NRA scare tactics are working – more states push for lienient gun laws

 Gun dealers ought to be thanking President Obama for his lack of action on gun control. Guns are now allowed in our National Parks. States are overturning gun laws, and making new laws favorable to gun dealers and buyers.

 The NRA has been crying “wolf” since the day Obama was elected. “Look out,” the NRA rhetoric roared, “Obama is going to take away your rights as a gun owner now!” On the the same day Obama was elected the sales of guns nationwide spiked. A year later, what Second Amendment rights have been violated by Obama? Zero. Nada. None.

 But what about the NRA lobby who keeps crying wolf? It seems they are never satisfied with their victories. There’s always another reason to change a gun law somewhere to benefit their constituents who shower them with money. Meanwhile, the real benefactors of the NRA’s scare tactics are the gun dealers, gun manufacturers, and the ammunition industry. Oh yeah, and the criminals!

I think what bothers me the most is that the NRA keeps hiding behind their wide-open interpretation of the Second Amendment to shield themselves and attempt to take the high road to freedom. I believe in the right to own guns, but I’m also concerned about how easy it is for criminals in America to buy a gun. Any type of gun. That means semi or fully automatic. Don’t waste my time trying to tell me that criminals can’t buy automatic weapons because of already restrictive laws.

That’s a load of bullshit, but the NRA spreads it around like butter. There’s too many laws now according to some gun extremists. That tells me the NRA has done it’s job spreading propaganda and lies in order to push an agenda.

What is the NRA’s real agenda? Maybe we ought to look at their close relationship with the gun and ammunition lobbies, and how much support they buy from the NRA. Did I hear you say, “It’s all about the money?” You’re right. It’s capitalism at it’s worst.

Excerpt:

“When President Obama took office, gun rights advocates sounded the alarm, warning that he intended to strip them of their arms and ammunition. And yet the opposite is happening.”

Photo source

Bad credit sidelines some jobless workers

Talk about a Catch 22…

 As if things aren’t bad enough, another barrier to employment raises it’s ugly head. Credit checks. If employers are going to check people’s credit, what comes next? 

 There are some jobs that probably should check out prospective employees credit, like banking, trading stock, etc. But when a person applies for a job, like answering phones, should the fact that their credit history is bad because of unpaid medical bills (due to not being able to afford insurance) prevent them from getting a job?

How the hell is the country going to recover with this kind of thinking? When you read Debra Banks story (below link) ask yourself what you would do? How many people across the country are in the same situation as MS Banks?

 A temporary financial setback can become a long-term employment barrier.

 (Photo) Debra Banks, 54, of Los Angeles, believes an unpaid medical bill cost her a full-time job. View related photos Photo by Ann Johansson / for msnbc.com

Pot use among seniors goes up as boomers age

Gray-haired tokers turn to marijuana to relieve many problems of aging

 Is anyone surprised? What did you think the Baby Boomers would do?

Excerpt:

“In her 88 years, Florence Siegel has learned how to relax: A glass of wine. A copy of The New York Times, if she can wrest it from her husband. Some classical music, preferably Bach. And every night, she lifts a pipe to her lips and smokes marijuana.”

Go here to read the story.

PHOTO: Perry Parks, 67, takes a puff of marijuana at his home in Rockingham, N.C. The retired Army pilot suffered crippling pain from degenerative disc disease and arthritis before turning to marijuana. Photo via Chuck Burton / AP

Choking warning urged for food labels

When 4-year-old Eric Stavros Adler choked to death on a piece of hot dog, his anguished mother never dreamed that the popular kids' food could be so dangerous.

 My first reaction, after reading the above headline was “Not another stupid label for stupid people!”

After reading this article I changed my mind. Who would have thought?

photo source 

Suffer the Children: The lethal legacy of Agent Orange

By Dave Stancliff/For the Times-Standard

Posted: 02/21/2010 01:30:30 AM PST

Although Sharon L. Perry has never been to Vietnam, what happened to her husband, who served there during his military service, has affected her life forever.

 Since he died in 2005 she has “waded through grief, hate, anger, pain, rage, and lots and lots of heartache.”

The heartache started long before Reuben “Bud” C. Perry III died from a myocardial infarction attributed to his diabetes, peripheral neuropathy, and Hep C, all Agent Orange (AO) related illnesses.

It began with the birth of their oldest daughter, Danielle, who has been sick all her life. Sharon fought for years with doctors who didn't seem to know what caused her daughter to suffer debilitating muscle spasms in her neck that often lasted up to two hours.

”Finally,” Sharon said, “a doctor treated her because he said her muscles would atrophy if not taken care of.”

Go here to read the rest.

