So, what exactly are they trying to say?

I saw this ad for the first time a few weeks ago. I still can't figure out what point the ONDCP is trying to get across.



Is the point supposed to be smoking pot makes you want to have intimate relations with horses? I've been smoking pot since I was 12 and I gotta tell ya...I've never felt the urge to run into a pasture and do anything with a horse (or any other animal for that matter).

Is the point supposed to be that smoking pot makes you want to pull a horses tail? Gee, I've never had that urge either.

If I'd ever had either urge I would have stopped smoking pot.

Whatever happened to the innocent 'you'll wind up a couch potato in your mom's basement if you smoke pot' ONDCP ads? Or hell, the fried egg commercials representing your brain on drugs? Those, while wrong, were at least amusing and contained no overt references to beastiality. This one with the horse is disturbing.

Happy Thanksgiving

I've got the stove fired up and the dressing cooking. Last night I cooked home made macaroni and cheese and will be cooking a green bean casserole a little later on this morning. Then me and my brood will pack it up and add it to what awaits us at the big gatering with relatives later.

I hope y'all have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Oh Please NOOOOOOOOO!

King relies on small-town values as he mulls a gubernatorial run

Will we never be rid of this clown?

King said that he ultimately will turn to his faith and his family to decide on a possible gubernatorial campaign.

The real question is, What kind of first lady will J.W. Godwin make?


Or, will Trixie the pig be the first lady?


Maybe we'll get really lucky and there will be a cat fight between J.W. and Trixie. I'd pay to see that.

Here's the money quote though...

Ferrin Cox, publisher of the Elba Clipper, has known King since childhood and said the community had an enormous affect on him. Cox remembers King as a "clean-cut kid" who got in trouble occasionally but was always honest.

"If Troy tells me it's fixing to rain, I'm going to get my umbrella," Cox said.

Though the two remain friends, Cox said, he has disagreed with some of King's actions as attorney general and would likely have differences with a Gov. King.

"I think he would do as he's done as attorney general: He would offend other people," Cox said. "He would put his high moral standards and beliefs above what is politically correct

."

That means he will ignore the will of the people and do exactly what he pleases. Sounds a lot like George W. Bush to me and I think Alabamian's have had their fill of that particular kind of politics.

High moral standards?

Muhahahahahaha.

Medical Marijuana IN BHAM News today

My most recent medical marijuana letter was published in the Birmingham News and the Montgomery Advertiser today.

Make Medical Marijuana Legal

The legislature comes back into session in Jan. and I have already begun my letter writing campaign to newspapers across the state. Here is one that the Tuscaloosa News published today.

Make medical marijuana legal


Published: Friday, November 21, 2008 at 3:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, November 20, 2008 at 8:52 p.m.

Dear Editor: Michigan voters this month approved a measure that will protect patients who use marijuana on the recommendation of a licensed physician. Michigan thus became the 13th state in the U.S. to remove penalties for the use of medical marijuana. Nearly 25 percent of all Americans live in a medical-marijuana state. Marijuana is a safe, effective and inexpensive therapeutic agent that eventually will be legal for patients throughout the country to use.

The Alabama Compassionate Care Act has been tied up in legislative committees for four years, despite polls that show 76 percent voter approval. This bill would allow patients to use marijuana when a licensed physician recommends it. Alabama patients would be issued state ID cards so law-enforcement personnel could easily see they are legal medical-marijuana users. The American College of Physicians, the American Nurses Association, the American Public Health Association, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and many other professional health-care organizations have endorsed medical marijuana.

Sadly, Alabama still arrests and prosecutes patients for using medical marijuana. How long will it take Alabama to give her sick and dying citizens the same rights that other Americans have? Are Alabama patients less deserving of relief than the citizens of the 13 states where medical marijuana is legal?

Please contact your representative in Montgomery and ask them to support the Compassionate Care Act in the 2009 legislative session.


