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Category: freedom

08/02/08 02:49 - 74ºF - ID#45227

911 the terrorist won and now win again

Why people hate us I'm not sure. I have heard they hate our freedom and that we do what we want but not sure if that is true. Yes 911 did change everything, but not how we think. Yes 911 was bad but it wasn't the first attack on American Soil. That was the 2nd attack on The Trade center remember when there where those explosions and they wanted the building to collapse and it didn't work. But about the Oklahoma City Bombing oh that doesn't count cause he is an American. I don't know if this is true but some Expert on tv said that the trade centers where made strong enough to support a plane, so in theory that means if the second plane didn't hit the building wouldn't have given in. If this is true then was the 2nd plane just chance or did someone know that and if they did know that how did they find out. It does make you wonder. I'm not going to say that the government had it planed or that they let it happen but maybe they knew it might happen and thought if it happens great we will have more control over the people. In any even it has lead to lot s of Paronia and people giving up there rights to feel safer. I understand that is a natural feeling but I think it is the wrong thing to do. Maybe it is just me but wasn't the Consituiton (part of it at least) Supposed to protect us and keep our freedoms well what I read about on line seems like it breaks all Americans and anyone coming to our countries freedom. It sounds to me like illegal search and sezuire to me. It could also be envassion of privacy. Yes when ever you cross the boarder if you act guilty you can be checked but based on this they could check everyone and I say it is illegal and needs to go here is the story. I didn't write this it was in the Buffalo News.

New policy allows agents to seize your laptop, iPod or cell phone at the border
By Jerry Zremski NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF
Updated: 08/02/08 9:41 AM

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The policy allowing the confiscation of cell phones, computers and other gadgets has been made public.


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WASHINGTON - Federal agents can confiscate your laptop, cell phone or iPod at the border without suspicion of wrongdoing under a recently disclosed U.S. government policy that's provoking outrage from business travelers and civil libertarians.

"If you don't want information on your laptop to be seen by the U. S. government, don't bring it across the border," Susan Gurley, executive director of the Association for Corporate Travel Executives, said on Friday. "We cannot warn people enough."

Gurley's group worries that the government can seize or copy electronic information without just cause when Americans return from overseas - and that sensitive corporate secrets could fall into the wrong hands as a result.

But the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which published the policy July 16 after lawmakers asked that it be made public, insisted the broad authority to conduct searches on electronic equipment is necessary to root out terrorists and child pornographers.

"The danger is legitimate," said Amy Kudwa, a department spokeswoman, who noted that the confiscation of electronic devices in pursuit of wrongdoers affects only "a very small population."

Under the policy, "officers may detain documents and electronic devices, or copies thereof, for a reasonable period of time to perform a thorough border search. The search may take place on-site or at an off-site location."

If, after the review, investigators find no reason to keep any of the information they retrieve from electronic devices, they have to destroy it, the policy says. But it offers no specifics for how long agents have to review information and return laptops and other electronic devices to their owners.

The policy - available at www.cbp.gov/linkhandler/cgov/travel/admissability/search_authority.ctt/search_authority.pdf - affects all international travelers when they return to the United States not only at land borders but also on overseas flights.

Kudwa said she didn't know how long the policy has been in effect, but it has raised questions in the travel industry for 18 months.

In a recent survey of its members, Gurley's business travel group found that 44 percent of respondents had changed their corporate travel policies because of possible border searches.

Only three of the 100 respondents said an electronic device belonging to their company had been seized at the border this year.

But the business travelers still expressed widespread fears; 72 percent said they worried that data seized by the U. S. government was at risk of being compromised.

"We have reduced travel significantly to almost zero" in response to the policy, another respondent said. "We no longer trust U. S. territory to be secure."

The policy doesn't apply just to business travelers, either.

"This policy is especially difficult for people who live near the border and travel back and forth for business or pleasure," said Greg Nojeim, general counsel at the Center for Democracy and Technology. "Now they have to think about purchasing a clean laptop just so the government can take it for a few days without damaging their business or revealing personal details about their lives. And that's just what some travelers are doing."

The New York Civil Liberties Union and Muslim Advocates, a San Francisco-based group, said they worry that travelers of Arab or South Asian descent may be particularly vulnerable to unwarranted searches.

