I try not to lift too much from Radley Balko, since I figure a lot of the same people read his blog and mine, but this was too good: Why you can’t smoke pot. (Because there’s sooooooo much money and lobbying for the drug warriors.)
“10 Rules for a Literary Feud.” No, seriously. It’s not some intellectual snoot piece. Rule 5! It’s SO true! And for that matter, so are 4 and 3. (Tip o’ hat to JS.)
Speaking of sources I normally don’t believe, that fundraising monster (and champion hate group) the Southern Poverty Law Center is right up there at the top of the “take with entire truckload of salt” list. Still, I’m considering this to be good news.
Nice write up on why you can’t smoke pot. Nothing new in it, but a nice write up. Prohibition funds the forces that are used to oppress the citzenry in general, not just pot smokers. It would of been nice if had mentioned the growing prison-industrial complex that is dependent on marijuana prohibition as well.
Next they will be outlawing the consumption of milk that hasn’t been blessed by the USDA and major dairy producers…
Carl-BearMarch 9, 2012 8:25 am
RE: Cost of Living. They aren’t actually talking about the cost of living. It was poll determining what people wanted to “feel” financially secure. It says mere about what Americans consider “essential” than anything about what it really costs to survive.
One of the last times I felt “financially secure” was when I found a really, really good place for regular dumpster diving.
R.L. WurdackMarch 9, 2012 8:36 am
Who’d want to live in any of those places anyway?
The last paragraph is the $150K article says a lot. The system is out of whack.
D.
furrydocMarch 9, 2012 9:35 am
ABC got wrong. It should have said that 70% of the ground beef test contained the pink slime, but I don’t think the original article reported how much of what was in a package was slime verses meat. They identified it by testing for an ammonia type chemical that is used to preserve the stuff. Still very gross. Ask your butcher if they buy pre-ground beef or grind in house. If they don’t grind in house and you know they are not adding extra stuff, then I wouldn’t buy the stuff.
Ken HaglerMarch 9, 2012 9:39 am
I noticed the same thing about the cost of living article that Carl pointed out.
Out of curiosity, I fired up iBank and created a report showing my own income and expenses for the last 365 days. I found that my expenses had been $45,695–less than a third of their figure–and I live in Los Angeles, which isn’t exactly cheap. What’s more, that includes lots and lots of spending on things I could have done without if I had to. If I went through and added up only the expenses that I really _needed_, I’m sure it would have been well below $40,000.
The problem that most Americans face is that they routinely borrow money to buy things they can’t really afford, like houses and cars, and they’ve been so thoroughly brainwashed to consider this normal that they are literally unable to conceive of saving money to buy things.
ScottMarch 9, 2012 10:11 am
150 grand? I can live quite well on one fifth that here( I could move to the eastern part of the state and do well on even less),and know people with families that do. I didn’t see any place on that list I’d care to live(maybe Honolulu, if I had to pick one).
Maybe power doesn’t make anyone stupid, it just attracts the stupid ones.
Any machine can be defeated-sometimes, by comically simple means. The secret is to do it in an entertaining way, where everyone gets a laugh and no one is harmed.
MMarch 9, 2012 10:22 am
Considering the “Pink Slime” is actually used under the GRAS (Generally Regarded as Safe) theory, I wrote about this in March of last year:
I then questioned how the individual who applied for the patent and industry wide implemented the program (for MickyD’s) could use the
“none of Mr. Roth’s patents have included in the “Claims” sections that using Ammonia Nitrate reduces E-Coli or any other disease causing Bacteria.
Patent Number: (“Method for treating meat products with ammonia”)
6387426
Which references these patents which also don’t refer to E-Coli reduction):
5871795, 5433142, 5082679, 5077009”
Surprisingly not even a happy face emicon returned to my inbox.
AsatrurMarch 9, 2012 10:28 am
Santorum is not about personal freedom unless your a white christian male and if you are not, take our place as a subservient part of his demented idea of a christian nation.
ClaireMarch 9, 2012 11:19 am
Asatrur — I completely agree. I think Santorum would be worse for freedom than anybody in the race. In fact, I think he’s a theocratic loon. Trust me, I was only noting that somebody had found one good thing to say about the man.
ClaireMarch 9, 2012 11:22 am
M — Thank you for the background. GRAS. Oh yeah, that sounds SO scientific.
It’s ironic that such products and theories claim to protect us … when much of what they’re claiming to protect us from comes from the same problem source — bad (but government approved!) feeding and processing practices.
Samuel AdamsMarch 9, 2012 12:34 pm
So, did they fund the study on stupidity with a federal grant or three?
ClaireMarch 9, 2012 1:05 pm
But Samuel Adams … that would be stupid!
Kyle MacLachlanMarch 9, 2012 2:50 pm
I JUST LOVE THE HOLDER CARTOON!!!!!
Also, I’m sure with the right bit of code inserted in the drone’s program this could actually happen….. . Any Moles out there in the right places 😉
Oh wait, most of the writers I know carry guns. lol.
MWD
ClaireMarch 9, 2012 8:53 pm
Ken Hagler — First of all, I apologize. Your comment went into the spam filter for reasons unknown and I didn’t spot it until tonight.
