the body’s energy field. He speaks of genes like they are nano-engines inside our bodies that are "alert, and when you change anything in your life, they respond."

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Have you ever noticed that these media gurus like Dr. Phil and Dr. Chopra are not necessarily the picture of health. In contrast, CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta is a fine physical specimen and a brilliant doctor. He seems to be omnipresent on television while he’s writing books, traveling the globe making documentaries, and practicing as a neurosurgeon. Does this guy ever sleep? But he looks so healthy.

All these media mavens and talking heads giving us advice on our health get tedious and annoying. Yet, everyone is trying to find the right way to live a long productive life. I say enjoy life and its vices in moderation.

John Lennon said "whatever gets you through the day is okay." I subscribe to that advice. Lennon may have lived long and prospered but some psychotic jerk, Mark David Chapman took him out at the prime fo his life. So whatever he didn’t do to take care of himself didn’t matter. He died when Chapman fired four hollow-point .38 caliber bullets ripping into his body.

Thus, one may live like a Tibetan monk avoiding the pitfalls of life, but my philosophy is to plunge into the deep end, using one’s talents and abilities. There is no evidence that living according to Dr. Chopra’s advice will extend one’s life. George Burns lived to a hundred smoking 15 cigars a day and drinking whiskey. I think it’s more important to feel joy in giving and receiving love and gaining satisfaction from one’s chosen profession than worrying about talking to one’s genes.

Rick Raw: Gang Rape Endemic of Broader Sociological Problems

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

The shocking gang rape and beating of a 15 year old high school student outside a school dance in Richmond, California is endemic of broader and disturbing sociological problems among today’s youth culture. At least 10 teenage boys participated in the rape, while 20 young bystanders watched and did nothing to help the girl or call 911. The rape went on for two and a half hours before the cops got wind of the crime.

Two days later, five suspects were arrested with more arrests pending. The chief detective working on the case said that as soon as they got each boy alone in an interrogation room, they soon understood the gravity of what they had done. They crumbled, confessing and implicating the others. He suggested that during the incident, a mob mentality developed, exacerbated by the cheering crowd.

More disturbingly, many kids in the Richmond high school were blaming the victim, saying she had it coming. The girl was on her way to meet her father who was waiting to pick her up when her friend suggested they go to the back of the school and have a drink. She was lured to the planned rape. The most telling part of this crime is, the boys who were watching didn’t think there was anything wrong with their friends raping this girl for an hour and a half.

So how do we unravel the broader sociological reasons for this crime and who is to blame for the failure of the parents to teach their teenagers morality? Indeed, the parents and the pervasive violent images to which young people are exposed are partially to blame.

Many of these kids are raised by single mothers who work two jobs and are never home. These kids spend hours playing violent video games and watching rap videos that portray women as whores and bitches, shaking their asses up against the rappers’ crotches.

Sexual suggestive images are everywhere in our society, from billboards to magazines. With no parenting to speak of, young boys have no respect for young women. High school students live in an unrealistic subculture that is far removed from consensus reality. Even the girls are guilty of bullying other girls.

In the apartment complex where I live, I recently observed a 12 year-old boy with a toy gun. He was walking along pointing the gun at me and other people going about their duties. He was saying, "This is a stick up."

Clearly, this boy was rehearsing his plan to hold up a convenience store. Where did he get this idea that it was acceptable to even fantasize about committing a crime? Where was his fundamental morality? It was lost in the violent world of video fantasy in which he lives.

Despite many so called experts who argue that violent video games are not harmful, I vehemently believe that graphically realistic games like "Grand Theft Auto" glorify a criminal lifestyle. The theme encourages a "badass" mentality of violence and taking what you want, as opposed to working for it.

Male teenagers are very susceptable to this macho idea of gangs and guns. It permeates their youth culture. If they steal to get money, then it follows that they will rape to get sex. Today’s youth culture is broken and in need of a reality check. Where are the adults to teach these kids society’s rules and laws? Many teachers have attempted to instill morality in their students, but the kids have tuned them out. Unfortunately, many of these kids never make it to the real adult world. They end up in jail serving long sentences.

As long as kids are absorbed in violent video games and rap videos, they are being conditioned to react to situations with violence and to disrespect women. They react to their raging hormones and accelerated sex drive by harboring rape fantasies. It’s part of their antiworld of amorality and acting out their angst.