A federal appeals court, nevertheless, recently upheld the policy, which the government describes as necessary and harmless.

"During border inspections of laptops, [Customs and Border Protection] officers have found violent jihadist material, information about cyanide and nuclear material, video clips of Improvised Explosive Devices, pictures of high-level al-Qaida officials, and other material associated with people seeking to do harm to our country," Jayson Ahern, deputy commissioner, says on the Customs and Border Protection Web site. "Border searches also have uncovered intellectual property rights violations and child pornography."

Although the policy allows searches "absent individualized suspicion," agents actually conduct inspections only when they have some reason to believe that the devices should be examined, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said in a recent USA Today opinion piece.

And Jim Phillips, president of the Lewiston-based Canadian/ American Border Trade Alliance, said he has not heard any complaints about the policy from people who frequently cross the border.

In Congress, however, complaints are growing.

Sen. Russell D. Feingold, DWis., called the policy "truly alarming" and added, "I am more convinced than ever that legislation is needed in order to protect law-abiding Americans from this gross violation of privacy."

Feingold said he plans to introduce such legislation soon, and Rep. Brian Higgins, D-Buffalo, said he would consider pushing the bill in the House.

"I would call this an outrageous obliteration of civil liberties," Higgins said of the policy.

Chertoff, however, warned that legislation limiting the searches could cause a "dangerous, chilling effect" that would deter border agents from making searches they ought to make.

"We cannot abandon our responsibility to inspect what enters the U. S. just because the information is on an electronic device," he said in his USA Today commentary. "To do so would open a dangerous window for terrorists and criminals to exploit our borders in new and unacceptable ways."


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Permalink: 911_the_terrorist_won_and_now_win_again.html
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Location: Buffalo, NY


Category: nfl

08/01/08 07:11 - 79ºF - ID#45222

"Are You Ready For Some Football?"

I will admit that saying Isn't really the right one. But that being said Football Season Starts this weekend. Yes some would say preseason doesn't count and maybe they are correct. If you get NFL Network then on Saturday you can watch the Hall of Fame inductions and speeches. I'm sure after the fact you will be able to see them on other sports shows and maybe it will be on line. Then on Sunday at 8pm on NBC the first real Preseason game The Hall of Fame Game is on. It will be the Colts vs. (my) Washington Redskins. I have no idea how long any of the starters will play or if they will at all, but it is the HOF Game they should play them all. I think it is good that Art Monk (former redskin) is being inducted. I think this game will conflict with the X games but maybe not I'll have to double check the times. I have real trouble watching presaeason football games, but that being said I like watching the Big Time ones like HOF and what ever the call the one from Japan or where ever they have it. I have not done any free Fantasy leagues yet but I may, summer isn't over yet but Football is here.

A little bit an update: last night during the X games (another great night of it, it really was pretty good) I saw that the Hall of Fame inductions will be on ESPN at 6pm.
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Permalink: _quot_Are_You_Ready_For_Some_Football_quot_.html
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Location: Buffalo, NY


Category: sports

07/30/08 07:33 - 77ºF - ID#45195

X Games 14

For fans of sports there are a lot of them the current one that comes to mind is out door soccer yes Toronto has a team, and outdoor Lacrosse comes to mind quickly. There are plenty of sports that are not on TV and that unless your city or area has a team no one cares about. Every 4 years there are the Olympics. It used to be the the winter and summer games where on the the same year. I like that they made them 2 years apart. The interesting thing is The Olympics is all ways on a leap year (summer games). I think having to only wait two years between summer and winter is better for the people watching and it is also better for people who compete. Hey what if you want to compete in both for different events, it has happened but I don't remember who. Yes there has been a lot of hype and adds and product tie ins for this Olympic games and even some (in Canada) for the winter games coming up. I won't lie and say I know all the events but there are some winter and maybe one summer event that was first part of The X Games. I have to admit that the X games are not the only Action Sport event. But currently the are the best known well maybe not maybe the Dew Action Sports tour is up there, not sure if they still have the Gravity Games but that was right up there, but it just wasn't as prestigous. The X games (on tv at least) Start on Thursday aka The day before Friday and take place all weekend. Watching them should be a fun time. Expn.com has more info on the games and the times and when they are on. I myself have never used espn360.com but I know that through that site you can watch video and I assume the games live as they happen, but not sure. So for those of you who are sports fans it could be a fun weekend of sports. One thing that I like about these types of sports is the risk factor and with some of them it is really high. Plus a sport where you are not part of a team is nice to see. All the sports are not about look at me a can do what no one else can do and land with out dying, hey it takes a lot of practice to get these tricks down and some of them look amazing. It helps if the ramps are set up so that when the camera catches the trick a city or arena or something is in the background.
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Permalink: X_Games_14.html
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Location: Buffalo, NY