Loretta Nall

Executive director,

Alabamians for Compassionate Care

Alexander City

When the Drug War Comes Home to Roost

My sister-in-law was sentenced today in Judge John Rochester's court in Ashland. I was halfway there when my transmission went haywire and did not make it to the sentencing. My brother did though.

He called me a few minutes ago and said that she was sentenced to 5 years but that the sentence was suspended so that she will go to treatment for six months and then be on probation afterwards.

You know, it's amazing. Ever since Judge Rochester's son was caught trafficking drugs at the Ashland City Park he has done a 180 on every drug defendant I know who has come before him. This is the fourth person that I know personally who was up on serious drug charges who got the same sentence. Treatment and 5 years probation. One of those was a trafficking charge where the defendant was on tape selling to an undercover officer. And he was black to boot! It wasn't the first offense for any of them. In two of the cases the defendant had a record close to a mile long, so to speak.

It's really funny how quickly a hanging judge will change his fucking tune when the laws he has so religiously enforced for years and years come back to bite him in the ass after it is discovered that his own son is nothing more than a common drug trafficker. No better or worse than the hundreds of poor Clay County people he has sentenced to be tortured in an Alabama prison cell over the years.

What I'd really like to know is if he actually fully understands the folly of the drug war now that it has come home to roost or if he is just putting on airs so that he doesn't look like a hypocrite?

I'm no mechanic...but I'm not blind either

I know very little about cars. I mean, I know how to put in gas, washer fluid, brake fluid, coolant, power steering fluid and I could change a tire if I had to I guess. Other than that I'll have to pay somebody cash for their automobile knowledge.

Earlier this morning when I was taking my husband to work the transmission in my car slipped a little. I didn't think much of it. I had the oil changed and fluids topped off yesterday. Later on when I was heading to Clay County for my sister-in-laws sentencing the transmission slipped again and I decided to make a U-turn for the nearest service station for a bottle of transmission fluid.

I get the fluid, lift the hood and proceed to search for the transmission fluid reservoir.

Brake fluid reservoir. Check.
Power steering fluid reservoir. Check.
Washer fluid reservoir. Check.
Engine oil reservoir. Check.
Coolant reservoir. Check.
Transmission fluid reservoir......does not exist.

I stood there for a few minutes searching around under the hood for the place to check the transmission fluid and add some, trying not to feel like a car illiterate female (which is exactly what I am) and hoping I wouldn't have to go back inside and flaunt it. Finally, I had to swallow my pride and go back in the store and ask for the help of a couple of male counterparts. They gave me that condescending 'you stupid car illiterate female...poor thing' look. Then they came out and spent ten minutes looking under the hood of my car for the transmission fluid reservoir and they couldn't find it either. Sure made me feel much less dumb when a couple of redneck grease monkeys couldn't find it.

We finally gave up and I had to drive the car home.....very slowly. I'll be taking it in to the mechanic later today. But, before I do I want to ask my readers if they know where the transmission fluid reservoir is located on a 1998 Mercury Tracer. I've searched online for diagrams and can't find one. My owners manual was lost long ago. I don't know anyone else who drives the same kind of car to ask. I know the damn thing has a transmission and therefore transmission fluid must be used and there has to be a place to add it....but apparently it is invisible on my car.

REMINDER: Medical Marijuana Meeting Tonight!

Alabamians for Compassionate Care will be holding our monthly meeting on November 20 (TONIGHT!)from 6 to 8 pm at the Libertarian Party HQ building located at 2330 Highland Ave. South. This Highland Ave. is on Southside BHAM and not in Leeds or Irondale. I will have this meeting catered so come hungry. Please bring your friends/family members if they are interested.

What...You Didn't Get the Memo?

My sister-in-laws jury trial was slated for today so I made the customary trip up to Ashland this morning to be with her in court. Turns out she won't come up for trial until tomorrow due to there being about 10 cases for jury trial this go round.

