I believe I am entitled to an opinion, so I'll share mine:
People call me a democrat, a republican, and a libertarian. I don't subscribe to any. I don't like democrats for regulating the economy and attacking gun control; I don't like republicans for violating personal rights (women) and drug wars, and I don't like libertarians for their ideological castration of government services. My ideal federal government is one that protects your human rights, educates you when you are young, and takes care of you when you are old or sick. I would gladly pay my taxes for these three key points. Everything else should rest with the states.

>> ^deedub81:

I like to think that everyone's political opinions are at least slightly different. I'd love for you to tell me what you think conservative beliefs are. You seem to be pretty sure of yourself.
This is me: http://www.politicalcompass.org/facebook/pcgraphpng.php?ec=2.50&a
mp;soc=-4.41
>> ^NetRunner:
You think conservatism isn't a religion? What is it, then?
>> ^deedub81:
What does conservatism have to do with faith?

>> ^njjh201:

Iran is huge, if you lined its western border up with the west coast of the USA it would stretch from the Mexican border to the Canadian, and as far inland as Western Colorado.
Isfahan is right in the middle of all that, so bringing 'war torn' into this makes about as much sense as linking a shooting rampage in Denver to the drug wars in Mexico.
And in any case there's no war in Iran just yet. War torn Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, etc are all hundreds of miles away.
>> ^artician:
Wow. Even knowing this is coming from (what we're told is) a war-torn part of the world, that's insane.
Haven't they heard of streaking?



You're absolutely right. Wartorn was a poor word choice on my part. "Militaristic" would probably be more accurate, but ultimately I was trying to convey that most US folk don't really know what it's like over there, and they have a bad reputation. And on top of that, now, grenades at football games.

>> ^petpeeved:

De-criminalize all drugs in the United States. Make them available and cheap with a prescription from an MD. along with mandatory attendance at a drug counselor. Voila, no more drug lords, no more massacres.
I'd also be willing to venture that the same people who are using drugs now, will be the ones using them after decriminalization while the ones not currently using, won't turn into druggies just because they can access them legally.


Yah I wonder why they won't do the ONE thing the drug lords DON'T want, which is to make drugs legal. The thing that upsets me the most about this is that because an essentially harmless plant has been made ilegal, thousands upon thousands of people die every year, for what? Nothing...

>> ^jmd:

Looks like cops and a dose of Mr Obvious.
The war on drugs is because a significant part of the population does not want drugs in their country. Now is it having a huge impact on us because of our poverty rates? yea.. if anything it is a holocaust on the dollar bill. The more we spend on drug wars, the more people that get poorer. There isn't a GOOD ending to this scenario.. either we stop fighting it or it will eventually makes us broke.. how ever...
Still doesn't stop the fact that we don't want these types of drugs around, or the people that use them. Find a different country if you want to shoot up. A country I can't go around without seeing people overdosing in front of me is not a country I wan't to live in.


I took your advice, rounded up all the drug users, quickly organized them for a mass exodus, and gleefully watched as they ratified amendment after amendment into their own system of government. I take no credit in this feat, as the combination of their GEDs and generations of unchecked family abuse paved the way. If their government fails they can always move to Liberia and die in a torrent of AIDS and more AIDS. Thanks for the advice, fuckface.

Although it's counter-intuitive the case of Portugal suggests that you are less likely to see people overdosing in front of you under legalization than prohibition. Does this alter your views?
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=portugal-drug-decriminalization
>> ^jmd:

Looks like cops and a dose of Mr Obvious.
The war on drugs is because a significant part of the population does not want drugs in their country. Now is it having a huge impact on us because of our poverty rates? yea.. if anything it is a holocaust on the dollar bill. The more we spend on drug wars, the more people that get poorer. There isn't a GOOD ending to this scenario.. either we stop fighting it or it will eventually makes us broke.. how ever...
Still doesn't stop the fact that we don't want these types of drugs around, or the people that use them. Find a different country if you want to shoot up. A country I can't go around without seeing people overdosing in front of me is not a country I wan't to live in.

What country do you live in?

I've done loads of drugs for about 25 years and I have yet to see anyone "overdosing in front of me".

PS: it's not *your* country. It's everyone's, including the people who like to do drugs. The problem isn't drugs, it's an unusually harsh penal system that is unlike anything in any other western society. You've got to ask yourself one very simple question: Are Americans 100x more horrible than citizens in other western democracies, or are our policies harsh and unrealistic?

>> ^jmd:

Looks like cops and a dose of Mr Obvious.
The war on drugs is because a significant part of the population does not want drugs in their country. Now is it having a huge impact on us because of our poverty rates? yea.. if anything it is a holocaust on the dollar bill. The more we spend on drug wars, the more people that get poorer. There isn't a GOOD ending to this scenario.. either we stop fighting it or it will eventually makes us broke.. how ever...
Still doesn't stop the fact that we don't want these types of drugs around, or the people that use them. Find a different country if you want to shoot up. A country I can't go around without seeing people overdosing in front of me is not a country I wan't to live in.

