When a Good Plant Got a Bad Name.  This video will give you some more little known facts about one of humanity’s all time favorite plants.

The use of marijuana throughout human history for both recreational and medical use is dated as far back as 10,000 years.  Though outlawed in the United States the medical benefits of THC, the active chemical in marijuana, were acknowledged in 1985 with the release of a legal drug called Marinol.

Marinol is a synthetic form of THC available by prescription and touted as “legal and safe.”  It is used primarily to control nausea for cancer chemo patients, and to stimulate the appetite of those infected with the AIDS virus.  FDA approval of this drug should have once and for all silenced all arguments about the medical benefits of marijuana though many still argue against them.

Though I do not know the exact figures I am left wondering how much taxpayer money was spent on this revolutionary drug?  There had to be several research grants and numerous clinical trials paid for by the taxpayer.  Add to that the cost of synthesizing THC, patents, advertising etc. and I would be willing to bet I could live the rest of my life in luxury on it.  I think it would be safe to assume that the drug companies have made quite a bit of money as well.

With recent attempts by some drug companies to regulate, synthesize and patent other herbal remedies I wonder what I will need a prescription for next?  How long until I have the DEA kicking down my door for growing my own ginseng root?

For those people who have an illness or medical need but prefer a natural alternative to synthetic chemicals the possession of or growing of marijuana is a crime.  If you don’t have insurance or are on a fixed income and ill doctors visits and prescriptions can become few and far between.  If you are missing work due to illness the choice can come down to having food this week for the kids or getting your meds so you go to work sick and thereby less productive.

Clinical trials of smoked marijuana are underway through another govt. agency: The National Institutes of Health.  Their available research indicates that adverse affects to the respiratory system WOULD ALMOST certainly offset any possible benefits.

Given the undue and often criminal influence of big business in the government today you cannot help wondering why herbal cures like marijuana are not utilized more by medical professionals.  Could it be that herbal remedies cannot be patented for profit?  Why are we forced to medicate ourselves with synthetic chemicals when nature can provide the same results?

For the record I am in favor of the legalization of marijuana.

To learn more about medical marijuana visit here.

Recent comments from the Governor of Texas and conservative pundits have flat out said they want out of the United States Of America.  According to some polls as many as 48% of “conservative Christian republicans”, and %25 of the general population in Texas support this viewpoint.  I am forced to ask how would this come to pass?  It seems to me that the options are limited at best.

The first is a peaceful buyout by the Texans.  Simply reimburse the United States all money it has invested in hardware only.  Pay the US for all highways, bridges, schools, military bases etc., etc., etc.  In addition have the funds on hand to pay for all homes, businesses, and the moving expenses of everyone you force to leave.  Last be ready to sever all ties to  United States funding.  Everything you receive now will be cut off.  Social Security, Medi-care, research grants and farm subsidies all gone.

Somehow I do not see this as a possibility.  Not without it being the poorest,most in debt and underpopulated nation in the world.

The second option is a peaceful buyout by the United States.  They simply buy your  homes and businesses then pay the expenses to pack your trailers onto cargo ships and send you someplace that shares your views……  you know…. a nice unpopulated island.

The last option is civil war.  Before you choose this option and I know this is  hard for you, stop and think a moment.  I am sure that this would be a bloody chapter in our history.   I am also certain that it would end swiftly and though bloody, be a very short chapter.

You would start off with three out of four Texans against you.  Everyone you know, friends, family, police and the man on the street.   You would also be faced with the U.S. military at numerous bases including forts Hood and Bliss.  Though I am sure you would have the best weapons that can be had from the local sporting goods shop or gun show, I doubt that the almost 200,000 troops stationed in Texas would find you any harder to route than they did the Iraqi army.  That’s not including other military units that would be brought to bear.

So all you Texicans are left to ask, “what should I do?”  I say the answer to that is simple.  Exercise the freedoms that are granted you in this great nation.  Get out of your pick up, walk around the back, and look at your bumper.  When you come to the sticker that says: America, LOVE it or LEAVE it  follow your own belief.  Catch the next plane out.

For as long as I can remember I have heard people on T.V. refer to the United States as a “good Christian nation.”  I have often asked myself, and now I ask you as well, who exactly are the “good” Christians? I ask this question, not to offend anyone but out of honest confusion.

I was raised Catholic, though now I am what you would call lapsed.  When Kennedy was running for President the “good” Christians claimed that if he was elected  “the pope would be running our country.”  From this one is forced to conclude that Catholics do not fit in to that select group of the “good” Christians.  Are the “good” Christians the born agains, or could they be Evangelical? Are they  Baptist, Southern Baptist, Mormon, Methodist, Evangelical, Lutheran, Episcopalian, or the rattlesnake handlers of the Midwest and south.  Do they hold services in a tent, a church or modern television studios built out of glass and steel?