Category: tv

07/29/08 07:03 - 81ºF - ID#45187

Baltimore and other Docs

I will admit I'm not film student but I still like documentaries anyway. Of course a lot of it , ok most of it has to do with the subject matter. As interesting as they can be sometimes I think it is important to remember a couple of things. Even though they are true accounts they can be greatly edited in a way that proves a point instead of being a true reflection, and there isn't much of a way to know if this was done or not. The other factor is what effect does the camera have. And what I mean by that is some people will act differently when filmed. Maybe they will do things that they wouldn't normaly or maybe they will be more out there and act for the camera it is really hard to know. The other one problem is if you see them on say TV they can kinda be a little behind or seem like things where from years ago. With out going to film school I don't know how long it takes to fix them up and get permission to show everyones faces and doing all the editing but that adds time. Then I would assume to get on HBO or TV people have to see one at screenings and then somehow unless it is shot for that network itself to air on TV off course. But I'm sure it adds time from when it is finished to when it is on TV.

I have seen 3 recently and sorry I can't remember all the names of them. There was one that was pretty interesting on High School debate teams. That one really gave a lot of information about how people debate and this one black team was trying to change the way people debate. Most of teams where using the high speed talking so you can say more in you're time. I wish I could explain it better.

The one about Heidi Fliess was pretty interesting. I reason I wanted to see it was because I wanted to find out if she got the Stud Ranch open. That is correct she was trying to open up a Brothel where women would come and have sex with men. By the time they stopped filming she still had not be approved part of the problem was that the state or county or what ever stopped taking aplications due to some FBI investagation into corruption. So the movie wound up being more about her and this former madam she lived next to who had all these birds (the bright cool ones).

The most recent was a Fredrick Douglas High School, in the inner city of Baltimore. From what I could see it didn't really have a message. It wasn't only about the school but also about "no child left behind". Yes they did show the out of control kids. But they also showed the good kids like Basketball team, Band, and debaters. It pointed out that one of the problems that the school has had is all the white kids (maybe they didn't say it that way) and non poor blacks moving out and to the suburbs. It was really was pretty interesting to see how often discipline had to come before teaching and it was pretty interesting. The part that was weird was this one kid in the school looked just like "Snoop" from the show "The Wire" and they did show a little bit of Baltimore that some people who watched "Homicide life on the street" and "The Wire" it might look like some place you have seen (not sure how much of that city they really filmed in, for those two shows). The Principal went with someone else to someones house to see why she didn't show up to school, I had no idea they still did that. They had some history about the school also, it almost sounded like desegration hurt the school, but I won't go that far, but it sure did look like a case of separate and not equal to me. I don't want to home in on the gloom because there was a lot of good also.

I'm not sure what the documentary was about last night but I'll look into it. I don't want summer to end but there are some up coming shows that look really good. On of those is a Vampire show on HBO that has all kinds of off shots on the web. Lets see Tru Blood is synthatic blood, then there is a dating site, blood copy is like a news site about vampires I can't remember them all but that is interesting. I'm looking forward for the shows I like to come back like Heroes and The Terminator. That brings up one of the reasons why I like "I survived a Japanese Game Show". Yes it is a game show/reality show. But it is more then that. The winning team gets to do something fun in Japan say visit a fish Market or go to a spa or something then the losing team has to do something not fun like give Rikshaw rides, or plant Rice or something so it isn't only the game you do get to see a little bit about the country.
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Permalink: Baltimore_and_other_Docs.html
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Location: Buffalo, NY