A cautionary word to any of my readers, who, god forbid, might ever get in trouble in Clay County, Alabama. GET A LAWYER FROM ANYWHERE BUT CLAY COUNTY! Even some kid fresh out of law school would be better than anything you might possibly hope to find in Ashland or Lineville Alabama. It's a great place. A beautiful place. It's my home....but without a doubt it has the worst judicial system and lawyers probably anywhere on earth. Your chances of getting a fair trial and competent legal representation would be much better in say....Saudi Arabia or China.

Case and point.

In 2006 the Alabama Legislature in conjunction with the Alabama Sentencing Commission, and the Alabama Department of Corrections implemented these things called Voluntary Sentencing Guidelines in an effort to ease prison overcrowding and make sentences for the same crimes more uniform across the state. The bill which made this law is SB231 and was sponsored by Senator Roger Smitherman. And, yes, they are voluntary but judges and prosecutors are strongly encouraged to implement them and the majority do. When judges depart from the guidelines they are asked to provide an explanation in writing to the Alabama Sentencing Commission.

One of the main things these guidelines did was change the marijuana sentencing laws. Before it passed this is how things worked in Alabama. If you were arrested with a little pot for personal use the first time it was a misdemeanor. If you were ever arrested again...even for a seed or a roach it was an automatic felony punishable by up to ten years in prison. Now a person has to be arrested four times for marijuana possession and accumulate points against them (just like with drivers license) before jail is even considered.

So, when this passed in 2006 you can bet every lawyer in the state as well as the judges got the memo. Except, of course, my sister-in-laws attorney, one John Keith Warren of Ashland, AL.

I asked my brother a couple of weeks ago to call the lawyer and ask why my SIL was being charged with first degree marijuana possession when this was only her second time being charged with possession and she only had four grams. I wrote down the Senate bill number and printed out some news articles about the sentencing guidelines as well as some things from the Alabama Sentencing Commission for him to show the lawyer. When I picked my brother up this morning I asked him what the lawyer said about the guidelines and he said....get this, make sure you're sitting down....

The million watt light bulb of a lawyer told my brother, "Those guidelines don't apply in Alabama."

What a complete fucking ignoramus, douche bag. I've got dog turds in my yard that are brighter than this guy and could defend my sister-in-law better. If the Alabama sentencing guidelines don't apply IN ALABAMA just where exactly the fuck do they apply? Mississippi? Hong Kong maybe?

These are the ALABAMA Sentencing Guidelines, after all. Passed by the Alabama Legislature, signed by Alabama Governor Bob Riley, supported by the Alabama Sentencing commission and the Alabama Bar Association and implemented voluntarily by the majority of Alabama Judges. But according to lawyer douche bag they don't apply in Alabama.

I didn't get a chance to talk to 'His Brilliance' today. I'm sure it would have been about as effective as trying to talk some sense into a bull elephant seal. However, since this was in Clay County I did get to have a couple of staring matches with Judge John Rochester and District Attorney Freddy Thompson. I won both, which is kind of surprising, since I haven't had to stare anyone down since the fourth grade. I thought I was rusty. Guess not.

Tune in tomorrow for round two. Hopefully I will come home and report that I have a new bull elephant seal skin coat.

Compassionate Care Meeting Nov. 20

Alabamians for Compassionate Care will be holding our monthly meeting on November 20 from 6 to 8 pm at the Libertarian Party HQ building located at 2330 Highland Ave. South. This Highland Ave. is on Southside BHAM and not in Leeds or Irondale. I will have this meeting catered so come hungry. Please bring your friends/family members if they are interested.

Veteran's Day. What Happened to the Iraq War?

Watching the news on this Veteran's Day here in America I saw a video that moved me to tears. Please watch.



Why are America's fallen men and women not given the same welcome home? Why aren't we allowed to see them come off the planes? Why is the Iraq War suddenly not on the radar anymore? We hardly ever hear it mentioned. It's almost like the government wants us to forget that it is happening. Why do we never see footage of the actual war happening in Iraq like what America experienced during Vietnam? If we could see some of that goddamn horror maybe Americans would have acted sooner to bring it to an end.

