US Marijuana Party

Oregon donor gives $10,000 to state's inmates

2007-12-26T12:52:00.000-08:00

Associated Press
12/25/07

SALEM, Ore. — A Salem businessman has given $10,000 so each inmate in the Oregon State Penitentiary has $4.11 for Christmas.

The $4.11 is their share of a gift from a man who is adamant about remaining anonymous and about how the money was to be distributed, said Chane Griggs of the Oregon Department of Corrections.

Corrections officials initially talked to him about using the money to remodel the visiting area in the Salem prison, she said, but he said not all inmates get visitors.

"He was specific that he wanted it to be to each inmate," she said. The man doesn't have any connection to the prison system or to anyone serving time, Griggs said.

She said the money was distributed to prisoners as of Dec. 14, and any remainder went into the inmate-welfare fund. She didn't have the inmate census at hand, but at $4.11 a pop, $10,000 could be split 2,433 ways, with 37 cents left over.

The money goes into the inmates' personal spending accounts, redeemable only at the prison canteen, she said.

The Oregonian newspaper quoted these prices of items the inmates might buy with their shares: wool gloves, $3; instant rice, $1.10; Wheat Thins, $1.50; a mug, $2.56; a crucifix with a chain, $4; garlic capsules, $3.60.

One busted in FWB drug raid

2007-12-26T12:23:00.000-08:00

Andrew Gant
12/21/07
Northwest Florida Daily News, FL

Meanwhile, investigation into crack sales is ongoing

FORT WALTON BEACH —
Lawmen hit the apartment complex at about 2 p.m. in a surprise strike, allowing the Daily News to ride along. Sheriff’s Lt. Arnold Brown said each of the targets in the building was a known “smoke house.”

Aarry Glendale Robinson, 24, has been charged with selling crack cocaine. He lives on Evans Street in Niceville, but frequents the Corvet area, investigators say.

Outside the apartments, lawmen dismantled loose air intakes and emptied the trunks of suspect’s cars, searching for evidence. They found trace amounts of crack, including some in dozens of plastic baggies littering the ground.

Inside, children screamed while the adults were questioned.

“The police bum-rush their house and these kids don’t understand what’s going on,” Brown said.

The drug investigation is ongoing.

No-Knock, You're Dead

2007-12-26T12:11:00.000-08:00

Ending America's Domestic Quagmire
By PAUL ARMENTANO
CounterPunch, CA
12/26/07

A growing number of political pundits are questioning America's military efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, and some are beginning to draw parallels to lawmakers' much longer domestic war effort: the so-called war on drugs. The comparison is apropos.

For nearly 100 years, starting with the passage of America's first federal anti-drug law in 1914, lawmakers have relied on the mantra "Do drugs, do time." As in the Middle East, the human and fiscal consequences of this inflexible policy have been steadily mounting.

America now spends nearly $50 billion dollars per year targeting, prosecuting, and incarcerating illicit-drug users. As a result, the population of illicit-drug offenders now behind bars is greater than the entire U.S. prison population in 1980. Since the mid 1990s, drug offenders have accounted for nearly 50 percent of the total federal prison population growth and some 40 percent of all state prison population growth. For marijuana alone, law enforcement currently spends between $7 billion and $10 billion dollars annually targeting users -- primarily low-level offenders -- and taxpayers spend more than $1 billion annually to incarcerate them.

Despite these unprecedented punitive efforts, illicit drugs remain cheaper and more plentiful than ever. (Who ever heard of crack, ice, Ecstasy, GHB, or Special K 30 years ago?) Among children, the percentage using illicit drugs is little different than it was in 1975, when the government first began monitoring teen drug use (though, comparatively, adolescents' use of cigarettes has fallen dramatically during this time). Illicit-drug use among adults has also remained virtually unchanged; however, far more users are overdosing and dying from substance abuse than ever before.

Americans are also dying in greater numbers a result of drug-war enforcement. For example, members of Georgia's narcotics task force shot and killed 92-year-old Kathryn Johnston in November 2006 during a no-knock drug raid of her home. Two officers in the raid eventually pled guilty to manslaughter and admitted that they planted drugs in Ms. Johnston's house as a cover story for their actions.

A similar fate befell 44-year-old housewife Cheryl Noel of Baltimore, who was shot and killed by police in 2005 during a 5 o'clock a.m. "flash-bang" raid of her home. Noel's husband and 19-year-old son were later charged with possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia.

Nevertheless, despite the drug war's growing expense and civilian casualties, lawmakers continue to offer few, if any, strategies other than to stay the course. Such a mindset is epitomized by the outgoing House Drug Policy Subcommittee chairman, Mark Souder (RInd.), who authored federal legislation to withhold financial aid from convicted drug offenders, recently pushed for the use of mycoherbicides as biological agents to kill drug crops overseas, and continues to publicly lambaste drug czar John Walters for employing an oversoft (in Souder's opinion) drug-war battle-plan. The families of Kathryn Johnston and Cheryl Noel would most likely beg to differ.

However, in contrast to politicians who call for a review of the U.S. military's Middle East policies, few lawmakers are demanding a timetable to bring about a cease-fire to the war on drugs -- or are even calling for a reduction in the number of "troops" ( i.e., narcotics detectives, DEA agents, et cetera) serving on the front lines. They ought to. If American lawmakers want to take a serious look at the United States's war strategies, let them begin by reassessing -- and ending -- their failed war here at home.

Paul Armentano is the senior policy analyst for NORML and the NORML Foundation in Washington, D.C. He may be contacted at paul@norml.org

Mexican marijuana is still plentiful — and cheap

2007-12-26T11:45:00.000-08:00

By DANE SCHILLER
Houston Chronicle, United States - Dec 23, 2007
The popular drug's prices have changed little in 25 years

A car, a home, a gallon of milk — most everything costs more now than a generation ago. Except a baggie of Mexican marijuana.

Give or take a few dollars, authorities say, pot grown in Mexico and sold in Houston and other Texas cities still goes for about the same price as 25 years ago: $60 to $80 for an ounce.

In economic terms, marijuana is far cheaper since the decade when a three-bedroom home in upscale West University cost $150,000, a new ride was less than $6,000 and first lady Nancy Reagan urged kids to "Just Say No."

"I guarantee you it is probably cheaper than it was back in the day," said Lt. Gray Smith of the Houston police narcotics division. "Since I've been in the dope business, it has been pretty much the same," he said of prices during 20 years of monitoring sales.

Boys caught with walnuts... and marijuana

2007-12-26T11:37:00.000-08:00

by Craig Garretson
NJ Blog, New Jersey
Tuesday December 25, 2007

Throwing walnuts at a cop is never a good idea... especially when you're carrying a bag of marijuana.

Two teenagers were arrested in Bayonne and accused of throwing walnuts at a cop who was standing outside his patrol car after making a traffic stop.

While Bayonne Police Officer Chester Konopka was questioning the two boys - ages 16 and 17 - about the walnuts, they each dropped a clear bag containing suspected marijuana, police reports said.

The two teens were charged with juvenile delinquency, aggravated assault on a police officer, and possession of marijuana under 50 grams, and released to their parents pending a court hearing.

U.S. police brutality cases on the rise

2007-12-24T14:53:00.000-08:00

www.chinaview.cn 2007-12-18 23:32:25

WASHINGTON, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- Cases of brutality inflicted by U.S. police officers are on the rise, according to Justice Department statistics revealed by USA Today Tuesday.

Cases in which police and other law enforcement authorities used excessive force or other tactics, violating victims' civil rights, have increased by 25 percent from 224 in the 2001 fiscal year to 281 in the fiscal year 2007, according to the statistics.

Federal records also show the vast majority of police brutality cases referred by investigators are not prosecuted.

The cases involve only a fraction of the estimated 800,000 police officers in the country, but they reflect concerns that reduced standards, training and promotion of less experienced officers into the higher ranks could undermine supervision of police conduct.

For the past few years, dozens of police departments across the country have scrambled to fill vacancies.

The recruiting effort, which often features cash bonuses, has intensified since 9/11, as many police recruits have been drawn to military service.
Editor: Yan Liang

Brownies With Marijuana Sold At High School

2007-12-24T14:20:00.000-08:00

TheOmahaChannel.com
updated 11:36 a.m. PT, Mon., Dec. 24, 2007

OMAHA, Neb. - Two teenagers were arrested after drug bust at Elkhorn High School Friday afternoon. The school resource officer received information that students were selling and eating brownies with marijuana baked into them, said Omaha police Sgt. Teresa Negron.

The investigation led to the discovery of an Adderall capsule in a student's backpack that was not prescribed to the student.

Two 17-year-old male students were arrested and booked at the Douglas County Youth Center. One faces a charge of possession with an intent to deliver marijuana. The other was booked for possession of a controlled substance.

Officers also ticketed five other students for possession of less than 1 ounce of marijuana.

Betancourt children in release plea

2007-12-23T07:07:00.000-08:00

Al Jazeera
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2007
8:02 MECCA TIME, 5:02 GMT

excerpt:
"Sarkozy discussed the hostage drama with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican on Thursday, and has received Chavez at the presidential palace in Paris."
full story

Ingrid Betancourt

Rye, police face $10M brutality lawsuit

2007-10-20T10:28:00.000-07:00

By JONATHAN BANDLER
White Plains Journal News, NY
10/20/07

RYE - Steven Caspi sat in the parking lot of Rye Middle School early on Dec. 12, 2004, waiting for his teenage son. When he saw the flashing lights of police cars on Boston Post Road, he hoped nothing had happened to Andrew.

A short while later, a sergeant came by and told him to go to police headquarters. There, Caspi caught a glimpse of his son but mostly remembers hearing him.

"He was really quite hysterical. He was screaming, 'You can't do that. It's police brutality,' Steven Caspi recalled. "And then I saw him. His face looked like Rocky in the 10th round. I was appalled."