Rick Raw: For God’s Sake, Obama, Make a Decision

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

Frankly, I’m disappointed in President Obama for taking an inordinate amount of time to make key decisions. It shows me that Obama is being overcautious and wishy-washy. By wavering on key decisions, Obama’s leadership is in question.

In regard to sending more troops to Afghanistan, Obama has been meeting with the Joint Chiefs of Staff for weeks. His head general in Afghanistan, Gen. McCrystal has been begging for more troops for months. For God sake, Obama, give him more troops.

Never mind all the complex ramifications of sending more troops. Gen McCrystal needs more troops for one important reason–to insure the safety of his other troops already outnumbered by the enemy. Give him the troops and worry about all the other issues later.

Just today, Senator Kerry was saying that we need to establish a stable government before sending more troops. Hogwash! Stabilizing the government of Afghanistan could take years. Meanwhile, our troops are dying because they are weakened by the lack of reinforcements to take over hot combat positions.

Every day, the enemy is overwhelming our patrols and planting endless IEDs. Every day more U.S.soldiers are blown-up by these cowardly devices. We need more bomb disposal personnel to defuse these makeshift bombs.

Indeed, Obama and his advisors can talk about the complexities of sending more troops ad nauseam, but the fact is, he needs to make a decision. Obama may have won Noble Peace Prize, but he’s not showing strong leadership. The Noble Prize is like a ball and chain around Obama’s neck.

More significantly, Obama hasn’t made good on his campaign promises, such as ending "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" in the military. He promised the gay community that he would end this policy right after he was elected. Then he waffled like a weak leader. Sure, when he makes a decision, there are consequences, good and bad, but he can’t make everyone happy. So just do it.

Like the disastrous policies of President Johnson and his Secretary of State, Robert McNamara during the Vietnam war, Obama is trying to micro-manage the Afghan War. It didn’t work then, and it won’t work now. Let the generals run the war. They’re on the ground and in touch with their squad leaders on up the chain of command. We must give the troops more of everything to fight his important war.

This is a new form of warfare that requires all our resources to take the battle to the enemy. These evil bastards killed over 3,000 of our citizens. They are not going to stop killing Westerners, especially Americans. They don’t mind dying. And their radical cause is growing in Pakistan.

Since 9/11, there have been numerous terrorist attacks in Great Britain, Spain, and African countries. If we don’t kill the jihadists in their homeland, then they will just move to other countries like the Sudan, that is a lawless land of warlords and strife–a perfect setting for al Qaeda to operate freely.

Recently, in our country, the FBI broke up cells planning attacks on soft targets like shopping malls and sports events. They’ll keep coming until they’re all dead or driven into hiding.

This war against terrorism requires new thinking and a new outlook. We can’t think in terms of winning or losing a war. This is a global struggle. We must think only of exterminating these vermin. As long as they are alive, we will never win anything, except individual battles. We must track them down and kill them where ever they exist-- in America or foreign lands. We’ll probably be fighting them into the foreseeable future.

Rick Raw: Bailout My Ass–Where’s Our Money–TARP Infested with Fraud

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

After the unprecedented $700 billion bailout of the big banks, there was never an accurate accounting of exactly where the money went or how it was spent. The banks took the money and did what they wanted with it. CEOs took big bonuses, and shared the booty with their top executives. Hot damn, it’s party time.

AIG threw a big bacchanal in Vegas with strippers and wild sex parties. Their mantra was, "let the good times roll," as the middle class disappeared under the fallout of the economic apocalypse.

Now, bailout Special Inspector General Neil Barofsky says that the public wasn’t told about the lack of financial responsibility of nine of the bailed-out banks. He said that the Treasury Department officials painted an overly rosy picture, creating unrealistic expectations. Yeah, there was gold in them there hills and the greedy CEOs rushed to get their hands on it. The government opened the doors to the Treasury, and let these thieves inside.

More seriously, the FBI and Treasury agents have opened 35 ongoing criminal investigations of blatant fraud committed by bank executives that received the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funds. And still, no one can say for sure how the money was spent. The investigation could uncover massive fraud among the bailed out banks if the forensic accountants can trace the money trail to complex shell corporations in the islands.

TARP turned out to be a fiasco–a rush to save the banking system and Wall Street by throwing money at it. During the last weeks of the Bush administration, Congress voted no to the TARP bailout. Then Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson and other former bank CEOs made a secret backroom deal and the TARP bailout passed.