UPDATE:

BLOGS and GROUPS carrying this column as of 5:20 p.m. today:

1.) Google Group: Vietnamese Culture

2.) Friend Feed

3.) Agent Orange Legacy

4.) Twitter

5.) Northcoast BlogThing

Product Recalls on the Rise : Consumers are becoming cranky

Internal F.D.A. reports are part of fierce debate over Avandia

A controversial diabetes drug harms heart (above link)

Drug recalls are becoming so common that there are web sites devoted to them. 

What’s a person supposed to do? Here’s some links:

Peanut product Recall – Withdrawal of Certain Cat foods -

U.S. Recall News – Safe Mama – Tylenol Recall Expanded -

You get the idea. We don’t know what’s going to be bad for us next. A lot of products aren’t tested long enough to see of they’re safe (think Big Pharma). If a person doesn’t keep up on what’s the latest product recall, they may regret it.

The Top 10 Plants for Removing Indoor Toxins

Top ten plants for removing formaldehyde, benzene, and carbon monoxide from the air: 1. Areca Palm (Chrysalidocarpus lutescens)

Also called the “Butterfly Palm”. An upright houseplant that is somewhat vase shaped. Specimen plants can reach 10 to 12 foot in height. Prefers a humid area to avoid tip damage. Requires pruning. When selecting an Areca palm look for plants with larger caliber trunks at the base of the plant. Plants that have pencil thin stems tend to topple over and are quite difficult to maintain.

Click here to see the remaining nine plants

A recent NASA study has determined the top 10 plants for reducing indoor air pollution

Excerpt:

“Common indoor plants may provide a valuable weapon in the fight against rising levels of indoor air pollution. NASA scientists are finding them to be surprisingly useful in absorbing potentially harmful gases and cleaning the air inside homes, indoor public spaces and office buildings.”

Go here for rest of the story.

Politicians are making money on their sleazy lives

Sleaze and revenge dominate a recent rash of memoirs and campaign accounts.

Sarah Palin’s PAC Spent $63,000 on her own book.

Journalistic standards?

Book review: John Edwards exposed in 'The Politician' by Andrew Young

All photos source

Tell me what you really see in this photo of the Clintons cuddling(?)

Hillary is a saint, or a politician who sold her soul long ago. Somehow I don’t think someone who dodged imaginary gunfire on one of her world tours is the kind of person who gets canonized.

Friday’s findings: a new name for Iraq War, Big Brother, A Chickenshit Situation, and some Gay Gospel

 

What’s in a name? The war in Iraq will now be called 'Operation New Dawn' to reflect the reduced U.S. role in that mess.

IRS or BIG BROTHER?: Yesterday, software engineer Joseph Stack III flew a small plane into a building housing the Internal Revenue Service offices in Austin, Texas, because he was upset with the IRS, according to officials.

Chicken Waste: Residents of Briggs Road react to the stench from a lake of chicken excrement.

Folks in French Camp, a small town 80 miles east of San Francisco, say they've complained for years to local air and environmental regulators about the waste lagoon, saying the stench and eye-burning fumes give them headaches and nausea. They say nothing changed.

Photo source (right)

                 Gay Gospel?

“I think Jesus was a compassionate, super-intelligent gay man who understood human problems,” Elton John told Parade magazine recently.

 Photo source (left)

Reader sends comicical comment on ‘banned’ post

Ammiano Resubmits Marijuana Legalization Bill - AB 2254

Assemblyman Tom Ammiano has re-submitted his bill to legalize, tax and regulate marijuana in California.

The new bill, AB 2254, is identical to its predecessor AB 390, which was approved by the Public Safety Committee in January. Because it was introduced last year, AB 390 ran out of time to be heard on this year's calendar.

Advocates are hopeful that AB 2254 will move forward this year through the Health Committee, as the legislature has yet to hold hearings on the health aspects of legal marijuana.

Recent years have seen mounting evidence that marijuana is safer than previously
imagined - for example, that it doesn't cause lung cancer and is a
minor highway safety hazard compared to other, legal drugs.

Meanwhile, the state's budget crisis remains an important argument
for legalization.The Legislative Analyst has estimated that the
Ammiano bill would net the state $1.4 billion."With California's
prisons overflowing and the budget a mess, it makes no sense for
taxpayers to be paying money to arrest, prosecute and imprison pot
offenders, when they could be reaping the revenues of a legally
regulated market," said Cal NORML Director Dale Gieringer.

For Cal NORML's analysis of the benefits of legalization, see

http://www.canorml.org/background/CA_legalization2.html
--
Dale Gieringer - canorml@canorml.org
California NORML, NEW ADDRESS:  2261 Market St. #278A, San Francisco
CA 94114 -(415) 563- 5858 - www.canorml.org

Millie my Pug claims she can predict earthquakes, natural disasters, and sports events…

 Millie has been nearly unbearable since she warned us moments before the last earthquake, and the room-rattler before that one.