Category: peterazzi

07/27/08 05:58 - 77ºF - ID#45167

Peterazzi Delayed

Peterazzi is safe and was helped by a few people and he thanks you. He still isn't sure what new equipment to get and has to do some research still. He is hopeful to make a choice and get what he needs by the time the fair starts but who knows. The Garden walk Photos will be a bit delayed but he homes that anyone who went had a good time and maybe has some photos they may wind up posting. The reason for the delay is now that he uses film for a bit, the place that he would get it developed is having some problems of its own. Peterazzi is glad that he made it some places he never made it last year. On of those streets he finds odd called Cary. It isn't that the name is odd it is that he has gone past it and with knowing someone named Carey and with knowing people who live in Cary, NC he doesn't know why he didn't notice that name before. That being said he is very happy he got to see those nice houses and gardens up close. Around that same area he was very impressed that this one little area had there own flags that said Rabin Terrace on there homes. He also went to the Johnson park area and that was very nice. He also thought there where a lot of nice places on North Pearl and doesn't remember ever being on that st or Park st. prior to yesterday. Hopefully with some luck he can have pictures made and put on a disc and post them and hopes every one had a great weekend.
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Permalink: Peterazzi_Delayed.html
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Category: event

07/26/08 01:13 - 76ºF - ID#45150

Garden Walk so far is fun

So far I have just seen a few places around my area and there are some really nice gardens and flowers. I'm heading back out and one place I'm going to is a place to I think 3 (e:peeps) used to live. It really looks nice out in front of it. Hopefully my camera continues to work and by the end of the weekend or Monday I can have some pictures up. I saw someone giving a tour and that is pretty interesting. I forget how much and how quickly one goes through film. It also seems so weird to not be able to see what the pictures will look like, you get so used to that with a digital camera.
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Permalink: Garden_Walk_so_far_is_fun.html
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Location: Buffalo, NY


Category: event

07/22/08 06:07 - 69ºF - ID#45105

Garden Walk and refelecting back

So I'm not sure how the weather is going to be this weekend but on Saturday and Sunday form 10am to 4PM is the garden walk. I know if you check out their website you can find where to get maps before the walk and where to get them during the walk. I know that the senior center on Summer is where I'll go they are open during the walk, Plus if you donate money then you can get something for that money (that also means you can't claim it on your taxes or at least it used to be that way).


Info on the Buffalo Garden Walk



I would suggest getting a map from someplace but they do have a PDF map online that you can check out if you don't feel like going to get one.

Here is a link the the garden walks gallery


I will admit that it used to be the event that just brought everyone into "My Hood" and on a Sunday it was very weird. But now I like going and hope the weather is nice for it. On a side note kinda I have to reflect back and say that I first meet (e:tinypliny) (who will always be Tiny since I can't pronounce your name, not that it is hard to pronounce but it is to me so I then forget it since I can't say it so you will allways be known as tiny) at the Garden walk last year. It doesn't seem like a year ago. Wow that year went fast it really did. It will also be close to year to when I first sort of met (e:Fellyconnelly) and (e:Lauren) who are Felly and Lauren to me. It is weird how some (e:peeps) go by there name and some by there user name. Well it isn't weird really it is more like how some people get called by there name and some people get nick names and then sometimes you might get called by both. I just meet Ralphie for the first time the other day. I have to admit he is smaller and cuter then I thought he would be I see why he is "The Famous Ralplhie" . I have also meet a few new (e:peeps) recently and seen a few this spring/summer that I haven't seen in a long time (e:ladycroft)'s dinner comes to mind quickly in that regard. I don't really like to refer to (e:peeps) as New Peeps and old peeps but sometimes I do. I refer to myself as an old (e:peep) but not an originator at all, there where plenty of people who where here before I was. The point I'm trying to get at is (e:strip) is a community online and also one off line. But as new people join or other people are still part of the community but maybe don't post then the dynamic of the community changes. It is kinda like I hate to say high school but I will. When you start out you are a freshmen and meet people and if you are in clubs or sports some people are in different grades but as seniors leave you move up so some of the people you know are the same and some people change as the new freshmen come in and they meet new people. We don't change as much as highschool and we don't kick you out in four years but it is kinda the same in some ways. Do I have a real point not really, other then the group dynamic kinda changes over time, I'm not saying that is good or that is bad it just is. I like the old peeps and the new peeps and the middle peeps and we often view things differently and want to fist fight on a blog, but that doesn't mean I won't pour you a drink at a party or bar or some place. oh yeah Happy Tuesday everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Permalink: Garden_Walk_and_refelecting_back.html
Words: 693
Location: Buffalo, NY


