Forgive the blog delay. Have been in a boxing match with Bronchitis and so far he has fifteen of the sixteen rounds. Spent XMas in the miseries between the coughing. wheezing and snotchering I am not at all certain where I have been and what I have done. A doctor gave me an anti biotic that not only didn’t help but made me “delusional.” And I am sure if you are a regular on my blog you know for sure I didn’t need that since I was there already. Oh well.
A short time ago there was a story in the NY Times The headline read. : A 1950 Plan: Arrest 12.000 and Suspend Due Process.” This was J. Edgar Hoover’s plan at the start of the Korean war in 1950’s to suspend Habeas Corpus and round up 12.000 of us “suspected” of disloyalty.
This is not that far from what George Bush has actually done by putting the “suspects” in Guantanamo Cuba out of the reach of US courts. Harry Truman who was President back in i950 refused to sign Mr. Hoover’s proposal. Keep in mind that this was the era of McCarthyism when through the artifice of fear thousands became victimized by the terror. In some ways like the present a heavy cloud of fear seem to hangover the land.
I am proud to announce that indeed I was one of the 12,000 on the list. In my 700 page FBI file there is Hoovers identification card with my name and assigned number. What got me on the list was a long list of sins I committed like a very popular pamphlet I wrote as New York State President of the Machinists Union against the Taft Hartley Law called “This Is Aimed At You.” The “You” being the average working class wage earner. Opposition to the Korean War and yes Hoover found my support for the UN “suspicious behavior.” Further evidence of my “dangerous character was a designation by the notorious anti union outfit the Chicago Chamber of Commerce naming me as the “most dangerous radical inside the A.F. of L. unions”. ie The Machinists.
Looking back at that time of fear I suppose I could feel highly flattered that I was one of the 12’0000 chosen. Which reminds me of Berthold Brecht of “Three Penny Opera” fame who was truly upset back in the thirties during the Nazis “Book Burning” when he learned that the Nazis had not burned his books.
Could it be, that what we have here is a list of 12,000 people who chose to be the anti war anti fascist resistors of the fifties? Though deprived by history maybe they should be on an honor role of true patriots who chose to stand up for the Constitutional Rights of the citizens.
If I could get a list of the whole bunch I could publish on the blog as an honor role. Wouldn’t that be fun? Okay I will send off a letter to the FBI under “The Freedom Of Information Act” and we can see what happens. Kate, forever vigilant suggests that I need to get permission from all those folks to publish their names. Of course she is right but I suspect that the overwhelming number have departed this potato.
I am going to comeback with thoughts on 2007 as well as the Primary Circus that is now in full swing.
Thank you Kate. N.H.W.Y.
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Hoarfrost
On a recent morning I awoke to a world surrounded by crystal. A fine rain had frozen on every plant and blade of grass--a most magical scene that nature has ever derived. I have tried to catch some of that magic in the poem “Hoarfrost”.
Hoarfrost
She comes at night
To put her carpets down.
Walk so light-a mantel of crystal
On withered grass and weed-stem leaf.
Hurry, light cracks the eastern sky,
tread so gentle
The work is hair fine spun.
Come quickly now-at sunlights first peak
All is gone.
But yet hush-a wisp of wind.
A world of sound now to begin.
Think not of summer’s coat.
Thorns leaves stem all jewel encased
Preserved for later date.
Hoarfrost
She comes at night
To put her carpets down.
Walk so light-a mantel of crystal
On withered grass and weed-stem leaf.
Hurry, light cracks the eastern sky,
tread so gentle
The work is hair fine spun.
Come quickly now-at sunlights first peak
All is gone.
But yet hush-a wisp of wind.
A world of sound now to begin.
Think not of summer’s coat.
Thorns leaves stem all jewel encased
Preserved for later date.
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Peak Oil
Our guest Blogger this week is my good friend Hugh Jones who is a consultant to the water treatment industry and has spent considerable time in power plants worldwide, especially in the Petroleum producing countries of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Venezuela and Indonesia.
I thought I would open his blog with a song borrowed from Ray Charles. It is now called “Bye Bye Oil”.
Chorus:
Bye Bye Oil
Bye Bye happiness, hello loneliness
I think I’m gonna cry-y
Bye bye oil, bye bye automobile
There goes my lawn mower.