Thanks for the interesting detail. Of course you and Carl-Bear are both absolutely correct. I suspect that only a handful of people reading this blog make over $150,000 per year — yet even the poorest are scraping by. Being a creative bunch, lots and lots of us are living just fine on small incomes.
Yeah, the article took a ridiculous position on what “cost of living” means. I shake my head at folks who can’t feel comfortable until they’re bringing in more than $150,000 per year. You’re totally right; that says more about them, their spending, their debts, and their values than it does about any actual “cost of living.”
jedMarch 9, 2012 9:05 pm
“Why you can’t smoke pot” — reminds of that movie, “Why We Fight”. And in re. the cost of the new police state? Hey, old Ike’s military/industrial complex has simply added some new members — state and local governments, and their own little armies. Fits in nicely with the ‘war on a noun’ theme quite well, I think.
(BTW, I still continue to cringe at the construction “for free”.)
ClaireMarch 10, 2012 9:42 am
jed — Hadn’t seen that article. Great link. Not that many people would want to live that way, yet how great that somebody can and does. Loved that ranger, too.
JSMarch 12, 2012 10:55 am
I went to high school in Scottsbluff, NE from 89-92 and my parents still live there. I had NO idea they installed that ridiculous freedom-hunting camera system. Anxious to get my Dad’s take. What in the world could they be monitoring other than the antiquated cruising habits of the local high school kids? The most influx of people to a particular area with potential for “unrest” is seriously the kids cruising on Friday and Saturday. They park, flirt, race and fight … like high school kids do.
What a joke. We were always so paranoid of the state’s “WING Unit” which was a special department assigned to combat drug use. Always worried one of those black vehicles with a thousand antennas on the roof were going to bust us for smoking weed – and they did bust many of us often – but how small of that seems now.
The Scottsbluff/Gering area is the largest community in the Panhandle of Nebraska at around 17,000 combined. The other towns are much smaller and far more rural. They need this for? for what? The Sugarbeet terror cell posing as high school wanna-be trouble makers? Unbelievable.
“However, the substance, critics said, is more like gelatin than meat, and before Beef Products Inc. found a way to use it by disinfecting the trimmings with ammonia it was sold only to dog food or cooking oil suppliers.
But Boyle says “the beef trimmings that are used to make BLBT are absolutely edible” and Janet Riley, senior vice president of public affairs for AMI, said there was no reason to label beef that contains “pink slime.”
“What are you asking me to put on the label, its beef, it’s on the label, it’s a beef product, it’s says beef so we are declaring … it’s beef,” she said.”
MMarch 14, 2012 6:57 am
…So I wonder if Boyle would be willing to take a big ol’ bite. (Meant to add that to the above comment).
ClaireMarch 14, 2012 7:22 am
M — Thanks for the update. I particularly liked what Costco has to say about the slime. Always knew I liked Costco.
“It’s beef, it’s beef, it’s beef.” Uh … yeah, and ammonia. But it’s “a sustainable product”! Okay, then. Guess we’ll all stop objecting.
Nice write up on why you can’t smoke pot. Nothing new in it, but a nice write up. Prohibition funds the forces that are used to oppress the citzenry in general, not just pot smokers. It would of been nice if had mentioned the growing prison-industrial complex that is dependent on marijuana prohibition as well.
Next they will be outlawing the consumption of milk that hasn’t been blessed by the USDA and major dairy producers…
RE: Cost of Living. They aren’t actually talking about the cost of living. It was poll determining what people wanted to “feel” financially secure. It says mere about what Americans consider “essential” than anything about what it really costs to survive.
One of the last times I felt “financially secure” was when I found a really, really good place for regular dumpster diving.
Who’d want to live in any of those places anyway?
The last paragraph is the $150K article says a lot. The system is out of whack.
D.
ABC got wrong. It should have said that 70% of the ground beef test contained the pink slime, but I don’t think the original article reported how much of what was in a package was slime verses meat. They identified it by testing for an ammonia type chemical that is used to preserve the stuff. Still very gross. Ask your butcher if they buy pre-ground beef or grind in house. If they don’t grind in house and you know they are not adding extra stuff, then I wouldn’t buy the stuff.
I noticed the same thing about the cost of living article that Carl pointed out.
Out of curiosity, I fired up iBank and created a report showing my own income and expenses for the last 365 days. I found that my expenses had been $45,695–less than a third of their figure–and I live in Los Angeles, which isn’t exactly cheap. What’s more, that includes lots and lots of spending on things I could have done without if I had to. If I went through and added up only the expenses that I really _needed_, I’m sure it would have been well below $40,000.
The problem that most Americans face is that they routinely borrow money to buy things they can’t really afford, like houses and cars, and they’ve been so thoroughly brainwashed to consider this normal that they are literally unable to conceive of saving money to buy things.
150 grand? I can live quite well on one fifth that here( I could move to the eastern part of the state and do well on even less),and know people with families that do. I didn’t see any place on that list I’d care to live(maybe Honolulu, if I had to pick one).