Do the “good” ones ask for donations and use them to help others, or demand donations in order to ride in limos and live in palatial estates?  Do they spread the word of god or do they actually talk to him?  Considering god did not talk to Jesus on the cross, but sent an angel to him, I always doubt those who claim to have a nightly conversation with the almighty.

What is the foundation of good christian values?  Is it the old testament, the new testament, the Holy Bible, the King James Bible or the Book of Mormon?  Is it an eye for an eye or is it turn the other cheek?  Do we stone unfaithful spouses to death or do we seek a divorce?  Do we believe that god is good and kind or that his vengeance awaits us at any moment?

What about the millions of Americans who follow other faiths?  Have they no right to be represented in our government?  They are Americans, pay taxes, die in our wars, and contribute to that fabric that is America.  What gives anyone the right to say their faith is misplaced?

The first Europeans to arrive on these shores came here to avoid religious persecution, to be free to worship as they wished.  Sadly, one of the first things they did was forget how it felt to be condemned due to their beliefs  and started condemning others for theirs.

So my question still stands:  “who are the good Christians?”

President Reagan Speaking in Minneapolis in 1982 from National Archives

I thought that Ronald Reagan was GOD to the GOP.  Obviously the Party of No is also now saying No to their beloved Ronnie.  That must be it, otherwise, how could they explain this?

“The United States participated actively and effectively in the negotiation of the Convention . It marks a significant step in the development during this century of international measures against torture and other inhuman treatment or punishment. Ratification of the Convention by the United States will clearly express United States opposition to torture, an abhorrent practice unfortunately still prevalent in the world today….

…The core provisions of the Convention establish a regime for international cooperation in the criminal prosecution of torturers relying on so-called ‘universal jurisdiction.’ Each State Party is required either to prosecute torturers who are found in its territory or to extradite them to other countries for prosecution.

…By giving its advice and consent to ratification of this Convention, the Senate of the United States will demonstrate unequivocally our desire to bring an end to the abhorrent practice of torture.”

Ronald Reagan in a signing statement ratifying the UN Convention on Torture, 1984

The Three Soldiers Statue at The Vietnam Veterans Memorial

I thought I had lost all faith in this country during the Vietnam War.  I hated what was being done in my name and I stood up against it along with many other disillusioned people.  The Kennedy and King assassinations were fresh in my memory and I no longer believed much of what my government had to say.

Then came Watergate and I watched as this great nation sank even lower.  Like many others at the time, I had no idea how we could ever come back from the damage the crooks in the Nixon Administration had inflicted upon us.  I watched every minute of the Watergate Hearings and I bought up newspapers and news magazines as soon as they hit the stands so I could read the very latest in depth coverage.

There was no Internet or cable television and there were only a few independent television outlets.  There was ABC, CBS,  and NBC for television.  There were a few great newspapers like the Washington Post and The New York Times and  the magazines Newsweek and Time.  Of course there were a few other sources like the local papers.  But to get the real background and the as it was going on coverage, the aforementioned were the best things happening.

I took the entire summer off from both work and college, just to watch the hearings.  I had known so many high school friends that would never come home from Vietnam and I despised Nixon .  I wanted to see him and his cronies go to jail for what they had done to my country and to my friends.

During that long summer I began to see that our system was working.  Both Democratic and Republican law makers stood shoulder to shoulder against what had been done and voted ‘yes’ to impeach the President.  My friends met at one of our favorite hangouts to raise a glass or two in celebration that day and more than one of us was hungover the next morning.  We thought it was the beginning of the end to a long collective nightmare.  Then Tricky Dick  Nixon resigned the Presidency to avoid Impeachment.  But, we thought, he WILL be criminally charged and punished accordingly.  Don’t blame us for being naive, we were young.

The day then came that President Ford pardoned Nixon.  He said it was to “heal the nation.”  It did not heal us.  At best it left us with a lightly scabbed wound that broke open anew each time another stupid, senseless and useless war or police action was fought in our name.  Nixon never was punished for his travesty.

The wound many of us felt was really torn open when the Boy King Bush attacked  the Sovereign Nation of Iraq.  Many of us could see what was happening.  Many of us spoke out and marched against it.  But we did not have the press we had in the seventies, even with our modern 24 hour a day news networks.  They failed us.  We also did not have politicians like those few in the seventies that put country before party or personal gain.  They failed us.

I really never thought that I would believe in another politician after that summer.  I was late to the Obama side.  But by the time he stood in the Chicago park and accepted his victory, I was behind him, albeit with a you better do as you promised codicil attached.