I feel like I could di-ie
Bye Bye Oil goddby-eye
Refrain:
Its gonna be tough. I sure am blue.
Oil was my life, now what’ll I do?
Goodbye to Mercedes that might have been.
Goodbye fishing boat. Hello oars.
And now here is the Peak Oil Story:
Although rarely discussed, in just a couple of years, Peak Oil may be the greatest challenge and threat to life as we know it. My definition of Peak Oil is the point at which conventional oil production reaches a maximum. As of December 2007, oil production has already plateaued and in a few years, we will have peaked. Following the peak, the estimated decline in production is estimated at 2 1/2 % per year. Peak oil will have dire consequences for every person on the planet.
Globalization has been possible only because relatively cheap oil allows goods (food, raw materials, and manufactured goods) to be transported inexpensively from low wage countries to wealthy, high consuming countries half a world away. In the United States, the motor transport system which has allowed for massive population shifts to occur, uses 70% of the petroleum in this country and allows one 200 lb individual in a 3000 lb vehicle to travel hundreds of miles a week to and from home to places of employment. Cheap petroleum allows millions of people to live in desert climates and remain comfortably cool and well fed. The United States with 4% of the world’s population consumes 25% of the world’s petroleum. When this cheap petroleum becomes far more expensive or worse, unavailable at any price, you can imagine the consequences.
The US Congress is currently considering legislation that would require US auto manufactures to increase fuel efficiency standards to 35 m.p.g. by 2020. This is far too little and far too late. European autos currently run 35-40 m.p.g on average and Japanese autos run about 45 m.p.g. Current gasoline prices per gallon are $8 in Norway, $7-8 in UK and Germany; $4 in Canada, and $3.25 in US. Using basic economics 101, as demand increases for a product if supply cannot increase to meet demand, the price of that product must increase. Then demand will drop to balance supply. If oil production is at or near peak and demand worldwide continues to increase at 2% per year (demand in US and Europe is generally flat with developing countries like China, India, Indonesia, Brazil, Mexico, Venezuela increasing demand at 4%), then certainly demand outstrips supply in the very near future.
It is not unlikely that we see $4/gallon gas in the next year or two, $6/gallon gas by 2012, $8-9/gallon gas by 2016 and something north of $12 /gallon by 2020. If US auto manufactures are not producing cars that get 50 m.p.g. by 2020 then, I believe, General Motors, Ford and Chrysler will be out of business. I expect oil shortages to occur long before 2020 and $12/gallon gas. As of December 2007, the countries that export the most oil to the US are in descending order, Canada, Mexico, Venezuela (Hugo Chavez), Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Algeria and Russia. Mexico has already announced that, within five years, it will become an oil importing country. Nigeria is a politically unstable basket case and Russia’s population is becoming more affluent and therefore a larger consumer of oil leaving less for export. China, India and Japan have large resources of US dollars so they will be able to afford to pay for an increase in petroleum.consumption. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and United Arab Emirates have growing populations that consume more oil domestically each year. The good news is that the US is currently so wasteful and inefficient in our use of petroleum that, in the short term, we could use drastic conservation measures to offset large increases in price and declining availability. However unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be either the will or the leadership to make this happen.
Many people believe/hope that alternative energy sources (ethanol, biofuel, hydrogen or coal to liquid) will offset the coming petroleum shortage but none of these can replace more than a few percent of current petroleum consumption. In addition to the high cost of production and the lack of a delivery infrastructure, there are also significant environmental and economic impacts from these alternate fuels.
For those interested in additional information on the topic of Peak Oil, I recommend these websites: A.S.P.O – Association for Study of Peak Oil.com; Energy Bulletin; Die Off.org. Books are: Twilight in the Desert by Richard Simmons; The Long Emergency by James Kunstler; Beyond Oil by Kenneth Deffayes, Power Down and The Party’s Over by Richard Heinberg.
Thank you Kate. N.H.W.Y.
I thought I would open his blog with a song borrowed from Ray Charles. It is now called “Bye Bye Oil”.
Chorus:
Bye Bye Oil
Bye Bye happiness, hello loneliness
I think I’m gonna cry-y
Bye bye oil, bye bye automobile
There goes my lawn mower.