Maybe power doesn’t make anyone stupid, it just attracts the stupid ones.
Any machine can be defeated-sometimes, by comically simple means. The secret is to do it in an entertaining way, where everyone gets a laugh and no one is harmed.
Considering the “Pink Slime” is actually used under the GRAS (Generally Regarded as Safe) theory, I wrote about this in March of last year:
http://ppjg.me/2011/03/06/forget-grass-fed-beef-%E2%80%93-you-are-eating-gras-ground-beef/
I then questioned how the individual who applied for the patent and industry wide implemented the program (for MickyD’s) could use the
“none of Mr. Roth’s patents have included in the “Claims” sections that using Ammonia Nitrate reduces E-Coli or any other disease causing Bacteria.
Patent Number: (“Method for treating meat products with ammonia”)
6387426
Which references these patents which also don’t refer to E-Coli reduction):
5871795, 5433142, 5082679, 5077009”
Surprisingly not even a happy face emicon returned to my inbox.
Santorum is not about personal freedom unless your a white christian male and if you are not, take our place as a subservient part of his demented idea of a christian nation.
Asatrur — I completely agree. I think Santorum would be worse for freedom than anybody in the race. In fact, I think he’s a theocratic loon. Trust me, I was only noting that somebody had found one good thing to say about the man.
M — Thank you for the background. GRAS. Oh yeah, that sounds SO scientific.
It’s ironic that such products and theories claim to protect us … when much of what they’re claiming to protect us from comes from the same problem source — bad (but government approved!) feeding and processing practices.
So, did they fund the study on stupidity with a federal grant or three?
But Samuel Adams … that would be stupid!
I JUST LOVE THE HOLDER CARTOON!!!!!
Also, I’m sure with the right bit of code inserted in the drone’s program this could actually happen….. . Any Moles out there in the right places 😉
Literary feud?
Is that like a rap beef
http://rap.about.com/od/toppicks/tp/10BestHipHopBattles.htm
without the guns?
Oh wait, most of the writers I know carry guns. lol.
MWD
Ken Hagler — First of all, I apologize. Your comment went into the spam filter for reasons unknown and I didn’t spot it until tonight.
Thanks for the interesting detail. Of course you and Carl-Bear are both absolutely correct. I suspect that only a handful of people reading this blog make over $150,000 per year — yet even the poorest are scraping by. Being a creative bunch, lots and lots of us are living just fine on small incomes.
Yeah, the article took a ridiculous position on what “cost of living” means. I shake my head at folks who can’t feel comfortable until they’re bringing in more than $150,000 per year. You’re totally right; that says more about them, their spending, their debts, and their values than it does about any actual “cost of living.”
“Why you can’t smoke pot” — reminds of that movie, “Why We Fight”. And in re. the cost of the new police state? Hey, old Ike’s military/industrial complex has simply added some new members — state and local governments, and their own little armies. Fits in nicely with the ‘war on a noun’ theme quite well, I think.
And, in re. the cost of living, have you seen Homeless by Choice: How to Live for Free in America.
(BTW, I still continue to cringe at the construction “for free”.)
jed — Hadn’t seen that article. Great link. Not that many people would want to live that way, yet how great that somebody can and does. Loved that ranger, too.
I went to high school in Scottsbluff, NE from 89-92 and my parents still live there. I had NO idea they installed that ridiculous freedom-hunting camera system. Anxious to get my Dad’s take. What in the world could they be monitoring other than the antiquated cruising habits of the local high school kids? The most influx of people to a particular area with potential for “unrest” is seriously the kids cruising on Friday and Saturday. They park, flirt, race and fight … like high school kids do.
What a joke. We were always so paranoid of the state’s “WING Unit” which was a special department assigned to combat drug use. Always worried one of those black vehicles with a thousand antennas on the roof were going to bust us for smoking weed – and they did bust many of us often – but how small of that seems now.
The Scottsbluff/Gering area is the largest community in the Panhandle of Nebraska at around 17,000 combined. The other towns are much smaller and far more rural. They need this for? for what? The Sugarbeet terror cell posing as high school wanna-be trouble makers? Unbelievable.
More “pink slime” information.
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/03/where-you-can-get-pink-slime-free-beef/
“However, the substance, critics said, is more like gelatin than meat, and before Beef Products Inc. found a way to use it by disinfecting the trimmings with ammonia it was sold only to dog food or cooking oil suppliers.
But Boyle says “the beef trimmings that are used to make BLBT are absolutely edible” and Janet Riley, senior vice president of public affairs for AMI, said there was no reason to label beef that contains “pink slime.”
“What are you asking me to put on the label, its beef, it’s on the label, it’s a beef product, it’s says beef so we are declaring … it’s beef,” she said.”
…So I wonder if Boyle would be willing to take a big ol’ bite. (Meant to add that to the above comment).
M — Thanks for the update. I particularly liked what Costco has to say about the slime. Always knew I liked Costco.
“It’s beef, it’s beef, it’s beef.” Uh … yeah, and ammonia. But it’s “a sustainable product”! Okay, then. Guess we’ll all stop objecting.