Andrew Caspi was arrested that morning, accused of scuffling with police as they tried to detain him. The 17-year-old's face was bloodied, he suffered a broken bone under his left eye, his collarbone was injured, and some teeth were loosened.

more...

Prison guard struck by falling drugs

2007-10-14T10:21:00.000-07:00

The Local
Sweden
10/14/07

An attempt to smuggle drugs into a Swedish jail failed miserably on Saturday when a lump of hashish landed on a prison guard's head, Norrköpings Tidningar reports.

Staff at Norrköping prison said that the hash probably wasn't intended to hit the guard.

But so far none of the prisoners had staked a claim for the airborne narcotics.

"A lump came out of the sky. It was just less than a hectogram (3.5 ounces)," said police spokesman Lars Engström.

Police scoured the area around the prison but were unable to find the person who had thrown the marijuana missile.

The guard did not require treatment for the lump on his head.

The endocannabinoids: Functional roles and therapeutic opportunities

2007-10-14T09:57:00.000-07:00

Public release
14-Oct-2007
Professor Raphael Mechoulam
European College of Neuropsychopharmacology

"The illegal status and wide-spread use of cannabis made basic and clinical cannabis research difficult in the past decades; on the other hand, it has stimulated efforts to identify the psychoactive constituents of cannabis. As a consequence, the endocannabinoid system was discovered, which was shown to be involved in most physiological systems – the nervous, the cardiovascular, the reproductive, the immune system, to mention a few."

more...

2007-05-28T06:09:00.001-07:00

Willie The Pimp

2007-05-25T11:25:00.000-07:00

Frank Zappa fan video explains the situation

2007-05-25T08:39:00.000-07:00

design by Terry

Mexico newspaper is drug war casualty

2007-05-25T08:32:00.000-07:00

AP
CNN
05/25/07

• A newspaper in northern Mexico is attacked and threatened
• Cambio Sonora will temporarily shut down because of the danger
• Area is a battleground for a war between the government and drug traffickers
• Mexico second most dangerous place in world for journalists after Iraq

Atlanta Overhauls Police Narcotics Unit

2007-05-25T08:13:00.000-07:00

Associated Press
Forbes
May 23, 2007

Atlanta's police chief announced more than 140 personnel changes in the department, including replacing the entire narcotics unit that was scandalized last fall by the shooting death of a 92-year-old woman during a drug raid.

Parading the Dead

2007-05-25T06:16:00.000-07:00

Parading the Dead
Mussolini
BBC

National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive

2007-05-25T05:57:00.000-07:00

National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive
GEORGE W. BUSH
May 9, 2007

---------------------------------------------------------------
In this Directive Bush grants himself dictatorial powers to be assumed upon the event of the next "emergency" of any kind.

Cops Gone Wild!

2007-05-25T04:38:00.000-07:00

Becky Akers on National Police Week.
05/25/07
lewrockwell.com

F The Police

2007-05-11T15:15:00.000-07:00

Bad laws breed contempt for all laws.
Video of Ice Cube live in New Orleans.

2007-05-11T14:08:00.000-07:00

Pigs On The Wing

2007-05-10T14:00:00.000-07:00

Video from helicopter where trainee is learning to slaughter farmers in Afghanistan.
Mix by Terry

Oh Canada, where smokers get a break

2007-05-09T18:48:00.000-07:00

Posted by Manuel Lora at May 7, 2007
blog.lewrockwell.com

I went to Ottawa with my wife over the weekend and we bumped into a a small rally for the legalization of pot there (we later found out that it was the Global Marijuana March). The march was peaceful and really nothing special...except for a "small" detail. There cops seemed to be perfectly ok with this. They even followed (escorted?) the group to a park close to Parliament Hill. Can you imagine this happening in the United States? I would expect to see the local and heavily militarized police department converge on these pot-smoking monsters with helicopters and tanks and putting them in the darkest of jails for their own good. They would probably not hesitate to pull the trigger at the slightest resistance.

Totalitarianism need not evoke images of faraway lands and funny looking dictators dressed in army uniforms. It has arrived.

Ron Paul 2008

2007-05-09T18:32:00.000-07:00

Ron Paul 2008

Ron Paul-Wikipedia

Ron Paul archives at LewRockwell.com

8 Ex-Prison Employees Charged in Fla.

2007-05-09T03:55:00.000-07:00

BRENT KALLESTAD
Associated Press
05/08/07

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - Prosecutors issued arrest warrants Tuesday for eight former prison employees accused of abusing inmates, including forcing some to clean toilets with their tongues.

The eight were among 13 prison employees who had already been fired from the 605-inmate medium and minimum security at the Hendry Correctional Institution in the Everglades. The previous warden and an assistant warden resigned, and three others were reassigned after an inmates was beaten and choked by guards in March.

State prisons chief Jim McDonough said the warrants include charges of battery and failing to report inmate abuse against former guards William Thiessen, Phillip Barger and Randy Hazen, Gabriel Cotilla, Kevin Filipowicz and Stephen Whitney. Fired guard James Brown was charged with grand theft.

"These former employees were involved in a series of dehumanizing and degrading behaviors," McDonough said.

Your "What Country Are We Living In?" Photo of the Day

2007-05-07T17:02:00.000-07:00

Radley Balko
The Agitator
May 06, 2007

Spider venom could boost sex life

2007-05-04T11:33:00.000-07:00

By Vladimir Hernandez
BBC News
05/04/07

Brazilian and US scientists are looking into using spider venom as a possible treatment for male impotence.

Their investigation follows reports that men bitten by the Phoneutria nigriventer experienced priapism - long and painful erections.

In pictures: Baghdad murals

2007-05-03T17:45:00.000-07:00

BBC News, UK
05/03/07

Hub cop may resign after guilty plea in shooting

2007-04-25T15:48:00.000-07:00

By Michele McPhee
Boston Herald Police Bureau Chief
Tuesday, April 24, 2007

A veteran Boston police officer is expected to resign from the force after pleading guilty yesterday to charges he shot a fellow cop during an off-duty argument about whether he was too drunk to drive, officials said.
Officer Paul Durkin, 50, entered the guilty plea yesterday, just days before his trial on assault and battery charges was expected to start. He also indicated in court that he would turn in his badge after 27 years of service to the Boston Police Department, entitling him to a city pension.
Prosecutors said that after a night of drinking June 22, Durkin pulled his service revolver out and shot Officer Joseph Behnke outside that cop’s West Roxbury home. Behnke was shot in the left hip, and was brought to the hospital by his wife, a nurse.
Durkin was indicted by a grand jury in September. Behnke is still out on paid administrative leave awaiting the results of an internal investigation, BPD spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll said yesterday.
Judge Janet L. Sanders sentenced Durkin to three years’ probation and ordered him to undergo alcohol treatment, said Jake Wark,spokesman for the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office.
The sentence was applauded by BPD Commissioner Edward Davis last night. “Violence is unacceptable in our society and anyone who engages in violent behavior must be held accountable,” he said in a statement.
Durkin’s attorney, George Murphy, could not be reached last night.

How to Stop the Next Campus Shootings

2007-04-23T16:29:00.000-07:00

Bring Back the Posse
ALEXANDER COCKBURN
CounterPunch
April 21
2007

HAPPY 420!!!

2007-04-20T03:30:00.000-07:00

I have some major news to share with all of you that I can hopefully release by the end of today. In the meantime...Happy 420!!!

420

2007-04-19T19:38:00.000-07:00

420

12 states give OK to medicinal cannabis

2007-04-16T09:35:00.000-07:00

St. George Daily Spectrum, UT
Apr 14, 2007

Somebody finally got it right. Gov. Bill Richardson recently signed a bill that makes New Mexico the 12th state in the Union to allow medical use of marijuana.

How Richardson and the state legislature got it right was by deciding that instead of just allowing the compassionate medical practice, it would get into the business of producing and distributing the herb, something Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington have not quite come to grips with.

In New Mexico, you will soon be able to go to your doctor who, if it's appropriate, will write a prescription for medicinal cannabis. The patient will then make a purchase through a state-regulated facility.

No more argument about how many plants a medical marijuana patient may cultivate, no more arguments about the compassionate shops that sell cannabis even though they face the risk of federal drug agents raiding their legal stores, no more concern that those who use the drug are also cultivating it for sale.

It's all neat, clean and tidy.

Now, before you get on a high horse about this, let's make it perfectly clear that this is a plea for the legalization of marijuana for medicinal uses. Legalization for recreational use is a different issue. This is about medicine.

Imagine that your doctor says you have a medical condition for which there is no cure, one that will slowly rob you of your quality of life - from impotence to immobility. The condition is guaranteed to result in unrelenting pain that will, in fact, grow worse.

You'll get Lortab, Demerol or Oxycontin for pain. You'll get Soma or Skelaxin to relax the muscles. Probably some Prozac, Lexapro or Zoloft to help with depression and some Xanax or Valium to relieve those moments of high anxiety. Don't forget the Viagra or Cialis to maintain an intimate relationship with your partner, or other meds specific to your condition. And, you'll wind up addicted to one or more of these meds, guaranteed. Not so with cannabis.

According to a Mayo Clinic report (http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/medical-marijuana/GA00014), researchers believe cannabis can aid in the treatment of nausea that accompanies chemotherapy or HIV/AIDS, glaucoma, Multiple Sclerosis, spasticity from spinal cord injuries, depression, chronic pain and other disorders.

Cannabis is more gentle on the system and less addictive than those other harsh drugs. It's cheaper. And dosage can be easily regulated by the patient.

Our kids? Recent studies indicate sedatives and painkillers are more popular than marijuana, with alcohol and tobacco the most frequent "gateway" drugs.

I really hope you never hear the Doc say "There's no cure."

But, if you do, I hope by then the government overcomes its prejudices against a medicine that can be of tremendous value to many, that is gentler on the body and can be much more affordable.