I feel like I could di-ie
Bye Bye Oil goddby-eye
Refrain:
Its gonna be tough. I sure am blue.
Oil was my life, now what’ll I do?
Goodbye to Mercedes that might have been.
Goodbye fishing boat. Hello oars.
And now here is the Peak Oil Story:
Although rarely discussed, in just a couple of years, Peak Oil may be the greatest challenge and threat to life as we know it. My definition of Peak Oil is the point at which conventional oil production reaches a maximum. As of December 2007, oil production has already plateaued and in a few years, we will have peaked. Following the peak, the estimated decline in production is estimated at 2 1/2 % per year. Peak oil will have dire consequences for every person on the planet.
Globalization has been possible only because relatively cheap oil allows goods (food, raw materials, and manufactured goods) to be transported inexpensively from low wage countries to wealthy, high consuming countries half a world away. In the United States, the motor transport system which has allowed for massive population shifts to occur, uses 70% of the petroleum in this country and allows one 200 lb individual in a 3000 lb vehicle to travel hundreds of miles a week to and from home to places of employment. Cheap petroleum allows millions of people to live in desert climates and remain comfortably cool and well fed. The United States with 4% of the world’s population consumes 25% of the world’s petroleum. When this cheap petroleum becomes far more expensive or worse, unavailable at any price, you can imagine the consequences.
The US Congress is currently considering legislation that would require US auto manufactures to increase fuel efficiency standards to 35 m.p.g. by 2020. This is far too little and far too late. European autos currently run 35-40 m.p.g on average and Japanese autos run about 45 m.p.g. Current gasoline prices per gallon are $8 in Norway, $7-8 in UK and Germany; $4 in Canada, and $3.25 in US. Using basic economics 101, as demand increases for a product if supply cannot increase to meet demand, the price of that product must increase. Then demand will drop to balance supply. If oil production is at or near peak and demand worldwide continues to increase at 2% per year (demand in US and Europe is generally flat with developing countries like China, India, Indonesia, Brazil, Mexico, Venezuela increasing demand at 4%), then certainly demand outstrips supply in the very near future.
It is not unlikely that we see $4/gallon gas in the next year or two, $6/gallon gas by 2012, $8-9/gallon gas by 2016 and something north of $12 /gallon by 2020. If US auto manufactures are not producing cars that get 50 m.p.g. by 2020 then, I believe, General Motors, Ford and Chrysler will be out of business. I expect oil shortages to occur long before 2020 and $12/gallon gas. As of December 2007, the countries that export the most oil to the US are in descending order, Canada, Mexico, Venezuela (Hugo Chavez), Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Algeria and Russia. Mexico has already announced that, within five years, it will become an oil importing country. Nigeria is a politically unstable basket case and Russia’s population is becoming more affluent and therefore a larger consumer of oil leaving less for export. China, India and Japan have large resources of US dollars so they will be able to afford to pay for an increase in petroleum.consumption. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and United Arab Emirates have growing populations that consume more oil domestically each year. The good news is that the US is currently so wasteful and inefficient in our use of petroleum that, in the short term, we could use drastic conservation measures to offset large increases in price and declining availability. However unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be either the will or the leadership to make this happen.
Many people believe/hope that alternative energy sources (ethanol, biofuel, hydrogen or coal to liquid) will offset the coming petroleum shortage but none of these can replace more than a few percent of current petroleum consumption. In addition to the high cost of production and the lack of a delivery infrastructure, there are also significant environmental and economic impacts from these alternate fuels.
For those interested in additional information on the topic of Peak Oil, I recommend these websites: A.S.P.O – Association for Study of Peak Oil.com; Energy Bulletin; Die Off.org. Books are: Twilight in the Desert by Richard Simmons; The Long Emergency by James Kunstler; Beyond Oil by Kenneth Deffayes, Power Down and The Party’s Over by Richard Heinberg.
Thank you Kate. N.H.W.Y.
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Coming Attraction
I have been working with my friend Hugh Jones on a very big “Oil Story.” If you think we had a bad situation with the “Housing Bubble” wait to you see what happens when the “Oil Bubble” springs not a leak but a dry up. A leak is easy to fix while a dry-up, well that’s another question and a very very big one. Note the 2 very’s. (When my son Fred was about 6-7 he and his friend Kenny had a series of very’s that determined their friendship.)