I don’t know if we will see Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Gonzales and the rest of the higher ups from the last administration punished.  I certainly hope we do.  They deserve jail time at the very least.  As I wait and watch, I once again hold out hope that this country will finally, finally do what is right and not what is politically expedient and will hold our so called leaders to the laws and punishments to which we would be subject.   I think they must if we are ever to believe in our Constitution again.

At least once a day I remember friends from my youth who were lost on those  bloody Asian  battlefields and I wonder how different things might be if they had been allowed to live their lives.  Then I wonder if Bush and his gang would have done all they did if Nixon and his surrogates had actually been punished to the full extent of the law for their treason.

But hey, if the old Nixon bunch would have been punished that would have included Rumsfeld, Cheney and a few others from the Bush gang now wouldn’t it?  The right thing then would have prevented a lot of the wrong things we are dealing with now.  We must now do the right thing to prevent or at least deter this from happening again in the future.  These criminals cannot go unpunished again.

President Obama please, please do the right thing and show us you are really the man we thought you were when we voted for you.  Let the wounds really heal….finally.

Above photo is alleged to be of Big Igloo, Palin's super secret command facility. From here she purportedly tracks battle progress while also keeping watch for Russian planes trying to attack Alaska.

Dateline: Day 9

Tragic news on Alaskan Front: Palin forces suffer 97% losses in one day.

The Palin administration remains silent at this hour after the news today of just over 97% losses to Alaska’s fighting forces today.  These stunning losses to the all volunteer force were the result of the first day of hunting season. There has been an emergency relocation of the government to an undisclosed location. Sources say this location has walls 3 ice blocks thick and is code named “Big Igloo”.  The location is known only to the few natives in the area.

Meanwhile at the Alamo:

A soldier Sews a flag for his new nation.

An unnamed field commander  showed off the flag he and his followers will march under.  As it wafted in the gentle breeze over his camp, he explained the symbolism to me:  “the gold fringe represents gods almighty light surrounding us. The red background represents the blood our ancestors spilled to make us great.  The white circle in the middle represents the infinite purity of that blood, And the cross in the center represents that we are soldiers of god.”

That flag is appearing around many motor homes in this camp, with the exception of the cross.  I have seen many symbols at the center of this flag, including an embryo, some world leaders, two gay men shot during intercourse, and photos of mentally retarded criminals with needles in their arms.  It is obvious there are many small units in this army fighting for their own interests.

Although President Obama faces many problems. He and his friends seem to have it under control.

Recently, numerous comments have been made by pundits and fear mongers on the right about the “fascist” policies of President Obama.  I have had  a lifelong interest in WWII and possess what many have said is a better than average knowledge of the tactics, nations, and politics of that time.  This era marked the highpoint of fascist regimes in history, and I cannot make the connection between Obama and a leader like Hitler.

Fascist movements tend to spring up in countries at times of economic depression, rampant unemployment and lack of ability in the current leadership to lead said country out of their dire straits.  On this point, given where our previous leadership led us, Obama could qualify as a fascist leader.

Fascist movements also tend to begin as small, EXTREME and violent far right groups touting the historic right and military glory of their country. They also use the anger of the people, often centering that anger on a small segment of the population to blame for all the problems of the country.  For Hitler it was the Jews. For the American right, its gays and non-Christians.  I am still waiting for the President to tell me which segment of my fellow Americans is to blame for our current situation.  If he did lay blame, I suppose the first thing we would see is big red “R”s on the breast pocket of many republicans.

Fascist leaders are ALWAYS megalomaniacs whose word is law, and that law is enforced at military gunpoint.  The government run news tells of “traitors” and “subversives” who have been shot or imprisoned for speaking out against the beloved leader, this includes any and all dissident members of the “elected” government . I have yet to see marines in Congress or broadcast studios taking the mostly fat, gray haired and draft dodging critics of Obama out and shooting them in the street.  But…… noooo…. it would still be wrong.  On this point I would have to say that the fascist Obama regime really sucks.

Fascist leaders get unemployment down by putting people to work building new roads, public works and government projects designed to show the world how this nation surpasses all others in power, technology,  and efficiency.  Lets face it, its hard to be a paradise when your bridges collapse, and your countries infrastructure is 50 years out of date.  Again, Obama could rank as a fascist leader.  He wants to put Americans to work on bringing our country up to date.

Literally eliminating dissent and picking off other nations one by one to expand their glory are the hallmarks of Fascism. Once everyone who dares speak against you is silenced it is easy to lead your country to war -  and war -  and war until your own ultimate destruction.

It is my humble opinion that President Obama is not a fascist. It is also my opinion that through suspension of law, empire building and sheer self indulgence the previous President was starting us down that path. Fortunately, for the American people he was just an over padded suit, with delusions of grandeur. Lets face it, Hitler would never have spent 8 minutes reading “My Pet Goat” to the Hitler youth if Himmler had whispered in his ear “the country is under attack.”

Brian L. Vaubel