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that this secret deal lined many pockets and setup many CEOs to gain windfall bonuses. Yes, the money train was arriving in board rooms across the land.
There is also a separate criminal investigation into the Bank of America-Merrill Lynch merger led by the New York Attorney General’s Office. While the masses suffer unemployment and foreclosures of their homes, the bailout crooks are raking in the avelanche of TARP funds faster than Obama can say the bailout will save the ecomony.

The TARP bailout now has a derogatory connotation. We, the screwed over taxpayers, have lost faith in the bailout’s ability to save our economy. Funny, enter Allan Greenspan, whose doctrine of laissez faire got us into this mess to begin with. He said that unemployment would rise above 10% before things got better. Shut up, you old sod. No one’s listening to you anymore. But I think he’s right.

This substantiates my fear that a cabal of wealthy crooks brokered the TARP deal for personal gain and to enrich their cronies. Hank Paulson is one of these alleged masterminds who met behind closed doors. He was CEO of Goldman Sachs before he was appointed Treasury Secretary. He, like the other cabal members, conspired to force the TARP on the American public under the pretense that if we didn’t release the $700 billion to the big banks, the entire economy would collapse. Well the economy did collapse despite the bailout.

The bottom line to this outrage is the bailout did nothing to help our economy but it did make some big time players filthy rich. Now the banks are raising interest rates on credit card holders, slapping large overdraft penalties on customers, and denying loans to eligible appliers. The banks are no better than Mafia loan sharks. We the people must rise up in anger and stop these injustices before the wealthy few take over the country. In most ways, they are already in charge.

Rick Raw: Bill Clinton Says Right Wing Conspiracy Still Exists–Now Directed at Obama

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

Ah yes, remember the good old days when Clinton was president. Indeed, Clinton did a great job as president, but he also entertained us with his tryst with Monica Lewinski and long time affair with Jennifer Flowers. His denial was hilarious when he said, "I did not have sex with that woman!" In the end, he left the presidency with a surplus, which George W. Bush squandered on the Iraq war.

As president, Clinton justifiably claimed that there was "a vast right wing conspiracy against me!" Of course, his stupid sexploits played into the right wing’s hands. But, despite their vicious campaign to discredit Clinton, and his subsequent impeachment, he managed to survive the onslaught of negative rhetoric and did his job well.

Today, as a busy ex-president and Secretary of State’s husband, Clinton has become an elder statesman and philanthropist. He has moved on to make his mark on the world stage. Still, his past haunts him, although he has redeemed himself by his altruistic endeavors and statesmanship.

Now, Clinton claims that the ultra-conservative right wing movement is attacking President Obama in the same way they savaged him. On NBC’s "Meet the Press" Clinton was asked by David Gregory if the conspiracy was still there?

"You bet. Sure it is. It’s not as strong as it was because America’s changed demographically, but it’s as virulent as it was," Clinton said. Of course, I asked the obvious question, "is he right?"
Absolutely, the right wing has gone off the reservation with untra-conservative propaganda from the motor mouths of Rush Limbaugh and other conservative talking heads and commentators. Limbaugh is the most extreme, calling Obama a Fascist and anything else that pops into his Vicodin addled brain.

Another provocateur is TV commentator, Glenn Beck who is out there rabble-rousing the right to protest anything Obama says or does. His frenzied fans are staging rallies holding up signs that say, "Stop Obama’s Spending Spree," "Save Freedom Stop Obama," "Hey Obama-Care, Hands Off MY Body."

Beck is playing to the underlying anger of the ultra-conservative zealots, giving them a platform to instigate Clinton’s dogged right wing conspiracy, now unleashed on the Obama administration. It’s the same old gibberish we heard against Clinton. But Clinton gave them plenty of ammunition with his dumb sexual escapades. But, he somehow overcame that dark time.

In the vast media arena, Beck’s brand of blabber is mild compared to Limbaugh’s. However, both blowhards are tapping into the deep seeded racism of people who still hate the idea of a black president. They dare not say it, but it’s implied in their actions. Beck is like an evangelist, evoking the power of God to heal the masses with his unsubstantiated opinion and agitator style.
Like with Clinton’s administration, this right wing movement started to discredit Obama almost the day after he took office. And, they’ll be on his back his entire tenure. They will never give him credit for changing things for the better. The ultra-conservative movement is a runaway train of negativity crashing through Obama’s parade.

So, like Clinton, Obama has to move on and ignore the right wing’s cacophony of whining and veiled racism. Obama is on the right track with plenty of supporters, including me. As things get better, and they will, the chorus of right wing criticism will get drowned out by positive change.