We are looking at the basic economics of SUPPLY AND DEMAND that are basically going out of joint. Hang in there. Coming soon RS
We are looking at the basic economics of SUPPLY AND DEMAND that are basically going out of joint. Hang in there. Coming soon RS
Friday, November 30, 2007
Aldo & Luigi
I first met my two friends about 11 years ago. We were returning home from New York City where I had back surgury. After a week in the hospital Kate and I started what was thought to be an uneventful 75 mile quiet drive to our home in Long Island. It was evening when we arrived and Kate suggested I get myself in the house while she brings in the luggage. As I am walking to the house, behind me I hear this high pitch “mew, mew, mew, mew”. Low and behold there are two tiny little guys running behind me up the five stairs to the deck and right with me into the house, as though they had lived here forever.
Not far behind is Kate, who if you must know is a very devoted lover of life. Well we are standing there looking at one another wondering what to do. Kate says, “The first thing we have to do is find these guys something to eat and drink and then we will see.” Since I almost drowned in Lake George some 50 years ago and was saved by a man who assured me he was sent by some sprit, I am far less judgmental about things that are not easily explained. We decide that Kate’s parents, who had recently died, had sent our two messengers to cheer us up in our hours of need. And indeed they did.
We live on the water next to a park. Cool weather brings field mice looking for the warm indoors. I am laid out on the couch. As the two new members of our family are fed and made comfortable, the entertainment begins. The kittens are listening to scrapes and scratches and are chasing each other literally up the walls across the counters and yes up on top of our kitchen cabinets as perches in our “great-room”.
We named our little tigers Aldo & Luigi. I am not sure why. It just popped into our heads. Watching them from my abode on the couch I began to understand the meaning of their play. Much of it is simply practicing what they will have to do to survive in the wild. And yet I watch as that practice becomes a fun game. Slowly but surely they become part of our household. They entertain us, but they also teach us about another world of living creatures.
We never decided to let them become outdoor critters. It’s Luigi (he’s the bigger and far more determined one) who discovers an open window minus its screen and out he goes to explore the world about. I am convinced that Luigi is at least Tutankhamen reincarnated. Most if not all these cats descended from early Africans who lived in the Egyptian palaces and earned their status by keeping the palace free of rodents. The Egyptians did indeed believe in an after life. Luigi has all the imperious characteristics of an Egyptian palace statue. In contrast Aldo, who is now referred to as “Little Aldo” because he is a very needy fellow,will rise to the occasion when a dog of most any size needs to be shown where the boundary line is for our property. (We are not that far away from these guys for us to be able to see some of ourselves in them, and that’s a humbling experience.)
It’s now 11 years later and here we all are on an overcast fall afternoon clearing away some of the summer overgrowth. Aldo and Luigi come tearing across the garden in sheer delight that all of us are together in nature. I envy their joy of running through the grass and am reminded of the importance of doing things for the sheer joy of it. And I am reminded to take inventory of my own store of things that are pure joy. What a gift that is.
As the evening takes over from the day, all of us are back in our great-room with a warm fire burning. Luigi and Aldo now teach us how to put the energy of joy away for a time of deep slumber. There is such sweet contentment in their coiling up, each in a place that either Kate or I have been as they know us more by our odor than by our name. I find myself watching them to see if somehow I might find that same place in myself to let go of all those chipmunks that run around in my head, reminding me of all those trivial things I think I need to do. No, I will be like my two friends here and be with them as they teach me to be in a state of “mindlessness”. Yes, of course that’s what I heard some meditation Guru tell me I needed to do. But it was Aldo and Luigi who actually showed me how to do it.
So you can see how indebted I am to these two guys for all they have taught me. As a nonagenarian, it is most important to tend to my garden of joys. I must never lose my connection to my Cathedral of nature and all its wonders. For if I do, a big part of what my life has been will be lost. They have taught me about the love that comes from loyalty and caring, as they speak to us in their language and we struggle to understand. (Kate can really have a full fledged conversation with them, and what a delight it is to listen. That is gift to me.) They are a constant reminder that we are not the only living creatures inhabiting this planet and of what we owe to them to try to pass it on to future Aldos, Luigis, and the rest of us.