Category: peterazzi

07/21/08 06:56 - 75ºF - ID#45093

Buffalo Test Updated Dark Knight

Well this is a test to see if or how the Peterazzi will ride again one of these pictures is from the disc section of previews and one is from pictures. The problem is that (e:strip) doesn't generate a preview from the disc so they have to be added to my computer so that I can see them.
image

Missing Image ;(



Here is one that has been added to my computer lets see what happens here.

Missing Image ;(


image

Ok what I suspected was correct that the files where to big so any picture I add here I will have to resize it or crop it as a way to resize it. Lets make sure the pictures in the preview works.


image
image
image

I did learn that my photo software can see the pictures on the CD so I guess that can be used as a reference point. These pictures are not the best of me but that is ok cause this is more of a test anyways. That being said if all my pictures are of one thing like say gardens then I could post them all with out knowing what ones they are since there aren't different kinds of pictures since they would all fit into the post, hmmm.

Also wanted to add Yesterday I went to go see the Dark Knight and it was very good. Yes it was dark and the joker came off as dark and like he was unsure of himself in how he talked and Bales vocals where really good and Two Face was awesome and then there where some Actors I like in it that I didn't know where in it.
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Permalink: Buffalo_Test_Updated_Dark_Knight.html
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Location: Buffalo, NY


Category: peterazzi

07/19/08 06:54 - 80ºF - ID#45077

The Death of Peterazzi

Well the Peterazzi is dead. It was a shocking death as the storm blew in from no where and the bullet riped right through him and left him dead in the street. Or so the shooter thought. Cause all though he is down out and out and slowly bleeding and could die very soon he is slowly crawling dragging himself down the street looking for help and looking to hide as he tries to figure out what to do next. He slowly tries to think about what he will do and fix his problem. But it is so hard when his protection didn't work and now he doesn't know if he can really get any good help from them as he lays there alone on the street. Will he me able to survive or will he just give up and die, or maybe he can be resurected or be returned to his glory. Only time shall tell.


I'm not sure if metaphor is the correct term for that piece about how I'm feeling right now. For those who don't know last week I went to the taste of Buffalo and got soaked in the rain. That would really be much of a problem except so did my camera. When I get home I can take pictures and it works still. So the next morning I go to the taste and my screen is dead. I can still take pictures but with out a screen there is no way to know how the picture looks, if you change setting you have no idea what you are changing them to. If you go to walgreens you can download them on a disk and have them printed but since you need the camera screen you wouldn't know if you where deleting pictures. So yes I could take pictures and then just keep buying new memory cards but that would be pretty costly. But see here is where no one will help me I bought my camera at office max and they have this great warrenty but it doesn't cover anything until my kodak one is over and that isn't till like Dec. Hey maybe I'll wait and see what happens then. Guess what kodak doesn't cover water damage, those fuckers. On line it would be like $80 to fix they think, argh on a $200 camera, plus I might have to pay for the shipping, fuckers, argh..... Then they have this thing where you can trade in a damaged camera and get 15% at there store, that is it I pay $200 and then I would still have to get another one and that is all they give me. But if I have to get a new one anyways that might not be a bad idea. Except that I don't like how there software works. I'm not saying it is bad software it just isn't my style and takes forever to do things. Then if I send it away what do I do for pictures till it gets back. My advantix camera is shot, found that out today, and I have another old one that might be shot or might work to test out. It is so tough to pick when all decisions are wrong or seem bad, isn't the garden walk next week I would really like to take pictures there and I have no idea what to do.