MP taught victim to shoot heroin, court told

2007-04-16T09:15:00.000-07:00

Dan Proudman and Andrew Clennell
Sydney Morning Herald, Australia
04/16/07

MILTON ORKOPOULOS befriended a 16-year-old boy and plied him with alcohol, cannabis and heroin - and taught him how to shoot up - while he sexually abused the teenager over three to six months, police allege.

The former NSW Aboriginal affairs minister was on suicide watch in Long Bay Jail last night after he was arrested at his mother's home yesterday and faced Newcastle Local Court on 21 fresh child sex and drug supply charges relating to a third teenage boy. Orkopoulos allegedly met the boy "two or three times a week" in the back of his car at a Lake Macquarie park in 1995.

In a statement to the court, Detective Sergeant Kristi Faber said the boy had not tried heroin before meeting Orkopoulos, but became addicted to the drug, as well as cannabis, and left his family when he was 17.

At first the boy had only smoked heroin, but he began injecting it after Orkopoulos allegedly "instructed the victim on how much to have and how to inject it". The court heard it was part of Orkopoulos's "grooming-type behaviour in which … he plies [victims] with alcohol and drugs" before assaulting them.

Cannabis counter brain cell damage after a stroke

2007-04-16T09:03:00.000-07:00

SpiritIndia, India
04/15/07

Researchers from the Medical School's Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology have been the first in the world to show the cannabinoid CB2 receptor appears in the rat brain following a stroke.

Their findings were published recently in the journal Neuroscience Letters.

Dr John Ashton says the CB2 receptor is a protein produced as part of the body's immune response system.

"This response is triggered by stroke and causes the inflammation that leads to damage in the area of the brain around where the stroke has occurred.

"If the inflammation can be stopped or reduced then it offers the hope of reducing the extent of the da mage caused by stroke - and CB2 offers a potential target for such a drug."

Dr Ashton says cannabis targets both the CB2 and the related CB1 receptors.

"THC, the major active ingredient of cannabis, acts mainly on CB1 but it also affects CB2. While THC is known to have some positive effects in terms of pain management its use is severely limited because of the way it triggers the psychoactive CB1 receptors in the brain," he says.

Libertarian convert urges medical-marijuana reform

2007-04-16T08:42:00.000-07:00

Ruth Mantell
MarketWatch
Apr 13, 2007

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- After years of opposing medical marijuana reform, Bob Barr decided that the government had gone too far in keeping patients from relief. The epiphany wasn't drug induced.

Instead, Barr, a former GOP U.S. representative for Georgia, became alarmed by the "growth in government power and the decrease in individual freedom" since Sept. 11.

"The fear that I have with government being so large, so big, so powerful is that there's virtually no freedom left," he said in an interview. "That has caused me to re-evaluate my position to medical marijuana, and also to re-evaluate and strengthen in my mind the whole issue of federalism and states rights."

Last month, Barr, 58, joined the Marijuana Policy Project, a Washington-based nonprofit that advocates making medical marijuana available to patients, and taxing and regulating marijuana for general adult use.

As a congressman, Barr introduced the "Barr Amendment," which prohibited an initiative on medical marijuana in the District of Columbia.

Now as a Libertarian (he switched teams in December) and paid lobbyist for MPP, he will work to strike down the eponymous legislation, among other efforts.

Students arrested on felony drug charges

2007-04-16T08:27:00.000-07:00

By Amanda Peterson
Assistant Campus Affairs Editor
The University of Alabama Crimson White, AL
April 16, 2007

Tuscaloosa police arrested nine UA students and two Shelton State Community College students on felony drug charges Wednesday.

Lt. Steven Anderson, spokesman for the Tuscaloosa Police Department, said in a news release the students were arrested Wednesday after a month-long investigation. More arrests are pending because the investigation is ongoing.

"Quantities of cocaine, marijuana, OxyContin, steroids and other prescription medications were bought and seized from the students," Anderson said.

The time has come to legalize marijuana use

2007-04-16T08:09:00.000-07:00

Penn State Digital Collegian, PA
04/16/07

...[If marijuana can serve legitimate medical purposes and bring happiness and relaxation to a great many people, in spite of its illegality, I'd say it's high time we legalize.]...

Blue Sky

2007-04-16T07:54:00.001-07:00

Original animation by Terry

Alabama Woman on Horseback Charged with DUI

2007-04-03T15:57:00.000-07:00

Cops Claim Woman "rammed cruiser" with her horse in Henager, AL

Now I really think I have heard it all. Can you really make a horse 'ram' an automobile of any kind? And why do these thinigs always happen here?

Thai prisoner boxes for freedom

2007-04-03T15:38:00.000-07:00

BBC News, UK
04/03/07

A female Thai prisoner has boosted her chances of freedom by winning the world light flyweight boxing title.

Samson Sor Siriporn, a convicted drug dealer, beat Japan's Ayaka Miyano in a bout staged at the mixed Klong Prem jail, known as the "Bangkok Hilton".

Watched by dozens of prison staff, Siriporn won on points after 10 rounds in the ring, kick-starting parole proceedings for her early release.

The 24-year-old took up boxing to protect herself from violent inmates.

Siriporn, serving a 10-year sentence for selling small amounts of drugs, dominated the fight.

Armed & Famous

2007-03-13T16:27:00.000-07:00

Armed & Famous - Wikipedia

Least Surprising News of the Day - Balko
MUNCIE — The city’s SWAT team, along with celebrity cops and camera crews from Armed & Famous, broke into the wrong home during a search for two fugitives and kept an innocent woman handcuffed for 30 minutes, according to legal documents.

Meth Song

2007-03-09T12:03:00.000-08:00

Meth Song - wikipedia

Why I fled George Bush's war

2007-03-07T16:03:00.000-08:00

What happened to make a patriotic, gung-ho soldier desert the U.S. army, and turn against the war in Iraq. EXCLUSIVE EXCERPT

JOSHUA KEY
Feb 7, 2007
Maclean's Canada

Special Response Group trains on taking down the worst of the worst

2007-03-07T03:45:00.000-08:00

By Patrick McCreless
Alex City Outlook
03/07/07
"There's three objectives ... speed, surprise and violence of action," Morris said. "The SWAT Team isn't dealing with your average Joe Schmoe citizen. They deal with violent offenders."

Alexander City, Alabama, population 15,008

"Our three main weapons are fear, surprise and ruthless efficiency."
Monty Python
Spanish Inquisition sketch

2007-02-15T16:45:00.000-08:00

Crow the dark dawn entwined
Malignant through all forms
That creep or hop or twist
Sinew through the cracked stone.
Ridden or devoured
One upon the other

Ebates will save you money

2007-02-07T09:02:00.000-08:00

I travel a great deal, host big dinners and meetings and generally have a busy life. I am always looking for a good deal on a car rental or a hotel room and since I use the internet a great deal I look for online savings. Today I came across Ebates. Joining is as simple as signing up with an email address and password and instantly you are able to find coupons for things like car rental, hotels, airline flights, apparel, cosmetics, housewears, cars and automobiles, books, magazines, pet care, food and wine, flowers and gifts....the list goes on and on. If you are a coupon shopper and looking for a way to save enev more money look no further than Ebates.

clips

2007-02-03T11:07:00.000-08:00

Clips of production material from when we did Pot TV News starting in 2003

Here are some pictures Loretta took of the coca fields and oil pipelines in Colombia, mixed with other images of the U.S. war on Colombia.

Pop Culture strikes back when this ONDCP propaganda tape gets the USMJP treatment.

Spinning USMJP flag with deep bass.

Pumpkins meet Ogre in Catnip Bust

Scream

MAPS magazine cover

Turn your volume down for this one.

Isaac Singletary

2007-01-30T03:59:00.000-08:00

Drug Cops murder yet another innocent elderly person

Google blog search: Isaac Singletary

Drug Legalization: How to Radically Lower the Number of Murders in New Orleans

2007-01-27T06:15:00.000-08:00

by Walter Block
lewrockwell.com
01/27/07

[... The drug war is an utter and abysmal failure. And necessarily so. Every time a successful interdiction occurs, drug prices and profits rise, and this only strengthens the drug gangs. They are impregnable to such tactics. ...]

Choppers go cheap in US army sale

2007-01-26T10:04:00.000-08:00

BBC News, UK
01/26/07

[... Local sheriffs around the US seeking a few armoured fighting vehicles or a couple of attack helicopters are turning to the military for a bargain.

Thousands of police forces in the US have recently grabbed some 380,000 pieces of discounted military kit.

Some snapped up night vision goggles, while others asked for combat fatigues to help hunt drug dealers.

About 16,000 US departments obtained equipment during 2005, worth some $124m (£63m), the Associated Press found. ...]

Who’s In Love With Mary Jane?

2007-01-26T01:54:00.000-08:00

by Wilton D. Alston
lewrockwell.com
01/26/07

[... Maybe I’m just dense, but I cannot figure out why this fight against marijuana in general, much less medical marijuana specifically, makes sense, regardless of marijuana’s safety or lack thereof. Smoking is allowed, yet cigarettes – or more accurately, cigarette-related illnesses – supposedly kill many people. Mood alteration is allowed, as evidenced by not only the ready availability of every conceivable type of alcohol, but also the massive marketing of anti-depressants, sleep aids, and the like. Neither smoking nor mood alteration are unlawful.

But somehow smoking a plant that (reportedly) provides both is worthy of being shot by some guy dressed for being dropped out of a chopper over Afghanistan. What logic qualifies the state to decide for me about marijuana while simultaneously letting me decide for myself about malt liquor and Marlboro? ...]

State of the Union 2007

2007-01-25T16:51:00.000-08:00

President Bush Delivers State of the Union Address
United States Capitol
Washington, D.C.

Selected Quotes:
-
"And in all we do, we must remember that the best health care decisions are made not by government and insurance companies, but by patients and their doctors."

- George just made the case for medical marijuana and against the Drug War in general. -

-
" A second task we can take on together is to design and establish a volunteer Civilian Reserve Corps. Such a corps would function much like our military reserve. It would ease the burden on the Armed Forces by allowing us to hire civilians with critical skills to serve on missions abroad when America needs them. It would give people across America who do not wear the uniform a chance to serve in the defining struggle of our time."