In this our 11th year together I just wanted to share with you another part of our family. I do hope the pictures helped you to know who I was talking about. Thanks also to Robert, our grandson, for the pictures and endless tech support. You can learn more about him at The Vegas Year.
And a very special thanks to Kate as N.H.W.Y
Love Roberto
Not far behind is Kate, who if you must know is a very devoted lover of life. Well we are standing there looking at one another wondering what to do. Kate says, “The first thing we have to do is find these guys something to eat and drink and then we will see.” Since I almost drowned in Lake George some 50 years ago and was saved by a man who assured me he was sent by some sprit, I am far less judgmental about things that are not easily explained. We decide that Kate’s parents, who had recently died, had sent our two messengers to cheer us up in our hours of need. And indeed they did.
We live on the water next to a park. Cool weather brings field mice looking for the warm indoors. I am laid out on the couch. As the two new members of our family are fed and made comfortable, the entertainment begins. The kittens are listening to scrapes and scratches and are chasing each other literally up the walls across the counters and yes up on top of our kitchen cabinets as perches in our “great-room”.
We named our little tigers Aldo & Luigi. I am not sure why. It just popped into our heads. Watching them from my abode on the couch I began to understand the meaning of their play. Much of it is simply practicing what they will have to do to survive in the wild. And yet I watch as that practice becomes a fun game. Slowly but surely they become part of our household. They entertain us, but they also teach us about another world of living creatures.
We never decided to let them become outdoor critters. It’s Luigi (he’s the bigger and far more determined one) who discovers an open window minus its screen and out he goes to explore the world about. I am convinced that Luigi is at least Tutankhamen reincarnated. Most if not all these cats descended from early Africans who lived in the Egyptian palaces and earned their status by keeping the palace free of rodents. The Egyptians did indeed believe in an after life. Luigi has all the imperious characteristics of an Egyptian palace statue. In contrast Aldo, who is now referred to as “Little Aldo” because he is a very needy fellow,will rise to the occasion when a dog of most any size needs to be shown where the boundary line is for our property. (We are not that far away from these guys for us to be able to see some of ourselves in them, and that’s a humbling experience.)
It’s now 11 years later and here we all are on an overcast fall afternoon clearing away some of the summer overgrowth. Aldo and Luigi come tearing across the garden in sheer delight that all of us are together in nature. I envy their joy of running through the grass and am reminded of the importance of doing things for the sheer joy of it. And I am reminded to take inventory of my own store of things that are pure joy. What a gift that is.
As the evening takes over from the day, all of us are back in our great-room with a warm fire burning. Luigi and Aldo now teach us how to put the energy of joy away for a time of deep slumber. There is such sweet contentment in their coiling up, each in a place that either Kate or I have been as they know us more by our odor than by our name. I find myself watching them to see if somehow I might find that same place in myself to let go of all those chipmunks that run around in my head, reminding me of all those trivial things I think I need to do. No, I will be like my two friends here and be with them as they teach me to be in a state of “mindlessness”. Yes, of course that’s what I heard some meditation Guru tell me I needed to do. But it was Aldo and Luigi who actually showed me how to do it.
So you can see how indebted I am to these two guys for all they have taught me. As a nonagenarian, it is most important to tend to my garden of joys. I must never lose my connection to my Cathedral of nature and all its wonders. For if I do, a big part of what my life has been will be lost. They have taught me about the love that comes from loyalty and caring, as they speak to us in their language and we struggle to understand. (Kate can really have a full fledged conversation with them, and what a delight it is to listen. That is gift to me.) They are a constant reminder that we are not the only living creatures inhabiting this planet and of what we owe to them to try to pass it on to future Aldos, Luigis, and the rest of us.
In this our 11th year together I just wanted to share with you another part of our family. I do hope the pictures helped you to know who I was talking about. Thanks also to Robert, our grandson, for the pictures and endless tech support. You can learn more about him at The Vegas Year.
And a very special thanks to Kate as N.H.W.Y
Love Roberto
Monday, November 12, 2007
The Drug Question. What again?
A few days ago a headline in the New York Times caught my eye. We the US of A is proposing to aerial spray the Afgan farmers’ poppy fields to eradicate their opium production. Wonder why we are hated in places like Afghanistan? We are pissed because we’ve got to many cocaine addicts in the US. So what do we do? We punish the Afghan farmer. Am I cuckoo or what? Why don’t we spray the users who create this market instead of the suppliers who are just good capitalist businessmen?