She struts around like a furry Nostradamus and is predicting everything now. She says the Los Angeles Lakers are going to beat the Boston Celtics tonight (7:30 Pacific Time on TNT), and that I can take it to the bank. Being a Laker fan I want to believe her, but I’m not laying any money down on it! The last time I went with one of her Sports Predictions I was hung out to dry!

Cleveland tops list of most miserable U.S. cities

 Slew of Midwestern places crack the top 20, but then so does New York

I was born in Cleveland, Ohio but it isn’t something I brag about. The last time I was there in 1973, and we had a winter that left things just like the bridge pictured here.

The Cuyahoga River, which runs through the city, famously caught fire in 1969 thanks to rampant pollution, and it wasn't the first time.

“Residents of Cleveland, Ohio, also dubbed "the Mistake by the Lake", endure brutal winters, high crime and a tortured sports history. They are voting with their feet as the net migration out of the metro area was 71,000 over the past five years.” AP photo

Go here for the story.

I kinda like the honest approach myself – but not enough to make a donation

photo source

Hypocritical Obama and Corporate Media Are Agressively Undermining Pot Normalization

This article hits the situation on the head. Despite the fact that a growing majority of Americans favor legalization of marijuana for adults, the White House, the corporate media, and Big Business (think Big Pharma) are doing everything they can to continue demonizing the “killer weed.”

Excerpt:

“While marijuana is more mainstream than ever, legalization still faces backlash from the powers that be.

“There are some ominous harbingers indicating that common-sense drug reform relating to marijuana still has a ways to go. Here are five signs that pot legalization faces government and corporate backlash (which may affect public opinion as well), in no particular order:” Go here to continue reading.

New study says marijuana has therapeutic value

  Marijuana Has Therapeutic Value, Reports California Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research;  Studies Show MJ Safe and Effective in Treatment of  Chronic Pain & Neuralgia et al.

 SACRAMENTO, In a landmark report to the state legislature today, the California Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research announced that its studies have shown marijuana to have therapeutic value (Go here for report).
      The CMCR, established at the University of California in 2000 to conduct controlled scientific studies of medical marijuana, reported positive results in six different human clinical trials regarding chronic pain, spasticity and vaporization.

         Four studies showed marijuana to be safe and effective in relieving the chronic pain of neuralgia.   "The findings  are very consistent," remarked CMCR director Prof. Igor Grant, "There is good evidence now that cannabinoids may be a good adjunct or even first line treatment." Neuralgia is  a type  of pain caused by damaged nerves that is particularly resistant to other therapies .  Some 10% of the population are said to be affected by neuralgia.

     A fifth CMCR study found marijuana effective in reducing muscle spasticity in multiple sclerosis patients.
     A sixty study demonstrated the efficacy of smokeless vaporizers as an alternative  delivery system to smoked marijuana. California NORML, which has promoted research on vaporizers, advised  CMCR researcher Dr. Donald Abrams on the study.

     "Today we have good solid, scientific research that will benefit patients in California and across the globe," remarked state Sen. Mark Leno  at a press conference announcing the CMCR report. Former State Sen.Vasconcellos, who sponsored the state legislation establishing the CMCR, called the studies "state-of-the-art" evidence of marijuana's value in medical use.

      The DEA has insisted that scientific evidence of marijuana's efficacy is needed before it can be made available for medical use. "The evidence is in," says California NORML director Dale Gieringer, a member of the CMCR's advisory council."The time has come for the government to change its policy and recognize the medical value of marijuana."

    A petition to reschedule marijuana for medical use has been pending before the DEA since 2002. California NORML is calling on the Obama administration to give it prompt and favorable attention in light of the CMCR's findings.

     - California NORML Release by Dale Gieringer (415) 563-5858

Danger of Marines’ water removed from report

This is the kind of crap that really rocks my boat!

My father was a Marine and fought in the South Pacific (Not that this has anything to do with what I’m complaining about – just thought I’d mention it).

The real story is that as far back as 1984 high levels of Benzene (a carcinogen) was found in the camp’s water system. Over the years, numerous cancers have been reported by the families and trainees. Investigation after investigation rambled on with no results and the Marine Corps claims there’s been no cover-up. The families disagree. The Benzene in the camp’s water system is capable of short term, and long term ailments that can result in death.

The asshole contractor who did cover up the dirty facts about the dangerously high levels of Benzene ought to be tried for treason (endangering American soldiers). During ongoing probes for contamination, Benzene turned up every time, but the levels were said to have been safe. Now the shit is hitting the fan!

