Apparently, the liberation of Paris was steeped in racism. Even though many of the soldiers fighting for the freedom of France were not Caucasian, it was determined on high that only white soldiers would be seen marching back into Paris. [I dedicate this post to Richard King, an acquaintance of mine, a wonderful African American man who, as a young soldier, fought long and hard to liberate France.]
Judge James P. Gray is a trial Judge in Orange County, California, a former attorney in the Navy JAG corps, a federal prosecutor in Los Angeles; he has also been a civil litigation attorney for a private law firm. In these two videos, he talks about marijuana and our "failed and hopeless drug policy" in America. According to Gray, it's easier for kids to get marijuana than alcohol because alcohol is regulated by the government and marijuana is regulated by drug dealers on the street. These are excellent videos, caused by a thoughtful judge who is in a position to know. If we started treating marijuana as we do alcohol, we would see five immediate benefits:
California would save $1 Billion in state expenses currently used to prosecute marijuana offenses.
California would generate $1.3B in take revenue per year in California (marijuana is currently the number one cash crop in California, with grapes being #2).
We'd make marijuana less available than it is now, and the quality of marijuana would be better regulated than it is now.
The entire medical marijuana controversy would go away--the Federal government is currently acting like a "bully" harassing sick people.
Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA), appearing on Amy Goodman's DemocracyNow, discusses President Obama's mistake in attempting to escalate the American military presence in Afghanistan. A leading advocate for a single-payer healthcare system and a physician, McDermott also discusses the "medical-Industrial complex," which he considers to be bigger than the "military-industrial complex." Finally, McDermott discusses the danger that someday, in light of the collapses of many newspapers, there might not be meaningful investigative journalism sufficient to sustain our democracy.
What's a good alternative to constantly rattling our swords and threatening Iran? Talking to Iran. Opening up a dialogue. Making it clear that there is an alternative to needless, destructive counter-productive and expensive war. Allowing Iran to save face by making sure that it is our country that takes the first step to a constructive relationship. This video illustrates one of the main reasons why I voted for Barack Obama.
Who were the prisoners of Guantanamo? Andy Worthington has compiled a four-part series telling us their stories. Here's the disturbing bottom line:
[A]t least 93 percent of the 779 men and boys imprisoned in total — were either completely innocent people, seized as a result of dubious intelligence or sold for bounty payments, or Taliban foot soldiers, recruited to fight an inter-Muslim civil war that began long before the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and that had nothing to do with al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden or international terrorism.
I don't pretend to know enough to know whether these accounts are totally accurate, but they are filled with details, personal anecdotes, statistics and reports regarding individual court cases. It has a strong ring of authenticity. Further, these individual accounts corroborate general accounts produced elsewhere. I have no reason to disbelieve any part of Andy Worthington's work. He is a well-reputed journalist who has published elsewhere, such as this post at Huffington Post. I am proud to be an American. America does much right in the world and has the potential to do much more that is admirable. This account by Andy Worthington, however, describes America at its shameful worst.