- Sounds like Bush is drawing Blackwater even deeper into the fold. Blackwater fields a mercenary army in Iraq and also trains our local police. -

- From the Drug War to the Iraq War, Blackwater is on the job. -

'There is no war on terror'

2007-01-25T16:16:00.000-08:00

Clare Dyer, legal editor
Wednesday January 24, 2007
The Guardian U.K.

The director of public prosecutions, Sir Ken Macdonald - "On the streets of London, there is no such thing as a 'war on terror', just as there can be no such thing as a 'war on drugs'".

Ron Paul for President

2007-01-24T14:13:00.000-08:00

Brian Doherty interviews Ron Paul
Reason Magazine
January 22, 2007

Paul for President?
The maverick libertarian Republican talks on war, immigration, and presidential ambition.

2007-01-22T05:11:00.000-08:00

Bush AntiChrist
I made this before the 2004 election.
I told you so.
-Terry

Only Impeachment Can Prevent More War

2007-01-22T03:18:00.000-08:00

by Paul Craig Roberts
lewrockwell.com
01/22/07

[... Civil libertarians who have observed the Bush Regime’s concentration of dictatorial powers in the presidency expect that war with Iran, especially if fearful nuclear weapons are used, will be accompanied by Bush’s declaration of a state of emergency. The Bush Regime will use the state of emergency to grab more arbitrary and dictatorial powers in the name of protecting "national security interests" and American citizens from "terrorism."

As the Regime’s crimes against the US Constitution and humanity will be monstrous, dissent will be throttled in ways that will make Americans afraid to speak, or even to think, the truth. By stifling dissent, the Bush Regime will escape accountability for launching wars on the basis of blatant lies. It will complete its destruction of the civil liberties that protect free speech, dissent, and Americans from arbitrary arrest and indefinite detention without charges or access to attorneys. ...]

2007-01-21T04:06:00.000-08:00

Testimony of Claudia Jensen,M.D. for the House Committee on Government Reform, Subcomittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy and Human Resources

Marijuana and Medicine: The Need for a Science Based Approach

April 1, 2004

(view as html)

Teens & Driving

2007-01-18T05:04:00.000-08:00

My son Alex will be 15 this year and he is already excited about getting his learners permit. Needless to say, I am less than excited to think about him out on the roads. I remember when I took drivers ed. in 10th grade. I wrecked the car. Not bad...but bad enough that my instructor jammed his knee slamming the extra brake in his floorboard.

One of the things that scared me the most when I was just learning to drive, and one of the things I still hate to this day are 18-wheelers on the interstate....especially in the rain. They are so dangerous and getting sandwiched between two of them is the worst.

I was looking at my insurance policy online at Geico and I noticed that they have added to their online library of safe teen driving tips. The brochure includes valuable information for teens on how to safely share the highway with large trucks. I found it to be very helpful and I will be using it when Alex starts to drive. If you have a teen and need auto coverage please take the time to get a cheap car insurance quote at Geico and also download their informative brochures on teens and driving

NEWSFLASH! Kucinich to Chair CMTE over ONDCP!!

2007-01-18T04:56:00.000-08:00

Stop the Drug War is reporting that Rep. Dennis Kucinich has been named chairman of the Domestic Policy Subcommittee of the House Government Reform Committee, giving him jurisdiction over the Drug Czar's office.

This is WILDLY GOOD NEWS for Drug Policy Reformers like myself and the millions of Americans who have been adversely affected by the US war on drugs.

Back in 2004 I traveled to Austin, TX to attend a Kucinich for President fundraiser. While there I got to attend a concert bash with Willie Nelson, Bonnie Rait, the Doobie Brothers, Michelle Shocked and members of the Dave Matthews band. I was also able to ask a question about marijuana legalization at a press conference.

Congressman Kucinich & Willie Nelson

You can watch that video HERE. I also worked as a drug policy advisor to Congressman Kucinich's presidential campaign in 2004.

Loretta Nall & Congressman Dennis Kucinich speaking at a fundraising event in 2004

I predict huge changes in the very near future for the drug czars office. It is astounding to see the complete shift of power in this case. You could not get any worse drug warrior than Mark Souder and you cannot get a better drug policy reformer than Dennis Kucinich.

OH!! I am so EXCITED!!!!

Loretta Nall's 2006 Year in Review

2007-01-18T04:00:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends, Supporters, Readers and Fans,

2006 has drawn to a close and, as always, it is time to reflect on the year gone by, examine progress and look at the plans for the upcoming year.

I want to thank each and every one of you for the support you gave to me and my family during my recent campaign for Governor of Alabama. I would never have made it as far as I did without you and your wonderful emails, letters, phone calls, in person declarations of support and your money. You provided me with constant inspiration for this very hard and often trying work.

Politics is nasty business. Blood sport. My political issues of choice are not your average candidates issues of choice and my style is not that of the everyday politican, especially in a place like Alabama.

Normally, candidates like me are ignored by the media during campaigns even when we have ballot access and when the media does decide to cover third party candidates they do not generally do so in a positive light. But this time, even without ballot access, the media followed through with me to the end. Granted, not all of my media coverage was positive...but it wasn't negative either. It was more a matter of tone and seriousness than negative coverage. Without you out there writing letters to newspapers, posting about my campaign on your blogs, calling TV and talk radio stations and asking for fair coverage of your candidate, the media would likely not have paid much attention.

I want to take a look back at some of the major things that happened, what we gained with my candidacy and where we go from here.

Not ever having run for office before I didn't know what to expect. I am just an average person with no prior political experience. I didn't have and knew I couldn't raise anywhere near the amounts of money my opponents had. I worried in the beginning that I might fail in my effort to see it through to the end. How nasty would it get? Will I be able to handle it with wit and grace? Will it be worth it in the end? I remember thinking, "Oh man, what have I done?", after hitting the send button on my first news release announcing my run for Governor and quickly and enthusiastically embracing the next realization of "Well, it's done now...put me in coach, I'm ready to play."

So many different things happened during the campaign that I didn't really expect to happen. I guess the most surprising thing is that people from across the political spectrum paid attention. Their reasons for doing so are probably as diverse as they themselves are. Maybe people cared about the issues and wanted to help. Maybe they despised the issues and wanted to impede progress. Maybe they were simply fascinated that a woman in Alabama had the courage to address issues like REAL drug policy reform, prison reform, equal rights for the LGBT community, getting out of the Iraq war, getting the federal government out of public education and any other controversial issues that I covered in my campaign. Maybe some tuned in for the humor alone.I am sure some were laughing with me and some were laughing at me, but the important thing is that they were laughing and laughter is good.

I got invites to speak from the VFW to the Rotary Club, from the PTA convention to the African American Mayors Conference, from the Kiwanis Club to the National Coalition of 100 Black Women.

As of now, two months after the election, there is still no conclusive ending to the story. Some of the votes cast for me were not counted while others were, so we will never have an accurate vote count. Sure, I didn't win the Governors seat...but I never expected to and I don't believe that any of the people voting for me thought that I would win....at least not this go round. This wasn't meant to be an ending though as it is only the beginning of my political career.

Here is what I gained by running for Governor of Alabama.

1. A large network of Alabama citizens motivated enough to go to the polls and physically write my name in on the ballot. Many of these same people will now be helping me on the Compassionate Care Act, the push for less restrictive ballot access laws (this has been a particularly hot issue in all of Alabama's major newspapers just recently) and my possible 2008 campaign against Congressman Mike Rogers of Alabama's third district.

2. I also gained the respect of the Alabama media and met many new people in the national media. The huge role that the Alabama media and, near the end the national media, played in my campaign would be very hard to put a dollar figure on.

3. I was respected by those who heard me speak even if they disagreed with what I had to say.

4. I gained name recognition for my future political expoloits.

5. I tried to un-demonize the average pot smoker to the average non-pot smoking citizen. I put a human face on someone who smokes pot and lives a normal life. I tried to help people understand that people who smoke pot aren't a threat to anyone, we are not out to rob you, steal from you, pollute your children or otherwise cause harm to the fabric of society.

I tried to help people understand that me smoking a joint in the privacy of my own home is not a problem until the police kick in my door, terrorize my family, haul me through the courts and to jail and put it all on the taxpayers tab. I tried to show that pot smokers are not hard core drug addicts, that 99.98 percent of us never go on to become heroin or crack addicts, despite what the federal and local governments tell you. I tried to show that we are basically regular people who live next door to you, work with you, maybe go to church with you, maybe even your own flesh and blood, and that you should not fear us. The truth is everyone knows someone who smokes pot whether they know it or not.

6. The most important thing is that I ran and that I brought issues like drug policy reform to the front and center of politics in Alabama. My message was delivered to millions of Alabamians through every available media outlet. I planted seeds in peoples' minds all across the state and I am certian some of them will sprout and grow into thriving community activists and future elected officials and that will help move the state of Alabama forward.

Here is a month by month recap of the campaign beginning in October of 2005.

Oct. 2005

Marijuana Advocate Joins Governor's Race

Nall Enters Alabama Governors Race

Don Markwell Show

Nall and Libertarians in Joint Venture

Tuscaloosa News LTE

Tuscaloosa News LTE Response

Marijuana Head Seeks Governors Office

Local Hopes Run Will Influence Candidates

The Kevin Elkins Show

Get to Know your 2006 Candidates

November 2005

Montgomery Advertiser Editorial Recommending Decrim

Decatur Daily Editorial on Treatment instead of incarceration

Birmingham News Editorial on Treatment instead of incarceration

The Times Daily Editorial on Prison Overcrowding and Treatment instead of Incarceration

Guest on 90.7 FM

December 2005

Was a very slow month. No media or events for the entire month.