On a good note Maybe UFC tonight on spike tv will be good. I had a good time at the Italian festival. I tried Ziti with Pesto that was very good and so was the Deep Fried Resses (they had other things deepfried also) and then there was Penne with vokda sauce, yummy.
This morning I didn't get to the movies in time to see any of the early "Dark Knight" showing but I did see the 10:45 showing of hell boy and it was very good. Who knows maybe there will be more adventures of peterazzi to come.
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Permalink: The_Death_of_Peterazzi.html
Words: 661
Location: Buffalo, NY


Category: issues

07/16/08 06:54 - 82ºF - ID#45040

Backward war on drugs and racism

First of all I hope that my general sense of being worn out doesn't make what I'm writing not make any sense. I'm not going to say that smoking crack is ok or that it should be legal, but maybe it should be. Oh when ever I saw drugs it will be short for illegal drugs. Tobacco, Alcohol, Caffene, and a few other are all have the good and there bad but none of them are considered drugs when they are discussed so to make things more simple they won't be counted.

I can understand that people can think drugs are wrong morally. It seems to me that is where most of the anti drug stuff comes from. I also think that since you come from it as a moral argument you can never end drug use (drug use and abuse are different but often people don't get that so for this they will be the same). See if it is moral issue then people who are on drugs aren't as good as you. Once someone isn't as good as you then the way you treat them changes. Instead of wanting people to get better just send the pieces of shit to jail. Even if you where to think that they should go to rehab if people think drug users are worse people that will sink in and they will pick up on that and no advice will ever work because it is done like preaching.

When I'm sick, do I care about being sick and that I don't move as good or that my insides are messed up, no I don't. I care about the fact that I don't feel good. So I take drugs that make me feel better (yes the sleep helps fight the cold) But I'm doing it to stop the pain. What I should do is take cough expecturent that will make me cough and get all the germs out. But again I would rather sleep and not be in pain. In America we do this with a lot of things we fight the symptoms in stead of what is causing the problems. The same is true about the drug war. We bust drug dealers and drug users and kingpins and gangs who fight over turf. But really what is that going to do? Well it makes Jails and the entire legal system huge and big profits for some people, and breaks up all ready broken families. But even if you got ride of all the drug dealers in a neighboorhood or a city how long would it stay that way. As long as there is a demand then those people who need drugs will get them someplace. Maybe it won't be on the corner maybe they will sniff gas, or snort aderlale (anti depresent that I guess gets up pretty high in powder form up your nose). As long as there is demand someone will supply something. That is why the war on drugs makes no sense. If you could spend the money on making sure society teaches people about how to deal with things with out using drugs then there would be no need to lock up drug dealers cause when no one smoked crack anymore they would have to do something else.

But there are other reasons this will never happen. First of all there is a difference between drug use and abuse. If I go to a rave or a dance club once a month and use e to have more fun then that is use but if I'm going out to the clubs every night and using it my brain is going to get fucked up. There is some thought that DNA, Abuse and Family history ties into why some people wind up abusing drugs and some don't. I also think that what you see as a kid is a factor. Hey if mom comes home from work and hates dad and drinks half a bottle of win, then you learn that is how you deal with things, instead of dealing with things in a positive way.

Another reason why the government won't stop the war on drugs and spend that money to try and help people not become addicts is because of drugs that are accepted. What if saying in first grade as part of health class you teach coping skills. Yeah that would be great. You could also teach kids that they should have some way to deal with anger. You could teach all this positive stuff and even tell kids about art and music or suggest hobbies to do as a way of escaping instead of drugs and give them ways to deal with peer pressure. But see if that where to work then what about beer, there would be no reason to buy it, same would be true with smoking. Oh we could never have that. Back to the moral thing again. It is ok to smoke and drink but smoking weed or doing a line of blow (not that I really would but I have all ways wanted to try a line of a striper's tit of course she was free and so was the blow) is wrong. I think because of that conflict the teaching of "life or coping skills" will never really be taught. I don't know if it is true or not but I have heard that "The capagne for a drug free America" is paid for by some Tobacco and Alcohol companies. As long as they have the money to through around then teaching people that drugs are not the only way to relax or speed up will never happen. I think that when companies like Redbull, Amp (part of mountain dew), Shark, Monster, rockstar and other energy drinks get smart they will add money to stop drugs. Why go get no doze or take uppers when you can have two cans of red bull. I can't say that they are currently helping to keep drugs illegal but if they are smart they will soon.