Excerpt:

“WILMINGTON, N.C. - An environmental contractor dramatically underreported the level of a cancer-causing chemical found in tap water at Camp Lejeune, then omitted it altogether as the Marine base prepared for a federal health review, an Associated Press review has found.”

 Full story here.

When the Olympics stop the seal slaughter begins!

I want you to know that I’m not a member of PETA, and actually have a problem with some of the extremes they go to when they advertise.

Nevertheless, this senseless slaughter of baby seals (for the sake of fashion) has always bothered me. I’ve done a lot of reading on the subject and this shouldn’t be happening in this day and age.

The following is from a PETA press release:

Right now the world is focused on the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, and PETA is doing all that it can to call global attention to the ghastly, industrial-scale commercial slaughter of Canada's harp seals—a massacre that is scheduled to begin soon after the games end.

With your help, we are making sure that as many people as possible know that just days after the Olympic flame is put out, the lives of tens of thousands of baby harp seals will be extinguished as well.
Before most of these animals even get a chance to eat their first solid meal or learn how to swim, they will be shot in the head or have their skulls crushed by heavy clubs. Their mothers will be forced to witness the carnage, but they will be helpless to stop it and will cry out as their babies are killed. I long ago ceased to be surprised by the suffering that people inflict on animals, but the images of dead, skinless seals lying on the blood-soaked ice are truly sickening.
That's why the Canadian government wants to keep the massacre as quiet as possible, especially now that the eyes of the world are focused on the Olympics' host nation. So PETA is bringing news of the seals' plight to the crowds in the Olympic village—and to people all around the world.

Wherever Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has traveled, PETA supporters have been there in full voice. Protesters from PETA and our affiliates have demonstrated across North America as well as in France, Switzerland, Germany, Australia, and many other countries. More than 530,000 people have signed our Facebook petition calling for an end to the massacre. A long list of celebrities, including Perez Hilton, "Sugar" Shane Mosley, and gold medal–winning snowboarder Hannah Teter, are using their star power to help us raise awareness of the bloody slaughter and generate unprecedented press coverage—exactly the kind of publicity that the Canadian government is so deeply afraid of.
We need everyone who is outraged by this senseless carnage to speak out right now. Most of all, we need the voice—and the financial support—of caring PETA members like you. There are two ways that you can help these animals right now:

• Sign our petition demanding that the Canadian government bring an immediate and permanent end to the seal slaughter.

The Canadian government is as intractable an opponent as any that we have faced. With North American and European markets closed to its bloody products, Canada has started looking into selling its seal fur in China—a move that has outraged the Canadian people, the majority of whom want to the see the slaughter brought to an end.
But even the most unrepentant animal abusers can be beaten. Since PETA launched its campaign against the seal slaughter, opposition to the massacre has become a global movement—and the pressure on the Canadian government is intensifying every day. This is a fight that we can and—with your help—will win.

Read a blog that actually looks at all sides in politics

Are you tired of reading the same old trash from political hacks hawking their party’s virtues?

When was the last time you went to a “political” blog that didn’t espouse cult-like ideologies?

Try checking this one out: 

THE MODERATE VOICE

An Internet hub for moderates, centrists, and independents, with domestic and international news, analysis, original reporting, and popular features from the left, center, and right

Mission Statement

“The Moderate Voice was founded in December 2003 by journalist/entertainer Joe Gandelman as a personal weblog that would offer an independent voter’s irreverent comments, and serious analysis of events, issues and people in the news. A prime guiding principle was that differing ideas don’t give people brain cancer, so from the start TMV linked to Democratic, Republican, liberal, conservative and centrist blogs. It also put a special emphasis on linking to blogs written by “independent thinkers” of any (or no) party who sought to discuss issues and promote dialogue rather than hype specific candidates or repeat talk show (of the left and right) talking points.

Since then, TMV has grown into one of the Internet’s fastest growing and respected group moderate/centrist sites.” Visit the site here. 

image source

When teens grind, schools freak

Schools use Burt Bacharach, contracts to halt sexy dancing

When I was a teenager we did the Funky Monkey, The Twist, The Chicken, and other odd-sounding named dances. The teachers complained we slow-danced together suggestively, and made sure there was some distance between dancers.

This new dance craze “grinding” is causing those same parents who did the funky monkey to freak out now. Playing Bacharach is downright dirty! What comes around goes around. I think it’s amusing.

Excerpt:

“Across the nation, public schools have been putting the brakes on grinding — also known as freak dancing — where partners repeatedly rub their pelvises together in a sexually suggestive manner.” Go here to read the story.