I've never supported the Iraq War. We never had reason to go there. They did not attack us. Saddam Hussein was no threat to us. However, I do and have from the beginning supported the troops. This war was illegal from the start and now the powers that be want to pretend there aren't dead coming back by the score and that is a fucking disgrace! They want us to forget the war and pretend that there are no dead sons and daughters. It is complete DISHONOR to those who answered the call, be it legal or otherwise, to pretend they don't exist and to give them no welcome home at all when they are repatriated.

What has happened to my country?

Why is it always in Alabama?

Alabama-LSU Football Dispute Leaves Two Dead

An Escambia County couple died Saturday after an argument
over the Alabama/LSU football game ended in shotgun blasts,
according to Conecuh County authorities.

District Attorney Tommy Chapman identified the people killed
as Dennis and Donna Smith of Appleton Road near Brewton.

The shooting allegedly occurred about 7 p.m. at the home of
Michael Williams near the Owassa community in Conecuh
County, Chapman said.


Williams was arrested, Chapman said, and charged with two
counts of murder.

Dispatchers at the Conecuh County Sheriff's Office
declined to comment about the case.

Investigators said witnesses told them that Dennis Smith, an
LSU fan, called Williams, a fan of the Crimson Tide, after
the game Saturday evening and an argument ensued.

Officers said Donna Smith was a relative of Michael
Williams' girlfriend.

Soon, the Smiths arrived at Williams' home and the men
wound up in a physical altercation, officers said.

Smith retrieved a pistol from his vehicle, and threatened
Williams, who armed himself with a shotgun and fired two
blasts, striking and killing Dennis Smith, officers said.

Donna Smith then threatened Williams, who shot and killed
the woman, they said.

Investigators said alcohol was believed to have been a
factor in the killings, and the investigation was ongoing
late Sunday.

Alcohol involved? Naw...you gotta be kiddin me man!

I like football as much as any Alabama citizen and I'll fess up to trying to put one of my brothers out of the car a few miles from home during an Auburn- Alabama game some years ago...but I totally don't get murders over football games.

Is Marijuana Legalization on the Horizon?

I think maybe it is. This article is in reference to the just passed Question 2 in Massachusetts.

Daily News Tribune

Evans: Question 2 landslide opens drug policy debate

By Richard M. Evans, Guest columnist
GHS
Posted Nov 09, 2008 @ 12:30 AM

Don't look now, but the resounding two-to-one victory of Question 2, the marijuana decriminalization initiative, may well turn out to be a blessing to Gov. Deval Patrick and the legislature as they face the current fiscal reckoning.

It's not that the new law will save a lot of money - the proponents claimed around $30 million, but even that will not make a big difference. What makes a big difference is that for the first time, voters statewide have gone on record as supporting drug policy reform, providing the first opportunity in decades to rethink the laws that have flooded our courts, packed our prisons and strained our treasuries.

There are around 25,000 prisoners in Massachusetts state and county facilities, of which some 20 percent are drug law violators. It costs $43,000 to incarcerate one prisoner for a year. That $215 million is real money, and doesn't even include costs of detection, apprehension, and prosecution.

Under the escalating drug war, costs have skyrocketed to the point that the Commonwealth grotesquely now spends as much money for incarceration as for higher education. Illicit drug use, however, has leveled out at around 10 percent of the adult population, and of those users, only around .03 percent of them are caught. Contrast that with the 40 percent arrest rate for violent crimes and 10 percent for property crimes. In terms of efficacy alone, current laws - largely a legacy of generations past - do not have much to commend them. The demand and supply of drugs hold steady.

Serious rethinking might begin with a close look at who, exactly, the drug offenders are, and whether the public safety requires their imprisonment. The time has come for legislative triage, distinguishing between the people who pose a risk to others, and those who, in the words of Georgia Corrections Commissioner Jim Donald, "we're just mad at." Reform should distinguish between predatory criminals who violate the rights of others, and non-predatory offenders whose consensual conduct is complained of only by the police.