Janurary 2006

For the Record

Election Buzz Heating Up

First Campaign Stump Speech at the Wetumpka VFW

Feedback from the first speech

Feburuary 2006

Pot Bust Lights Fire Under State Candidate

March 2006

Nall to Address National African-American Mayors Association

Video of Address at National African-American Mayors Association

The Great Boob Flap Begins

My Reponse to the Men Who Started the Boob Discussion

Meet the Twins Letter Printed in Montgomery Independent

A Life of Its Own

Colorful Contenders in Governors Race

April 2006

More of These Boobs and Less of These Boobs

Nall Still Running, Maintains Innocence

For the Record Nomination COverage

WAKA Channel 8 Nomination Coverage

Woman Heads Libertarian Ticket

Nall on Channel 8 TalkBack Video

Libertarians Make it Official

Nall More Excited Than the Lt. Governor about Campaign

Video of Nall's Addresses State PTA Convention

Huntsville Times Coverage: Candidates Share ideas on Schools, Criminals, Taxes

Nall A Guest on Atlanta's 96 Rock

Ten Commandments Judge Trails in Race for Governor

May 2006

Alabama Gubernatorial Hopeful Flashes for Cash

Nall on Free Talk Live

Boobs, Panties & Coourage; How Honest Elections Could Change Alabama

Nall on Alan Colmes Show

Nall on Joe & The Poor Boy

Nall Makes Top 10 at Technorati

Nall on WRMN and Freedomworks Radio

Birmingham FreePress

Columbia Journalism Review Coverage

Loretta Nall on Cultural Baggage

Nall Opposes National Guard Troops on Mexican Border

More or Less

MSNBC Coverage of FLash for Cash Campaign

Nall on WRJM Wiregrass Radio

Kim Hendrix Interviews Loretta Nall & Joe Copeland

Tuskegee Sheriff's Candidates, "Nall Right on Drug Policy"

June 2006

Drug Policy Reformers Take Third Party Path in Bids for State Office

Ballot Access War...The Final Battle

Nall. "I'm Not Dropping Out"

Nall on For the Record Primary Election Night Coverage

Hoover Metro Kiwanis Club Recap

More Supporter LTE's

Nall Launches Campaign Radio Ads

July 2006

Lower than Dogs

Women's Rights & Jericho Horns

Nall Looks to Ride Colorful Campaign

August 2006

Nall Speaks at Birmingham Peace Rally

For the Record on Womens Rights

Nall on Head On Radio with Bob Kincaid

Loretta Nall on WAUD Auburn

Drug Policy Discussion on For the Record

September 2006

Candidate Due Spot in Debate

State Law Creates Roadblock to Ballot Access

Montgomery Advertiser Editorial: Ballot Access Far Too Limited

Nall Polled in Survey

Nall Heads Back to COurt

Not Being in Jail is Cool

October 2006

Unfair Rules Block Good Candidates

My First Vote

Nall Registers Ex-Felons to Vote...Addresses NAACP State Convention

Nall Addresses Birmingham Sunrise ROtary Club

Candidates Get Face Time

USA Today: "Vote Nall Y'all...She's Smokin'!

Alabama Gubernatorial Hopeful Campaigns on Cleavage

Feedback on the Twins

National Media Storm Begins

The Slippery Nipple

Nall on Fox & Friends

Loretta Nall #1 on Countdown with Keith Olbermann

Candidate Talks Issues, Not Good Looks

Nall on NBC 13 News (no video uploaded for this one yet)

Political Levity a Good Thing

Nall Endorsed by Talk Left

WAKA and WVTM Coverage

Nall's Campaign Ads Named "Most Honest" by Brandweek magazine

Nall Answers Debate Questions

NOW Takes Stand on State Issues

November 2006

Bob Ingram You are Still invited to my Inaugural Ball

Birmingham Black & White Publishers Notebook

The Race for Montgomery Heats Up

Fun Alternative News Interviews

Nall Best Qualified Candidate

Nall on Good Morning America

Nall CBS Radio Interview

Nall on For the Record

Back to the Grind

Mobile Sees Spike in Write-in Voting

Voters Deserve Right to Write-In

Some Preliminary Vote Totals

Elections Officials Complain About Having to Count Write-in Votes

Put Your Big Girl Panties on and Deal With It!

Citizens Respond to Call for Ban on Write-in Voting

Don't Limit Access to Get on Ballot

Shouldn't charge fee for Write-ins

Ballot Access laws are the Real problem

Ballot Access in Alabama

Ballot Rules Too Restrictive

Alabama Voters Need More Choices

Write-in Votes Often Good for Chuckle

Well folks, there you have the majority of the last 15 months of my life in print, audio and video.

Nothing about the campaign was negative nor does any of it leave a bad taste in my mouth. Quite the opposite actually. The overall experience was incredibly positive. Despite being a write-in candidate I enjoyed widespread media coverage in print, radio and TV long before the unintended 'boobs' bruhaha near the end of he campaign. I've come to the conclusion that every politician is intimately familar with the principles of addiction . It doesn't necessairily have to be a 'substance' that one is addicted to. I can't wait to run again.

Despite what the numbers say, I won. No, not the governors seat...but I think we all knew that was the longest of long shots and no one was surprised by that outcome. I am not convinced we will ever know the actual number of votes I received, what with the poll workers deciding which votes to count and which votes to simply discard, but even that is a victory. By spotlighting the fact that apparently not everyone's vote counts I have brought it to the attention of voters who are very unhappy about it. That unhappiness is fertile breeding ground for political action and political action breeds political change. My campaign also has brought light to the larger and more critical issue of Alabama's horrible ballot access laws and has given me a base of people, which I can and will organize to carry out the political actions that breed political change. Look for a bill addressing ballot access laws in the upcoming legislative session as well as a bill on medical marijuana.

In closing and trying to sum up all of the things that I feel and that happened during this campaign I have this to say, when I was a kid I always wanted to be a rock star and running for Governor in Alabama was what I imagine being a rock star is like. For 15 months I got to be a thorn in the ass of the prohibitionist establishment in the most oppressive state in the nation and I got the media to cover it all the way down the line. I had an absolute ball. How often in ones life does the opportunity to thoroughly mock the establishment, and in Alabama no less, on such a grand public scale, knock on the door? Not often.

I'll see you at the State House during the upcoming legislative session and around Alabama as I prepare to educate the public, the media and elected officials about the issue of medical marijuana in Alabama.

I owe a very special thanks to some very special individuals who helped me in some way during the campaign.

Members of the Media

Tim Lennox at For the Record. Throughout the campaign Tim Lennox was ethical enough in his journalism to include my activities despite my not having ballot access. He inserted me into many roundtable discussions and newscasts, exchanged emails with me and had me on the show near the end of the election. FTR is my favorite news show in Alabama and having Tim be so helpful was priceless.

Phil Rawls and Robb Carr at the Associated Press. Phil was always fair, enjoyed my sense of humor and captured it well in his articles, and did not leave me out of his experienced political coverage even though he very well could have. Phil also offered me tips he had collected from his many years covering politics in Alabama. It was always sage advice. I can't thank him enough. He did the first and last major articles on my campaign and his last one launched me into the international spotlight. Robb Carr took great photos of me throughout the campaign for various AP articles and was just delightful to be around. I'll miss them between now and the next run for office. They added to the fun factor for this election.

Monica Allen, Stephanie Hicks, Chris Bailey, Jabari Pruitt and the whole gang at WAKA Channel 8 in Montgomery. Channel 8 provided more in-depth coverage of my campaign than any other major network channel in the state. I always had an absolute ball everytime I would go in to be a guest on TalkBack Live and everyone at Channel 8 treated me like an old friend.

Editor Bob Martin at the Montgomery Independent and Bob Ingram, the syndicated political columnist, for noticing that I have boobies and proceeding to alert everyone else to that fact. Without their help I probably never would have been covered in the national and international media. With their help I was second only to the Governator (Arnold S. in Cali)in national media coverage of gubernatorial campaigns. Also, I would never have made as much money as I did on the "More Boobs" merchandise. So thanks y'all for making me a star even though I am almost certain that was not your intent.

To the bloggerhood

Many thanks are owed to the Alabama Bloggerhood

BlueGal and Dr. IQ were absolutely indispensable in getting the bloggerhood buzzing with the boob story. At one time there were 109,000 posts about me in one day on blogs across the globe. I would also like to thank the following bloggers for their coverage, endorsements and support....in no particular order

Bitter Old Punk
Gun-Toting Liberal
AlaBlawg
Birmingham Blues
Captain Bama
Politics in Alabama
Between the Links
Alabama Moderate
LibertySphere
Aardvarks Plumbline

The Alabama Libertarian Party

Without the help and encouragement of the LPA over the course of the last four years I might never have made the plunge. A special thanks to Mike Rster and his beautiful wife Mia, Sarah Wires, Mark Bodenhausen, Dick Clark, John Sophecleus, Mark Thornton, Jim Greenleaf, Paul Frankel and Steve and Deborah Gordon. I love you all.

And finally thanks again to all of my supporters, fans and friends. I hope that my candidacy made you proud and inspired you to run for office yourself or, at the very least, to become more involved in politics. Remember, politics is the art of controlling your environment and if you want to have some say in the laws by which you will be governed then you have to participate in their creation and passage.

Onward!
Loretta Nall

High Altitude Pigs on the Wing

2007-01-17T16:45:00.000-08:00

Fire Reveals Police State Blimp
Posted by Lew Rockwell at January 17, 2007 04:14 PM

More spying by bloated government gasbags, this time airborne ones.

Gold

2007-01-17T05:35:00.000-08:00

I have been looking into investing in some gold coins in order to have money worth something when the world falls down and the dollar collapses. I have been reading a lot of Lew Rockwell's advice on gold. Here are a few paragraphs from his latest article. Read the rest here.

As with all matters of investment, everything is clear in hindsight. Had you bought gold mutual funds earlier this year, they might have appreciated more than 100 percent. Gold has risen $60 since March 2001 to the latest spot price of $326.