As a nonagenarian (thats what I am), I have tried to calculate how much money we have spent in our “war against drugs”? I have run out of the billions, so that means I am in the trillions. And what have we to show for all that? Obviously not much as it appears that every year we seem to start over again, like now with the Afghanistan problem. Before that it was Columbia. And before that it was the Asian crescent. And before that China, and on and on. Some smart economist observed, “it’s far more lucrative to grow poppies for opium than, for instance, avocados or cantaloupes.” No kidding.
I must admit I am a beneficiary of poppy growth. I have an ongoing back pain problem for which I take Oxycodone or Oxycontin, both opiates derived from Opium. So how come they can make and sell these drugs for the benefit of a lot of people who suffer all kinds of physical pain? Ah, the dirty little secret. These poppies are legally grown in Turkey and sold to American pharmaceutical companies to be manufactured into pain relievers. They are taxed and legally marketed. So what have we learned from that? Nothing.
There was a piece on 60 Minutes about the “Medical Marijuana” experience in California. It turns out that doctors have been very casual in writing prescriptions for “pot.” Now of course the Feds are moving in to put a stop to this egregious behavior. It would be a lot more intelligent to take an overall look at what has been the effect on the general population as a result of this loose use of marijuana. We might learn that smoking pot does not necessarily lead to “Refer Madness.” Which brings me to my experience as a young child during Prohibition.
I was supposed to be delivering “olive oil”, but of course it wasn’t. I first figured that out by the large tips I was given for delivery to a lot of fancy addresses on the upper east side of Manhattan. I was actually delivering either Gin or Whiskey or both. Then came repeal and the song “Happy Days Are Here Again.” And they were happy because now people who enjoyed a drink before dinner could have one that wasn’t made in somebody's bath tub, from which people often died. Once it was legal, it was taxed and created substantial income for the various levels of government.
Why haven’t we learned from the Prohibition experience? I believe there is simply to much money being made in the illegal drug market--from the growers to the wholesalers to the street peddlers--for them to easily give it up to legalization. Talk about a powerful lobby. I learned about the “street sale” at Mobilization for Youth, the Lower East Side New York program to get delinquents into the job market. The kids in the program would often tell me, “Mr. Schrank, in one night I can make more money on the street than I can make in a month in that fuckin’ mattress factory you want me to work in.”
We could do in Afghanistan what was done in Turkey--legalize it, tax it and control it. That’s what is done with my Oxycodone. But the Warlords in Afghanistan would have no part of that. And all those who profit from it here at home will support the Warlords. One final observation. Since we live in a market economy, haven’t we learned that as long as there is a demand there will be a supply? Obviously we haven’t, for if we had we would be arresting more of the demanders right here in the good old USA instead of being the world’s jailer of narcotics dealers from Columbia, Mexico, Panama and anywhere else we can catch a dealer.
PS - How much did it cost the US taxpayer to keep Noriega in jail for umpteenth years? Why not bill Panama? That’s where he was dealing?
Thank you Kate. N.H.W.Y.
As a nonagenarian (thats what I am), I have tried to calculate how much money we have spent in our “war against drugs”? I have run out of the billions, so that means I am in the trillions. And what have we to show for all that? Obviously not much as it appears that every year we seem to start over again, like now with the Afghanistan problem. Before that it was Columbia. And before that it was the Asian crescent. And before that China, and on and on. Some smart economist observed, “it’s far more lucrative to grow poppies for opium than, for instance, avocados or cantaloupes.” No kidding.
I must admit I am a beneficiary of poppy growth. I have an ongoing back pain problem for which I take Oxycodone or Oxycontin, both opiates derived from Opium. So how come they can make and sell these drugs for the benefit of a lot of people who suffer all kinds of physical pain? Ah, the dirty little secret. These poppies are legally grown in Turkey and sold to American pharmaceutical companies to be manufactured into pain relievers. They are taxed and legally marketed. So what have we learned from that? Nothing.