Ronald Reagan, naturally, said it clearly: "Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves." Purging the criminal justice system of people we are protecting from themselves could free up hundreds of millions in criminal justice and incarceration savings, without threatening the public safety.

Hopefully leaders will now emerge, not only in politics, but in the media, education, and certainly in law enforcement to guide a new public discussion of this thorny but necessary topic. A good place to start is with some crucial questions that, until the Question 2 vote, few were ready to confront:

-- Is it realistic to think that continuing to pour vast resources into detection, enforcement, prosecution and punishment, we will ever achieve success in the struggle against illegal drugs?

-- When we are "successful," how many more people will be locked up, and at what cost to taxpayers?

-- Where, exactly, is the line between abhorrent conduct we punish and abhorrent conduct we tolerate?

-- Does it make sense to conflate the concepts of drug use, drug abuse and drug addiction?

For decades, few politicians have dared to criticize the laws lest they be branded "soft on drugs" in the next election. But in an era of evaporating public resources, the question is no longer whether drug offenders deserve our scorn, but whether they deserve our hospitality at $43,000 per year.

Billions have been spent in a mighty effort to fight and condemn drugs. Question 2 may well provide an historic opportunity to come to terms with them.

Richard M. Evans is an attorney practicing in Northampton.

Obama to review Bush's Executive Orders

CNN

The head of President-elect Barack Obama's transition team said Sunday that the incoming administration is conducting an extensive review of President Bush's executive orders.
President-elect Barack Obama said he intends to move with "deliberate haste" in making appointments.

President-elect Barack Obama said he intends to move with "deliberate haste" in making appointments.

Asked about reports that the transition team already has identified a number of areas where Obama could issue executive orders as soon as he takes office, John Podesta said he would not "preview decisions that [Obama] has yet to make."

"I would say that as a candidate, Sen. Obama said that he wanted all the Bush executive orders reviewed and decide which ones should be kept and which ones should be repealed and which ones should be amended, and that process is going on. It's been undertaken," Podesta said Sunday on "Fox News."

Podesta pointed out that there is a lot the president can do without waiting for Congress, and voters can expect to see Obama do so to try and restore "a sense that the country is working on behalf of the common good."

I have to tell you that sounds exceptionally good to me!

Republicans Get SPANKED ASS Handed To Them!

Since the end of the primaries I have been riveted by the now finished election. It has been the most fascinating thing I have witnessed in my 34 years and last night history was made with the election of Barack Hussein Obama to the Presidency of the United States of America. Americans wanted change and well, it would be hard to top this change. You couldn't get any more change than that. An African-American with a Swahili name. I never thought I'd see it in my lifetime.

I started this election as a Ron Paul supporter. When he was no longer in the race I had to make a decision between the two major party candidates. Surprisingly, the decision wasn't hard at all.

I voted for Obama. Not because I agree with him on everything. I don't...and most others don't either. But, is there anyone that you or I agree with all of the time? No. I voted for Barack Obama because I wanted to punish the Republican Party for the last eight years of driving our great country straight to hell in just about every possible sense.

I voted for Obama because during the election cycle he never sank down to the bottom feeder levels that the McCain campaign did. He was always cool, calm and collected. Grace under fire.

I voted for Obama because he is an intellectual and God knows we need some intellect in the White House after 8 torturous years of a President who mangled the English language every time he opened his mouth.

I voted for Obama because I believe he will once again engage our enemies in diplomacy instead of just bombing the hell out of them. Diplomacy is always preferable to war.

I voted for Obama because McCain had one too many 'senior moments' while the cameras were rolling. He never had a clear plan for getting our economy back on track. Hell, 90% of the time he acted like he didn't even know what the economy was.

I voted for Obama because McCain said he wanted to stay in Iraq for 100 years. My oldest child will be 18 soon and the Republicans cannot have his brilliant mind and great potential to feed to their meat grinder. Hell No! Ain't happening!