Why wasn’t it obvious? The Fed has been inflating the dollar as never before, driving interest rates down to absurdly low levels, even as the federal government has been pushing a mercantile trade policy, and New York City, the hub of the world economy, continues to be threatened by terrorism. The government is failing to prevent more successful attacks by not backing down from foreign policy disasters and by not allowing planes to arm themselves.

These are all conditions that make gold particularly attractive.

Gold is sold in either coins or ingots. The coins have a currency value or they are defined as ingots. Ingots are generally gold ingots of pure bullion cast in a convenient size and shape. If you are interested in protecting your finances against coming assault pay a visit to Monex and see what they have to offer.

Why does Bush want to Nuke these Iranian Babes?

2007-01-16T16:27:00.000-08:00

THE INTRIGUE OF IRAN
Ancient Persian wonders, modern Western cities and surprisingly warm welcomes await intrepid U.S. visitors
San Francisco Chronicle, CA - Jan 14, 2007

Escalation in the Middle East

2007-01-14T11:01:00.000-08:00

Ron Paul
01/15/07

War on drugs comparable to Iraq invasion

2007-01-07T06:14:00.000-08:00

Kirk Muse
Letter to the Editor
Daily News Journal, TN
Jan 6, 2007

I'm writing about D. David Darcy's thoughtful letter: "Nation's war against drugs has never worked" (12-30-06).

Our so-called drug war and our war and occupation of Iraq are very similar. Both were started with lies and false pretenses.

The war in Iraq is over. We won. What we have now is an occupation of Iraq. Occupations cannot be won.

Who is going to surrender and sign the peace treaty?

The so-called war on drugs cannot be won. Who is going to surrender and sign the peace treaty? The war on drugs is an occupation, a career, an industry and huge bureaucracy. The goal of the drug war is not to win, but rather to continue and expand.

The only way to end the drug war is to legalize the products that are now prohibited and sell them in legal, licensed and regulated business establishments.

Those benefiting from our drug prohibition policies don't want this to happen, and they will do everything in their power to make sure it doesn't happen.

Pot-growing woman, 60, reports to prison

2007-01-07T06:01:00.000-08:00

Adam Martin
Examiner.com
01/06/07

SAN FRANCISCO - Amid a shower of tossed daisies, a flurry of hugs and lots of tears, a 60-year-old woman who was investigated by San Francisco police for growing medical marijuana in 2002 turned herself in to federal marshals this week.

At the time of Landa’s arrest, San Francisco had recently declared itself a symbolic “sanctuary” for medical marijuana users, growers and distributers. Proposition 215, passed by state voters in 1996, permits the growing and using of medical marijuana with a doctor’s prescription.

Steroids case imperils privacy

2007-01-07T05:29:00.000-08:00

Appeals court goes astray

[...Judge Sidney Thomas, in a vigorous 68-page dissent, began by quoting one of the lower court judges he would have affirmed: "What happened to the Fourth Amendment? Was it repealed somehow?"...]

Editorial
Rocky Mountain News, CO
01/07/07

Medical pot laws don't blow smoke

2007-01-07T05:21:00.000-08:00

TEN years ago, California voters were first in the nation to legalize the medical use of marijuana. We managed the Proposition 215 campaign, and later had similar success in six other states.

When Proposition 215 appeared on the California ballot, political leaders and pundits of all stripes urged voters to oppose it. They made some dramatic predictions about what would happen if it passed. Let's go back and see how right, or wrong, they were.

BILL ZIMMERMAN and DAVE FRATELLO
Guest Columnists
Los Angeles Daily News, CA
01/07/07

Militia Leader Put Government On Notice Years Ago

2007-01-07T05:07:00.000-08:00

Fincher arrested in November on charges of illegal weapons

Ron Wood
Springdale Morning News, AR
01/06/07

Study: Teen drug use down

2007-01-07T04:44:00.000-08:00

Survey shows illicit drug use declined 23 percent

Lisa Singleton-Rickman
Times Daily, AL
01/07/07

Marijuana has medicinal values LSJ didn't report

2007-01-07T04:35:00.000-08:00

[...The LSJ's front page article, "Experts: Medical marijuana best as pill" (Dec. 29) was almost entirely wrong....]

Kathy Kennedy
Op/Ed
Lansing State Journal, MI
01/07/07

More security firms getting police powers

2007-01-07T04:04:00.000-08:00

Some see benefits to public safety, but others are wary

Amy Goldstein
Washington Post
San Francisco Chronicle
01/07/07

A Lynching...

2007-01-06T07:20:00.000-08:00

Riverbend
Baghdad
12/31/06

An Iraqi girl reports on the hanging of Hussein

Officer hurt in fatal shootout with elderly woman to retire

2007-01-06T06:38:00.000-08:00

AP
Macon Telegraph, GA
01/06/07

ATLANTA - One of the officers wounded in a November drug raid that left an elderly woman dead is retiring from the police department, his attorney said.

Inmate charged with killing cellmate could face death penalty

2007-01-03T06:17:00.000-08:00

KVOA.com, AZ
01/02/07

MESA, Ariz. -- A state prison inmate already serving a life term has been formally accused of killing his cellmate, a nonviolent drug offender who was placed with the convicted murderer only a few hours before he was stabbed and beaten to death.

Inmate Michael Gaston could face the death penalty if convicted of the charges, filed more than three months after the Sept. 7 death of 45-year-old William Harris in the state prison in Florence. Prosecutors have yet to decide if they'll seek the death penalty.

Gaston made his first appearance in Pinal County Superior Court on Dec. 21, but did not enter a plea, according to court records.

The incident raised questions about the state prison system's inmate classification system, which is designed to prevent non-violent prisoners from being housed with those known to be violent. The system became a hot topic nearly three years ago following a three-week standoff at Lewis Prison in Buckeye, one of the longest prisoner revolts in the nation's history.

Harris was serving a three-year sentence for drug charges. Gaston arrived at the prison in April after he was convicted of killing a friend in the desert near Wickenburg over a disputed car loan.

A legislative committee questioned Department of Corrections Director Dora Schriro about the incident last month, and Gov. Janet Napolitano asked her for a report on the incident that was due Monday at the latest.

Schriro defended the inmate classification system and told the committee it was not responsible for Harris' death.

Mexican deploys troops to fight Tijuana drug gangs

2007-01-03T05:44:00.000-08:00

AP
CNN
POSTED: 8:09 a.m. EST, January 3, 2007

• New movement part of president's expanded war on drugs
• 300 killed in drug-related crimes in Tijuana last year
• Tijuana key point for shipping cocaine, meth into U.S.
• Mayor says city not being militarized

---------------------------------------------------
Yep, they messed up the headline

2007-01-03T05:32:00.000-08:00

Marijuana, too boring to be bad

2007-01-03T05:20:00.000-08:00

The war of drugs is like the war on terrorism: expensive, neverending, largely symbolic and mostly ineffective.

Kymberly Levesque
Arizona Republic
01/02/07

Marijuana's only problem

2006-12-31T04:39:00.000-08:00

It's illegal, while more dangerous drugs and meds are legal and often abused

Guest Column
CHIP PARKHURST
OCRegister, CA
12/31/06

Tucson military recruiters ran cocaine

2006-12-18T03:44:00.000-08:00

Some kept visiting schools for 3 years after FBI caught them on tape

Carol Ann Alaimo
Arizona Daily Star
12/17/06

[... Some Tucson parents and school officials, contacted by the Star about the results of the paper's research, said students should not have been left exposed for so long to recruiters known by the FBI to be involved in cocaine-running.
"I don't like the thought of someone involved with drugs having access to my child, and I don't know anything about it and the school doesn't know anything about it," said Kathy Janssen, who has a 15-year-old son at Tucson High Magnet School, the city's largest high school. "High school students are very vulnerable." ...]

---------------------------------------------------
But tricking the child into dying in an illegal war is A-OK

Uncontrollable Urge

2006-12-15T06:53:00.000-08:00

Original animation to the tune of Devo's "Uncontrollable Urge".

America’s Injustice System Is Criminal

2006-12-12T02:58:00.000-08:00

"The criminal justice (sic) system today consists of a process whereby a defendant is coerced into admitting to a crime in order to escape more severe punishment for maintaining his innocence. Many of the crimes for which people are imprisoned never occurred. They are made up crimes created by the process of negotiation to close a case.

This takes most of the work out of the system and, thereby, suits police, prosecutors, and judges to a tee."

by Paul Craig Roberts
lewrockwell.com
12/12/06

1,000 Words

2006-12-11T03:43:00.000-08:00

Radley Balko
The Agitator
12/11/06

SWAT Overkill: The Danger of a Paramilitary Police Force

2006-11-28T17:49:00.000-08:00

Popular Mechanics
11/28/06

Context for Kathryn Johnston

2006-11-27T17:22:00.000-08:00

Radley Balko on the murder of Kathryn Johnston in Atlanta
11/25/06

2006-11-22T11:46:00.000-08:00

BlueSky
by Terry
Music is "Little Fluffy Clouds" stolen from Orbital who stole it from The Orb who stole the vocals from an episode of PBS's "Reading Rainbow" which featured a Rickie Lee Jones dialogue with Levar Burton (the black guy on Star Trek).

No TSA..You Cannot Have My Tampons

2006-11-13T20:07:00.000-08:00

Rumsfeld and Hussein

2006-11-04T14:22:00.000-08:00

Donald Rumsfeld sells weapons of mass destruction to Saddam Hussein.
Video from The George Washington University National Security Archives adapted to fit with "Sympathy For The Devil".
Produced by Terry

Pigs On The Wing

2006-11-01T19:30:00.000-08:00

Trainee learns to slaughter farmers in Afghanistan while secure in the safety of being out of range.
Produced by Terry

Nall Answers Debate Questions

2006-10-31T17:52:00.000-08:00

Dear Alabama and everyone else watching from around the world,

These are my answers to the gubernatorial debate questions presented to the two Command and Control candidates during last night's debacle....I'm sorry...I meant debate. I am missing a question between Immigration and a Constitutional Convention. APTV went black for a few minutes. I do not know what the question was. If anyone else does please pass it along to me so I can include it in my answers.