There was a piece on 60 Minutes about the “Medical Marijuana” experience in California. It turns out that doctors have been very casual in writing prescriptions for “pot.” Now of course the Feds are moving in to put a stop to this egregious behavior. It would be a lot more intelligent to take an overall look at what has been the effect on the general population as a result of this loose use of marijuana. We might learn that smoking pot does not necessarily lead to “Refer Madness.” Which brings me to my experience as a young child during Prohibition.
I was supposed to be delivering “olive oil”, but of course it wasn’t. I first figured that out by the large tips I was given for delivery to a lot of fancy addresses on the upper east side of Manhattan. I was actually delivering either Gin or Whiskey or both. Then came repeal and the song “Happy Days Are Here Again.” And they were happy because now people who enjoyed a drink before dinner could have one that wasn’t made in somebody's bath tub, from which people often died. Once it was legal, it was taxed and created substantial income for the various levels of government.
Why haven’t we learned from the Prohibition experience? I believe there is simply to much money being made in the illegal drug market--from the growers to the wholesalers to the street peddlers--for them to easily give it up to legalization. Talk about a powerful lobby. I learned about the “street sale” at Mobilization for Youth, the Lower East Side New York program to get delinquents into the job market. The kids in the program would often tell me, “Mr. Schrank, in one night I can make more money on the street than I can make in a month in that fuckin’ mattress factory you want me to work in.”
We could do in Afghanistan what was done in Turkey--legalize it, tax it and control it. That’s what is done with my Oxycodone. But the Warlords in Afghanistan would have no part of that. And all those who profit from it here at home will support the Warlords. One final observation. Since we live in a market economy, haven’t we learned that as long as there is a demand there will be a supply? Obviously we haven’t, for if we had we would be arresting more of the demanders right here in the good old USA instead of being the world’s jailer of narcotics dealers from Columbia, Mexico, Panama and anywhere else we can catch a dealer.
PS - How much did it cost the US taxpayer to keep Noriega in jail for umpteenth years? Why not bill Panama? That’s where he was dealing?
Thank you Kate. N.H.W.Y.
Monday, November 5, 2007
Remember the Locked Box?
The more I listen to the, you should excuse me for what are called “debates”, the more I feel like Alice in Wonderland. There seem to be two important strategies. One is to say nothing that might expose the fact that the candidate has a core group of beliefs. The other is to go after the front runner so maybe I can become the one.
A good example of this behavior is the Dems on Social Security. For Gods sake, first take a stand by simply saying, “Heah, the Social Security Trust Fund has been raided by the Federal Government. To make it viable, PLEASE PAY BACK TO THE INSURANCE FUND WHAT WAS TAKEN OUT OF IT.” Just that simple act of paying back what was taken out of the Social Security Fund would make the system viable for the next ten years, Yes, after that we need to make some adjustments, BUT we have time to do that. We are not in the state of melt down as some have suggested. Does anybody remember the presidential debates back in 2000 between Gore and Bush? They proclaimed it to the heavens,”THE SOCIAL SECURITY TRUST FUND IS A LOCKED BOX.” Talk about “humbug”! That’s what my German born father would said. I like the professor at Princeton who calls it “Bullshit.”
Dems, wake up and stop wringing your hands because we get the distinct impression that you really are not ready to LEAD, and what we need most at this time is LEADERSHIP.
Thank you Kate N.H.W.Y.
A good example of this behavior is the Dems on Social Security. For Gods sake, first take a stand by simply saying, “Heah, the Social Security Trust Fund has been raided by the Federal Government. To make it viable, PLEASE PAY BACK TO THE INSURANCE FUND WHAT WAS TAKEN OUT OF IT.” Just that simple act of paying back what was taken out of the Social Security Fund would make the system viable for the next ten years, Yes, after that we need to make some adjustments, BUT we have time to do that. We are not in the state of melt down as some have suggested. Does anybody remember the presidential debates back in 2000 between Gore and Bush? They proclaimed it to the heavens,”THE SOCIAL SECURITY TRUST FUND IS A LOCKED BOX.” Talk about “humbug”! That’s what my German born father would said. I like the professor at Princeton who calls it “Bullshit.”
Dems, wake up and stop wringing your hands because we get the distinct impression that you really are not ready to LEAD, and what we need most at this time is LEADERSHIP.
Thank you Kate N.H.W.Y.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