I honestly believe that if you fought the war on drugs from the prevention side it would do a lot more good then sending people to jail. I wonder if mostly white guys went to jail and broke up white families if the war on drugs would keep going this way. I kinda doubt it. I also think the war on drugs is a form of racism. I won't go as far as to say that the CIA put (forget the specific drug heroion I think) into the ghetto, but some people do believe that they did. I have not been to every city and I don't know about how things work in white hoods. But from what I seen the people who go to jail for selling drugs on the street are mostly black, and Latino (what nationality not really sure but does it really matter?). I don't think that it was set up as a race thing really it was more about who is poor, and where the poor people live. (hey or maybe I'm out of my mind from listening to both Public Enemy and Queensryche back in the day). But in general terms rich guys bring drugs into the country or grow it here in some cases. They have the least to lose also since they aren't selling it on the streets. There are way to many levels to really know but somewhere down the line you get to someone who sells or distributes drugs to an area or a bunch of people and maybe even some of those people resell it. As the amount of money people make gets lower the risks get higher and the skin gets darker or at least the people get poorer. No one when they are in 1st grade goes when I go up I want to by a drug dealer.

But at some point some kid who is in school, or who has maybe dropped out all ready see the glammour and the money of selling drugs. Hey if you want nice clothes and an x-box or money to drink or what ever you will get that cash a lot quicker then flipping burgers. it is all ways harder for the poor to get good jobs. The schools they go to aren't as good (hey all the tax payers moved to the burbs so how could they be as good), so there education isn't as good. If the home is broken (not saying there are not good single parents there are some really good ones) but that on top of being poor makes things tougher. Then if you ad in that you are black on top of that, it can be very hard to get a job. So instead of trying the lure of selling drugs is an easy one. I'm not saying everyone who is black is a a drug dealer, in fact most are not. I'm not saying you can't get a good job, you can get hired there and then if you are a good worker maybe even become a manager and then take some classes and become a district manager or something along those lines. But middle class (not even rich) families kids have an advantage and then if they are white it is a double adventage. Plus sometimes the cultural differences are just enough to scare away the guy who does the hiring. So there is often this perception that well I won't be able to get a job any ways, and even if I do It will be something nasty so I should sell drugs. Then if you sell drugs and that is what you are going to do why finish school anyways. Now if you get arrested for drugs or really anything criminal that makes getting another job even more tough. Once an ex-con allways an ex-con. The drug game is fixed game that hurts blacks and hispancs and favors rich with and maybe colubian men. That is reason enough to pay the DEA to go bust down doors and put "The Scum Bags who ruin our little angles lives by selling them drugs" in jail. But see if you where not on the higher moral ground and you taught you kids that they don't need to smoke up (kinda hard when you pop Zanak and they tried that first) t deal with being in high school, then there would be no drug dealers.

I wish I could really explain better how I think the war on drugs is racism. But it is kinda tough to do. What I do know is that it sure seems racist to me. It seems like no drug dealer makes people do drugs. Granted I don't think they should try to peddle there stuff to kids. It should be a if you need it you know where to get it type thing. As I stated before there are some pretty good single mothers. But I think that two parents do a better job with kids. I also think that when you take a parent away to jail it does have a bad effect on the kid. I can't say it makes them sell drugs. But it sure could cause them to if there isn't enough money in the household. I think that since the cops go after the sellers on the street (DEA supposidly starts on the street and then tries to move up the chain) that they do it this way because the sellers are minorites. Ok so you can't really go after people you don't see doing a crime (importers) [but how do they get that stuff in anyways, maybe some of it is by paying some people off not sure]. I think that minority sellers is a big reason for the drug war. Not only are you fighting the drug war but you are putting "the scum, Bad guys" in jail.

In this post I'm not saying you should make illegal drugs legal that is a different post at a different time. But I'm saying that if you really want to stop drug use and the crimes that addicts commit like stealing stuff and selling it cheaply on the street for drugs. Then you have to put the racism aside for a minute, and put away the high moral ground and think for a sometime. Then come to understand that just like Porn, strippers, street walkers, or high end escorts as long as there is a need for it people will find a way to get it, so you should figure out how to stop the need. Of course that is a bigger challenge then just putting everyone in jail and you really have to look at things and think about things but no one in this country of "I want it now" will really do that.
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