You'll notice that I actually attempt to answer the questions, which is something I didn't see either of my opponents do last night. It was more like an 'I Love Lucy' episode with Lucy acting the part of a chiding wife because she didn't get invited to any press conferences and Riley saying, 'Awww...Lucy you just don't understand', but with a Bubba accent instead of a Ricky Ricardo one. They are both a POX on our state and I hope to provide you with an alternative candidate to cast your vote for on November 7. You'll have to write me in.

1. Education

What are your top goals for public education? What will it cost to implement them and where will you find the money?

My top priority for public education is to opt out of No Child Left Behind and any other unfunded federal mandates we do not like or that do not work for us. I have traveled this state for the last year and I have yet to meet an educator who believes that NCLB is useful in any way. It will not cost anything to implement opting out of unfunded federal mandates and will actually save us money that can be better used according to the needs of teachers in the classrooms because they are the ones who know best the needs of their students.

I also support teaching foreign languages in our public school system. If we started in first grade then in a little more than a decade we would have a bi-lingual workforce. If we ever hope for our children to be able to compete on a global scale we must teach them to communicate in other languages.

Additional funding for public education could be provided by cutting a huge piece from the bloated prison budget. Alabama spends only $6,000 per child on education but $12,000 to lock up someone for smoking pot. We spend $134,400,000 a year to incarcerate non-violent drug and alcohol offenders. That is just to house them. That is $134,400,000 that could be saved and used for things that make people's lives better instead of worse...starting with a good education. We should also have legal lottery and casino gambling run by private enterprise in this state with the state collecting the taxes and earmarking some of it for education.

2. General Fund Budget

Plans for the general fund budget. Prisons, state trooper shortage, congested highways, gas and social services. What are the highest priorities for the GF budget? What will it cost? Where will you get the money?

We have 28,000 prisoners in a space built for 12,000. 40% of them are people who we are simply mad at but who are not really dangerous. Releasing all non-violent drug and alcohol offenders from prison would save our state $134,400,000 a year in housing costs. Passing laws that bring the illicit drug market under regulation would prevent many of these people from returning to prison and continuing to be a burden on society. It would also reduce the cost incurred by the taxpayers to fight disease and health problems associated with drug use. Drug and alcohol addiction are health and social problems not criminal justice ones. Dealing with it from a criminal justice standpoint creates more problems that taxpayer’s foot the bill for. We are spending hundreds of millions of dollars a year and getting negative returns on it. If someone gets a criminal record for smoking marijuana that person is barred from financial aid for higher education, decent employment opportunities, public housing and food assistance. With no way to better themselves they usually become a life-long burden on taxpayers. That is a negative return on our investment. The failed war on drugs is an un-funded federal mandate just like NCLB and I say we opt out and replace it with something that makes basic common sense and works for Alabama.

As for state troopers...if Governor Riley wasn't so intent on federalizing them and ordering them to double as Immigration officers maybe they would have the time and resources necessary to make our highways safer.

Gas - I support the research and development of alternative fuel sources. I am of the mindset that gas prices will rise again after the election and with no peace in sight in the middle east I don't really ever see them dropping down to under $2 a gallon again and holding at that price. Our environment will also benefit from alternative fuel development and once we become self-sufficient in the production we will no longer have to sacrifice our children in illegal wars for oil.

Congested Highways - Its a good time to bring in the private sector to fix the problem if feasible. Public transportation in our major cities would also help to alleviate congested highways but I would prefer we leave any development to the private sector.

Social Services - I support returning as many social services as possible to the private sector. Comparing Red Cross to FEMA during the Hurricane Katrina aftermath taught me that private charities can do a much better and more efficient job that the government will ever be able to provide.

3. Taxes

What are your proposals pertaining to the taxes paid by individuals? How would they effect the revenue required to fund important public services?

I propose that we eleminate sales tax on food, prescription and over the counter medications. I also propose that we do away with annual property tax reappraisals. It's almost like you can never actually own property. You buy it but then have to pay rent on it every year to the government. I support lower taxes, the more uniform the better. I would stop Riley's yearly property tax increases and threaten to veto all bills that even hint at new taxes. I will not threaten business in any way, especially with taxes, and I would prevent any new taxes or burdensome regulations on business. If you protect property rights, businesses will create the new jobs.

To make up for this loss in revenue I propose that we regulate the marijuana market and allow lottery and casino gambling run by private enterprise which would fatten state coffers.

4. Economic Development Plan

Creating good job climate. How will you approach economic development? What are your proposals to increase the number and the quality of jobs for Alabamians. Please tell us if they include major tax incentives, spendature of state funds and what the revenue sources would be?

One way to increase the quality and number of jobs in Alabama is to begin teaching our children a foreign language as soon as they enter the school system. If we start foreign language in the first grade in a little more than a decade we will have a bi-lingual workforce . I say we start with Chinese, due to the fact that the bond debt to them is so high that they almost own us now anyhow. Might as well be able to talk to them.

In order to attract businesses to Alabama we must provide a consistent, stable and certain business climate with no threats of higher taxes. That encourages businesses to settle, invest, and expand and that brings jobs.

5. PAC to PAC transfers and Lobbyist spending

Do you think Pac to pac transfers and spending by lobbyists should be fully reported? Please tell us what proposals you have on these issues and any related issues.

Yes I think PAC to PAC transfers and lobbyist spending should be fully reported. The voters have a right to know which corporations are controlling the candidates. For the record I have accepted no PAC money nor have I accepted any lobbyist money. Every donation I have received in my campaign has come from individuals who believe in what I say and wish to see me elected Governor of Alabama. I have no corporate ties and if elected Alabama will not be a corporate controlled government.

6. Government Accountability

What do you think are the most important issues related to improving accountability in government and what proposals do you have to address them in the next four years?

Competition in elections is the best accountablity we can hope for. The reason there is so little accountability is because voters often have only the two command and control party candidates to vote for. So, many of those interested in liberty often don't even go out to vote. Remember, Libertarians set a record in the last election because those who actually knew there was an alternative came out and voted... still those eligible to vote that DIDN'T totaled 40%.

Proposal: Ditch all the anti-competitive ballot access laws so the Republicans and
Democrats have to run with the Black Panther, Green, Libertarian, Natural Law, Reform, Constitution and other parties. Then at least elections will convey some information about the electorate. Votes over Turkey Poop v. Chicken poop do generate a winner - just not much information.

Additionally, the government becomes more unaccountable when it gets its hands on more money. I would propose that Alabama adopt that Colorado law that limits spending increases and returns any additional money to the people or lowers tax rates. I haven't studied this much, but it seems like a good band aid.

7. Immigration

What additional state laws and enforcement tools will you propose to deal with the immigration issue in Alabama?

No additional state laws or enforcement tools will be used under my administration for immigration. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates 10 million jobs will be unfilled in 2010, when the first wave of boomers retire.
Immigrant labor contributes to the economy. Many industries would struggle and some would even close were it not for immigrant labor.

Building a wall is a stupid idea as the vast majority of illegal immigrants come across the border by automobile. It is a 'feel good' piece of legislation that does nothing to address the issue and truthfully I am more afraid of being walled in than walling Hispanics out.

Deporting immigrants is also a stupid and fiscally irresponsible idea. Until we gain control of the border and have the ability to inspect every automobile that comes across all of the people deported would just come back.

Imprisioning immigrants who are breaking no law other than being here is inhumane and the most fiscally irresponsible proposal of all. Why take someone who is contributing to the economy, cage them and add them to the taxpayer tab at $12,000 a pop?

My plan is naturalize immigrants and add them to the tax base to increase state coffers. When the labor shortage hits in four years Alabama will be prepared.

8. Constitutional Convention

I support removing the racist language from the Alabama Constitution. I worry that a constitutional convention would not be proportionally represented by third parties, independent thinkers and average citizens. I fear that it would be controlled by special interest groups much like everything else in out state government is. If someone from the private sector presented a plan that would make it fair I would support a convention. If that can't be done then I am open to other ideas to remove the embarassing racist language from the constitution.

Loretta Nall Images

2006-10-29T02:10:00.000-08:00

Loretta Nall

Loretta Nall inspects coca crop in Putamayo, Colombia

Loretta Nall in Bogota, Colombia

Loretta Nall in British Columbia

To the Media: Get the story STRAIGHT!!

2006-10-28T08:07:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I have been enjoying the national and international media coverage over the last week. But I am becoming increasingly unhappy with all of the stories that make it seem as though I one day decided to whup out 'the twins' and start campaigning with them. So this post is to set the record straight.

In March of this year an Alabama political columnist named Bob Ingram wrote a smear piece dismissing my campaign and me as a candidate. I was not contacted before this article ran for an interview or given an opportunity to state my platform. I had never met and still have not met Mr. Ingram although we have talked on the phone.

In that article he used a picture of me which was obtained by the editor of The Montgomery Independent. The editor, instead of contacting my campaign for a campaign photo, decided to search Google images and the photo he used was from a few years ago....long before I formally announced my campaign for Governor of Alabama.

The next week after this article ran Mr. Ingram again referred to me in his column stating that, "In55 years of political writing no women had ever displayed cleavage in his column."I got HOT about it and called him up and asked him what on earth he was thinking. How could he possibly form an opinion about me or my campaign since we had never met.

So, I wrote The Montgomery Independent asking why they ran a photo that has nothing to do with my campaign and expressing dismay at two well respected journalists discussing my anatomy instead of my platform. After all, they never discussed the fact that Lucy Baxley also has breasts and they did not dig up any old photos of her to run in a smear piece.

Then I made the t-shirts and other items that are all the rage today and shortly after one of my campaign workers came up with the idea of a "Flash for Cash" animation which you can view free of charge at the following links.1 ($2)
2 ($20)
3 ($50)

So, please, if you are the media GET THET STORY RIGHT if you plan to report on me.