I voted for Obama because McCain is just too old to be President and the thought of Sarah Palin in charge of our country was the most frightening prospect ever. Plus, her voice annoys the hell out of me...and the way she does the beauty pageant wave, walk, wink and smile , and the fact that she bombed on all of her interviews, the fact that she knew nothing...not even simple things like a Supreme Court decision she disagreed with or what newspapers she reads and most frightening of all....her complete lack of understanding of the Constitution and what powers it bestows upon the Vice President. She answered that question wrong at least 4 times.

And...this is a big, big reason...I voted for Obama because of the way McCain supporters acted during rallies by shouting out 'traitor', 'socialist', 'Muslim', 'terrorist' and worst of all 'Kill Him'. The fact that it took so long for McCain to chide them for their repugnant behavior and the fact that Palin never did. Even last night as McCain gave his very eloquent concession speech his supporters were booing. What a bunch of low class swine! I am sick to death of that mentality.

I could go on and on about the reasons I voted for Obama, but I think you get the idea.

I believe Barack Obama will be a great President and will get our country back on track. I wish him well.

The Green Vote

During yesterday's historic election of Barack Obama as President of the United States of America a couple of states passed laws pertaining to medical marijuana and marijuana decriminalization.

In Mass. voters passed a a decrim bill.

Voters yesterday overwhelmingly approved a ballot initiative to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana, making getting caught with less than an ounce of pot punishable by a civil fine of $100. The change in the law means someone found carrying dozens of joints will no longer be reported to the state's criminal history board.

With about 90 percent of the state's precincts reporting last night, voters favored the Question 2 proposition 65 percent to 35 percent.

In Michigan voters approved a medical marijuana bill that will allow patients to grow their own medical marijuana for certain medical conditions.

Michigan voters favored sanctioning the use of medical marijuana to treat debilitating illness Tuesday, apparently rejecting arguments that doing so would increase crime and juvenile drug use.
Advertisement

The marijuana measure, Proposal 1, led 63% to 37%, with 87% precincts tallied early this morning. The vote was 2,566,783 in favor to 1,526,477 against.

When it goes into effect -- 10 days after the vote is certified later this month -- patients suffering from cancer, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS and other conditions can be authorized to cultivate, possess and use marijuana without fear of prosecution under state law.

Michigan becomes the 13th state to approve medical marijuana, meaning that one in four Americans will live in a place where the use of the herb for medical purposes will be legal, according to advocates for legalization.

I also want to mention that Rep. Barney Frank introduced Federal decrim legislation earlier this year and I expect it to come up again after the newly elected Congress and Senate take office in January.

And on another really bright note Shanta Owens DEFEATS Davis Lawley for Jefferson County drug court judge. I've been working my folks behind the scenes for weeks to get out the vote for Mrs. Owens and she and I have been communicating directly. She has great potential to do this thing right. I am THRILLED that she kicked the shit out of Davis Lawley.

Election Day 2008

I just got back from voting. I have been voting in the same location for 11 years and until today had never seen a line there. I didn't know that many people lived in Hackneyville. The parking lot was full with cars and trucks waiting to get in. The line was out the door and only got longer as time passed. It took me about 35 minutes in line before I got inside and got a ballot. Here are a few pics from the polling place. Sorry for the poor quality....I used my cell phone camera.

Why German Shepherds are the GREATEST Dogs EVER!

Dog Saves Woman From Sexual Assault

Short video clip HERE

Some sick pervert claims to be the cable guy, unsuspecting woman with an 11 month old baby inside opens the door, sick pervert charges in, pushes her onto the stairs, rips off her shirt, puts his hand over her mouth, starts to rip off her pants and gets a very rude introduction to the family protection unit known as Gracie the German Shepherd. Pervert gets bitten twice and decides he has lost then hauls ass. He is still on the loose. I bet Gracie could sniff him out.

This is why German Shepherds are such awesome family dogs. You don't have to tell them when to eat ass...they are born knowing when things are wrong and their teeth are needed.

I hope Ms. Kendall treats Gracie to some prime rib or filet mingon for stopping what would have been a very horrible thing.

Long Live German Shepherds!!