If someone trespasses on your property and shoots your dog it seems you would be well within your rights to return the favor.
Also you would expect that the folks you pay to provide protection against the bad folks would step in, bust the perpetrator and throw the proverbial book at them.
But you would be wrong.
Via The Agitator.
Papa’s headline reads Congress Must Fix Racist Crack/Powder Disparity Laws
Criminal penalties for possession and sales of cocaine are severe. But the penalties for crack cocaine are much more severe, despite the fact that pharmacologically they are the same drug. If these suggested changes, take affect and are applied retroactively, it will do a lot to balance the scales of justice in reforming a bad law that has dished out unfair sentences to people convicted of crack cocaine offenses.
Within its context this is right. There is no excuse for the sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine. In fact, any sentence related to the drug trade is unfair.
Fixing this bit of congressional stupidity does nothing though to fix the problem and relatively little to fix the racist aspects of the drug war.
The problem is the drug war itself. Our supposed public servants have no business in the prohibition business.
Remove the anti-drug laws now and receive a myriad of benefits including, inter alia, a rapid reduction in jail and prison population, substantially reduced law enforcement budgets, improved relations with drug producing countries and their people, dramatically reduced drug prices by eliminating the risk premium and an end to drug trade related violence. And, yes, it will eliminate the massive racial bias in drug law enforcement and sentencing that has existed for decades
STOP THE DRUG WAR.
Need to relax after a long weekend of housecleaning? Well, I do!
Let’s go skritch’m:
If you prefer dogs a few boarded last week’s Friday Ark. For feathers head over to I and the Bird #61 and if you need things a bit squishier try out Circus of the Spineless #26.
Enjoy!
We’ll post links to sites that have Friday (plus or minus a few days) photos of their chosen animals (photoshops at our discretion and humans only in supporting roles). Watch the Exception category for rocks, beer, coffee cups, and….?
Visit all the boarders, Link to the Ark and check back for updates through Sunday afternoon!
You can find out how to board the Friday Ark at the Arkive page.
Cats
Invertebrates
Other Vertebrates
Dogs
Birds
In Memoriam
Didn’t Make It
Velociraptor Breathed Like A Bird
Exceptions (inclusion not guaranteed)
Extra, Extra: All Ark boarders are invited to shout out at the Friday Ark Frapper Map.
Dog folks: remember to submit your links to:
Cat folks: remember to submit your links to:
Birders: I and the Bird: A Blog Carnival for Bird Lovers is published every 2 weeks.
For the spineless: Circus of the Spineless. A monthly celebration of Insects, Arachnids, Molluscs, Crustaceans, Worms and most anything else that wiggles.
For other current carnivals check out The Blog Carnival and The TTLB Uber Carnival
Maybe, maybe not.
But in whose pocket is this money ending up:
In fact, however, a considerable amount of the money the U.S. gives to Pakistan is administered not through U.S. agencies or joint U.S.-Pakistani programs. Instead, the U.S. gives Musharraf’s government about $200 million annually and his military $100 million monthly in the form of direct cash transfers.
Shouldn’t there be some public accounting of how this money, or any foreign aid, is being used?
dear leader and his little helpers would argue that once they have taken it from us or borrowed it from the Chinese we have no right to know. This is, of course, wrong. A government doing the people’s business must be completely transparent!
Via Danger Room.