Loretta Nall #1 on Countdown with Keith Olbermann

2006-10-26T06:30:00.000-07:00

Loretta Nall Campaign Events

2006-10-22T06:58:00.000-07:00

Dear Supporters,

I have a busy schedule during the final two weeks of the campaign for Governor of Alabama.

Monday Oct. 23 - I meet with my new lawyer. That isn't strictly campaign related but in a way it is. The original arrest and charges were the foundation for this campaign to begin with. Politics have become a means of self defense.

Tuesday, Oct. 24 - On Friday I did an interview and photo shoot with Phillip Rawls and Rob Carr of The Associated Press on the steps of the state capitol. Look for that article in newspapers statewide on Tuesday.

Thursday Oct. 26 - I'll be a Guest on WRJX Wiregrass Radio in Jackson, AL. I'll be in studio for that. I will have minutes to answer questions from the host and listeners about my plans for Alabama.

Friday, Oct. 27 - I will be speaking at the University of Alabama at The Heritage room 322 at 2 p.m. as part of the campus election blitz. If you are in or around Tuscaloosa please come out and join us.

Monday, Oct. 30 - We will be protesting my exclusion from the gubernatorial debates at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival Theatre. Please come out and join us.

Tuesday, Oct. 31 - Guest on the Kevin Elkins Show in Montgomery to answer the debate questions. I will also be a guest on the Matt Murphy Show in Birmingham at 3 p.m. to answer the same questions.

Late last week I got an invite from the Troy State Libertarian's to speak there on the 24th. However, there were no facilities available for that evening and we are trying to reschedule it sometime before the election.

The UAB Debates have been canceled due to the other candidates not bothering to respond to a participation request and the University of Montevallo appearance was canceled due to the sponsoring organization dissloving.

Please make a final contribution to my campaign to help cover the cost of travel to the remaining events.

Hope to see you on the campaign trail.

Loretta Nall

A Billion Dollars a Year for Pot?

2006-10-19T02:49:00.000-07:00

by Paul Armentano
lewrockwell.com
10/19/06

USA Today Covers Nall Campaign!!

2006-10-17T09:12:00.000-07:00

Loretta Nall Campaign Updates

2006-10-13T12:51:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends and Supporters,

It has been a busy week here at the Nall for Governor camp. Beginning last Saturday in Montgomery, on Oct. 7 I registered ex-felons to vote and spoke at the NAACP State Convention. On Tuesday, Oct. 10 I addressed the Birmingham Sunrise Rotary Club. And Thursday night I was a guest speaker at Auburn University. Tomorrow I will be a guest speaker at a Prison Reform Rally at Oak park in Montgomery, AL. Please come out and join us if you are able.

The Sunrise Rotary Club event was very nice. They ain't kiddin' about the Sunrise part neither, as this event began at 7 a.m. YAWN!! I am used to getting out of bed at 4:30 a.m. every morning to get my children ready for the bus at 6:00. On Tuesday I had to get up at 3 a.m. and drive the hour and a half into Birmingham. At least, traffic was light. The audience was not the usual crowd of common folks that I am used to addressing. I remember when John Goodwyn first invited me to speak he said "I feel the need to tell you that this audience will be largely well-to-do Republican's with a Democrat thrown into the mix here and there." I told him, "The Libertarian Party in Alabama is so small that all of my audiences are either mostly Republican or Democrat with one or the other thrown into the mix here and there."

I think he meant his original statement as a warning. Having never spoken to a Rotary Club before I really didn't know what to expect. The crowd of about 60 was just what he said it would be. Successful, well-to-do business people, in very nice suits. Think Hugo Marx. He was the first person I met after I arrived. Mr. Marx told me that he believed in smaller government and personal freedoms. He said his son is a very active Libertarian and that he was looking forward to hearing what I had to say.

I spoke for around 15 minutes about my platform and then took questions. The audience asked some very good questions like:

Q: "If the state legalizes marijuana and collects sales tax wouldn't that be in violation of the federal law and wouldn't we find ourselves in a situation like the one in California?"

A: "Yes we would be in violation of federal law. However, Alabama has a long history of not really caring what the Federal government thinks. Granted States Rights have not always been applied in the proper way but this is one instance where federal government mandated drug policy is clearly not working and under states rights we as a state have the right to try something else. Another option would be to set maximum fines for growing, selling and possessing at $1 so as to make it unprofitable for the police and courts to waste resources on."

Q: "If we make marijuana legal for adults age 18 and over what happens to the kids under 18 who get caught with it?"

A: "That should be left up to their parents. What happens to kids who get caught with alcohol and tobacco before they reach the legal age? They aren't sent to jail or prison and teens caught with marijuana shouldn't be either."

Q: "You are so up front about your position on drug policy...have the police harassed you since you announced your run for Governor?"

A: "No. Although I did get a visit from the FBI a few years back. I have found that a great many law enforcement officers are in agreement when it comes to marijuana not really being a problem. They feel it is a waste of resources and would rather be out fighting real crime like murder, which I understand there is a very high rate of here in Birmingham. And, regardless of what Annetta Nunn says it has nothing to do with Satan. It has a great deal to do with the complete misuse of police resources spent targeting non-violent drug users."

Q: "I am mostly Libertarian and I agree with what you have said this morning. People such as William F. Buckley Jr., Milton Freedman and others have long said the same thing. It was even on the front page of National Review. But I have to ask if you think your radical positions on drug policy make the Libertarian party more of a fringe party...doesn't it scare people away?"

A: "I haven't found that to be the case. I have traveled the state of Alabama in the last year and the three preceding years and no matter what audience I am speaking to I rarely run into opposition on this issue. I have found that most people feel the way I do and are very happy to finally hear someone say it out loud. People are sick of politician sound bytes that don't mean anything. Also, the drug policy issue is one of the main issues that seperate Libertarians from Republicans and to shy away from it is plain yellow in my opinion. It is the main cause of the serious erosion of our Constitutional Rights and Civil Liberties and Libertarians seem to be the only ones with the testicular fortitude to address it."

Q: "You didn't mention anything in your talk on Illegal Immigration. What is the Libertarian Party's stance on that issue."

A: "The Libertarian party is rather split on that issue. My personal feeling, as well as my platform plank, is that if this is really an issue of illegal immigrants not paying taxes then the only fiscally sound idea is to naturalize them and add them to the tax base. Building a wall is a horrible idea. Most (in the 90%+ range) who cross the border illegally do so in automobiles. So why wall off a peaceful neighbor when that isn't where the problem is? Deportation is also a pretty dumb idea. If we do not have control of the border then those who are deported will come back again. I feel that arresting a person, who is working to support their family and not causing any problems, just for the simple act of being here is both fiscally irresponsible and cruel. Why take someone who is working and contributing to the economy and place them in a cage and charge the taxpayers of Alabama $12,000 a year to house them?"

I was really surprised to see the majority of heads nodding up and down during my comments on immigration. But, as business people they really understand what would happen to the economy if we took all the Hispanic people out of the jobs they currently hold.

A couple of other questions were asked and then it was time to close up shop at 8 so everyone could get to work. I was presented with a "Thank You" plaque handmade by a little girl named Kristina who is a mamber of the YMCA that the Rotary Club sponsors. Many people took my info cards and a good number also commented on the courage it takes to do what I am doing. I don't know if any of them will vote for me but I am very honored and happy to have had the opportunity to share my ideas with them. Hopefully the seeds I planted in that distinguished group of business leaders in Alabama's largest city will take root and they will join my efforts to correct some of the major wrongs being perpetuated by Government in this state.

The Auburn event went off without a hitch as well. I am a huge Auburn Tiger football fan and am always a little in awe when I speak at Auburn University, an institution which has been long revered in my family. The Auburn College Libertarian's led by Ms. Grace Toles, sponsored and hosted this event. About 30 people attended with a few being from the community and not college students. One attendee was an elderly black woman who appeared to be suffering from cancer and taking chemo treatments. She told me she had heard about my platform and was excited to hear me speak. It meant a great deal to me that an elderly woman in frail health would come out at night to a college campus just to hear me. It was very moving and inspiring.

The Auburn Libertarians have gotten a great deal of press in the last couple of weeks. First the Auburn College Republicans got SMACKED DOWN for their decision to exclude College Libertarians from the campus debates. Then, the Auburn College Democrats did the ethical thing and pulled out of the debates because the Libertarians were not included. I am very proud of the leadership of the campus Democrats and think that this move speaks volumes for the future leadership of the Democratic party. Now, if only the state party would follow the lead of those bright young'uns down on the Plains and pull out of the gubernatorial debates over my exclusion we might actually get somewhere.

Also, earlier this week, the campus Libertarians were threatened with arrest while attending a Republican sponsored voter registration concert. I tell you...Republicans are just plain mean and corrupt. FORCE is all they understand. Even their youth are corrupted.

I am very proud of both the campus Libertarians and the campus Democrats for all of their hard work in bringing the issue of exclusion to light. Slowly but surely people are coming to realize that their choices are being limited by those already in power. I feel the rumbling undercurrent of change fast approaching.

Once again please join me at Oak park in Montgmery, AL tomorrow for a Prison Reform Rally with live entertainment and speakers. The fun begins at 9 a.m. and I hope to see you there.

I have a lot more traveling to do between now and Nov. 7 so please keep that gas money coming in .
Those of you wishing to mail a contribution may mail it to

Loretta Nall for Governor Campaign
4633 Pearson Chapel Rd
Alexander City, AL 35010

I'll see you on the campaign trail.

Loretta Nall

Canada troops battle 10-foot Afghan marijuana plants

2006-10-12T17:53:00.000-07:00

CNN International
10/12/06

How the Drug War has Eroded Gains Made in the Civil Rights Movement

2006-10-09T08:39:00.000-07:00

by: Loretta Nall