>> ^jmd:

Looks like cops and a dose of Mr Obvious.
The war on drugs is because a significant part of the population does not want drugs in their country. Now is it having a huge impact on us because of our poverty rates? yea.. if anything it is a holocaust on the dollar bill. The more we spend on drug wars, the more people that get poorer. There isn't a GOOD ending to this scenario.. either we stop fighting it or it will eventually makes us broke.. how ever...
Still doesn't stop the fact that we don't want these types of drugs around, or the people that use them. Find a different country if you want to shoot up. A country I can't go around without seeing people overdosing in front of me is not a country I wan't to live in.


This is a fine example of the sort of fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of drug use and addiction that keeps this war on the poor so profitable.

Looks like cops and a dose of Mr Obvious.

The war on drugs is because a significant part of the population does not want drugs in their country. Now is it having a huge impact on us because of our poverty rates? yea.. if anything it is a holocaust on the dollar bill. The more we spend on drug wars, the more people that get poorer. There isn't a GOOD ending to this scenario.. either we stop fighting it or it will eventually makes us broke.. how ever...

Still doesn't stop the fact that we don't want these types of drugs around, or the people that use them. Find a different country if you want to shoot up. A country I can't go around without seeing people overdosing in front of me is not a country I wan't to live in.

Thanks brotha!
In reply to this comment by gwiz665:
Statist subversion at its finest: Drug War.
*quality *doublepromote

Statist subversion at its finest: Drug War.
*quality *doublepromote

yes, join the movement against stupidity.

a major obstacle in the US against the use of rationality is the dominance of the corporatocracy and the illusion of a democracy. Because of the legalized graft and the depth of political deception, change here will be slower. but it will come. the slowness to change, especially in the spectrum of climatology and planet change, may soon make the US a worldwide villain.

The principal goal of the US, as an empire, is to maintain that empire.
as a pretext, the drug war has always been a method of maintaining that empire.

corruption, climate/planet change and resource depletion will dictate the eventual collapse of that empire, along with it's stupidity.
or so the magic eight ball says

Well, duh.

On a related note, it's interesting to me that, with more than 15 years of legalized medical marijuana in the US (California being the first in 1996), you would think that the the opponents to relaxation of the drug laws would have mountains of evidence to back up their claims of social armageddon (at least with respect to marijuana).

But, of course this isn't the case, demonstrating in sharp relief the fact that the drug war is nothing but a huge business enterprise with strong interests perpetuating an ongoing persecution of our citzenry for the profits of said interests.

Fuckin' ridiculous.

Yea... Not really racism. You should know what's being represented on your own darn body, especially when you're entering from Mexico in midst of drug war.

It's about context, and it's about knowledge. Imagine me as a high school kid thinking those SS lightening symbol with the skull is really cool, so I decide to get'em inked. Next time I try flying to Germany, they deny me at the airport because it's considered a Nazi symbol. I could make the argument saying I didn't know what the symbol was about before having them tattooed. The Germans would still deny my entrance.

Be mindful where you're traveling to, and be responsible for what goes on your body for god sakes... Puh.

>> ^vaire2ube:

The War on Drugs is a War on People... or quite literally, a War on Freedom.
Who else hates our freedom as much as the DEA?? Ask Daniel Chong... Bin Laden has nothing on what the DEA did to him.


I agree, but let me devils advocate for a second. Everyone has heard of sin taxes, extra taxes placed on things like cigarettes to discourage their use. These things fly in the face of freedom as well, they just don't send you to jail, just the poor house. The scary part about sin taxes isn't the tax itself, even though it is bad, but it is the justification it then grants the government in the matters of regulating what you consume. There is the FDA on the other side of that argument as well. Lets say Mary Jane gets legalized, you can bet your ass the stuff you grown in your back yard STILL isn't going to be legal. You are going to need some kind of licence, some sort of standardized testing procedure to make sure you aren't poisoning yourself...ect ect.

My point is, harping on the drug war is fine, and it is right to do so. But there are SO many different agencies and areas the government tells us what do and what not to do. IN that, the drug war is just an extension of those things. If you still want the FDA by the logic, that the drug war is a war on people, I don't think it will stand the test. Instead, you have to take a MUCH less ideological position of "more people want to do it than don't, so it is the exception in regulator matters". That is the problem you get into when you start trying to make everyone safe...there isn't such an actual idea as safe. Safe is a completely subjective idea...some people feel safe skydiving...fuck that noise.

As a crazy libertarian, I am fine with most government agencies shutting down. To that end, I do think life wouldn't change to much. The entities in the government evolved from our desire for them to exist. They would all most likely come to be in the private sector as well, a consumer reports of food, ect. And with places like the sift and redit, I do think the second age of the information age is going to place a LOT of pressure on governments and challenge their ability to deal with challenges. The internet might unlock a democratic meritocracy in certain instances, and for that I am very hopeful. </rant>

Asa gets 90% of the time and still cannot say one productive thing other than the fact that he is pro medical marijuana apparently. He also says many things that show him to either be severely misinformed or he is just evil. If law enforcement agents had even a sliver of integrity they would refuse to perform all the unconstitutional acts that the drug war requires them to do so stating that they have lots of integrity just goes against all logic and evidence.